Add tiles to an existing tileset

* Note: This information is very old and may be invalid. *

Overview

Here is a method for adding a tile to an existing tileset. The same concept can be used to add placeable but I don't know how to do that. Note: In the release version of NWN the override folder is used by BioWare for updates and modifications to core game / campaign data. Users should avoid placing their modifications in this folder as its contents may be removed without prior warning as the result of an update, patch or expansion. Upon final release user modifications should exist only in .hak files.

Before you start

Before you start re-texturing tiles in NWN you will need three things:

1. The NWN Beta toolset
2. A BIF extractor… try the Bif Unpacker v0.5 by Zoligato
3. ITP tools: itp2asc and asc2itp converters by Zilax.

1. Extract necessary files

Weather you are adding to an existing tileset or one you created using my other tutorial there are two files you'll need to edit. You will need to edit the set file (.SET) file and the palette file (.ITP). For the rural tileset they are prefixed with ttr01, for the crypt tileset files are prefixed by tdc01. The .SET files are located with the tilesets in the bt_tilesets.bif file. The ITP files are in the bt_templates.bif files. I'd place these in a temporary folder for now. If you are add to the rural tileset then you will need the following files: ttr01palstd.itp and ttr01.set

2. Add a entry in the Palette file

The IPT files in NWN are palette files. They are the files that create the lists that appear in the toolset. Obviously, if you wish to add a tile to a tileset you need to add it to the palette file. This is done in three steps.

1. Convert Palette (i.e. ttr01palstd.itp) to ascii.

   itp2asc ttr01palstd.itp > ttr01palstd.asc

2. Edit the ASCII file to add (or delete) the desired items. The palette file can have several sections. For example the rural tileset has three sections (Features, Groups, and Terrain). The different sections are obvious but not labeled. For now we have to assume that they are in the same order as they appear in the toolset. Make sure you add you entry to the desired section.
   Each entry has the following format:

   ELEMENT
       NULLFLAG
       STRING: NAME = "Anthill 2"
       RESREF: RESREF = "ttr01_p05_01"
   END ELEMENT

   
   The NAME line is the name that will be displayed in the toolset. The ResRef line is that name of your new MDL file (minus the MDL extension).

3. Convert back to itp.

   asc2itp ttr01palstd.asc ttr01palstd.itp

3. Add entries into the .SET file

The .SET file is a file that describes the tileset tiles, groups and rules for placement. When placing tiles in the toolset you are actually placing a group (even if the group is one tile). Each group references one or more tiles. Therefore, in order to add a new tile to the tileset you need to make two additions to the .SET file, a group and a tile. In addition each section begins with the number of entries to follow. So the following lines have to be incremented by one:

[GROUPS]
Count=57

And

[TILES]
Count=249

Then you need to add the tile to the tiles section. The easiest was is to copy the entry from a similar tile. The most important part is that the MODEL line references the filename of the model you just added to the palette file. Example:

[TILE249]
Model=ttr01_p05_01
WalkMesh=msb01
TopLeft=Grass
TopLeftHeight=0
TopRight=Grass
TopRightHeight=0
BottomLeft=Grass
BottomLeftHeight=0
BottomRight=Grass
BottomRightHeight=0
Top=
Right=
Bottom=
Left=
MainLight1=1
MainLight2=1
SourceLight1=1
SourceLight2=1
AnimLoop1=1
AnimLoop2=1
AnimLoop3=1
Doors=0
Sounds=0
PathNode=A
Orientation=0
ImageMap2D=MITR01_P05

Then you need to add the tile to the groups section. I don't see where Name or StrRef are used. The pallete file controls the display name. The important part is the Tile0 line. This line must reference the number of the tile you just added. Example:

[GROUP57]
Name=AntHill
StrRef=63636
Rows=1
Columns=1
Tile0=249

4. Create an override directory

If you haven't done so already you'll need to create an override directory in the toolset directory (example C:\Program Files\NeverwinterNights\NWToolsetBeta\override). Place your new modified files in the override directory and your done.