Lost extraplanar chest (bug?)

Discussion in 'The Temple of Elemental Evil' started by r0gershrubber, Jan 21, 2012.

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  1. r0gershrubber

    r0gershrubber Member

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    I think I am having a bug.

    I was standing outside of the west-most entrance to the Air Temple, and I summoned the extraplanar chest (using the miniature) to swap my robes. I put on the Air Temple robes and entered the Air Temple. I realized that I forgot my chest, so I had my character with the item recall it and I got a message in red text that the chest was on the TOEE dungeon floor 2 (map 5067). I could see the chest on the screen: it was out in the hall maybe 30 feet away from my party.

    So my character walks back over to it and uses the item again. Again I get the message that the chest is on this floor, but the chest disappears. I thought it worked, so I continued to adventure for a while. Eventually I needed to change robes again, but now when I try to summon the chest I keep getting a message that the chest is on this floor, but it's nowhere to be found.

    From what I've read in other threads, usually when people "lose" their chest, it's where they left it. My problem is the game thinks I lost my chest, but it disappeared and doesn't seem to be in existence anymore.

    Is there anything I can do to get the chest back? I've never been able to get the console to work, so I don't think that is an option. I'm stuck unable to do any more temple quests because all of my other temple robes are in the chest (as well as a lot of loot :()
     
  2. Sitra Achara

    Sitra Achara Senior Member

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    Can you post a save? (include all 4 files, +2 jpgs, in a zip; you can upload to mediafire if it's too big for this forum)

    Aside from attempting to debug it, I can probably restore the inner variables so the chest will re-appear and send you back the save.

    Also, if you can, please mark on your map the exact location where the chest was last seen. (you can use the in-game map and place a yellow flag)
     
  3. r0gershrubber

    r0gershrubber Member

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    The zip is 800+ MB, which is above the 400 MB limit for zip files.

    I put the zip in my Dropbox Public Folder. You can access it at the following link: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1375277/Lost%20Extraplanar%20Chest.zip

    Thanks.

    Edit: Just out of curiosity, can you try opening the console when you load the save? I am guessing that my problems loading the console are tied to my machine or the install, but it would be interesting if the problem was carried with the save.
     
  4. Sitra Achara

    Sitra Achara Senior Member

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    It's 800kB, not MB :)

    I managed to summon the chest, but it turns out that I also need the file:

    \modules\toee\Bag_of_Holding.mes

    Because otherwise it's empty :)

    Please post it as well.

    (oh, and I can use the console just fine; I'd be helpless without it :) you aren't using an external keyboard on a laptop by any chance?)

    edit: I think it's possible to create a failsafe for cases like this, that will also restore your chest. Stay tuned.
     
    Last edited: Jan 21, 2012
  5. r0gershrubber

    r0gershrubber Member

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    I attached the bag of holding file. I renamed it as a txt file to attach it to this post.

    I am using a laptop, but not an external keyboard. I am able to type the tilde symbol in TOEE, e.g. when naming a character or magic weapon. No clue why I can't get console to open, but it's not because the tilde is incorrectly labeled on the keyboard.

    Thanks.
     

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  6. Sitra Achara

    Sitra Achara Senior Member

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    Ok, I've added a failsafe.

    It generally records the X,Y coordinates of where the chest was last spawned. If you are close enough to that last location and the script fails to find a chest, it will reset the miniature ( which will let you summon the chest).

    Likewise if there is no X,Y coordinate recorded, or if you lost it in the wilderness. (the latter is exploitable, but if someone wants to cheat it's easy enough anyway)

    Just unzip the file in your \data folder and try to summon the chest twice.

    BTW, you don't really have to carry all those boots and low-priced items... it's a waste of time at that stage of the game. Above level 6, I don't grab anything worth less than 100GP.

    P.S.
    let me know if you get another case of the chest disappearing and getting the 'chest left at' message at the same time. As far as I can tell it's a once-off case of ToEE General FUBAR Syndrome, since I couldn't replicate it, but if it happens again maybe I'll dedicate more time to it...
     

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    Last edited: Jan 21, 2012
  7. r0gershrubber

    r0gershrubber Member

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    I got it to work, but it initially had a problem which I'll share.

    After installing it, I was standing near the location where I lost the chest. I tried to use the EC item, but kept getting the message that the chest was on this floor.

    What I was able to do to get it to work was *walk away from the location where it was lost*, then use the item twice.

    Thanks for your help.

