Bondbug

Slightly different problem perhaps. I have the game running well on a Windows 8 laptop, and it was running well in Windows 7 on a dual booting W7/XPPro PC. I mentioned elsewhere that at one stage it was refusing to open in W7 with the excuse that “The application has failed to start because d3dx9_36.dll was not found. Reinstalling ......may fix ....” I found that this item was installed but in the wrong place. moved it to the System 32 folder and all was well. But when I went back to run the game yesterday, it had reverted to the same refusal to open, same message as above. d3dx9_36.dll is installed in every System 32 on every partition I have. So, confident that Microsoft know all and that I could follow their advice with impunity (naive idiot) I uninstalled all the Sacred 2 installations from W7 and XPPro, and left GOG to reinstall the game overnight. Full of great expectations I clicked on "Launch Sacred 2 Gold", and no prizes for guessing what message I got. Has anyone else had this problem in Windows 7 ? The PC is all defragged , depolluted, checked for registry errors etc (various iObit programs)

OK, I find that I have 1920x1080 on the PC. I will try that when I can, but it is still making trouble over that driver it can't find. I will sorth that then try the larger res.

That "after" shot is much more like. What resolution have you there? I have tried from 1074 x 768 to 1366 x 768, which are the limits offered in "options", and although the size of the screen changes accordingly, the 3 boxes are the same size each time. Is this fault of laptop?

OK Flix. I activated the "UI Scaling" option. What exactly does it do? I am spoilt by Lotro where you can open a great long list of UI items you can adjust.

I have studied the info and advice above and the List of Mods and Modding Guides, and made several alterations to my interface (?) Just one more question if I may. Is it possible to edit the size of the panels for Inventory, Attributes & Skills, and Combat Arts, specially the Inventory?

"I was offering to replace it myself. Although this was when I thought it was a cosmetic issue for you, not one of panel behavior and camera control." I realise that, but I was simply meaning that I will make a start but it will take a fair while, if ever, for me to reach your standard. "It just seems to me that behavior you're describing with Fallen Angel - that is, the things you like - should also be part of Sacred 2 Gold. In my game I have no trouble pulling up each of those panels individually. Nor is it any problem to zoom in as far as I like. It might just be a matter of spending some time in the options menu to adjust the camera settings, hotkeys, and other inventory behavior." I will have a good look at that. I had only thought of camera settings so far. Many thanks Later: I have the camera settings adjusted, and will hopefully manage the other things now I know where to look. So Fallen Angel is no longer necessary. It has been interesting to see that Fallen Angel installed from disk with XPPro in a dual booting system, and that some files from the later version can successfully be transferred to it. Many thanks for your help and patience.

(I typed a great long response here and did not notice that I was not signed in on this computer - so lost it!) Don't misunderstand me Flix. I said nothing about "foregoing" the expansion and the CM Patch when I get that far. But I find Fallen Angel easier to play, with its backpack , character info, skills etc all coming up in separate panels when called for. I found the other too cramped and the action too far away. I am mostly interested in the game play, structure (what makes the game tick) and clarity. As long as my char has recognisable skin I am not too concerned with fine definition of that skin. If I was I would certainly stick with Fallen Angel, where I can zoom in quite close to char and npcs. Sorry if my vocabulary is a bit loose - I am not even sure precisely what "interface" means in this case. So I will play Fallen Angel in its original form, and add the expansion and CMPatch when I get there. I am also working through the excellent summary you posted in the mods topic. It will take some time. Meanwhile I can cover any modding, if necessary and with due care, through the W8 installation + copy & paste. It will be a while I suspect before I can follow your lead...."The interface can be customized through mods. I don't think I've ever seen the Fallen Angel interface but it shouldn't be much trouble for me to replace the new with the old, if it's still present in the game files." PS I have found out what the problem was with the vanished heroes ..... but I daren't tell you !! I cringe.

As a postscript, for what it is worth, I have started playing Fallen Angel which I installed from the original disk with XPPro. I find that for various reasons I prefer it to the later version that I have on W7 and W8. I prefer the graphics and the steadier control of the camera (I spend much of my time spinning out of control in the other version), and the larger scale of the zooms. The screen layout and dialog boxes are simpler, clearer and easier to work with. So I will learn the game with this set up. And, by the way, I installed the creature.txt from the Mod on Windows 8, and much to my surprise it works. But before you jump to conclusions that is not the reason I prefer the Fallen Angel version.

update: I checked on laptop and the driver should have been installed in C/windows/system32. So I have copied and pasted it into both W7 and XPPro on the PC, and it works. At least I installed and activated Fallen Angel form disk in XP. No sgn of those heroes there , but I have not tried the GOG installation yet. Sorry to trouble you with that - I should have found it. PS. No such heroes on the W7 GOG installation either. Mystery. Please don't waste any more time on this. I will poke around a bit and try to find out what I was talking about !

