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 2.4-20260322

Changelog:

• Near Infinity can now be opened on empty game installations to modify external files (e.g. saved games)
  • For technical reasons a "chitin.key" file is still required, but it can be anything renamed to "chitin.key".
  • A game type that matches the files to be edited should be selected to avoid potential file corruptions on save operations.
• Improved string search:
  • Search text is highlighted in matching string entries (StringRef Lookup, String Table Editor, Check for unused strings)
  • Added support for unicode characters in a case-insensitive search
  • Improved error messages for syntax errors in regular expressions
  • Updated text component library
• Added new feature "Spell Abilities Generator":
  • Auto-generates level-scaled spell ability structures based on a great number of customizable parameters
• Added a "Clear value" button to "Unknown" resource fields that can be used to quickly zeroize unused content
• Added context menu option to export Effect structures in CRE/ITM/SPL resources as external EFF files
• Added option to EFF resources to copy the file content to the clipboard for use as Effect structures in CRE/ITM/SPL resources
• Added Preferences option to "Sort Override Files in Resource Tree by Type"
• Overhauled graphics conversion dialogs for BMP, MOS, PVRZ, and TIS files
• Shortcut Ctrl-C on resources in the resource tree can be used to copy-paste the resource in the system's file explorer
• WMP Viewer: Expanded "Show map icons" by option to display only map icons that are marked as "visible" on the worldmap
• BAM Converter:
  • Added Super xBR scaling to filter "Resize BAM Frames"
  • "Long-tap" on the "Add cycle(s)" button allows to add a user-defined number of cycles at once
  • Several improvements to the UI layout
  • Added option to activate or deactivate defined filters temporarily
  • Added scroll bars to preview display which are shown if the preview image is bigger than the preview window
• Improved display of relative offsets in substructures
• Improved error messages when loading graphics files
• Improved usability of color picker UI control that is used by several opcodes
• Improved labels of ITM unusability flags for mages and druids
• Context menu option "Open biffed resource" is now available in all resource display modes
• Updated fields in ARE "tiled objects" structures
• Improved name of opcode 250
• Removed unused field from WED overlay tilemap structures
• Dice fields in effects and abilities are treated as unsigned numbers
• Fixed DLG export as WeiDU .D file for resources in DLC archives
• Fixed context menu option "Create zip archive" for saved games and also added to NI's File menu
• Fixed display issue with SPLPROT "Creature type" labels used by opcodes 318/324/326
• Fixed several potential issues when copy-pasting resource substructures
• Fixed orientations in type B000 (AMBIENT_STATIC) creature animations
• Fixed removal of resource selection in the resource tree when pressing shortcut Ctrl-C
• Several more smaller fixes and updates

Version 2.4-20260111

Changelog:

• Greatly improved CRE inventory slot representation (that also fixes a regression from the previous release)
• Fixed signedness of the CRE Lore field
• Various internal cleanups

Version 2.4-20260109

Changelog:

• Added several new Look and Feel themes for the app
• Added "InfinityLoader.exe" to the default list of game launchers if available
• Added Preferences option to enable or disable the warning dialog when opening the string table editor
• Saved games: Added option to export GAM > PartyNPC as CHR or CRE resource
• STO: Added options to sort store items by name
• Greatly improved performance of the Find resource (Quick Search) feature (especially noticeable on Linux)
• Improved the MUS playlist parser
• Improved feedback for unsuccessful WeiDU changelog operations
• Improved display of the result table for a WeiDU changelog operation
• Improved usability of opcode 319 by providing a customized "Power" parameter
• Improved parameter representation for opcode 342
• Updated opcode 112 parameters
• Updated opcode 303 parameters
• Updated field types in WED resources
• Expanded file type list for BCS reference search
• Slightly improved error handling if dialog.tlk is not available
• Several minor improvements to the "StringRef Lookup" dialog
• Area Viewer: Current viewport center is preserved when changing zoom level
• Area Viewer: Added keyboard shortcuts for Viewer Settings and Update Map
• Area Viewer: Updating map content also updates the enabled state of layer controls
• Area Viewer: Added context menu to copy current map position to the clipboard
• Area Viewer: Added option to display (un)explored regions of the map
• Area Viewer: Info box displays tile index at cursor position
• Area Viewer: Added option to drop pins for marking positions on the map
  • Added new "Pins" layer
  • Added context menu entries to add or remove pins
  • Pins are non-persistent but can be saved to or loaded from an external file (VMAP file type)
  • VMAP files can be explicitly opened with NI's "Open external file" feature
• BAM Converter: Relaxed frame definitions in session files
  • Frame paths can be relative to the session file path
  • Frame indices are now optional and default to 0 if not specified
  • Session export relativizes frame paths automatically if possible
• Removed deprecated "Ignore Override" option (superseded by "Open biffed resource" feature)
• Unified result windows for check and search operations
• Fixed BAM V2 encoding issues that caused glitched texture mapping under certain conditions
• Fixed biff list initialization in "Edit Biff" dialog if no resource entries are available
• Fixed context menu not opening in the resource tree for games with unmerged DLC archives
• Fixed LUA color scheme control being initially disabled in the Preferences dialog
• Structured resources: Fixed "Apply to all substructures" feature if a field type was manually changed to one of the predefined datatypes
• Current color scheme is applied to the clipboard viewer and debug console windows
• Disabled option to remove PartyNPC structures in GAM resources to prevent potential file corruption
• Many more internal updates and fixes

