Data Patching

[tidegear]

I never noticed the "data patch" (https://openxcom.org/index.php/downloads-extras/) until now. Should it still be used with OpenXcom? Why isn't it in a more prominent place or part of the main OpenXcom build?

[SupSuper]

OpenXcom doesn't change the original data files, so these kind of patches made by fans are handy. However they're not guaranteed to be foolproof, and basically consist of "fixed" versions of the original files, so making them part of the build would kinda break our "no original files included" policy. Plus people might accidentally overwrite them when copying the old data files over.

[tidegear]

What if OpenXcom automatically patched the files only in memory? That way you wouldn't have to include any data files patched or otherwise.

Should I add that as a feature request on the bug tracker?

[Volutar]

That already was made. Thing is... you cannot "patch in memory" 37 mb of ogg music.

[tidegear]

That already was made. Thing is... you cannot "patch in memory" 37 mb of ogg music.

So the only reason the data patch zip is needed is to fix the music? What's wrong with the music?

[Warboy1982]

regarding music problems:

windows vista/7 and midi don't play nice together, microsoft removed midi as an audio device, and the midis in question conform to a standard from 20 years ago, that has since changed in numerous ways.

[Korenn]

That already was made. Thing is... you cannot "patch in memory" 37 mb of ogg music.

why not? that's only an issue with old computers and mobile devices. The 16 gb ram in my gaming rig laughs at your 37 megs of music.

[Volutar]

The 16 gb ram in my gaming rig laughs at your 37 megs of music.

Glad for you. Thing is, it's irrelevant to the topic.

[Aldorn]

Reading installation recommendations (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Installing_%28OpenXcom%29) is not very clear for me...

So I have some questions :
- is "OpenXcom Universal Patch" finally needed or not ?
- is any patch needed for (bought) Steam version ?

I ask because :
- last night builds (June) works well with Steam version
- applying OpenXcom Universal Patch makes it fail (I did not replace Vanilla game files but copied new files/directories included in "OpenXcom Universal Patch" archive under OpenXcom Data subfolder as suggested)
- from what I understand above, no patch should be needed eventually except for sound issues : in this case, why proposing this OpenXcom Universal Patch ?

[SupSuper]

The Universal Patch includes all the fixes from the official patches (1.2-1.4), as well as unofficial fixes from us and other sources that aren't included in any release, so yes it is always recommended, even with the Steam version.

Exactly what error did you get when using the patch?

[Solarius Scorch]

AFAIK there is the problem with wrong objects being displayed if the user had a different version (say, fully patched) than the mapmaker (say, unpatched or only with official patches).
Some standard would be nice, so that both modders and users would have the same version of all filers, no?

[Aldorn]

The Universal Patch includes all the fixes from the official patches (1.2-1.4), as well as unofficial fixes from us and other sources that aren't included in any release, so yes it is always recommended, even with the Steam version.

Exactly what error did you get when using the patch?

I am running it under Windows Seven Professional SP1 x64

I reinstalled from scrach as below :
- empty game directory "OpenXcom"
- copy and paste all files and directories from Steam Version under "OpenXcom"
- copy and paste Universal Patch under "OpenXcom\Data" (I tried directly under "OpenXcom" with same result)
- copy and paste night build under "OpenXcom\Data" with no mods (I tested 5 or 6 night builds between 29/05/2014 and 03/06/2014 ; In fact I never used Universal Patch before that's why I did not have any issue before)
- empty "MyDocuments\OpenXcom" directory


Run the game (with no mod neither activated nor installed) : it toogles to DOS prompt, displays three lines -> Cf. Screen Shot 3
   ...\OpenXcom
   DOS/4GW...
   Copyright... Inc. 1990-1993_
with this underscore at the end of third line

Sometimes it goes on a little more like in Screen Shot 3


And then it stops working and displays a Windows error -> Cf. Screen Shot 1
Under MyDocuments\OpenXcom, it creates a openxcom.log (from 15/03/2014 ?!) -> Cf. Screen Shot 2


@Others
Is there someone with same OS make OpenXcom works with Universal Patch and Steam version

[cort]

Here's how I do it (Win7 Pro 64bit):

Create folder OpenXcom, create two folders inside: data and user (I like to keep the settings/saves inside the game folder).

Inside the Steam installation folder there is a folder called XCOM. From this location you copy the following folders: GEODATA, GEOGRAPH, MAPS, ROUTES, SOUND, TERRAIN, UFOGRAPH, UFOINTRO, UNITS. These are all the folders/files you need.

So the file structure right now is something like this:

OpenXcom /
            => / data /
                      => / GEODATA /
                      => / GEOGRAPH /
                      => / MAPS /
                      => / ROUTES /
                      => / SOUND /
                      => / TERRAIN /
                      => / UFOGRAPH /
                      => / UFOINTRO /
                      => / UNITS /
           => / user /

After this download the universal patch and extract its contents inside the data folder, overwriting the existing files.

As a side note (this is just how I do it, so it's optional) I delete all the files inside the folder SOUND and go to this site and download the preffered Music and Sound files. As an example, I personally use Playstation (PSX) music set in OGG format and Original UFO: Enemy Unknown 1.0/1.2 DOS Sound Effect Set, others might have different preferences.

At this point I would archive the whole OpenXcom folder, give it a name like OpenXcom-data and keep it somewhere safe, such that I have a "clean" data set and to not have to repeat this whole process again.

Next step is downloading the prefered nightly, put it in the same place as the OpenXcom folder an extracting it in place. There should be no problems (at least I haven't had any).

Good luck

[Aldorn]

In fact I used to copy Original Steam files directly under OpenXcom, and I thought subfolder data should only contain OpenXcom files

Following your recommendations, this works perfect

Thanks dude

A question : how do you configure OpenXcom so that User subdirectory is used instead of default MyDocuments\OpenXcom ?  by passing the command-line argument "-user <user path>" (source https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Installing_%28OpenXcom%29#Data_Folder)

A second question : if I empty Sound folder and decide to put inside the ADLIB in OGG format, have I to install any SoundEffects files with ? mandatory or it won't even start...

PS : I think your procedure could be useful somewhere on the Wiki, even if for Windows only... (just add this : ... From this location you copy the following folders under OpenXcom\Data : GEODATA,...)

[SupSuper]

A question : how do you configure OpenXcom so that User subdirectory is used instead of default MyDocuments\OpenXcom ?  by passing the command-line argument "-user <user path>" (source https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Installing_%28OpenXcom%29#Data_Folder)

You can also just delete the MyDocuments\OpenXcom folder and it'll use the User folder instead.

A second question : if I empty Sound folder and decide to put inside the ADLIB in OGG format, have I to install any SoundEffects files with ? mandatory or it won't even start...

You don't need to empty your Sound folder, OpenXcom will automatically detect and use custom music over the original (if not, you can also choose it in the Options screen).

Also the nightly builds have built-in Adlib emulation so you no longer need to use the Adlib OGG .

PS : I think your procedure could be useful somewhere on the Wiki, even if for Windows only... (just add this : ... From this location you copy the following folders under OpenXcom\Data : GEODATA,...)

It is:

Copy the original resources (specifically the GEODATA, GEOGRAPH, MAPS, ROUTES, SOUND, TERRAIN, UFOGRAPH, UFOINTRO, UNITS subfolders) to OpenXcom's Data folder (usually the "data" subfolder).