Larian Studios Forums Divine Divinity (English) Technical Problems Strange glitch? Stairs in Iona's Dungeon ...

Iona's Dungeon - Prison Level stairs don't work.

After being sent there when I left the castle, the cat disabled the orcs and gave me the cell key. I left the cell and proceeded to the stairs to head up a level, but the stairs don't "highlight", they appear dead, just like any other part of the wall.

I've played the game without flaw up to this point, but now I'm stuck. Problem is, I don't have a save game to go back to because after I got stuck, I reloaded to an earlier save game to see if there was just a glitch with the LATESET save game...and got right up to the point of leaving the castle and saved there...and the game crashed.

SOooo...I have a save game where I can't use the stairs to leave the prison, my earlier save game is now corrupted, and the next earlier save game is an abandoned one that is 5 days old.

Damn.

Any ideas on the stairs???

IIRC this happened to someone else as well, but I don't remember any details and could not find the topic in a quick search (it may have been in the old forum).

You can bypass the stairs using the procedure in the following topic. I'll update it with the coordinates for the start of the first level. Arhu should point you to a chest with your belongings in a cutscene after you take the stairs, so hopefully hex teleporting to that place will also trigger the cutscene (if it doesn't get triggered, it might not be a problem).

Teleporting Anywhere, via hex editor


There may be a problem with the world.x0 file in your saved game folder (the world.* files keep track of walls, trees, buildings, etc and items left directly on the ground). If so, hopefully it is isolated to just that set of stairs, and bypassing them will allow you to proceed normally (you will not need to return there).

If there are more serious issues with Iona's dungeon (a couple people had missing walls, for example), you could make a copy of your latest save (or save again under a new name), and in that new save folder delete the world.x0 file. The game will replace that file with the default version when you load the save, which should fix Iona's dungeon, though it will also remove any items you left directly on the ground, and re-seal any quest opened locations. See the following topics for more info, if you need to.

Game crash upon going to Verdistis / Game crashes when I try to return to Verdistis


Check your messages (click 'My Stuff' in the top menu bar, then 'My Messages').

As an alternative to hex teleporting, you could make a new save and copy the world.x0 file to another location (such as a subfolder). After loading the save, you should be able to take the stairs up, get the cutscene with Arhu, and then save again. In this latest save, you can then replace the world.x0 file with the one you moved to a different location earlier. As long as the problem is limited to just those stairs, putting the original file back after you are past them will avoid the stair problem without the side effects of reverting to the default world file. Keep you original save, though, until you determine if there are any other problems with Iona's dungeon.

Thanks, Raze, for the pointers.

This is what I've come up with. I made a backup of my save directory and deleted the world.x0 file just to see what I was up against.

Well, not only do the stairs work now, but it was then that I noticed that quite a few walls had been missing.

So my question is... How much of the game (up to this point) will be affected if I continue on with this new world.x0 file? I haven't cured the plague victims yet, or done anything in the graveyard or that shrine area yet. All I've done there is talked to a few of the NPCs, but haven't completed the quests.

Will trying to hex edit myself past the stairs be a better solution at this point, and hope the corruption will "go away" in future saves??

Only areas in Rivertown that you have already been to will be effected by keeping the new world.x0 file (Verdistis and the Dark Forest info is stored in different world files). Off the top of my head I can not think of any critical areas that would get resealed which you would need to return to. Nericon's garden will get sealed again if you had already been there, but in the latest game version it can be lockpicked (level 5), and there is an extra key (though tricky to steal). I think you can lockpick the house straddling the quarantine area. There are a couple other places that may get sealed, which you might need to return to...

Since there were missing walls as well as the problem stairs, it may be better to stick with the new world file. Once the data is corrupt it will not get reset in a future save, though if the corrupt data is limited to Iona's dungeon, it probably would not cause any further problems. With the new world file there are limited problems (re-sealed locations and possibly missing items if you leave things directly on the ground), with several workarounds. The old file has corrupt data at least in Iona's dungeon; if that is the extent of the problem, hex teleporting could be an adequate solution. There is one item in the dungeon you will want to get (holy sword), and one optional location of note... The only problem with keeping the current world file is that you may run into additional problems if the data corruption was more than just in Iona's dungeon. When you go to rescue Zandalor after getting out of the dungeon, for example, missing walls or levers, etc could cause a problem. Of course you could wait and replace the world file if you run into additional problems, but the farther you get into the game before doing that, the more places would get re-sealed (of course the farther along you are, the less likely you would be to need to return to various locations).

It is a bit of a gamble. If the corrupt data is limited, then bypassing the stairs is easier all-round. If there is additional corrupt data, it could cause problems with future quests...
I think I would try just hex teleporting past the stairs, and hope the corrupt data is limited to Iona's dungeon. If you can not get the holy sword there (hidden on the first level), or run into additional problems, then you may need to delete the world.x0 file.


In any case, if you keep the new world file, or have to reset it later in the game, there are several workarounds for the problems that can cause:

FIX for the Missing Catacombs Portal - file swapping to place a teleporter stone where you need to be, though it doesn't sound like you would have a problem with hex teleporting.

Lost Items - guide and directory of inventory files


A belated welcome to the forum.

Thanks for all the help. I think I'll go the route with this new world.x0 file, as I couldn't wait for an answer and started using it...I love this game!