Why does AE keep replacing all my Maps and Markers?

[Spiritblade]

Why is it that every time a patch has to be downloaded the patch replaces all my maps and markers, forcing me to log back out and reinstall the MapPack? Is there something in the MapPack that AE thinks NEEDS to be replaced?

I was under the impression that AE supported player customizations......any particular reason why the patching process can't bypass Map/Marker scanning/replacing unless there's some new game breaking issue revolving around Maps/Markers?

Perhaps this may have already been answered by AE, and if so, I'd appreciate a link to said explaination. If not, I (and I'm sure others) would appreciate an explaination here.

Thank you [:)]

[Korsh]

Last I heard (a couple days ago) Tango was looking into problems with map customization. There's a larger thread on this in the Player Customization / Maps forum largely dedicated to Linea describing the known problems with it. [;)]

Let's hope Tango can take care of it soon, i agree it is awefully annoying.

[Spiritblade]

Yeah, though from everything I read there it looked like what little input Tango had provided in the IRC chat (Or at least, what 2nd or 3rd hand info was posted in that thread from that chat) was no help. And since as usual, the only input from a Dev was through "IRC" (Why they apparently communicate more through IRC and not through their own "official forums" I have no idea lol) I wanted to ask about this issue personaly here in general, where it at least has SOMEWHAT of a chance at being read by a Dev, as I don't (and won't) use IRC and it doesn't look like the player Mod section gets a lot of Dev trafficlol In any case, like so many others, I really hope this issue gets resolved soon :)

[Dragoniade]

The problem has to do with how the MapPak is done.

The MapPak is overwriting some of horizons keys files that Horizons is checking.
Remember when the maps were gradually added to the game? Those files are checked when updating the image. Since they were overwritten, the patcher put back the default.
Otherwise, we wouldn't get the new community names, plots squares and such.

To solve this problem, the MapPak would have to be modified in a few way, such as putting the maps PNG to another folder than 'Istaria', and moving the .def files to the player preferences folder rather than the system folder.

[Henry Redacre]

not sure if this has anything to do with anything, but i use the standard map "image" that AE puts out, and have a miraculous number of markers on it, none of which get overwritten.

So, for the sake of understanding, does this mean that the Map Marker file only get overwritten if the map *image* file is different?

~ Henry

[Vanaondo]

Henry. Your def file (map markers)are stored at Horisonz\pref\<shard>_<name> and the patcher dont touch those, your personal files and the Pekkas Map Pack dont touch your personal markers as well.

ThepackageI tok over and remake is stored at Horizons\resources\interface\maps

[Linea]

The problem has to do with how the MapPak is done.

The MapPak is overwriting some of horizons keys files that Horizons is checking.
Remember when the maps were gradually added to the game? Those files are checked when updating the image. Since they were overwritten, the patcher put back the default.
Otherwise, we wouldn't get the new community names, plots squares and such.

To solve this problem, the MapPak would have to be modified in a few way, such as putting the maps PNG to another folder than 'Istaria', and moving the .def files to the player preferences folder rather than the system folder.

It's not that simple. If we don't do it this way, it doesn't work. Yes there is some clean up that could be done to reduce download sizes, but that will not fix the problem of everypatch erasing the markers.

If you want things layered, instead of all on one layer clumped together, you have to it this way.

If you want it easily installed and universal for all characters, not just one character, you have to do it this way.

If you want any customized icons, not the very limited number black and white icons, you have to do it this way.

If you want to be able to USE your map and not have it constantly change because of the unconfigurable Autocenter, you have to do it this way, or you have to do alot of extra work that greatly increased your map making time, in order to override the fubared autocenter.

Read the list of bugs posted earlier in the other thread and you might find it's not so simple and doesn't really work in the nice simple little clean way it is supposed to.

Until AE fixes the bugs in their own system, we don't have a prayer of making proper maps, and there's not one **** thing we can do about it.

All we can do is get blamed for doing a ****** job and making ****** maps that keep getting over written all because we did it all the wrong way because we don't know our ***** from a hole in the ground.

I think it's time I take at least a month's vacation. I think I can find better things to do with my time.

[Tharg]

For the record - i have ABSOLUTELY no complaints about you map makers work!!!

I PROMISE.

Do wish there was a way to fool the patcher into thinking the maps were... correct tho. I'm on dsl - so the 20mb every patch + whatever patch is ...ok... but annoying.

Maybe if an uninstall was made, that replaced the original maps... so that (if you thought of it) you could "uninstall" and then the patcher wouldn't see a need to replace them (unless thereWAS a new map...) ... and then one could re-install the map pak again... and it would back up whatever maps were there originally.

This would be especially helpful to dial up map-pack people =)

Just an idea - sure wish the devs would read this - there has to be such an incredibly easy fix for this... its not even programming i wouldn't think... heck at the WORST they could put an option - full scan leave maps alone - on the web page...

dunno

J/Tharg!

[akb]

I could probably write a batch file to do that but I can't seem to find all the map files that are being replaced or that the patcher is downloading after a fullscan.

I think that this would be of no big use :-(

- If you stop playing Horizons, you don't need to uninstall maps.

- If you don't want the Map Pack any longer,this would be used only once. But why would someone not love the Map Pack ? :-)

- On patches, a full scan will be made and it would only be useful to do such an uninstall before the full scan. But until the full scan starts, you don't know that there will be a new patch, and to aborta full scan you have to use harsh measures (no "cancel" button etc).

- Most simple and effective since any batchfiles would have to be updated with new mappacks and would surely miss something: make a backup of the entire MAPS directory first, and to uninstall maps just delete the maps directory,copy back the backup, and then do a full scan: in addition to the MAPS directory there should be very few files which require almost no time for download even on slow connections.