BI - really getting desperate...

[Lord Adherbal]

I still haven't managed to succesfully create a new building without causing problems in BI. I started by making a mod folder with the minimum amount of files needed to run the RTW campaign under the BI exe. Then I added the RTW buildings file. Everthing still works fine at this point.

Then I delete all buildings except core_buildings, defenses and port_buildings from export_descr_buildings.txt. I also remove all non-core buildings from descr_strat.txt and try to generate the map.rwm file. Still works fine.

But then I add a new building set. I edit the text\export_buildings.txt file accordingly and run the game (not deleting the rwm file). Campaign starts fine, my building shows up in building browser. I exit the game, delete the map.rwm file and restart a new campaign. The game tries to generate the rwm file, but fails and goes back to menu, a corrupted rwm file is all I get.

No matter what I do, it seems to be impossible to add new buildings to the techtree without causing a problem when generating the rwm file. If anyone would want to try this I'd greatly appreciate it.

the minimum export_descr_buildings.txt file can be found here:

hidden_resources rome sparta italy

building core_building
{
    levels governors_house governors_villa governors_palace proconsuls_palace imperial_palace 
    {
        governors_house requires factions { barbarian, carthaginian, eastern, egyptian, greek, roman, } 
        {
            capability
            {

            }
            construction  1 
            cost  400 
            settlement_min village
            upgrades
            {
                governors_villa
            }
        }
        governors_villa requires factions { barbarian, carthaginian, eastern, egyptian, greek, roman, } 
        {
            capability
            {

            }
            construction  2 
            cost  800 
            settlement_min town
            upgrades
            {
                governors_palace
            }
        }
        governors_palace requires factions { barbarian, carthaginian, eastern, egyptian, greek, roman, } 
        {
            capability
            {

            }
            construction  3 
            cost  1600 
            settlement_min large_town
            upgrades
            {
                proconsuls_palace
            }
        }
        proconsuls_palace requires factions { barbarian, carthaginian, eastern, egyptian, greek, roman, } 
        {
            capability
            {

            }
            construction  4 
            cost  3200 
            settlement_min city
            upgrades
            {
                imperial_palace
            }
        }
        imperial_palace requires factions { barbarian, carthaginian, eastern, egyptian, greek, roman, } 
        {
            capability
            {

            }
            construction  6 
            cost  6400 
            settlement_min large_city
            upgrades
            {
            }
        }
    }
    plugins 
    {
    }
}
building defenses
{
    levels wooden_pallisade wooden_wall stone_wall large_stone_wall epic_stone_wall 
    {
        wooden_pallisade requires factions { barbarian, carthaginian, eastern, egyptian, greek, roman, } 
        {
            capability
            {
                wall_level 0
                tower_level 1
                happiness_bonus bonus 1
            }
            construction  1 
            cost  400 
            settlement_min town
            upgrades
            {
                wooden_wall
            }
        }
        wooden_wall requires factions { barbarian, carthaginian, eastern, egyptian, greek, roman, } 
        {
            capability
            {
                wall_level 1
                gate_strength 1
                tower_level 1
                happiness_bonus bonus 1
            }
            construction  2 
            cost  800 
            settlement_min large_town
            upgrades
            {
                stone_wall
            }
        }
        stone_wall requires factions { barbarian, carthaginian, eastern, egyptian, roman, } 
        {
            capability
            {
                wall_level 2
                tower_level 1
                gate_defences 1
                gate_strength 1
                happiness_bonus bonus 1
                law_bonus bonus 1
            }
            construction  3 
            cost  1600 
            settlement_min city
            upgrades
            {
                large_stone_wall
            }
        }
        large_stone_wall requires factions { eastern, roman, } 
        {
            capability
            {
                wall_level 3
                tower_level 1
                gate_defences 2
                gate_strength 2
                happiness_bonus bonus 1
                law_bonus bonus 1
            }
            construction  5 
            cost  3200 
            settlement_min large_city
            upgrades
            {
                epic_stone_wall
            }
        }
        epic_stone_wall requires factions { eastern, roman, } 
        {
            capability
            {
                wall_level 4
                tower_level 2
                gate_defences 2
                gate_strength 2
                happiness_bonus bonus 1
                law_bonus bonus 2
            }
            construction  6 
            cost  6400 
            settlement_min huge_city
            upgrades
            {
            }
        }
    }
    plugins 
    {
    }
}
building port_buildings
{
    levels port shipwright dockyard 
    {
        port requires factions { barbarian, carthaginian, eastern, macedon, thrace, scythia, carthage, roman, } 
        {
            capability
            {

