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Restoring Game Under Steam

VreejackVreejack Member Posts: 60
edited February 2015 in General Discussion (Spoiler Warning!)
Steam has a nice feature in which it checks the integrity of game files and redownloads/reinstalls as necessary. What needs to be deleted in order to reset an install in preparation for a new set of mod installations?
What I know so far:
1. Empty the override folder .
2. Delete the weidu.log
3. Empty the script folder, or at least delete the new ones, sorted by date.
4. (finally) Validate the install files.

Anything else?
Post edited by Vreejack on

Comments

  • TressetTresset Member, Moderator Posts: 8,268
    edited February 2015
    While emptying the override folder will delete non-weidu mods, the only way to reset a weidu mod is to uninstall it by launching the weidu mod's setup again and telling it to uninstall. This would need to be done with every weidu mod you had. The weidu.log is just a log of what weidu's install/uninstall history is for the game and deleting it is not the right thing to do.

    There are two ways I know of to completely reset your game. The first, and likely easiest, is to simply reinstall the game; giving you a fresh install.

    The second is a 2 step procedure as follows:
    1. Uninstall all weidu mods by running the setup for each mod you installed and tell it to uninstall. Do not do step 2 until this is done.
    2. Once step 1 is completed you can empty the override folder to remove any non weidu mods.

    Once these steps are completed you should have an unmodded game with one slight exception: any strings added to dialog.tlk will remain to prevent issues with existing saved games. This should not affect gameplay if you start a new game with no mods installed. If you truly want a game without a trace of modding then you will need to do method one and make a fresh install of the game.
  • VreejackVreejack Member Posts: 60
    Uninstalling via weidu does not necessarily work. In fact, for anything other than a trivial installation it never works. So far just emptying the override folder, deleting the weidu.log and asking Steam for a file check seems to give me a clean game and it only takes about ten seconds. You must delete the weidu.log or else weidu will read it and get confused.

    My concern is that there are other files and folders that behave like an override even though the game was not otherwise told about them. All expected files should get checked by Steam. Actually, I wish I had thought of that sort of installation check years ago when I experimented with big mod installs. Installing a bare BGT used to take like an hour.
  • TressetTresset Member, Moderator Posts: 8,268
    edited February 2015
    Vreejack said:

    Uninstalling via weidu does not necessarily work. In fact, for anything other than a trivial installation it never works. So far just emptying the override folder, deleting the weidu.log and asking Steam for a file check seems to give me a clean game and it only takes about ten seconds. You must delete the weidu.log or else weidu will read it and get confused.

    I am not entirely sure that is true, but then I am far from a weidu expert... Perhaps @CrevsDaak or @Wisp would know more.
  • VreejackVreejack Member Posts: 60
    There are lots of ways a weidu mod can make itself uninstallable. If it does any biffing, for example. I accidentally installed Divine Remix Spheres and immediately tried to uninstall it. Whatever the reason, it gave me a sea of errors. And people talk about weirdness that happens when you do too many install/uninstalls.

    In any event I was looking for a quick way to uninstall everything, as even if weidu worked for that purpose I think you can imagine how long it would take to uninstall a dozen mods.

    Now I just need to write an install script so that I don't have to keep redoing the same installs by hand.
  • CrevsDaakCrevsDaak Member Posts: 7,155
    Well, it all depends on what you install. Some mods that are uninstalled that way cause nothing but problems, but if you're going to do another installation form scratch, go on. Note that while EE games don't usually require you to uninstall mods manually, BGT (and EET too) have to be uninstalled via WeiDU (same for TobEx, generalized biffing, tob_hacks and some others).

    @Tresset that isn't necessary if you want to delete every single WeiDU mod, unless one of them edits an executable/chitin.key (by adding biffs)/baldur.ini/portraits/whatever. And the strings remaining on the dialog.tlk don't affect anything, and leaving them and installing the same mods will cause WeiDU to use the existing strings.
    Vreejack said:

    In any event I was looking for a quick way to uninstall everything, as even if weidu worked for that purpose I think you can imagine how long it would take to uninstall a dozen mods.

    Vreejack said:

    Uninstalling via weidu does not necessarily work. In fact, for anything other than a trivial installation it never works. So far just emptying the override folder, deleting the weidu.log and asking Steam for a file check seems to give me a clean game and it only takes about ten seconds. You must delete the weidu.log or else weidu will read it and get confused.

    If a mod doesn't uninstall via WeiDU it's because:
    1) the mod is bugged
    2) the mod requires to be marked as NO_LOG_RECORD but hasn't
    3) the mod is tagged as NO_LOG_RECORD intentionally
    4) you've deleted the mod's .tp2 file or backup folder
    5) you've updated the mod and the .tp2 is very different from the old one
    6) ???
  • wubblewubble Member Posts: 3,156
    CrevsDaak said:


    1) the mod is bugged
    2) the mod requires to be marked as NO_LOG_RECORD but hasn't
    3) the mod is tagged as NO_LOG_RECORD intentionally
    4) you've deleted the mod's .tp2 file or backup folder
    5) you've updated the mod and the .tp2 is very different from the old one
    6) ???

    6) The mod creator is using his/her mod to tap into your computer's processing power and simulate a supercomputer which will hack MI6 and reveal that the Queen stabbed Diana with a blunt pencil and the tunnel incident never even happened.


    Ooops sorry, should have been in the conspiracy thread
  • CrevsDaakCrevsDaak Member Posts: 7,155
    @wubble I believe that would uninstall fine too anyway.
  • VreejackVreejack Member Posts: 60
    edited February 2015
    CrevsDaak said:


    1) the mod is bugged

    Are there non-trivial mods without bugs?

    Okay, that's a facetious question. Most bugs will not prevent uninstallation, but those that do generally do not get reported, and so they accumulate. I estimate that between 10 and 20 percent of mods can royally screw with your install when you try to back them out. And those are just the ones that tell you something is screwed up. I prefer deleting the whole mess and starting over.

    I see that some stuff gets left behind, though. Like old scripts. Steam will restore the original scripts but you can probably see the others in customization. That's not a big issue, but I am wondering how mod installs react when (if) they see these residual scripts lying around. I can clear the entire folder and let Steam repair it but now I am wondering what else I missed.
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