Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Ignore harmless barbarians; is this an option I have to turn on (and if so which tab/usersetting file) or something that is set by default? I can't find any info on it in the bug/bull help docs and my searching is only turning up the recent passing mentions (funny screenshots thread) and the problems it was causing for some mod near the end of March (merging with mods thread).

millahnna said:

Ignore harmless barbarians; is this an option I have to turn on (and if so which tab/usersetting file) or something that is set by default?

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It will be in the next releases of BULL and BAT. It is probably in Better BUG AI already and Legends of Revolution since they update directly from BUG's code repository frequently. The option is on the Map tab of the BUG Options screen.

I'm having what appears to be a problem with BUG combined with The Ancient Mediterranean mod. I'm getting an error where "BugInit - cannot find XML file for mod init" and as a result some parts of the TAM mod aren't displaying properly. Is there any way to keep BUG for playing regular BTS games, while also being able to play TAM games?

drlake said:

Is there any way to keep BUG for playing regular BTS games, while also being able to play TAM games?

Click to expand...

Check out the FAQ.

Thanks! I had read the FAQ, but managed to miss the key information.

Using BAT 2.3, the custom F1 screen won't save for me. The save button doesn't appear to work at all. All of the text files in the \BAT Mod 2.3\UserSettings\CustomDomAdv show a modified date of 2008.

Launch BTS as Administrator so that it can write to those files.

I am running as Administrator.

Okay, are you clicking the save button before exiting BTS? Once you make the changes you want you need to save those changes using the little computer-looking button (on the same screen, far right I think).

Yes, the save button appears to do nothing. I can hit the save button and the hit the reload button and I get the default F1 screen every time. If this isn't a known issue, and I assume it works correctly for others, then I guess it's time for a reinstall.

Make sure logging is enabled (see the Troubleshooting page in my sig) and then try to save a modified F1 screen. After that, post the contents of Logs/PythonErr.log and PythonDbg.log here.

Keeper_GFA said:

I am running as Administrator.

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Do you mean that you are running as the admin account? Or do you mean that you are right clicking the game and choosing "Run as admin"?

With Vista and Windows 7, it isn't enough to have admin privileges, you must run the game as admin, either by right clicking, or by setting the launch properties to run that way.

This is one of the most common questions in the tech forum, btw.

Lemon Merchant said:

Do you mean that you are running as the admin account? Or do you mean that you are right clicking the game and choosing "Run as admin"?

With Vista and Windows 7, it isn't enough to have admin privileges, you must run the game as admin, either by right clicking, or by setting the launch properties to run that way.

This is one of the most common questions in the tech forum, btw.

Click to expand...

WindowsXP using an admin account.

EmperorFool said:

Make sure logging is enabled (see the Troubleshooting page in my sig) and then try to save a modified F1 screen. After that, post the contents of Logs/PythonErr.log and PythonDbg.log here.

Click to expand...

Ok done. The relevant line would seem to be :

10:54:19 DEBUG: BugPath - not a file: 'C:\Documents and Settings\Kevin\My Games\Beyond the Sword\BUG Mod\UserSettings\CustomDomAdv\CustomDomAdv.txt'

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There is no "CustomDomAdv" directory in the "My Games\Beyond the Sword\BUG Mod\UserSettings" directory. But I'm using BAT 2.3 and the "CustomDomAdv" directory and files are in the "...\Beyond the Sword\Mods\BAT Mod 2.3\UserSettings"
directory.

I copied the CustomDomAdv directory from BAT Mod to BUG Mod, it works. So the 2 questions I have are 1 - Why is the BAT mod using the wrong file location, and 2 - is it doing this for other files as well?

I have attached one of the log files just in case it still matters, the other log file was empty.

To allow someone running both BUG (for SG games) and BAT (for themselves) to share their options across games, both mods will look for "BUG Mod" in the My Games or BTS folders. If found, they use that location.

You can either remove the BUG Mod folder from My Games and BTS to use BAT's settings only or leave it as-is.

I am getting a lot of "Bug Options - Cannot find settings folder" messages when running BUG (BAT 2.2 to be more specific).

What is the cause of this error and how do I remedy it?

Upgrade to BAT 2.3. See the link in my sig.

...and get the CTD issue again. The older 2.2 version used to work flawlessly for me.

The CTD issue is not unique to BAT. It happens even with vanilla BTS.

Well, I've only consistenly gotten CTD's with BAT 2.3. The 2.2 installation I am running now is actually a "downgrade" once I figured out that it would pretty much take new hardware and/or a new OS to solve my 2.3 woes for certain. (And yes, I know the CTD issue is not your (or any other modmakers) fault).

I thought the settings folder thing in contrast would be possible to fix somehow if I knew where that settings folder the mod complains about was supposed to be located, but I do understand you distaste about troubleshooting a deprecated version.

I also thought the "cannot find settings folder" was a more general BUG/BULL problem as I have experienced it with other BUG-enhanced mods (more specifically Dune Wars).

It isn't that I have no interest in supporting it, because I do, but the reason that I recommended going to 2.3 is that 2.2 and 2.2a had a number of flaws in them, including the missing folder issue. I messed that up in the first installer, and it still works a little strangely on some systems.

I've corrected most of the issues as of 2.3, and aside from some graphical quirks, it's the most stable release that I have made to date. From what I've been able to estimate is that around 5 to 6% of people have reported the CTD issue, and it's been almost impossible to troubleshoot because everyone's hardware is different. I've compared notes with other modders, and they have seen the issue in their mods as well, and we really aren't sure what causes it. My advice has always been to simply stop exiting to the main menu, and just exit the game and reload. Also, loading a save from within the game does not cause the CTD (not reported so far.)

BAT 3.0 should be available in about two to three weeks, and so far, the only way I can make it crash is screwing up the code adding a feature and forgetting some important XML tag, or something like that. I constantly exit to the MM as I test, and so far it will not CTD. Maybe the new version will be the solution to your problem. I hope so.