6 replies to this topic

[Torvald]

I used BWS last December to mod a game of BGEE, SoD and BG2 EE (including EET) and played it for a few weeks (got as far as Chapter 4 in BGEE), then put it aside until now.  When I tried to resume my EET game last week, before I could even get to the initial game menu, the game would simply crash, produce a crash dump file, and then instruct me to contact Beamdog Support.

 

When I then contacted Beamdog Support, they asked me to identify which mods I'd installed on top of the base games, and I was hoping to use my WeiDu.log files to obtain this info.  However, I'm not sure which particular log file is the correct one for me to pull the mod info from, as there are several such logs on my C: drive.

 

For example, there is a WeiDu.log file at C:\Games\steamapps\common\Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition, plus another one at C:\Games\steamapps\common\Baldur's Gate II Enhanced Edition, plus another one at C:\Games\steamapps\common\Baldur's Gate II Enhanced Edition\EET\temp.  There is also a WeiDu-BGEE.log file at C:\Games\steamapps\common\Baldur's Gate II Enhanced Edition.

 

Which of the above log files should I use to create a list of installed mods to report to Beamdog Support along with my crash dump files?

[The Imp]

The folder the game is installed into... but in your case, I would actually direct them into the fact that you have several and attach all of them to a .zip archive.
The reason for all of them is the EET... as yes, they likely need all of them...

The likely reason why you get the crash... it's because your game was updated while you didn't play it. This happens because you didn't put the install on "hold". Or whatever that is called. GoG for example uploads downloads the updates as different install files, while Steam compares files via .md5's during the update and desides if it's correct that way.

Edited by The Imp, 13 December 2017 - 09:32 PM.

[Roxanne]

@Torvald

C:\Games\steamapps\common\Baldur's Gate II Enhanced Edition - weidu.log

C:\Games\steamapps\common\Baldur's Gate II Enhanced Edition - WeiDu-BGEE.log

 

But Beamdog can't help you with the crashes on heavily modded game.

If the game worked before but now crashes after the long wait, chances are that something changed in the install in between. Since BWS or mods do not update your install by themself, chances are that it is some bean dogs activity that is the source of the problem, perhaps their update to version 2.5?

It is always problematic to install modded games in a way accessible to steam or the likes. There have always been reports that those online games get updated or changed without the player knowing. From experience, I never use modded games in connection with their clients. I remove all of it from my game and start it with the EET baldur.exe instead.

Edited by Roxanne, 14 December 2017 - 01:08 AM.

[Torvald]

Thanks to everyone for the quick responses.

 

I play my games through Steam, so it seems that some Steam update in the past year might be the culprit for breaking my heavily modded BWS game.

 

This means I will need to uninstall my games, reinstall them, and then run a new BWS installation.  However, Beamdog recently announced they will soon release a major update (version 2.5) to BGEE and BG2EE, which will likely break my game again, unless I can find a way to keep my games from getting updated.  (Perhaps I should also wait until after version 2.5 gets released, unless the new version will cause glitches that require major updates to the mods that BWS uses.)

 

Is it possible to configure Steam to not update BGEE, SoD & BG2EE, but still update my other games?

 

If yes, exactly how do I go about telling Steam not to update BGEE, SoD and BG2EE only?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Torvald]

Okay, after doing a little googling, it turns out I can temporarily stop Steam from updating my games, but only while not playing them.  It seems that Steam will force updates to my games whenever they get played.  The only apparent way around this (if it's supported by the particular game) is to tell Steam to run the game in an earlier beta mode.

 

Therefore, if I do another BWS EET install now and Beamdog/Steam then releases the next v2.5 update, it will probably trash my game.  This means I might be better off waiting until after the v2.5 update gets officially released before trying to do another BWS install.

 

One possible work around might be to place Steam in offline mode, and keep it that way while playing my BWS install game.  I don't have any experience doing this, though, so am not sure it will work.  Has anyone else tried this successfully?

 

P.S.  In an attempt to get my current BWS EET install to work again, I went into Steam and told it to verify the integrity of my game files.  Well, this did cause my game to start without producing crash dump files, but it seems to have reset both my BGEE and BG2EE games back to their unmodded vanilla versions.  So it looks like my BWS install is now totally borked.  Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.

[The Imp]

Okay, after doing a little googling, it turns out I can temporarily stop Steam from updating my games, but only while not playing them.  It seems that Steam will force updates to my games whenever they get played.  The only apparent way around this (if it's supported by the particular game) is to tell Steam to run the game in an earlier beta mode.

Erhm, are you running Steam to run the game ? That's crazy talk, as you can start the game to start it ...  via the BGMain.exe(old non-EE games) or the Baldur.exe( in the EE games), in the game directory. Or from a quick icon made from it by going there ones and right clicking the file, which opens the options to do things where you can select the make quick icon from .exe's and place the icon into the desktop.

Edited by The Imp, 16 December 2017 - 12:41 AM.

[Torvald]

The Imp,

 

No, I was not using Steam to run my BWS install.  Instead, I was using an "EET" icon on my destop to run the game, which connected to the Baldur.exe file in my Baldur's Gate II Enhanced Edition folder.

 

It was just my frustration at constantly having my BWS game crash at startup (and generating a crash dump file) that I tried alternate ways to start the game, including using the Steam menu.  That's what led me eventually to doing the "verify integrity of game files" option in Steam, which in retrospect was really dumb.