Version 2.4-20240424

Changelog:

• Greatly improved TIS conversion between palette-based and PVRZ-based variants:
  • Added options dialog for setting or tweaking various conversion options to TIS viewer (via Export... > as palette/pvrz-based TIS)
  • Added multithreading support to speed up PVRZ texture encoding
  • Provides option to convert (water) overlays between BG2 <-> BG2EE
  • Provides options to eliminate visual artifacts around borders of door tiles, animated tiles and overlay tiles in PVRZ-based tilesets
  • Added the same TIS conversion functionality to the Mass Exporter when option "Convert TIS to ..." is enabled
• Added a separate syntax highlighting option for trigger and action blocks in in the DLG tree viewer
• Added syntax highlighting for MENU resources
• Added context menu to NPC list panels in GAM resources for quick CRE structure access
• Added option to the File menu and context menu in the resource tree to explicitly open biffed versions of overridden resources if available
• Added quick jump feature to the table view of structured resources: Selecting a cell in the "Attribute" or "Offset" column allows you to quickly jump to the next matching entry when entering characters on the keyboard
• Added PSTEE-specific ARE animation flags
• New Effect structures are always preinitialized with Probability1=100
• Updated ARE rest spawn field for oIWD and oIWD2
• Area Viewer:
  • Added option "Show cell grid" for visualizing search map cells
  • Fixed PNG export of zoomed maps not considering the zoom level when option "Include layer items" was disabled
  • Fixed PNG export of zoomed maps not properly scaling actor and animation bitmaps when option "Include layer items" was enabled
• Improved MUS file parser (fixes BG1 demo music parsing)
• Improved loading times of PVRZ-based TIS resources
• Improved script decompiler: Reduced the probability of triggers with multiple definitions to choose the wrong one
• Improved list of available ARE container types by looking up entries in associated CONTAINR.2DA file in EE games
• Play button in resource lists should be hidden for resource types that don't support playback
• Clarified labels in the context menu for entries in structured resources
• Fixed crashes on Linux caused by "inotify watches limit reached" events
• Fixed some important controls being invisible in the "Open external file" dialog
• Fixed compiling issues with Java 21
• Fixed File Dialogs issues with certain Look&Feel themes (mostly FlatLaf themes)
• Fixed issues with compiling/decompile script actions AddexperiencePartyGlobal() and GivePartyGoldGlobal()
• Fixed NI freezing/crashing when trying to open malformed TOH/TOT files (may happen in IWD2 under certain circumstances)
• Fixed sorting results by 'Attribute/Line' of reference searches if they contained entries with incompatible values
• Fixed showing the wrong path in Open/Save dialogs of BMP/MOS/PVRZ/TIS converters under certain conditions
• Many more internal bugfixes and improvements

Nightly Releases

"Nightly Releases" serves as a way to provide the latest development build of Near Infinity. It is updated whenever new commits are successfully pushed to the project.

The provided JAR file allows you to use the latest features and bugfixes without having to wait for an official Near Infinity release. This build also generates enhanced debug information which are helpful to troubleshoot issues more effectively.

Version 2.4-20231231

Changelog:

• Added new game variant: IWD2:EE
• Added option "Auto-align 2DA Columns" to Preferences > Text Editor > Misc. Resource Types
  • Automatically cleans up and aligns columns in opened 2DA resources (nonpersistent unless explicitly saved)
• Added a playback button to the WAV resource list UI component
• Improved "Check for Corrupted Files": Performs offset field validation in structured resources
• Show hidden folders in the "Open Game" dialog
• WMP viewer: Improved display of travel routes:
  • No selection: Shows travel routes for all areas
  • Single selection: Shows travel routes starting at the selected area
  • Multi-selection: Shows travel routes between selected areas
• Add/insert/remove operations on removable substructures automatically updates and re-indexes structure labels
• Removed deprecated "Nimbus" Look&Feel UI theme (theme was broken for years)
• Advanced Search: Fixed opening resources in the wrong Viewable
• Fixed a display issue in projectile list UI component

Version 2.4-20230729

Changelog:

• Area Viewer: Added new layer "Impeded Door Cells" which visualizes blocked cells for opened/closed states of doors (experimental feature)
• Added new check "For Invalid Opcodes" which checks for opcode definitions that are unknown or unsupported by the current game
• Added "Save as..." button to structured resources that allows to specify a new location and/or filename to save current changes
• Added "Properties" button to BMP resource view
• Check for Unused Strings:
  • Added new types: LUA, MENU and PRO
  • Reduced "false positives" detection rate for 2DA and MENU types
• Improved resource icon preview:
  • Added preview icons for BMP resources
  • To differentiate resources, empty icons are shown for non-existing/invalid resource icons and the default resource type icons are shown for resources with empty icon definitions
• Fixed selecting entries in the "Special" resource tree folder when using the "Find resource" quick search feature
• Improved mouse feedback (waiting cursor) for loading times when resource tree folders are expanded
• Improved support for overridden strings from TOH/TOT files in saved game resources
• Applied correct syntax highlighting for STO V1.1 item sale triggers (PST, PSTEE)
• Improved presentation of "Parameter 1" field for SPLPROT-related opcodes: custom values for STATE and AREATYPE tables are available as flags datatype
• Near Infinity check for updates: Download button will now open the "Release" page of the new version instead of linking to the associated NearInfinity.zip file directly

Version 2.4-20230714

Changelog:

• Added options to show preview icons for ITM and SPL resources ("General" page in Preferences dialog)
  • in the resource tree (Option "Show Icons in Resource Tree")
  • in resource selection lists and various lists and tables in View tabs (Option ("Show Icons in Resource List")
• Added portrait preview for (non-)player characters in the View tab of GAM resources
• Improved display of (non-)player character names in the View tab of GAM resources
• Area Viewer: Added new sublayers for regions, doors and containers to show launch and access points
• BAM Converter:
  • Fixed color conversion of alpha-blended animations which produced incorrect results under specific conditions
  • Fixed enabled state of transparency threshold component in Options dialog
• Added more information to the View tabs of
  • ARE: Added area type flags
  • ITM: Added usability flags
  • SPL: Added exclusion flags
  • STO: Added storage capacity
• Fixed inaccurate highlighting when opening search results in text resources
• Fixed file corruption when removing actors with embedded CRE structures in ARE resources
• Updated various opcode labels
• Various internal bugfixes and optimizations

Version 2.4-20230625

This release provides lots of internal changes, including a new Preferences dialog that replaces the overly cluttered Options menu, official support for dark mode UI themes, several new syntax highlighting features and a new syntax highlighting color scheme.

The latter feature causes a slight compatibility issue with previous NI releases that warrants a bump of the version number. It is recommended to inspect and adjust color schemes for BCS and other resource types.

Changelog:

• Added syntax highlighting for INI files
• Added official support for dark UI themes
• Added many new Look&Feel UI themes, including several dark UI themes
• Added new syntax highlighting color scheme "Druid"
• Cleaned up the Options menu and moved everything to a dedicated Preferences dialog
  • accessible from the Game menu or via shortcut Ctrl-P (Command-P on macOS)
• Added first-time usage prompt that helps to quickly set up NI
• Fixed Area Viewer control panel being cut off on small window sizes by adding scrollbars
• Command line option "-no-update" should hide update-related menu entries
• Updated opcode 118 label and parameters
• Many internal optimizations

Version 2.3-20230610

This is a quick bugfix release which solves a serious issue of Near Infinity not closing if it runs for the first time on the system.

Changelog:

• Fixed an issue of Near Infinity not closing if it runs for the first time on the system
• Fixed command line option -no-launch-game not disabling menu entry Options > "Allow launching games"

Version 2.3-20230609

Starting with this release prepackaged installers for Windows and macOS will be available which already include a preinstalled Java Runtime, so there is no need anymore to install it separately. A flatpak version for Linux will be available soon.

The Windows version will be installed with user privileges. It associates .key files with Near Infinity and optionally installs shortcuts in the start menu and/or on the desktop.

The macOS installer comes as a standard PKG archive and provides basic desktop integration for Near Infinity (but no .key file association).

