A BIF issue.

[Andyr]

Ok, my problem is this.

For some reason, BGII is not recognising STORES.BIF. Looking in NI I only have 45 STO files - ones introduced by mods, and the various containers (which I assume come from a different .BIF) and the ToB stores (again I assume from a different BIF). So, when I try and enter a store my game crashes.

I have replaced my STORES.BIF with a copy which Neriana kindly sent me though looking in NI it only sees 45 STOs still, and the game crashes.

Essentially, the game does not see the BIF.

I can add a new .STO file into Override just fine. So, adding Gorch the Bookkeeper allows me to visit him.

The odd thing is that my Tutu install, from the same set of CDs, has the same set of BIFs but I *can* see the BGII stores looking in NI. I also tried copying the Tutu installs' identical STORES.BIF to my BGII data directory, but no joy.

So... Can anyone tell me how I can make BGII recognise that STORES.BIF is, actually, there? I have no idea why the game does not see it. I have looked at my .INI files but don't see anything obvious.

Failing that, I think the alternative would be to use NI to extract everything from my Tutu install STORES.BIF and shove it in my BGII Override?

Any help is appreciated, I am a little stuck atm!

[Ghreyfain]

It's not the bifs that are the problem, but the chitin.key.  Think of chitin.key as a dialog.tlk, only instead of text, it's an index of bifs.  Not sure how you might've damaged it, but it no longer recognizes stores.bif as anything at all.  Do you have a backup?

[Smoketest]

I see 149 default stores in my ToB install. The SoA stores, including portable containers, are in STORES.BIF and the ToB stores are in 25STORE.BIF.

Anyway, your thought that you could extract the files from your Tutu install and put them in the BG2 override would probably work, since override files don't have to be indexed in Chitin.key like files in BIFs do. That's assuming your Tutu's STORES.BIF has all the files a default install should have.

If that's successful, you might try making a new STORES.BIF with WeiDU that contains the pertinant store files. WeiDU will link the new BIF and it's files into Chitin.key and theoretically fix the problem.

Failing all that, a fresh install might be necessary. Just backup your dialog.tlk and override contents first, if those matter to you.

[Andyr]

I'll try that, then, Smokestest. Cheers.