Version 2.4-20250611

Changelog:

• Reference search: Removed "GAM" file type from the default selection
• Improved BIFF path detection for original games in case the game's ini path definitions are incorrect
• Improved wording of labels and tooltips for the context menu entries to apply a value to all removable structures
• Creature Animation Browser: Added option to export animation sequences as a series of PNG images (one image per frame)
• Area Viewer:
  • If minimap layers are enabled (search, light or height map) then additional information about the coordinate under the mouse cursor is displayed in the info box
  • Added support for ENTRIES.2DA entrance definitions
  • Fixed slightly off-center ranged ambient icons
• Added more filters to the BAM Converter:
  • Color filter "Gaussian Blur"
  • Color filter "Edge Detection"
  • Transform filter "Resize": Added "Lanczos" scaling algorithm
  • Transform filter "Rotate": Added support for arbitrary angles
• Improved Mass Exporter:
  • Redesigned the GUI: Options are splitted into two sections to optimize dialog size
  • Added a Preview button that lists the resources matching the current export settings
  • Added a "Preselect exported files" option that allows to control which files should be exported
  • Added option "Close dialog after export"
• WMP Viewer: A click on a worldmap icon automatically selects the entry in the area list; a click with pressed CTRL key will unselect the current entry
• WMP Viewer: Virtual worldmap icon definitions (via XNEWAREA.2DA) should not be applied to WMP resources in saved games
• ITM View tab shows all available icon frames (e.g. if equipped and dragged variants exist)
• Open external file: Shows a confirmation dialog if file is very big
• Added a "Follow system color scheme" option to the Look&Feel section of the Preferences dialog which automatically selects a light or dark theme depending on current OS settings
• Added new color theme "BCS Dark" for BCS and DLG tree view
• Added "Specifics" field to CRE View tab
• Added display of human-readable in-game date and time ot the View tab of GAM resources
• Added a "Sync" button to resource views that restores the resource tree selection of the currently opened resource
• Updated CRE status flags: BG2 and EE games repurpose bit 19 (DISEASED) to track the Deactivate() script action
• Updated supported resource types for IWD and IWD2 in opcode 206
• Improved text and resource fields in structured resources to prevent accidental alterations of content unless they were explicitly modified by the user (required for some new EEex features)
• "Find resource" (quick search) should not prefer game resources in saved games if they also exist as regular game resources (e.g. BALDUR.GAM)
• Deprecated Preferences option "Ignore Override". Option is largely superceded by the resource option "Open biffed resource in new window" and will be removed in a future release.
• Fixed icon display in list controls if filter mode is enabled
• Fixed display of the CRE kit field after restoring a manual field type conversion
• Fixed strref field updates without marking the file as "modified" under certain conditions
• Fixed potential freezes when using the "Find resource" (quick search) feature that could happen under very specific circumstances
• Cosmetic fix in saved results of search operations that filters out internally used regular expression markers
• Updated build.xml: Added "release" attribute that is considered by JDK 9 or later
• Various internal fixes and optimizations

Version 2.4-20250303

Changelog:

• Added new feature "Generate WeiDU changelog": Produces an interactive list of mod components that made changes to selected game resources. Option can be found in the File menu or the context menu of the resource tree. A WeiDU executable is required which can be specified in the Preferences ("Resources" section) or is autodetected if found in the game directory.
• Improved synchronization of the string table if external tools, such as WeiDU, or multiple NI instances made modifications.
• Fixed worldmap not showing up in the WMP view tab in EET games.
• Fixed blocking issues when adding or removing entries from the string table.
• Fixed marking the string table as "modified" when removing entries.
• Some internal updates.

