Fallout 2 Restoration Project 2.1.2b (Unofficial Expansion)

[Marid Audran]

I've used Killap's F2 Restoration Mod before under Win XP, a previous version from a couple of years back, and enjoyed it thoroughly.

I'm an active GOG member and their interplay sale gave me the excuse to procure Fallout 1/2 in cheap Digital Download format instead of relying on my physical discs. Anyway, after installing the game and the current version of this mod, I get the dreaded "Fallout 2 appears to be running in compatibility mode" and then the program exits.

I'm not the first to suffer this problem. Apparently sfall doesn't play nice with Windows 7, which is the OS I'm now running. I've been told that it was a simple matter of modifying the ddraw.ini file and changing the line SkipCompatModeCheck=0 to =1.

However, when I peeked in the ddraw.ini file, I couldn't find SkipCompatModeCheck=0 anywhere in the text. I tried adding it in, under the [main] section at the top of the file, and then changing the value to "1," however it did nothing.

I tried downloading the current version of sfall and then dumping it into my fallout 2 directory. Again, I didn't see SkipCompatModeCheck=0 in the ddraw.ini file (and again, tried adding it in manually, zilch).

None of the compatibility modes are selected for Fallout2.exe under properties. However, 256 colors is checked, and grayed out, so I can't select it, if this means anything. When I choose various compatibility modes (Win 95, Win 98, Win2000, XP) it has no effect, same error message.

I tried manually removing the sfall component from my Restoration Patch installation, which I've been told is a simple matter of deleting ddraw.ini and ddraw.dll from the root F2 folder.

After doing so, I now come across a "wmAreaInit:Error Loading Cities!" error message, and the game exits as before. In researching this problem I found out some people bypassed it by downloading the city limit patch #2 ( http://www.nma-fallout.com/forum/dload.php?action=file&file_id=76 ). I did so and installed it. No dice.

Any ideas? Again, I'm running Windows 7, 32-bit. From the size of the NMA community I would presume some other Win 7 users out there are able to reconcile this issue or don't have it at all.

 

[Timeslip]

Apparently sfall doesn't play nice with Windows 7, which is the OS I'm now running.
...
Any ideas? Again, I'm running Windows 7, 32-bit. From the size of the NMA community I would presume some other Win 7 users out there are able to reconcile this issue or don't have it at all.

Yup, there's plenty of happy win7 users, including the author of sfall, so you'd have thought it would be pretty much guaranteed to work there.

sfall will refuse to run if the 256 colour option is set, so yes, that's your problem right there. (For good reason - the compatibility settings break sfall, and removing sfall breaks the RP, so you wont have any luck trying that either.) There's no reason at all for it to be un-uncheckable, so I presume GoG have done something weird there under the guise of compatibility. I suggest you ask GoG support about it. Possibly you can work around it by renaming fallout2.exe to something else, since the compatibility settings work on a filename basis.

I should probably go and buy a GoG copy and some point and see for myself what on earth they've done to it, and if there's anything I can do to fix it. Seems a bit of a waste of money when I already have a perfectly good disk though.

 

[Dorian Grave]

I just installed RP for the first time two or three days ago and I think I have encountered a bug. I skimmed through this thread but didn't seem to find it so: I picked the Swift Learner perk when I reached level 3, but it doesn't affect the experience when I kill rats (or completed the "Kill Keeng Ra'at" quest. It works correctly when I use my first aid and doctor skills though. My OS is Win 7 x64, installed the GOG version to c:/fallout2, used latest Windows installer and installed everything. Also, I posted this to the Wiki with a savegame.

It has been years since I played, so my memory might be playing tricks, but did lighting in the rat caves change? It never used to be this dark. Kinda like it though. More menacing this way.

I also spotted a typo in one of the floats of Klamath's children. After killing the scorpions for Torr, one of them said "My mom thinks that I talk to much".

Also in Arroyo, when I killed the plants in Hakunin's garden one of the dialogue options are "Where did you say your garden was (or something to that effect, can't remeber, but I think that it is due to the way the game handles quests, but it was still a funny anomality.

 

[Dorian Grave]

Sorry for double post, but I felt that this serves as a individual post.

...
I'm not the first to suffer this problem. Apparently sfall doesn't play nice with Windows 7, which is the OS I'm now running. I've been told that it was a simple matter of modifying the ddraw.ini file and changing the line SkipCompatModeCheck=0 to =1.
....

Where did you install the game? C:/fallout2? Did you change the Directx-mode to 4?

Because the Restoration Project incorporates some of the Sfall engine tweaks by Timeslip, it will not work with Mac versions of Fallout 2. It also won't run in XP's Win95/98 Compatibility Mode (but it will run on Win95/98), but there's no need to use that anyway.

