UPDATE
2.1.10
- castle display in building browser re-enabled
Update
Version 2.2.0
- adds missing strat map sound files for Steam
A total of 1.110 strat map voice files (human and animal) have been added in unpacked form, these files were missing from the Steam version of the game, see the file list for details. This list is also available in the data\sounds directory of Bare Geomod.
UPDATE
2.2.1 - kingdoms only
- converted BAT file to EXE format
Inspired by this post in SSHIP, it now gives the ability to add the mod directly into Steam's library.
After installing Bare Geomod successfully, I played a little and then quit to see what was in the system.log file, if anything, and this is what I found:
It just goes on and on and on like that, ending with something about a missing preference file in players.txt. Is this normal for this mod?
To be clear, gameplay was successful and there were no problems in the campaign game, so why all this error stuff? Is it normal?
Last edited by Nordlaender; June 13, 2022 at 02:13 PM. Reason: Grammatical
You've got 2 warnings in that section which is perfectly normal: the files mentioned are not present in the mod's folder. If they are then not present in either the default directory or the pack files then you will get [error] lines. That's when things become interesting.
You will however notice that just in the lines below those [warning] entries you will also find 'found' entries.
Yeah, I know, but the "found" entries go on for miles lol, and in the past it used to mean that something was "found" where something else was expected to be found. That was how I corrected a lot of mistakes in the past, so seeing this new form of "found" is strange. Is it supposed to mean nothing important?
Correct - if you have 'missing' followed by 'found' then it's just a routine entry = missing in mod, found in main game. If it's followed by [error] then you have an issue. Hence simply ignore 'missing' and focus on 'error' when it comes to cleaning up the log.
Other 'missing' entries that are not followed by a 'found' will be those weird extension and path combination - left overs from RTW. Ignore as well as they will not generate a [error] entry.
Like this one: missing mods/ebii/data/export_descr_buildings_enums.txt. That's the lookup file from RTW.
Or this one: missing mods/ebii/data/ui/generic/generic_building.tga.dds. Alternate extensions.
Wow! thanks so much for explaining the details of how that works. Most of it is non-error stuff, but it gives the impression that a ton of stuff is missing from the mod or game and that had me worried.
This is how it ends after a long list of game trigger stuff (which I've never seen before as well):
21:51:20.207 [game.script.trigger] [info] 011 triggers tested by event IncomingMessage
21:51:20.207 [game.script.trigger] [info] 000 triggers tested by event EventCounter
21:51:20.207 [system.io] [info] exists: missing mods/Bare_Geomod/preferences/player.txt
I cannot find this last "missing" file. How can it say it exists, but is missing?
Thanks so much for your help with this!
Thanks! I need to file all of this away so I know what it is I'm reading in that system.log. Wow.
Well, I have some good news and some bad news. I found an old back-up copy of my SS 6.4 mod on my C drive that had not been corrupted since it was saved. I noticed all of my other back-ups on the D drive had files that were modded and also brand new ones, leaving me flabbergasted as to what had happened. On a hunch, I copied the entire ss6.3 folder over to my C drive and then deleted the mods/ss6.3/data folder. I then copied my modded back-up data folder into the ss6.3 folder and the game came right up -- except I had lost about a year's worth of work. This is why you should always back up to a safe place.
So, it appears that switching out a data folder can be used as a means of creating your own mod, but you had better keep it backed up in a safe place. Safe place means a separate drive on which you do not install any version of MTW2 or its mods.
I also cannot replicate the 4 trade fleet thing again. It is now controlled by the port chain and not the wharf chain. This is something from the base MTW2 game that is controlling that. However, if you want to get past that control mechanism, here is how to do it:
1) Install SS 6.3 first
2) Install the SS 6.4 patch
3) Install the Meloo fix
4) Switch the data folder from SS 6.4 with one from the Kingdoms' mods and launch it under that mod's name.
That's the way to get 4 trade fleets that are governed by the wharf building chain and not the port building chain. I have no idea why, but it works.
Now, I have a ton of stuff to rewrite and re-mod. Fortunately, bits and pieces are hanging out in the many data folders on my D drive. I wish I had saved the whole data file of my mod to the C drive again before I moved it out of the crusades folder. (sigh) Lesson learned.
Last edited by Nordlaender; June 09, 2022 at 10:58 AM.
UPDATE!
I managed to recreate the old? method of tricking Steam into launching Stainless Steel, but it requires more than just the data folder to be switched. Whichever folder you choose to use (americas, crusades, teutonic, britain), you must remove all four subfolders in it to a safe place and then replace them with these:
Initially, the system.log kept asking for those .dll files, which I found in the main MTW2 directory, so I made copies of them and put them in the folder with my mod. As for the other stuff, I believe I just put it there for the purpose of keeping everything together.
By using this method, you can recreate the 4 outgoing trade fleets and 4 incoming trade fleets. I have no idea why.
Hope this helps.
Maybe it has something to do with a difference between the Vanila game and the Kingdoms expansions. I know the EDB file in the vanila version only allows 3 fleets, but I don't think I ever checked the EDB file in any of the expansions to see if that had been changed to 4. That's all I can think of.
Does anyone know how many units are in the EDU of Bare Geomod when it is first installed?
I would like to write that number at the bottom of the page. Thanks to anyone who might know this.
Counting stuff - Notepad++ has an option to count search results. Simply search for ownership, click count and then remove 1 for the info at top. Which then gives you 413
Holy Cow! What an amazing feature! I never knew about that. I wracked my brain for ideas to count the units, but never thought of doing a search like that.
Thanks so much for letting me know that!
Also, lol... I've been digging around in my trash can with a program called Disk Link that lets you recover files that were deleted and I am finding my old mod one piece at a time. I think I've recovered most of it, so it might not be a total loss after all. Still, I like the print background of Bare Geomod. It is soooo much easier to read print on than the Stainless Steel background. I wonder why they chose a dark background to put print information on?
Hey! I'm sorry I was not able to explain that well. I will try to show you what I mean. Here is the vanila box for a building description:
And now here is the same building description box from my mod of SS 6.4:
Do you see how the darker background makes reading print harder, and this view is actually magnified somewhat. In game, it is almost impossible for me to read the unit descriptions because of that dark background, and I don't know how to change it or make it lighter.
That's why I am thinking of using Bare Geomod instead of my original SS 6.4 mod.
Are you talking about this I found in the ui folder?
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<root>
<version>6</version>
<enumeration_name>SHARED_SPRITES</enumeration_name>
<texture_pages count="3">
<page file="sharedpage_01.tga" width="512" height="512" force32bit="0"/>
<page file="sharedpage_00.tga" width="512" height="512" force32bit="0"/>
<page file="shieldpage_01.tga" width="146" height="156" force32bit="0"/>
I don't know how to mod this, unless the first line should be changed to sharedpage_00.tga.
Is the interface directory in the UI Folder? Or am I barking up the wrong tree?
Can the background be lightened somehow? I found a .tga file that looks like the background of the scroll page.
Thanks for helping me!
Last edited by Nordlaender; June 14, 2022 at 05:09 PM.