Game Won't Launch Anymore

[Markunator]

Hi! So, I've downloaded a bunch of mods, both via Vortex and manually, but the game recently stopped working for me. When I loaded a previous save, characters' hair disappeared. When I tried to load the game later, it refused and simply crashed. What should I do? Do you need to know which mods I have installed? If so, please tell me how to share them with y'all.

[balmz]

yes we need to know, also you should be using damanager or daomodder to install mods, check with the files on what mods you have and list them

[theskymoves]

If hair is missing, it means the game can't find the files that are referenced in the character face morphs. Have you tried reinstalling the hairstyles (manually!) to the override folder ([user]\Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age\packages\core\override)?

 

To diagnose your crashing issues, a list of all installed mods would be helpful, as would information on whether you've patched the game executable with either the 4GB or Large Address Aware patch. Other info that would be helpful is

 

• had you added any new mods to the game prior to the issue cropping up? or removed any?
• what map/area are you trying to load into when it crashes?
• if you lower all three graphics settings, will the game load?
• is there any popup message from the game about missing mods, when you try to load the save that is crashing?

 

You might be able to export a list of mods from Vortex (never used it, so I'm not sure if that is one of its functions *shrug*), but barring that, you will need to either type out a list of mods (preferred method; use the actual name of the mod and not the name of the folder it's in) or post a printscreen of each of the game's mod folders (the faster but wrong way, IMO... it requires way too much legwork on the part of the person trying to help).

 

And you could also try reinstalling all your mods either manually (for overrides) or (for DAzips), with DAupdater (or DAO-ModManager), rather than with Vortex. Vortex is very poor choice for installing and managing DAO mods.

Edited May 3, 2020 by theskymoves

[Markunator]

yes we need to know, also you should be using damanager or daomodder to install mods, check with the files on what mods you have and list them

 

Okay, I have just downloaded the Dragon Age: Origins Modmanager. Now, how do I reinstall the mods on that instead of on Vortex? Also, how do I check with the files?

 

If hair is missing, it means the game can't find the files that are referenced in the character face morphs. Have you tried reinstalling the hairstyles (manually!) to the override folder ([user]\Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age\packages\core\override)?

 

To diagnose your crashing issues, a list of all installed mods would be helpful, as would information on whether you've patched the game executable with either the 4GB or Large Address Aware patch. Other info that would be helpful is

 

• had you added any new mods to the game prior to the issue cropping up? or removed any?
• what map/area are you trying to load into when it crashes?
• if you lower all three graphics settings, will the game load?
• is there any popup message from the game about missing mods, when you try to load the save that is crashing?

 

You might be able to export a list of mods from Vortex (never used it, so I'm not sure if that is one of its functions *shrug*), but barring that, you will need to either type out a list of mods (preferred method; use the actual name of the mod and not the name of the folder it's in) or post a printscreen of each of the game's mod folders (the faster but wrong way, IMO... it requires way too much legwork on the part of the person trying to help).

 

And you could also try reinstalling all your mods either manually (for overrides) or (for DAzips), with DAupdater (or DAO-ModManager), rather than with Vortex. Vortex is very poor choice for installing and managing DAO mods.

 

How do I manually reinstall hairstyles? From where do I install them?

 

I have downloaded the 4GB patch now, but I'm not quite sure of how to install it. I just copy-pasted the file into the \override folder, is that correct?

 

To answer your list of questions:

• No, I haven't added or removed any new mods prior to that issue, at least not as far as I can remember.
• Right now, I'm in the beginning of the game, at Ostagar.
• I don't know, but I would guess it wouldn't, and I don't want to play on lower graphics settings.
• No, there haven't been any specific popup messages this time around.

I should probably mention that I have now uninstalled the game (I'm in the process of reinstalling it) and also deleted every single mod from Vortex, as well as deleted absolutely everything from the \override folder. Maybe you could help me reinstall everything once I have the game installed again? I had no idea that it was a bad idea to use Vortex for Dragon Age: Origins.

[Thandal]

Vortex doesn't support the Dragon Age-series games very well (can only handle some of the most basic types of mods for DAO and DA2) and doesn't support ANY Frostbite engine-based games at all (So no DA: Inquisition or ME: Andromeda, or beyond.)

[Markunator]

Vortex doesn't support the Dragon Age-series games very well (can only handle some of the most basic types of mods for DAO and DA2) and doesn't support ANY Frostbite engine-based games at all (So no DA: Inquisition or ME: Andromeda, or beyond.)

 

Cool. So, DAMod Manager it is, then?

[Pasquale1223]

Honestly - I just follow the individual mod authors' installation instructions, and have never had any problems.

 

Some mods (particularly those that add entries to the addins.xml file) install with daupdater, an installation tool provided with the game (it's in your game install directory, under subdirectory bin_ship). Many simply ask you to copy files to an override folder.

 

Making the game large address aware (sometimes called the 4GB patch) involves a change to the game executable, so follow the instructions provided.

 

ETA: If you're doing a fresh install, it's usually a good idea to try running the game before installing any mods. That ensures that your basic installation is sound.

 

After that, it's not a bad idea to install only a few mods at a time, and make sure they work before adding others.

[balmz]

to use the 4 gb patch, use the exe and then apply it to the dao icon that starts the game