Issues with some personal mods and PatcherGUI

[Charistoph]

Okay, I'm trying to do this with all the Wiki instructions and I think I'm good in 90% of it, but still running in to some issues.

 

I am running Windows 10 with the latest Steam update (don't know the number off hand) with EW, Slingshot, and Elite Soldier Pack installed. Base Steam software is installed in Program Files, but my games are installed elsewhere on D:.

 

I have PatcherGUI do its job on Hash, Ini Loading, and Phone Home in the directory. Enemy Unknown runs fine at this point.

 

Problem #1: Enemy Within locks up consistently loading the user files, not a crash, but it seems to be looping or not finding something and keeps looking till Windows butts in or I Sign Out/Reboot. Alt+F4 does not work, and Xcom blocks any visual or input access to Task Manager. I checked the logs and either it runs in to a cache issue or it is spending its time looking for something.

 

Problem #2: If I do any medium to large number of changes to EU DGC.ini, then it will do the same after leaving a mission. Most of the changes I headed the warnings in the Wiki, it's mostly just changing the cost of things and adding HP to Armors. I can do a mission, maybe two, but when it goes to the video of the Sky Ranger flying through the night and just stays looping that video, with the same results for EW.

 

Now, it could be because I haven't set Steam to "off-line mode", but that seemed to be more for mod integrity than crash/freeze prevention (I could be wrong, hence pointing it out). And the modding instructions were only concerned with having XCOM itself outside of Program Files, not the Steam engine. I am reinstalling XCOM on to my C: drive to see if that helps clear it up, but any insights would help if it doesn't.

[dubiousintent]

Couple of things.

 

Windows 10 has broken some of the backwards compatibility for DirectX9 with older games. It's now been confirmed by both nVidia and AMD that the Windows Driver Development Kit (WDDK) has changed a long established parameter, which is causing problems for the latest versions of their drivers with older games.

 

The same can said for some recent Windows Updates. As the games themselves are no longer being updated, and MS considers this to be an "application error", the odds of this getting resolved by either the video card vendors or MS are not good. The good news is at least one member of the modding community believes he has a solution for at least one game (not XCOM) and is just waiting to see if an official fix comes out. However that is not a guarantee it will be ported to your favorite game.

 

What this means to you:

 

1. Don't upgrade your video drivers unless you need to fix a particular problem. As games age, they fall out of the "testing suites" vendors use and backwards compatibility becomes less of a priority.

 

2. If you start to have problems with a game shortly after a Windows Update (especially with Win10), consider rolling back to the automatically created "restore point" until you hear that the problem is resolved. ALWAYS check the link in the "Windows Update" notice to the Technical Bulletin that describes what the update is fixing. Not all updates are equally important.

 

3. In particular with Steam: Running in "offline mode" is about more than "mod integrity". There is background communication in the Steam Client (which is separate from the game itself) that goes on and interferes with things.

 

4. Steam on C: and the Game folder tree on D: should work fine. However, the game had to be installed to D: and not merely copied/moved there in order for the registry to be updated correctly. Problem 1 sounds like the registry is not correct. When you installed EW it should have been placed as a sub-folder under the EU root. (See the folder examples giving in the "Basic Guide to installing mods" section on "Loose files".) Frankly, I found it preferable to get rid of any part of Steam on C: to get everything to consistently work correctly. Please read the article "Installing Games on Windows Vista+" in my signature for why the "C:\Program Files" tree is such a bad location.

 

5. EU and EW have similar files, but they are maintained in separate subfolders. Changes made to the EU DGC.INI file do not apply to EW, and vice versa. Be very clear which folder you are in when making those edits. Same applies to PatcherGUI. It has to make the "Hash, Ini Loading, and Phone Home" edits for both games.

 

-Dubious-

[Charistoph]

  On 9/28/2016 at 11:37 PM, dubiousintent said:

Couple of things.

 

Windows 10 has broken some of the backwards compatibility for DirectX9 with older games. It's now been confirmed by both nVidia and AMD that the Windows Driver Development Kit (WDDK) has changed a long established parameter, which is causing problems for the latest versions of their drivers with older games.