                trade_fleet 1 ;trade_base_income_bonus bonus 1
            }
            construction  2 
            cost  800 
            settlement_min large_town
            upgrades
            {
                shipwright
            }
        }
        shipwright requires factions { britons, eastern, carthage, roman, } 
        {
            capability
            {

                trade_fleet 2 ;trade_base_income_bonus bonus 2
            }
            construction  3 
            cost  1600 
            settlement_min city
            upgrades
            {
                dockyard
            }
        }
        dockyard requires factions { britons, eastern, roman, } 
        {
            capability
            {

                trade_fleet 3 ;trade_base_income_bonus bonus 2
            }
            construction  5 
            cost  3200 
            settlement_min large_city
            upgrades
            {
            }
        }
    }
    plugins 
    {
    }
}

PS: this all worked fine in RTW 1.2, never had any problem with my new techtree there.

[Dol Guldur]

Out of curiosity, have you tried the same thing but with the BI EDB file?

[Lord Adherbal]

not yet. It's an option to try, but it's quite a lot of work (after removing buildings they also need to be removed in a lot of other file such as advice and ancillaries)

[Monkwarrior]

Another suggestion.
As a test, did you try to overwrite one existing building in BI by one of your new buildings? Changing, of course, the capabilities.
I mean substitute words, without touching spaces or tabs.

[SigniferOne]

Adherbal, have no fear, if this is a problem just make sure the BUGS threads have your notice about it, and CA guys will take a look for the upcoming patch. That's what I'm hoping they'll do for descr_skeleton file as well, as long as they know about it I hope we'll be alright. There's less pressure now with Activision gone, so I think they will make sure the game operates optimally before finishing the patching process for it.

[khelvan]

I know it is off topic, but I don't suppose that thread is an appropriate place to beg them to open up the building complex limit?

[Lord Adherbal]

Adherbal, have no fear, if this is a problem just make sure the BUGS threads have your notice about it, and CA guys will take a look for the upcoming patch.

I don't dare to say it's a bug until someone else can confirm the problem. Don't want it to be like the custom battles problem were it turns out there's an obvious reason for the problem.

[JeromeGrasdyke]

Ah, no it's a known problem with 1.3 & 1.4 that the rwm regeneration seems to be broken. It's on the to-be-fixed list...

[Lord Adherbal]

ah good to know, I'll try to avoid regenerating the file for now then. BTW, am I correct that the -show_err parameter shows less error messages now ?

[JeromeGrasdyke]

The behaviour of -show_err should be unchanged from the previous versions; if anything there should be slightly more error checking, but it wasn't a particular area we focussed on.

[Dromikaites]

Ah, no it's a known problem with 1.3 & 1.4 that the rwm regeneration seems to be broken. It's on the to-be-fixed list...

Would that include also the map_heights.hgt issue? It's true we have now Alpaca's map converter but still it would be nice to have the game process the map_heights.tga like before.

[edyzmedieval]

Any success Adherbal?!

I'll try adding buildings also, and I'll report if it worked.

[player1]

The behaviour of -show_err should be unchanged from the previous versions; if anything there should be slightly more error checking, but it wasn't a particular area we focussed on.

I think I get more often CTDs (with that Windows has enountered error, email, bla, bla, bla...) instead of error codes with 1.3/1.4 then before.
And I talk about things like when making parsing errors, or typos in txt files.
Might be worth checking out.

[Dromikaites]

The behaviour of -show_err should be unchanged from the previous versions; if anything there should be slightly more error checking, but it wasn't a particular area we focussed on.

