Tweaking reactive temples

I haven't delved into the override issue. But I have experimented a bit more with simply decompressing a current dat, changing a file, compressing, overwriting.

I know you've got a lot on the plate, so there is no urgency. But I've stuck print statements into the san_new_map script, specifically at certain maps...and nothing happens.

Are you certain that there is not a fixed instance attached to the player, that is recreated when loading an existing game?

 

Yes.

My guesses as to what could go wrong:
* Using a wrong relative path - e.g. using /data/ in your path.
* Repacking it wrong - again relative path stuff.
* Replacing the wrong dat - e.g. if you're using the dev builds, you should replace the file in the tmp folder, not the 1.0.84 files.

About overrides - just to be sure, have you tried rebooting? Maybe it's some silly OS level thing that prevents file access.

 

I'm not using the typical c:\path (C:\Users\<YOUR WINDOWS USERNAME>\AppData\Local\TemplePlus\<app-1.x.xx>\tpdata\, etc)

I run the dev builds from a different drive, each with its own directory but reference the same save path. So I don't have a temp folder for the devs. And although there is an older version on the C: drive, it's 1.084.

It's possibly related to a path issue, then. On my side. I might try moving one of the dev builds to the expected path or editing the files there, to see what happens.

 

Turns out this solves the file edit problems

Now to figure out the overrides thing....

 

Registering override folder [any name, with the file mod_specs.json inside the folder]
Unable to add archive .: 1

The override issue is beyond me.

I suppose for now the convenience of that folder can be missed. I've managed to effectively edit and change a number of things in various .dat files, so it does not seem to be related to disk read or write problems. I've tried rebooting, disabling virus, changing directory read/write permissions, moving to the expected directory, using .dat file folder instead of the normal folder in the override, etc etc.

I had a read of TioPack.cpp (templefileformats/tiopack)...but there are many conditions during the operation that could return a this result of 1.

However, the temporary fun stuff was successful = playing around with Alrrem's reactive (adding ogre cave bunch to fire temple faction in the alcove, moving Alrrem into the actual fire temple for a tougher overall reactive fight with the Salamanders,etc). So it wasn't a total loss.

And now back to testing the betas...

 

Perhaps this info could add clues to the override: I also have consistently seen the following similar error in the log file:

[2021-09-22 12:14:35.153] [core] [info] Registering archive unins000.dat
[2021-09-22 12:14:35.153] [core] [error] Unable to add archive unins000.dat: 1
[2021-09-22 12:14:35.153] [core] [info] Registering archive unins001.dat
[2021-09-22 12:14:35.154] [core] [error] Unable to add archive unins001.dat: 1

 

Well, those are just unrelated dat files (generated by installer wizards) that the engine mistakes for ToEE archives.
I don't think they affect anything, but who knows, maybe try moving them to another folder and see what happens.

 

BTW, another thing you can try: in templeplus.ini, you can specify tioAdditionalPath or something like that - the folder you specify there will behave like the old overrides folder.

 

An interesting development:
I tried a number of specific paths @ additionalTioPaths= (base override, exact folder, etc.) to no avail

However since temple plus tries to read the uninstall .dat file, I also tried placing an overrides folder in the base ToEE directory (ie, Temple of Elemental Evil/overrides/[folder_name]...

And it now correctly loads that override sub-folder and displays it in the menu screen.

==> It appears that it expects the override folder to be in the base ToEE directory, not the beta directory.

__________________________________________________________________________

And I suppose that the instructions on the Wiki allude to that. I misunderstood it to be an existing overrides folder somewhere.

So I never tried to create a new one in the base ToEE. (I've never had an overrides at the base directory since ToEE was installed)

My bad. Thank you for your patience.

 

Err, where did you get the idea that it should be the beta/templeplus dir? The examples in the wiki specifically say ToEE dir/overrides...

 

I've never had a base overrides folder (or any previous mods). As I mentioned, I assumed it would be in an existing overrides somewhere.

For dummies like me, the wiki could mention to create a base overrides folder.

And I assumed that as much as possible would be moved over to the beta folders. I need to learn how to read very carefully. *sigh*

 

Don't be too hard on yourself, we all have our gaffes

Also Temple+ is supposed to create the overrides folder by itself (there's a mkdir() in the code), but I guess it creates it in the wrong place.

Oh and you're right that the instructions are a bit confusing - I just lazily changed it from "create an overrides folder" to "create a subfolder within the overrides folder" to go along with the recent change in how it behaves. Will improve that.