Fallout 2 mod Unofficial Fo2 patch thread - problems, reports, suggestions

[killap]

Re: sry

I'm sure this dumb and simple question will get me yelled at... but oh well....
Anyway, so I have the patch and all that, but what is this expansion you speak of?

EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!

http://www.nma-fallout.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18208&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Heh, yep. Should be ready quite soon actually.

Also, Masticator, you run Mac OS, right? Does the newest patch I released for Mac work? I am unable to test it and thus until someone tells me I will have no idea.

 

[Kanhef]

Ok, got a Mac version ready. I don't run Mac OS, so I have no way of testing this. Do a fresh install of the game and then follow the instructions that come with the patch. Let me know how things work out.
Download Mac version here

Thank you thank you thank you thank you!
Marry me?
(j/k ... I think)

Seriously, thanks for all the work you've put into this. A lot of developers don't support the Mac community. I haven't given it a thorough testing yet, but it seems to work just fine.

Per: Would you be willing to make an updated version of your guide that reflects all the bugfixes?

 

[killap]

Ok, got a Mac version ready. I don't run Mac OS, so I have no way of testing this. Do a fresh install of the game and then follow the instructions that come with the patch. Let me know how things work out.
Download Mac version here

Thank you thank you thank you thank you!

Seriously, thanks for all the work you've put into this. A lot of developers don't support the Mac community. I haven't given it a thorough testing yet, but it seems to work just fine.

Good to hear you can at least start the game with it. I shall ask the mods to get it hosted here at NMA as well.

 

[The Masticator]

Re: sry

Also, Masticator, you run Mac OS, right? Does the newest patch I released for Mac work? I am unable to test it and thus until someone tells me I will have no idea.

I'm giving it the run through. The patch000.dat couldn't be easier to install and runs flawlessly so far. I'll do my best to poke around for any bugs or glitches, but from playing through the last iteration of your patch I'm betting it'll be rock solid.

I'm practically jumping out of my skin with anticipation for the expansion project release. Even my wife (not a great fan of video games) is interested in giving FO2 another go. She was always disappointed that we never got to save Sulik's sister.

Just out of curiosity, Killap, what program do you use to pack and unpack the patch .dat files? I'd like to be able to use your B Team mod, but I'd have to pack it into the patch000.dat file in order to use it. My wife has a PC, so I think I'd be able to give it a shot.

 

[Kyuu]

A few more quick questions...

1) From what I can tell, your patch incorporates all of Timeslip's engine tweaks, yes? So, downloading his tweaks separately would be redundant?

2) Is it using v1.5 of Timeslip's engine tweaks?

3) If Timeslip releases further updates of his engine tweaks, should simply replacing the ddraw.dll and ddraw.ini files with his new ones work fine?

 

[tomperris13]

I use the previous patch "killap's Fallout 1.02+ US Patch - Version A" with release of June 2007.

Are the saves compatible with the new patch?

 

[Per]

Per: Would you be willing to make an updated version of your guide that reflects all the bugfixes?

Nope.

 

[killap]

I use the previous patch "killap's Fallout 1.02+ US Patch - Version A" with release of June 2007.

Are the saves compatible with the new patch?

Yes.

1) From what I can tell, your patch incorporates all of Timeslip's engine tweaks, yes? So, downloading his tweaks separately would be redundant?

Yes, I use his tweaks and there is no need to donwload it separetly.

2) Is it using v1.5 of Timeslip's engine tweaks?

Yes, it is using his latest tweaks as of October 15th.

3) If Timeslip releases further updates of his engine tweaks, should simply replacing the ddraw.dll and ddraw.ini files with his new ones work fine?

Yes and no. I made some modifications to the ddraw.ini so if Timeslip would release something new, you would have to modify it to what I changed in the ini file before copying the new things over. Unless Timeslip's changes something major (which means I would have to recompile the scripts that use the new calls thereby requiring an update of my patch) there will not really be a need to download a newer version from him.