One error which should have been left unchecked is having a general not linked to the family tree. It is OK for modding purposes to have paralel family trees, even though only one tree would show in the scroll.

[edyzmedieval]

What's the use of the di_barbarian_invasion.txt?!

I saw that this text contains the buildings, might be a good idea to check this.....

@Dromikaites

Is it possible to make a separate scroll for the other family?!

[Lord Adherbal]

it's one of the files that's turned into items.db. Has no use because we have an editor for item.db.

[Dromikaites]

@Dromikaites
Is it possible to make a separate scroll for the other family?!

Not at this moment. An I assume it won't be that easy to implement it in a patch either because of the way we get to see the family scroll.

[webbird]

After success with converting the map_heights.tga of the big new province mod map with hgt converter, and two game years without errors, i got a message after the game, the nicest ever seen.
Something like:
"City xy is on a invalid tile..bla bla.that`s an bug...but we will ignore it for now!"

:O):O)

[edyzmedieval]

After success with converting the map_heights.tga of the big new province mod map with hgt converter, and two game years without errors, i got a message after the game, the nicest ever seen.
Something like:
"City xy is on a invalid tile..bla bla.that`s an bug...but we will ignore it for now!"

:O):O)

OMG....

So they know their bugs....

[Centurion Cato]

@Webbird

Yeah that's normal if you have the city on a invalid tile. For instance if you have the city to close to a dense forest then you'll get that message. The reason it happened after two turns is becuase in that turn the A.I decided to use the city somehow, maybe it was recruiting in that city and when the unit tried to leave the city you get the CTD. Best advice is to make sure your cities are in "safe" locations. Use the time editor to validate your map, it will tell you straight away if you have city on a invalid tile.

Hope this helps.

[SigniferOne]

btw, this thread should have a CA pip.

[Lord Adherbal]

I'm bumping this thread cos I'm still facing the same problem:

I managed to convert the 1.2 chivalry campaign to 1.4/BI, and everything works fine UNTIL I add a new techtree:

-If I try to generate the rwm file with the new techtree (export_descr_buildings.txt) it crashes back to the menu and the rwm file is corrupt.
-If I generate the rwm file with just a handfull of buildings (core, defenses & ports), then replace the techtree and run the campaign again (without deleting the map.rwm file) everything works fine (the new techtree is available).

This is quite annoying because it means I can't add any new buildings at the start of the campaignmap (I could do it through scripting but that's a last resort option). Since rwm file generation has nothing to do with the techtree it has to be a bug, so I'm hoping CA will address this in their patch.

[Dol Guldur]

Adherbal,

Do you think it is only the hardcoded buildings (core, defences & hinterlands) that can be added? Have you tested others (with no hardcoded)? I have a non-hardcoded building in my BI mod map and it has not caused any problems despite rwm generation. Though it is only one (new) building.

The (somewhat indirect) association between the rwm generation and the EDB file would of course be only in the declaration and use of hidden resources, and in the use of visible resources - though such errors are usually picked up in show_err I believe.

How have you tested to know the rwm is corrupted? Have you messed with the cultural assignments of each faction? - this can cause CTD (though usually in-campaign) through tech-tree problems; I need to understand that more though.

OR is this a problem that will only be solved with the next patch? - CA have admitted there is a problem with the rwm generation if I read the above posts correctly.

[Lord Adherbal]

the problem only seems to occur when adding a new building. There is a small chance there is a declaration problem (altho it worked fine in 1.2 - did something change since ?). I kept the RTW 1.3 factions and culture (so all I had to change is "ct_carthage" to "carthaginian").

The rwm file is corrupt because when I try to launch the campaign (after it crashed back to the menu) it CTD's.

I've ran quite a lot of tests on this. Of course I can never be 100% sure I made no mistakes, but I find it weird that the rwm generation fails while the parser returns no errors in the EDB file (which is tested when launching RTW).

[Dol Guldur]

I have a modded map (made froms scratch) ported into BI. I have 1 new building added (a modded BI EDB). No problems.

And the rwm file has been generated since the building as added.

Are you saying that you have not been able to replicate this?