74 replies to this topic

[Turambar]

Does it work with German language? If I do so, are my modifications in english or doesn´t it matter? I only play with german modifications.

This mod does not add any new text to the game, so the language you install it in doesn't matter

Edited by Turambar, 09 March 2012 - 05:34 AM.

[Sayne]

I just wanted to say that I was having hideous stuttering problems with my last install (manually installed a whole bunch of mods because I'm too hard-headed to use BWP) related to the Ambient Sounds stutter. I was at my wits end until I decided to use this mod to biff my override folder. Voila, stuttering gone (at least on the maps I was suttering on - I hadn't left Athkatla yet on this install). I jumped out of my chair and did a happy dance. Thanks Bigg.

[Roxanne]

Is multiple biffing possible?

I have a large BGT installation successfully biffed some time ago.
I have meanwhile added quite a number of new mods etc to the game and override is pretty large once again (6000 files, 700mb). I have no problems yet withn game performance but I want it a bit cleaner to find my own files used for my mod more easily.

Is it possible to apply general biffing once more?

[Jarno Mikkola]

Is multiple biffing possible?

Yes... the though behind not recommending that you do it multiple times is that you waste space (and possibly some processing power, as the computer might need to read the files, but it's insignificant when compared to not biffing the files).

But you cannot use the Generalized Biffing twice, because the mod doesn't allow you that... but there was the End_bif, that you wouldn't be able to uninstall... but it's has been removed from SHS.

[Roxanne]

Is multiple biffing possible?

Yes... the though behind not recommending that you do it multiple times is that you waste space (and possibly some processing power, as the computer might need to read the files, but it's insignificant when compared to not biffing the files).

But you cannot use the Generalized Biffing twice, because the mod doesn't allow you that... but there was the End_bif, that you wouldn't be able to uninstall... but it's has been removed from SHS.

In this case I guess yes actually means no? If I remember it correctly the advantage of the current general biffing is that you can still access all file - and in my case add to them for my mod via WEIDU tp2 installs. End_bif would not allow that, or am I mistaken?

[Jarno Mikkola]

End_bif would not allow that, or am I mistaken?

Well, it depend on what you use to access them... any Infinity Engine Tool can do that with ease too even if you .bif them with whatever (NearInfinity, DLTCEP)... but not from the override or the mods own folders.

[dabus]

Here is a little overview:

MD XYZ
MOVE OVERRIDE\*.XYZ XYZ
weidu --make-biff XYZ
rd XYZ /s /q

Cute, isn't it? Create a new folder, move files you want to biff in a folder, tell weidu to biff that folder and delete the folder afterwards (since files are in data\XYZ.biff).

So if you want to biff itm-files and find those in data\coolitem.biff, goto your game-folder and do this:

MD coolitem
MOVE OVERRIDE\*.itm coolitem
weidu --make-biff coolitem
rd coolitem /s /q

Here it is:
http://www.weigo.gmx...d_biff_v2.1.rar

Edited by dabus, 23 October 2012 - 10:39 AM.

[Roxanne]

Here is a little overview:

MD XYZ
MOVE OVERRIDE\*.XYZ XYZ
weidu --make-biff XYZ
rd XYZ /s /q

Cute, isn't it? Create a new folder, move files you want to biff in a folder, tell weidu to biff that folder and delete the folder afterwards (since files are in data\XYZ.biff).

So if you want to biff itm-files and find those in data\coolitem.biff, goto your game-folder and do this:

MD coolitem
MOVE OVERRIDE\*.itm coolitem
weidu --make-biff coolitem
rd coolitem /s /q

Here it is:
http://www.weigo.gmx...d_biff_v2.1.rar

I think that is maybe the same method I have used before in order to get the movies from my mod into the game by using such a script and a copy of WEIDU.
My idea could be to include it with my own mod and do this biffing. The mod is already mega-big and others may be bothered by the size. I understand that I would copy original chitin.key before as a new one is created with the added biffed files. With a corresponding uninstall.bat the whole thing could be made undone.
This is what I did for my movies

@echo off
@ECHO Installing movies
mkdir SandrahNPC\backup\Chitin-Key
copy chitin.key SandrahNPC\backup\Chitin-Key
mkdir CVMovie
copy SandrahNPC\mve\CVHell1.mve CVMovie
copy SandrahNPC\mve\CVSarde.mve CVMovie
copy SandrahNPC\mve\CVJonde.mve CVMovie
copy SandrahNPC-setup.exe CVMovie.exe
CVMovie --make-biff CVMovie
del CVMovie.exe
rmdir CVMovie /S /Q
@ECHO Finished installing movies

and for uninstalling

@echo off
@ECHO Uninstalling movies
copy SandrahNPC-setup.exe CVMovie.exe
CVMovie --remove-biff data\CVMovie.bif
del CVMovie.exe
del data\CVMovie.bif /F /Q
del SandrahNPC\backup\Chitin-Key /F /Q
@ECHO Finished uninstalling movies

Both operations are triggered by bat files from the *.tp2 of the mod

???a mod that biffs itself with the installation???

