Proper Installation

[xienwolf]

Yeah, I wish it would find BtS for you, but at least I can help to guide people to the right location. I have no control over how the installation files are designed.

Kael told someone what he uses for packing his installs, probably in one of the threads in the Map/Scenario forum. Or in a changelog/Bug Thread. But I cannot really recall, and the icon for the .exe files doesn't bring anything specific to mind, but it must be a default since it has NOTHING to do with FfH. Find the icon, find the Install Shield ;P

@Audton: If it wasn't in the default location, I really advise that you re-install and make sure everything goes there this next time. It'll save you time installing every patch from now on, which could be quite a few if you become as addicted as the rest of us.

 

[Deon]

I like the way it's installed now.
1) You can install it anywhere if you need an access to the mod file swithout overwriting yours already installed.
2) If people can't just select their "mods" folder in the BTS directory via "Browse..." button... Well, it's time to learn, at least this life-stealing game could teach them how to use their computers =).

 

[kcwong]

Well, we're not proposing the installer just copy the files without permission... just that it would select a correct default folder based on registry, and prompt the user.

For example I have all my games installed in D:\ instead of C:\Program Files. If I run the installer, it would prompt me if I want to install to D:\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\Beyond the Sword\Mods or elsewhere.

 

[Knightmare71]

I don't have the time to read thru this entire thread so I have no idea if the problem I'm having with this mod has been adressed or not...
You see FfH2 starts up fine, I can go into the 'Play Now' or 'Custom Game' menu's and start up a game. But, whenever it starts loading, the game crashes to the desktop saying that 'Windows has experienced an error...' yadayadayada...
I've got BtS 3.13. and Civ IV 1.7.4. installed and I have also patched FfH2 to version 'h' so I don't think the problem could be situated in this area. The only thing I can think of that might be the cause to my problems is that I use a no-cd crack for Civ4 since my original CD was completely screwed up from playing it too much and leaving it lying around on my desk.

Could someone plzzzzz help me 'cause I wanna play this mod real bad. FfH1 was a genius work of art that robbed me of my social life and good grades and despite of this I would very much like to continue my mental ******ation, so plz post a reply that could help me...

 

[xienwolf]

Do you see any of the opening movie at all? If not, please double check that you have 3.13 patch for BtS. That is exactly what happens when you are missing that patch.

 

[Knightmare71]

It turns out the patch I dl'ed for BtS was corrupted and didn't update the game properly. I Reinstalled BtS and dl'ed the patch from this site and now FfH2 works fine. I look forward to playing it!

Thx for the reply Xienwolf and keep up the good work !!

 

[jwin]

I am having a problem with a crash beore the game gets to the main menu. I have installed shadow on another computer so thought I knew what I was doing.
I have followed the above instructions, have the latest bts patch, and have tried to reinstall the whole thing with a freshly downloaded shadow.
While loading a GFC Error - Failed to initiate primary control occurs. It happens when the load bar says Init Engine.

Thanks for any help you can give.

 

[xienwolf]

According to Kael's post in the Bug Thread, that is exactly the error message you get if FfH is installed in the wrong location. So please check to ensure that where you have your FfH folder there is also a folder for Age of ice, Afterworld, Defense, and all the other basic scenarios/mods that came with BtS.

It is possible that your last computer used a standard installation of BtS, but this one is through Steam, Gold, or Complete. Those all change around where they place the files.

 

[kcwong]

I again call for Kael's attention to create an installer that detects a proper installation folder and use that as default.

If Kael's too busy I could do it. I would like to know which install shield generator he's using though.

 

[xienwolf]

Kael uses the Nullsoft Install System according to his post in the Modder's thread.

 

[kcwong]

Ah... NSIS. I've read about, but haven't used it before. I'm installing it right now... I'll report back with results in a while.

Edit:

I have to say, while the fans of NSIS say the resulting installer size is the smallest among all, it hardly matters these days (and for FFH, which is over 300Mb, whatever amount you can shave off here and there doesn't have any impact), and its scripting capabilities leave much to be desired, esp. when compared to other products, such as InnoSetup.

Also the NSIS wiki has extremely little resource to go around. I frequently got a blank page.

It looks like there's only two ways to set a default install folder: Use predefined variables (like $ProgramFiles) with some string literal, or lift the whole value out of an existing registry key, and all of that has to be performed before any of the script I write can run.

I think I'll switch to InnoSetup, which is also free and I'm familiar with...

 

[Asplundh]

I'm stumped and I'm pretty darned computer-literate! This is the first MOD (Civ IV, BtS, etc) that I haven't been able to tweak and get to work. I downloaded (by browser - Firefox 2.0.0.12) FfH 2030 and Patch "h." Civ IV is patched to 1.74 and BtS is patched to 3.13. FfH 2030 installed fine, as did patch "h" (I pointed the installation to where the game is installed on my <F:\> drive). I edited the shortcut to point to the actual location of the program files (<F:\>).
When I run the shortcut, FfH II runs fine up to the point where I click <Launch.> Within 5 - 10 seconds, FfH II crashes and and I get a Windows message that Civ IV has stopped running. Oh, yeah. It's installed on my Vista machine and my XP SP2 machine. I get the exact same results. I've cleared the cache (by holding down the <Shift> key during the game's boot). Help?

