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Missing / Corrupt Files After Patch

September 2, 2007 10:57:21 AM from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

First, I started out by uninstalling my old version and then installing the new version. After playing one game and crashing to the desktop, I tried to go back into the game only to find out that one of the entries in a text file for TECHBATTLESHIP (or something like that) was missing a required line. I wasn't sure what it was supposed to be, so I just uninstalled and re-installed again. I played another game, only to have it crash to desktop again. I tried to go back into the game, but now it said there was a file missing (don't remember what file, but it was another text file that described one of the objects in the game). So, I uninstalled and re-installed again. I played another game. This time, after two hours of play, it had not crashed. I exited cleanly and went to bed. I tried playing again a few minutes ago, and now it says it is missing d3dx9_32.dll. I tried another game that uses Direct3D, and it seems to be working, so I don't think it is DirectX that is messed up. I am reinstalling again to see if the problem is resolved.

This is on Windows Vista Ultimate x64.

Also, I have noticed the nVidia Graphics driver dying like crazy since the update. The driver crashes and restarts about every 10-30 minutes. I am running the 162.22 Vista X64 drivers, which is the latest version released. If my SmartException would write the crash files, I would E-mail them in, but it does not seem to want to do that. I have just reloaded it with adminstrator privs, so hopefully it will do so this time. This is the system output from SE:


Operating System : Windows XP Unknown - (6000.vista_gdr.070627-1500)

Video Card : NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT

Sound Card : Speakers (Creative SB Audigy 2

DirectX version : 4.09.00.0904

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ironwill96
Join Date 08/2007
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Reply #1 September 2, 2007 12:57:24 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
Try these new drivers to maybe fix the nvidia problem, they have a nice set of beta drivers out for Vista/XP here (came out on August 20th): http://www.nzone.com/object/nzone_downloads_rel70betadriver.html
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Yarlen
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Reply #2 September 2, 2007 3:07:49 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
Nvidia's drivers for Vista (and 64-bit apparently) are still not great. Please be sure to report any crashes with any programs directly to them. It helps add pressure to get these things fixed.
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Reply #3 September 3, 2007 10:32:01 AM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
I got one of those error messages again that I was talking about:

TextFileArchive (.\GameInfo\CAPITALSHIP_TECHBATTLESHIP.entity) missing Label: 'statCountType'

This is on start-up of the game. The only reason I even was able to get this message is because I run dual monitors and noticed that there was some kind of window with text in it behind the black screen. I was able to locate the window bar with the mouse because the mouse cursor changed, and then I was able to drag the error window out onto my other monitor and grab the message.

I also just installed the beta drivers for nVidia referenced above, so hopefully that will solve some of those video driver crashes.
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Reply #4 September 3, 2007 11:19:13 AM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
I just reinstalled the game again. I made a copy of the .entity file and then tried playing the game. This time, it gave me the same error without being able to play it even once. I went back and compared the copy of the .entity file with the original. The original has been altered and is indeed missing the statCountType line. The copy of the .entity file still contains the line. Just out of curiosity, I performed a diff on the two files. The file seems to have been heavily modified:

10,11c10,11
< BaseDamage 43.000000
< BasePopulationKilled 1.70000
---
> BaseDamage 65.000000
> BasePopulationKilled 4.200000
56c56,59
< NumResearchPrerequisites 0
---
> NumResearchPrerequisites 1
> ResearchPrerequisite
> Subject "RESEARCHSUBJECT_PLANETMODULEACCESS_CAPITALSHIPFACTORYTECH"
> Level 1
58d60
< statCountType "CapitalShipBattleship"
82,83c84,85
< SynchronizedTargeting TRUE
< PointStaggerDelay 0.250000
---
> SynchronizedTargeting FALSE
> PointStaggerDelay 0.550000
101c103
< BeamWidth 35.000000
---
> BeamWidth 55.000000
126c128
< BurstCount 15
---
> BurstCount 60


Given a previous thread I read over a month ago about a discussion on special effects for weapons and a mention from a dev about how they increased the BurstCount to 60 from 15 to make the weapons look cooler, my guess is that the game is applying some form of "patch" to the .entity file, which is removing the required line.
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Reply #5 September 3, 2007 11:22:25 AM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
After adding back in the missing line, I tried running the game again, only to find this:

TextFileArchive (.\GameInfo\PLANETMODULE_TECHORBITALGAUSSDEFENSE.entity) missing Label: 'statCountType'

I will now reinstall the game again, back up all the .entity files, run the game, perform a diff on all the .entity files, and see what I find.
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Reply #6 September 3, 2007 11:25:18 AM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
Note to Stardock: It would be helpful if you could make Stardock Central cache the download of programs (or have an option to enable caching of them) so that we do not have to keep re-downloading them every time we need to re-install. The cache could be cleared manually with a button, or automatically on an update to the program.

Update: It appears that there is an archive function already there that will do what I want.
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kryo
Join Date 05/2003
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Reply #7 September 3, 2007 11:34:42 AM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
Note to Stardock: It would be helpful if you could make Stardock Central cache the download of programs (or have an option to enable caching of them) so that we do not have to keep re-downloading them every time we need to re-install.


Just right click on Sins in SDC and use the archive option.
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Reply #8 September 6, 2007 8:13:07 AM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
I reinstalled the game. I also figured out that when launching the game from inside SDC, the game runs correctly. However, when launching the game from the Sins shortcut in the Start Menu, the game complains about missing entries in the .entity files. The target on the shortcut is: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\Sins of a Solar Empire\Sins of a Solar Empire.exe". The "Start In" setting for the icon is: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\TotalGaming\Sins of a Solar Empire". The strange part is that if I go back to executing it through SDC without reinstalling, it works. That implies that the changed files are not what is preventing it from starting. So, how is SDC starting the game that is different from using the shortcut?
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kryo
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Reply #9 September 6, 2007 11:20:04 AM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
That's odd. The start in folder being wrong would be the logical cause of the problem, but if as you say it's correct, I'm at a loss.
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Yarlen
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Reply #10 September 10, 2007 11:43:52 AM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
egable - Are you running Vista?
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Reply #11 September 14, 2007 8:42:04 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
Yes, I am running Vista Ultimate 64-bit. I was just thinking, perhaps this has something to do with user account control? When I launch SDC, it asks me for permission to run it with special privileges whereas launching the game via the shortcut in the menu does not. I still don't know exactly how that would end up creating the problem I am seeing, but I'm grasping at straws at this point. It works from SDC and does not work from the shortcut.
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Reply #12 September 14, 2007 8:48:54 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
If I browse to the folder where it is installed and double click the executable, it does the same thing as launching the shortcut. But going to SDC and launching it still works.
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Yarlen
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Reply #13 September 16, 2007 3:13:16 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

It probably wants elevation to run properly. Just right-click the Sins shortcut and Run as Administrator. See if that does the trick.

I'm running the game under Vista 64-bit now too, but I shut UAC off (because it's annoying).

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