[BTS] How to open HoF saves?

[Fish Man]

Yes, the BUFFY DLL is fine, but that is irrelevant. BUFFY is standalone mod, so ultimately that is the dll used, but this is the main DLL and the LMA asset checks are done on that.

What is the exact error you are getting. I assume you can run BTS and load BUFFY, right? So you just can't load the save?

Please be descriptive in as to your results. Everything little thing could help.

Can you take a screen shot of the files in your main Assets folder and post it up?

I can run BTS and load BUFFY, yes. The problem is...when I try to load the save, the error message "the save file you have selected is protected to ensure that the assets in your mod folder have not been changed" pops up, and it dumps me back to the main menu.

Attached is my assets folder.

I should also note that at one point I had BUG installed, but I cleared my custom assets folder many times, so that shouldn't be an issue?

 

[lymond]

Yep, that looks fine, except you DID overwrite the steam version DLL.

Yes, I think we just had you delete the Custom Assets folder anyway, right? You can always delete it as loading the game normally generates a fresh one.

Have you installed anything else before? Or, did you have another install of Civ IV before, maybe a non-steam version?'

OR, have you in any way modified game files, whether in the main BTS folder or the My Games/BTS folder

This is odd, as your asset checker came back negative.

Basically if I can open Seriael's game then you should be able to.

 

[Fish Man]

Redownloading all of BTS and trying everything again...will get back to you soon with results.

 

[lymond]

After giving this some thought, I think the best option for you at this point is to reinstall BTS. The nice thing is it's pretty easy with the Steam version, and Steam BTS is standalone. You don't even need Vanilla or Warlords installed and can ignore those in your library, if you choose.

However, we should clean some things up in the process. I'd still like the answers above, especially whether or not you ever had a non-steam version installed of Civ IV complete.

Anyway try this:

1) Go to your Steam Library > right click on BTS > choose uninstall

2) After it uninstalls, which should be quick, find the BTS folder in steamapps and delete it entirely if it exists

3) Find the "Beyond the Sword" folder in My Games/ and delete it entirely..gone...bye bye

4) Go to Steam Library and reinstall BTS

5) Once install completes > right click BTS in library > Select Properties > go to Betas tab > select "original_release_unsupported" and wait for that auto-download/install

6) Install BUFFY

7) Perform these steps here, which I assume you are familiar with:

http://hof.civfanatics.net/civ4/mod.php?show=vista

(edit: you probably don't need to do the compatibility step in those directions, but if you are on Win 10, then setting compatibility to Win 7 would be good)

8) place ".original" on the steam dll in the Asset folder

9) copy over the buffy dll I provided you in that link, and, ofc, remove the ".buffy" at the end so that it is active. As you see in the screen shot of my directory, the active dll. will be 4834, and the steam dll will 4828

(edit: another thing that helps is to steam admin privileges too. Find the steam executable in the main Steam folder>right click > properties > compatibility > check "run as administrator)

 

[lymond]

xpost...we are of same mind, but I hope you follow my steps to do the reinstall

oh..and another thing..run BTS from its executable. Do not run it from the Steam Library.

 

[Fish Man]

xpost...we are of same mind, but I hope you follow my steps to do the reinstall

oh..and another thing..run BTS from its executable. Do not run it from the Steam Library.

Did all that you asked. Great, new error...

 

[Fish Man]

xpost...we are of same mind, but I hope you follow my steps to do the reinstall

oh..and another thing..run BTS from its executable. Do not run it from the Steam Library.

So it turns out I have to uncheck "run as administrator" for the mod to even load. But then it gives me "the save file you have selected is protected to ensure that the assets in your mod folder have not been changed" again!!! Even after a completely fresh reinstall!

BTW...my steam DLL started out the right size, but I overrode it with the DLL you provided anyways.

The heck is going on here??

 

[lymond]

BTW...my steam DLL started out the right size, but I overrode it with the DLL you provided anyways.

Sorry, I don't know what you mean by this..it does not sound right.

What do you mean you unchecked "run as administrator"? Where? Please be specific if every detail..

Regardless, BTS has to run as administrator, and it should not cause problems loading a mod. So it is something else then. There must be something about how you install this or something existing on your machine that is corrupting things. You tend not to answer my questions, but I must emphasize that they are asked for a reason. It's can be hard to decipher what someone is doing remotely..I have to go through the process of things in my mind without actually seeing what you are doing, or knowing what you've done in the past.

