Larian Studios Forums Divine Divinity (English) Technical Problems CANT LOAD pt2

Now i cant even load my warrior... I really dont like the idea of starting over... It was level 35 in the wastelands, my closest to that is a 15 mage... anyways...

I go to the load saved game screen, and I highlight my warrior. I click load, a popup that says "This is an old saved game thats not compatible with this version of Divine <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" />"

what do i do?!? do i have to un and reinstall it or download a new patch or what?

In the load window when you select the save, what is listed for the game and save versions? One person had the game version (listed in one of the save files) become corrupt, causing the game to crash when trying to load the save. He hex edited the quickinfo.000 file (IIRC) to correct the version and the save loaded.

What language version of DD do you have? The English version should be fully forward compatible (the patched game can load any previous game version). Some re-release versions of the game may already be updated to the latest 1.0034A version, as shown in the bottom right corner of the main menu, so would not need to be patched. The DVD version is already updated, and the patch (designed for the CD version) should not be installed.


If the game version is listed properly in the load window, then re-installing would probably be one of the first things to try.

Before that, try deleting all of the files in the '..\Divine Divinity\Run\Dynamic' folder.
This folder is used as a cache for the game. Files are created / copied there from the save game folder when you load, and written / copied from that folder when you save a game. The files will be re-created as required the next time you start Divinity. If there was a corrupt file in that folder, deleting the files should fix the problem.

To re-install, zip or otherwise backup your saved games folder to another location first, just in case. Then un-install, re-boot, shut down all non essential programs (especially anti-virus), re-install the game. After this, re-boot, shut down all non essential programs, install the patch, re-boot, shut down all non essential programs, start the game. This procedure is a bit over-cautious, but the best way to avoid install problems.


Check your PM (click 'My Home' in the top menu bar, then 'Received Private Messages').

1. my game version is and always has been 1.29
2. Its the English version
3. im not a computer genius, i have no idea what u jus said <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />
4. dunno what u meant by zip or somehow back up the files

[color:"orange"]1. my game version is and always has been 1.29[/color]

Is the saved game version listed in the load window as a version number and date? In the unlikely event the version number has become corrupt (has only happened once that I know of) there may be other random characters displayed.

Is there any reason you have not installed the patch?



[color:"orange"]3. im not a computer genius, i have no idea what u jus said[/color]

Have you used Windows Explorer at all for file management (organizing stuff, copying a resume to a floppy, etc)? Do you have any nerd/geek friends/relatives you can ask for help? It is a lot easier to show someone how to do something on a computer than it is to try to explain it. If not, you could check your local library for a book on computers (ie 'Windows for Dummies' or 'Learning Windows Visually', etc) which would have screenshots and detailed descriptions of file management, among other things.

If you run Windows Explorer (in XP it is listed on the Start menu under 'all programs | accessories', IIRC) and browse to the folder where you installed the game (enable the folder pane, if required, from the View menu, then expand the path to 'C:\Program Files\Divine Divinity\Run\Dynamic', select the dynamic folder in the folder pane, and then select all the files in the file pane and delete them.


[color:"orange"]4. dunno what u meant by zip or somehow back up the files[/color]

If you can get Windows Explorer going and browse to the game folder, you can copy the savegames folder to another location, or right click on it and (in Windows XP) select 'Send To | Compressed Folder'. Other version of Windows, or to get more features in XP, require a separate program (freeware archive managers).

The uninstall program will ask you if you want to keep your saves, but a couple people accidentally clicked no, and there is always a chance of something going wrong, so it would be better to backup the saves first, just in case.

i recently installed the patch, and my warrior's saved game file has version 1.34 and then the date. the load game screen ONLY shows saves I actually made. and i havent installed the patch before now because it never occured to me to do so. but i'll go look into wht i understand, if you could explain the 'C:\Program Files\Divine Divinity\Run\Dynamic' part a lil more it would be very helpful.

When you start Windows Explorer, by default it shows the 'my documents' folder and subfolders. If you do not have a folder pane on the left side of the window, click on the View menu, then under 'Explorer Bar' click 'Folders'.
In the folder pane, you should see 'my computer' listed under 'my documents' and its subfolders, with a plus sign on the left. Click on that plus sign and you will get a list of all the drives on your computer. Click on the plus sign next to 'local disk (C:)' (the name may be different, but it will be the c: drive), to see a list of folders. Next, click on the plus sign next to 'program files'; at this point Windows may pop up a warning saying this folder contains system files that are hidden by default, then ask if you want to unhide them, which you do. In the same way, you need to expand the subfolders under the 'Divine Divinity' and then 'run' folders, until finally the 'dynamic' folder is listed.

If click on a folder (or drive) in the left folder pane, Windows Explorer will display a list of all the files and subfolders that it contains in the right pane. You can double click on a folder there to move into that subfolder and show its contents, so could drill down to the required folder this way rather than clicking on the plus signs (though it may be a little slower if any of the folders contain a lot of files).

Anyway, once you select the dynamic folder in the left pane, it will display all of the files it contains in the right pane. Click the first file in the list, the scroll down to the end, press the shift button, and click on the last file, then hit delete. Alternately, you can click on any file and hit Ctrl-A (the 'select all' hotkey) to delete them.


With the 'run' folder expanded, you should also see the 'savegames' folder. To copy a folder to another drive you would just have to select it then drag and drop with your mouse. If you wanted to copy a folder to another location on the same drive, you would still drag and drop, but holding the ctrl key down to force a copy (default for drag and drop on the same drive is to move). There will be a + sign next to the cursor when copying, and no sign when moving.

deleting the stuff on the dynamic folder did nothing. when i tried to load a different warrior, the main one still doesnt work, it crashed.

Check the number of files in the saved game folder. Missing files might cause the game to crash when trying to load. At the start of the wastelands a save should have 37 files, and after getting to the Black Ring dungeon it should have 42.

I replied to your email.

how many files should a character before the wastelands have?

A new game should have 22 files in the save folder, after going to either Verdistis or the Dark Forest it should have 27 and after going to both it should have 32 (ie each new area adds 5 files).


Incidentally, different file extensions are associated with different areas of the game;
.0 / .x0 = Rivertown (Aleroth, Ars Magicana, etc)
.1 / .x1 = Verdistis, Council Hall
.2 / .x2 = Dark Forest
.3 / .x3 = Black Ring dungeons
.4 / .x4 = Wastelands

For example, the world.x1 file keeps track of the world (trees, buildings, etc and object directly on the ground) for Verdistis and the Council Hall. The shroud.x4 file keeps track of the fog of war above ground in the wastelands, etc.