Bcut help

[dep88y]

You know, this all started this morning when USS Sovereign posted a reply in a rather insulting manner. Since I don't know how to use bcut,please understand my confusion. He said bcut can be automated to install like bcmi did. At least that was my understanding. If I made an error in my conclusion, please let me know. I plead with you to just answer that and that alone. I don't need more words on how stupid I am.

[JimmyB76]

USS Sovereign wasnt being insulting...  he has tried in at least a few posts very thoroughly to help you but for some reason, youre just not getting it...  understandably, that gets aggravating...  he explained how to set BCUT so it will automatically install ships and bcmp mods into your BC directory...  the answers you need are there and everything you have asked and are stuck on has been in fact explained...  if not in one of your threads, then elsewhere...  and BCUT comes with as simplified instructions as it can get...  if youre not understanding it, thats not really a fault with BCUT or with anyone in particular...  it just seems like the effort on your end to help yourself just isnt very strong...

and no one is saying you are stupid...  when i first came onto the BC scene some 6 years ago, i had barely any knowledge about how to operate computer-related things...  hell, i even remember being confused about extracting files and simple things like adding in bridge retextures (with no scripts) in my install at first...
but i slowly taught myself by referring to many forums, using the SEARCH functions at different forums to see if anyone else in the past had asked what i am about to, doing alot of reading and researching, going thru the painful and annoying trial-and-error routines, and i also went to google many times to learn the "jargon"...  nothing was ever "handed" to me personally, and i knew that if i wanted to work certain things, i had to teach myself...

you have to do some work on your end, to learn and teach yourself about certain things...  all the information is out there, you just have to try and find and really take a strong effort to learn and really try to figure things out...  you cant expect everyone to hand-hold you through every small and slight step, and then get impatient and aggravated with everyone when they dont or because you dont understand; thats not too fair...  also, people just dont have alot of their own free time to teach you all the basics about programs, operating them, or computers in general...  you have several threads here now and several people all trying to help you but for some reason, youre just not getting it...  at this point, im not even sure anymore what exactly your issue is, all this has become so very confusing now...

people are trying to help you, but you also have to try and help yourself and try and figure things out on your own as well...

[dep88y]

Do you really think I have sat here and done nothing? I have read and read and read and experimented and tried. Now with that said. I asked about some very specific things and they were not answered. One exception would be Billz. He showed me the unpack file and where it was. As for sovereign; I wasn't dealing with him at the time and his frustrating reply sent me over the edge. I replied with a problem when I tried what he suggested. No one has answered that yet. This was not the first time I asked about it. So, I will ask you. When I set the path on automatic and tried to unpack a ship I recieved a path error. My thinking is that it might be on the unpack side; like I should have already done that before trying the auto setting for the path. Thats my trial and error. I have done that over and over now for 17 hours. The instructions I HAVE don't cover this. Please don't be offended at the capitol letters I wish to express that I may be missing instructions.
 Now, for you. I appreciate and respect what you have accomplished; I really mean that. Obviously I'm not you. I would bet that you grew up in a different time than I did, so, if you can understand that the thinking process I developed is not up to modern standards as my college graduated children have made mention of many times. I'm at a sticking point; an old fart needs a hand. I'm not trying to write hardpoints and scripts, I just want to install ships effeciently. I can't do that with error messages. The instructions are not complete for my needs; I hope you can respect that. Obviously I'm missing a step between unpacking and auto installing into the game; I just can't figure it out. As I said before all I get are path errors. I can drag and drop from the unpack file to the game just fine, but, now I'm trying to make an improvement over what Billz showed me. You see I have learned, I have tried, I'm stuck.
 I don't know where this blame bcut idea came from. I can see it has great advantages,some I will probably never use. I think some folks were offended when I wrote what it did when I tried to use it or maybe it's the repeated comments about what instructions I have. I was only trying to show that auto install wasn't in them. I have a great deal of instructions on the advanced modding. I accept the fault of tensions is probably all mine. Maybe I haven't communicated clear enough. I'm sorry for that.
 So, to end your aggrivation with an idiot, I will ask one more time. Is there a way to install a ship without dragging and dropping?
 

[ACES_HIGH]

ok, forget the automatic, it's possible that the BC install you are using is not in the default directory.  using Windows Explorer, navigate to your BC folder, that is the folder in which the BC game files are located, highlight the location in the bar near the top of the window, it should be something like: C:\Program Files\Activision\Bridge Commander or whatever, now right click and select copy, to copy the text open BCUT and click on the options button, in the text box on this screen paste the file location, now go to the BCMOD unpacker screen, you can select your BCMOD file by dragging it into the BCMOD file contents window, it should now automatically install

[JimmyB76]

that is exactly what USS Sovereign said, and included a picture which i will upload again...

under the Tools section, you can set the path directly to your BC install, and it also has an option to find it on its own incidentally...  but you can manually set it also...  the path error you were getting was probably telling you that the location you were setting wasnt a valid BC install or something to that effect?

once you have established where BCUT will put the ships (and bcmod files) then you can go about creating a plugin for them...

