Bob Lion54 Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 Greetings!!! This is my first post on lucasforums, so first I just want to say how much fun this site has added to the games for me. I'v been around for a while "lurking" and downloading. You people are the Jedi Masters of modding (or Dark Lords in some casses;) ). Now my question.... I've downloaded a few mods that require editing .2da files to make them compatible . After an hour of trying to combine them, all I was able to do was accidently change the Peragus mining droids into one of the PC female skins. Is there any way to check a .2da with the original to see what the modder changed without looking through the whole file? They are very large and I could not figure out what was changed. I tried Kotor Tool but I could not figure out what to change. thanks to anyone who tries to help me out!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tk102 Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 There is no .2da comparison tool that I know of. However, you can get an idea by looking at the support files that come with the mod. It is rare that a mod only contains a .2da file. Look at the names of the .tga, .mdl, .ncs, files. See if you can find that entry in the .2da file. That's very likely the row that got changed. It also depends the .2da that you're looking at. Some 2da files usually get rows appended to them (spells.2da, globalcat.2da) while others will actually modify existing rows (appearance.2da, heads.2da, feat.2da) If all else fails, you can always email or PM the author. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChAiNz.2da Posted March 16, 2005 Share Posted March 16, 2005 Originally posted by Lion54 Is there any way to check a .2da with the original to see what the modder changed without looking through the whole file? First things first... Welcome to the forums! Publicly that is.. hehehe I too was a 'long-time lurker' (I imagine people wished I would've stayed that way ) As for the .2da problem. Unfortunately I don't know of any other way to compare .2da's other than the daunting task of 'eyeing' them row for row.... That's one of the reasons why it would be real nice for modders to include in their readme exactly what was changed in said files. 1) Always check the last line first... odd sounding, but 80% of the time, it's usually an added line rather than change.. 2) Check the readme file of the mod(s). Alot of times modders will include what lines they changed. Unfortunately, not all do... ... 3) .... cry, cuss, scream, punch, kick, bite your computer (or a pillow to be safer )... then post a thread (or PM) asking for help, listing the mods you are trying to merge... Hope that helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Lion54 Posted March 17, 2005 Author Share Posted March 17, 2005 Thanks TK and Chains. at least now I know there is no easier way to go about it. Unfortunately , most modders don't tell you what they changed, maybe they like to keep the secret so it seems more spectacular to the average user like myself . However, checking the last line worked with one of the mods, so Thanks !!! Although, I wish I would have read your response a little more closely, Chains. Because now I have a large chunk missing from my moniter and my teeth hurt!! . Thanks again guys. (side note) to -TK102 and ChAiNz.2da, since KOTOR 1 I'v uses several mods from both of you. They are always good. For a while now, any time I see your names on pcgamemods, I always check out the mod. Thanks for some great mods and I can't wait to see whats next!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoffe Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 Originally posted by Lion54 (snip) Is there any way to check a .2da with the original to see what the modder changed without looking through the whole file? They are very large and I could not figure out what was changed. I tried Kotor Tool but I could not figure out what to change. This is how I do it: Open the original 2da file in the KotorTool 2da editor and choose "Save as 2DA (XML)" in the menu and save the XML file somewhere (not in the Override folder, preferably). Then open the modified 2da file and save that one as XML too. Open your favourite text compare utility (I use the one in UltraEdit) and run a compare between the two XML files, and it should mark out all the differences. Then check what Row Label the change is under. Perhaps not the most user friendly way of doing it, but its a lot faster than trying to spot changes manually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T7nowhere Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 Welcome to the forum Lion54, AS tk102 and ChAiNz.2da said the first way to start is to look at the files that are in the mod. -Mods like lightsaberswould likely require a edited upcrystals.2da. -If you find and appearance.2da file then most likely there is either a new row added to the end of the file or one of the appearance rows have been edited. Mods that do this would be the the Stormtrooper mod for KotOR and perhaps for TSL where the columns for the Sith troopers were edited to change the model from the Sith one to a Storm trooper one. Another use for Appearance 2da might be as simple as changing the envmap column to CM_baremetal in order to force that appearance row(npc) to look like shiny metal. -Or if its a mod that adds a new pc head and you already have a mod that does that you will have to combine