I was thinking recently, what utility would really help with BZ2 modding and suchlike...
Then it hit me, an effect simulator program! The program could be a fairly simple interface such as OM's Msh viewer program he wrote not so long ago...
You could 'open' and odf with an effect in it, use a .cfg file to locate pak files for textures and such likes. and just make hte effect play/repeat/pause itself over and over again as the camera spins around its centre.
More of a brainstorm than anything else, but if any programmers around here want something new to try, maybe i have found something =]. i would be quite happy to program it myself if i had any clue where to start.
The best thing for making effects would be a special map and DLL. The DLL would execute a CFG, giving the user options, and would be able to save ODF files. Well above my C++ BZ2 DLL level.