Bliss Version Switcher

[helvete1]

I found the answers to my questions, which were:
1 - 1.00-1.06b can use the same file, therefore just google it.
2 - No problems with fullscreen
3 - The answer was in the readme.

I just got the OK from Thyiad with regards to spreading partial images of the 1.00 Play Disk and the 1.07 Expansion Disk. @fearedbliss perhaps you could host the "mini-images" and link them in the original post?

 

[fearedbliss]

Hello everyone,

After discussion with Thyiad, I'm making the Mini-Images for Diablo II Classic and Lord of Destruction available. I've also included the 1.00 - 1.06 D2Gfx.dll in Singling and released a new Bliss Complete Collection. I've also eliminated the individual bundles since they were already being included in the BCC. The BCC also includes the newer version of Bliss Version Switcher as well. Check the OP for the download link to the new BCC.

You can download Singling individually by checking the Singling thread, or you can download the BCC which includes it.

 

[Kunivek]

So I attempted to use the mini disc images to run 1.07. I tried both the classic version (which did nothing and gave off no error), and then the LOD mini disc image which gave off the error "Please insert the expansion disc".

I'm positive I'm setting things up correctly - its it possibly a UAC issue or Daemon Tools issue? I can't think of what else it could be.

 

[d2fan1]

Greatest thing ever

espacially the mini images are truly awesome

 

[d2fan1]

i installed 1.07 and click launch, but nothing happens.

i copied all mpqs and if i ran from exe it runs

so whats the problem?

i also obv wrote the path in the switcher and checked the lod box

 

[fearedbliss]

@d2fan, @Kunivek, A few things to keep in mind:

1. Make sure that your D2 was installed using the "Full Installation" options when doing it from the CD the first time. I'm not sure if you are installing from the 1.03 D2 Classic and 1.07 LOD discs. I haven't tried using the newer 1.12 stuff and downgrading. Remember that any D2 CD after 1.07 doesn't have the MPQs available directly, but rather has some weird new filesystem layout for the 1.12 stuff (I'm just talking about D2 installation, not what files are available after you install).

2. I have UAC disabled so this could help, and also you probably should disable UAC if you can on Windows 7 (At least for testing purposes, you can re-enable it once it works and try to use the UAC BVS script I provided).

3. I'm using DAEMON Tools and double clicked the "D2_LOD_MINI.mds" file which loads up the "D2_LOD_MINI.mdf" as another drive.

4. Below is what files and MPQs you should have, also take a look at the file sizes for those MPQs

5. For 1.00 - 1.06, you will need to have the "D2_CLASSIC_MINI.mds" loaded up.

6. If you want to run multiple-instances, you will need to use the "Game.exe" instead of "Diablo II.exe" for any version of D2 below 1.10.

 

[d2fan1]

i have windows xp and i ran in admin mode

as i said, running directly from exe is fine and works, so it cant be a disc error or mpq fail

i installed with an old cd which contains 1.07.

So where does it go wrong?

oh, never mind, i forgot to make the path leading to an EXE, not just the folder, ok works now thanks

 

[fearedbliss]

@d2fan Ah! .. You probably didn't follow my "Initial Setup" that is mentioned in the README of BVS. The BVS has no idea of what version of D2 you have installed on your computer, so the first time you run it you have to be very specific with what version you run for the first time, and you _must_ run the same exact version of D2 that you currently have in your D2 folder. Once that happens, BVS will create a "LastRanVersion.txt" file that will keep track of the last D2 version you ran, and will use that to properly switch between D2 versions.

In your situation, we can easily correct this by telling BVS what version of D2 you currently have and telling it if it's expansion or not. You can open up the "LastRanVersion.txt" file and modify it so that it says:

1.07;true

This means it's version 1.07 and Expansion.

Make sure you also have the Expansion sub-folder as I said before and that in there the 1.07 version exists, and any other versions that you want for other D2 versions.
--------------

Correct first time workflow (Not a quick fix as above):

To make sure that you get in step, I would recommend you to do the following (This is all assuming that you have the "Expansion" sub-folder in your Diablo II root directory that contains all of the D2 versions):

Assumption:
- Your D2 root folder has 1.07 as the installed version
- You have the Expansion sub-folder with all the versions
- You have the Classic sub-folder with all the versions (Only needed if you want to switch to classic/versions before 1.07)
- You are running BVS for the first time and have no "LastRanVersion.txt"

1. Open BVS
2. Add the D2 version that your D2 folder currently has (Assumption: 1.07), so we select 1.07 and click the Expansion box. We also put "C:\Games\Diablo II\Game.exe" or whatever path to Game.exe on your machine.
3. Launch 1.07, this should work since the version BVS launches will be 1.07/Expansion, and your D2 folder currently has 1.07/Expansion.

After this, you can add and switch between any version.

