Larian Studios Forums Divine Divinity (English) Technical Problems Map has gone back to black

Use Winrar to pack the files. Then the Archiv is only 6-7MB.

Yes, true. I always say "zip" when I mean "compress" <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />

Oh, you can use many compression-programms. But Wirar hav IMHO the best compression-ratio. So the archiv-file are not to large.

Lynn sent me a message and suggested that I should continue playing with just the hotfix. When I went locking for it at PlanetDivinity I Read this:

October 03, 2002 - Hotfix 1.0032 (3.50MB)

Description: This hotfix will bring your version of Divine Divinity from V1.0031 to V1.0032. It is ONLY intended for the English version of Divine Divinity. Check here for a list of fixes/feature changes.


September 19, 2002 - Hotfix 1.0031 (3.48MB)

Description: This hotfix will bring your version of Divine Divinity from V1.0029 to V1.0031. It is ONLY intended for the English version of Divine Divinity. Check here for a list of fixes/feature changes

Note the intended installation order. I fear I just put in the Hotfix2?! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/silly.gif" alt="" />
Just cant remember....
But maybe thats the reason the patch seems to mess things up. It "sees" Hotfix2 and assumes I have Hotfix1 as well?? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />


Well since the Patch should replace all earlier I will re-install, use only the Patch and see if I can continue the game from a good save. If that works I let you know. If it fails I allways has the hotfixes.

Oh almost forgot... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/up.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/up.gif" alt="" />Thank you Lynn <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/up.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/up.gif" alt="" />

The hotfixes and patch are cumulative, so you only need the latest. If you want to revert to a previous version, the second hotfix is all you need (it updates v1.29 or v1.31 to v1.32). The patch should work fine installing it over hotfix 2, which was probably the most common situation, but it couldn't hurt to try it after a clean install.

Yes that is a good assumption and should be foretold to all future gameers. Because i fear the same thing has happened too me. I went to rivellon to rescue mardaneus and my whole map has gone back in black all my flags remain, same as underground, i think these maps are from early in the game because i re-found the magic mirror in the same house and also there is a random assortment of weapons, cash and potions in the chests and barrels that seem to have re-filled and re-sealed themselves back up. this is the first thing i have noticed about the new patch, everything else seems to be O.K., but i guess i won't really know till i get to that spot on the map. Bothersome, really, it is hard to make this patch and not affect each game differently because so many of us explore our maps differently using different game-plans. it would be very hard to make a perfect patch for everyone. Just think of it as getting to re-explore, and re-find some potentially deadly weapons. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cry.gif" alt="" />

We still didn't find the cause of the problem, but the following helped some people:

Uninstall Divinity (make a backup of your savegames)
Install Divinity again
Apply the latest patch (DO NOT APPLY THE PREVIOUS HOTFIXES)
Load the savegame

We are looking further into the problem and we will release a fix the moment we find out how this can happen.

***

Little remark: "I made backups from my savegames and now I can’t load them anymore" --> When you copy the savegames from a CD to your HDD, the read-only flag is set by Windows, preventing Divine Divinity to open these files for writing. Clear the read-only flag by right clicking on the files, selecting properties, unchecking the read only flag and then clicking on apply.

Yeah it helped me, Lynn. Everything is seems go smooooth now <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/delight.gif" alt="" />

How did it helped you? Did you got back all your maps?

No but at least it hasnt happened again....

It's very very sad. It's been like 80 hours of playing and now I will have to do it again??? Man, it sux. They must do something so we will be able to recover all our maps. I think I'm gonna stop playing that Instable Instability game and probably will never buy a Larian studio game ever. This is the most buggy game I've played since I own a computer (been about 12 years). And I'm a big big gamer.

And my map just rurned black again <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/puppyeyes.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cry.gif" alt="" />

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/disagree.gif" alt="" /> Oh, I will install it all again, deleting anything patch-like. Hopefully I have at least one good save of six. But for now...its spring and the girls are starting to wear skirts again. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />

Daveh goes bye-bye <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/sleepey.gif" alt="" />

Another "fix" is to restore your computer to a point before installing the patch using Windows XP's System Restore or a similar program like GoBack. This worked for me.

@tayeule: have you tried what I posted some messages back?

***

We still didn't find the cause of the problem, but the following helped some people:

Uninstall Divinity (make a backup of your savegames)
Install Divinity again
Apply the latest patch (DO NOT APPLY THE PREVIOUS HOTFIXES)
Load the savegame

We are looking further into the problem and we will release a fix the moment we find out how this can happen.

***

Little remark: "I made backups from my savegames and now I can’t load them anymore" --> When you copy the savegames from a CD to your HDD, the read-only flag is set by Windows, preventing Divine Divinity to open these files for writing. Clear the read-only flag by right clicking on the files, selecting properties, unchecking the read only flag and then clicking on apply.