What version? Ah.... I have W8 on the laptop and W7/XP2 on the PC. Neither would install Sacred 2 from my original disks, so I had to resort to buying a copy of S2Gold from GOG. The CM patch is there. So I think that the GOG version is fully up to date. I understand what you say about these “heroes” folders. But I distinctly remember being able to choose from a list of pre-programmed chars, which started at level 1, but when they levelled up the choices were made for them, and you had no choice. I wanted to refer to these as a guide and compare them with what I have done. Gogo will tell you that I am by far the oldest member of this forum and my memory is not brilliant, but of this I am sure. This was on the PC which is dual booting Windows 7 and XP2. However Sacred 2 will no longer open on that PC.... Message “The application has failed to start because d3dx9_36.dll was not found. Reinstalling ......may fix ....” I remember this message, mentioning this driver, occurring in the past, but cannot remember what was done to fix it. It was I think something completely unrelated to what the message says. In any case d3dx9_36.dll is present in the same folder as the launch command. There are quite a lot of posts on Web about this particular message, but as usual they do not work here. Hope this helps.

Am I wrong in believing that with a new character I sould find a number of pre-programmed "heroes" included in the choices? I should perhaps explain that I have Sacred2 on both laptop and main PC. I started a little time back using the PC, and quite clearly remember starting several of these heroes and noting that things were automatically allocated on level up. However the PC game now refuses to open because it claims to be unable to find a driver which is in fact sitting next to it in the folder. So I cannot check. On the laptop for some reason, despite the presence of the "heroes" folder, the heroes do not appear. I have, for some odd reason, a file called "heroes" in both scripts/server and scripts/shared. But when I start the game there are no "heroes" on offer. Where should they be:) Any ideas as to what is wrong? P.S. Just noticed in the blue band at top of message box it says "s2gs.exe - unable to locate component"

As you said Dragon Brother; Flix has come up with precisely what I was looking for, and beautifully set out (unlike my usually long winded and round about style) Many thanks. Oh by the way Flix, it was the undressed mod I was trying. I got it installed and working (quite nice sort of bikinis), but for some reason the pre-programmed heroes are no longer on offer, and I wanted to compare their development with choices that I, in my ignorance, have made. Any idea why this may be?

Back to the topic! Thanks Flix. It works now. The file did not quite install inthe right place, but the problem was easily found and put right. Thanks again.

With apologies to Gogo and hoping for comment from Pesmontis among others. Put me down not as totally incompetent but as hopelessly out of date. I developped exercises for computer literacy, 20-25 years ago with the old Mac Classics, and developping costing spreadsheets for various business needs. I have spent months and months doing quite complex mods using the design facilities with the original NeverwinterNights (a complete 8 region game with its own storyline, entered from the final exit of the game's introductory sequences), with Morrowind and Oblivion (buildings all over the place including a farm village with pub and stable of horses available for use, just for the sheer pleasure of getting them to work!!) even layouts for such as Settlers2 and Colonization. None of this involved over complex professional level programming. With Morrowind and Oblivion there is TES. With NWN there was superb design set up (“Building your own adventures”) and support including detailed tutorials and a scripting programme (was it Lilac Soul or some such) where you told it what you were trying to achieve and it gave you the details to copy and paste into your script. In some of these you placed a door, cave entrance or portal of some kind into the game landscape, and from there entered your own world, with your own NPSs and “Partners”. Anyone could do this for off-line use. What I have seen on offer here seem to be bits of scripting for inserting into various game files, to control the 3rd party viewpoints or leave the clothes off the female chars. Done by people with the professional knowledge to understand and manipulate the programming for people who do not wish to, or are incapable of, modding themselve. So basically I am interested to know what modding in Sacred 2 has to offer for people like myself who do not have the same programming skills as the “boffins” but are interested in more active modding of the NWN Morrowind and Oblivion type. Probably for off-line use, as old gadgees like myself are happy to play off-line in whatever time is available. Modding is/was very active in these games and has in some cases been successful in keeping a game alive long after its normal life span. Obviously some control would be needed over what might be offered for download, but it would be interesting to be able to place a portal of some sort through which we could go into a layout or story line of our own making. Just for the pleasure of getting it to work and improving our understanding of the game. Er .... did anyone understand all that? TES for Sacred anyone?

