Evil Stormbringer

Join Date 08/2006

Question regarding Dark Avatar File

Okay, everything finally went the way it should at SDC and Dark Avatar successfully installed itself. My question is this; I went into the program files and transferred the Dark Avatar folder into my documents. Now, if I load that file onto my flash drive and take it home, what do I do next, and will it work? I am assuming that I can upload it into the actual GC2 folder, correct? Or is there something else that I must do to get it into the game folder? Please be gentle as I am not that well versed with computers.

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kryo

Join Date 05/2003

+458

The problem is that GC2 itself also needs an update to support DA. So you either need to archive the entire game and move it, or at least download that part at home (it should only be a few megs). In either case, it's really best to use SDC's archive option to move it rather than trying to just copy the files manually.

In any case, if you want to do it it'll be a lot simpler if you can get internet at home, even if it's slow.

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Mumblefratz

Join Date 07/2006

+139

Saw your post in the other thread. The post by Nakor in that thread seemed to describe the process the best. I'm sure it's not going to be easy.

It seems the easiest way is to install the game at the office and use the SDC archive function which will create a .sdc file somewhere. It's this .sdc file that you would need to take home.

Also you should download the following and take a copy home and run it. I think this will get your SDC up to the proper rev without having to download anything.

http://storage.stardock.com/files/sdcentral_setup.exe

So with SDC updated and a copy of the .sdc file in the proper place (I assume you'd put it in the same location it was on your work PC) the only thing you would need internet access for is to activate the archive. This shouldn't require much bandwidth as no real amount of data is being transfered.

Nakor's post implied that if you don't have any internet access at home at all there still was something that you could do but he didn't go into it. I assume it's something on the order of getting a license file (sig.bin??) emailed to you and transfered to your home PC.

I'd suggest that you use the kwilas@stardock.com email link that he provided if you run into problems. It's probable that this may take a few days to get straightened out. I might even suggest that you hold off a week to let things settle down a bit. There is some possibility that there will be some period of time where updates to the Beta are fast and furious. You may as well wait a bit so you don't have to immediately go through all this again.

Good Luck

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Editing my post, so bear with me. Okay, I have the game archived, which I assume is what 1.40x.061 is, and I have the expansion archived. The SDC.exe (not the complete file name mind you) is waiting in my documents folder. Now, do I have everything needed to properly facilitate transferring all of this to my home pc or should I just break down (and cry) and attempt to get a "free trial" of aol again in order to take care of this. Mind you, it will take about seven hours of download time to complete, so that is why I am trying like mad to make this work.

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Mumblefratz

Join Date 07/2006

+139

I've pretty much exhausted my understanding of SDC, since I haven't yet installed it myself, but isn't the 1.40x.061 update and "the game itself" the same thing? Did this generate two different .sdc files? Plus did you download the sdcentral_setup.exe? I think this would be all you need. If you need anything else I'm sure Kryo will make his presence known shortly. If he doesn't show up that probably means I'm right.

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Mumblefratz

Join Date 07/2006

+139

Opps. It seems I caught your post prior to your editing it. Prior to editing your post you said something about a DA archive as well as a 1.40x.061 update archive. I'm not quite sure what that is about, I think maybe we need Kryo to clarify that.

I think with the game archive (the .sdc file) plus the sdcentral_setup.exe you won't need to download much of anything. You only need the internet to activate the archive. So unless the 7 hours you're talking about is to setup aol it shouldn't take nearly that long, only a few minutes at most.

At this point you still need the internet access. But as I mentioned in my first post there probably is a way around that as well, but we'd certainly need some guidance in how to go about that.

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Plus did you download the sdcentral_setup.exe?

Yes, I have that file sitting in My Documents. SDC keeps the archive in it's "backup" folder from what I can tell so I guess it's just a matter of browsing through the files to upload the expansion and whatever else is necessary over to the flash drive. Despite the inconveniences and thoroughly brain damaging procedures, I actually enjoy this a little since it is always nice to learn something new. A few years ago I was lucky just to know how to turn a computer on. Seriously, this game has made me rethink going back to school and taking up something along the lines of programming. Kind of sick isn't it?

EDIT: We seem to keep missing ourselves Mumblefratz! Okay, let me put this simply, that way if Kryo happens upon this...
I have sdcentral-setup.exe in the My Documents folder, the 1.40x.061 update/game from SDC archived, and the expansion archived. Do I have all that I need? Do I still need to log on from home or do I have all necessary files to update/install? Hope this was keeping it simple enough.

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Mumblefratz

Join Date 07/2006

+139

So the bottom line is:

you have a game .sdc file
you have a DA expansion .sdc file
you know where to put these files on your home computer
you have sdcentral_setup.exe
you have all three of these files on your flash drive.

On your home computer you'll need some kind of internet access.
you first run sdcentral_setup.exe
you then put the .sdc files where they go
you then use SDC to activate the archive then you should be good to go.

Does this sound doable?

If there is any issue getting internet access, it may be as easy as getting a new sig.bin file mailed to you at work and taking this home with you to do the activate. Though I'm by no means sure about that.

Seriously, this game has made me rethink going back to school and taking up something along the lines of programming.

I wouldn't do that unless you feel like moving to India or Pakistan.

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I wouldn't do that unless you feel like moving to India or Pakistan

Not happening anytime soon friend!

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Mumblefratz

Join Date 07/2006

+139

I have to laugh. This is like phone tag. I keep missing your edits. Will getting on the internet from home be very difficult?

Over.

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I think I am just going to break down and download everything from home. Thank God for the aol "free trial" discs, although they catch on anymore, if you know what I mean. The file size is around 350MB so it will take about seven hours or so to download, but that's okay in this instance, for it is well worth it in my opinion. Once I do what I need to, I will just cancel (hopefully) my aol account. The flash drive has worked wonders for me and should suffice for anything else that comes up. At least it keeps me from having to have constant internet access, which isn't worth it at this time, as you know. I was just trying to avoid the obvious, but it seems to be the easiest way to go about this endeavor. Thanks for all of your help and interest in my little "dilemma's" Mumblefratz. You are definitely one personality that I am thankful for meeting on the internet... I like the way you think! As far as SDC, it is a minor little program, so if you have reservations about installing it, don't. You may know things about the pc that I am unaware of, but SDC doesn't seem to take up much of anything and to be honest, it sits unused on my desktop until something like an update or expansion comes along.

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Mumblefratz

Join Date 07/2006

+139

Actually, at this point you have everything you need to avoid the seven hours. I highly recommend that you try to avoid it, because what happens when the download fails. You're only asking for trouble.

Find the two .sdc files on your work PC take them home with the SDC_setup.exe and do what I said in post #7 and you'll be all set. When you get back to work on Monday and you find there's a new DA update, you'll already know what to do.

And yes, I will be installing SDC, but I'm going to wait a week at least to let the most obvious bugs shake themselves out. That's probably good advice for you as well. Also, if you get a free month, don't be so quick to terminate it, there's no doubt that you'll need it again.

There’s many possible reasons for not wanting or having internet at home and I hate the typical response most people have of just saying you *have* to have it. But with that said, I despise AOL and wouldn’t put it on my PC if my life depended on it. You should be able to get some kind of dial up service for $10 a month or DSL service for $15 a month from your local phone company. I think just being able to post from home is worth the expense. Actually with a bundle option you can probably get phone and internet for pretty much the same you pay for just phone. That’s what I did, I’m actually spending $5 less a month on phone plus internet than I did on phone alone. It’s worth looking into. You will be forced to become a little more computer savvy but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

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