Going back above, you posted that you were reinstalling before I posted the actual same idea. However, I need to make sure that you actually did what I posted - to a tee - from ground zero. Step 7 is especially important for the BUFFY and most be performed exactly, with the exception of the compatibility section.

Lastly, what is the exact directory where you install BUFFY?

 

[Fish Man]

Sorry, I don't know what you mean by this..it does not sound right.

What do you mean you unchecked "run as administrator"? Where? Please be specific if every detail..

Regardless, BTS has to run as administrator, and it should not cause problems loading a mod. So it is something else then. There must be something about how you install this or something existing on your machine that is corrupting things. You tend not to answer my questions, but I must emphasize that they are asked for a reason. It's can be hard to decipher what someone is doing remotely..I have to go through the process of things in my mind without actually seeing what you are doing, or knowing what you've done in the past.

Going back above, you posted that you were reinstalling before I posted the actual same idea. However, I need to make sure that you actually did what I posted - to a tee - from ground zero. Step 7 is especially important for the BUFFY and most be performed exactly, with the exception of the compatibility section.

Lastly, what is the exact directory where you install BUFFY?

Apologies and thanks for being so patient.

"Have you installed anything else before? Or, did you have another install of Civ IV before, maybe a non-steam version?"

No and no.

What I meant by the "DLL being the right size" was - my CvGameCoreDLL started out as 4834 kb after the fresh reinstall, even before importing the DLL that you linked to. I unchecked "run as administrator" on the properties->compatibility tab of the .exe file...see attached picture.

Note that I did literally everything on the step 7 page that you linked...and got the "cannot find mod" error message attached above. Only by undoing the "run as administrator" could I actually run BUFFY, but then I got the "save file is protected error".

I installed BUFFY at C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Sid Meier's Civilization IV Beyond the Sword\Beyond the Sword\Mods\BUFFY-3.19.003

 

[lymond]

Ok..thanks for the details. Mod is installed in the right folder.

However, 4834 kb is not the right size of the steam dll. The size of the steam dll when you change to the beta version is 4828 kb, so something is off here.

Please make sure you are change to beta release in the Steam library and that STeam is actually doing a auto download install of that version.

And BTS must have "run as administrator" checked. That is not the problem unless you have the wrong steam version installed. The regular download of BTS from Steam is crap and extremely volatile - doesn't work with anything until you go to the Beta tab and change it to "original_release_unsupported".

In your Steam library next to Beyond the sword you will actually see "original_release_unsupported" in brackets to the right, if the beta installed correctly. If you don't see that, then something is wrong.

 

[lymond]

Again look at my assets directory

Spoiler :

see the DLL with the .original extenstion. It is 4828kb. That is what you should see when you install.

 

[Fish Man]

Again look at my assets directory

Spoiler :

see the DLL with the .original extenstion. It is 4828kb. That is what you should see when you install.

The steam library shows that everything should be working as intended? I do see "original_release_unsupported", as denoted by the screenshot below.

 

[lymond]

Hey U - I'm testing some things on another machine later today and will get back to you. It's possible you have proven my theory wrong, and Neilmeister's solution is the way to go. However, I don't know why it worked for me.

 

[Fish Man]

Hey U - I'm testing some things on another machine later today and will get back to you. It's possible you have proven my theory wrong, and Neilmeister's solution is the way to go. However, I don't know why it worked for me.

Huh. I look forward to hearing results. Where's Neilmeister's solution again?

Thanks in advance.

 

[lymond]

Neil's solution was to replace all the BTS assets with the non-steam assets. I sent a PM to him requesting that he upload the files again, since the old link is no longer active. Neil is an Aussie, so it probably like the middle of the night and a new day over there.

I"m seeing some similar things on my other machine that have me a bit confused, but it may be an unrelated problem with that machine. Right now, I can't get the game to run..ugh.

You are on Win 10, right?

 

[Fish Man]

Neil's solution was to replace all the BTS assets with the non-steam assets. I sent a PM to him requesting that he upload the files again, since the old link is no longer active. Neil is an Aussie, so it probably like the middle of the night and a new day over there.

I"m seeing some similar things on my other machine that have me a bit confused, but it may be an unrelated problem with that machine. Right now, I can't get the game to run..ugh.

You are on Win 10, right?

Win10, correct.

 

[lymond]

Ok, this is bizarre. I don't know if it is encouraging or not..we will see.