Sorry Gogo, your ignorance astounds me. LOTRO is fine, despite management attempts to sabotage the game content and original superb landscapes, and is quite unique. Podgie and I are determined to make the game live up to it's FTP claims. Podgie tries to be hardcore, but spends long spells crafting. I potter happily, though I am forced occasionally to kill some offensive persons or beasties. Would probably bore you to tears, but worth looking at just for the pleasure of the landscapes and to see what it has to offer other than pure hack'n. The only other game that gave us the same breadth of interest was Vanguard, which sadly eventually fizzled and died. What does this have to do with modding in Sacred 2. Er....good question.

Thanks Flix. So I open the zip file and move the contents to the MODS folder. OK And hello Gogo. I have looked in from time to time but mainly just to read! I would like to ask some more about modding in this game, but wife is shouting that meal is ready so will follow up later. Do I have your permission to ignore Podgie ?;

I doubt if this is a new topic, but I have searched, a fair bit if not comprehensively - sorry Gogo. You know the extent of my ignorance (not quite total). I am having another go at Sacred2, which I did not like when I first tried it. At level 6 (wow) I am beginning to get interested. I have downloaded a Mod (zip file); I have downloaded and installed GME; Patch 1.5 is already installed. The mod zip file contains a folder which contains a pak folder and a scripts folder. GME is installed in the Sacred2 folder as jsgme.exe. I don't know where the mod should be located or to what extent it should be unzipped. Downloads -> zip -> folder -> pak, scripts Sacred2 -> jsmge.exe, MODS folder I have been unable to get the jsgme to recognise the existence of the mod. So what do I need to do to get a Mod to run? Is it the same general system for all mods? I suspect that at usual I am making things difficult for myself that should be simple

Thanks for all the kind comments. Medical care here in France is a bit different, lol. I did eventually go to doc, who is a good and enthousiastic bird watcher. She said it wasn't a hip problem as I feared, pain in wrong place, but just a muscular thing, and gave me a belt - er that sounds bad - never mind. But I can't wear the things, so didn't. Long term problem that crops up occasionally so I just let it sort itself out. At my age I cannot expect to be an Olympic Gymnast. I always liked an "embrocation" which claimed to be for horses, and (almost as an afterthought) humans. Popular among rugby players. Hooyah's advice sounds good - minor dislocation quite poss. I will try to find out what a DC is in this part of the world if it is not too late. How did you get all these learned folks into your dark matters Gogo. Are they all poutine specialists?

Just passing and thught I would pop in and say hello to happy memories. Drinks all round but make mine orange. Funny talk about dislocated shoulders up above. I jarred my back in October and it has been giving me gyp (jip?) ever since. Then suddenly yesterday morning it sort of jumped back into place and in a moment was alright, just like a dislocation snapping back into place. Can you have a dislocation at the base of the spine? Anyway - hello all and a late happy new year. Cheers.

Thanks again Chattius. Good to let me have links to text in French! Wife just back from Tours so will have to leave it at that, but will look up your Hildegard von Bingen later. I just did. Wow. I had forgotten even the name. Looks like a lot of reading to be done.

