Take a look at the two attached pictures. The first is the DatPacked version the second the non-DatPacked version. I'm thinking there must be an error in the loading sequence of a particular file and I'm hoping somebody recognizes the erroneous file and can point me to the correct order loading. I'm going through and DatPacking only a part of my plugins to see if I can narrow it down.
Thanks!
Turns out the issue was with "Radical Maxis Re-Lots vB-0.2." I put the unpacked folder into the unpacked "02_Loose" folder and then the unpacked "zzzzz_Load Last" folder with the same results as shown in the second picture. I loaded the unpacked folder into "C:\Program Files (x86)\Maxis\SimCity 4 Deluxe\Plugins" with the same results. For now I am going to leave it packed in the Plugins_Compressed folder since it seems happiest there.
Does anyone have an idea of how I could name it so that it behaves in the packed and unpacked state? Right now I have it named "Radical Maxis Re-Lots."
As for renaming, I'd try removing the periods since that is what is used to denote a file extension in Windows.
Personally, I don't rename, rather do the following:
Since you can use the dat packer to pack single folders at a time, I've come up with a system for packing. I simply have a folder labeled 'DO NOT PACK' in my plugins folder into which stuff that errors when packed goes into. In other words, I don't keep all files packed, because some files simply do not like to be packed and cause various issues from missing props to CTDs.
As I add new stuff, I first create a 'New<date>' folder, put the new BATs into it, and pack that folder. IF Datpacker tells me there are any errors, I determine which BAT caused the error, then move it into the 'DO NOT PACK' folder and repack the New<DATE> folder. Then run the game, with no apparent problems. Before running the game, I simply move the 'New<DATE>' folder to a back-up folder outside the SC4 directory in my documents.
Datpacker does a wonderful job of giving you error reports as it goes, its just a matter of reading through it to find the offending file.
I still have no idea why some BATs error when packed, and it's probably far above my abilities to discover the reason.
Thanks for the advise, Shark7. It's working now as is, so I'll just be mindful not to run the game in an unpacked state and cause myself unnecessary panic.