Tafferpatcher: unofficial complete patch for Thief 2

Nameless Voice on 30/3/2010 at 13:57

I don't think that this has been mentioned yet, but you should probably advise people against installing to C:\Program Files\ or C:\Program Files (x86), as these are protected folders in Windows 7 / Vista, meaning that only an Administrator can make changes to them.

It's easiest all around if the game just defaults to installing to C:\Games\ or similar.

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I also recommend using my "data" folder concept to make sure that the default game installation is safe and secure in the event of one of the Loaders crashing or messing up an installation.

The basic idea is to put all the original game files into a "Data" folder, so that even if something goes terribly wrong in the main installed folder, the original files are safe and secure. This makes it much more robust in the event of a mod installation going bad (not that it should with DarkLoader, but you never know...)

All all the original game data is moved into a "Data" subfolder, and DarkInst.cfg is adjusted accordingly.

I move the following files:
*.mis --> Data\*.mis
*.osm --> Data\*.osm
*.gam --> Data\*.gam
Res\*.crf --> Data\Res\*.crf
Movies\*.avi --> Data\Movies\*.avi

*.crf ---> Data\Res\Patch\*.crf -- this isn't needed if you merge the patch .crfs

So my install.cfg looks like this:

Code:

install_path .+.\Data
language english
resname_base .\Data+.\Data\Res\Patch+.\Data\Res
load_path .+.\Data
script_module_path .+.\Data
movie_path .\movies+.\Data\movies

The method has also been described (complete with a batch file) for SS2 here: (http://www.strangebedfellows.de/index.php?topic=537.msg1721#msg1721)

DJ Riff on 30/3/2010 at 17:18

Quote Posted by sNeaksieGarrett

Is writing the scripts hard to do? I was just curious how you actually make the code for the installer or whatever.

If you know the basics of Delphi / Object Pascal, it's not that hard but rather time-consuming.

Quote Posted by Nameless Voice

I don't think that this has been mentioned yet, but you should probably advise people against installing to C:\Program Files\ or C:\Program Files (x86), as are protected folders in Windows 7 / Vista, meaning that only an Administrator can make changes to them.

It's easiest all around if the game just defaults to installing to C:\Games\ or similar.

Good idea!

Quote Posted by Nameless Voice

I move the following files:
*.mis --> Data\*.mis
*.osm --> Data\*.osm
*.gam --> Data\*.gam
Res\*.crf --> Data\Res\*.crf
Movies\*.avi --> Data\Movies\*.avi

Well, that may cause some mods that don't read darkinst but expect the default folder structure (T2X, language packs, etc) fail to install or run. And that will make it difficult to use as a source for further installation. Lots of testing needed for this...

Nameless Voice on 30/3/2010 at 17:50

Quote Posted by DJ Riff

I'll admit that I still haven't got around to playing T2X, so I'm not sure about that.
Can you explain why language packs would be adversely affected?
Anything in resource folders in the main game folder overrides anything in the \Data\ subfolder. It's the same as if you are pulling all the resources from a second installation of Thief, rather than having two copies of all the files. I have been doing both for years without issue, but then again, I have never installed a "language pack" (and am not 100% sure what you mean by one).

Edit: scratch that. It's exactly the same as using the data files on the CD - the default DarkInst.cfg will fall back to looking for the files on the CD if it doesn't find them in the main folder. This is exactly the same, except it's looking in the Data folder on the hard disk instead of on the CD.

DJ Riff on 30/3/2010 at 20:00

Quote Posted by Nameless Voice

I'll admit that I still haven't got around to playing T2X, so I'm not sure about that.
Can you explain why language packs would be adversely affected?

Not all mods actually read darkinst.cfg and analyze its contents. Some are just self-extracting archives with batch script that simply assume resource files are in .\RES. AFAIR, T2X installer doesn't work with relative paths correctly, and it assumes that original mission files are in root folder.
Just one example how a mod installer can break the game if something goes wrong:
(http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=130506) Darkloader optimization breaking Thief Gold on windows 7
That's why I try to keep folder structure as close to original as possible.

Quote Posted by Nameless Voice

Edit: scratch that. It's exactly the same as using the data files on the CD - the default DarkInst.cfg will fall back to looking for the files on the CD if it doesn't find them in the main folder. This is exactly the same, except it's looking in the Data folder on the hard disk instead of on the CD.

