16 replies to this topic

[bobbyz123]

I just received my copy of TWII and I would like to pass on three items of interest.

1. When the installer asked where I wanted the game installed I chose the folder where I keep my RPGs.
    The installer then REPLACED that folder, and everything in it, with the new TWII folder.
    That's right, every rpg from Dragons Age2 to Diablo wiped clean.

    The tech person at Topware told me, "we haven't heard about this before".

2. The serial number that came with the game was not the correct one and I had to contact tech support to get a new one.

3. There is no manual, so you should download it before you start the game.

  I am running a MacPro 1.1 with the latest and greatest OS and all of the graphics card requirements that are called for.

  I have been on the Mac since 1987 and know my way around the installation process pretty well.

[dimmer]

I've seen a couple of installers do this: as a workaround, when I install any application I navigate to the subfolder where I want it installed, then create a new folder (the installer should allow this: if it doesn't, swap to finder and do it there), and when everything installs OK I'll usually have folder within a folder (HD->Games->RPG->New Game->New Game->Files). That's easy to fix in the Finder.

Usually though the problem I've had was with the game installer just dumping stuff into the top level selected, without making it's own folder. That's enough of a pain in the ass, but to actually be destroying data? That's messed up.

Didn't Bungie have a problem similar to this on the Windows side, with Myth 2?

Having built a few (pretty simple) Installers in my time: it's amazingly more complex than it needs to be. God bless drag'n'drop.

[Marathon4ever]

dimmer, on 19 April 2011 - 07:43 PM, said:

I've seen a couple of installers do this: as a workaround, when I install any application I navigate to the subfolder where I want it installed, then create a new folder (the installer should allow this: if it doesn't, swap to finder and do it there), and when everything installs OK I'll usually have folder within a folder (HD->Games->RPG->New Game->New Game->Files). That's easy to fix in the Finder.

Usually though the problem I've had was with the game installer just dumping stuff into the top level selected, without making it's own folder. That's enough of a pain in the ass, but to actually be destroying data? That's messed up.

Didn't Bungie have a problem similar to this on the Windows side, with Myth 2?

Having built a few (pretty simple) Installers in my time: it's amazingly more complex than it needs to be. God bless drag'n'drop.

I've never heard of that.  Installers don't remove files, they just add files.  The only time an installer removes files is if it's uninstalling an older version, in which case it specifically looks for properly named files.

The disk is probably not legit - especially since the serial was wrong.  Bobbyz123, where did you order the game from?

[bobbyz123]

Marathon4ever, on 20 April 2011 - 08:33 AM, said:

I've never heard of that.  Installers don't remove files, they just add files.  The only time an installer removes files is if it's uninstalling an older version, in which case it specifically looks for properly named files.

The disk is probably not legit - especially since the serial was wrong.  Bobbyz123, where did you order the game from?

As I said, I have been installing applications on Macs since 1987 and I have never seen this either. I was passing on my experience as a head's-up to followers of this forum. I contacted the publisher with my observation.

Thanks for responding to my attempt to help out gamers by suggesting that I ripped off the software.

HERE is my email notification from the publisher

****************************************************************************
element 5 order number: xxxxxxxxx
****************************************************************************
This e-mail was generated by a mail handling system. Please do not reply
to the address listed in the "From" field.
Please read the CUSTOMER SERVICE section for answers to your questions.
****************************************************************************

We recommend that you make a backup copy of this e-mail (e.g. print out a
hard copy).

HERE is the registration email from Associate Creative Director | aconant@topware.com

Thank you for purchasing and registering Two Worlds II.

Your activation code is: xxxx - xxxx - xxxx - xxxx

As a registered customer, you receive a code for a special in-game item!
Bonuscode: 7894-3364-6909-0411

We wish you a lot of fun and enjoyment playing Two Worlds II.


Best regards,

ZUXXEZ Entertainment AG
Customer service


_____________________________________________________________________

element 5 - a service of digital river - www.element5.com
Digital River GmbH
Vogelsanger Str. 78, D-50823 Cologne, Germany
Managing Directors: John Strosahl, Carsten Grüttner
Registered Office: Cologne / HRB 56188 / District court of Cologne
_____________________________________________________________________

[Hansi]

There are millions of badly coded dialog boxes in the world that cause this. It's just a matter of you thinking you are selecting a parent directory but instead you are choosing the target directory. It's popsnizzlee logic on their part but nothing new really.

[Sargiel]

Bobbyz123: Thanks for taking the time to share your problems with the installation dialogue Topware might not have heard about this problem before - however it has cropped up in another thread with exactly the same issue. So you're not alone.

Interesting regarding the serial code though - I'll look out for that once my copy arrives!

