file_first not working correctly in Kingdoms

**SigniferOne** · 09-05-2007, 00:41

I seem to have encountered a quite serious error in Kingdoms, unless I've done something wrong. To reproduce, a few simple steps: unpack one of the campaigns, say Teutonics, then create a special CFG file for it, pointing to the mods/teutonic folder, and include [io] file_first = true in said file. Then launch the campaign via cfg file, as in Medieval, and start a new campaign. You will most likely see strange graphical artifacts, such as oversized building names, and the GUI that is nearly below the screen line.

**SigniferOne** · 09-05-2007, 02:08

Subsequent investigation has yielded that the /ui/ folder is the culprit. All of unpacked files and folders are completely fine, if this folder is deleted. The game then loads UI files from the packs, and the only problem is that the campaign tabs don't have Army, City, Agents, Navy text on them. The actual files to blame are:

battle.sd
shared.sd
strategy.sd

if those are deleted, the rest of the UI folder works too.

EDIT: damn, it seems a lot more is missing with those files gone, than just ui tabs. Most of the scroll texts are gone as well... Will definitely be something that needs a fix.

**Bernhard of Clairvaux** · 09-05-2007, 09:16

Well I have the same problems and I give up now...sigh

**alpaca** · 09-06-2007, 16:21

Originally Posted by SigniferOne

Subsequent investigation has yielded that the /ui/ folder is the culprit. All of unpacked files and folders are completely fine, if this folder is deleted. The game then loads UI files from the packs, and the only problem is that the campaign tabs don't have Army, City, Agents, Navy text on them. The actual files to blame are:

battle.sd
shared.sd
strategy.sd

if those are deleted, the rest of the UI folder works too.

EDIT: damn, it seems a lot more is missing with those files gone, than just ui tabs. Most of the scroll texts are gone as well... Will definitely be something that needs a fix.

1. Put the vanilla .sd files into the vanilla data directory, then the mod ones should work.
2. Having .strings.bin files without their associated .txt files causes problems past 1.2 - this applies to tooltips, shared, strat, battle (i.e. untagged files)

Besides and totally unrelated I forgot to supply battle.txt - did anybody ever try to change it yet?

**socal_infidel** · 09-06-2007, 16:27

Originally Posted by alpaca

1. Put the vanilla .sd files into the vanilla data directory, then the mod ones should work.

Do you mean place each of the unpacked Kingdoms .sd files into the main M2TW data folder?

The problem resolved itself for my mod Pro Deo et Rege if you also unpack regular M2TW. But that's not satisfactory for obvious hard-drive space issues for some.

**alpaca** · 09-06-2007, 16:34

Originally Posted by socal_infidel

Do you mean place each of the unpacked Kingdoms .sd files into the main M2TW data folder?

The problem resolved itself for my mod Pro Deo et Rege if you also unpack regular M2TW. But that's not satisfactory for obvious hard-drive space issues for some.

No, I mean unpack *.sd from the original M2TW packs.
Don't ask me why the game needs a .sd file in the original directory, probably even an empty one would do. It's just one of these things I guess.
Apparently it works fine from a pack though? Shame we can't re-pack.

**socal_infidel** · 09-06-2007, 16:39

Originally Posted by alpaca

No, I mean unpack *.sd from the original M2TW packs.
Don't ask me why the game needs a .sd file in the original directory, probably even an empty one would do. It's just one of these things I guess.
Apparently it works fine from a pack though? Shame we can't re-pack.

Fantastic news, Alpaca! You're truly an asset to the community!

that means I can just include the vanilla .sd files in my mod's installer and save people the trouble of unpacking the main game!

How's your mod coming along? I'm sure the new scripting possibilities Kingdoms opened up will prove useful to you! Can't wait to see what you come up with!

**alpaca** · 09-06-2007, 17:28

Originally Posted by socal_infidel

Fantastic news, Alpaca! You're truly an asset to the community!

that means I can just include the vanilla .sd files in my mod's installer and save people the trouble of unpacking the main game!

How's your mod coming along? I'm sure the new scripting possibilities Kingdoms opened up will prove useful to you! Can't wait to see what you come up with!

Actually unless the docudemons we'll probably get in a week or what convince me otherwise I won't get kingdoms until it's a bit cheaper. The whole business with SecuROM probably refusing Daemon tools and some possible other stuff put me off a bit and I didn't see any things in the campaign scripts that would warrant migrating for them.

**SigniferOne** · 09-06-2007, 22:04

Does Kingdoms regenerate .strings.bin in anyone's game?

EDIT: As alpaca said, .strings.bin works very differently now in Kingdoms. Not only must both the text and .strings.bin be present, but the game will regenerate the new .strings.bin from the text, ove the old. If you remove .strings.bin, the game will simply load up the old one from the packs, and nothing will get changed.

**SigniferOne** · 09-14-2007, 20:28

In case I haven't mentioned it elsewhere, this problem is solved. I personally have solved it by removing the /ui/ folder from the unpacked game, and also by removing some files in the /text/ folder. I believe that if you leave the entire folder, artifacts will return, but I am right now using a sizable subset of that folder (i.e. not all the files) and it works without a hitch.

So in short, if you don't need /ui you are fine; almost all files in /text can also be present. Still remains to be figured out which one causes the problem. I'm too busy with modding to be debugging.

**SigniferOne** · 10-30-2007, 00:56

Sigh, did anyone manage to get battle.txt? This problem with /data/text/ files is frustrating.

EDIT: Never mind, Retrofit mod thankfully included them.