Parse Errors and Mod Installation

[Azazello]

Well, you know when someone says "we won't laugh..." ...

 

Your system is old but not ancient. Hey, it 's still a Pentium! I also got an old P3 under my desk. Haven't touched it in 3 years. BUT, it ran all the BG/IwD games, so your system should too.

 

Ha, official game specs.

http://www.bioware.com/games/shadows_amn/g...m_requirements/

 

Anyway, gotta start waaay at the beginning. We have other techy people here, so everyone please jump in.

 

(1)

Just for your own piece-of-mind, you *REALLY* should go find the latest drivers and software updates for each of the physical components you listed. Your system will be as up-to-date as possible. It's not enough to rely on the diskettes (ha, bet you have floppies!) that came with the system. They will be old versions as well.

 

 

This could take some time. Yet, it's not necessary in order to get playing.

 

(2)

Be sure you have the latest version of all the mods. Go to the website of each to be sure nothing's been updated since you last downloaded them.

 

(3)

It's important that you take a jump of faith and go with the instructions as we lay them out. You might feel inclined to 'go your own way'. Fair enough. But realize that most of us have dent marks in our heads from trying out different configs of the game, so nearly all the problems have been seen and possibly solved by at least one person here.

 

Personally, if I feel like a member is not listening to advice people are giving - given that this is our precious free, personal time - I drop out of the thread. I hope that doesn't happen here.

 

(4)

You changed around the install order, again because of warning/parse messages.

 

OK. Let go with what you got.

 

Did you do a fresh install? Doing this helps us all start at point-zero. We might even want you to test something without mods installed.

 

"Questpack needs to go after the Flirtpack, otherwise there are problems with relationships in the Underdark."

I assume you got this info from the mod's readme, or from its forum? I never played with Flirtpack, so I don't know its compatibilities.

 

"If I put [Oversight] before any other mod, the following mod would wipe the WeiDU log of all mods installed." This is a big problem. No mod what-so-ever should be doing this, no matter which install order you use. I would not be comfortable with an installation where this happened. Not sure why/how that would happen. But since you got this list working, we can ignore the problem until you get a chance to shore up your system's drivers/software.

 

(5)

The jerky movement problem is well-known, as it affects even the newest computers. Some people never get it, some always get it, some get it in areas that others do not. It's one of the last great unsolved mysteries. So don't blame your system entirely. As you've learned, turning off ambient sounds works - for some people.

 

(Last)

Whenever you get a chance, do a Windows disk cleanup, removing old installation and temp files, uninstall Win components you don't use (like Minesweeper!), etc. this will gain you some space. Totally forgot how to do this on Win98.

Finally do a disk defrag. I think you should do the defrag even now.

 

 

Well, you did get you installation working. For now, just try enjoy playing.

[ronin69hof]

I avoided installing the beta fixes in the Fixpack and the Questpack's Hell Trials fix seems messed up (it gives warning errors during install) so I chose to leave that one out as well.

 

 

Its not the beta fixes that is making the problems with Hell Trials its the "other scripting fixes"

 

ronin

[Storm Rider]

Just for your own piece-of-mind, you *REALLY* should go find the latest drivers and software updates for each of the physical components you listed. Your system will be as up-to-date as possible.

I've currently only got the 30.82 drivers for my Geforce card as I read that they were the most stable and effective drivers around for early generation cards. I've also read that newer drivers can make older cards run much worse and that later drivers might not even have any new code for older cards. That said, I will try the latest drivers just to see if it kills the faint juddering mouse pointer and occasional flickering boxes in the inventory screen.

 

For my soundcard, I am leaving the drivers at Liveware 1.0 with a minor downloaded update. Thanks to the SB Live drivers in the first place, the newer joint Live/Audigy upgrades that I ordered from Creative created an incredibly annoying skipping/stuttering/breaking up audio problem. Hard disk access and even sometimes moving the mouse could cause it. It was a nightmare trying to listen to music or watching a movie file as you could not do anything else at the same time, unless you wanted problems.

 

I uninstalled the newest set, which didn't get cleaned out completely (why do they always leave trash behind?) and put the older drivers on. I started getting PC lockups and complaints. So I decided to uninstall them and put the newer ones on. I'm not sure what happened but they wouldn't install properly, DirectX then got knackered and I lost my audio output completely. All because I innocently uninstalled something, I ended up with a screwed up OS. I had to reinstall the whole thing. Since going back to Liveware 1.0, other than the problems with BG2, general OS use is far more comfortable.

 

It's not enough to rely on the diskettes (ha, bet you have floppies!) that came with the system. They will be old versions as well.

I compile my own utilities CDs with all my drivers and software that I download off the net. I've also got a 2Mbit ADSL connection to grab anything newer. Win98 and my Ethernet card still need floppies to get going though.

 

Did you do a fresh install? Doing this helps us all start at point-zero. We might even want you to test something without mods installed.

I installed BG2, followed by the ToB add-on. Then applied the ToB patch. After that I backed up the Override folder, BGMain.exe, Baldur.ini, Chitin.key and Dialog.tlk. After each successful mod install I would backup those files again (but not overwrite the earlier lot). That way, if the next mod showed problems, I only had to go one step back rather than start right from the beginning again. Handy when three or four mods install fine and then the next one shows errors.

 

"Questpack needs to go after the Flirtpack, otherwise there are problems with relationships in the Underdark."

I assume you got this info from the mod's readme, or from its forum? I never played with Flirtpack, so I don't know its compatibilities.

Yeah, it's in the mod ReadMe. Right at the very end, instead of being at the front to warn you before you install. It caught me out the first time.

 

Whenever you get a chance, do a Windows disk cleanup, removing old installation and temp files, uninstall Win components you don't use (like Minesweeper!), etc. this will gain you some space. Totally forgot how to do this on Win98.

Finally do a disk defrag. I think you should do the defrag even now.

I always try to maintain a clean PC and get rid of anything I don't want when installing the OS and I also frequently clean out temp files. I don't defrag often as it takes ages but did so after I reinstalled the OS and put BG2's original files on the drive. The only thing I usually leave well alone unless I know exactly what to do, is the registry.

 

Well, you did get you installation working. For now, just try enjoy playing.

Yes, I finally did, thankfully! Everything seems okay as I am now helping Nalia out with her Troll problem and am deciding what to do about Aerie's advances. She seems very sweet (as far as computer women go) but for some reason, before I started play, I always had my mind set on Viconia (that's female drow for you). It will be interesting to see how having a Paladin as a main character will play out.

 

Anyway, thank you kindly for your in-depth advice.