    On the note of the low value loot, I've been using the "pick up everything" button. This is my first foray into the temple, and I agree that the sell everything approach is not sustainable. This is the first dungeon I've gotten to where it has been an issue, but there's just too much junk to be worth it.
     
  8. Sitra Achara

    Sitra Achara Senior Member

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    That's odd (I've been saying that a lot lately...).
    In my experience, using the save you uploaded, just using the chest figurine twice works, without moving or anything like that.

    It's obviously not save corruption, because it works fine here. Maybe there's something interfering with ToEE on your system? Could you specify your OS/System specs, and what other programs are running in the background?

    Anyway, glad it worked out for you, and hopefully it will prevent grief for others too.
     
  9. r0gershrubber

    r0gershrubber Member

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    So I tried to reproduce the bug so I could provide some more input: I reloaded the save that I originally sent you and tried to summon the chest, but I kept getting the location message. This was true regardless of whether I moved first. I tried loading some intermediate saves (which were after the chest was lost, but earlier than the save I sent you) and they had the same issue. This suggests that the problem is more complicated than "you just need to walk away from where the chest was lost".

    No clue why the fix isn't working. I created a save after I was able to get the chest back, and I've tested the chest figurine after this point: everything seems OK for that save, which means that I can continue my game without having lost any progress.

    My system is Windows 7 Pro 64 bit running Chrome, Dropbox, and Kaspersky Internet Security 2012. I'm using the GOG.com version of TOEE and it is necessary to run the executable as admin for it to work.

    I will be out tonight, but I will check in tomorrow to see if I can help or you require more information.

    Thanks again.
     
  10. Sitra Achara

    Sitra Achara Senior Member

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    It now occurs to me that maybe it's the 64 bit OS that's "causing problems".

    For a while now, we have been reading / writing "pad integers" as internal variables, via the python commands obj_get_int and obj_set_int.

    Since you're using a 64 bit OS, maybe using those functions on those pad variables is what's causing problems, because a 64bit int is not the same as a 32bit int. I can imagine that perhaps the game overwrites data and/or reads wrong data as a result.

    IIRC it should be possible to run ToEE / TFE-X in XP-compatibility mode (http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/using-windows-vista-compatibility-mode/ ). You should try applying that to toee.exe and tfe-x.exe and see if it solves the issues.
     
  11. silo25

    silo25 Established Member

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    if you kill the first floor earth priest (remag i think) you dont need the robes the others will engage in conversation allowing you to go through their quests lol
     
  12. Sitra Achara

    Sitra Achara Senior Member

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    I need help from people playing with Win 7 64 bit.

    Please do the following:

    1. Download the attached file.
    2. Go into toee\data\scr.
    3. Backup the file Spell761 - Extraplanar Chest.py.
    4. Extract the downloaded file to the folder (replacing the existing Extraplanar Chest file)
    5. Run the game, and go into the Inn of the Welcome Wench.
    6. Summon the chest with the figurine. You should get a "Lost in wilderness" message (this is just to indicate the script is working, don't worry)
    7. Exit or alt-tab out of the game, and go to ToEE\modules\ToEE.
    8. There should be file called ep_chest_test.txt. Open it, and post its contents here.
    Please do the above when playing with XP-comatibility mode enabled and then disabled.
    Afterwards, restore the backup-file. Otherwise, your EP chest will not work as intended.
     

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  13. mwnn

    mwnn Member

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    Windows 7 Ultimate x64


    XP-SP3 Mode Enabled

    19
    1
    5033
    10
    1
    5004

    XP SP3 Mode Disabled (How I run the game by default - running with XP mode checked causes the game to crash on exit)

    19
    1
    5033
    10
    1
    5004


    Not quite sure what your looking for but I also forced the game exe to use 1 core with ImageCFG (after the above test) - and got the same result. I know HOMM 3 has problems with crashing on multi-core systems.
     
    Last edited: Jan 27, 2012
  14. sirchet

    sirchet Force for Goodness Moderator Supporter

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    XP-SP3 and TOEE don't get along.

    XP-SP2 and TOEE are lovers, well at least they work well together. ;)

    There is a choice in properties compatibility tab for XP-SP2, (right below XP-SP3).

    EDIT: XP-SP2 works well for me on my machine with an nVidia GTX480 Graphics Processor.
     
  15. mwnn

    mwnn Member

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    I've never noticed that setting making much difference in any game I've played to be honest - I did test the XP SP2 modes and got the same result (again) also get the crash on exit too.
     
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