This is going to suond like a dumb question, but no matter what FRUA module I play, I can't find any armor for sale. Am I just an idiot, or is my game glitched? All the arms and armor stores just sell the same sets of weapons and no armor.


(For the record at the moment I have Pool of Radiance, Palace of the Silver Princess, and Keep on the Borderlands right now, and in none of them can I find armor for sale. Did I install the UAShell wrong?)

Is the GUI always the same grey one or does it have different colors and different fonts depending on the applied design? That's a simple way to tell whether UAShell was installed correctly for playing hacked designs; if the look doesn't change and it always looks the same grey, then chances are something went wrong. (Check this for reference.)

If you do see the GUI changes though, does it help to scroll down the lists, to see items that aren't displayed on the first page (arrow down or using the mouse on the right hand scroll bar next to the item list)?

I scroll down through the lists, no armor on any of them I've found. Nobody sells armor at all in any module I've tried, and UAShell is installed correctly. It's weird, because I know, for example, that they sold armor last time I played Keep on the Borderlands at least, which was a few years ago.


EDIT: It works now. 1D10T error, so to speak. The problem was between the computer and the chair.

I don't know whether this is the right thread, but is there a limit to the number and type of events and other content you can put in a specific map, with or without applying UAShell?

I cant seem to figure out where to put my DSN directory. I download a module (non hacked) from the archive, and I put the zip file into the main UA directory (in the gog.com directory), and then I unzip it. I rename the folder that it unzips into to have the .dsn extension, and I make sure that it contains the SAVE directory. I still dont see the module in FRUA.

Hoping someone can see my glaring error.

Thanks!

Never mind. Shame on me, I saw in my start menu directory.

My installation of UA Shell on Windows only seems to work a few times in the beginning and then won't work at all with the next times kicking me back to desktop. On top of that, the AOL Neverwinter Nights offline module doesn't seem to exist when trying to select it in UA Shell. Tried installing with and without ckit-crk as well. It's like the damn thing only runs correctly about 20% of the time after first installing, then won't work again. Any ideas?

Edit: Okay, it seems to work and load the correct custom UI for that module if I rename the module file to DEFAULT and launch though the regular game rather than through UA Shell, but i'm still baffled that I can no longer run UA Shell. Also, the music options when running UA Shell forces me to take Roland music when saying NO to PC Speaker I believe. Can't use any other type for music.

Folder was caller NEVERWIN.DSN.

Well, I managed to get it and music working this time, but after running Neverwinter once via UA Shell the UA Shell will no longer work saying something like "Unable to delete ckit.exe" or something then it kicks me back to desktop. I've tried with and without the ckit-crk mod. The only way I can run the module again is through default UA and not UA Shell.

On another note, I can't get other music types to work with default UA. Says something about can't install then says "C:\UA\disk1\ckit (-9)" or something.

Not really keen on signing up for another account to solve this. Wasn't planning on a serious play at the moment and just wanted to see if I could get it working and screw around with it anyways, oh well. Thanks for trying anyways.

The real experts and hackers hang out at that forum and not on GOG, sadly. I'm just a clueless fanboy who happens to be active in both communities, sorry. :)

I think there already is a thread on the UA forum about a similar issue to yours, maybe you can just read it without signing in and get some idea from that.

I think it was this one: UASHELL cannot delete files problem. Apparantly they didn't find an ultimate solution for that user's issues though ...

Thanks for the link, but i'll try some of that much later as I want to play something else and don't want to spend an eternity trying to get UA Shell to work.

I have some questions, as I'm not sure yet if the original post covers what I'm trying to do with Unlimited Adventures.

I've already started doing "French Vanilla" Unlimited Adventures Mods. So far, I've been able to use PaintshopPro to create my own monster combat icons as .pcx files, with ease. I recall, many years ago, being able to create the Player Character combat icons similarly; albeit, I believe I may have been using CorelDraw at the time. I don't think I had to use any hacking programs to be able to do it, such as UAshell, etc..

That being said: is it possible to create Player Character Combat icons without using hacking programs?

If I can't do it via commercial programs, what do I need to create custom Player Character combat icons and perhaps custom Player Character portraits? Does UAshell do that? Are there other programs that do that? I thought I saw some old programs mentioned, like UAtools or somesuch. Is UAshell the latest and greatest of those, perhaps?

What I know (or think I know!):
I've read somewhere that the PC combat icons are in the UA folder called "DISK3". The file name in DISK3 is called "CBODY.TLB". I guess that somewhere in there is supposed to be 49 character icons choices, but I don't know how to get to them. If I can get to them, I would like to find out how to swap them out for my own (when I make them). I currently am not aware of what format the icons are. My guess is .pcx (possibly LBM?).

If I can create the above using my own existing programs, or just simply taking the correct steps (maybe I missed something), that would be ideal. Can anyone advise on this?

First things first: There are no custom player character portraits in FRUA, only custom player character (combat) icons.

Importing player character icons transcends the scope of a French vanilla design; it's not an option the original FRUA offered, so it can only be done by hacking. It's highly recommended to have UAShell installed in order to deal with CBODY.TLB hacks. Like the name says, UAShell is primarily a shell, not a hacking tool, but it manages all kinds of hacks without messing up your original files, and it allows you to start several hacking tools via its menus.

The hacking tool you're looking for is probably CBEDIT by Dan Autery. It should be included in an UAShell installation (run it from the menu: Editors/Other/CBODY.MNW/CBODEDIT.MNY), but you can also download it separately from the UA archive (cbedit.zip). I have worked with it in the past, but to give detailed instructions on how to use it, I'd have to familiarize myself with it again. It's not really hard to understand, just a bit roundabout. I think it will ask you for the number of the slot you want to replace (0-48?) and then for the pcx file it should import your character icons from. Then it will write the changes to a new CBODY.TLB file. If you have UAShell installed, applying the hack is as easy as dropping the new CBODY.TLB file into the folder of the design you're working on and running it via UAShell.

In any case, if you plan on creating your own designs, using hacking tools, or even creating your own hacking tools, I also highly recommend joining the FRUA community forums at ua.reonis.com. They're a very friendly bunch and much more knowledgeable about any of these things than almost all of the GOG community members. I'm active in both communities, but my knowledge has limits.

Hi, Leroux!

Thanks, bunches for responding, and for the clarification. You may have saved me from considerable additional research time trying to see about making my own PC portraits, as that was next on my mind. Now, I know that if I want the PC combat icons, I'll have to take a few more steps than I originally thought.

I had to look up what a Shell actually was, and now I have a basic understanding of what you're saying, about how UAShell works. I'm going to go ahead and download and use UAShell. I feel it will help me improve the quality of my own mods.

I've been checking out the FRUA community that you mentioned. I may end up joining them.

Thanks, again! With any luck, I'll be short steps away from making some things that I really had fun with, years ago. : )

Are there any really good Dragonlance designs? I loved Death Knights of Krynn and am tempted to play through COK, DDK and DQK again some time soon. That's a lot of gaming, though, so a little shorter design, if there's anything of comparable quality, would be great.

Recommendations..? :)