3 replies to this topic

[wabigbear]

We've had a few people having problems installing some of the custom scenery available...it's something that can easily confuse the best of us. So here's a quick lesson on installing these packs...

First thing in installing custom items is to understand exactly where different files go in order to show up in your game. So let's see where we should place custom scenery packs. I use Windows XP, and since I live in Brazil, my screens are in portuguese. No problem, everything's in the same spot as for english users!

First, double click on the "My Computer icon on your desktop. This opens the page shown below. Most people have RCT3 installed on their (C:) drive, double click on it to open the next page. If yours is not installed on (C:), use the proper drive letter.


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Next, double click on the folder marked "Program Files" , this will open a page that lists all the various programs on your computer. Find the one labeled "Atari" and double click to open.

Now, there are slightly different versions of RCT3 distributed around the word, mainly due to language differences and the fact that Atari sometimes uses other companies to distribute their games in certain countries. They do that here in Brazil in fact. But this can cause a small stumbling block for some people. Most people will here find a folder labeled C:\Program Files\Atari\RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3 ...note the "registered" ® mark. However for some of us in other countries, the file will not have the registation mark "® ", instead our folder simply reads C:\Program Files\Atari\RollerCoaster Tycoon 3. That difference is important.

In the screen below you'll note that I have BOTH folders...you may not. For me, it's on purpose (I'll tell you why later...). Since I know my game is in the C:\Program Files\Atari\RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 folder, I double click it to open,

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Inside you find a number of folders required for the game. Complex, isn't it? Actually there are OTHER folders needed for the game located elsewhere on your computer, but we're not going to worry about them for now...

We want to find the folder here marked "Style". Once you find it, just double click.

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Once inside we'll need to find a folder marked "Themed". Once again, double click to open.

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Guess what? THIS is where all your custom scenery packs go! That wasn't so hard was it? There are also folders with in-game scenery...don't mess with them unless you know what you are doing. Since I never what I'm doing anyways I stay far away...

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Scroll down to my next post and we'll look inside one of these scenery pack folders and find out what SHOULD be inside...

[wabigbear]

Okay, as promised, let's see what SHOULD be inside each of the scenery pack folders...

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Note the two .OVL files...style.common.ovl, and style.unique.ovl plus one or more folders that hold the actual individual scenery files. These two OVL files represent the SET as a whole, the OVL files that represent each individual item in the set are located in the other folders. If you do not see the two .OVL files here...that means there is a problem and you will get an error message. We'll look at how to fix that in a moment, but first let's double-click on the folder labeled shyguy-Expo 3000 Set, and see what's inside...

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There you see all the various files that make up the scenery set. Each items has two individual files...one a common.ovl, and the other a unique.ovl. Both are required to make the object appear and work correctly ingame.

Let's hit the back button on your browser and return to the folder that had the style.common.ovl, and style.unique.ovl files along with the single folder of individual scenery files. Remember, it looked like this...

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What sometimes happens when installing custom scenery is that at this point an extra folder was created. Don't ask me why because I haven't a clue...Instead of seeing the two OVL files, you'd see just one labeled shyguy-Expo 3000 Set...if you were to double-click on it you'd find the OVL's and scenery folders in another folder inside. The problem is that means there's an extra level of folders and the game can't find what it wants to open. How do you solve this? It's hard to explain...but easy to do, so we'll give it a try.

First, make sure that there is an extra folder...you can do this easily by double clicking items and opening them until you get to the folder shown above...the one with the two OVL files and the scenery folder. Take a look at the top of the page. The 'address' should read like this:

C:\Program Files\Atari\RollerCoaster Tycoon 3\Style\Themed\shy-Expo 3000 Set

If you have an extra folder, the address will reflect that...take a look...

C:\Program Files\Atari\RollerCoaster Tycoon 3\Style\Themed\shy-Expo 3000 Set\shy-Expo 3000 Set

Notice how the folder is listed twice at the end?

We need to remove the extra folder. It's simple to do. Copy and paste the two OVL files (style.common.ovl and style.unique.ovl) PLUS any other folders holding individual object files also shown next to them onto your desktop. Then delete the folder they were in. Go back to the level shown below...

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Double click on the shyguy-Expo 3000 Set . If we've deleted enough folders, that one should be totally empty. If it is, then move the two OVL files PLUS any other folders holding individual object files back in.

Once you see the two OVL files and the individual object folders in front of you, check the 'address'...see if it's the correct C:\Program Files\Atari\RollerCoaster Tycoon 3\Style\Themed\shy-Expo 3000 Set

If so, your custom object set should now work!

See? That wasn't hard now was it?

[wabigbear]

Now that we know WHERE custom scenery should go, and how the file folders SHOULD look, we will take a look at the actual installation process.

Most custom files will come to you as ZIP or RAR files. These are compression programs that reduce the size of the files to make them easy to get from the creator to you. Once you have downloaded them, you'll need to UN-compress them to make them work.

For ZIP files:

If you run with Windows XP, it will unzip them for you. Simply either double-click and select "Extract All Files", then pick where you wish to extract them to (I suggest your desktop...)

If you don't use Windows XP, you use one of the programs that will open zip files, such as WinZip, WinAce, PowerArchiver, PicoZip, etc. Follow their instructions. You can download these programs from winzip.com, powerarchiver.com, winace.com

For RAR files:

You can download the program from rarlab.com. Again I recommend extracting the files to your desktop. Why? Well of course you are going to doublecheck these with your anti-virus programs aren't you???

I thought you would... .

Once you have checked everything out and there's no problems, you can easily move the files. There should be one folder, inside of it should be the two OVL files we talked about above along with one or more folders holding the individual scenery files. You'll want to move it to the page below...

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Another way to send you the custom scenery objects is through a EXE file. This will actually install the files onto your computer in the correct spot...usually. Before we do anything you'll want to of course check this for viruses...right? Go ahead...I'll wait...

All done? See, that didn't take that long!

Anyways, EXE files are designed to install themselves, just double-click and follow the instructions.

BUT...

Remember way back on the first post we discussed the fact that for some people the correct folder their game in is C:\Program Files\Atari\RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3...which included that trickly little ® symbol? Well, that little quirk also can pop up if the person who made the object set uses a game version different than you do. As I mentioned, my own verion of the game doesn't use the ® , so when I try to install an EXE file from someone who DOES use the ® on their version of the game, the object set is NOT installed into my game! Instead it makes a NEW folder for a version of the game that uses the ® symbol. If you remember, I have both versions of the game listed on my machine...only one actually works.

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Most EXE files will allow you to change where they are extracted to, but I've had a few problems with some that would not extract to where I wanted them to.

I found it easier to simply let the EXE file extract to where it is programed to go...then I can easily find it in the otherwise empty "®" version of the game and transfer it to the correct spot in the other.

Pretty tricky, huh?



.

[wabigbear]

Next we'll look at where to install custom images for your billboards, custom music files, and of course the proper place to stick those parks you've downloaded...