Restoring Game Post Steam Update

[Thermal]

Soooooo...

Steam decided sometime in the last few days to merge kingdoms and M2TW, and overwrite all of the campaign directory files in the process.
I had various modifications in place on these files, and hadn't mod foldered my additions since I: 1) Didn't think I would need to (did not expect and M2TW update of any kind). 2) I had backups of both the originals and edited versions.
However, upon restoring these files to the former altercations, which are all more or less text based (added regions, altered unit stats etc), the game is still not working.

So, is anyone familiar with this big f you in the face that steam has orchestrated by 'updating' the game, and does anyone know if it has overwritten other files, or if I need to delete certain files?
I can send my system log file if it would help.

[irishron]

The old medieval2.exe got merged with kingdoms.exe and now a "new" medieval2.exe that will not work on anything vanilla related.

You are left with two choices, modfolder your editing into a Kingdoms type mod and there aretutorials on how or wait for CA fix this FUBAR.

[Thermal]

Ok well thanks for outlining this for me, I read some of the other threads in regards to this and realise it's CA's decision and not Steam so my bad.

Guess I'll have to get tinkering then...

[Thermal]

I've tried to mod folder my stuff, using the Crusades slot for the port, however it still isn't working out. Could someone please check my systemlog and see if you know what I've done wrong?

system.log.txt

I can of course read the errors myself, but have no idea how to solve them since I've ported the text and ui folders in their entirety yet errors are still showing up from their respective areas, plus I'm not sure what the portrait path, missing cursor and export_descr_character_trait errors are referring to.

Thanks in advance.

[irishron]

My old eyes this early in the morning don't see anything. Those are plain vanilla errors as old as the game.

Could I move this to the Mod Workshop where it belongs without losing you?
You need to set the error level to trace for the errors to show.

[Thermal]

My old eyes this early in the morning don't see anything. Those are plain vanilla errors as old as the game.

Could I move this to the Mod Workshop where it belongs without losing you?
You need to set the error level to trace for the errors to show.

Of course, sorry I didn't post it there in the first place!

I followed Alpaca's guide for mod foldering, although it was from 2006 so I'm not sure if it was outdated, since I don't see what else I need to do.

[irishron]

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...-Bare-Kingdoms

Possibly the best place for you to start and ask questions.

[Thermal]

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...-Bare-Kingdoms

Possibly the best place for you to start and ask questions.

Thanks for the help. Its shed a bit of light on the situation although it still isn't working.

I duplicated the whole world file again and deleted map.rwm (which may well have been the issue), however, while the game does launch the campaign doesn't start up and the error log now shows me this:

12:39:27.834 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/crusades/data/world/maps/campaign/imperial_campaign/descr_strat.txt, at line 588, column 12
could not create settlement at script line 588.

This is the first line that a foreign settlement not native to the vanilla game appears in the file (Winchester), so it seems that the game isn't acknowledging the changes I've made in geomod, or rather that the update overwrote some of the geomodding so that the new regions have been replaced with the vanilla maps/information. Issue being that although I've backed up most files I've edited, I appear to have forgotten to do the same for many of the files geomod edits. I guess I was blinded by the low-effort interface of the tool.

[irishron]

Did you read Gigantus' manual on this? I have not used the tool personally but I believe you have to verify your changes before you can save them.

[Gigantus]

Won't the auto update remove the kingdoms.exe? If it doesn't then this is a non-issue in my eyes.
Can you confirm your method (Method 1) and try if method 2 works as well?

Method 1

Make copy of medieval2.exe
Rename to kingdoms.exe
Start mods through regular BAT file

Method 2

Change BAT file: replace kingdoms.exe entry part with medieval2.exe
Start mods through regular BAT file

Both methods worked when i tested it with ruschi.

Emperor also describes that he simply used Bare Geomod (the Kingdoms version) by copying it's data folder over his 'vanilla' mod folder's data directory - not allowing to overwrite any files.

[Pielstick]

Although I was using the Steam release of Kingdoms (picked it up in the 2011 sale for next to nothing) I still have my original Medieval 2 and Kingdoms DVDs. Here's what I did to get everything back working again:

i) Move the contents of your mods folder somewhere safe. Also be aware some mods put stuff in the main M2TW directory, for example the 1143 mod puts its .bat and .cfg files in the main M2TW directory. You'll need to move these somewhere safe too.

ii) Uninstall M2TW from Steam.

iii) Go to your steam/steamapps/common folder and delete the medieval 2 folder.

iv) Install the original DVD release of Medieval 2 and Kingdoms, make sure you get everything patched up.

v) Move the mods folder you saved earlier back into the M2TW installation.

vi) Make sure any shortcuts you have now point to the correct place.


This should get everything back to how it was without having to spend hours installing all the mods again. This method of course relies upon you having access to the original DVD releases of Medieval 2 and Kingdoms. I know it's not ideal for those who only have the Steam release, but it's pretty painless and didn't take me very long to do. I've now un-ferked my M2TW and have all 15 mods I have installed back up and running.

But anyway, let's all have a round of applause for CA. Thanks guys for messing up our mods, we really appreciate it.

[Thermal]

Well I've checked my descr_regions.tga file and its reverted to vanilla old school map, so it does look like I'll have to start from scratch unless I've misinterpreted whats been said.

Thanks to Gigantus' tool though, it shouldn't take more than a few hours I hope. My main question however is whether I'm better off starting from scratch with a vanilla descr strat or not, since it has all the information of the regions I added, whereas the files in the base folder which weren't backed up do not.

[Gigantus]

If your mod was in the main folder then it will be lost, at least whatever was in the world folder as those are original files which steam will restore. The other files should be still there, unless steam removes custom files, eg the settlement names in the data\text folder.

[Thermal]

If your mod was in the main folder then it will be lost, at least whatever was in the world folder as those are original files which steam will restore. The other files should be still there, unless steam removes custom files, eg the settlement names in the data\text folder.

Yep, that makes sense, since my data file edits seem intact, but the world ones are all overwritten. I had a restore point for my descr strat though, however I'm not sure if I should just work with the vanilla one as the other files geomod will use are vanilla now.

[Gigantus]

If the world folder is unrecoverable then you will have to start from scratch. I am not sure how extensive your changes were, particularly outside the world folder, so it's hard to say how to proceed.

[Thermal]

If the world folder is unrecoverable then you will have to start from scratch. I am not sure how extensive your changes were, particularly outside the world folder, so it's hard to say how to proceed.

Ok, well thanks for the help, I'll probably end up starting from scratch then....how annoying...

outside of the world folder, the main edits were made to:

export_descr_units
export_descr_buildings
descr_character
descr_diplomacy
descr_projectile
descr_settlement_mechanics
descr_sm_factions

so I doubt any of those would intervene.

[RubiconDecision]

Take heart. You're not the first modder who has had this happen. It's important to document your changes, especially in revsions, to make semicolon remarks and to make backups of critical changes to files like the EDCT.

You figured out once how to tweak it, so it's all there in your mind, but a pain in the butt to recode them back in.

Good luck, and don't give up.

[Thermal]

Thank you good sir. I shall do it again, eventually!

[Gigantus]

Once you have set up your map and descr_strat file you should be rolling again.

Was it a 100% custom map or did you modify an existing map?

[Thermal]

Just the vanilla map, alas, I wish I was ambitious enough to make a custom map!