I always wished that I had been born on a farm. Plenty of hard and often very unpleasant work, but a fulfilling existence. We lived in a market town, and the road to school passed the sheep market pens. Main street was often blocked by sheep. But my father was a teacher. However he was captain of the local rugby club where most of the "pack" were farmers. Their best friends had a big milk and sheep farm not too far away, and we visited a lot. The land was on a slope, so loading waggons was dictated by that. I remember the pitchfork technique, but lacked enough practice to be too reliable with my control of the prongs. Ubtil my father got killed we shared much of their way of life. I particularly enjoyed going to the "point-to-point races", largely farmers and country "gentry" riding their own horses, even working horses that they trained over hedges on their farms. Wonderful atmosphere, probably all gone now. Too young to drink, and too "skint" to bet or buy anything, I enjoyed just watching and soaking in the "ambiance". During the war we were lucky having these contacts. Occasionally we got bacon and potted meats and hams, and butter and eggs, from these rugby team friends, and father often went out shooting rabbits (mainly). We had a fairly "cushy" war being in the country and 20miles from the nearest bomb targets (shipyards and weapons) They were a big family with three farms in different villages. Being a kid I helped where I could, but spent much of my time getting to know the sheep dogs. It was all horses in those days. I was even lucky, later when I came out of the army, to work for a while on the last farm in that particular area, Herefordshire this time, that worked horses. It was a bad situation though and I did not stay long. The old farmer's widow managed the farm and used her son as a grossly underpaid manager. Too mean to work the farm properly they used to buy prize winning colts, and then neglect them and work them into the knackers yard. But I did have the pleasure of working with these animals for a while, out in the fields raking and harrowing, and jogging along in the cart cutting willow and hedging with it. But I soon discovered that to be a farm manager you needed to be of farming stock, with experience that I would never gain. Pity, but I was great while it lasted - even my main work of clearing dung from the cow byres and spreading it on the fields ... clearing dung because it had not been done for a long time and the poor beasts sometimes sank in up to their shoulders !!! Difficult to believe. I also remember that at lambing time a large number died and all the trees in the orchard were hung with dead lambs. I also remember having to bury a dead and bloated sheep corpse so that the fact was not discovered. As I said - I did not stay very long, but, largely because of working with the horses, there was much that I loved. So that I do somewhat envy you your life Chattius, and the fact that you seem to have been able to protect much of the way of life that went with it. As for "spelt" it is odd that it should take finding it in a French supermarket to open up this interesting little corn package. Big sigh!

omg - to have to admit that I have just found this thread and that I don't know Delta except by name! I think I was scared off because she knows too much and has the sort of expertise that freezes me in my boots. As for "Black Mamba" my poor old mind boggles. I don't think the coal miners of my home region knew that one, lol. So - much reading to do. Our only attempts at ice cream making were not too successfull - sorbets easier. Viv and I will have to work thro some of this, but I suspect our only valid, though unhelpful, comments will be of the "wow", "wonderful", variety. We dislike/distrust commercial ices on the whole. But we have access to plenty of fresh milk from a local farm, so perhaps with some of the guidance here we may be able to manage to produce something better (I say this without having read the thread yet so don't know if you "make" or only "use"). I used to know a bloke who had a somewhat broken down castle in Scotland, who had a collection of vintage Rolls Royces (also a bit broken down but he managed them himself). He had converted some into vans and sold ice cream he made. I got the impression that making good ice cream was very difficult. Ice cream vans touring the housing areas were standard practice then, though perhaps not now. Temporary summer jobs driving these vans and selling ice cream were good summer holiday work for students in those days, visiting coastal areas that the family budget could not rise to. Up till now we have stuck to standard tubs of standard French Vanilla ice cream, and Viv makes fruit "sauces" to have with it. Otherwise we are still generally in the banana split and poire belle hélène rut with all but the ice cream put together at home. Hopefully, Delta and all, we may be able to move forward now! Specially as we have just gone through a 95°F heat wave (perhaps not so high where you are, but more than enough for us).

Just back from first leg of summer break in Ariège. Thanks for this Chattius. Need to study it when I get a free moment. Viv will be pleased too. For me it brings back school breaks spent working on farms for pocket money, especially "stooking" the sheaves of corn. Barley was the worst in days when we wore home-knitted shirts and sweaters that attracted the spikes off the barley. But spelt was one I never knew about till recently. And pitchforking the hay up on to the waggons with a somewhat uncontrolled pitchfork action. Days to remember with pleasure.

Thanks Chattius. I will pass that on to wife. I think she only uses it at present, with other flour, for some of her bread and pastry, so I thought you might have experience from your bakehouse. All the info we could find seemed to put it in the past and mainly for baking, so we were interested to find it in our local supermarkets. Your additional info is much appreciated

Nothing to do with red sprouts! Subject: "spelt" which I think is the english name for a cereal also called épeautre (France), "espelta" (Portuguese?), "farro" (Italian) and sorry but don't know what it is in German! A cereal in general use till the start of the 20th century, certainly in Germany, Switzerland, France, for bread making among other things. It is available now in French supermarkets, and my wife now uses it sometimes, solo or mixed with whiteflour, for bread and pastries. I wondered if any of you, especially Chattius, has any experience of this cereal. Please don't bother to quote from Wiki, it is personal experience I am looking for, and any comments about its use, good or bad.