If you're using a 64-bit version of Windows (Vista or 7), you may find that the default configuration crashes upon load. You must run the game in DirectX Mode 4. In ddraw.ini in the Fallout 2 program directory, find the [Graphics] section and use this setting:

Mode=4

http://falloutmods.wikia.com/wiki/F2RP_Technical_Info#Windows

What I did (Win 7 64 bit) was that I installed the GOG version to C:/fallout2, used Windows installer to install everything, edited the ddraw.ini and clicked the exe Hope this helps.

 

[Marid Audran]

sfall will refuse to run if the 256 colour option is set, so yes, that's your problem right there. (For good reason - the compatibility settings break sfall, and removing sfall breaks the RP, so you wont have any luck trying that either.) There's no reason at all for it to be un-uncheckable, so I presume GoG have done something weird there under the guise of compatibility. I suggest you ask GoG support about it. Possibly you can work around it by renaming fallout2.exe to something else, since the compatibility settings work on a filename basis.

Renamed Fallout2.exe to F2.exe. Right-click properties, 256 colors was now uncheckable. Did so, and it booted up like a charm. My god, I can't believe it was so simple.

I did have the same Timothy Leary LSD color issue that I've had to deal with Fallout 1 in re-playing it lately (though I'd gotten used to it); more distressing, however, was no music playing. Went into ddraw.ini and changed Graphic Mode=4, and the graphics resolution to my laptop's setting, 1280X800. I also changed OverrideMusicDir=2 to OverrideMusicDir=0 and made sure my music directories in fallout.cfg were accurate. That solved both my color and my music problem.

I should probably go and buy a GoG copy and some point and see for myself what on earth they've done to it, and if there's anything I can do to fix it. Seems a bit of a waste of money when I already have a perfectly good disk though.

You have until July 4th to pick yourself a $3 copy at GOG (half-off promo, same for F1). It's a criminal steal of a deal, in my opinion, even if you have a disc copy, like me. No DRM or extra accounts, verification, or other clients required once you download and install/run it, or any rubbish like that. I like to support these guys and their philosophy to gaming, so I think it's a good investment, since three bucks barely buys you a gallon of gas, a box of crackers, or a cappuccino these days.

Thanks very much for your help, this community is a stalwart one.

 

[Dorian Grave]

@Marid Audran

Glad to help

@timeslip

They haven't done anything, to my knowledge. It's European version 1.02 Kind of disheartening. I was under the impression that GOG version was packed with Killap's unofficial path. Maybe it was a dream :p

EDIT: Euro version, not US.

 

[teukros]

.Pixote (Great work! Wow!): did you get rid of the cliff face in Vault 15?

It has been years since I played, so my memory might be playing tricks, but did lighting in the rat caves change? It never used to be this dark. Kinda like it though. More menacing this way.

I remember the game as being much darker. It's never dark at all now. It's kind of like a full moon every night. With Carrington Event level aurorae. And a nearby supernova. Deep inside caves and tunnels, too.

And that's with the Brightness Level dialed all the way down (to the left - "Normal" as opposed to "Brighter").

 

[.Pixote.]

.Pixote (Great work! Wow!): did you get rid of the cliff face in Vault 15?

No - we want to keep the game as original as possible - so the mysterious cliff remains, I never had a problem with that cliff, I think the mistake was made on the designers of F1 for not including the cliff, but 1 comes before 2.

 

[agris]

... It's important not to change too much otherwise it wont be Fallout 2 anymore...

It's really cool to see how you've progressed as a mapper. I remember the first F2RP with your map changes (was it 1.1?) and the rugs but it's really clear you are 1) willing to listen to people and 2) actually like fallout and want to preserve the feeling of the original. it really couldn't be more obvious than in the current generation of maps you're making / made, like that 4th level military base one, which look great and definitely 'feel natural'.

 

[Timeslip]

Renamed Fallout2.exe to F2.exe. Right-click properties, 256 colors was now uncheckable.

That's odd enough on its own. None of the compatibility settings should have been on after renaming it, uncheckable or not. Glad it's fixed though.

You have until July 4th to pick yourself a $3 copy at GOG (half-off promo, same for F1).
<snip>

Heh, you don't have to extol the virtues of GoG to me. I already have a bigger-than-healthy collection of games over there, including 8 from the interplay sale.

They haven't done anything, to my knowledge. It's European version 1.02 Kind of disheartening. I was under the impression that GOG version was packed with Killap's unofficial path. Maybe it was a dream :p

Not to the exe, but they've done something to the compatibility settings. They should never be checked by default, and they certainly should never be unchangable manually.

And it's not a dream. <s>It's packed with a (very) old version of sfall and the unofficial patch. Not the RP though, and it was interplay who gave it to GoG like that, rather than GoG doing the adding.</s> (The steam version and the latest boxed version are the same.) It can't be the european version either, or sfall would complain about requiring the american exe too, unless it's some unholy mashup of bits and pieces from different localisations.