[Mario]

The program doesn't use a predefind "C:\Program Files\Activision\Bridge Commander" location but reads the path from Windows Registry which the Bridge Commander installation process writes into the registry when you install the game.

Automatic option will fail:
1. On custom installs i.e. if you have multiple installations of BC on your HDD so it will read only the one which was installed via CD
2. On pirated versions of BC
3. On restored backups from a DVD backup when you didn't install the game from the CD first, you just copied the backup to some folder

[dep88y]

 For Aces High. I tried the copy and paste; BCUT wouldn't accept the paste. No window opened to select paste.
For USS Sovereign. I only have the one install that uses the CD to play the game. The CD is not pirated or a backup, it's the original. I deleted all other installs of BC from info in another thread. Could this be a vista file protection problem?

[Mario]

For Aces High. I tried the copy and paste; BCUT wouldn't accept the paste. No window opened to select paste.

What Aces High suggested would have been a great error on my part when I was writing the program you are using. The configuration textbox is read only it doesn't accept any user data apart from the 3 buttons you see.

Default - which reverts to bcut installation location I.E. c:\program files\bcs-tng\bcut
Manual - You navigate to your BC installation manually via folder browse dialog (you can try to do that). Since you don't seem to have much basic computer knowledge it might be problematic for you
Automatic - the one which will work always if the game is properly installed and is recommended to be used for novices

I deleted all other installs of BC from info in another thread. Could this be a vista file protection problem?

Nope. BCUT asks for elevated privileges on Vista and that way it overcomes Vista's virtualization or file protection if you will.


What is the exact message which BCUT spits out, the exact?

[dep88y]

Okay, I tried again after hittng the auto button in options. Abox popped up with a red circleand white X. It said, there has been a problem while extracting the BCMod file, details of the event have been dumped into the BCUTError.log. This was in BCUTError.log
#########################
Program Path: C:\Program Files\BCS-TNG\BCUT\BCUT.exe
Time of Event: 12/18/2008 8:42:57 AM
Mapping BCMod file...

#########################
 I do know how to use the manuel setting, I've done that for other programs. If that will help.

[Mario]

The following error message shows up during the extraction process of the BCMod file not during the configuration of the unpacking path in the Options. Which you are pointing out.
And it means that the file was probably in use by another program and BCUT couldn't access it. Easiest way to unlock it is to restart\reboot Windows.

Only one error can come up when you click on the Automatic button and that is: "Path couldn't be read from the registry..."

You're vague in your posts, so why not do us a favor and post here a step by step guide of what you are doing. So go like this i.e.
1. I download a mod
2. I extract it
3. I fire up BCUT
and so on

[ACES_HIGH]

my mistake, to be honest I hadn't done it that way, I was able to use said buttons, I was just trying to simplify it for him, and I thought that action was possible I apologize if my explanation was inaccurate

[dep88y]

 1) I restarted the computer.
2) I started BCUT
3) I selected the automatic button in the options window.
4) I went to the BCMod Packager page in BCUT.
5) I selected See BMods Content
6) A window opened, I selected Desktop on the left side. The window was titled "Select a BCMod file"
7) I selected a ship from the list that came up in that window. The ship had a BCMod icon in a blue circle next to it.
8) At the bottom of the same window I selected "Open". The file name appeared in the little rectangular window up and to the left of "Open" before I selected " Open"
9) Error message appears same as before

[Mario]

link to the mod?

and post your BCUTConfig.ini file here, it can be found in the C:\Program files\bcs-tng\bcut directory (if bcut is installed in its default location).

[dep88y]

# Bridge Commander Universal Tool Configuration File
# DO NOT MODIFY

SaveTo=C:\Program Files\Activision\Bridge Commander
WordWrap=True
BackScriptsFolder=True
Theme=2
 Link to the ship:http://bridgecommander.filefront.com/file/C2X_Enterprise;31385
 I've already installed the requirements and it fully functions in the game

[Mario]

I just sped up one update which I planned to release in the coming days. You probably have temp file cleaners on your computer which deletes data which BCUT needs.

Either way, if this doesn't work then I give up.

1. Launch BCUT
2. Switch to "Help" section
3. Click on "Check for updates" button
4. When prompted select yes, that will launch your default web browser
5. On the BCUT homepage scroll down and click on the "Download Here" button
6. Download, unpack archive and Launch the installer
7. You will be offered with 2 options, to update an existing BCUT installation or create a new one
8. Select to update a current one & select the installation of BCUT which you want to update on the listbox
9. Continue the installation as usual
10. Launch 1.1 version and try using it

[dep88y]

Well, I can truely understand your frustration with me. I will work on learning how to communicate better. As for BCUT, it appears to be working fine. Wow, how easy it really is. Sincerely, I thank you for your time and effort. I guess if I knew what to say in the first place this could have been resolved quicker. You have made an awsome program. Thanks again