Just out of curiosity, Killap, what program do you use to pack and unpack the patch .dat files? I'd like to be able to use your B Team mod, but I'd have to pack it into the patch000.dat file in order to use it. My wife has a PC, so I think I'd be able to give it a shot.

I use dat2 with the dat2frame gui extension. You can get these files from the NMA downloads section.

 

[Lincoln]

possible bug.
I went to NCR and talked to Dr Henry(?), entered the conversation leading to the mutagenic serum quest. Tested the serum (on the ranger mutant, fyi), returned to the doctor and told him what happened. Ok so far.

The next time I talked to him, I was able to enter the conversation about the serum again, from the beginning ("what's that..."). I got another dose of serum and the quest was lit up in the pip-boy.

I assume this should not be available after doing it once. I did this a few days ago and didn't test very thoroughly. I can go back and check if needed.

edit: this happened playing on the previous version of the patch. I didn't catch any mention of this in the latest patch readme.

 

[Kyuu]

• You can no longer get the mutagenic serum from Dr. Henry if you already did that quest before.

No mention of that in the list of fixes on page 6 of this thread, though, so I don't think it's something that was addressed with the latest version.

 

[sdlotu]

Testing the Mac patch tonight

Just wandered back into the forums again after a while and saw there was a new patch for Mac to be tested. I'll put some time in on it the next few days and post here my experience, good or bad.

 

[killap]

possible bug.
I went to NCR and talked to Dr Henry(?), entered the conversation leading to the mutagenic serum quest. Tested the serum (on the ranger mutant, fyi), returned to the doctor and told him what happened. Ok so far.

The next time I talked to him, I was able to enter the conversation about the serum again, from the beginning ("what's that..."). I got another dose of serum and the quest was lit up in the pip-boy.

I assume this should not be available after doing it once. I did this a few days ago and didn't test very thoroughly. I can go back and check if needed.

edit: this happened playing on the previous version of the patch. I didn't catch any mention of this in the latest patch readme.

Hmmm. I thought this was fixed like Kyuu mentioned below. I will have to take a look though. Sigh, thought I could finally lay this patch to rest. Damn perfectionist in me...

 

[shinfrank]

hi thanks for the awesome i was wandering since this includes time slips stuff to in it does that mean this patch removes the 13 year time limit to

 

[WraithUV]

Hey there! Long-time lurker, fan, yadda. First off, kudos for an awesome patch, killap. This thing is awesome. Also a quick obligatory thank you and round of applause to Per for the legendary and insanely helpful Ultimate Guides. You guys are the Cat's Paw. (Well, it seemed more in flavor than Cat's Meow )

And with that taken care of...

I realize it is a change to the game, but I did it in the hopes that it would slow down the inevitable occurence of the too many items bug. The fact that there are so many items on each map is the problem and thus wiping the shopkeeper's inventory of your useless items should help. Since this bug is unfixable anything to aid in its slowdown is a plus.

To a certain degree, I must agree. As an item hoarder by nature, I've yet to play through the game and NOT at least see the warning signs of the blasted item bug at some point. That said though, I must also agree with Per in the aspect that such a change does have some pretty far-reaching implications. Among other concerns, one thing that immediately came to mind is that, even after all this time, I still occasionally find friends who've never played FO1/2. Being the rabid fan that I am, I can't help but to get them in there to enjoy the games first hand.

So the concern then, is that with an indiscriminate wipe of all inventory in all shops, what happens if someone sells something crucial or quest-related, not realizing its implications? As things stand now, you could go and buy the thing(s) back, but with this in place, that will no longer be possible.

To my mind, this is a pretty significant deviation from the original intent and flavor of the game, and could be quite frustrating for any non-veterans who would otherwise benefit from being able to play through their first time with a (mostly) bug-free patch.

Perhaps there's some way to make it behave between the two extremes? Like perhaps when a shopkeeper is about to restock, only "purge" items of types he's capable of restocking, and then perhaps a few "special case" exclusions (for specific quest-related items which would normally be caught based on their generic item type)?

[See PM I sent - this was getting way too long already]

There is another small thing. Someone mailed me about being able to learn about Myron's hookers from Jules. I'm sure this was something you added, but it's not listed in the corrections file from the June release.

