Problem Moving .SAV to PC

[Blue Monkey]

I've been playing TAM (the latest "j" patch) a lot in C3C on my Mac. I decided to transfer a .SAV onto my PC to see how it ran there. I've also been playing TAM "j" there. When I try to load the saved game I get the error message: "Missing entry in "text\PediaIcons.txt": ICON_BLDG_Bible" . This text is, in fact, in PediaIcons.txt on my PC version of C3C in the appropriate TAM folder. All my TAM games that start on the PC run just fine. None of my Mac TAM .SAVs do. Why won't my Mac initiated .SAV work? Here is a .SAV from my Mac game. I had to FV it to upload it here; no modification was made in the transfer to my PC.View attachment 125014

 

[AlanH]

Clearly the PC version is not looking at the correct version of the pediaIcons.txt file for the TAM scenario. I therefore speculate that there is a scenario path defined in your save that is Mac-specific. The scenario paths defined in the save you uploaded include:

/Conquests Game Data\Conquests\TAM 2.5j Mediterranean Large No Wolves\
/Conquests Game Data\Conquests\TAM 2.5j Mediterranean Large No Wolves.biq

and

\Conquests\TAM 2.5;
..\Scenarios\TAM 2.5;
..\Conquests\Rise of Rome;
..\Conquests\Middle Ages

I think the first two are Mac-specific paths, and, if they are important, they would have to be changed to work on a PC. I don't know enough about the way these paths are used in the software to be able to say whether this is the problem.

If this is important I can try to edit the file to change the paths, and you can see if this allows the file to open on the PC. However, I believe Aspyr/Brad have done work on the patched version to improve compatibility with PC scenarios, so this may all be overtaken when that patch is released ... eventually .

 

[Blue Monkey]

The importance is not to the specific game. I am approaching a situation where I will be part of a team developing mods. I will be playing, testing, and doing some graphics work on my Mac. Obviously, any work done with the editor will have to be on the PC; and any mod had better work on the PC as well as the Mac. How do I look in the .SAV to examine the paths? Once I know that, I can compare to the path in the PC/TAM saves.

 

[AlanH]

I used FileValet to expand the save, and HexEdit to examine it.

The first two paths are near the beginning of the file (see screenshot below, taken from HexEdit). These are the most likely candidates to cause confusion as they contain the Mac folder name "./Conquests Game Data", which looks rather out of place in a Windows file path. You can use HexEdit to modify these paths, but if you do you should ensure that you do so without disturbing the file format. They are, respectively, the path to the scenario folder and the path to the .biq scenario file, and each must be exactly 260 bytes long, padded with zeroes.

The others are further down the file, but look to me as if they are unmodified from the original PC versions - they still have their back-slashes and no sign of Mac-specific folder names. So I don't think they are causing your problem.

 

[Blue Monkey]

They are, respectively, the path to the scenario folder and the path to the .biq scenario file,

This is obviously the problem, since the PC and Mac are saving files in a different path. I really don't want to get into hexediting every time I move a file, although I have the tools available to do it. And this sounds like a problem for anyone who wants to share files across platforms. Won't this same problem affect people involved in GOTM, HOF, Succession games, etc.? How can we involve both platforms in playtesting any new mod with this limitation?

 

[AlanH]

It only affects games using scenarios, which means HOF, GOTM and SGs using the standard game settings are not affected. SGOTM *is* affected bcause it uses a non-standard set of resources graphics, and the solution for that is to replace the standard resources, since the SGOTM ones are a superset of the standard ones.

As I said, Brad Oliver is aware of this issue, and I believe he has fixed it in the upcoming patch. Since this is supposedly being released very soon, I don't really want to mess about with File Valet to get it to do this now.

However, if Brad tells us the patch is delayed, or if the patch doesn't work when it *is* released*, I could add a scenario path editing option to it. I would probably need your cooperation in that, to provide both PC and Mac versions of the files you wish to exchange.

 

[Blue Monkey]

It only affects games using scenarios, ....