 

[Lexx]

It can be the UK version max. which would mean no children. Never checked it out, the only GOG Fallout that I have played was Fallout 1 and it got children and everything else. Didn't needed to test Fallout 2, because I have it installed since forever.

 

[Timeslip]

It can be the UK version max. which would mean no children. Never checked it out, the only GOG Fallout that I have played was Fallout 1 and it got children and everything else. Didn't needed to test Fallout 2, because I have it installed since forever.

I just went and bought it to check what it's doing. It's fully the american version; american exe, american data, and includes the children. It's not in fact the same build that's on steam/new boxes: There's no unofficial material in there at all, optional or otherwise. The ddraw.dll that's included looks like something GoG created, and isn't sfall. (It also has a link time dependency on d3d9.dll; whenever I did that in sfall it broke fallout's crt startup. I'll have to see how they managed it. ) There's no sign of Killaps unofficial patch either. It does have a patch000.dat that needs to be removed to use mods properly. The installer sets the 256 colour flag automatically, but doesn't do anything interesting with it. I can check/uncheck it manually to my hearts content. I would guess that any problems relating to not being able to uncheck it are UAC related, given that it tries to install itself to program files by default and most people wouldn't bother to fix that.

One other point of note, the music folder is in the root install directory, rather than in \data like it is on my boxed version. That explains why the music fix does the exact opposite of what it should do. I fix it by making fallout look where the normal music folder is, and GoG have fixed it themselves by moving the music to where fallout was originally looking for it, so they end up missing each other.

 

[lisac2k]

(It also has a link time dependency on d3d9.dll; whenever I did that in sfall it broke fallout's crt startup. I'll have to see how they managed it. )

In regard to this, I would be very interested in seeing you being successful in your endeavors. Please keep us informed!

 

[Timeslip]

In regard to this, I would be very interested in seeing you being successful in your endeavors. Please keep us informed!

Hmm? Why would that be interesting? It shouldn't make any difference for users, it would just let me tidy the code up a little.

 

[lisac2k]

Sorry, my bad. Thought about something else, which maybe can be discussed here as well. I noticed the floaters in Vault Rats (depending on timed events) are executed somewhat faster on my current Duo Core @3.6 GHz than on the old CPU used to create the mod (single core AMD ~2.2 GHz or something). The mod was running with no sfall. Didn't have time recently to test the timed events in other mods (or with sfall), so I'm not sure what else could cause this behavior... Any ideas?

 

[Lexx]

Well, I noticed that in Fallout of Nevada, the npcs that float random text in New Reno are spawning a new text line every second. That's definitive not normal and I doubt that the mod creator intendet this. The mod doesn't use Sfall, so I'll guess it's because of that.

 

[lisac2k]

Okay, I was playing around a bit with Vault Rats (sfall and no-sfall testing variations) and here's what I got...

There's a scene on the very start of the mod where two NPCs talk to each other via floaters. One says a line (floater), then the other one replies (floater); then the first one throws in a new floater, and the other one replies (with floater) and so on. The time interval between the lines was set (back in 2007) to 6 seconds, i.e. 60 heartbeats. The lines are controlled by a single add_timer_event function which removes the timer after each floater (rm_timer_event(self_obj)) and the script sets the new timer event in the timed_event_p_proc procedure (for the next floater).

First of all, there was no difference between the results of the sfall and no-sfall tests.

Second, the interval between the lines set by the timer event is indeed ~6 seconds long, as it is set by the timer event. However, the lines (floaters) take longer to disappear than they needed back in 2007. I am quite sure the floaters took only ~5 seconds four years ago, and I left that extra 1 second as a pause before the next floater pops up. Now they take 6-10 seconds (depending on the floater length - those longer lines need more time, or so it seems). It seems that the problem is with the floaters and not with the timer events.

Any help/hint greatly appreciated.

EDIT: Lexx helped me with a workaround scripting solution for this, you can neglect my babbling...

 

[Kuresu]

Can anyone tell me if there is any custom skins for female hero in this mod?

I can pick between original, long hair and bald for male.
But female only has the black haired square cut lady..

 

[.Pixote.]

Can anyone tell me if there is any custom skins for female hero in this mod?

I can pick between original, long hair and bald for male.
But female only has the black haired square cut lady..

Not yet - 50,000+ frames will need to be edited to make a new girl. So there could be quite a wait before we see a new female PC.

 

[Kuresu]

Can anyone tell me if there is any custom skins for female hero in this mod?

I can pick between original, long hair and bald for male.
But female only has the black haired square cut lady..

Not yet - 50,000+ frames will need to be edited to make a new girl. So there could be quite a wait before we see a new female PC.

Ok, thanks for letting me know