For about the past 4 hours, I've been experimenting with many of my savegames that I made before and after the map reset problem occurred for me, and, although I don't know what the root cause was or a way to really fix it, I have been able to work around it somewhat. Before I get into it, note that every time I closed <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" />, I emptied the Dynamic folder. I have no idea if that had any bearing on my results, but I figured that it wouldn't hurt to do, so that's what I did. Here are my conclusions, reached purely through trial and error:

After having applied the patch, for some unknown reason, <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" /> apparently failed to save certain information in files when I saved my game. These save files that should have been created are the ones that store specific map information. For me, they were: extfree.x1, extfree.x2, mapv.1, mapv.2, objects.x1, objects.x2, shroud.x1, shroud.x2 world.x1, and world.x2. All of the files with a "1" in their extensions seem to relate to Verdistis, while the ones with a "2" in their extensions seem to relate to the Dark Forest (including the Dwarven Halls). These files store things like where the shroud is, what loot is on the map, what the automap looks like, and what doors are locked/unlocked, probably among other things. Whenever I loaded one of my savegames that was missing these files, I would find that everything on that particular map had been reset as though I had never even been there. I concluded that <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" /> was creating default versions of these files because it found no existing ones in the savegame. In other words, because <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" /> hadn't saved my progress in the Dark Forest by creating the files with "1" in their extensions or my progress in Verdistis by creating the files with "2"s in their extensions, <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" /> assumed that I had never been to those respective locations before.

To get my former progress in the Dark Forest and Verdistis back, I copied all of the files that I listed above (the "1"s and the "2"s) from my most recent savegame before the map reset into my most recent savegame before going to the Council of Seven with Zandalor. I now have all of my progress that I had made in the Dark Forest and in Verdistis, but I have yet not visited the Council of Seven, so that when I do go there, it will be black as it should be. I'm sure there are files that store all of the information on the Council of Seven just as there are files that store the Dark Forest and Verdistis information, but I just don't know what they are. If these files were known, then it would be possible to copy them from a savegame after the player had visited the council, and before the game maps were reset into a game in which the player had already visited the council.

That all likely sounded pretty confusing to some/most/all people, but the point is that it's possible to manually reconstruct a savegame that has no reset maps at the cost of any progress that was made after visiting the Council of Seven. I've done it. Remember, though, that I have hardly tested my newly-built savegame yet, so my meddling could have unforeseen consequences down the road. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/think.gif" alt="" /> Any questions/comments? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/think.gif" alt="" />

Missing just the world.x0, world.x1 and/or world.x2 file(s) from a saved game folder is enough to cause the black map problem in the corresponding area.

"I'm sure there are files that store all of the information on the Council of Seven just as there are files that store the Dark Forest and Verdistis information, but I just don't know what they are."

The information for both the council hall and Verdistis is stored in the '1' files.

I have a couple of problems with this. First, maybe my problem with maps is different then described here. I do NOT have black maps in places that I have explored. Those maps are intact and cleared. What I encounter is: 1.In places that are UNEXPLORED, the maps do not clear when I walk there. 2. In ALL places, explored or unexplored, all NPC's and monsters do not come out on the screen and cannot be interacted with unless they initiate the conversation such as the guard dwarves in the Dwarven Halls. I can see that they SHOULD be there by the + signs in green and red on the inset map, but they do not appear other than that. Monsters can attack me and do damage, but I cannot target them to attack. This may be different than "black map" problems with reset doors.

Secondly, I do not have a bunch of saved games to work with, I have only 2 saved games and they both play the exact way as described when loaded.

Lynn...

Would you want a savegame from my problem?? Let me know, I can send it along but even zipped it is a large file.

You may be blind; the hotfix/patch mostly corrected an error in the sight range calculation, but a couple people have still run into this. Check out the following for a couple work arounds;

please help with my blind hero

Tiberius et al,

Each saved game only seems to include those xx files that have changed, so if you are in Verdistis only (x1), the x0 and x2 files are not saved, and whenever those files are needed again (because you traveled somewhere else) they are loaded from the dynamic folder. Presumably, this was to limit file size of saved games.

I figured this out because I had a crash during one of the little ad movies while starting the game (the one with the tomb...only time this has happened to me). When I restarted, the game asked if I wanted to clear the dynamic files, which I did, not realizing what would happen. I was in the dark forest, and all appeared to be fine...that is, until I teleported to my other pyramid in Aleroth and found the room reset to it's state at the start of the game (including no pyramid), because the dynamic folder had no x0 files.

After looking over the threads here, I copied the x0 files from one saved game and the x1 files from another, fortunately losing very little in the process.

Now I'm wondering if I should upgrade from 1.33a or just keep playing.

Anyway, I hope this might help someone else who unwittingly deletes the dynamic files.