Saved Character Issues (1 Viewer)

[cypher371]

I couldn't find this problem answered anywhere - maybe I was using the wrong key terms in the search bar... but i am beginning to get frustrated with this now.

For some reason or other I have a few duplicated characters in my Scenes list. So naturally I delete them until i only have one of each character. Some of the characters are even ones with broken directories - e.g: trying to find a hair.png in a place that doesn't exist, so naturally i delete all the broken characters and ensure each character is a fixed one.

However after deleting said characters, after closing the game and opening it up again some time later, those damn characters are back again! Does anyone have any idea as to how i can resolve these characters from undoing their own deletions?

I've tried:
saving customchars.sdt after deletion
deleting original customchars.sdt and saving a new one

I am using the sby loader.

 

[Samoth]

The best answer I can think of (admittedly I don't use sby's version of the loader so I'm unsure if this is because of something he packed in there) is that you need to edit the CharacterFolders.txt file in one or more of your Mods subfolders.

Longer explanation: If you go into [Whatever directories]>SDT>Mods you'll see a file called CharacterFolders.txt. This text file controls what mods will display at the end of your scene list after the basic vanilla ones (i.e. Tifa, Nami, Miku, etc.). If you've since deleted a mod and not updated the CharacterFolders.txt file, the directory would still exist (because deleting the folder does not directly alter the .txt file) and thus you'd be able to load broken characters.

The fastest way to fix this that I am aware of is to run Mods Folder.jar, a file that should be present in your main SDT folder. This automatically creates/updates CharacterFolder.txt files in every subfolder of your Mods folder except $INIT$, $OVER$, and $RESET$. It will only populate them with folders that exist, which should scrub out the folders which don't exist anymore from repopulating in the Scenes list every time you boot SDT.

The longer way to fix this is, of course, to do it manually. But this is rather excessive when you have a file that automatically does it for you (and ensures no errors, outside of any typos you may unintentionally have in folder names) unless you do it for a particular reason (i.e. you happen to have a folder in your Mods directory that, for some reason, you don't want showing up in the Scenes list).

Hopefully this helps with your issue. Otherwise it may be a good idea to supply some screenshots so that the issue is more apparent (i.e. showing us what you're doing exactly when you're getting this issue).

 

[stuntcock]

As Samoth suggested, please try to cleanup your Character Folders by running the Mods Folder.jar file. There are additional troubleshooting steps and fixes that we can apply, but first let's see whether the automatic tools can fix it :)

I've tried:
saving customchars.sdt after deletion
deleting original customchars.sdt and saving a new one

customchars.sdt is a "cold storage" backup file. You can have several backup files with different filenames; you can share it with other people on the internet (or grab a copy of someone else's file). You can move or rename or delete *.sdt files while the game is running. An sdt file has no influence on the game until the moment when you manually import it.

More importantly: the customchars.sdt file is relevant only for "vanilla" saved characters (which are stored in the ChoIrrumatio.sol file). It does not know about (and has no influence over) anything stored in Character Folders. It's possible that some of your confusion is arising because you've created duplicate entries (e.g. a Saved character and a Character Folder, both of which are named "Lara Croft" or whatever). But we can investigate that topic after you've used the Mods Folder.jar tool to unregister your deleted folders.

 

[cypher371]

Thanks for the fast responses guys.

now for a noob question, what program Do I use to run the jar file?

 

[stuntcock]

now for a noob question, what program Do I use to run the jar file?

Java. But if you don't already have it installed then it will be much faster to ignore the Mods Folder.jar tool. Instead: open your SDT\Mods\CharacterFolders.txt file and remove any lines corresponding to folders which you've deleted.

 

[cypher371]

Ah I didn't delete any folders.
Literally just the characters in the scenes menu if that makes sense?

The folders are stil in use for said characters (for the most part) just somehow some characters duplicated themselves, some of them could be from when I went back and tweaked them in game either by changing various items of clothing or makeup etc.

Could it be that when I hit update character it kinda duplicated it as well?

 

[Samoth]

Mind showing a screenshot of this? I'd like to see what you mean because I'm not entirely sure. Were you following a procedure on here (i.e. a tutorial by someone on how to make and save new characters from within SDT itself)? That might give us an insight into what you're trying to do, and possible places where something may have unintentionally gone awry.

 

[cypher371]

Here's an example. 3 copies of Glynda.
I delete two so I have one left. When I open the game later. All three come back.

I'm trying to work out how it duplicated and why they keep coming back :-/

 

[stuntcock]

The folders are stil in use for said characters (for the most part) just somehow some characters duplicated themselves

There are two possible reasons for this:

• you've duplicated the registration of some Character Folders within your CharacterFolders.txt file
• you've created a vanilla Saved Character entry which shares the same name as one of your Character Folders
  • Saved Characters and Character Folders both appear within the Scene roster, but they're totally distinct
  • it is not possible to edit a Character Folder from within the game. All changes must occur via file operations (e.g. copy-paste new SWF files into a folder, rewrite the contents of a TXT file, delete an entire subfolder, etc)

some of them could be from when I went back and tweaked them in game either by changing various items of clothing or makeup etc.

It sounds like you began by creating a Character Folder; let's assume that it's named "Lara Croft". You started the game and loaded this character via the Scene menu. Then you made some adjustments in-game (makeup, nail polish, etc). Then you Saved the character.

At that point, your PC would posess two definitions for Lara Croft. You'd have a set of files in the SDT\Mods\LaraCroft subfolder, and you'd have a totally separate charcode+thumbnail stored in AppData\Roaming\Macromedia\FlashPlayer\#SharedObjects\...\ChoIrromatio.sol.

It would be possible to Update the Saved version of this character from witihin the game, but the Character Folder version would never change to reflect your updates. You could delete the Saved version, but the Character Folder version would persist in your roster. Hence, the whole situation might be somewhat confusing.

It's possible to use a combination of Saved Characters and Character Folders. But since you seem to have run into trouble with it, I suggest using one-or-the-other exclusively. At least until you've managed to sort out the current problem :)

Could it be that when I hit update character it kinda duplicated it as well?

Duplication shouldn't really happen. It's possible for the game to "ignore" your deletion attempt, but only under unusual circumstances:

• if you're running the game in a protected context (such as an Incognito browser window), or you're using Anti-Virus software which prevents unauthorized applications from writing to HDD ... then the game's attempts to rewrite ChoIrrumatio.sol will be blocked or reverted
  • it may seem like the deletion was successful, but the unwanted character will reappear during your next game session
• if there's an aberration in the contents of your Saved Characters (such as illegal characters in charCodes, impossible character-order sorting values, etc) then the game might fail when it attempts to generate text output for the ChoIrrumatio.sol file
  • if this is true then it will effectively become impossible to edit your roster. Any change (deletion, update, etc) will be lost because nothing can ever be written to the ChoIrrumatio.sol file
  • if this is happening then you ought to be able to "witness" the error by running the game via the Flash Player Projector content debugger
    
  • in this case, the simplest fix is to discard the broken ChoIrrumatio.sol file instead of trying to repair it. The easiest way to do that is simply to move or rename your entire SDT folder. You'll lose all of your Saved Characters, but at least you'll be able to add, edit, and delete characters in the future.
• if you run two instances of SDT simultaneously (e.g. side-by-side windows) and you add or edit characters in both of those windows ... then things could definitely get messy.

 

[cypher371]

all resolved thanks for your help guys and now i've learned some more :D lol