Actually, It's more complicated when using this modified setup as a source for next installation. When working with CD as a source, I simply seek for thief2.exe or THIEF\thief2.exe. Once found, I assume that all mission files are in the same folder, and resource files are in RES, and I copy them or make a reference to them if it's a partial install. Now, if I assume that the source structure is modified, The rough algorithm will look like:

0. If there's no darkinst.cfg, then I should act as it's a CD with original structure.
1. If darkinst.cfg is present, then I should read it and create an array of strings for every valid string, converting relative paths to absolute ones if needed.
For example, if the resname_base looks like "resname_base .\Data+.\Data\Res\Patch+.\Data\Res+X:\Thief2\Res", then the "source_resname" array will look like:

C:\Games\OldThief2
C:\Games\OldThief2\Data
C:\Games\OldThief2\Data\Res\Patch
C:\Games\OldThief2\Data\Res
X:\Thief2\Res

2. I should have a list of all Thief files and a category assigned for them (*.crf to resname_base, *.osm to script_module_path etc).

3. Now I need to find, for example, an SND.CRF file. I'm searching in the folders listed in "source_resname" array backwards:
X:\Thief2\Res\SND.CRF — no file (no CD in drive) //or should I determine somehow that it's a CD and skip it?
C:\Games\OldThief2\Data\Res\SND.CRF — file found. I copy the file or, if it's a partial install, mark this folder as containing this file.

4. Now I'm searching for BOOKS.CRF. It's still in the same category, so I'm searching in the same list of folders:

X:\Thief2\Res\BOOKS.CRF — no file
C:\Games\OldThief2\Data\Res\BOOKS.CRF — no file
C:\Games\OldThief2\Data\Res\Patch\BOOKS.CRF — no file
C:\Games\OldThief2\Data\BOOKS.CRF — file found (for some weird reason it's here). Copying the file or marking the folder.

5. Now, If I did a partial install, I should add marked source folders to the new darkinst.cfg in the same order as they are in old the one:

Code:

resname_base C:\Games\NewThief2\Data+C:\Games\NewThief2\Data\Res+C:\Games\OldThief2\Data+C:\Games\OldThief2\Data\Res

Phew. As I said lots of testing needed to get it to work.

Added.
There's even more. Every time I install or uninstall mission or other game file patch, I need to read darkinst.cfg for the right folders, then search for the file in them. And the patcher should decide what folder to use if there's no such file present or there are more than one file. I have this already implemented for resource files in current version, it's lots of code and I still not sure if it has no bugs or side-effects.

sNeaksieGarrett on 31/3/2010 at 14:31

keep up the good work man, I'm sure a lot of people appreciate what you're doing.:thumb:

Nameless Voice on 31/3/2010 at 14:34

Maybe it's too much work - it was only a suggestion.

However, actually reading darkinst.cfg for the paths will make the patcher far more versatile, so that it doesn't ruin unusual game installations.

Fidcal on 15/4/2010 at 10:58

I gave up on my Thief 2 install in Vista multi-core with various problems: videos, crashing after half a minute gameplay, and mouse limited to the top left quarter of the menus. I tried this patcher but it's not intuitive and it messed it up even more so now it crashed immediately!

OK, started again with a completely new install from CD. Woohoo! Seems to be OK. Played the first om for a minute or two anyway. Video fixed. Menu fixed. And all the usual stuff seems fixed like no cd etc. Thanks for that.

One problem, it asked me for game resolution and I couldn't remember the legal resolutions and since I entered a large desktop res before and it crashed, this time I thought I'd better accept the default 800 x 600. After all, I can always change it later right? Wrong! It seems limited to 640 x 480 or 800 x 600.

I'm reluctant to run the patcher again as it seems to do a complete install and I don't want to break anything now its working. So how do I change the possible screen resolutions? And what are 'legitimate' values? Anything my monitor accepts?

Fidcal on 15/4/2010 at 11:58

I spoke too soon. No-CD doesn't work. But more importantly, none of my gamesaves work. I only installed this so I could continue playing King's Story which is down to 5fps on my other machine.

Any ideas?

Nameless Voice on 15/4/2010 at 15:03

Quote Posted by Fidcal

I'm reluctant to run the patcher again as it seems to do a complete install and I don't want to break anything now its working. So how do I change the possible screen resolutions? And what are 'legitimate' values? Anything my monitor accepts?

Once you're running DDFix, you need to follow the instructions for changing the resolution in the DDFix thread - basically, adjust the resolution manually by modifying both ddfix.ini and cam.cfg.
And if you have the widescreen mod, then you don't need to worry about "legal" resolutions - just use whatever your desktop is set to and it should work.

Fidcal on 15/4/2010 at 15:31

OK, thanks NV - I'll check that out. Must admit I didn't find out much about the patcher but tried it blindly to see if it fixed my problems and I'm way out of touch with Thief developments.

I have a horrible feeling the gamesaves will never load in this update. In Dark Mod when the code was updated which was regularly then old gamesaves could never be used again.