SC4 Dat Packer

[wouanagaine]

take out half of your files in the problematic folder, try to datpack, if it is ok, then the problematic file is in the other half, if not ok it is in that half

repeat until you're left with only one file, it is the problematic file

[sim-city_freak]

ok after much delay i have finally did it.
it is this file. i dat backed everything else just to double check and they worked out fine
http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/details.cfm?id=11396&v=1

[Dethsrow]

Could someone explain this to me................

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "datPackerApp.pyo", line 2701, in OnStart
  File "datPackerApp.pyo", line 2351, in RecurseAllFilesFull
  File "datPackerApp.pyo", line 2293, in VerifyNew
OSError: [Errno 38] Filename too long

I keep having this problem but im illiterate to what it means

[wouanagaine]

looks like there is either :
- a plugin file with a very long name
- your folders hierarchy is too deep
- you have a folder hierarchy with long folder name and the concatenation of all names exceeds the system capacity

[wouanagaine]

sim-city_freak
the file raxincplop_8eee90a8.SC4Lot in the plugin you pointed is totally wreck
delete it with no fear and you might contact the author of this file to let him know

[dragonshardz]

Hey Wouanagaine,

I've got my Plugins in a directory other than the default. Is there a way to make DatPacker look in the custom directory instead of the default?

[SC4BOY]

Hey Wouanagaine,

I've got my Plugins in a directory other than the default. Is there a way to make DatPacker look in the custom directory instead of the default?

It's simple enough instead to direct SC4 to look elsewhere and use the default directory as your "unpacked maintenance directory". Use this startup:

Code Select Expand

"C:\Program Files\Maxis\SimCity 4 Deluxe\Apps\SimCity 4.exe" -userdir:"C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\My Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins PAK\" -intro:off -f CPUCount:2 -customresolution:enabled -r1280x768

The -userdir is the relevant element.. That folder MUST be structured exactly as SC4 expects to find it or startup will fail. Use your standard Plugins directory to store and maintain all unpacked elements.

Put this into the DatPacker window to cause DatPacker to put the "packed" files in the proper spot instead of in your Plugins directory:

Code Select Expand

C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\My Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins PAK\Plugins\Plugins_compressed

This will put the plugins_compressed there. NOTE: Don't forget to copy any "root" plugins files such as "essentials" files to that same directory as DatPacker doesn't touch those! You must also copy all unpacked folders in this directory too or SC4 won't find them! .. for example some people don't pack the NAM folder.. you must copy that here, etc

Good luck

[wouanagaine]

I can't have said it better

[City Planner]

I just want to say that this is a great time saving tool. 
I have over 8GB of Plugins which compressed to about 6.5gb. 

I can tell you that the game runs like there are NO plugins in the folder, it runs like new.  It went from taking 20 minutes to loading the game to 2 minutes.   Plugins show up on the menu in 1 second. (plazas and landmarks take about 5-8 seconds). 

[mindaugas]

This may seem like an easy question, and sorry if it has been addressed already. From the readme "Do not move or compress the essentials files, They should stay on your root plugins" -- what are the "essential files" mentioned in that quote?

Or are essential files, basically mod files? IE below:

"Move all mods away (Terrain and tree mods, nam, support files, essentials, stuff in zzz folders, slope mod, basically anything that is not a lot or a bat) - For me I always have these files in my maxis/simcity/plugins folder and not in mydocuments/simcity/plugins - see further explanation below)."

I was having some weird issues with dat packer and I think maybe it's because I packed everything.

[SC4BOY]

essentials files contain the name "essentials" in the name... ie BSC_essentials.dat  All essentials should be in the root of either of your plugins directories and datpacker does not target compression at files in the root.

If packing everything (without any other maintenance or mods and without "ingame" alterations such as by the simulator controller) causes a problem, likely your problem is in your plugins, not in DatPacker... You will have to be more specific, but I'd look to problems in your plugins. This thread contains references to specific problems, but I'd gather you have not read it. I suggest you do so.

This does not imply that you should or should not datpack everything, just indicative in the way datpacker works. There are reasons not to datpack, but not because of the datpacker itself, rather due to other issues in using, maintaining, adjusting, etc your plugins.

[Lowkee33]

SC4BOY has a good point.  SimCity reads the plugins in alphabetical order.  Files that start with zzz do so because they aught to be loaded last, and datpacking them into one file will loose that identity.

I dont have any individual files in my plugin folder, but have named folders in proper alphabetical order.  Within those folders are datapacked files.  For example, I have NAM datpacked, within a folder called NAM.  All of my lots are datpacked in my plugins (in a folder called options), but I keep them individual (and well ordered) outside of SimCity.

