jgf on 27/7/2013 at 21:12
After jumping through the prescribed string of hoops I finally got Thief3 running on my Vista system, and it worked very well for a year or so. I hadn't played in a couple of months and yesterday the game wouldn't start; t3 and t3main were running as processes but not as an application, usually a sign of registry errors. I copied the entire Thief3 folder, dug out the disc, and reinstalled, then edited the registry to point to the proper save game folder (J:\Thief3\SaveGames). Made sure the new install worked (it does) then copied the old install back over it to reinstate all the tweaks, graphics mods, etc.
The game is running again but doesn't recognize the saved games, at the menu my only option is "new game", "load" is greyed out. The saved games are intact in their folder and the registry points to that folder. So, where do I kick this wretch so it will load save games again? (The last time I played through I saved at the start of each mission so I could subsequently load any one to play.)
gnartsch on 27/7/2013 at 22:01
Impossible to tell without knowing the exact history of your previous install.
Copying back a corrupted install over a fresh one does not sound like a terribly good idea either.
Anyway:
- had you created a savegame after fresh install ?
- create a savegame in TDS and see if it shows up in the expected place
- are you running 32 or 64 bit Vista?
The registry key actually differs depending on which on it is.
64bit: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Ion Storm\Thief - Deadly Shadows
32bit: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Ion Storm\Thief - Deadly Shadows
- Search for ION_ROOT until you find the right one and edit your SaveGamePath there
- did you have SneakyUpgrade installed or what patches and Tweaks ?
jgf on 28/7/2013 at 20:20
Well, I fixed the problem, though I'm baffled by it. My saves are in J:\Thief3\SaveGames, always have been, and that's what the registry pointed to. I just played through the training level and about half the first mission then saved. Went to load and that was the only save listed. Exited and checked the location of those files - J:\Thief3\SaveGames\SaveGames. (?!) Edited the registry to point to just J:\Thief3, started the game and all my previous saves are now available.
Checked an older registry backup and J:\Thief3\SaveGames is shown there, so obviously that is what was working previously. Why it now wants only a portion of that path is beyond me, but it's working. (The term "computer logic" is definitely an oxymoron.)
gnartsch on 28/7/2013 at 21:00
I would rather assume that your 'backup' was not the final one and rather a failed attempt back in the past.
'SaveGames' shouldn't appear in the registry and never did.
Anyway, glad to hear it's working now.
jgf on 29/7/2013 at 21:04
I backup the registry monthly using erunt, but in the past few weeks I've installed some software I didn't want to undo by reverting to an older registry. I had made the registry changes for the Thief3 saves based on forum threads mentioning the default location wasn't compatible with Vista (I have never agreed with Micro$oft's idiotic concept of placing all user files in "My Documents", something could wipe out that one folder and you lose everything, even though all the software is still installed).
When I first dug out my old Thief discs to install on my Vista system (hadn't played in years, reinstalled Thief 1, 2, and 3 ..along with NOLF 1 & 2, and System Shock 2) I ran into the "stuck in a loop of the opening video" issue, so removed everything and did some online research; followed a thread of instructions (possibly here) on getting it to run in Vista and had no problems til now. Oddly, of all those games reinstalled, Thief 3 is the newest yet it gave the most trouble.
