Different problem with the Steam patch.

[Boogie Knight]

Hi all, I have a problem that I posted in one of the stickies but no one's responded to me so far. It's not a problem with mods, so I guess nobody's really looked into it yet. My problem is thus:

Hi there, I have a problem that has only come about since downloading the new Steam patch. My OS is Windows Vista 32-bit, and I have no idea how to really even use Steam so what's a Steam id. I have no mods.

Anyway, the issue is that I can't play any of the Kingdoms campaigns. Not a one. If I try to open them via the new method of opening MTW2 from the Steam browser, it gives the option of which campaign to play. I select one, press play, and it gets to the very first screen (the one with all the cavalry) and waits a few seconds before crashing to desktop. Every time.

If I try to open it via the old method (via the shortcut for the Kingdoms campaign), these no longer work. "Unhandled exception has occurred in your application" is the message I get when I try this. Weirdly I can open the vanilla campaign via Steam and the shortcut. I don't yet have time to check if the game itself runs smoothly.

Does anyone know a workaround for this? If so, I'm all ears, but please bear in mind I know absolutely zero about modding or file editing or unpacking or any of that witchcraft.

[irishron]

You mean this one? http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...1#post13985327
Did you follow the instructions in the link in the post below yours?

[Boogie Knight]

Yes that's the one, but I'm not trying to use a mod. I'm trying to open Kingdoms. Unless I'm reading that wrong, it only refers to mods.

[irishron]

Kingdoms mods are essentially Kingdoms campaigns modded to suit and renamed to the modder's choice. The instructions for the target edit are the same. so is the instructions on copying and renaming the medieval2.exe copy to kingdoms.exe. And there is no more kingdoms.exe in Steam version unless you make your own.

[Boogie Knight]

I see, thanks. So would I need the second option? Or rather, how would I tell which option I needed? Sorry for such basic questions, I don't normally dabble in this stuff as I tend to make a lot of mistakes.

[irishron]

Mistakes, I've made enough for two or three lifetimes and trying things out. I found out a long time ago for is learning to fix them.

Me, I'd probably go with the second option. I'd also make backup in case I oops.

[Boogie Knight]

Can anyone talk me through what I'm meant to do? Seriously, assume I'm an idiot. I've fallen at the first hurdle; I can't even find the damn folder. Do I right-click on the thing or what?

[irishron]

Can anyone talk me through what I'm meant to do? Seriously, assume I'm an idiot. I've fallen at the first hurdle; I can't even find the damn folder. Do I right-click on the thing or what?

You have to use one of the Kingdoms campaigns or a Kingdoms mod because kingdoms.exe is not a standalone executable and will crash if you click on it. It's been this way since Kingdoms was released seven years ago.

[Boogie Knight]

You have to use one of the Kingdoms campaigns or a Kingdoms mod because kingdoms.exe is not a standalone executable and will crash if you click on it. It's been this way since Kingdoms was released seven years ago.

What I'm trying to do is use the option #2 fix in that link you suggested above. How do I find the folder I'm supposed to make the changes in? I'm really not experienced in this sort of thing and have absolutely no idea what anyone's talking about. If I try to open the Kingdoms campaigns, any of them (I'm not using mods, and after this I don't think I'd have the confidence to even try), they crash. These are the ordinary Kingdoms campaigns, NOT mods. So how do I find the folder to make the changes in?

[irishron]

The easiest way to make a copy is:
1. right-click medieval2.exe,
2. click copy,
3. go back up a folder,
4. right-click the Medieval II Total War folder,
5. click paste.

Now to turn this into what you need:
1. In MEdieval II Total War folder, right-click the medieval2.exe-copy you just made,
2, click rename,
3, enter kingdoms.exe,
3, Enter

And done.

[Boogie Knight]

Okay, I've followed the instructions you've given (thank you for those by the way - much easier to use) but the problem is still there. What can I try next?

[irishron]

If you have Third Age installed try it. Or Stainless Steel. DarthMod won't.

[Boogie Knight]

I don't have any of those mods. As I've said, I don't have any mods at all. It's the expansion itself, Kingdoms, that I can't get to work. You know the one with the Brittania, Teutonic, Americas, and Crusader campaigns? That's what isn't working for me.

[irishron]

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...te-Compatible)?

[Guan Ziyang]

Unless I'm mistaken ron, I don't believe the Kingdoms campaigns have a .cfg file in them (at-least my british_isles campaign doesn't), making my launcher pretty much useless in this case unless you were to create one.

[irishron]

Unless I'm mistaken ron, I don't believe the Kingdoms campaigns have a .cfg file in them (at-least my british_isles campaign doesn't), making my launcher pretty much useless in this case unless you were to create one.

I believe you are right. Mine does not have one either. Back to doing it the hard way for them.

[Boogie Knight]

So the above link won't work? Thanks for trying, I appreciate the continued effort.

If it helps at all, I was having another try in the Britannia campaign last night and, after opening it up and getting to the menu screen, I tried opening a few bits. It turns out that when I click "Single Player" it takes me to where it should do - I've got options like "quick battle," "historical battle," etc. But if I try the top option (can't remember what it's called, but it's the one to start a new campaign) I get a pop-up message saying "please select an option from the list" or something to that effect. Does that shed any new light on things?

[irishron]

If you get to the screen to pick New Campaign, Continue Campaign, Historical Battle(?), Custom Battle(?), Options, etc., which one are you trying to pick?

Have you tried verifying the game cache? Have you tried the Beta patch released last Friday?

For Britannia, http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forum...Britannia-(RB), a mod based on it.

[Guan Ziyang]

After some testing, it appears my launcher does work with the expansion; all I needed to do was to create a simple .cfg file.

Open up Notepad and paste the following lines:

 [features]editor = true
mod = mods/british_isles

Then 'Save As' Configuration.cfg. Download my launcher (link in ron's last few posts) and place it in the campaign folder. Go ahead and run my launcher and let it do it's magic. (If an error occurs, it will display in the auto-generated launcher_log.txt)​

[Boogie Knight]

Well, I feel dumb. It was a cache issue all along. It started when the patch was released so I assumed it was related to that and tried finding fixes for the patch rather than looking to see if it was anything else.

Thanks for all your help, guys. I really appreciate it!