[dimmer]

Installers do often delete files as part of their tasks: replacing frameworks, incompatible plugs in from previous versions etc. By far the most common mistake (and it appears that it may be the case here) is handling the selection of a folder by the user: a sloppily done installer will often assume that a custom folder will always be the exact directory to be used, and do a Make Folder of the currently selected path, wiping out anything that was there previously, rather than creating a new folder within that path. Sorry not really explaining this well.

If you are interested, take a look at InstallerMaker (http://www.stuffit.c...m_download.html) -- while it's out of date, it will show you how "simple" it is to make an installer (and how simple it is to mess up, too!)

[Marathon4ever]

bobbyz123, on 20 April 2011 - 10:54 AM, said:

As I said, I have been installing applications on Macs since 1987 and I have never seen this either. I was passing on my experience as a head's-up to followers of this forum. I contacted the publisher with my observation.

Thanks for responding to my attempt to help out gamers by suggesting that I ripped off the software.

No, no. You misinterpreted my comment.  I was implying that despite legitimately buying a copy of the game, the disk you received was not an official product (being either sent by a sketchy game website or intercepted en route by a third party and replaced with a fake disk and serial number).

[Marathon4ever]

dimmer, on 20 April 2011 - 02:21 PM, said:

Installers do often delete files as part of their tasks: replacing frameworks, incompatible plugs in from previous versions etc. By far the most common mistake (and it appears that it may be the case here) is handling the selection of a folder by the user: a sloppily done installer will often assume that a custom folder will always be the exact directory to be used, and do a Make Folder of the currently selected path, wiping out anything that was there previously, rather than creating a new folder within that path. Sorry not really explaining this well.

If you are interested, take a look at InstallerMaker (http://www.stuffit.c...m_download.html) -- while it's out of date, it will show you how "simple" it is to make an installer (and how simple it is to mess up, too!)

As I said, installers only delete specific old versions of software, if needed.  This particular situation reported is not that case.  Other game files completely unrelated to Two Worlds were erased. That does not happen accidentally.  The installer must have an instruction to erase the target directory.  Legit distributors do not mistakenly add in an instruction that erases a whole directory.

[Hansi]

Marathon4ever, on 20 April 2011 - 02:43 PM, said:

As I said, installers only delete specific old versions of software, if needed.  This particular situation reported is not that case.  Other game files completely unrelated to Two Worlds were erased. That does not happen accidentally.  The installer must have an instruction to erase the target directory.

Read the post...

The developers are using a simplistic in house installer instead of a regular package maker one.
The option given to you is a simple one: Choose install folder, defaulting to /Applications/Two Worlds/
if you select a new folder that will be the target dir and not the parent dir.

ergo the installer runs 'mv /Volumes/Two Worlds/DATA /target/dir' instead of 'mv /Volumes/Two Worlds/DATA /target/dir/'

It's simply bad programming. An installer can do whatever the developer wants, even with a simple pkg install you can specify an finalize hook that executes something like 'rm -rf ~/*'.

Marathon4ever, on 20 April 2011 - 02:43 PM, said:

Legit distributors do not mistakenly add in an instruction that erases a whole directory.

Yes they do all the time. There is no limit to bad programming.

[Thain Esh Kelch]

Even Apple have had a case of iTunes wiping the entire harddrive during installation.

[dimmer]

In most cases, it boils down to the installer thinking that the install location in a custom install is the "same" as a normal install: it makes a directory and dumps the content in. The making of the directory is what trashes the existing files. As I noted above, taking a few moments to mae double sure you don't get your files wiped by a poorly done installer is well worth the effort.

[Gliniolu]

When I installed the Mac version downloaded from code given through King or Queen collector version (the big box). I hadn't this problem.

The problem was that like some other more recent games it wasn't compatible with my graphic card ati x1900 but since I changed it the game run fine.

That said it wasn't this version but an older version and perhaps a different installer. I had an update too.

I noticed there's now a dual mac/win version at Steam.

[Sargiel]

They've probably fixed it. When I downloaded mine I already had the latest patch (which wasn't the case when people were first installing on Mac) so I'd guess they've fixed the problem with the installer. Good to see they took the issue seriously and hope you're enjoying the game

[XxtraLarGe]

Is this game any fun? It looks interesting, and I almost picked it up when Steam had it on sale for $17, but I still wasn't sure about it.

Sargiel, on 03 June 2011 - 02:23 PM, said:

They've probably fixed it. When I downloaded mine I already had the latest patch (which wasn't the case when people were first installing on Mac) so I'd guess they've fixed the problem with the installer. Good to see they took the issue seriously and hope you're enjoying the game

[Hansi]

I only played for two hours since I haven't finished the first one yet but it's decent. The only major problem was that the voice acting is pretty much "B-Movie level" stuff.

[Mister Mumbles]

Hansi, on 13 July 2011 - 03:18 PM, said:

I only played for two hours since I haven't finished the first one yet but it's decent. The only major problem was that the voice acting is pretty much "B-Movie level" stuff.

It's Topware after all. Low budget stuff is what they do.