[Balancer]File Missing

[mythusmage]

Now, I can get other scenarios to run in the "Civ Contents" section, but not The Balancer. It appears that a wav file is missiing. The file name, as best I recall it, is SetRunFoot1.wav or something like that. I'll check it again and see if I can get my neurons to work for once. So expect an update fairly shortly.

 

[AlanH]

Chances are that The Balancer relies on being able to use an existing file in another location, and the path to that file doesn't exist in the Mac installation. If so, it may just be a case of creating the path it's expecting, and copying the required file (or files) into it. I'll have a look.

PS.

I'm downloading The Balancer Reloaded v. 1.04. Is that the one you are using? The original Balancer looked to be very ancient and the link was broken.

 

[AlanH]

I've had a look at The Balancer Reloaded. It failed for me, complaining that /Art/Units/Nomad/ScoutRunFoot2.wav is missing. I imagine that's what you saw. I confirmed that there is no such file in the mod. There *is* a ScoutRunFoot2.wav file in the main Civilization III Complete/Civilization 3 Game Data/Art/Units/Scout/ folder, and so my first try was to copy that file into the /Art/Units/Nomad/ folder in the mod. That didn't work - I still got the same error.

I then tried copying some more files from the standard /Scout/ folder into /Nomad/, and the problem moved to a Worker file. So I copied the entire contents of the standard /Worker/ folder into /Nomad/, and I was able to start a game.

The basic problem is, I think, that the .INI file for the Nomad unit defines a number of .amb files that tell CIv3 how to combine individual sound clips to create a complete sound sequence for a unit action - walking, building a fortress, etc. The .amb files are binary format files that contain references to .wav files which are the actual sound clips. The software tries to find these clips in the same folder as the .amb file, but it may also attempt to track them down in other locations. It appears that the search paths don't include the /Civilization 3 Game Data/ folder.

I have no idea whether what I did will allow an entire game to run. I suspect there may be other units that have similar problems. However, maybe this will provide a starting point for working out how to get it to run.

 

[mythusmage]

Nope, it was very specifically Art/Units/Colonist/SetRunFoot.wav, not the problem you had. I just used Spotlight to see if the file can be found anywhere on my harddrive, and Spotlight says it doesn't exist.

The version of the Mod I got from the DVD is Balancer 3.1 XP, which apparently makes all the difference. But don't think your efforts aren't appreciated, for they are. Blind alleys, after all, do tell you where not to go.

 

[AlanH]

Well, thanks for that vital piece of extra information

The only Balancer I can find on my DVD is in the Play the World Game Data/Scenarios/ folder. So, it must be the very old one that was around in 2000-and-frozen-to-death that I couldn't download. I didn't find it on the DVD because I was looking for a Conquests mod.

Firstly, I suggest that you play it in Play the World, not in Conquests, as it pre-dates Conquests by several years.

Secondly, the solution I indicated for Balancer Reloaded is NOT specific to the file I quoted, and is NOT a blind alley. It will also work in Balancer if you adapt it just a little, but you will have to do some of the work yourself.

I started the mod and got approximately the error you describe. So I copied all the standard Settler files from Civ3 Game Data/Art/Units/Settler/ across to the /Colonist/ folder in the mod. Then I had to do the same to the Nomad as I did with Balancer Reloaded, using Scout and Worker files, as that was the next unit that threw an error. That allowed me to start a game. Again, I strongly suspect that more of the same will be required for later units.

 

[mythusmage]

Assumptions sunk the Titanic.

Found a copy of Balancer Reloaded, and learned that a folder is missing. A folder that, in this case, can be found elsewhere in the C3C directory. In two places even. But I await feed back on my query elsewhere on these boards before putting a copy into the Balancer Reloaded sub-directory.