Just a though for the people not being able to exit the gates. Now the townmsk*.avi files are the "movies" for towns. BUT there are 3 other avi files in the same folder, the townhub*.avi files. Now all those files are needed for the towns but only the townmsk´s are needed for the interior. The townhubs are needed for the exterior and the gates aren´t leading to a building, just an end to viewing an avi-clip. Could it be that simple as to extract ALL avi files in the avi folder? Every opinion is appreciated [img]smile.gif[/img] !

[ 09-26-2002, 05:02 PM: Message edited by: WillowIX ]

Hmmmm.... I'm not really sure. It seems to me that if you extracted all of the avi files you'd disable towns all together causing more problems. I think I'll try it though just to check out what happens. Of course, I don't have the problem of not being able to leave towns but it might give us a little insight as to what'll happen if you do extract them.

Ummm.... as a side note, do you mean extract as in remove the file from the folder or is it something else. 'Cuz if you meant something else I just made a complete fool of myself [img]smile.gif[/img]

-Jafin

rotflmao!!! I´m sorry Jafin but I can´t just stop laughing.. No I don´t mean to "extract them from the folder" but to "extract them with Virtualdub", like you do when you can´t enter the guilds (the classical win2000 bug)... I wouldn´t recommend removing the files from the folder since you´d probably wouldn´t like what you´ll see. Feel free to try though and tell me if you see red, yellow, green, red or blue shapes resembling the buildnings of Valeia [img]smile.gif[/img]

.................................................. .........
*goes and sits down in a corner and cries* j/k ;)

Yeah, NOW I feel stupid, definitely stupid... LOL! I thought I was going to make a fool of myself there and I SUCCEEDED! The word extract did seem a bit odd for removing them from the folder, LOL! I watched the movies (both the msk and hub ones) and the msk ones (I think it was anyway) really did look strange.

-Jafin, the new jester ;)

PS - I think I will still try to see what happens at sometime though if I remove the files just for kicks and giggles [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 09-27-2002, 01:14 AM: Message edited by: Jafin ]

I think that makes eminent sense. If you can't access the stuff in town because the town files are compressed, you probably can't access the stuff outside of town for the same reason.

At the very least, it shouldn't hurt too much...

Now, to find a suc^h^h^h volunteer to test it out. I don't run W&W on Win2k or higher, so I can't help. Any other takers?

Sorry, was on the road and didn't have my login info for the forum:

I had W2k on my laptop and intalled WW. I did the Vdub fix on the townmask*.avi files immediately. The graphics for the townmask files seem to be the 'negative' of the townhub files. I think the townmask files set the 'active' or 'clickable' locations into the townhub files. Viewing the townhub files through virtualdub they appear the be each town graphics files as they are seen by you when you are in each respective town. These files are also compressed. I re-saved the townhub*.avi files as "old format AVI" just like the townmask files and saw absolutely NO difference in game performance. Granted I only had a save in Valeia so I couldn't check the other two. Hope that helps with the subject.

So at least the game works with extracted townhub files. Now we only need to find a test person who can´t leave towns... I´d describe the difference between the hub files and the msk files a bit differently. The important ones are the townmsk, the buildings are marked out. The hub files are decorative. Think of it as a table with a nice tablecloth. The table is what you use, the cloth is only there to make it look better :D I´m not sure the gates counts as buildings though...

That's definitely a better description than I had in my head Willow... I could always uninstall WW from my laptop and reinstall and see if doing just the hub files fixed the issue. Let me know if you'd like to see that done, ok?

If you have the time and the energy to do that, it would be great Macoati! Have you ever had the problem? That you can´t exit a gate? I´ve never had that problem myself. If you have that prob please do it. BTW there´s no need to re-install hte game. Simply copy the town*.zvi files from CD1 to the correct folder and you´ll be good to go ;)

Should be even simpler than that... I believe I saved the original files in a new location so I should simply be able to copy them back... yes, the first time I play WW on XP I was unable to leave by the left-hand gate in Valeia...same thing with the W2k installation on the laptop. I'll get that done later tonight and report back.

hmm.........i tink that not being able to exit towns is something to do wif some folders in the W&W directory......(sory larz i'm juz not good with system checks :D )
i dun know but mine is working PERFECTLY FINE wif no errors in exiting towns......hmm.......i wonder why......? :confused:

Ok... from what I can tell so far:
Expanding the townhub files only does nothing. I was able to put the original avi files back into the townavi folder. I then expanded the *hub files and entered the game. I was unable to exit from the left hand gate if Valeia and was also not able to enter a couple of the guilds and town hall. Hope this helps clear up the debate [img]smile.gif[/img]

Yes but I was thinking of extracting ALL .avi files. That will leave you with 6 30Mb files. Could you try and extract the townmsk files as well and see what happens?

I did, Willow. Since I use my laptop when I am on the road (supposed to travel roughly 1/2 my time but the last month and a half were strange - been home almost the entire time) I installed WW on my laptop two weeks or so ago. Downloaded vdub AFTER I attempted to run a party through Valeia - the left-hand gate was dead plus a few of the buildings (like the town hall). I then did the vdub fix on the townmask files (I saved the originals for some reason in a new location). Then when you posted your question (I was actually on the road and didn't have my login info for the forum) I extracted the hub files as well. So, at that point I had all six extracted and I had saved the original hub files with the original mask files. When you suggested doing vdub on just the hub files I quickly replaced all of the extracted files with the original files and extracted the hub files again (leaving the original mask files in the townavi folder). This left me with original mask files and extracted hub files. With only the hub files extracted the gate and the buildings were still dead.

So, to summarize:
1) I have had mask files extracted with original hub files - gates & buildings work.
2) I have had both mask and hub files extracted - gates & buildings work - no apparent game-play issues (only in Valeia - no saves elsewhere)
3) I have had hub files extracted with original mask files - gates & buildings are dead.
4) My laptop has W2k on it...home comp has XP.

There really aren't any other combinations unless you want me to check each mask file one by one...I'd have to pull some saves from my other comp to do it but I'm fairly sure it would be a waste of time.

[ 10-05-2002, 03:38 PM: Message edited by: macoati ]

There´s no need to do the different msk files one by one since they are for different towns. I´m still not sure on the result though since you could exit the gates with only the townmsk files extracted. Some people can´t leave the towns when only their townsks files are extracted. Anyways I think it´s safe to suggest that people with problems extract all avi files in the folder, and then see what happens. The strange thing is that there´s different results with the same settings. I for instance have never had any problems with the gates. Perhaps it´s saved game related or even a codec problem. I´ll have to tweak around a bit and see what I can come up with! Thank you for all your efforts Macoati [img]smile.gif[/img] !!! I appreciate it a lot (a whole lot lol :D )

One is glad to be of service [img]smile.gif[/img]

I agree with you. All AVI's should be extracted since I did not see any game-play problems when I had all of them extracted. It may even take care of some other issues that may crop up.

I'll concur. Now, let's see who's got responsibility for that post on the tech tips thread...

.... and that would be you, my dear Willow. How about adjusting 6.1 to recommend extracting all .avi files?

Also, if you want to send me either section 4 or 5, I'd be happy to post one. Looks like those are the last two things before we can close down that thread, so to speak [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 10-05-2002, 10:26 PM: Message edited by: Bungleau ]

Willow nice sig.