Mapper Problem (Fallout 2 crashes)

[Cerebro]

I'm using Fo 2 with the RPU update 0.8 and decided to make some minor map changes (switching some items inside containers.) Problem is: Fallout crashes, when the map loads. I don't know if all edited maps are broken, but I did the following test:

- Opening the Arroyo temple entrance map in mapper
- Saving WITHOUT making any changes
- Start the game --> Crash when the map is loading

What's the problem here? Mere saving does corrupt the map, although I did not alter anything at all!

 

[Lexx]

In what folder is the map? Did you make a new mod folder and load it after the RPU?

 

[Cerebro]

I have two subfolders in the Fallout\mods folder: rpu.dat (everything I extracted from the rpu.dat file) and rpu.dat_mod (where I have my modified files). Mapper is configured to the vanilla master and critter DAT-files with both patch folders being "..\mods\rpu.dat"

I open the map in mapper and save it under a different name, so the original files in the rpu.dat folder stay unchanged. I then transfer the new files over to my rpu.dat_mod folder and revert the name back (no spelling errors here - I double checked and the game couldn't recognize them anyway.)

 

[Lexx]

Make new folders: /mods/myStuff/maps/

Change the mapper.cfg patch paths to that folder, like:
critter_patches=..\..\RestorationProject\mods\myStuff\
master_patches=..\..\RestorationProject\mods\myStuff\

The .. only work if your Mapper is in /RestorationProject/Mapper/ - if you don't have it there and don't want to experiment, just use full path.

Now saving the map should put them into that folder.

Open the ddraw.ini and search for "[ExtraPatches]"
Add this line:
PatchFile0=mods\myStuff
(*.dat files are recognized automatically in alphabetical order)

Now you have your own mod folder. Start the game and see if it worked.

/Edit:

my rpu.dat_mod folder

I just noticed this. Don't name the folder ".dat_mod" ... that's not a valid file type. Either make a folder and name it ".dat", so the game thinks it is an actual .dat (yes, that's possible), or don't give it any prefix at all.

If all this stuff *still* doesn't work, check if your mod folder works at all. Like, take any text file and edit it, then check if the edited file works ingame.

 

[Cerebro]

When I set up mapper this way, it loads the vanilla maps, not the ones from RPU. My changes are saved to the mystuff mods folder - this does work and doesn't crash the game, but I need the RPU maps as the base for my changes, so its one step forward and another one back.

 

[Lexx]

Then it's probably easier to extract the rp/rpu data and work from there. You won't get around copy&pasting stuff into your mod folder, though. At least if you want to release stuff at some point and require a clean folder.


tl;dr - I'd extract all the .dat files and put the data into *folders* and *rename* the folders to x.dat etc.

As said before, the game will recognize these folders as .dat file and you can work from them without having to pack shit over and over again.

Adapt the mapper paths accordingly and work in them.

If that doesn't work, I'm out of ideas. :p

 

[Cerebro]

Yeah, well... that's the way I had it in the beginning: main folder = master.dat, patch folder = rpu.dat (extracted .dat file as folder.) I could load the map fine in mapper and also playtest it by pressing F8 etc. But starting the real game leads to a crash... I'll now try to extract the whole frigging master.dat, copy the rpu files over and use this as my master.dat replacement. Then I have the patch path free for my mod folder... see what happens then...

 

[Lexx]

There is no need to extract the master.dat file.

Whatever crashes your map then, I have no idea. Usually this points to proto issues, but if you didn't touched anything there... I have no idea. You could try to replace the map with an empty map and see if that crashes too.

 

[Cerebro]

Well, it did work however. I extracted master.dat and critter.dat, copied the rpu files over and used these two folders as the main paths in the mapper.cfg, with the patch folders being my mod folder. Opened the Arroyo temple map, changed a tile, saved, started the game: Voila - did work. No clue what was the problem before, but this way I can edit the maps and the changes get saved directly into my mod folder without any copy/pasting files around. Maybe there is a better way, but it works...

 

[Lexx]

Maybe it actually was a proto issue. Still weird, though, as then the RP map wouldn't open either... Welp, as long as it works it doesn't matter, I guess.