---

Depending how bad you messed with that directory, the files might be corrupted/mis-matched. So if that's the case, just take the files from my Expansion/<version> folder and replace the ones in the D2 root folder before re-running BVS.

EDIT:

@d2fan Just saw that you edited your post saying that it now works. I'm glad it's working .

I'll leave this post in case any one else has a problem with the initial setup of BVS and getting it in sync with your d2 folder. It's really just a matter of making sure the files/versions match with what BVS expects them to be.

 

[d2fan1]

also, strangely enough i NEED the newer mpq-files (possibly 1.12+) and not the ones on your discs (which i just copied from a later installation)

otherwise it asks for a disk?

well, its just a minor thing but still wonders me, has nothing to do with your versionchanger though

 

[fearedbliss]

@d2fan No the 1.07 MPQs will be fine. If you find yourself needing "1.12+" ones, that means you didn't do the Full Installation, and or didn't manually copy the required files from the correct CDs.

 

[d2fan1]

mmh, very wierd, now i have copied from your mini-images(thus old mpqs) and it works.

well, since i cant reproduce the error, who cares. thanks

 

[d2fan1]

just a question, my cpu runs 100% when i start 8 diablo 2 1.00

is there some trick that i doesnt get 100%?

i can still suf normally and even play sc2 simulatnisly, but just wondering

 

[fearedbliss]

@d2fan This is a known D2 bug.

 

[d2fan1]

may i ask how do you force a new save directory for each version?

do you make it via regedit the first time a "new" version is launched or how?

i mean not how to do it myself, i ask how your program does it. (which it does and it works)

 

[Kunivek]

After about 10 hours of messing with this , I've finally got it to work! The lightning struck the clock tower, the Delorean hit eighty-eight miles an hour and I'm about to see some strange s**t.

The problem was I didn't do a full install and was missing a couple of d2x mpq files in my directory. Even stranger when I did a full uninstall and re-install I was still missing some mpq's so I went file by file and assembled my folder to look like fearedbliss directory. I found my old 1.07 media and made an iso to install it this time instead of starting with my 1.12a media.

I don't think you can downgrade from 1.12 media to play 1.07. Several file sizes are different by a large margin, the file structure is different and you are missing 5+ mpq files if you start from a 1.12 install. Unfortunately this whole process still requires you to have access to 1.00 or 1.07 media for this to work.

If anybody else is still having issues starting from 1.07 full install let me know and I can coach you through what I did. Big thanks to fearedbliss and helvete these past two days.

 

[helvete1]

just a question, my cpu runs 100% when i start 8 diablo 2 1.00

is there some trick that i doesnt get 100%?

i can still suf normally and even play sc2 simulatnisly, but just wondering

If you have multiple cores in your processor, try starting task manager and right-click each game.exe process and choose "set affinity". If you have 4 or more cores, I recommend leaving at least one of the core free of any game.exe process.

 

[fearedbliss]

@Kunivek Yea it's nice to have the older CDs . Not to make you jealous but..

http://imgur.com/a/Dj8zy

 

[Kunivek]

@fearedbliss Didn't realize 1.00 was ever officially released. Collectors editions must be hard to come by.

Not too shabby. http://imgur.com/S5Wn9jr

 

[helvete1]

Well, when they release games, they are usually all 1.00

 

[NorthDakota]

I did it. I finally did it. I muled off my 1.14 version and saves to a separate drive, cleaned up my registry which was a huge mess (like a million diablo 2 path references), and installed classic and then 1.07. Installed BVS, put in my .mpqs, mounted the mini images, and shazam. Worked. Everything works now!!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT. No more invisible characters, no more wonky save locations.

It is magical having this working properly at last, with no CDs to boot. I gotta say feared, this is nice. This is really nice. You are a hero.



I have a couple of questions - scrolling doesn't work in menus, like the scroll wheel doesn't work at all for hotkeys or anything. Launching with compatibility mode for xp sp2 (or 3? can't remember) fixes that issue, but I always set that through the shortcut that I used to launch the game. How do I do that now? Do I just set it on "Game.exe" in my diablo 2 folder? Do I have to do that for each version of the game I play?

Edit: When I tried this on either diablo II.exe or game.exe or both the game won't launch through bvs anymore.

Edit 2: Figured it out. For anyone wondering, the problem I believe was that BVS didn't have administrator privileges, so it couldn't launch the game with administrator privileges, so it couldn't launch in compatibility mode. Disabling User Account Control Settings alone is not enough to solve this. Running "BlissVersionSwitcher_UAC.bat" does fix it, and once ran then the game can launch in compatibility mode.





The second question I have is more of a convenience thing, and wondering if other people have the same problem. When I click off the d2 window, like onto chrome or something, the D2 window minimizes. Is there a way to keep this from happening? Is it normal? I'm wondering because I want to run multiple instances in 1.00 and switch quickly between the windows I need to switch to.