[Jarno Mikkola]

???a mod that biffs itself with the installation???

Make sure to make the .biffing an optional component... cause you don't want to force people into it.

So if you want to biff itm-files and find those in data\coolitem.biff, goto your game-folder and do this:

MD coolitem
MOVE OVERRIDE\*.itm coolitem
weidu --make-biff coolitem
rd coolitem /s /q

Or if you want to manually do this, you go to the game folder, make a folder "whatever", and the go to the override folder and cut paste the things you want to "whatever" folder, and then just run a .bat that has the following code in the game folder and the weidu.exe :

weidu --make-biff whatever
rd whatever /s /q

And then run the .bat you just made, yeah, just a .txt file that's renamed as a .bat ..

[Roxanne]

???a mod that biffs itself with the installation???

Make sure to make the .biffing an optional component... cause you don't want to force people into it.

So if you want to biff itm-files and find those in data\coolitem.biff, goto your game-folder and do this:

MD coolitem
MOVE OVERRIDE\*.itm coolitem
weidu --make-biff coolitem
rd coolitem /s /q

Or if you want to manually do this, you go to the game folder, make a folder "whatever", and the go to the override folder and cut paste the things you want to "whatever" folder, and then just run a .bat that has the following code in the game folder and the weidu.exe :

weidu --make-biff whatever
rd whatever /s /q

And then run the .bat you just made, yeah, just a .txt file that's renamed as a .bat ..

If it works - and it sounds like it is possible - it would be an optional component - the mod by design and contents requires a large BGT installation with all the mega mods and many of the *almost standard* mods in place - so it must be installed very late in an installation sequence. I can imagine that people having an interest in it would have already a stable and biffed game as a basis (just like myself). The mod would add significantly again to that as it covers all three parts of the Trilogy with part four - continue after ToB without a game conversion and with the old and some new companions in the old and many new areas adding even more. So a biffing option would make sense to me.

[Valiant]

Hello all,

I´d like to ask something that is best to show on example. Say I have Areas.biff, that contains .are files. For some reason, e.g. adding something new, updating or correcting, I have a copy of some .are file in override, too. Now when i create a new .biff, that will contains, say, all .are files from override folder, it will logically lead to a situation, when one. are file will be present in two .biff files at the same time - Areas.biff and newly created .biff file. So my question is - which one will be chosen by game engine? Or in another words - will game crash to desktop?

It´s also an example of many original files, namely .are files, for example. I checked it in NearInfinity, some of .are files present in Areas.biff are also located in override, too...

What will happen?

[Jarno Mikkola]

Or in another words - will game crash to desktop?

No, the game has a file that dictates where the files are, if the file is in the override folder, it's read and given a priority over all others, if the files are not there, then the game reads it from the .biffs, and to do that the game reads a library file to locate where it is and then reads the file. If you use the weidu.exe to bif the file or just the Generalized biffing to do that, the process updates the library file's file references to the new .bif file. Now if you have the same file .bif-fed 1000 times, the game actually just knows just the last one, so the other 999 just waste your game folder size, nothing else... well there might be some processing delay that comes from having large mechanical device doing all this boring reading of way too large files to find that the answer was 0, and not a 1. Well, OK, that's from what I understand it, the bigg actually would be the proper authority on this...

As a reference on the size issue, the BiG World Projects large mods that .bif the override folder what ~10 times ate extra ~5 Gb before it was removed by Lollorian's fix in the "BiG World Trimpack". That's about the size of all the possible ~400 mods extracted and installed mod in the game folder...that the BiG World has a .bat file to remove too after the install.

Edited by Jarno Mikkola, 12 December 2012 - 01:54 PM.

[The Imp]

@the bigg / Wisp, mainly.

 

Erhm, maybe it should be mentioned somewhere that to avoid the Assertion errors at ChDimm.cpp Line: 834 errors, the game needs to be a fully installed* to the game folder when the game mod is installed. To prevent these.

 

*fully installed, meaning that CD2 to CD5 content needs to be inside the very game folder the mod is to be installed, as the weidu.exe can't jump directories without creating a mess or missing/ignoring files thus possily creating the error.

[The Imp]

Erhm, this might be the problem:
 

Install Component [Generalized Biffing]? nstall, or [N]ot Install or [Q]uit? Installing [Generalized Biffing] [v2.2] Would you like to biff only wav&tis files, or all files found?
0] only wav&tis&bam (recommended by The Bigg and other Small World Dudes)
1] all files (recommended by the Big World Dudes)
User answer: "0"
Creating 1 directory Creating 1 directory

Edited by The Imp, 16 May 2013 - 06:16 AM.

[The Imp]

Hmm, well, if you use the PC game, why not install the game in the PC platform ? Using the Windows archive and it's Weidu.exe and not the Linux one... which also then uses just the baldur.ini file and not it and the baldur.w.ini ... as my guess is that having two primary override folders is bugging your setup...