appearance.2da, heads.2da, and portraits.2da. -Conbinning Force power mods is quite a different thing and would require editing the scripts and spells.2da But yes if all else fails ask the mod author what was changed. Originally posted by tk102 There is no .2da comparison tool that I know of. Now that would be a great tool. j/k go play TSL. Originally posted by ChAiNz.2da That's one of the reasons why it would be real nice for modders to include in their readme exactly what was changed in said files. Guilty, But I have always explained in detail when requested. But In my defense some of my mods have made alot of changes that would require a huge readme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Lion54 Posted March 17, 2005 Author Share Posted March 17, 2005 @ stoffe -mkb-, thanks for the tip, i will certainly try that. @ T7nowhere (another great modder, IMO), I already knew what the files did. My problem was just that the files have so many lines, it's hard to spot the differences. I had some success in K1 with them. Actually, I was just lucky that the mods I had actually did tell me what lines to change!!! (well mostly) I guess I was just hoping that someone had a easy method they would enlighting me to. oh well, Thanks for the explanation fellas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChAiNz.2da Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 Originally posted by T7nowhere Guilty, But I have always explained in detail when requested. Well I was trying not to point fingers at specific people (there are others)... but the first step to recovery is admittance. That's ok, we'll let Seprithro write the novel... err... readme for the USM mod Originally posted by Lion54 Although, I wish I would have read your response a little more closely, Chains. Because now I have a large chunk missing from my moniter and my teeth hurt!! to quote ALF.... HAH! :lol: Thank you for my morning laugh... nothing beats that 1st sip of coffee in the morning.....shooting out your nose.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkkender Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 Originally posted by ChAiNz.2da Well I was trying not to point fingers at specific people (there are others)... but the first step to recovery is admittance. That's ok, we'll let Seprithro write the novel... err... readme for the USM mod to quote ALF.... HAH! :lol: Thank you for my morning laugh... nothing beats that 1st sip of coffee in the morning.....shooting out your nose.... I'm glad I wasn't drinking coffee when I read this. But seriously that reminds me I owe everybody a tutorial or 2 dealing with the painted droid mod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Lion54 Posted March 17, 2005 Author Share Posted March 17, 2005 WOW, Darkkender, your painted droids mod was the one that had me perplexed!!!!! I think I got it working though, but a toutorial would be nice because I probably messed something up!!! , my "modding"(if you could call it that) experience is limited to making clothing for the Sims 2 and custom teams for Madden 200X (PC version). So yea, not much at all really. Im going to try my hand at skinning K2, but I doubt I will ever make anything anyone else would want, or pobably my self for that matter, but we'll see. Oh, and Chainz, I'v shot milk out my nose before, and that burns!!!! I can only imagine what coffee feels like But seriously, thanks for the help guys, I can't wait to see how the painted droids works, I always felt that was messing from the game. I just hope I got it right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkkender Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 Originally posted by Lion54 WOW, Darkkender, your painted droids mod was the one that had me perplexed!!!!! I think I got it working though, but a toutorial would be nice because I probably messed something up!!! , my "modding"(if you could call it that) experience is limited to making clothing for the Sims 2 and custom teams for Madden 200X (PC version). So yea, not much at all really. Im going to try my hand at skinning K2, but I doubt I will ever make anything anyone else would want, or pobably my self for that matter, but we'll see. Oh, and Chainz, I'v shot milk out my nose before, and that burns!!!! I can only imagine what coffee feels like But seriously, thanks for the help guys, I can't wait to see how the painted droids works, I always felt that was messing from the game. I just hope I got it right. If you have the painted droids mod I would use the appearance.2da out of it to combine your other mods into as that will require the least effort untill I finish my tutorial. I might also want to note if you can give us a list of all the mods you are trying to merge either I or someone else may be able to merge them for you for convience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Lion54 Posted March 18, 2005 Author Share Posted March 18, 2005 Thanks, Darkkender, but I want to try to learn how to do this my own. Plus, I'm sure you have your own projects to worry about. All the responses I got helped me greatly. A toutorial would be great, especially after I get some more mods and things get complicated. I'd rather not have to run to someone everytime I have a problem, though. However it's good to know the great modders of Holowan are there to help Anyway, thanks to all who reponded to my question!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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