Was this something that was broken? I remember something regarding this but it has been awhile. I did not add anything regarding this so if there was a change it must have been due to it being broken before. I will look again and see what I did.

The bug was that even though Jules gave you the same info as Marjorie Reed, it wouldn't set the right flag, so you could only go to the Stables as a hooker if you had already been there. The fact that this guy could do it indicates your fix is working as it should, so it just appears to be missing from the list.

That would be me. I can CC you the email I sent Per if it would help you locate the specifics. I checked and re-checked your docs, and having seen no mention, coupled with the fact that all the dialog seemed to indicate it was "originally intended", I'd assumed I found something Per had actually missed --As insanely rare and unlikely as that may be.

I plan to do a bit more testing as well, to pinpoint statistic/skill requirements, as well as to verify whether or not it is in fact possible with only the official patch in place. I'll keep you posted if I find anything significant.

-Wraith

 

[killap]

So the concern then, is that with an indiscriminate wipe of all inventory in all shops, what happens if someone sells something crucial or quest-related, not realizing its implications? As things stand now, you could go and buy the thing(s) back, but with this in place, that will no longer be possible.

To my mind, this is a pretty significant deviation from the original intent and flavor of the game, and could be quite frustrating for any non-veterans who would otherwise benefit from being able to play through their first time with a (mostly) bug-free patch.

Perhaps there's some way to make it behave between the two extremes? Like perhaps when a shopkeeper is about to restock, only "purge" items of types he's capable of restocking, and then perhaps a few "special case" exclusions (for specific quest-related items which would normally be caught based on their generic item type)?

I thought about this as I was making the change. I felt it to be realistic since shopkeepers don't keep normally hord items and in any real economy (not one just based on interactions between the player and the rest of the world) items will be bought by other people. Still, I realized it was possible to lose an important item this way and thus adding in a check for these items to make sure they were not removed would be the best. This would be a little more complex to code though as it would not just involve a simple line of code with a check. Still, it is not infeasible and something I could definitely do. Sigh, I guess I should have just gone ahead and added the preventions to losing important items since it is indeed a concern.

Perhaps there will be another release of this patch. I am sure other issues will be discovered. Everytime I open up scripts to fix an issue I find one more on my own. What is interesting is that reports seem to only occur AFTER I release what I hope is my final patch. If only new reports came in before I release. There was a long stretch of time recently (and after every patch release) when no reports come in. It is only after I release that people come back to report. Oh well, nothing I can really do about it.

 

[Lincoln]

Hmmm. I thought this was fixed like Kyuu mentioned below. I will have to take a look though. Sigh, thought I could finally lay this patch to rest. Damn perfectionist in me...

well, I tried to replicate what I did, but I couldn't get the serum a second time. from what I can remember, I took these steps:
1. enter ncr in early morning, go talk to merk.
2. fight lenny and kill him.
3. rest until ncr opens, go talk to henry.
4. get quest for serum.
5. use serum on ranger mutant. rangers attack, kill them.
6. report back to henry. pretty sure I used the line "he's dead, jim"
7. talk to the robo dog to get him in party. however, my party is already full. get response of "i am not a daggit" or something.
8. talk to henry. somehow get quest for serum like i hadn't done it.

but, I did notice the dialog line with "cyber-genetics, what's that" is still there, by way of asking about the vault behavioral project. if you pick that one, the conversation just ends.

i just realized the first time i did this, I continued and saved in a new slot. I'm going to check that. the rangers should be dead, and I should have a shot of serum. will report back.

update: yep, i have a saved game with a shot of serum and dead rangers. do you want the save game I was playing from?

 

[The Masticator]

Perhaps there will be another release of this patch. I am sure other issues will be discovered. Everytime I open up scripts to fix an issue I find one more on my own. What is interesting is that reports seem to only occur AFTER I release what I hope is my final patch. If only new reports came in before I release. There was a long stretch of time recently (and after every patch release) when no reports come in. It is only after I release that people come back to report. Oh well, nothing I can really do about it.

