16 replies to this topic

[tomkaz]

After 2 weeks of setting up my new mega-mod game, it crashes before it starts. The BGII - SoA beginning screen opens. After I select play, it closes and the ToBEx DOS window opens. Then after ~2 seconds, it closes. End of game.

Using the latest MOD versions available.
Using the latest BiG World programs from SHS
Edited BiG World Install.bat to eliminate conflicting mod components, added some Expert mods.
Fresh installs of BG and SoA, with fixes.
The ToB disk is in the CD drive when I was trying to play the game.

During the installation of the MODs, I was not asked for the location of my BG game. The surprised me, but the location is easy to find so I assume this is an upgrade to the BGT installer.

After installing the mod files in BGII - SoA, I ran BiG World Install.bat
BiG World Install.bat called BiG World Fixpack.bat, BiG World Textpack.bat, and BiG World Trimpack.bat. I do not remember the order but there were no errors.

After BiG World Install.bat finished and the DOS window closed, I ran BiG World Clean-Up.bat, then End Biff. I am not sure this should have been run in the opposite order.

I went looking for the BiG World Debug.txt file. It was there when I started, but now it has been removed. Therefore, there is no information on what happened.

Anyone have any suggestions or comments?

Thanks for any help you can give.

Tom

[Jarno Mikkola]

After BiG World Install.bat finished and the DOS window closed, I ran BiG World Clean-Up.bat, then End Biff. I am not sure this should have been run in the opposite order.

Erhm, why use the End Biff at all, as the BWP usually runs the Generalized Biffing if you have that in your game folder and that does everything you need... you cannot uninstall the End Biff, the GenBiff can be.
And before you run any .bat files always test that the game works !!!! And you might want to make a backup too if you got the space...

[tomkaz]

Thanks for your comments Jarno.

I checked through the WeiDU log file. BiG World Install.bat did run Generalized Biffing. I just do not remember a message on the screen telling me that. So I actually ran End-Biff after the game was biffed.

I cannot find any statement showing the BiG World Clean-Up.bat was run, lthoiugh I did run it. I'll dump End-Biff and run a new game. I'll report the results.

Tom

[tomkaz]

I created a new game. Installed it correctly and let BiG World Install.bat make the game. The results are the same The ToBEx DOS window opens, then after ~2 seconds, it closes. End of game.

Has anyone had success with BiG World Installpack v10.2.1 and BGT112-Install.rar?

I guess I will go back to BiG World Installpack v9.10 and BGT111. They worked for me before.

Tom

Checked BiG World Install.bat (9.10) and BiG World Install.bat (10.2.1). Both do a check for the location of Baldur's Gate. With BiG World Install.bat (10.2.1) and BGT112, I was not asked for the location of my Baldur's Gate game.

Could this be my problem? Which program is causing this problem?

Thanks for any help,

Tom

Edited by tomkaz, 27 November 2011 - 02:56 PM.

[mr fantastic]

I created a new game. Installed it correctly and let BiG World Install.bat make the game. The results are the same The ToBEx DOS window opens, then after ~2 seconds, it closes. End of game.

Has anyone had success with BiG World Installpack v10.2.1 and BGT112-Install.rar?

I guess I will go back to BiG World Installpack v9.10 and BGT111. They worked for me before.

Tom

Checked BiG World Install.bat (9.10) and BiG World Install.bat (10.2.1). Both do a check for the location of Baldur's Gate. With BiG World Install.bat (10.2.1) and BGT112, I was not asked for the location of my Baldur's Gate game.

Could this be my problem? Which program is causing this problem?

Thanks for any help,

Tom

Ok I had something similar....and...well I know it sounds strange but I downloaded BGDVD and mounted it in my drive...and it worked

Never had that problem before, only when ToB ex was introduced...

[tomkaz]

Thanks mr fantastic!

With BW Install.bat v9.10, I had no problem with TobEx Beta 0020. With BW Install.bat v10.2.1, I am using TobEx Beta 0021. I wonder if that is the problem? Has anyone had problems with TobEx Beta 0021?

