Please help! TDM modpack problem: random shipset assignment?
 

Could some kind soul please clarify the use of the TDM modpack launcher? I am playing a PBW game, and some of the races use TDM ship sets. I keep seeing other player's ships with random ship sets (including some TDM sets that belong to AI races in the game Dra'Kol), but they are assigned to ships of another player. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif Someone suggested putting the game files I download from the PBW site into a savegame directory under the TDM directory. There was no savegame folder under the TDM-Modpack directory. I copied the savegame folder I have been using, under the "Space Empires IV Gold" directory, and then opened using the TDM modpack picker, via "load game command with player number and password specified (on right) and TDM modpack specified on left. I was able (for the first time) to load game (as opposed to simply starting it and loading game from the opening game screen). But, my friend's ship still shows up as an Dra'kol ship. The owner of this ship has had similar problems. Any suggestions?

Thanks! Merry http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

Re: Please help! TDM modpack problem: random shipset assignment?
 

Is the game using the TDM mod, or no mod? If no mod, copy the TDM races into the standard game's race folder, and run your savegame from there.

Re: Please help! TDM modpack problem: random shipset assignment?
 

I am hosting the game. I created it after launching from the TDM launcher, with TDM mod selected. The A.I.'s are TDM mod races. However, I did not do anything special when setting the game up on the PBW site to indicate that the TDM modpack is being used. Did I miss something on setup?
Thanks!
Merry

Re: Please help! TDM modpack problem: random shipset assignment?
 

Hmmm... 'kay see, if you're playing PBW, and a person is in control, you're not playing TDM-Modpack. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

So, someone is using a TDM Modpack shipset, and every turn you're seeing a different shipset. That's caused by you not having the shipset on your computer, in the folder your copy of SE4 is using to find the other shipsets.

Solution:
1). Find out what folder you should be using. It's SE4/Pictures/Race*. I unfortuneatly have C:/programs/Shrapnel Games/Malfador Machinations/ ... well, you get the idea, your hard disk could be messed up in a different way. You may have multiple installs, etc.
* I could be a little off with the name here, someone should correct me shortly.

2). Get the shipset, if its part of the TDM Modpack, then you'll find it. Or download just that one from the PBW server by clicking it's name on the player screen.

3). Put it in the folder with the other ones.

Problem should be solved, unless it's not Gold compliant. If you get error Messages, but the correct race pictures, we'll fix that when we get there.

[ January 28, 2003, 20:10: Message edited by: Arkcon ]

Re: Please help! TDM modpack problem: random shipset assignment?
 

I am not sure I understand what you mean by a person being in control. I created the game and uploaded the first turn, but the PBW has been on full automatic ever since.

Regarding people using ship sets that I do not have, all players installed TDM modpack before the game began, and I believe all players used only shipsets that appear in the TDM modpack. We are all using recently purchased Versions of the SE4 Gold, and have applied the latest patch (1.78, I believe). So, I'm not sure what to try next. Any further advice?
Thanks,
Merry

Re: Please help! TDM modpack problem: random shipset assignment?
 

Try to alter your path.txt int eh Space Empires IV folder for a start:

(1) Open the file "Path.txt" in your Space Empires IV folder.

(2) Alter this line:

Using Mod Directory := None
to

Using Mod Directory := TDM-ModPack

(3) Save and close the file "Path.txt".

(4) The game will now run with the "TDM-ModPack". The starting Window should have a text line in the right upper corner reading "Using TDM-ModPack Directory".

Now load your PBW game. Do the ships still show up wrong?

Re: Please help! TDM modpack problem: random shipset assignment?
 

I discovered a possible source of the problem. One of my players is using the Dra'Kol ship set, and the Dra'Kol are one of the A.I. races in the game. Would this cause the offending player to see random ship set assignments?

Any way to tell this player apart from the real Dra'Kol?

Thanks,
Merry

Re: Please help! TDM modpack problem: random shipset assignment?
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Now that's bizare. If SE4 can find one shipset then it should find both. Maybe they switched shipsets just before you started executing the game? It happened to me in the Last PBW game I joined.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">No. Sorry. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

Re: Please help! TDM modpack problem: random shipset assignment?
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">If the game is not set to use TDM-Modpack on the PBW server, all of the AIs will use the stock files when the turn is processed.

Post in the PBW Admin Requests Forum to have the game type changed.

capnq
PBW admin

Re: Please help! TDM modpack problem: random shipset assignment?
 

I have posted to the forum requesting that the game be set to use TDM modpack A.I.'s. What should I have done to set it up this way when setting up? (Or, where can I learn about this so I don't have to bug you with it! )

Thanks,
Merry

Re: Please help! TDM modpack problem: random shipset assignment?
 

The main thing that the TDM Modpack does is make improvements to the files that control how the stock AI races function in the game. To get this to work, you need to have the TDM modpack being used on the PBW server. You do that by selecting the appropriate Version when you create the game on PBW, or by having us change the Version, which I will do now.

TDM also has somce new races taht aren't par tof the stock races in SE4. To use these you would have had to have teh TDM modpack installed on your PC when you created the first turn. If you didn't do that it's too late to change it now. You will have only stock AI's. But the stock AI's will perform better once I change the PBW Version to the TDM Modpack, whci I will go do now.

After the turn processes using the TDM modpack all the players will need to use the modpack to play their turns.

Geoschmo

Re: Please help! TDM modpack problem: random shipset assignment?
 

Merry, are you talking about the Alien Invasion game? Did you want it set to 1.84 plus TDM 3.2 or just 1.78 + TDM 3.2?

And I missed your earlier comment that you did use the TDM when you created teh first turn. So you should have TDM races in the game, they just weren't acting like TDM races cause the game was processing with the stock Version.

Geoschmo

Re: Please help! TDM modpack problem: random shipset assignment?
 

We are running 1.78 Gold, and TDM 3.20. I have TDM races as enemy A.I.'s, and all players used 1.78/3.20 to create their own races. The other screwup (which I just bugged you about on your PBW forum -- sorry!) is that I failed to put in the A.I. passwords and I'm not quite clear what I need to do on the site to password protect them, without interfering with the turn?

Thanks, and thank you again for being such an attentive uber host!

Re: Please help! TDM modpack problem: random shipset assignment?
 

"The other screwup (which I just bugged you about on your PBW forum -- sorry!) is that I failed to put in the A.I. passwords and I'm not quite clear what I need to do on the site to password protect them, without interfering with the turn?"

Did you add them manually, in the game setup screen, or have SE4 pick them randomly?

Phoenix-D

Re: Please help! TDM modpack problem: random shipset assignment?
 

I added them manually. We wanted a fun challenge for newbies who have played lots of related games (Stars!) so we opted for Rage, Shadow Alliance, and Dra'Kol. Even with the vanilla A.I., my outgoing Messages to allies are filled, presumably because the Dra'Kol are messing with us. Cant' wait to see the real A.I.'s kick in.
Merry