TOOL:Holocron Toolset

[Cortisol 74]

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Holocron Toolset

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This modding toolset is a work in progress and I carry no responsibility to any damage done to your game files or lost work that may occur. Some antiviruses will flag a false positive and prevent you from opening the application. If this happens you will need to configure your antivirus to allow the program to run.

Holocron Toolset is a collection of modding tools packaged in a single application aimed at streamlining modding development for KotOR/TSL, drawing inspiration from Kotor Tool and the NWN Aurora Toolset. There are editors available for nearly every file type used by the game. Also included with it is a 3D module editor and a "Map Builder" which the user can use to create new maps by rearranging existing models already used in the game.

Discord for suggestions + bug reports: https://discord.com/invite/3ME278a9tQ

If you are running Windows 7 or 8 and get a missing DLL error when opening the program you will need to download the Visual C++ Redist from Microsoft.

Toolset source
File parsing source

 

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• Submitter
  Cortisol
• Submitted
  01/28/2022
• Category
  Modding Tools

 

[ebmar 893]

Greetings, author --

 

Introduction:

First, a good start for allowing the tool to read users'-end Override -- liking that feature already - among any other improvements from the ol' KotOR Tool. Granted, it's far from perfect as there are still bugs around. However, nothing but promising sign one must say. 👍

 

Report:

Second, I'm giving you heads-up about an oversight with the built-in 2DA editor which it mistakenly read-and-write visualeffects.2DA. What your tool does was it reads the row [label] based on index instead of the actual number [int?] each rows has.

For example, supposedly [and by using KotOR Tool] VFX_ARD_LIGHT_YELLOW_10 has 5000 with the (Row Label) which also used for scripting constant -- but then your tool read [and write] it as 130 hence breaking the table and obviously the game as well. On top of my head that's the only 2DA I'm aware of that needs attention - there are others probably, but that's the only one I had encounter the issue with. Therefore, along with this report I hope you able to resolve the issue.

 

Feedback:

I might be part of the minority that's using subfolder in TSL's Override -- however, I still wish you can make the tool able to read them also. I think that'd be a cool feature to have. 😁

Think that's all for now. I'll get back to you with reports/questions later -- 'cause one thing at a time, I guess. Much thanks for considering this. Cheers.

[Cortisol 74]

2 hours ago, ebmar said:

Greetings, author --

 

Introduction:

First, a good start for allowing the tool to read users'-end Override -- liking that feature already - among any other improvements from the ol' KotOR Tool. Granted, it's far from perfect as there are still bugs around. However, nothing but promising sign one must say. 👍

 

Report:

Second, I'm giving you heads-up about an oversight with the built-in 2DA editor which it mistakenly read-and-write visualeffects.2DA. What your tool does was it reads the row [label] based on index instead of the actual number [int?] each rows has.

For example, supposedly [and by using KotOR Tool] VFX_ARD_LIGHT_YELLOW_10 has 5000 with the (Row Label) which also used for scripting constant -- but then your tool read [and write] it as 130 hence breaking the table and obviously the game as well. On top of my head that's the only 2DA I'm aware of that needs attention - there are others probably, but that's the only one I had encounter the issue with. Therefore, along with this report I hope you able to resolve the issue.

 

Feedback:

I might be part of the minority that's using subfolder in TSL's Override -- however, I still wish you can make the tool able to read them also. I think that'd be a cool feature to have. 😁

Think that's all for now. I'll get back to you with reports/questions later -- 'cause one thing at a time, I guess. Much thanks for considering this. Cheers.

Hey ebmar, I really appreciate the feedback!

I'll aim to fix the 2DA problem next release. I was not aware that row labels stored in the file were actually used, I guess thats my mistake for listening the 2DA specification for NWN even though the formats are different.

In regards to override subfolder, I had forgotten that subdirectories are supported (in TSL). So for next release I'll also aim to add a dropdown menu in the override tab where you can select which folder you want to browse.

Edited January 30, 2022 by Cortisol

[ebmar 893]

On 1/30/2022 at 7:53 PM, Cortisol said:

...really appreciate the feedback!

