Error message when trying to start EB

[Kull]

Thanks for your reply, Lusted. I thought that might have something to do with it, but I was hoping that extracting the 1.2 patch over it would iron that out. Problem is, how do I get a fresh install of RTW? It won't let me install it from the CD, running the setup program just asks if I want to remove it. Does this mean I have to completely uninstall my original RTW first, losing saved games and my own mods?

There is another alternative. Do whatever reinstalls are necessary to get your current 1.5 directory working again. Then make a copy of the whole thing. Here's where it get's tricky. I've heard that there's a way to copy a downloadable set of 1.2 files on top of 1.5, and that will return it to the earlier version. Do some forum searches to find those instructions, and be sure to downgrade the copied directory, not the original.

Failing that, you still don't have to lose your saved games or any user created files. I'm a little unclear on everything that's removed via the uninstall, but you could always copy those files you wish to keep over to a non-RTW directory for safekeeping.

[Barbarossa82]

I think that's what I was trying to do - there is a link from the EB website to a ZIP file containing the 1.2 patch in the form of a collection of files to be copied into the RTW directory. I did this, but still got the error message. The only possibility I can think of is that the descr_sm_settlements.txt file didn't get changed in 1.2 but was changed in either 1.3 or 1.5, so copying in the 1.2 files didn't replace it. Very annoying!

[Kull]

I think that's what I was trying to do - there is a link from the EB website to a ZIP file containing the 1.2 patch in the form of a collection of files to be copied into the RTW directory. I did this, but still got the error message. The only possibility I can think of is that the descr_sm_settlements.txt file didn't get changed in 1.2 but was changed in either 1.3 or 1.5, so copying in the 1.2 files didn't replace it. Very annoying!

If the EB team posted the "fix" file, then I'd feel pretty confident that it will take a vanilla 1.5 and turn it into a vanilla 1.2. What it may not do is take a modded 1.5 and turn it into vanilla 1.2. Look for file dates that are newer/different from either 1.2 or 1.5 and you probably have the culprit.

At this point, though, it's probably faster to uninstall/reinstall. If you have the hard disk space, make copies of your vanilla RTW installs and make mods only to the copies. Personally I have vanilla versions of 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.5, and 1.6. Every time I decide to test a mod, I do so on a copy of those. Takes up some space, but the frustration days are over.