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| Zoo Admin Forums > ZT 1 Tech Support > How to make new folders |
| Posted by: zoogirl2003 Jan. 26 2003, 06:01 PM |
| I m having trouble with game crashing after putin a new animal in and i fixed one of the problems but someone told me to make a new folder in updates incase it was full because i do download alot of stuff and i do check each item so i may just be full on the copasity of the updates folder and cant remember how you make a new one can some one tell me please.Thanks so much zoogirl my new email is zoogirl@spiritwolf2000.net thanks again |
| Posted by: Aussie Koala Jan. 27 2003, 12:12 AM |
| You can make a new folder for your updates, then you need to edit your zoo.ini file so the game recognises the folder. [resource] path=./dlupdate;./updates;./xpack2/loc;./xpack2;./dupdate;./zupdate1;./xpack1/loc;./xpack1;./zupdate;./loc;. add your file name in the above line. There is a thread at Zoo Keepers Lounge you might like to check out. Its about combining your ztd files. It seems it is the amount of ztd files that the game ceases to recognise after a certain amount so you put - for example 10 animals in one ztd- Im not sure what section it is - but I think its a sticky thread there somewhere  That may solve your problem. |
| Posted by: zoogirl2003 Jan. 27 2003, 02:58 AM |
| Thanks thats what I wanted to know ,I appreciate it very much zoogirl |
| Posted by: zoogirl2003 Feb. 11 2003, 01:31 PM |
| okay I tried what you said and then got to the ini part cant find that folder anywhere help! sorry to bother zoogirl |
| Posted by: Loewenfrau Feb. 11 2003, 01:36 PM |
| the zoo.ini is a seperat file in the ZT main directory you can open it with notepad or word |
| Posted by: Silk Mar. 3 2003, 01:09 AM |
| Just want to add to this and say thanks to Lowenfrau. Re: updates folder / zoo.ini and adding extra folders I hadn't thought of this rather obvious way to organise things, now my updates directory is much more managable, and I know what I have (and where it came from). Now I have six directories inside my updates directory, The M$ files still live in the directory itself, but now I have them for zooadmin, zoolounge, build (for buildings), dinos, hacks (only use ones for things like swimshack, male in show, no happiness or fixit haks), and scens (for downloaded scenarios... like UXP2 ) but for an example for anyone else this is what my ini file looks like now on this line: [resource] path=./dlupdate;./updates;./updates/build;./updates/dino;./updates/zooadmin;./updates/zoolounge;./updates/hacks;. /updates/scen;./xpack2/loc;./xpack2;./dupdate;./zupdate1;./xpack1/loc;./xpack1;./zupdate;./loc;. To anyone else thinking of doing it, don't forget to make a copy of you ini file before you start editing it, that way if you mess up, you at least have a way to recover what you did. |
| Posted by: Yeti Ironfist Mar. 3 2003, 05:18 AM |
| Nice idea Silk! Being an organization freak, if my Updates folder gets much fuller I think I'll go to a plan like that! |
| Posted by: Silk Mar. 3 2003, 06:35 AM |
| Thanks Yeti, but it was Lowenfrau who pointed me in the right direction so big kiss to her. It was the size of the updates folder that made me do it, especialy as I like to add and remove some like the Dev mode, even finding them was getting a nightmare. Now...if we could only find a better way to organise those pesky dll files, or even better a way to filter the updates like the Zoo/DD/MM filter when you were playing.... imagine also being able to organise by terrain ot something it would make finding that elusive fence or peice of wall a lot easier <grin> |
| Posted by: Yeti Ironfist Mar. 3 2003, 07:09 AM |
| Ahh, well, in that case - Thank you Loewenfrau! Which is something I'm saying all too often thanks to her hard work on the site and many great ideas and answers on here! The DLL files that come with some updates are just additional text (This toy is nice, guests will love the such and such, etc...) I believe? If that's the case, then theoretically someone could create a big master single DLL that contained all the text for the various updates (official ones at least - I know there are efforts to avoid conflicts by assigning resource IDs, but I'm guessing there are probably a few user made items that conflict with each other?) That would be a nice way of cleaning things up. Also, if, like me, you had used the in game updater to get some of the official items, then you have a lot of extra files cluttering your .dll directory that can be deleted. I found files with date stamps on the end, files that appeared to be just for flagging something as having been downloaded, and duplicates of the dlls from the main directory, all in my Updates directory. |
