Tutorial: Make an SH4 lockbox and independent game installations

[Rockin Robbins]

In this tutorial you will learn


How to make a Silent Hunter 4 lockbox with original installation files. How to lock this directory so it cannot be played from or modified.
How to leverage your SH4 Pristeen directory into multiple game installations for different mod configurations. You might have one for stock game, one for GFO, one for RFB, one for TMO and one for FOTRS ultimate. You only do one installation. Making the others is simply a matter of copying files.
How to use MultiSH4 to have completely independent data saved in its own directory for each game configuration.
How to use Large Address Aware to allow sh4.exe in each installation to use more than 2 GB of memory.
How to set up and use separate installations of JSGME for each installation.
When disaster strikes, how you can be up and running in 10 minutes with your last game save and settings completely intact as if nothing had ever happened!

This is the first video in the nine year history of the game to show all that in a single video so clearly presented that my cat understood it. The only thing I would add to the content is that you eliminate a lot of heartache if you make your desktop shortcuts point to sh4.exe rather than gu.exe.


The tutorial was produced using Ubuntu Linux, but procedures for Windows are identical.


https://youtu.be/PcwZXE82wzA

Now this is the perfect defense against any game corruption, including mod soup, which we all get. Reinstalling SH4 is a tremendous bother, especially with the Direct2Drive one use activation numbers and the multi-day process to get a new one. But with your SH4 Pristeen lockbox you can restore your game in minutes without ever having to reinstall SH4 again!

Remember that when you initially set up your installation, let's say it's for TMO, you made a JSGME snapshot before you installed any mods. Let's say we have weird things going on in our game. Here's the procedure:


Using JSGME, unload all your mods. Then do a compare snapshot function. If they don't match, then you have mod soup.
Delete everything from your problem installation folder except for the /MODS folder. JSGME, MultiSH4 and Large Address Aware are all in your /SH4 Pristeen folder and will come back with the procedure. Repeat: after the delete all that should be in your game directory is the /MODS folder.
Now copy all the contents of SH4 Pristeen into your empty problem folder.
Then you will have to write enable all the files and directories you copied, using Windows Explorer.
Run MultiSH4 to enter the three letters of your data folder, run Large Address Aware on the SH4.exe in that directory, and run JSGME to make a new snapshot file and reinstall all your mods.
Play the freakin' game! You're done! You can load up your last save and resume as if nothing had ever happened (unless your particular flavor of mod soup involved changing ship or airplane types in really improbable ways).

Especially if you play with mod changes all the time as I do, this will save your miserable life over and over again, totally taking the fear out of mod soup.


I'll do a video of the rebuild procedure and post it at a later date!

[propbeanie]

Excellent, sir! I was going to ask you in your Ubuntu thread if you were going to do this for us over in this area... Now for it to become a "staple" of SubSim, and "Staple" it into the stickies... or a "linkie" in one of the Stickies.

[Rockin Robbins]

Excellent, sir! I was going to ask you in your Ubuntu thread if you were going to do this for us over in this area... Now for it to become a "staple" of SubSim, and "Staple" it into the stickies... or a "linkie" in one of the Stickies.
Stapie it into the Stinkles?

[propbeanie]

Stapie it into the Stinkles?
Did I say that??!?!?!!! :timeout: STICKIES!!! Not Stinkies... I'm a stinkie... :har:

[THEBERBSTER]

Nice work RR :up:
This type of work greatly helps the silent majority.
I have added to my SH4 Tutorials.
Peter

[propbeanie]

There you go Rockin Robbins, you're in the "Stickies" once again... :har:

[cdrsubron7]

There you go Rockin Robbins, you're in the "Stickies" once again... :har:


Sounds like a sticky situation to me. :O: :haha:

[Rockin Robbins]

Battlestations! Battlestations! This is not a drill! Everything you've done so far in the thread is about to save your sorry hind quarters!

Disaster strikes! You're playing your favorite supermod and suddenly the game crashes. Maybe a fluke? You restart the game and the same thing happens. Supply your own curse words here! But what are you going to do about it?

What if I told you you didn't have to reinstall jack diddley? What if I told you your savegames are safe? What if I told you in 10 minutes you'd load up your last saved game and just continue playing as if nothing bad were mocking you right now?

Words and a couple bucks will buy you coffee at Dennys. Let's get to work!
https://youtu.be/EE6xK6cHHKk

[fithah4]

Rockin Robbin this video quality is way better than last posted videos!,
Music choice and sound volume better and you voice over is coherent and precise and easily understandable.
Your have me converted to using Lineux from now on!!! :Kaleun_Cheers:

Fith

[Rockin Robbins]

Yes, I'm amazed how much better the combination of RecordMyDesktop, Audacity and OpenShot Video Editor is than even commercial software like Jing Premium, Hypercam Pro or CamStudio and Windows Movie Maker. They're easy and darned great quality.

