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Thread: Mods saved to an external hard drive crash whenever i try to play a battle

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  1. #1

    Default Mods saved to an external hard drive crash whenever i try to play a battle

    Hi there, hopefully this question is in the right place

    So my pc is pretty old, from 2005 (and still running xp) and laughably way short of storage space by todays standards. About 4 or 5 years after i got it i upgraded to a laptop and put the pc into storage. And there it sat until my kids damaged the laptop's screen and the pc was set back up. In an effort to increase the storage capacity i took the hard drive out of the laptop and hooked it up to the pc with a usb enclosure. Which was great because now i could download more and much bigger mods for mtw2... except whenever i try to play a battle, either in a campaign or in custom battles, i get a ctd whenever i'm playing a mod saved to this external hard drive. I can play a campaign without any other problems but i kinda don't want to have auto resolve all my battles, where's the fun in that?!

    Any thoughts good sirs?

  2. #2
    Gigantus's Avatar I am not special - I am a limited edition.
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    Default Re: Mods saved to an external hard drive crash whenever i try to play a battle

    The placement of the save file should not play a role, although it may be preferable if it is in the same directory structure as the mod itself. If the mod starts that means there is no loading\save file issue. If the mod then crashes during game play then it's an issue with the mod set up\files.

    There is one fairly common reason why battles crash: if the game is unpacked and the two descr_geography files remain in the game's data directory. Do check if that is the case in your set up.










  3. #3

    Default Re: Mods saved to an external hard drive crash whenever i try to play a battle

    Thanks Gigantus, i'll have a look at those files tonight. Its odd that mods in my C drive work without a hitch and i can play battles... Its just the ones in my external E drive that ctd just after loading up on the battle map. Otherwise there no issue with these mods. The laptop i had removed the drive from had mtw2 installed on it anyway and i'm like 99% certain i had unpacked it all those years ago.

  4. #4
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    Default Re: Mods saved to an external hard drive crash whenever i try to play a battle

    Next time you want to unpack the files (only required if you want to do some modding yourself) then use the method I describe here - it will unpack outside the game's directory and you don't have to worry about mingling in the main directory, removal is a simple affair.

    To rub it in a little bit - you have about 4GB of excess files after unpacking the main game if you don't mod yourself. Here is the list of directories that are mandatory in the data folder of the medieval ii total war directory, all others as well as all individual files in the data folder (battle_config.txt etc), can be deleted:

    animations
    cursors
    fmv
    sounds
    world

    The same applies if you have unpacked the kingdoms campaigns as well, example path: medieval ii total war\mods\brittania\data
    The 'cursors' directory will not be present. Unpacking the four campaigns adds another 6GB of excess files...
    Last edited by Gigantus; November 23, 2020 at 11:32 AM.










  5. #5

    Default Re: Mods saved to an external hard drive crash whenever i try to play a battle

    Good grief, yeah it was the descr_geography files that were giving me this problem! I seem to vaguely recall being advised to delete them from the data for the game in my C drive (after installing a patch or something maybe?) but i hadn't done it for the version of mtw2 that had been installed on what then became my external drive. But problem sorted, now to immerse myself fully without fear of battles crashing to ruin my enjoyment!

    Thank you very much for your help Gigantus

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Mods saved to an external hard drive crash whenever i try to play a battle











  7. #7

    Default Re: Mods saved to an external hard drive crash whenever i try to play a battle

    Hmmm ok weirdly some of the mods are still experiencing the same problem; upon loading up a custom battle the game ctd with an 'encountered an unspecified error and will now close' message...

  8. #8
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    Default Re: Mods saved to an external hard drive crash whenever i try to play a battle

    Could be a virtual store issue, check this guide from step 3 onward.










  9. #9

    Default Re: Mods saved to an external hard drive crash whenever i try to play a battle

    OK i tried that and maybe its been partly successful; I played Wrath of the Norsemen 1.5, tried to fight a custom battle and got the now inevitable ctd... I went back into the game and played a campaign choosing a faction by random and immediately tried to take a nearby settlement. And it loaded up the campaign battle without a crash. So i tested this faction, the Franks, in custom battle mode and again no crash, huzzah!

    I thought that might have been it resolved but i tested it with another faction, the Gardariki, trying a custom battle first but got a ctd. So i went into campaign mode and again tried to take a nearby settlement as soon as i could, success this time, the battle started without any crash.

    Tested it a third time, with Denmark this time, but the game crashed both in custom battle mode and campaign mode just as it finished loading... Oof

    I tried it with another couple of mods, Bulat Steel and Broken Crescent 2.4, with Bulat i was getting ctd in both custom and campaign mode though i haven't tested every single faction... And BC2.4 again mixed results, some factions i can play both custom and campaign battles and other factions crash on me!

    So, is it possible there's something else in the files or my setup that is thwarting me?

