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Created by
Jasperre, last updated on Mar 15, 2022
7 minute read
This is a brief overview of the controls and usage of the toolset with controls, shortcuts and toolbar explanations. If it gets too lengthy subpages for different aspects of the toolset will be created.
Toolset General
The toolset is a Windows 32bit application located in Install Path\bin\win32\nwtoolset.exe - it runs an old school Windows GUI (this mainly means you can't, for instance, open two creatures properties at once, or have the journal and conversation editor open at the same time). You can run it under WINE or similar applications on Linux but it is not full proof; always make constant saves.
You can associate .mod files with the toolset to be able to double click and open them directly (when placed in the default /module folder)
You can set the user directory (on Windows usually in My Documents folder called "Neverwinter Nights"). This can be helpful if you want to load a specific set of hakpack files or other files for a particular mod. Of course the .mod file should be in the relevant /module folder: nwtoolset.exe -userdirectory "C:\Path"
You can pass the full path and name of a module file and it will load it directly, useful for shortcuts to the main module you want to open: nwtoolset.exe "C:\folder\module name.mod"
When the toolset opens it generates a "temp0" folder in the modules folder. This can be renamed to be the same as the .mod filename and the toolset will use this to load from instead of unpacking each time.
For instance, create a new module called "my_mod" it generates a new temp0 folder, a my_mod.mod and my_mod.BackupMod file when it is saved. If you rename the temp0 folder to be exactly "my_mod" and go to Open it again, it will popup with a prompt; "A directory with the same name has been found. Do you want to open this directory as a module?" answer Yes and it doesn't need to unpack the .mod file. This option can be set as the default way to open a module in the Toolset Options.
Saving Modules
The save command is the top left "save" icon or CTRL + S. This save shortcut is the same in the Conversation Editor and Script Editor.
The toolset can crash from time to time, so make sure you make regular saves. It is worth keeping a copy of your module in a separate location. Eg on Dropbox or OneDrive. This prevents toolset corruption and lost work!
Note that if you have a crash the toolset can potentially recover from the temp0 directory (make a copy of it, and rename it to be the same as the module name to try loading it). Failing this using the .BackupMod file may be a method to retrieve lost work.
Area Editor
Note: The main 3d level editor needs to be opened for some reason to see the palettes of creatures, placeables and the like on the right hand side of the editor.
To open the area editor, simply double click on an area in the left hand list, or Right Click → View Area on it. You can in NWN:EE open more than one area if you enable it in the options (and can then copy things between them even) but this does tend to cause more crashes so be careful. However it is very useful.
The camera acts as if it is anchored to 0.0 Z height which can be a bit frustrating for people used to a more 3d modeller program like Blender and sadly does not supported WASD or arrow key movement.
Basic controls for the 3d view are in the toolbar, some with associated keyboard and mouse controls:
| Command | Button(s) | Keyboard / Mouse | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fullscreen Mode | View → Full Screen | F11 | |
| Move Camera |
| Ctrl + Left mouse A + Left mouse You can also move the camera with the numpad: Numpad 4 / 6 / 8 / 2 - Move camera up / left / right / up / down Numpad 5 - Reset camera to facing straight down from a high height | Oddly the numpad options stop working when holding shift, but not ctrl... |
| Pan Camera |
| Ctrl + Right Mouse Ctrl + Middle Mouse You can also pan the camera with the numpad: Numpad 7 / 9 / 1 / 3 - Pan left / right / up / down | |
| Zoom Camera |
| Scroll wheel | |
| Slowly Zoom Camera | Shift + Scroll Wheel | ||
| Tile Interaction | |||
| Paint Tile | Select the terrain you want in the right bar and Left click on the area. Base terrain is done affecting 4 tiles at once. Features are baked in like walls/briges or are pre-set sizes of tiles for specific buildings etc. | ||
| Select Tile |
| Click on Select Terrain (top bar) or Paint Terrain (right hand menu) buttons then Left click to select | This allows a single tile to be copy and pasted with CTRL + C and CTRL + V. Copy and pasting of feature tiles can copy part of a tile. |
| Select Multiple Tiles | Click on Select Terrain (top bar) or Paint Terrain (right hand menu) buttons then drag with Left Mouse button to select more than one tile | This allows a group of tiles to be copy and pasted with CTRL + C and CTRL + V. The tile selection is in blue. Copy and pasting of feature tiles can copy part of a tile. | |
| Change Tile Appearance | If the tile is base terrain (where you usually place 4 tiles at once centred between tiles):
If the tile is special "feature" terrain (Eg; walls, bridges):
| The tile will potentially have multiple rotation and appearance options and it will randomly choose one. For mass painting the same tile it is recommended to copy and paste it. | |
| Remove Feature Tile | Once tile(s) are selected, press Delete | This can remove partial parts of feature tiles (eg half a house), but usually removes all interconnected tiles as part of terrain like walls etc. | |
| Object Interaction | |||
| Select Object(s) | Click on one in the left hand panel | Select with Left Mouse button in object mode Drag with Left Mouse button to select multiple objects | Since you can hide different object types from view, mass moving just creatures or just sounds or something is relatively easy. |
| Move Object (X/Y plane) | Right Click → Adjust Location (Position section)
| Select object(s) and drag with Left Mouse button | |
| Move Object (Z plane) | Right Click → Adjust Location (Position section) | Select object(s) and hold Alt and drag with Left Mouse button | Since Alt also can activate the accessibility menu for the top bar, it can be a bit finicky. Note creatures placed above or below the walkmesh will not stay there, and jump to the walkmesh. Anything else however will stay where it is placed on the Z plane (placeables, sounds, waypoints etc.). To adjust a creature to be higher use the Translate options. Note that if you select a placeable after moving it on the Z axis it might snap back to the walkmesh inadvertently. |
| Rotate Object |
Right Click → Adjust Location (Bearing section) | Select object(s) and hold Shift and drag with Right Mouse button | |
| Set Object Random |
| ||
| Scale Object | Right click object → Adjust Location (Visual Transforms section) | Select object(s) and hold Ctrl and use the Scroll Wheel | Scales and translations only work on non-static placeables. Note: Scaling via. the scroll wheel doesn't mark the area as needing to be saved, you must do this manually (or do something else in the area to trigger it to recognise changes). The adjust menu doesn't have this issue. |
| Translate Object | Right Click → Adjust Location (Visual Transforms section) | Translating an object does not change it's true real location, which is where you'd click on it if it was present. You could use this however to your advantage in many ways. | |
| Remove Object | Right click object → Delete (in world) Right click object → Remove (in sidebar) | Select object(s) and hit the Delete key | |
| Object Creation | |||
| Place new Object |
| Select in Palette and Left click to place | |
| Place multiple new Objects | Select in Palette and hold Shift Left click to place | The shift key keeps that object able to be placed again. | |
| Stack new Placeable on another Placeable | Select in Palette and hold Shift then Left click to place | This isn't perfect but works well enough. Also works to keep the placeable available to be placed again. |