 

[Asplundh]

I did read Knightmare 71's post and the reply. I have the 3.13 patch installed (correctly, I think) because when I run vanilla BtS, the opening movie runs fine.

 

[xienwolf]

Unfortunately I don't have any ideas about yours just yet Asplundh. If you have all the patches installed and have the relative locations correct I am at a loss

Missing 3.13 would give you a GFC error, not just a generic crash, so I don't think that one is the issue.

 

[Asplundh]

I've been looking at this most of the afternoon. On both systems, Windows (Vista in one case, XP SP2 in the other) is installed on <C:\> (of course). I have a physical HDD in both systems (that just happens to be <F:\>) where all games get installed. So, the path is the same, regardless - F:\Program Files\Fireaxis Games\ Civilization 4\Beyond the Sword or whatever the case may be. On the Vista machine, I run all games in XP SP2 compatibility mode and run them as an administrator (unless the game is specifically written for Vista). When FfH II failed to run on the Vista machine, I thought maybe it was a compatibility issue, so I installed FfH II on the XP SP2 machine. Launching the game via the shortcut, FfH II loads (just like BtS) and (of course) stops on the menu page with the Diablo-like critter in the background. I can select Single Player, Play Now or Custom Game, choosing the parameters I want. But after I click the Launch button in the lower right hand corner, FfH II goes blank and after 5 or 10 seconds or so, I get the same message 'Windows has experienced an error...' I'm beginning to think maybe the 3.13 patch I downloaded from Fireaxis didn't properly apply. I will try DL'ing the patch again and see what happens.

 

[xienwolf]

Well, my first approach I think would be to check if a normal BtS game works. Just to narrow the problem down to FfH.

Then, I would turn on Python Exception Pop-ups (bottom of first post in bug thread tells you how) and see if you get Python errors before you start the game.

Have you tried changing your settings for the game? Especially which map type you are using might make a difference.

 

[Asplundh]

Kael pointed me onto the right track. I found not one, but three (3) complete \Program Files\Firaxis\Civilization IV\BTS on two physically separate drives. I patched what I thought was the right path, but the registry pointed to another one. Once I edited the registry entries, FfH II ran fine.

I still don't know how I got three separate installations.

I'm going to look at my XP SP2 machine after I get off work this afternoon. I'm betting I have multiple installations of Civ IV (Warlords & BTS, too) there, as well.

Thanks for trying to help.

 

[xienwolf]

No problem, glad it worked out for you

 

[kcwong]

@ Kael: Maybe you got too many private messages so you stopped using it altogether... I'll post it here instead.

From the discussion here, I decided to create a new installer for Fall from Heaven, which could automatically locate a correct installation directory.

I've attached it in this post. Would you consider using it?

I've set it up to use a batch file. It will ask you these questions:

1. Major version (which is currently 2)
2. Minor version (for the mod it is 030, for the patch it is 030i, for the media pack it is 030Media)
3. Root directory. All files and subdirectories inside will be included in the installer. I assumed this will fit your development environment.

Then it will dynamically create the script file, and launch InnoSetup to compile it.

For example, I installed FallfromHeaven2030.exe (the original installer) to C:\Temp.

Then I launch FFH.cmd, and answered:
Major version: 2
Minor version: 030Test
Root directory: C:\Temp\Fall from Heaven 2 030

An installer called FallFromHeaven2030Test.exe will be created. When launched, it will search the registry for BtS's location, and give that as the default installation directory. If for any reason it cannot find BtS, it will revert to the factory default (C:\Program Files\...) and prompt the user and let him/her decide to continue or not.

The installer will install to <BtS folder>\Mods\Fall from Heaven 2 030Test\ by default. InnoSetup will also create an uninstaller and an entry in Add or Remove Programs.

As long as you can group all the files under a single directory, you can use this script for the mod, patch and media pack.

InnoSetup (version 5.2.2) is a free and open source InstallShield software. You can download it here.

My batch script assumes you install InnoSetup to "C:\Program Files\Inno Setup 5". If not, you will need to edit this line in FFH.cmd:

SET INNOSETUP=C:\Program Files\Inno Setup 5\ISCC.exe

 

[xienwolf]

One problem I see in your script is that you want to include the patch letter in the Minor Version identifier, but you have it install to a folder with the name of the Minor Version. This would cause it to make a new folder for each patch.

Major Version ought to be Fall from Heaven 2 030, and folder name should be based off of that. Then Minor Version could just be the patch letter. This works well enough since for 2 031 there will be another large download with the Pak0 file and the like again.