I'll eventually have to redo all my videos because the old ones look so crappy to me now!

The suicide of my Windows installation was a huge blessing in disguise. Every time I say "sure would be nice to have Windows working so I could do X" up pops a Linux free alternative that beats the socks off what I thought I needed. Heck, all my work on Fall of the Rising Sun Ultimate, 3.6 GB and the largest mod ever made for Silent Hunter 4, is done exclusively in Linux. Really I don't miss Windows and I'm amazed by that.

I have a separate thread in the PC Hardware/Software forum under General Topics, covering the installation of Ubuntu Linux on a PC, installing Silent Hunter 4 and making it work better than you've ever had it work on a PC. There are several videos in that thread made by the same process as the one in this thread.

If you've ever been curious about Linux and have a spare machine that isn't gainfully employed, Linux is prepared to make you not even think about Windows. It really is ready for prime-time. It runs about twice as fast as the same software on Windows. That means that marginal laptop in the closet can have a new life of productivity.

Oh, and after my running gun battle with the record company of Pink Floyd thinking my use of their never heard and totally unknown song, Echoes off their ghost album Meddle was somehow taking advantage of them I now use all public domain music. You don't have to give up quality with public domain software or music. As for all the short-sighted commercial music companies who think they should charge their advertisers who create the market for their products, they've been replaced. I won't miss 'em. They need me. I don't need them. I was performing them a service they didn't appreciate and I have no desire to help when they don't want the help. As you can see, the videos are actually better. I'm happy about that.

[Rockin Robbins]

bump.

[aanker]

This really should be a Sticky.

RR's High Quality tutorials can save many a heartache after someone has made mod soup of their install. Using his technique a re-install is no longer necessary.

I've used this method for years and haven't re-installed since I first installed on this computer many years ago.

[Rockin Robbins]

My next post will be an unbiased, easily replicated proof that there are times when Webster's anti-mod soup method won't work, and that my instructions will fix in in that case. I'll go into the history of how the FOTRSU Team found this cheery information. No tricky stuff, just good information.

So we'll advance the state of the art in fixing game corruption and try to get you to understand the underlying processes so you can fix these problems yourself.

Still, I'll do what I can to to establish the truth and promote the newest understanding of fixing mod soup.

All I need is the time to make it happen!:haha::haha::haha:

[Rockin Robbins]

Edit: entire post not necessary. We really don't care about affixing blame, we want everybody to have more fun playing Silent Hunter 4. We'll go from there!

[Rockin Robbins]

Coming soon, a new video clearly explaining where all this craziness comes from (thanks to Webster and Ducimus), how we discovered that JSGME couldn't always fix a corrupted game, a clean and thorough explanation of Websters mod soup mix, the best we had for six years, and how and why we can still fix game corruption if that doesn't work. There is no such thing as an irretrievably lost installation.

My goal? For you to understand how it works as well as we on the FOTRSU Team and Webster do. Goals? To make batch files to automate production of a protected game file repository and automatic restoration of pristeen stock game files to your playing directory.

So hang on, this ride is going to get VERY COOL!

[Rockin Robbins]

Changing directions somewhat. Reflecting on communications from Webster and THEBERBSTER, it's not enough that advanced users know how to protect your game. Yes, the background info is interesting and some can understand and use it, but wouldn't it be better if nobody had to understand how it works but everybody could use it?

So I'm changing tacks here to come up with a script that will automate the production of an SH4Pristeen protected game file repository, which can make separate directories for the supermods from which to run independent installations, and which can restore pristeen stock files to any of those directories after you remove all mods with JSGME. I may be able to simplify the process by making the script remove all mods THEN restore stock game files. (For those interested, what it will REALLY do is blind JSGME to installed mods so it thinks no mods are installed and then restore all the stock files, hehehehe)

Provisionally, the menu would look like this:
Silent Hunter 4 Corruption Management System

Choices:

1. Webster's mod soup fix
2. Make SH4Pristeen protected game file repository (takes 5.5 GB)

3. Make SH4GFO game installation
4. Make SH4RFB game installation
5. Make SH4TMO game installation
6. Make SH4FOTRS game installation
7. Make SH4FOTRSU game installation

8. Restore stock files to the directory of your choice
9. Quit

Choose the choice of your choice <1-9>: Can't do the horizontal spacing thing in this forum but you get the idea. If you choose to restore stock files you would get another menu to tell the script which directory to restore the stock files to.