| Posted by: Silk Mar. 3 2003, 12:12 PM |
| The DLL idea sounds a good one, often worry now what might conflict with what, not saying anything agains the many brillient things everyone is making, but like other games where users can make additions, conflicts start to arise more as time goes on (NWN, being the prime example) Haven't used the game updater for some time, due to many PC crashes and probs I only just got sorted out, (by building a new PC and sticking XP on it), so instead have downloaded myself and stuck them all on a cd for future crashes/reloads (confident aint I). But have noticed a couple of quirks with M$ otems where I seem to get a second part file, which I don't know whether is safe to delete or not. E.G the Plateo, I got a Plateo and a Plateo01, both are ztd files, but one is quite big (the true file I suspect) wheras the other is only about 30k. I guess I would only find out by playing, but whereas I will happily strip and re-build a PC in an afternoon, i get all nervous where a file system I am not sure about is concerned. |
| Posted by: casey Mar. 3 2003, 12:36 PM |
| Both the plateo and plateo01 are 'true' files. The plateo01 contains the updates for the plateosaurus for MM: Thing like swimming in a tank. |
| Posted by: Silk Mar. 3 2003, 12:41 PM |
| Thanks, that makes a lot of sense , and makes me feel kinda stupid for not realising it... |
| Posted by: ourtime99 Mar. 3 2003, 02:55 PM |
| I go back and forth between using only official downloads and feeling like I need every user-made object out there. I seldom download user-created or recolored animals unless I need a specific, non-standard animal for one of my themed zoos (like the various "horse of a different color" species in my Wizard of Oz zoo). I have had a few conflicts in the dll patches and the lines of code they use, but that's only to be expected with hundreds of novice designers working at the same time. It would be nice for the various download directories to include a sort of master dll file with all patches and updates on it for download, but again, they'd have to update it almost everyday. |
| Posted by: Bluememaw Mar. 5 2003, 06:23 PM |
| http://www.zklounge.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5566 Here is the thread that talks about combining files on ZKL. |
| Posted by: nytowl Apr. 14 2003, 03:53 PM |
| Silk, I have a question for you. I understand about adding the names in the zoo.ini file and had no trouble finding the file and the line that needs to be changed. But you said that you had 6 directories in the updates folder now. Do you mean six folders inside the updates folder with the things that go in each one there? Meaning, 6 folders that each have many things in them instead of just the updates folder with a zillion things in it? Please help, this is new to me. I've downloaded alot of stuff and when I try to put more in my updates folder, the game crashes. I had a feeling that having too many ztd files might have been the problem but I didn't know how to correct it. Now I do, I just want to make sure that I do it right. Thanks for your help, |
| Posted by: nytowl Apr. 14 2003, 03:54 PM |
| Ooops, one more question. How does combining items affect how you see and buy them in the game? |
| Posted by: Eagle One Apr. 14 2003, 07:07 PM |
| combine items dosnt efect how you see them in the game |
| Posted by: Silk Apr. 17 2003, 10:25 AM | ||
Yep, that is exactly what I mean, basically my directory structure for my updates kinda look(ed) like this (before my Hard Drive Crashed  ) (the name of the ztd files aremade up just as examples) [Zoo] ---[Updates] -------------msupdates.ztd ---------[Buildings] -------------batcave.ztd -------------aquarium.ztd ---------[Objects] -------------waterfall.ztd ---------[Animals] -------------sandcat.ztd -------------yetimagnet.ztd -------------fishingcat.ztd ----------[Temp] ------------any-file-I-am-trying-out.ztd But unless you had literally hundreds of downloads, I would be surprised if the quantity was causing the crash (don't know what the limit is, but if I remember rightly it is pretty high), it is more likley to be a download which has a problem, this is why I have a temp folder, so I can try new items one or two at a time untill I know for sure there are no problems with them. I now intend to also keep a spare folder called old_dlls, so I can keep an eye on these too (some have their own new ones, whiles others will patch you Lang0.dll and create a backup of it, if you keep track of what does what when you install a new update, it is much easier to undo - ie remove the replacement, then copy and rename the backup to the origianl name, if it does cause a problem) |