Likewise -- much appreciate your effort on this tool as well. 🍻

 

Anyways, looks like I'm going to keep you busy here with another report, regarding the recent update in particular, hahah --

Quote

• Added SSF Editor

The editor looks like can read the SSF well, however -- KotOR Tool unable to read the exported file, therefore I assume the exported-edited ones from your tool's broken.

Until this moment the only tool I trusted on editing the SSF was K-Tool, so that's something I took into consideration as well.

Quote

• 2DA Editor now supports non-fixed and editable row labels
• 2DA Editor now supports adding and removing rows
• Window titles now show which game installation the editor was opened with
• When relevant, window titles now show what ERF/RIM the file is in

These new features seem to be working properly.

Quote

• Override tab now supports selecting subfolders

Awesome -- thanks for bringing this feature to life -- and working. 👍

Quote

• You can now edit stored files through ERF Editor

Not sure what you mean by this. Is it support external tools now? Because I noticed it's not supported with the former version. Yes, there's a tab to switch between the internal and external but your tool fail to open one.

 

Feedbacks:

• Likely you'll have to revisit your built-in GFF editor, as it broke the edited file. I was editing a UTI with yours and it's not working in-game while using K-GFF works
• I see that you try to support MDL decompile, but not sure what the decompiler you have with the tool there. I tried decompiling a model and it broke -- no texture-reference/bitmap node exported with the ASCII and with that alone one can tell it's not working properly. Unless you had it working to its fullest capacity I suggest you to disable that feature in the meantime. Granted, the Extract Textures feature worked though, so that's a good feat to have at least [although you had a typo there -- Textuers, so you might want to fix it on the go 😛
• Probably sorting the ResRef ascending-by-name by default should be a feature to have? I think many would like to have that
• Having external-tools-support working soon sounds like a good option as well before you can have your built-in editor working optimally

That's all for now -- and as usual, I'll catch up with you later.

Much thanks for considering this -- cheers. 🍻

[Hunters Run 57]

Looking very good.  I have a feature request though:

Kotor tool has an option to show the names of modules on the side.  If possible maybe you can add this function.

 

[Cortisol 74]

  

On 2/1/2022 at 1:59 PM, ebmar said:

The editor looks like can read the SSF well, however -- KotOR Tool unable to read the exported file, therefore I assume the exported-edited ones from your tool's broken.

Fixed. As it turns out SSF has a bunch of unused (?) data at the end of the file format, which I *was* writting with my parser, just not enough. But my SSF Editor seems to be compatible with Kotor Tool now.

On 2/1/2022 at 1:59 PM, ebmar said:

Likely you'll have to revisit your built-in GFF editor, as it broke the edited file. I was editing a UTI with yours and it's not working in-game while using K-GFF works

Fixed. The start of GFF files contain some data that matches the extension but this was not the case with my editor (eg. .utc file begins with "UTC" but mine was just filling it with "GFF"). I tested it with giveitem command and files saved with the editor now seem to be recognized.

On 2/1/2022 at 1:59 PM, ebmar said:

I see that you try to support MDL decompile, but not sure what the decompiler you have with the tool there. I tried decompiling a model and it broke -- no texture-reference/bitmap node exported with the ASCII and with that alone one can tell it's not working properly. Unless you had it working to its fullest capacity I suggest you to disable that feature in the meantime.

I didnt remove it completely, but it does need to be enabled through settings now. What models did you try it on out of curiosity? When I use it the MDL file seems to decompile with the texture reference intact.

On 2/1/2022 at 1:59 PM, ebmar said:

Probably sorting the ResRef ascending-by-name by default should be a feature to have? I think many would like to have that

Done.

On 2/1/2022 at 1:59 PM, ebmar said:

Not sure what you mean by this. Is it support external tools now? Because I noticed it's not supported with the former version. Yes, there's a tab to switch between the internal and external but your tool fail to open one.

On 2/1/2022 at 1:59 PM, ebmar said:

Having external-tools-support working soon sounds like a good option as well before you can have your built-in editor working optimally

So you can set it so you can edit files with an external editor, you just need to specify the path to the .exe file. However, files inside ERF files are a bit tricky since tools like kGFF don't support it so I've had to work around it to support this feature. Opening a file inside an ERF with an external editor will extract the file to a folder and the toolset will detect when you save the file with the other editor and then reopen and resave the ERF with the updated resource. Now this was a headache to get to work properly and the ERF kept getting corrupted but I think its more or less stable now, but just in case this feature has to be enabled through settings. Hope that block of text made sense.