  10. #10
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    Default Re: Mods saved to an external hard drive crash whenever i try to play a battle

    I am not an expert here, but have you tried installing M2TW directly on the external drive? It's the disk version, right? And it has the 'kingdoms' update?

    But before that: you only need to install one of the 4 kingdoms campaigns to complete the update. And you can simply delete (or move to the external drive) the mod folders (about 6GB) for them if you have no intention of playing them. That should allow enough hard drive space to install other mods and store it's save game files in the game on the main drive.

    Always move the complete mod folder - from the main drive if it because you need the space or to the main drive if you want to play a mod that was kept on the external drive. Separating the saves from their default location appears to be the issue here. In comparison to the mods themselves the saves are minuscule, which means I don't see a reason to do so.

    Sorry for the disconnect between the paragraphs, that was all stuff crossing my mind from different angles.










  11. #11

    Default Re: Mods saved to an external hard drive crash whenever i try to play a battle

    I have my copy of mtw2 already installed to the 'external' hd from when i played total war on the laptop

    I've found the problem with WotN at least! There's a discrepancy in the battle_models file with the vigamenn... The file though is in its original state, ie. not formatted for ease of reading... I've download knight errant's formatter but it doesn't seem to be working when i click on the formatmodeldbfile python file. The checkmodeldbsyntax python file works and generates the text file but it gives a weird result;

    ****** Faction count error at line 1151, count says 27 but number of entries is 24
    ****** Faction count error at line 1155, count says 1 but number of entries is 0
    ****** String count error at line 1169, count says -1 but string has 1 characters

    Now when i say 'weird result' i mean that there actually isn't that many lines in the battles_models file for these returns, the line count total is only 553

    Maybe i've implemented the checker into the mod incorrectly? I extracted it into mods\WotN_RN\data\unit_models

  12. #12
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    Default Re: Mods saved to an external hard drive crash whenever i try to play a battle

    Are you sure you are looking at the correct file? Even the default file has 23K lines.

    Never mind, 'not properly formatted' would explain it, most likely parses it but then assumes it's properly formatted.

    I suggest to look up the unit in the EDU file to see which battle model it is using, it's the entries in the 'armour_ug_models' line.
    Then search for that entry in the modeldb file. Each line is preceded by a number, so if your search is vigamenn then it will have a 8 preceding it, the number being the number of characters in the entry. Put the cursor to the left of the 8 and press return, now go to the next number and do the same, don't leave a space in front of the number when pressing return! . Occasionally you will have two separate numbers: do the same with each number. The last entry of a unit is either this numerical sequence 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 or this 16 -0.090000004 0 0 -0.34999999 0.80000001 0.60000002
    These sequences have to remain in one line.

    Here a small example what a complete entry for a model can look like when formatted:
    Code:
    15 vidivariers_upg 
    1 1 
    44 unit_models/baltic/vidivariers_upg_lod0.mesh 10000 
    3 
    7 england 
    51 unit_models/baltic/textures/vidivariers_upg.texture 
    58 unit_models/baltic/textures/vidivariers_upg_normal.texture 
    28 unit_sprites/Voje_sprite.spr 
    5 slave 
    51 unit_models/baltic/textures/vidivariers_upg.texture 
    58 unit_models/baltic/textures/vidivariers_upg_normal.texture 
    28 unit_sprites/Voje_sprite.spr 
    4 merc 
    51 unit_models/baltic/textures/vidivariers_upg.texture 
    58 unit_models/baltic/textures/vidivariers_upg_normal.texture 
    28 unit_sprites/Voje_sprite.spr 
    3 
    7 england 
    54 unit_models/baltic/textures/baltic_prusian_att.texture 
    61 unit_models/baltic/textures/baltic_prusian_att_normal.texture 0 
    5 slave 
    54 unit_models/baltic/textures/baltic_prusian_att.texture 
    61 unit_models/baltic/textures/baltic_prusian_att_normal.texture 0 
    4 merc 
    54 unit_models/baltic/textures/baltic_prusian_att.texture 
    61 unit_models/baltic/textures/baltic_prusian_att_normal.texture 0 
    1 
    4 None 
    17 MTW2_Fast_Javelin 
    14 MTW2_Fast_Mace 2 
    20 MTW2_Javelin_primary 
    14 fs_test_shield 2 
    17 MTW2_Mace_Primary 
    14 fs_test_shield 
    16 -0.090000004 0 0 -0.34999999 0.80000001 0.60000002










  13. #13

    Default Re: Mods saved to an external hard drive crash whenever i try to play a battle

    Thanks Gigantus, i'm starting to lose the will to live with this mod! The formatter definitely works for other battles_models files, i tested it on another mod that needed formatted and it worked as it should; generating a formattedbattlemodels file that i could then rename... But for WotN it doesn't want to have anything to do with it. The black dialogue box appears for like a nanosecond as if its starting to format the file but nothing else happens. I even tried moving the WotN battle_models file to another mod that i know has been formatted by me but it still won't format it.