Version 2.4-20250225

Changelog:

• Added new context menu options for text resources (2DA, IDS, INI):
  • Option to open selection or numeric value at current text cursor position as string references
  • Option to open selection or numeric value at current text cursor position as numeric IDS reference
  • Option to open selection or text at current text cursor position as game resource
• Added new Preferences option "Use last available IDS symbol for display" to mimic WeiDU's behavior when resolving IDS tables with multiple definitions
• Added new feature: SPLPROT Converter (found in Tools menu) to encode or decode splprot definitions
• Added portrait icons preview to the icon selection list (e.g. used by opcodes 142, 169 and 240)
• Added a help link to "Use regular expression" checkboxes in various search and check dialogs which opens a page that lists all supported regex features
• Added option to include symbolic spell names in the search for spell resources
• Added workaround to fix missing weapon overlays on some type 7000 creature animations
• Reorganized Preferences categories: created new subcategory "Resources"
• BAM Converter: fixed creation of BAM V2 resources with frames of dimensions >= 1024 pixels
• BAM Converter: improved autodetection of PVRZ compression type for BAM V2 output
• Improved reference search:
  • Implemented missing search for WAV references in BCS resources
  • Improved results of music, resource and string references in script and text resources
• Improved BAM navigation controls (BAM Viewer and BAM Converter): jump to first/last cycle, jump to first/last frame, jump to specific cycle (BAM converter only)
• Improved parsing of effect structures in ITM/SPL resources
• Improved UI behavior of "Search CRE/ITM/SPL/STO" and "Advanced Search" while search operations are in process
• Improved representation of area links in WMP resources
• Improved WAV playback controls: reduces situations where time labels overlap each other
• Improved BAM V2 decoder: invalid texture definitions won't terminate the decoding operation anymore
• Improved ITM/SPL ability flags
• Included party scripts (*.bs) in BCS text search (menu Search > Text Search > BCS)
• Changed behavior of selection lists in resource structures when filter mode is enabled: filter text is not automatically removed when a list item is selected
• Restructured WMP viewer and added support of XNEWAREA.2DA for BG2:SoA worldmap
• Updated opcodes 67, 108, 271, 323
• Show memory usage display only on NI's main window
• Fixed potential locking when opening a new game while a resource still contains unsaved data
• Fixed opening ITM and SPL resources in BG2:SoA (without ToB) which formerly crashed because of missing MISSILE.IDS in this game
• Many internal fixes and improvements

Version 2.4-20241204

Changelog:

• Added a little gimmick that progressively populates the (empty) main panel of NI with creatures from the game which perform various random actions. The feature can be enabled or disabled in the preferences (menu Game > Preferences > General > Show creatures on main panel).
• Added options to the context menu of resources in the Edit view to assign a selected field value to all other substructures of the same type ("Apply value to all/non-empty/empty removable structures"). This feature allows you to quickly synchronize field values, e.g. across spell or item effects.
• Added option to sort items for sale in STO resources. Available sort orders: ascending, descending, suggested order (as used by many vanilla stores), user-defined.
• New implementation of the MUS player "InfinityAmp" (menu Tools > InfinityAmp) with many more options:
  • Improved window layout
  • Option to load and play MUS files from all available games
  • Playlist doesn't reset when the game is refreshed or a new game is loaded
  • More playback controls and options (e.g. shuffle, play/pause, prev/next playback)
  • Import/export of playlist as .m3u or .m3u8 file
• Mass Exporter: Added option to decompile .dlg to .d format
• ARE resource View tab:
  • Fall back to a default area script if script field is empty (supported by IWD1 and IWD2)
  • Display link to associated INI resource if available
• BAM Converter:
  • Improved usability for entering frame center values: pressing enter registers a new value moves focus to the next logical UI control
  • Added option to prevent overwriting PVRZ files but using the next free pvrz slot instead
• Improved check for String Encoding Errors:
  • Greatly improved detection of ANSI encoding errors in original games
  • Added option to repair listed issues
• Improved the "Open File" dialog (menu Game > Open File):
  • Added a new checkbox "Keep dialog always on top"
  • Improved file drop area and general dialog layout
• Improved character animation sprite decoding:
  • Fixed incorrect transparent color detection for some sprites and overlays
  • Improved handling of sprites with extended directions (SSW, WNW, NNE,...) which disable the "path_smooth" option: Fixes animations with missing frames
  • More internal optimizations and improvements
• Improved confirm prompts opening when handling unsaved changes: Added option to discard and cancel to all situation where possible and improved button names.
• Overhauled audio playback of sound resources in the WAV resource view and the resource list field type for WAV files:
  • Improved UI controls (play/pause, loop option, slider for jumping to specific sound positions)
  • Smoother and more responsive sound playback (no delays and minimized probability to produce audible clicks or gaps)
• Improved MUS soundtrack playback:
  • Smoother and more responsive sound playback
  • Minimized probability to produce audible clicks or gaps between sound segments
• Improved MUS resource parser
• Improved handling and display of strings in game resources that contain non-ASCII characters.
• Added DLG resrefs to STO View tabs
• Changed AC type from bitfield to list in opcode 0
• Added a keyboard shortcut (Ctrl-/) to the quick resource search feature (magnifier icon above the resource tree).
• Allow missing string table: Fixes issues with the non-interactive BG1 demo which doesn't include a dialog.tlk
• Fixed available entries in the color range selection field type (used in CRE resources or opcode 7 effects)
• Fixed game launcher not updating to the correct executable when manually opening a game via menu Game > Open Game...
• Fixed window title of resource windows not updating to the current resource name
• Fixed representation of the CRE V2.2 kit field (IWD2)
• Fixed some error logging issues
• Many internal improvements and fixes

Version 2.4-20240914

Changelog:

• String Editor (for dialog.tlk) automatically sets default flags when adding new entries
• Improved 2DA table parser (fixes issues with malformed tables, e.g. RT_FURY.2DA or RT_NORM.2DA in IWD2)
• Improved initial output path selection in open/save dialogs in MOS and TIS converters
• Added "Height" attribute to WED > Polygon substructures
• Added tooltip description to CRE flags bit 31 (Uninterruptible)
• Added option "Application Log Level" to the Preferences which controls the amount of log messages shown in the console
• Added option to edit numeric data specifically as unsigned or signed numbers (accessible via context menu in Edit view)
• Added a visualization of current memory usage in NI's status bar (can be turned on/off in the Preferences)
• Worldmap viewer shows random encounter probabilities alongside travel times when travel distances are enabled
• BAM Converter:
  • Prevent Trim filter from creating empty frames (e.g. with fully transparent images)
  • Added new output filter "Overlay BAM Filter": combines multiple (split) BAM files into a single animation (e.g. huge creature animations)
• Area Viewer: Added support for predefined automap notes in original PST
• Allow adding a single Song or Rest Encounter structure in ARE resources if missing
• Item category names are dynamically generated or adjusted with ITEMTYPE.2DA information in EE games
• View tab of ITM resources should always display the biggest item icon if available
• Adjusted transparency detection in BAM animations to fix transparency issues with some game resources
• Reimplemented core functionality of file handling which fixes several bugs and improves performance on case-sensitive filesystems (Linux) or when accessing resources inside DLC archives (all platforms)
• Removed code for auto-migrating preferences from ancient NI releases (2016 or earlier) when running a more recent version for the first time
• Improved display of log messages in the debug console
• Improved check for unused files:
  • Added option to check multiple file types
  • Fixed listing duplicate entries that differ only in case
  • Included string table when checking for unused WAV resources
  • Improved search performance
• Fixed a bug in CRE item slot editing when item resref fields in Item substructures were edited as literal string (via context menu)
• Fixed "No such index" display of CRE names in the resource selection tree
• Fixed progress info updates during check and search operations
• Included IntelliJ IDEA project file in sources
• A great number of internal optimizations and bugfixes

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