19 hours ago, Hunters Run said:

Kotor tool has an option to show the names of modules on the side.  If possible maybe you can add this function.

Done. 

Edited February 2, 2022 by Cortisol

[Hunters Run 57]

This is shaping up quite nicely. Just one more feature request, then it should reach parity with kotor tools:

The ability to search for a global rim file search (.mod would be useful to). Right now you need to select the module that contains an object.  Hard to do when you don't know what module it is in. 

I would be happy with a simple search function but if you could add filters like kotor tool has it would make it easier to search.

[Cortisol 74]

6 hours ago, Hunters Run said:

This is shaping up quite nicely. Just one more feature request, then it should reach parity with kotor tools:

The ability to search for a global rim file search (.mod would be useful to). Right now you need to select the module that contains an object.  Hard to do when you don't know what module it is in. 

I would be happy with a simple search function but if you could add filters like kotor tool has it would make it easier to search.

Thanks for the feedback. Just released a new update with the requested search function. It more or less behaves the same way to Kotor Tool's search function.

[DarthDrija 16]

Hi, Cortisol, I have one request/issue with the TLK editor.

The tool when editing the dialog.tlk from both games removes any foreign characters from all lines by opening it and saving, making lines unreadable when playing. I don't think it affects the English version, but it makes localization a problem.

Edited February 27, 2022 by DarthDrija

[Cortisol 74]

13 hours ago, DarthDrija said:

Hi, Cortisol, I have one request/issue with the TLK editor.

The tool when editing the dialog.tlk from both games removes any foreign characters from all lines by opening it and saving, making lines unreadable when playing. I don't think it affects the English version, but it makes localization a problem.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. The latest update should hopefully fix this issue.

[DarthDrija 16]

2 hours ago, Cortisol said:

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. The latest update should hopefully fix this issue.

The issue got fixed now, thank you for your attention.

[Jj117 9]

how do we edit maps from this toolset?

another quick question. How do we modify an existing NPC ? or how do we add NPC on a map?? 

[Cortisol 74]

41 minutes ago, Jj117 said:

how do we edit maps from this toolset?

another quick question. How do we modify an existing NPC ? or how do we add NPC on a map?? 

There currently no graphical editor available for editing maps yet, however there is one in the works. If you want to edit where things are in a module (map) you'll need to edit the .GIT file assosicated with it. You'll probably want to look for tutorials or ask around on the forums/discord.

[Jj117 9]

thank you for replying. By the way, how do we edit an existing NPC

[Cortisol 74]

On 3/1/2022 at 9:47 PM, Jj117 said:

thank you for replying. By the way, how do we edit an existing NPC

Go to the Modules tab on the main window and then use the dropdown menu and select an area. A tree should load underneath showing a list of all files. You'll want to open and edit the files under the Creatures node.

Again, you'll probably want to look up some modding tutorials to get a better idea of what to do. This might be a good place to start.

[Jj117 9]

8 hours ago, Cortisol said:

Go to the Modules tab on the main window and then use the dropdown menu and select an area. A tree should load underneath showing a list of all files. You'll want to open and edit the files under the Creatures node.

Again, you'll probably want to look up some modding tutorials to get a better idea of what to do. This might be a good place to start.

thank you so much. i needed this

9 hours ago, Cortisol said:

Go to the Modules tab on the main window and then use the dropdown menu and select an area. A tree should load underneath showing a list of all files. You'll want to open and edit the files under the Creatures node.

Again, you'll probably want to look up some modding tutorials to get a better idea of what to do. This might be a good place to start.

okay here is another dumb question. On the Holocron toolset. For KOTOR 1. I chose the dantooine level Dantooine Jedi Enclave danm13.mod and tried to change the appearance of a droid but nothing happened. I tried to change it into a Republic Soldier using the template references of the Manaan Republic Soldiers but nothing happened. am i doing something wrong? should i also edit the danm13_s.rim portion on the module too? Thank you

[ebmar 893]

1 hour ago, Jj117 said:

I chose the dantooine level Dantooine Jedi Enclave danm13.mod and tried to change the appearance of a droid but nothing happened.

