DatPacked vs. Non-DatPacked & Missing prop or texture

[Ratskin]

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!

[Ratskin]

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."

[Shark7]

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.

[Ratskin]

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.