bjack on 20/4/2014 at 18:48
Being an IT guy for over 25 years, I know software gets "hinky" after some time. This is especially true of Windows and its terrible "registry". All sorts of garbage can collect on your system and render it almost useless. This is why I rebuild my systems' software from the ground up about once every 3 or 4 years. I backup everything, then format and re-install. This has become a trial though with XP being poop canned.
On a smaller scale, Thief is no exception. I only have T2, but I find I have to wipe it and re-install at least once or twice a year to keep in "clean". Anytime things start to crash on me in an FM, I figure something has been corrupted and needs a fresh install. I was having issues about 2 months ago with some newer FMs and decided to just purge and redo. The results were great. No more issues.
Now, when I come across some problem with an FM, I just wipe T2 away and re-install. It takes about 15 to 20 minutes, but relieves me of the burden of timeless troubleshooting.
I see a lot of "crash" posts from taffers out there. Try a re-install. Heck fire... the last one I did repaired all sorts of junk. My system was so messed up that I could not even run an uninstall. So, I just deleted the T2 directory, hacked a bit on the registry (as a precaution), then re-installed via the new dark interface. This had the effect of fixing many ills.
Yes, there are some customization settings that have to be set after a re-install, but they are not that bad. I would rather have to reset a few things than deal with a locked up game.
Long story short... having problems? Re-install.
Cheers!
bassoferrol on 20/4/2014 at 20:58
It's been a long time since I don't have to reinstall either Thief 1 or 2.
If something goes wrong, I unrar one of my clean, fresh "installs". It's a portable game in the end, isn't it?
That's my experience. Perhaps I need more feedback on this subject.
DiMarzio on 20/4/2014 at 22:38
Thanks for the tip!
Yandros on 21/4/2014 at 00:38
Indeed, Thief is portable and uses no registry values (although I can't say that that is true of Thief installs from, say, Steam or GOG). I haven't installed from the CDs since the first time I did it in 2001, I have a clean folder that keep up to date with patches and just duplicate as needed. Being an author I have dozens of T2 folders, but only one instance of the large files (CRFs) and all the copies point to the single instance. But in general, yes, reinstallation is a good solution to such issues.
YcatX on 21/4/2014 at 19:42
Ok, Russ, I really thought I have everything installed correctly with Thief2, NewDark, Dromed 1.21, and DromEd_Basic_1.10.
However, when I pick up any object it crashes. :(
What is the best order to install everything with a fully functional DromEd? It seemed to work fine (playable) before I extracted DromEd_Basic but I couldn't save any files, but now it crashes. Bummer...
I've already started pulling in work to patch my FMs and add a few unreleased FMs. I need a new starting point. The T2 directory is packed with crap I need to sort later.
nickie on 21/4/2014 at 19:48
Did you do all this installation business manually, or did you use Tafferpatcher?
YcatX on 21/4/2014 at 19:50
Manually... So I may have botched it up somewhere along the way.
nickie on 21/4/2014 at 19:53
I highly recommend a clean install of T2 and then run Tafferpatcher and tick the Dromed Mission editor box. My Dromed version seems to have all the right bits and although I don't use it a lot, it also seems to do all the right things.
ZylonBane on 21/4/2014 at 21:11
Quote Posted by bjack
Being an IT guy for over 25 years, I know software gets "hinky" after some time. This is especially true of Windows and its terrible "registry".
Given your propensity for putting perfectly common "computing" terms in scare quotes, I'm assuming you weren't a very good one.