 

The same can said for some recent Windows Updates. As the games themselves are no longer being updated, and MS considers this to be an "application error", the odds of this getting resolved by either the video card vendors or MS are not good. The good news is at least one member of the modding community believes he has a solution for at least one game (not XCOM) and is just waiting to see if an official fix comes out. However that is not a guarantee it will be ported to your favorite game.

 

What this means to you:

 

1. Don't upgrade your video drivers unless you need to fix a particular problem. As games age, they fall out of the "testing suites" vendors use and backwards compatibility becomes less of a priority.

 

2. If you start to have problems with a game shortly after a Windows Update (especially with Win10), consider rolling back to the automatically created "restore point" until you hear that the problem is resolved. ALWAYS check the link in the "Windows Update" notice to the Technical Bulletin that describes what the update is fixing. Not all updates are equally important.

Okay, these can't be in technical issue here, since everything is running fine without using PatcherGUI's adjustments. It is only after making these adjustments that the game freezes occur. So, I don't think it is a driver problem, unless changing prices and Armor HP changes where it looks for drivers. So, I think it is more to do with..

 

  On 9/28/2016 at 11:37 PM, dubiousintent said:

3. In particular with Steam: Running in "offline mode" is about more than "mod integrity". There is background communication in the Steam Client (which is separate from the game itself) that goes on and interferes with things.

 

4. Steam on C: and the Game folder tree on D: should work fine. However, the game had to be installed to D: and not merely copied/moved there in order for the registry to be updated correctly. Problem 1 sounds like the registry is not correct. When you installed EW it should have been placed as a sub-folder under the EU root. (See the folder examples giving in the "Basic Guide to installing mods" section on "Loose files".) Frankly, I found it preferable to get rid of any part of Steam on C: to get everything to consistently work correctly. Please read the article "Installing Games on Windows Vista+" in my signature for why the "C:\Program Files" tree is such a bad location.

All this stuff. It will be irritating to move Steam around, as making the adjustments will take some time. Still if it gets it to work, YAY! I'm pretty sure that if I can't get this little stuff to work, even expert Mods like Long War will just end up with the same results.

 

  On 9/28/2016 at 11:37 PM, dubiousintent said:

5. EU and EW have similar files, but they are maintained in separate subfolders. Changes made to the EU DGC.INI file do not apply to EW, and vice versa. Be very clear which folder you are in when making those edits. Same applies to PatcherGUI. It has to make the "Hash, Ini Loading, and Phone Home" edits for both games.

 

-Dubious-

Of this I was aware. I have been VERY careful as to what I adjust and where I am trying to adjust it. So, I think I will have to address points 3 & 4 before looking for other causes.

 

Thank you for your time and help.

 

Update: Okay, moved Steam out of Program Files and put it in Offline Mode and I am running! Cleared an Abduction, an Ship Downing and a VIP "escort" (I assume for the Progeny mission type, as it wasn't the Slingshot mission). Thank you for the clarifications and the confirmations of the errors of my assumptions.

Edited September 29, 2016 by Charistoph

[dubiousintent]

Happy to hear you got things resolved. Yeah, the whole "Program Files" folder thing has been a long and annoying lesson learned for everyone, but it's been pretty consistently necessary for quite a while now. Wish Steam would just change their default location and be done with it.

 

Happy hunting, commander!

 

-Dubious-

[Charistoph]

  On 9/29/2016 at 9:36 PM, dubiousintent said:

Happy to hear you got things resolved. Yeah, the whole "Program Files" folder thing has been a long and annoying lesson learned for everyone, but it's been pretty consistently necessary for quite a while now. Wish Steam would just change their default location and be done with it.

 

Happy hunting, commander!

 

-Dubious-

 

Thank you, again.

 

The Wiki didn't seem to be explicit in this being a major crash issue, so I thought it was one of those "if you have problems, do this" or "do this or your mod won't work", not "it will be screwed if you don't do this".