DAModder - A Dragon Age Mod Manager - Now in Open Beta

[gobravo]

its not crashing on startup,the progran is working.but it can't get acsses to the xml file or it cant read it.do i need to put the tool in the C:\Users\Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age folder?

what am i doing roung?

i saw that the program has abug report tools,thats a good thing

[Alexspeed]

Check my guide, i included simple instructions on how to handle DAModder there: http://www.dragonagenexus.com/articles/article.php?id=19

 

The Installation is easy, there is none. Just make a Folder where you want to have it located (your Desktop for example) and name it DAModder (or whatever you choose). Then copy the contents of the downloaded File into that folder. The .exe-File in the Folder is the DAModder Application, with a doubleklick you can start it.

If you choose another location than the Desktop, you can create a shortcut for the .exe and put that on the desktop if you want to, that ensures easy access to it when you need it.

 

Are you sure you HAVE a addins.xml file?

it should be in "C:\Documents and Settings\YOURNAME\My Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age\Settings"

If its not there then you messed up your installation somehow, maybe its corrupted.

Have you messed with the console or the toolset? that can sometimes cause errors if done wrong.

 

You should post your Issue at the Support Forum so John can take a look at it when he is back again: http://damodder.tenderapp.com/discussions/beta-2

Just create a new thread and describe your error and all, like i posted it above, also add your addins.xml to that posting so john can take a look at it.

[gobravo]

well of course i have the xml file,how do you thing iv install all the other mods,i meen the game is workin fine,but mabey its corrupted somehow cus i use the notpad++.ill do as you ask and ill post in the Support Forum,thank you for your time,have a graet weakend!

[Alexspeed]

Thank you, you too, keep an eye on your support thread you started so we can solve your problem =)

[jwvanderbeck]

Ok so here is the deal with the XML problems.

 

If you have edited your XML file yourself in some program, then you may have unfortunately corrupted your XML file in a subtle but significant way. The AddIns.xml file is supposed to be a UTF-8 encoded text file. In brief, the encoding is how the various bytes in the file are read from the file and written to the file. In these days of Unicode, it isn't possible to store every character in one byte, so we have to have a way to use multiple bytes and translate that to the proper Unicode character. This is what the "encoding" of the file tells the program.

 

Now what I've learned from looking at files that were causing problems, is that every one of them has essentially lost its encoding. The "BOM" or byte order mark, that identifies it as a UTF-8 file is gone. Even worse, is that many of the characters in the file have been completely butchered to the point that they can't be re-created. Which characters are damaged depends on how that character is stored in Unicode, but in brief the higher in the chart the character is, the more likely it is the be corrupted. Essentially this affects characters that have accent marks, and almost all Cyrillic characters like Russian script. The data just isn't really there anymore, thanks to whatever program you used to edit the file :(

 

So the bad news is that if your native language is one other than English, you may find that most of the descriptions in your language are destroyed. It depends on the language. English is not affected at all, some are only mildly affected, and others especially Russian, are almost totally destroyed. Unfortunately DAModder can't reconstruct this data because it just isn't complete anymore. I spent the last 3 days trying, but it just isn't possible.

 

What I have done though is written a small tool, available from inside DAModder, that will rebuild the encoding and any characters that it CAN manage to reconstruct. This will once again make your AddIns.xml file a valid UTF-8 file and you can use DAModder like normal. Depending on your language this may very well work fine for you, or if you don't mind just using English it will work fine as well. If however you find that the titles and descriptions for your mods in your language are just no good anymore, then you need to find a way to re-install those mods to get the descriptions back. I don't know if it is possible to re-install the Bioware DLC, so at this time I am NOT recommending that. But if anyone knows how you can do that, then it would be a good option. Another option would be to simply reinstall the game which I presume would then allow you to re-download and install the DLC you had previously purchased.

[Alexspeed]

Thank you John for explaining that so clearly, wouldnt have thought that encoding can make so much trouble =(

[jwvanderbeck]

95% of the foreign language descriptions are in Bioware DLC anyway. So I had an idea this morning. If I can get a hold of the uncorrupted XML data for ALL the Bioware content, then I can make the tool use that to reconstruct the information on the Bioware mods.

[Alexspeed]

95% of the foreign language descriptions are in Bioware DLC anyway. So I had an idea this morning. If I can get a hold of the uncorrupted XML data for ALL the Bioware content, then I can make the tool use that to reconstruct the information on the Bioware mods.

 

you can get the german one from me if you tell me which files you need =)

[jwvanderbeck]

You have all the DLC content?

 

All I need is a uncorrupted AddIns.xml

[Alexspeed]

You have all the DLC content?

 

All I need is a uncorrupted AddIns.xml

 

I have allmost all of it, besides the 5 things that you could only get for preordering at certain retailers.

But installed are all, those 5 are just not authorized.