So, as a challenge to my programming skill -- and in great desire of a better way to integrate mods -- I've started a project called "SWiKe ToolSuite".

Haven't had enough time to actually develop the ToolSuite this week, but starting this weekend I'm going to pour forth some real effort.

At the very least, thanks to the information kindly shared in this thread , I have managed to create a decoder of .2da files, yay!

When I'm no longer embarrassed of the code's quality, I promise I'll share the code as an Open Source project, with a suitable license.