I just did a couple of experiments. I can, indeed transfer a "normal" .SAV to my PC from the Saves folder used by all my Mac C3C games without problems. Then I got the lightbulb that the problem is the path, and if I created a "SAVES" folder in the equivalent location to the PC maybe the problem would disappear. Having made the folder (copied the "Saves" folder from the original location to preserve names/subfolders) I start C3C and open the save dialogue. I can't switch to the new location because it's on a different partition than the boot* (which is where C3C placed the original Game Data directories) and the dialogue won't show the desktop past the root. *(Coincidentally, My PC also has C3C on a different partition from the boot, but there C3C puts the saves inside the C3C subdirectory structure). Is this path unique to me? I don't remember creating the Saves folder; I'm pretty sure C3C set it up autonomously. Is there some Mac-peculiar reason the Saves folder is outside the C3C path?

However, if Brad tells us the patch is delayed, or if the patch doesn't work when it *is* released*, I could add a scenario path editing option to it. I would probably need your cooperation in that, to provide both PC and Mac versions of the files you wish to exchange.

If either you or Brad can use any help, ever, I am completely at your disposal. I would like to make sure Brad is aware of this thread. After all the grousing I and some others have done about wanting to mod, and going to the extent of getting a PC used mostly as a Civ platform, not being able to swap files between platforms would be really disheartening.

 

[AlanH]

I just did a couple of experiments. I can, indeed transfer a "normal" .SAV to my PC from the Saves folder used by all my Mac C3C games without problems. Then I got the lightbulb that the problem is the path, and if I created a "SAVES" folder in the equivalent location to the PC maybe the problem would disappear.

I don't think so. The save folder location is irrelevant. The Paths in question are relative to the location of the executable. But a "path" that includes a Mac-only data folder, and a forward slash is never going to work on the Windows version.

Is there some Mac-peculiar reason the Saves folder is outside the C3C path?

I understand it is not considered very Mac-like to have user-specific data such as saves or mods saved as files within the application directories. So Brad has arranged to create Civ3 folders for saves and user-installed scenarios in your Home directory.

If either you or Brad can use any help, ever, I am completely at your disposal. I would like to make sure Brad is aware of this thread. After all the grousing I and some others have done about wanting to mod, and going to the extent of getting a PC used mostly as a Civ platform, not being able to swap files between platforms would be really disheartening.

Thanks. I'm sure Brad will read it at some point.

 

[Blue Monkey]

I'm not sure this really belongs here, but I'm reluctant to start a new thread without knowing how to introduce it. Now that I've got C3C I want to avail myself of the many excellent mods. I unRARed/installed Rise of the Mughals onto my PC, then copied the files onto my Mac. The mod plays fine on the PC but on the Mac I get one of those long missing file/path error messages Checking and rechecking, the supposedly missing file is present and named correctly. I don't if it's a Mac/Civ problem like above, a Mac/mod problem, an error connected to the PC/Mac transfer, what forum to ask for help in... I'm sure this is one of those problems that will become more common as more of us play C3C on the Mac.

 

[AlanH]

I would imagine it's another of the problems related to scenario file paths inherent in the current release of Civ3 Complete. Options are:

1. Wait for Aspyr to release the patch and then see if they've succeeded in dealing with all the different ways that mod makers have set up the file paths in their scenarios.

2. Try to work around the current version's problems, which I suspect will affect just about any mod you try to use ... but probably in different ways and requiring different workrounds.

On 11 April, in another thread, Brad indicated that the patch was imminent, and advised against messing around to try to get mods working with the current version (option 2). However, three weeks later, there's still no patch. The option you choose will therefore depend on your level of urgency or impatience.

Either way, you should probably open a separate thread for each mod that you are trying to get working. We may then get some collaborative efforts going to resolve problems, and avoid confusing the workrounds that are discovered for different mods. I suggest such threads should have a title containing the name of the mod you are trying to get working (eg "Rise of the Mughals"), and the Civ3 Complete version you are using (currently "Complete v4945"). Note that we can't use "version 1.22", as I doubt if this number will change as patches are released, but the solutions will depend on patch level.

 

[Blue Monkey]

All excellent advice. For the time being, I'll await the patch.