For this type of change one will have to load/enter the module the first time to have it work. So in this case you'll need to load a [saved] game anywhere before landing on Dantooine.

The basic idea is to have the game load the [object] templates before they're spawned into the module, otherwise they still carry the previous data prior to the edited ones.

1 hour ago, Jj117 said:

should i also edit the danm13_s.rim portion on the module too?

No you don't, and never have to edit the RIM -- ever, at least in K1.

The game prioritize MOD over RIM, so any change you make to the MOD will take precedence shortly -- that, if you load it right. One will not need to edit RIMs' 'cause they're critical for rollbacks and/or debugging without having to reinstall the game.

[Jj117 9]

10 hours ago, ebmar said:

For this type of change one will have to load/enter the module the first time to have it work. So in this case you'll need to load a [saved] game anywhere before landing on Dantooine.

The basic idea is to have the game load the [object] templates before they're spawned into the module, otherwise they still carry the previous data prior to the edited ones.

No you don't, and never have to edit the RIM -- ever, at least in K1.

The game prioritize MOD over RIM, so any change you make to the MOD will take precedence shortly -- that, if you load it right. One will not need to edit RIMs' 'cause they're critical for rollbacks and/or debugging without having to reinstall the game.

thanks.  After editing the NPC do i need to extract the said UTI file and place them on override folder? If so then i think i got the hang of it. i think i will try editing some NPCs thank you

[ebmar 893]

6 hours ago, Jj117 said:

After editing the NPC do i need to extract the said UTI file...

UTI is for Items [weapons, armors etc.], UTC is for Creatures [NPCs, etc.].

6 hours ago, Jj117 said:

...and place them on override folder?

No, make it a habit to put back module-specific templates back to their own MODs/modules, such that one you mentioned above.

You can use ERFEdit as the external-tool to work on it. As with Holocron Toolset @Cortisol might have better answer as I haven't tried the feature yet.

[Cortisol 74]

Holocron Toolset supports directly reading from and writing to files stored in ERF/RIMs, so a middleman shouldn't be necessary. But there is a ERFEdit-like tool included with the toolset should you go that route or need to create a blank ERF file.

[Jj117 9]

16 hours ago, ebmar said:

UTI is for Items [weapons, armors etc.], UTC is for Creatures [NPCs, etc.].

No, make it a habit to put back module-specific templates back to their own MODs/modules, such that one you mentioned above.

You can use ERFEdit as the external-tool to work on it. As with Holocron Toolset @Cortisol might have better answer as I haven't tried the feature yet.

thank you. Ill try the ERFEdit tool as well 

14 hours ago, Cortisol said:

Holocron Toolset supports directly reading from and writing to files stored in ERF/RIMs, so a middleman shouldn't be necessary. But there is a ERFEdit-like tool included with the toolset should you go that route or need to create a blank ERF file.

thank you. Ill try both the ERF editor and also the feature available on the holocron toolset. Thank you

[Cortisol 74]

Hey all, just posting to show that this project is still active and and to give an idea on whats being worked on:

A 3D Module Editor.

A GIT Editor (which serves as a more lightweight, 2D Module Editor). 

And finally an Indoor Map Builder. This tool can be used to build new areas in the game with unique layouts based existing rooms.

[Salk 368]

Very, very nice!

Love the work you have been doing with this, Cortisol! 

[brents742 79]

47 minutes ago, Cortisol said:

And finally an Indoor Map Builder. This tool can be used to build new areas in the game with unique layouts based existing rooms.

This is honestly really exciting. The potential of this tool will be huge.

[Cortisol 74]

11 minutes ago, brents742 said:

This is honestly really exciting. The potential of this tool will be huge.

I hope it will inspire some people to create new content mods. I imagine @Logan23 might want to use it for his Revenge of Revan TC. The main drawback (in developing it) is that it takes time to add options to the room list as each model needs to be modified in a certain way to be compatible with my tool.

At some point I would also like to create a terrain editor as well, although I imagine that it will be more complicated to create.