Changelog:

• Prepackaged Near Infinity installers are available with a preinstalled Java Runtime for:
  • Windows: Associates .key files and optionally creates startmenu and/or desktop shortcuts
  • macOS: PKG archive with basic desktop integration but no .key file association
• Added option to remember size and position of resource child windows across a single NI session (menu Options > Remember last child frame size and position)
• Added new command line options for controlling availability of specific features
  • Option -no-update for disabling "Update check" functionality and menu entries
  • Option -no-launch-game for hiding the "Launch game" button
• Upgraded the "Update Check and Notification" feature to notify users of new Near Infinity releases with an improved changelog summary (and less maintenance effort for me)
• Improved methods for opening files and URLs in associated applications on Linux and macOS platforms
• Opcodes: Added definitions for PSTEE-specific opcodes 348, 349, 350, 351 and 377
• Opcode 319: Fixed resource field not using the correct datatype when effect with param2=11 is loaded
• Mass Exporter: Added option to filter resource names by literal strings or regular expressions
• Mass Exporter: Available list of resource types to export is generated dynamically, based on the current game
• Mass Exporter: Fixed a hardcoded character encoding issue for script comments
• BAM Converter: Fixed two issues related to the transparent color entry in BAM V1 animations
• PRO resources: Fixed a regression that failed to change structure size depending on selected projectile type
• Creature Animation Browser: Modifications to character equipment (e.g. new coloring, effects or styles) should be correctly applied to the creature animation on reload
• Minor improvements to Near Infinity application icon
• Various internal optimizations

Version 2.3-20230303

Changelog:

• Improved WAV/ACM audio playback:
  • Added Play/Pause button.
  • Added display of elapsed and total playback time.
  • Added a "Properties" button for additional information about the current audio file.
• Added a context menu to MOS and TIS resource viewer which provides information about referenced PVRZ or WED files.
• Added native ETC1 and ETC2 texture decoding support for PVRZ files (used by Android versions of the games).
• Added option to enable or disable confirmation of opening bookmarked games (menu Options > Confirm opening bookmarked games).
• Fixed stuttering sound playback and potential crashes when playing back multiple sound clips simultaneously.
• Fixed display of animated primary tiles in the Area Viewer (e.g. used for the crystal in the High Hedge interior map, or the wheel of fortune in carnival and circus tents).
• Fixed an issue in the creature animation viewer which incorrectly applied visual effect multiple times.
• Fixed a scrollbar-related visibility issue in the "Raw" tab of structured resources.
• Fixed viewing and saving TOT files in original games.
• Fixed BIFF-related issues with the GemRB demo (thanks lynx).
• Updated library responsible for the various text editing components in NI.

Version 2.3-20221108

Note: macOS-specific application packages can be found here: https://github.com/AstroBryGuy/NearInfinity-OSX/releases

Changelog:

• Added partial support for the non-interactive Baldur's Gate demo.
  • Relevant IDS files must be provided by the user.
  • Required files: action.ids, align.ids, astyles.ids, class.ids, damages.ids, ea.ids, general.ids, hotkey.ids, object.ids, race.ids, scroll.ids, spell.ids, time.ids, trigger.ids, weather.ids
• Added check option for illegal soundrefs in strings.
  • Found under menu Tools > Check > For illegal SoundRefs in Strings.
• Added option to override UI scaling.
  • Overrides the system's global scaling of UI elements by a specified scaling factor, which may be useful on high dpi screens with a global UI scaling factor to display graphics in their original size. Works well in combination with the "Change Global Font Size" option.
  • Requires Java 9 or higher to be effective.
• Completely redesigned the effect opcode handling.
  • There may still be bugs found because of the huge amount of changes. Please report them if you encounter one.
  • Fixed and/or updated several opcode definitions in the process.
• Improved Mass Exporter.
  • Added shortcut Ctrl+M.
  • Added more export options: Trim spaces (all text files), Align table columns (2DA): compact or uniform.
• Improvements for the Bookmark feature.
  • A confirmation prompt is shown before opening a bookmarked game.
  • Added shortcuts for bookmarked games: Ctrl+Alt+[number] for the first 10 games, Ctrl+Alt+Shift+[number] for games 11 to 20.
• Improved text resource features: Trim, Align, Sort.
  • Improved sorting feature for TRIGGER.IDS: Bit 0x4000 will not be considered by the sorting algorithm.
• Improved EEex detection for EE games.
• Updated ARE location flags for PST(EE).
• Updated "face target" field in PRO resources.
• Various internal updates.