With BW Install.bat v9.10, my game folder was E:\Black Isle\BGII - SoA. With BW Install.bat v10.2.1, my game folder was E:\BGII - SoA. Sounds wacky, but I hope this is not the problem.

It takes me 6 hours to make a game from scratch. So, I should be able to test these things in about 5 days.

Tom

Edited by tomkaz, 28 November 2011 - 06:15 AM.

[tomkaz]

Here is a score card of my progress in making my mega-mod game work.

1) BW Install.bat (v9.10) + TobEx (v0020) = game directory = E:/Black Isle/BGII - SoA
.....This game worked but was deleted because it included some non-english mods.

2) BW Install.bat (10.2.1) + TobEx (v0021) = game directory = E:/BGII - SoA
.....Failed. TobEx window opened, then closed. Normal screen. No game.

3) BW Install.bat (10.2.1) + TobEx (v0020) = game directory = E:/BGII - SoA
.....Failed. TobEx window opened, then closed. Normal screen. No game.

4) BW Install.bat (10.2.1) + No TobEx = game directory = E:/BGII - SoA
.....Failed. TobEx window opened, then closed. Black screen. No game. TobEx was forced in by BWP. I think this began with BWP v9.4.

Here is where I am going:

5) Fully remove TobEx from game including from BW Fixpack. Use BW Install.bat (10.2.1) and game directory = E:/BGII - SoA. This is installing now.

6) Use BW Install.bat (v9.10), TobEx (v0020), and game directory = E:/BGII - SoA.

7) Use BW Install.bat (v9.10), TobEx (v0020), and game directory = E:/Black Isle/BGII - SoA.

Do a clean install of Windows XP Pro and try #7 again.

Has anyone have any other ideas I can try???

Tom

Note #1: TobEx is in Refinment, SCS, SCSII, and qne more mod. Therefor #5 provide no useful information.

Tom

Edited by tomkaz, 28 November 2011 - 09:52 PM.

[tomkaz]

I have checked out BW Install.bat, BGT112, TobEx 0021 and files necessary for BWP 10.2. The game made with these files installs and works correctly. I suspect my problem is one of the mods I have chosen overwrites the Baldur.exe file. I suspect it is a recent upgrade or a new mod. When I find the problem, I will post it my next attachment. It will take some time as I have ~125 mods to check.

Tom

[Lollorian]

Ya know It'd help to actually post your WeiDU.log so we can also play the guessing game But afaik there's no mod that downright overwrites the Baldur.exe (I think you meant BGMain.exe but nothing overwrites it either)

EXE mods are patches and should never overwrite

[tomkaz]

Thanks LoLLorain for your reply.

Right now my head is really messed up. I have had severe sinus problems for the last three weeks or so that I am making mental mistakes like you cannot imagine.

One thing I do know is that one of the .exe files must get changed and overwritten. Be it BGII - SoA\BGMAIN.exe or BGII - SoA\BALDUR.exe, I am not sure. But it is the file that starts the game. With non-modified BGII - SoA, the game starts in Iranicus' dungeon. With BGII - SoA modified by BGT, the game starts in Candlekeep. So with a BGT modified game either has to change BGII - SoA\BGMAIN.exe or BGII - SoA\BALDUR.exe.

So far I have checked the files I have added from the BWP 10.2 Sections from Corrections through The Big BG1 Mods. I left out One Pixel Productions, Oversight, and NEJ mods. The BWP install and game worked. Only problem it took over 1.5 minutes to start. None of my other Mega-Mod games ever took more than a few seconds to start.

I am continuing to work on finding my problem with my complete mega-mod game and will add my WeiDU log to future posts.

Tom

[Lollorian]

One thing I do know is that one of the .exe files must get changed and overwritten. Be it BGII - SoA\BGMAIN.exe or BGII - SoA\BALDUR.exe, I am not sure. But it is the file that starts the game. With non-modified BGII - SoA, the game starts in Iranicus' dungeon. With BGII - SoA modified by BGT, the game starts in Candlekeep. So with a BGT modified game either has to change BGII - SoA\BGMAIN.exe or BGII - SoA\BALDUR.exe.

