Minidump

Modding Problem

from Sins Forums

I'm trying to mod one of the ships for TEC, (keeping things simple till i really learn how to do this) All i did was increase the hul and shield points gained per level for the Marza class ship.  The problem is that when i open the game and go to the mods section it crashes every time i load the mod and i get a minidump notification telling me it saved a minidump in such-and-such location.  Any help?

modding
3,391 views 5 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top

Well it could be from a number of things.

Is the file the right version eg. did you use a forge tool 3 reference file, which is version 1.15 for vanilla and 1.03 for entrenchment, to version you game is. If its fully up to date it will be 1.18 & 1.041.

Has the file that you modified been entered into the manifest file. Any entity file that you put into mod's folder should be put into the manifest file in your mods folder. (usually doesn't crash Sins though, your changes just won't show up)

If you have the right version and your manefst is up to date, the files are very case sensitive and the numbers you change need to have the same number of decimal places as they did before. eg. if you change.

HullPointRestoreRate

    StartValue 1.000000

    ValueIncreasePerLevel 0.100000

 

to

HullPointRestoreRate
    StartValue 1.555555
    ValueIncreasePerLevel 0.155555

Edit: sorry about the difference in how the top, original set data is all spread out like that its not the way I posted it. It should look like how the bottom altered set is arranged.

it should be OK! But if you accidently put a space or extra number or delete a number position then it will crash. I find this to be the most common cause of the crashes, that have anyway. Just a simple typo.

Note; if you have the "Diplomacy" beta installed it comes with a Developer exe. Using this will point out where you went wrong.

Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top

You don't need to use the developer exe, you can just edit your user.setting file (in the Settings folder in the same path as the mods) and set showErrors to TRUE (it's at the bottom). With that set if the game minidumps due to an error in the entity files, it will tell you which line of which file and why.

The developer exe can do this also, but I'm personally not a big fan of it because it likes spitting out warnings that have nothing to do with your mod. :P

Siege of Centauri
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
Ok, thanks superzero0, i think the issue may be the wrong version because i tried something else that points to nothing other than that possibility to my knowledge. I completely deleted my mod folder and started again, but this time i didn't change anything so the game should read it as a mod but nothing is different and it still crashes. Can i assume i need to update both the game AND the reference files downloads? I think i'm at least headed in the right direction with this now though.
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top

What version is your Sins now? If you go to "Impulse" updates it should tell you if there is any updates to be installed and what the versions are. The most upto date version is 1.181 for vanilla & 1.041 for entrenchment. If you have been using a Forge tools 3 entity file from its reference folder, that will be your problem if your game is fully upto date. The Forge tools 3 is only compatable with 1.15 sins vanilla & 1.01 entrenchment.

Note; To make yourself a set of reference files (GameInfo) that is compatable to what ever versions you have, make a copy of the "GameInfo" and the "string" folder from the Sins of a Solar Empire installation folder. Also the "convertdata" applications. It should be located in C; > Program Files > Stardock Games > Sins of a Solar Empire. Paste your copies in a new location, or make a new folder next to forge tools and paste them into that.

Now you can either use your computers command prompt to use the "convertdata" application to convert the "GameInfo" folder from binary to text. I think maybee from memory there is a discription on how to go about this in Forge tools documentation somewhere, I be could wrong.

Or, I find the easiest way to convert bin. to txt. and vis versa is to use a GUI that has been provided by other community members such as the ones at these locations within the modding forum;


https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/353296

https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/322559

The bottom one is also able convert xsi. to mesh. if your considering making some of your own models in SoftImage and putting them into a mod.

Also you can convert the "mesh" & "texture" & others folders that are also in the Sins Install folder to text as well. The "String" does'nt need to be converted.

 

 

Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top

You don't need to use the developer exe, you can just edit your user.setting file (in the Settings folder in the same path as the mods) and set showErrors to TRUE (it's at the bottom). With that set if the game minidumps due to an error in the entity files, it will tell you which line of which file and why.

The developer exe can do this also, but I'm personally not a big fan of it because it likes spitting out warnings that have nothing to do with your mod.
End of quote

Good point.

Also the dev exe has not been released for every version. This is the case for the up to date versions, unless you have the "Diplomacy beta".