Killap, I know this sort of perpetual bug squashing can be discouraging, but what you are attempting is the Everest of computing: The Bug-Free Complex Program. Even making a real attempt at it as you have done (and, with the discovery of more bugs, continue to do) is mighty impressive.

I'm not so sure that I'd worry about the problem of deleting key items. The only critical item (that I can think of at the moment) is the Tanker FOB. Losing other items might eliminate some quests or outcomes, but they won't break the game.

The workaround for this would be to have your expansion (or as it should be known The REAL Fallout 2) installed so that you can Vertibird your way to the Enclave.

 

[killap]

I'm not so sure that I'd worry about the problem of deleting key items. The only critical item (that I can think of at the moment) is the Tanker FOB. Losing other items might eliminate some quests or outcomes, but they won't break the game.

Yeah, I thought about the loss of key items, but then again I thought about what this game stands for: choice and consequence. If you decide to sell an item well then that was your choice. You could have left in in your inventory, car trunk, shelf in a town, or on an NPC. Still, I think I will go back and add checks for key items. I don't want to leave the patch in a state that the devs would perhaps frown upon.

Killap, I know this sort of perpetual bug squashing can be discouraging...

It's not discouraging. Its just every time I feel the patch to be great I get a plethora of bug reports. Why can't they all come in at the same time before I release. Just something I have observed over the years I have worked on the patch.

update: yep, i have a saved game with a shot of serum and dead rangers. do you want the save game I was playing from?

Sure, send it to the address in the readme of the patch.

 

[Jepsen1977]

Hi Killap

Thanks for the great work you have done with patching up Fallout2 and by doing so giving us a great game the way it was designed to be played.

I started playing Fallout 2 this summer and installed your patch from June 11 (I think it was) and it worked fine apart from a quest in Redding (widow Roney) that I got from the start of the game before even visiting Redding.

But now after installing your final patch using the installer my save games have become invalid and I get en error when trying to use them. I tried to start a new game and saving and loading that and it worked fine. You wrote that save games work with your patch but it doesn't seem to be the case with my game. The version number is 1.0220 so my game is updated.

Any idea what to do since I don't want to start all over because I am currently in Vault City. I don't want to sound ungrateful of all your hard work but if save games doesn't work with the final version I would have liked to know before I installed your patch.

PS: Please forgive my bad english but it is not my native language.

 

[WraithUV]

Hi Killap

Thanks for the great work you have done with patching up Fallout2 and by doing so giving us a great game the way it was designed to be played.

I started playing Fallout 2 this summer and installed your patch from June 11 (I think it was) and it worked fine apart from a quest in Redding (widow Roney) that I got from the start of the game before even visiting Redding.

But now after installing your final patch using the installer my save games have become invalid and I get en error when trying to use them. I tried to start a new game and saving and loading that and it worked fine. You wrote that save games work with your patch but it doesn't seem to be the case with my game. The version number is 1.0220 so my game is updated.

Any idea what to do since I don't want to start all over because I am currently in Vault City. I don't want to sound ungrateful of all your hard work but if save games doesn't work with the final version I would have liked to know before I installed your patch.

PS: Please forgive my bad english but it is not my native language.

I'm not killap obviously, but...

From what you explain above, it sounds like you did not delete patch000.dat when you installed the June release of killap's patch. That is (to my knowledge) the only way you could have quests active in towns you've never been to at the beginning of the game.

Because you used the installer version of this new patch, it deletes this file for you, so NOW your patch is installed correctly, but save games from a version that HAS patch000.dat and save games without patch000.dat are NOT compatible.

In other words, even though you didn't notice it very much (except for the Redding quest when you shouldn't have had it), you didn't have the patch properly installed before, so your old saves are still "official patch" style. None of them will work with either the June or October release of killap's patch (when actually installed correctly), sorry to say.

On the bright side though, Fallout 2 being such an awesome game, and made ever-so-much better by killap and his tireless efforts, starting over isn't really a "bad" thing when you think about it.

-Wraith