Dunno if that's an exe change, maybe it just adds a new button to the GUI that points to the BGI start? (you can still start in BGII through the "Start New BG2 Game" button)

Anyway, my point was that nothing overwrites the exe but many things patch it (BGT, Widescreen, IA, 1PP, ToBEx and SCS - to name a few )

Only problem it took over 1.5 minutes to start. None of my other Mega-Mod games ever took more than a few seconds to start.

That's becasue your override folder probably has more than a million files now and you haven't installed the generalized biffing mod (which is installed at the end of the BWP) Lots of files = lots of time to load... gen_biff packs them all into small archives so your game only needs to load specific files rather than the entire override folder

PS: You might wanna just use the (S)TANDARD BWP option rather than trying to install everything yourself I've been using the BWP10.2 tools to install the latest versions of almost every mod I usually install for quite a while (including ToBEx v21)

[tomkaz]

Hi Lollorian:

I am using BWP 10.2. I use a modified BiG World Install.bat and select the (T)actic version. The reasons for the modifications of BiG World Install.bat is to avoid installing mod options that conflict with other mods. Generalized biffing is also automatically installed and run. The time problem I have is with a biffed game. I'll check the override folder after I attempt the next game to see what is left in it.

The only "failed" install is Hunk 1. This only loads into one of two mods and fails for about ten others.

Tom

[tomkaz]

Still having problems with my complete game.

My OS is Windows XP Pro SP3 with all Microsoft updates installed. It is a fresh copy.

Using the latest BiG World files.

Tried a complete game (selected files from all 26 sections as listed in BiG World 10.3 english,pdf). Appeared to install successfully, but crashes when I attempt to run it.

Cut the game down to files from the first 13 sections. Loads with some errors. Starts without problems. Prior to running BiG World Clean-up.bat, it took 2 minutes 45 seconds to load the game. Running BiG World Clean-up.bat did not improve the time. Trying to attach my Weidu.log.

Baldur.err has no error comments.

Balder.log has 3 comments:
1)CVisibilityMap::AddCharacter : (3741, 2801) #:1507352 R:14
2)CVisibilityMap::AddCharacter : (3360, 3060) #:14745826 R:14
3)CVisibilityMap::AddCharacter : (3720, 2826) #:262148 R:14

Both the screen and BiG World Debug.txt gave the following errors:
No Translations for: @0, @6, @12, @18, @24, @33, @36, @39, and @44

Well I'll add more mods and try again tomorrow.

Thanks for any help,

Tom

Attached Files

•  Game 13 WeiDU.log   15.31K   92 downloads

[Lollorian]

Please zip/rar/7z your BiG World Debug.txt and attach it

And whatever you do, NEVER skip the last section of the BWP if you're doing an install that you're intending to playtest (that section does most of the fixing, biffing stuff so you're less likely to have huge loading times/crashes/stutter if you install that )

Your WeiDU.log says you don't have gen_biff installed so a ~3min load time is normal I guess Cleanup.bat only frees up space - won't help with any aspect of the actual gameplay

[tomkaz]

Thanks Lollorian for your comments.

I have done a lot to my computer in the past 2 days. It has improved some things but the game still fails.

I have a 1 TB hard drive. It is partitioned into 8 equal parts. I use C: only for Windows XP. I use D: for non-game programs. I use E: for BGT games. I use F:, G:, and H: for storing BGT mod files and related files. I: is a spare. I use J: for non-game files, files generated by programs (ie.: WordPerfect stores files it created on J:).

First I installed a fresh version of Windows XP Pro SP2. Usually I also install Microsoft updates, but this times I did not install any. Microsoft nVidia updates always kill my connection to the Internet.