BTW, I am not sure that the files literally named "essential" should not be datpacked.  I think essential means the examples that mindaugas spoke of.  However, they can be datpacked, just not into each other, and not out of the needed alphabetical order             

[mindaugas]

Thanks, those explanations are great. Sorry, I did not mean to imply this was the fault of dat packer. I'll pull out all "essential" files and zzz and place them in the root to be safe.

...this is a VERY long thread. Specific issues should be posted in their own threads so they can be searched, as I should have done. I didn't realize Dat packer had it's own forum. Thought it was just this single thread. 

[z]

I've always DatPacked my "essential" files, and never had a problem.  I don't see why there should be one.  I don't DatPack the "zzz" folders, however, since that does defeat their purpose of being last.

[monnikje]

Just a small note to thank you for this wonderfull program .

I also ran into some trouble, but just before I wanted to ask you guys for help, I found the solution. I don't know if it's posted over here before (didn't find it yet, but I might have overlooked it, and I haven't read through this entire topic yet), but in case it hasn't, I want to share it with you.

The problem:
I'm using Windows 7, which has MSVCP71.DLL and MFC71.DLL in the c:\Windows\System32 directory. I couldn't find GDIPLUS.DLL, so I downloaded that, and installed it also in that directory. Despite me having the three necessary dll's, the program still wouldn't run, and the logfile made the first errorlog displayed in the readme. What was wrong?

The attempts:
I tried putting these three dll's also in the c:\Windows\system and c:\Windows\SysWOW64 directories, without any improvements. I also tried to register those dll's using Start -> Run -> regsvr32 (both the 32bits version in the SysWoW64 directory and the 64bits version in the System32 directory), but that only resulted in an errormessage (DllRegister Server entry point was not found) for each of the three. I also tried to download MSVCP71.DLL and MFC71.DLL and replace the Windows 7 files by these. This didn't solve my problem, ánd made my Windows buggy.

The Solution:
It's so simple... I downloaded the three dll's and put them in my empty c:\Windows\system directory. Everything works fine now. So I don't use the dll's already present in Windows 7, but instead put those old ones in the empty system-directory.

It works like a charm. Really many thanks for the program!

[wouanagaine]

Nice solution, you can also put thoses dll next to the exe
In that case if you have also some of my others tools, you'll need to copy them in each folder

[Moonraker0]

Hmm...I'm having the same problem as someone posted a while back.  I get these errors while trying to DATPack.  The files mentioned in the error message are all new downloads that I haven't DATPacked before.  I used iLive Reader to correct the building style exemplars for all of these files, which, since these edits are the first I've done with iLive Reader after reinstalling Windows, leads me to believe that somehow iLive Reader is corrupting the files in the eyes of DATPacker.  However, I can still open the supposedly corrupt files with Reader just fine.  The previous post reporting this problem had replies telling the user to check if the files are in a mega pack, but of course these problematic files are not (as they are new uploads).  Here are the errors given by SC4DATPacker:

Code Select Expand

********************* ERROR *********************
in examplar 0x6534284AL 0x765AB520L 0xB9B1253EL
located in C:\Users\Sam Korson\Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins\BATs, Lots\Blok37\Blok37-b_R$7_9x2_b9b1253e.SC4Lot
0x27812810:{"Occupant Size"}=Float32:3:{Width: 135.39700317, Height: 67.81099701, Depth: 17.52000046}
*************************************************
********************* ERROR *********************
in examplar 0x6534284AL 0x765AB520L 0xB9B1253EL
located in C:\Users\Sam Korson\Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins\BATs, Lots\Blok37\Blok37-b_R$7_9x2_b9b1253e.SC4Lot
0x27812851:{"Pollution at center"}=Sint32:4:{Air: 0x00000016, Water: 0x00000006, Garbage: 0x00000004, Radiation: 0x00000000}
*************************************************
********************* ERROR *********************
in examplar 0x6534284AL 0x765AB520L 0xB9B1253EL
located in C:\Users\Sam Korson\Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins\BATs, Lots\Blok37\Blok37-b_R$7_9x2_b9b1253e.SC4Lot
0x68EE9764:{"Pollution radii"}=Float32:4:{Air: 5, Water: 5, Garbage: 0, Radiation: 0}
*************************************************
********************* ERROR *********************
in examplar 0x6534284AL 0xD692584CL 0x99A54886L
located in C:\Users\Sam Korson\Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins\BATs, Lots\Boutique Shops - Dark Nite\CS$$$5_1x3_BoutiqueShops_GROW.SC4Lot
0x27812810:{"Occupant Size"}=Float32:3:{Width: 15.75, Height: 35, Depth: 45.5}
*************************************************
********************* ERROR *********************
in examplar 0x6534284AL 0xD692584CL 0x99A54886L
located in C:\Users\Sam Korson\Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins\BATs, Lots\Boutique Shops - Dark Nite\CS$$$5_1x3_BoutiqueShops_GROW.SC4Lot
0x27812851:{"Pollution at center"}=Sint32:4:{Air: 0x00000004, Water: 0x00000003, Garbage: 0x00000006, Radiation: 0x00000000}
*************************************************
********************* ERROR *********************
in examplar 0x6534284AL 0xD692584CL 0x99A54886L
located in C:\Users\Sam Korson\Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins\BATs, Lots\Boutique Shops - Dark Nite\CS$$$5_1x3_BoutiqueShops_GROW.SC4Lot
0x68EE9764:{"Pollution radii"}=Float32:4:{Air: 6, Water: 7, Garbage: 0, Radiation: 0}
*************************************************
********************* ERROR *********************
in examplar 0x6534284AL 0x57237D2FL 0x59AFE11CL
located in C:\Users\Sam Korson\Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins\BATs, Lots\chow tai fook center\Chow Tai Fook Centre-0x6534284a-0x57237d2f-0x59afe11c.SC4Desc
0x27812810:{"Occupant Size"}=Float32:3:{Width: 113.88500214, Height: 534.41699219, Depth: 77.80000305}
*************************************************
********************* ERROR *********************
in examplar 0x6534284AL 0x57237D2FL 0x59AFE11CL
located in C:\Users\Sam Korson\Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins\BATs, Lots\chow tai fook center\Chow Tai Fook Centre-0x6534284a-0x57237d2f-0x59afe11c.SC4Desc
0x27812851:{"Pollution at center"}=Sint32:4:{Air: 0x00000000, Water: 0x00000000, Garbage: 0x00000000, Radiation: 0x00000000}
*************************************************
********************* ERROR *********************
in examplar 0x6534284AL 0x57237D2FL 0x59AFE11CL
located in C:\Users\Sam Korson\Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins\BATs, Lots\chow tai fook center\Chow Tai Fook Centre-0x6534284a-0x57237d2f-0x59afe11c.SC4Desc
0x68EE9764:{"Pollution radii"}=Float32:4:{Air: 0, Water: 0, Garbage: 0, Radiation: 0}
*************************************************
********************* ERROR *********************
in examplar 0x6534284AL 0x9729F905L 0x19A7C144L
located in C:\Users\Sam Korson\Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins\BATs, Lots\PvM_Admirant\de Admirant-0x6534284a-0x9729f905-0x19a7c144.SC4Desc
0x27812810:{"Occupant Size"}=Float32:3:{Width: 25, Height: 106, Depth: 40.37400055}
*************************************************
********************* ERROR *********************
in examplar 0x6534284AL 0x9729F905L 0x19A7C144L
located in C:\Users\Sam Korson\Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins\BATs, Lots\PvM_Admirant\de Admirant-0x6534284a-0x9729f905-0x19a7c144.SC4Desc
0x27812851:{"Pollution at center"}=Sint32:4:{Air: 0x0000000A, Water: 0x0000000A, Garbage: 0x0000000F, Radiation: 0x00000000}
*************************************************
********************* ERROR *********************
in examplar 0x6534284AL 0x9729F905L 0x19A7C144L
located in C:\Users\Sam Korson\Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins\BATs, Lots\PvM_Admirant\de Admirant-0x6534284a-0x9729f905-0x19a7c144.SC4Desc
0x68EE9764:{"Pollution radii"}=Float32:4:{Air: 5, Water: 6, Garbage: 0, Radiation: 0}
*************************************************


[Lowkee33]

First I would recommend that you dont post full names.

   I am quite certain that this is a problem with Reader.  The new version gives me troubles editing exemplars.  I can tell the problem has happened because when I change a stat and click "apply" the screen appears to flash.  The properties that are listed in your post are changed after that flash (a conformation of that would be great).  I believe the properties get changed to invalid numbers, and every "observant" program will have problems (DatPacker, PIMX, SimCity4) with them.  I have posted this problem in the Reader support thread.

   Best bet is to use a different program to change styles.  They are: PIMX, SC4tools, or an old version of Reader.  If you are doing quick/small changes like building style my opinion is that SC4tools is best.

[mika880829]

This is a place holder for those who have registered to the BSC LEX and had downloaded SC4DatPacker

If you have any problems, questions, comments, just put them here

Thanks for sharing!

[MattyFo]

I tried opening the datpacker today to try and find a plugin I want removed.  I was unable to open it and got this error message.

"It seems there is no subfolder in your plugins folder located at:
C:/.......
Program will now exit."

There are plenty of subfolders in my plugins folder!!! Anyone know what is going on?