Still Viable?

[Solaufein]

Do these tools still have a use with the likes if Near Infinity, DLTCEP and WeiDU? I believe that some of them have a use still. IEEP is what I was brought up on, mod wise. Its easy to use, can edit stores, items and spells without any real difficulty. Creature Maker I know some people still use it. When I make or later a creature file I use one of the 'Keeper editors, mostly to assign gears and alter stats. I use NI to add in dialogs, scripts, sounds, DV and other stuff which I probably could accomplish with Creature Maker by itself. WinBiff is still usable since you need to extract the biff files before you can use IEEP. I prefer IETME over DLTCEP when it comes to area editing. Its another one of those tools that I was brought up on.

There is no need for the dialog tools, you're much better off using weidu and the famous .D. Same goes with scripts and the famous .BAF.

Just my ramblings.

[Jarno Mikkola]

Well, WeiDU.exe can do a lot of other stuff that's not exactly mentioned there... as it can patch all files that are less than 16Mb's in size, it of course needs a lot of getting used to, and with "a lot" I really mean; a lot.
The latest compiled Near Infinity can be found here, I think. It's... the v1.33 beta 20..., based on this, yeah, read the link...
The TeamBG's tools have their particular uses, if one just has learned to use them, most of them can be replaced, but they still have their magic, so I wouldn't recommend getting rid of them, any one them.

Same goes with scripts and the famous .BAF.

You can actually compile your own bcs'es from .baf files with the Near Infinity and DLTCEP, or you can also uncompile and export the existing .bcs'es as .baf's in them too. And as the .baf files are just common text files with this structure, it's somewhat easy to do a lot of things with them.

[Raven]

As for TeamBG tools I still use IEEP and IDU. IDU is the best tool for dialogs.

[jcompton]

I presume you're just checking to see if I'm still paying attention.

[Solaufein]

IDU wasn't viable on the day it was released. It got on my sh** list when it crashed and corrupted my dialog.tlk file. I had to redo all of my mod's stuff that had text needless to say. Oddly the tool creator retired shortly after releasing this wonderful tool.

[8people]

Must admit, I only really use IDU to read dialogues, as long as it's between the NPC and protagonist only, usually to just see what was there and how big different files actually were text-wise.

First used it round a friends house who would mod up his own game to add challenges and bits and pieces, I think he had a couple of corrupted files and the .tlk but had backups of the .tlk he made pretty much every day and just extracted the files broken without a hitch.

He spent more time using the IEEP to make blue fireballs that turned people into cows though

I've played around with a few of the tools, but haven't specifically used them to make something for a mod yet though. I tend to browse WeiDU tutorials and through NI more often than not.

[Solaufein]

The only thing good about IDU is its ability to break the dialogs down into a tree which makes it easy to see what response goes to where.

IEEp is the best tool ever. Too bad IEEP2 never saw the light of day.

[berelinde]

I use IETME a good deal in area creation. I still wind up using DLTCEP for parts of the process because IETME doesn't handle night WEDs, and it's easier for me to place animations and ambients with DLTCEP. That said, doors seem to be easier with IETME, as do wall groups and the various height/light/search maps.

[Amy]

I fall into the IEEP crowd also. I like Near Infinity also.

[MajorTomSawyer]

I use DLTCEP a lot.

Never had any luck using NI. I try and try and it just does not work.

[Solaufein]

Installing JAVA goes a long ways. 

[MajorTomSawyer]

I have java installed, I am not that incompetent...

I can use NI to extract things, but editing things with it is beyond me and to be honest, seems to be much easier with the older tools.

[Solaufein]

Older tools are easier. NI is for the advanced modder. Items, stores and spells is better off in the hands of IEEP.

[Elrond_TBG]

Of course some of these old TeamBG utilities are still viable. They do the function that they were programmed to do and they are easy to use for the beginner. I will concede though that utlities that overwrite files like IDU, the kit editors and so forth do not really have place in the age of patching files. IEEP, Creature Maker, EFF creator, IE Tileset Map Editor and others still have a use in today's modding scene.

[Solaufein]

Which is a shame with the BG2 Kit Creator v1.0.0.3. It has a nice looking GUI interface and is easy to make new kits with. In the old days I made a dwarven berserker kit with it. Too bad it can't patch the files that are related to kits.