fmod.dll error message

Make sure you run it from the root Sins folder. It needs to be along with Sins of a Solar Empire.exe

Hi,

Thanks for replying so quickly. I think I did what you said.

I put the Sins_DEVELOPER application in the Sins of a Solar Empire folder, the same folder that has the application file that launches the game, but the Sins_DEVELOPER application failed to launch. The file kept looking for other files. I had to hit the task manager feature and close the application.

Did I do something wrong?

What other files did it keep looking for?

fmod.dll, for example, is a file inside the main install folder for Sins, it's not anything Windows related.

Hi,

When I start the Sin_DEVELOPER the application starts and a gray error box appears and says:

_________________________________________________________

Text FileArchive missing Label.

  File: .\Galaxy\The Stellar Frontier.galaxy
  Label: browseName
  Line Number:4
  Line Contents:browseDescription "Fight out the original war between the predecessors of Sins, the Terran, Drengin and     Arcean. Version 1.0"

_________________________________________________________

My choices on the error box are Skip, Skip All or Break.

When I selected skip other files similar to the file showed up missing. 

What's funny is the game works great. I've even been able to download a MOD and some of the MAPS from the website. No problems.

Earlier tonight I tried to duplicate the error messages but when I selected Skip the beginning intro video for the game started a continuous loop. When I clicked my mouse button to end the video the game started but the pixelation made the game unreadable.

Any ideas?

Okay, now we're getting somewhere

That error means the browseName for the map is missing. It's also a custom map, does it work if you load a stock map?

Try running the dev .exe first with no mods and default maps. The dev exe itself has different code, so it may be a bit pickier with errors that the standard exe might overlook

Hi,

So far no luck.

I removed the game and reinstalled just the CD.

After I installed the developer.exe file and I kept getting more error messages then I could count. Finally the developer.exe file showed a pop-up box with a C++ error before the application shutdown.

Examples of error messages:

Failed to find file 'ChatListItem.font' in either primary path or secondary path. subDir(Font)

________________________________________________

Text FileArchive missing Label.

File: .\GameInfo\Gameplay.constants
Label: PhysicsData
Line Number:20
Line Contents:    maxShipSlots 2000

_____________________________________________________

Text FileArchive missing Label.

File: .\Window\colors.color
Label: chatTextContext:GameMessageToAlliesSent
Line Number:24

Line Contents:chatMessage:ALL ffffffff
_____________________________________________________

Is there a better DEVELOPER.exe file that I can download?

It looks like it's actually crashing because you're using files from old game versions. When the developer .exe was released, gameplay.constants already didn't have "maxShipSlots 2000", and likewise they changed the colors of text messages ingame too - which are two of the errors you got.

The dev exe is designed to work with 1.05, so make sure you update your game to that and then run it (leave it where it is). Post back if you still have issues

Hi,

I did what you said and I updated my game to 1.05. The game works as it did before; no noticiable changes yet.

When I started the DEVELOPER.exe file the opening video works fine but the pop-up screen that appears after the video has a lot of pixilation.

When the DEVELOPER.exe file starts-up the application has the following path listed on the top of the window:

C:\Users\Owners\Appdata\Local\Ironclad Games\Sins of a Solar Empire\Debug\log-6124.txt

The path where I have the DEVELOPER.exe file is: C:\Program Files\Stardock Games\Sins of a Solar Empire

Did I do this correctly?

Yeah, it's in the right place. It uses its own settings, so your game's settings get overridden when you launch it I think. You'll have to change the video options and such again.. unless that's not what you mean by pixelation

It sounds like it doesn't crash, though! Good sign

Progress has been made.

I moved the game file from my laptop to my desktop. The DEVELOPER.exe file runs fine. No problems.

What should I do now in order to create my own MODS?

Read the stuff in the Documentation folder of the mod pack you downloaded, specifically sins_modset.pdf which explains the basics of how modding works and walks you through a few small examples.