| Posted by: Aussie Koala Apr. 17 2003, 10:31 AM |
| The limit seems to vary but it would seem to be approximatley around the 450 mark. |
| Posted by: nytowl Apr. 18 2003, 02:05 AM |
| Well, I have alot of downloads, but I'm not up over 200 yet! The funny thing is, I'll download a few things and play the game for awhile and it will be fine. Then I'll load a couple more and it will crash  So, I take out what I just put in, restart the computer and.......it still doesn't work. So, I keep pulling out more stuff until it does. Then, knowing the stuff worked at one time I put it back. Sometimes it will still work, sometimes not.  It's really frustrating!!I'm going to try combining things and see what happens. Such as all the savannah rocks, and put the rides (space needle, drop zone, etc.) together and see if that works. I'll let you all know. I appreciate your help. |
| Posted by: savannahjan Jun. 26 2003, 07:14 PM |
I just added MM to our game and immediately had problems.  There were many many user items in the updates folder, so I removed the entire folder and of course the game worked fine. I have added back in some of the updates, a few at a time and tested each time to be sure it was running OK. I have read this entire thread, but I am really not technically savy enough to work on the ini files or combine ztds at this point. I've replaced most of the ztds now, and the game will work fine for zoos created since the expansions were installed. However, now, when we try to open an older zoo, I get the "corrupted ZooTycoon file". If the updates are now working OK, why won't the older zoos open? Is there any way to fix this? Some of the older zoos were made by the children, and they're upset that their work might be lost. We are under 450 update files. Also, I'm assuming that all downloads available on the ZooAdmin site have been thoroughly tested and work well. Isn't that the case? Thanks so much for any info you can share. |
| Posted by: Loewenfrau Jun. 26 2003, 07:25 PM |
| it's a know error that occurs with MM . some of the older games won't open anymore we tried to figure out what could cause this but to no avail. Eagle One also contacted M$ about this matter but we didn't get a reply yet. I'm sorry there's nothing you can do about that The downloads on ZA are compatible with MM when they ave the MM icon next to it. We didn't put them in for the buildings yet, sorry, but there's an topic about which buildings work in MM http://forums.ogresnet.com/zoo/index.php?act=ST&f=12&t=2382 |
| Posted by: dippydeedodah Sep. 25 2003, 02:06 AM |
 I was just thinking about how to organise my updates folder when I came online and here's the answer! Excellent!! I know what I'll be doing at the weekend.I do have a few problems with some downloads actually .... or rather how to get them into the game. I have no problem unzipping the downloads and adding the ZTD to updates, the .dlls to the right place and even sorting out the patches but some things I have downloaded ,when unzipped, have objects and scenery folders in them.Each of these folders have a mulitude of files in them. So to get them "into play" do I create additional folders in my udates folder called scenery and objects and put the files into them ? Thank you in advance for any help!! Dippy |
| Posted by: Aussie Koala Sep. 25 2003, 02:35 AM |
| If you get the objects and scenery folders- this means you have unzipped the files one step too far. ZTD files are actually zipped folders consisting of these files. You should zip them back again however if this gets too confusing it probably best to start again - this time ensuring you do not unzip the files. Remember only to unzip files ending with zip. Do not unzip filename.ztd files. If you come across a file named filename.ztd.zip, just remame it to filename.ztd Hope that makes sense. |
| Posted by: dippydeedodah Sep. 25 2003, 04:54 AM |
Ahhhhh...now I get it!! Thanks Aussie Koala!!  Oh just a wee off topic thing for you... listen to 30 Odd Foot Of Grunts ... you'll like them ...Honest!! !Dippy |