The Linux User's Guide to Installing Mods on the Enhanced Editions

[lynx]

No, that's not so easy.

[crysthala]

Ah. I suspected as much. Well, anyway, with all these great guides around, I was finally able to install a lighting mod so I can actually see where I'm going. And so it begins... thanks!

[Axatax]

Anyone running this on Linux, I recommend JFS over NTFS.  I had too many problems unfortunately with NTFS.  Installing EET through WeiDu would reliably crash the FUSE NTFS driver halfway through the installation.  Definitely a Linux/NTFS problem, but easily avoidable.  I don't see any reason really to use NTFS for this, when you can use JFS/XFS, etc., or any other UNIX FS that can support case insensitive filenames.

 

[AL|EN]

Hi,

I recently discovered that one of the modding tools is not able to work properly on Windows because its internals are case-sensitive. The advice from the author was 'You must lowercase the mod files anyway'. I have no problem doing so even for a large amount of mods but I don't believe it's true. As such, I'm looking for the definitive confirmation of this statement:

Quote

Even if the mod use lovercased filenames, the engine expect specific file case for some of the areas like chinit.key, portiat filenames etc. So even when the mods are lovercased, a linux user still has to use case-insensitive filesystem. 

If somebody can confirm the above statement, or a similar one, maybe there is a chance that this tool will receive Windows support out-of-the-box.

[AL|EN]

I've recently read some discussion regarding the above problem: [Project] A new language for writing mods — Beamdog Forums

Calling @argent77 @lynx @Graion Dilach @suy

Can the problem be mitigated using WeiDU '--case-exact' option?

[suy]

Which tool is having issues with Windows?? I'm puzzled that this is the case, because the issue has always been Linux and/or case sensitivity.

I cannot give perfect details right now, but I can tell one thing: in my very first experiences making my own local modifications to the game, I never had issues with case sensitivity. I was just changing 2DA, ITM and SPL files by hand with NearInfinity, so maybe other files are more problematic. I realized that the game just worked fine, even when some cases where mismatching. I was not using a case insensitive file system for that. When I started to work with WeiDU, it's when I started having to use a case insensitive file system to run WeiDU, and also to start the game (before it was not needed). It was long ago, so apologies if I get something wrong, but if I remember correctly it was WeiDU which was needlessly changing the chitin.key file or similar, and then the game was failing to start.

[Graion Dilach]

I still stand by my earlier suspicion that the Lua sandbox embedded within the UI code in the EEs are case-sensitive in all platforms, including Windows, and I still cite both the way the CHARSND.2DA header interacts with the filenames_stringrefs UI array and how lowercase portrait size suffix identifiers are ignored on Windows as proof of my suspicion.

Edited September 27, 2023 by Graion Dilach

[kjeron]

7 hours ago, Graion Dilach said:

I still stand by my earlier suspicion that the Lua sandbox embedded within the UI code in the EEs are case-sensitive in all platforms, including Windows, and I still cite both the way the CHARSND.2DA header interacts with the filenames_stringrefs UI array and how lowercase portrait size suffix identifiers are ignored on Windows as proof of my suspicion.

The parent resource field of EFF files has a similar issue.  It will not match (for immunity, sequencers, contingencies) if it contains any lowercase letters.  The casing of the actual file does not matter though in this case.

[AL|EN]

@suy It's the "Translation hints" feature from the BGForge. IIUC, even if the mods have lowercase their files, the WeiDU itself lacks the ability to follow the case of actual filenames when it modifies "chitin.key" or similar resources.

@Graion Dilach If that's true, it's even worse: lowercasing the mod filenames doesn't help at all, as suy reported. It also breaks certain features from working. Not good.

@kjeron I think that we can put such engine behavior into the 'names of the spells had to be maximum of 7 letters' category, thanks for reporting.

[Graion Dilach]

On 9/26/2023 at 6:19 PM, suy said:

Which tool is having issues with Windows?? I'm puzzled that this is the case, because the issue has always been Linux and/or case sensitivity.

Oh, I missed this, but iesh is vastly problematic on Windows, due to the lack of Python runtime. Especiallly if someone wants to use it as a git plugin for generating human-readable diffs out of the binary files.

[lynx]

It hasn't been ported to python3 yet, but I didn't know py2 didn't work on newer windows any more. Either way ielister should work on windows still.

@AL|EN lowercasing is still good, since it's less likely the mod author will make a consistency mistake, it just doesn't fix everything.

[AL|EN]

@lynx But that's my concern, If the lowercasing doesn't fix everything and using a case-insensitive file system/partition/directory does, that should be the preferred way. And if so, the BGForge should account for it.

[Graion Dilach]

On 10/2/2023 at 7:31 PM, lynx said:

It hasn't been ported to python3 yet, but I didn't know py2 didn't work on newer windows any more. Either way ielister should work on windows still.

I actually didn't really tested it with binaries because I refuse to allow Python near my Windows shell. I have had a lot of bad experiences with Cygwin a decade ago wrt terminal confusion over mixing Linux and Windows tools and I don't want to relive that when I'm working nicely with Git Extensions otherwise. (I also despise Python with a passion though.)

[lynx]

Using a different partition or toggling settings on an existing one is a tall order for a regular user, plus it could have systemic side effects. Silly suggestion just because EEs have 2 isolated bugs that can be handled as before in mods that need it.

[suy]

On 10/6/2023 at 9:48 PM, lynx said:

Using a different partition or toggling settings on an existing one is a tall order for a regular user, plus it could have systemic side effects. Silly suggestion just because EEs have 2 isolated bugs that can be handled as before in mods that need it.

To which bugs are referring to? I have never been able to make WeiDU run on a EE game in a file system which is not case insensitive. The problems were too many. And tolower was never useful.

For the originals, I've always assumed that since the game is Windows, it was better to just run WeiDU compiled for Windows anyway.

For GemRB, I don't know. I would still attempt to use the checked out git repository with a symbolic link to the game directory. That is too convenient and has so many advantages for me. But could be that this doesn't work.

So, to follow up from the other thread, when is a case insensitive partition not needed, and/or when is tolower needed?