First, on my other machine, I did a fresh install. (i had issue a while ago with it and hadn't used it in some time). Anyway, I was having a terrible time getting BTS to run at all. I knew the install was fine, so I check around Steam to see if there was anything unusual. I think fairly recently Steam as added a property setting on the General tab dealing with VR. Anyway, I unchecked it and the game ran fine. Now, this likely has nothing to do with the issue at hand (maybe), but may be related to some of the issues you had running the game initially.

So, first of all:

1) Right click on BTS in the Steam Libary
2) Select Properties
3) On the General tab uncheck the two checkboxes you see (Steam Overlay, and Steam Theatre/VR thingamajig) - they are unnecessary, and the overlay thing is annoying anyway

I did not encounter that issue on my other machine, but I had installed the steam version on that months ago, so maybe that setting was added sometime later and did not effect it. Anyway, it was causing the game to crash when trying to change graphic settings.

So, now what is bizarre, is that after installing BTS and converting to the Beta, I noticed the same thing as you. The DLL is 4834 which is the same size as the non-steam version. The DLL of the regular (non-beta) steam install is 4828, and that is what I have on my other machine. So I don't know if something change with the Steam version since I installed on Laptop A, or if I just did something I don't remember way back when.

Bottom line though is that on Laptop B, I did not have to do anything. I loaded that save fine after installing BUFFY.

Well, actually I did do something which I would like you to try. It's actually a little quirk some other games have on Steam too.

Now we can try this pretty simple thing, but if it doesn't work this time, we might try a fresh install again and then these steps.

So try this:

1) Right click on BTS in the Steam Library
2) Go to Betas tab
3) From drop down select "None - Opt out of all beta programs"
4) Steam will perform an auto/install again of some BTS assets to put it back to the regular steam version

5) Once complete go back to the Betas tab
6) From drop down select "original_release_unsupported"
7) Again, Steam will auto-install some bts assets to get it back to the original non-steam version

8) Load the game once and exit
9) Go back to BTS properties in Steam Library and select the "Local Files" tab
10) Click "Verify Integrity of Games files" (this may take a few minutes based on your machine)
11) Once complete you should see a message something like "11 files failed to verify - Steam is redownloading those files" and a quick download will take place

12) First check the Asset folder and note if the DLL is 4834

13) Load Buffy and try opening the save

Note: I don't know if all of what I did was necessary for you, but I was just retracing the steps I did today, so might as well match up. I don't know if you have jacked around the with game some since yesterday that might impact the results. If so, and this does not work the first time, then we can try a fresh install. Perform the steps above first before anything, and then go back and just do the HOF steps I provided in the link above (admin rights, security, read only stuff) - nothing else. Ignore the DLL stuff I posted before for now.

 

[Fish Man]

Ok, this is bizarre. I don't know if it is encouraging or not..we will see.

First, on my other machine, I did a fresh install. (i had issue a while ago with it and hadn't used it in some time). Anyway, I was having a terrible time getting BTS to run at all. I knew the install was fine, so I check around Steam to see if there was anything unusual. I think fairly recently Steam as added a property setting on the General tab dealing with VR. Anyway, I unchecked it and the game ran fine. Now, this likely has nothing to do with the issue at hand (maybe), but may be related to some of the issues you had running the game initially.

So, first of all:

1) Right click on BTS in the Steam Libary
2) Select Properties
3) On the General tab uncheck the two checkboxes you see (Steam Overlay, and Steam Theatre/VR thingamajig) - they are unnecessary, and the overlay thing is annoying anyway

I did not encounter that issue on my other machine, but I had installed the steam version on that months ago, so maybe that setting was added sometime later and did not effect it. Anyway, it was causing the game to crash when trying to change graphic settings.

So, now what is bizarre, is that after installing BTS and converting to the Beta, I noticed the same thing as you. The DLL is 4834 which is the same size as the non-steam version. The DLL of the regular (non-beta) steam install is 4828, and that is what I have on my other machine. So I don't know if something change with the Steam version since I installed on Laptop A, or if I just did something I don't remember way back when.

Bottom line though is that on Laptop B, I did not have to do anything. I loaded that save fine after installing BUFFY.

Well, actually I did do something which I would like you to try. It's actually a little quirk some other games have on Steam too.

Now we can try this pretty simple thing, but if it doesn't work this time, we might try a fresh install again and then these steps.

