Wabbajack can't detect CD installation of Oblivion

[CodeQuiver]

Describe the bug

Wabbajack cannot find my Oblivion install, which is in the root E drive because I installed it directly from my Oblivion CD (not through Steam etc.). Since Wabbajack supports Oblivion and Morrowind, which both came out on CD, it needs to be able to detect these installations.

I looked for a setting to simply tell Wabbajack where my install is but there is none- code apparently searches directories based on the assumption that all games are from Steam or other providers like Origin.

I also tried satisfying Wabbajack by importing my Oblivion game to Steam through Steam's feature for managing non-Steam games, but that didn't work.

This was during an attempt to install the Bevilex mod pack, following their instructions exactly.

Additional Context

Windows 10, TES IV Oblivion

Wabbajack Version

2.5.2.0

Logs Wabbajack.current.log Wabbajack 2021-07-23 23_30_49.log Wabbajack 2021-07-23 23_15_41.log

[halgari]

We probably won't be fixing this, the game is cheap enough that CD players can re-purchase it through an online source.

On Fri, Aug 20, 2021 at 4:27 PM CodeQuiver @.***> wrote:

Describe the bug

Wabbajack cannot find my Oblivion install, which is in the root E drive because I installed it directly from my Oblivion CD (not through Steam etc.). Since Wabbajack supports Oblivion and Morrowind, which both came out on CD, it needs to be able to detect these installations.

I looked for a setting to simply tell Wabbajack where my install is but there is none- code apparently searches directories based on the assumption that all games are from Steam or other providers like Origin.

I also tried satisfying Wabbajack by importing my Oblivion game to Steam through Steam's feature for managing non-Steam games, but that didn't work.

This was during an attempt to install the Bevilex mod pack, following their instructions exactly.

Additional Context

Windows 10, TES IV Oblivion

Wabbajack Version

2.5.2.0

Logs Wabbajack.current.log https://github.com/wabbajack-tools/wabbajack/files/7024313/Wabbajack.current.log Wabbajack 2021-07-23 23_30_49.log https://github.com/wabbajack-tools/wabbajack/files/7024314/Wabbajack.2021-07-23.23_30_49.log Wabbajack 2021-07-23 23_15_41.log https://github.com/wabbajack-tools/wabbajack/files/7024315/Wabbajack.2021-07-23.23_15_41.log

— You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/wabbajack-tools/wabbajack/issues/1591, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAE72HLBARSXZ4EJRGCPPO3T53JDVANCNFSM5CREARLA . Triage notifications on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1477376905?ct=notification-email&mt=8&pt=524675 or Android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.android&utm_campaign=notification-email .

-- “One of the main causes of the fall of the Roman Empire was that–lacking zero–they had no way to indicate successful termination of their C programs.” (Robert Firth)

[EzioTheDeadPoet]

not to mention that the CD copies of the game are missing one of the DLC that is needed for every list. see here for more details.

[CodeQuiver]

Understandable- I hadn't seen just how cheap it is now.

I would consider the problem fixed with a note in the documentation or Readme somewhere, so others won't spend hours trying to diagnose this problem like I did (or the error message). Any non-programmer wouldn't have been able to figure out that the problem was the CD installation, and Wabbajack seems aimed at a slightly more general audience.

I'm happy to add the note to the Readme or add a specific error message in a PR depending how you all handle collaboration.

That would be really appreciated. When I googled the problem I only found people being accused of piracy and notes about tweaking settings indirectly via Mod Organizer which didn't make much sense.

(Oh, I meant Oblivion and all expansions, I didn't see anything that was online-only at the link.)

[EzioTheDeadPoet]

the piracy stuff comes from the fact that Wabbajack works by using official store APIs to find the games, so with games like Skyrim it is a 99% chance it is piracy, except for the 1% of cases where it is actually a change in the steam API that broke the detection, which then has to be fixed on our side.

[CodeQuiver]

Yeah, that was my assumption. It is pretty jarring to read when looking for a legitimate bug fix though, so I'd like to save others the trouble.

[EzioTheDeadPoet]

you can make a PR to the documentation of the modlist and add a notice there that it doesn't work with the CD/DVD versions.

[CodeQuiver]

Will do, thanks. Probably also to the Wabbajack docs somewhere it's not out of place, just that it only supports online purchases e.g. Steam installations in a location that's capable of being launched from the vendor's platform (since modders tend to move their installs around sometimes to avoid Steam updates etc.).

[CodeQuiver]

A more useful error message would probably be the real fix here such as "[Current message here saying game can't be found/isn't installed] If the game is installed, make sure it was installed with a game manager (e.g. Steam) in a standard location. Other setups are not supported."

[github-actions[bot]]

Marked as stale due to inactivity. If the issue still exists, please comment as so.

[EzioTheDeadPoet]

A more useful error message would probably be the real fix here such as "[Current message here saying game can't be found/isn't installed] If the game is installed, make sure it was installed with a game manager (e.g. Steam) in a standard location. Other setups are not supported."

Sorry for the long silence, but the way how the Gamefinder library used by Wabbajack finds the games makes games not installed by the most common launchers invisible to the program making an detection based Version of a solution like this unlikely without gathering more information than the tool would need just for a more specialized error message.

But maybe someone can look into changing the error message to mention that fact to some extent (if it hasn't been done already.)

[CodeQuiver]

Yeah, my suggestion was just for a modification to the current error message, not adding anything specialized. If my wording above looks too long, maybe just "Please install/reinstall using a game client (e.g. Steam). Other methods not supported."

I feel like user-facing errors aren't really complete if they don't include some instructions on how to fix the problem, so hopefully that would improve things for all users seeing the error, not just the narrow case I ran across.

On Sun, May 29, 2022, 7:09 PM Luca @.***> wrote:

A more useful error message would probably be the real fix here such as "[Current message here saying game can't be found/isn't installed] If the game is installed, make sure it was installed with a game manager (e.g. Steam) in a standard location. Other setups are not supported."

Sorry for the long silence, but the way how the Gamefinder library used by Wabbajack finds the games makes games not installed by the most common launchers invisible to the program making an detection based Version of a solution like this unlikely without gathering more information than the tool would need just for a more specialized error message.

But maybe someone can look into changing the error message to mention that fact to some extent (if it hasn't been done already.)

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/wabbajack-tools/wabbajack/issues/1591#issuecomment-1140541653, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AJFTQPYLN53PKR5Z4TJND2DVMP2JLANCNFSM5CREARLA . You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: @.***>

[EzioTheDeadPoet]

@erri120 Since you wrote Gamefinder you might know where the string would need to be changed. 🤔