Second I cleaned all files from the E: partition. Windows XP creates to system files on each partition, named RECYCLER and System Volume Information. These cannot be removed. RECYCLER can be opened and all but one of the files in it can be deleted. I checked and these 2 programs took up 4 GB on the partition. Normally, they use 68 KB. I did a Quick Format of E: and the space used by RECYCLER and System Volume Information returned to 68 KB.

Third changed the location of the BGT games. I was using E:\Baldur's Gate\ and E:\BGII - SoA\. I am back to using E:\BGGames\Baldur's Gate\ and E:\BGGames\BGII - SoA\. Why? It makes me feel better not using the top directory.

I installed the games and patches. I added the chosen mods from all 26 sections and installed the mega-mod game. It failed.

Some things to be noted;

The test of the BGII - SoA installation was better as the new opening scenes returned.

I messed up and copied the missing BG files to the SoA Override folder. Hope that did not hurt.

The install time was faster.

The BGII - SoA window open quicker.

The TobEx DOS window open and closed normally.

The game did not start. Yes, the ToB disk is in the drive.

A check of the Windows Task Manager showed no programs were running.

No errors listed in Buldar.err or Baldur.log.

Errors listed in BiG World Debug.txt. Most serious is that Weimer requests I send SETUP-ITEMUPGRADE.DEBUG to him.

Attached are the appropriate files. If anyone uses similar mods in their game and it works, please let me know.

Tom

Attached Files

•  BiG world Debug Errors.txt   1.49K   98 downloads
•  BiG World Debug.7z   159.15K   66 downloads
•  WeiDU.log   59.32K   93 downloads

[Lollorian]

Re: RECYCLER
Those are your Recycle Bin files Emptying the Bin should drop them back to 68kB If not, I'd strongly suggest you run an updated malware scan on your system... :ph34:

Re: Install problems
Finally understood stuff you've been saying It appears it's partly because the BWPLinkliste isn't updated for BWP10.3.1 (You're using a BWPFixpack before 10.3)

Small suggestion: instead of extracting, moving, doing other stuff to mods every time you wanna install, might I recommend creating a temporary folder where all your mods are extracted and kept ready so you only have to move them into BGII-SoA to install?

Try that out a final time Make sure to check for mods inside subfolders, exe installer mods (mods from PPG mostly) and especially take care of infinityanimations and its packages

[tomkaz]

Thanks Lollorian for the comments.

Re: RECYCLER
Those are your Recycle Bin files Emptying the Bin should drop them back to 68kB If not, I'd strongly suggest you run an updated malware scan on your system... :ph34:

My recycle bin was empty. Checked and no malware found.

Small suggestion: instead of extracting, moving, doing other stuff to mods every time you wanna install, might I recommend creating a temporary folder where all your mods are extracted and kept ready so you only have to move them into BGII-SoA to install?

For each section, I have the all extracted mods of that section put into a zip file. I found that it is faster to extract from a compacted file into a folder than it is to copy from one folder to another folder. Just save a little time.

Some results:

Test 1:
Mods: Baldur's Gate Trilogy, BG2 Fixpack, Generalized Biffing, Restored Prologue Textscreen Music
Results: BGT ran. No rooftop scene at start.

Test 2:
Mods: Baldur's Gate Trilogy, BG2 Fixpack, Generalized Biffing, Restored Prologue Textscreen Music, Throne of Bhaal Extender
Results: Ran, but a little slow to start.

Test 3:
Mods: Baldurdash, Baldur's Gate Trilogy, BG2 Fixpack, Check the Bodies, Check the Bodies-Chores, Check the Bodies_Fast Forward, Dark Horizons, Dark Side of the Sword Coast, Drizzt Saga, Generalized Biffing, Item Revisions, Jondalar Fix for BGT, Northern Tales of the Sword Coast, Northern Tales of the Sword Coast Patch, Region of Terror, Restored Prologue Textscreen Music, Secret of Bonehill, Shadows Over Soubar, Tethyr Forest Patch, The Darkest Day, Throne of Bhaal Extender, Tortured Souls TS-BP
Results: Ran without problems.

I'll check the BWPFixpack to ensure I have the latest version.

Tom