So try this:

1) Right click on BTS in the Steam Library
2) Go to Betas tab
3) From drop down select "None - Opt out of all beta programs"
4) Steam will perform an auto/install again of some BTS assets to put it back to the regular steam version

5) Once complete go back to the Betas tab
6) From drop down select "original_release_unsupported"
7) Again, Steam will auto-install some bts assets to get it back to the original non-steam version

8) Load the game once and exit
9) Go back to BTS properties in Steam Library and select the "Local Files" tab
10) Click "Verify Integrity of Games files" (this may take a few minutes based on your machine)
11) Once complete you should see a message something like "11 files failed to verify - Steam is redownloading those files" and a quick download will take place

12) First check the Asset folder and note if the DLL is 4834

13) Load Buffy and try opening the save

Note: I don't know if all of what I did was necessary for you, but I was just retracing the steps I did today, so might as well match up. I don't know if you have jacked around the with game some since yesterday that might impact the results. If so, and this does not work the first time, then we can try a fresh install. Perform the steps above first before anything, and then go back and just do the HOF steps I provided in the link above (admin rights, security, read only stuff) - nothing else. Ignore the DLL stuff I posted before for now.

Did everything up to step 11, and in fact 11 files did fail to verify, and the download took place.

DLL was 4834, yep.

Loaded BUFFY and opened the save.

...aaand still the same error. Welp.

 

[lymond]

Just curious, try opening another save..this is a GOTM using BUFFY.

Also, after that, regardless, just run BUFFY > create a custom game > click Lock modified Assets (no other options matter..whatever) > start game > upload the file here. In addition, create a save without LMA and upload it too.

I want to check those out on my end.

The next step, as mentioned, would be to do a fresh install as I outlined earlier Again, after uninstalling, delete all BTS folders in Steam apps and My Games. Then install and do the steps in Steam I just described. Then perform the early steps to enable HOF mod, but ignore the DLL stuff (do not change, move or modify any game files whatsover.)

(edit: try this too by the way after uninstalling the game when deleting folders. Go to something like "C:\Users\your name\AppData\Local\My Games\beyond the sword". This contains cache files. Delete the whole folder. In fact delete anything you see in there dealing with Civ)

And do make sure BTS executable and STeam executable are set to run as administrator.

(the idea here is to once again get a fresh slate for bts as I have no idea of knowing what files you may have messed with earlier)

Once I hear from Neil when Aussies wake up, I will ask him his thoughts on this. Apparently his workaround was to completely replace all CIV IV assets with non-steam version assets. Of course, you have to have a non-steam version of IV. He has uploaded all those files before..like 2G each, but the BTS link is now inactive.

At this point, it may be something simple. It is bizarre that this is working for me and not for you, since nothing should really be different. I'm trying to brainstorm ideas.

Where do you live? Do run the game in a different language? Not sure it really matters. Heck, Seriael is German.

 

[Fish Man]

Just curious, try opening another save..this is a GOTM using BUFFY.

Also, after that, regardless, just run BUFFY > create a custom game > click Lock modified Assets (no other options matter..whatever) > start game > upload the file here. In addition, create a save without LMA and upload it too.

I want to check those out on my end.

The next step, as mentioned, would be to do a fresh install as I outlined earlier Again, after uninstalling, delete all BTS folders in Steam apps and My Games. Then install and do the steps in Steam I just described. Then perform the early steps to enable HOF mod, but ignore the DLL stuff (do not change, move or modify any game files whatsover.)

(edit: try this too by the way after uninstalling the game when deleting folders. Go to something like "C:\Users\your name\AppData\Local\My Games\beyond the sword". This contains cache files. Delete the whole folder. In fact delete anything you see in there dealing with Civ)

And do make sure BTS executable and STeam executable are set to run as administrator.

(the idea here is to once again get a fresh slate for bts as I have no idea of knowing what files you may have messed with earlier)

Once I hear from Neil when Aussies wake up, I will ask him his thoughts on this. Apparently his workaround was to completely replace all CIV IV assets with non-steam version assets. Of course, you have to have a non-steam version of IV. He has uploaded all those files before..like 2G each, but the BTS link is now inactive.

At this point, it may be something simple. It is bizarre that this is working for me and not for you, since nothing should really be different. I'm trying to brainstorm ideas.

Where do you live? Do run the game in a different language? Not sure it really matters. Heck, Seriael is German.

I live in Seattle WA...run the game in English. I'll be home later tonight so I'll try what you say then. In the meantime...I just need a break from all this, so I've started a new immortal game on one of the NC maps. Hopefully a win or at least playthrough will help ease the tension and frustration...