How to create DAZIP out of random files.

[DarkeWolf]

VERY good post Amy, top notch! :thumbsup:

And yeah, I'd forgotten about the windows view defaults, since it's something that I always change, right off the bat. :facepalm:

 

Karnage- Great to hear! Glad that (mostly) Amy and I were able to get you going in the right direction. Happy gaming and modding! :)

-DW

 

Edit- and hey, don't be hard on yourself about the browser. I didnt know that about Chrome either ;)

[amycus]

Glad to hear it's working for you now. Happy modding :thumbsup:

And no, these things aren't always easy to get at first. We have all been beginners (aka noobs :teehee: ) once and I would probably have been in your situation if I had downloaded mods for the first time with opera. - And now we others know that opera isn't too friendly with dazip files.

Edited July 1, 2011 by amycus

[ahlewis32]

Seems I am having the same problem with the file downloads. I have used both Internet Explorer and Firefox and have gotten the same results. I have changed the folder options, zipped the manifest files, unzipped them, changed their names, and installed them using Daupdater. Updater shows they installed but the game refuses to acknowledge them. I've tried this a dozen times with each browser and get the same results each time. None of them appear in the DLC menu. Any other suggestions? I'm at my rope's end. Won't play if I can't fix this.

[Thandal]

The "manifest" file is one of the elements that is supposed to be contained within the ".dazip" collection, along with the rest of the additional content. Renaming it won't help.

 

With several (most? all?) browsers it is possible to set an option that automatically assumes downloads which appear to be compressed files should be saved as a ".zip", regardless of the extension presented. This setting is not (usually) the default, but is much too easy to accidentally enable. (Can't speak for Opera, haven't used it in years.)

 

The immediate solution is to make sure you manually "name" the saved download. If it's supposed to be a ".dazip" (as indicated by the filename on the download page) then make sure that's what extension it gets, or rename it as described above once you've got it saved on your machine. :thumbsup:

 

(The longer-term fix involves figuring out how to stop your browser from "helping" by renaming downloads. :tongue: )

[ahlewis32]

My next question is exactly what do I rename? Is it the folder labeled "Contents?" And, do I place the manifest file into the folder beforehand? I'm using winzip and renaming the files after adding the manifest file to the addins folder results in an error from the daupdater during install.

Any hints on how to change the way the browers read the files in any of Firefox, IE, or Chrome? Their help is less than helpful on this.

Thanks for your speedy reply. I'm home bound due to an accident and this is my way to pass time.

[Thandal]

The entire download (consisting of the "manifest", "contents", etc.) is one package. That's what needs to be named "whatever.dazip". The game expects to find certain elements within a ".dazip" package, and does specific things with those elements to make them work properly.

 

If you have a valid ".dazip" package, then use the built-in program "DAUpdater.exe" (or either of the third-party Mod Managers) to handle installing it appropriately. You, the player, don't unpack anything at all. :thumbsup:

[ahlewis32]

So the root of my problem seems to be the download process. Once downloaded, winzip automatically unzips it into the two files. I never see it as a single file. I've tried to turn off the automatic unzip in Winzip but there seems to be no way to do that. May have to consider uninstalling and reinstalling Winzip after the download.

All this happened because I got a new computer. These files didn't transfer and I can't get them to. Definitely strange about why it downloads great for 4 or 5 downloads then suddenly starts this.

Thanks for the clarification, Thandal. Grandma appreciates you!

[lukashisuphola]

Hey know this is a half a year old and solved, but as it is 1 of the best ones and very helpful to those that come here from googling etc... (like I did) Figured I would add 3 things to it. (I spent ~30min trying to figure this issue myself than ~hour researching and messing around with things)

 

1. I personally found out after thinking a moment that the .Dazips WILL actually download it seems, it gives you the weird unzipped thing, BUT if you go to where Your downloads go (not the opened thing): aka something like this : YourName(user)_Downloads (just type Downloads into search and it will be the one with a little blue arrow pointing down with a folder behind it Also it is the Program not a Document.) --+ O ya and remember just look at type Dazip file.

 

2. it seems you can manually do it as kinda of said in this post and a few other posts / areas by placing the addins with the addins and package with packages than copying the Manifest into the addins Manifest under DragonAge_Settings (not 100% sure on where to copy and where exactly in it to paste as I have seen 2 or 3 different things, -----> suggest copying both manifests more so the one in settings in case something goes wrong and than just trying to match the words and make sure you have the <additem> <additem /> copied in and probably near the very bottom before all the closings so you don't mess with another mods addin.

 

3. If you have already done most of 2. (before the manifest editing aka just the folders) and than you do 1. it SHOULD be ok, as I have done this on 3 mods --> didn't seem to have any errors, DAmoder installed them succefully, and 1 was Castle Harem and I went inside it and it all seemed ok talked to all the npcs did a few of the things, used the store, put something on storage, etc..., BUT ?_?unsure as there was 0 sound outside of walking etc..., and the adult scenes had issues with showing both/all bodies, BUT I know the mod is very unfinished and as far as I know has no sound yet + I use a ton of other mods that are possibly messing with the adult scenes.

3.1 If any have info on rather or not this is an issue or the mods wont work right because of my screw up, PLease message me and reply for all others to see.

Edited May 21, 2012 by lukashisuphola

[Chris99us]

I have been trying to figure out how to add files that are just meshes (More Hairstyles)...putting the override folder does not seem to work. Do you put the whole folder or just the files inside? I also cannot figure out how to add files that are dazips. I do read the readme files but they are not always helpful! I also read the dummy document! I have added mods in many games and DA Origins is the toughest one! Thanks for the help in advance! ;-P

 

Edit: I found this http://www.gamefront.com/how-to-install-dragon-age-origins-mods/ and downloaded the DAModder and now I can those files.

Edited April 15, 2014 by Chris99us