    I made a copy of the battle_models file and formatted the vigamenn entry by hand (or by keystroke as it were!) just to see if there was anything obviously wrong with it, missing spaces at the end of each line or if the numbers before each entry were correct... But again everything looks as it should! But am i correct in thinking that the mod wouldn't load up at all if there was even just one mistake in the battles_models file? The mod starts without a hitch, so far it only crashes if i try to play a battle where the vigamenn (in either army) are present or i've selected them in a custom battle.

    I've checked the edu for discrepancies for this unit but again everything looks like it should work; armour models are correct, ownership etc. I'll try the Wrath of the Norsemen forum to see if anyone else has had this problem or has been able to format their battle_models file. Failing that i might just remove them altogether from the game and be done with it! Lol

    I do realise this question about external hard drives kinda evolved over time and it turned out that my problem wasn't anything to do with it, but thanks a bunch for your help getting me to that conclusion!

  14. #14
    Gigantus's Avatar I am not special - I am a limited edition.
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    Default Re: Mods saved to an external hard drive crash whenever i try to play a battle

    Some faint memories led me to rummage through my archive, found a formatted modeldb for WotN in there. The checker you use will still not work 100% with it (even after amending it with the custom factions), but the formatting otherwise should be fine now.

    I am contemplating to do one of those repacks of mine with the mod, eg make it steam compatible and run extensive bug hunting on it.

    Edit: I succeeded in properly formatting the file so you can the checker. The checker itself required an update for the two new custom factions. Both files are in this download. Ignore the first paragraph, I removed the download link from there as well.
    Last edited by Gigantus; November 30, 2020 at 02:27 AM.










  15. #15
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    Default Re: Mods saved to an external hard drive crash whenever i try to play a battle

    Oops, just found out that my WotN version is 1.5, apparently totally outdated. So make a back up of the file before using mine.
    Last edited by Gigantus; November 30, 2020 at 10:42 AM.










  16. #16

    Default Re: Mods saved to an external hard drive crash whenever i try to play a battle

    oof the formatter you supplied still has no effect on my battles_models file! Lol

    So i put your copy of the bm file into the mod and tried to fight a custom battle but it crashed again... But your copy has 454 units in it and mine only has 258, it looks to me that there is quite a lot of AOR units in your WotN that are missing from my battles_models and the edu/edb... Gah

  17. #17
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    Default Re: Mods saved to an external hard drive crash whenever i try to play a battle

    Yeah, only realized the version issue late, see post #15. Sorry about that. Small consolation: if you use the checker on my modeldb file you'll have the satisfaction of getting a error free report.










  18. #18

    Default Re: Mods saved to an external hard drive crash whenever i try to play a battle

    Haha yeah and apologies on my part too, i thought you'd given me an updated version of the formatter not the checker... And i only realised myself after i'd replied... Doh!

    I did run your checker though and it did have a slightly different outcome in the modelsdbsyntaxerrors report;

    ****** String count error at line 1169, count says -1 but string has 1 characters

    So progress of a sort!

    But I think it might be time to cut my losses on this and download the new beta version instead, but once again my thanks for your help Gigantus!

  19. #19
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    Default Re: Mods saved to an external hard drive crash whenever i try to play a battle

    One last pointer for your checker effort: right click the python file and choose 'edit with IDLE'. That will open two small windows - close the one titled 'python shell'. Now select (click on) the other window and press F5 -that will run the checker and give you a feed back on errors, although those can be a bit cryptic they will at least get you to the right model section by line number.
    Check in the modeldb file at that point for line count errors and any weird looking formatting. Correct, save, select window, press F5 again. While you have that window open check a good bit down where the factions are listed. Should you come across a custom faction in an error section then check there if it is present, else add it - the procedure is described in my tutorial.
    If you are not making headway then attach the modeldb file (compress first, the original file format will prevent attachment here) and I'll have a look if I can sort it out.

    As to your error: my bet the lines there look like this -
    Code:
    0 
    0 
    -1 0 0 0 0 0 0
    Arrange them into one line:
    Code:
    0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0
    Last edited by Gigantus; December 01, 2020 at 11:25 AM.










  20. #20

    Default Re: Mods saved to an external hard drive crash whenever i try to play a battle

    Thanks mate, i'll have a crack at trying that later!

    As to your example of the -1 in the error report - the battles_models file is still unformatted (ie in its original form) so its just continuous lines and lines of the code... Again the checker says the error is on line 1169 as if it thinks the file was formatted... But again, frustratingly, i can't 'go to' line 1169 using notepad because the line count total is 553

    The last, last resort maybe is to use your formatted battles_models file and strip out all the units that aren't in my version of the mod?

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