Suggestions? Accolades? Jeers? Attaboys? Insults? Bring 'em!:D:D

Aside: batch files sure have changed a lot since I used to write a bunch of them in the 1990s. Put "echo <alt-255>" on a line and Windows says "WTH!!!!"

[THEBERBSTER]

Hi RR
What is commendable is you are always thinking outside of the box and pushing the boundaries.:Kaleun_Salute:
Peter

[Rockin Robbins]

Yee Hawwwww! Make SH4Pristeen menu item works!

It makes sure the batch file is in the parent directory of \Wolves of the Pacific. It does not test to see if these are pristeen untouched pure stock game files--that is your responsibility. Then it creates a parallel directory, SH4 Pristeen in the same parent directory, copies all files from \Wolves of the Pacific and write protects the whole shebang, all from one keypress.

Now I have to add subroutines to install JSGME, Large Address Aware and MultiSH4 if you prefer. Even if you do not it, in the pursuit of simplicity, will install them and you don't have to use them if you don't want.

Eventually all this will go into a 7zip file to be unzipped into the parent directory of your game installation. Correction: just figured out how to install all the goodies in a subdirectory of your game installation's directory. That's confusing!

Let's say your game installation is c:\ubisoft\wolves of the pacific. Our goodies would go into c:\ubisoft\SH4 Corruption Management System. Parallel game installations would be c:\ubisoft\SH4 Pristeen, c:\ubisoft\SH4TMO, c:\ubisoft\SH4FOTRSU, etc. That way the SH4CMS would be in its own private little hidey hole, out of the way and not cluttering up \ubisoft or whatever your parent directory would be.

And I can write a collection of little batch files that work together rather than one giant octopus. Stuff is easier to write and troubleshoot when it's modular.

I'm writing it on a Windows 7 computer. When it works I'll test it on my Linux computer (this one) and pass it out to Win 8, Win 8.1 and Win 10 users to see how the scripting language has devolved, thanks to all the people who believe that the GUI is how you should do EVERYTHING, and figure out workarounds.

[Rockin Robbins]

Hi RR
What is commendable is you are always thinking outside of the box and pushing the boundaries.:Kaleun_Salute:
Peter
It isn't your SPECIFIC idea but it is your idea! Simplify! Then simplify some more. If people want to know the technical side make it easy to analyze and explain freely for those who are interested.

By the way, when I'm done the procedure will be super easy to adapt for SH3 and SH5.

[Rockin Robbins]

I've been away for awhile, making routine explosions in my secret Laboratory of Doom and Pepsi Cola. Hehehehehehe. Batch files: wonderful(?) things they are.

But SH4CMS is now ready to be zipped up and sent to carefully selected victims for testing. Yesssssssss! Who should be my first victim? Aanker or propbeanie? Please pay no attention to cursing from my victims. We're working on something that has promise.

What has it promise of? Well then, that is an interesting question........:D:D:D

[Rockin Robbins]

I've been away for awhile, making routine explosions in my secret Laboratory of Doom and Pepsi Cola. Hehehehehehe. Batch files: wonderful(?) things they are. Well the final product won't explode......I think.

I selected my victims and they have copies of the SH4CMS, Silent Hunter 4 Corruption Management System. When we get it working the SH4 universe will be rotated into another dimension.

There will never again be such a thing as an irretrievably corrupted game installation. And your cat can fix it. It will be that easy.

[Rockin Robbins]

The options are to


make a Pristeen game file repository from certified original stock files
perform Webster's Mod Soup Fix on the game installation of your choice
Make or repair \Wolves of the Pacific
Make or repair \SH4GFO
Make or repair \SH4RFB
Make or repair \SH4TMO
Make or repair \SH4FOTRS
Make or repair \SH4FOTRSU
quit

Imagine my surprise when I found that one short batch file plus a variable would allow me both to produce from scratch and to fix the game installation of my choice! Seven lines of code, only four of which do the grunt work of actually working on the file structure. I recommend that you right click on SH4CMS.bat and select move to/desktop as shortcut.


There are only 10 files in the Corruption Management System, four of which are JSGME.exe, JSGME.ini, Large Address Aware.exe and MultiSH4.exe. SH4CMS installs these in your Pristeen installation and after that, into any installations you make with SH4CMS.


Before you institute a repair, you need to uninstall all your mods with JSGME and do a file compare with snapshot to determine that base stock file corruption is your problem. If the indication is corruption exists, Then run SH4CMS.


First you might try Webster's Mod Soup Fix, built into SH4CMS. If your fix is straightforward, that may work for you. If not, call in the SH4CMS repair dogs, which will fix ANY game corruption no matter what the cause.


SH4CMS uses about 5.5 GB of hard drive space for the Pristeen file repository and 5.5 GB for each game installation.