FIXSAVE v1.75
=============

	Fixsave is a utility designed to fix problems with people's save
games. It repairs a multitude of problems that Daggerfall creates in your
game. The most common of these are games that are unable to load due to
invalid quest objects, invalid quest links, duplicate map ids, and invalid
quest map ids. It will also repair various quests to allow you to continue
in the game.

NOTE: Fixsave has a few changes done to it since the 1.07.213 patch.
Please review the documentation below to see how these changes affect
the operation of the program.

UPDATE INFORMATION FOR v1.75:

	An increasing number of people have reported that their lycanthrope
spell has dissapeared. If you are suffering from this problem, Fixsave now
places another copy of the spell into your spellbook so that you can switch
forms and continue in your adventures.

UPDATE INFORMATION FOR v1.74:

	Some internal save game repairs being done by the Daggerfall v1.07
patch has caused some save games to no longer be loadable. When this happens,
the error reported by the game is "Invalid character data." Fixsave now
repairs the save game so that it can once again be loaded by Daggerfall.


UPDATE INFORMATION FOR v1.73:

	If you are having problems giving quest items to a person, fixsave
now has some additional repairs for this dilema. If during repairs, fixsave
reports that it has repaired the item's quest link, the person should now
acknowledge the item and talk to you.

UPDATE INFORMATION FOR v1.72:

	Fixsave now checks the status of the file savetree.dat. This
is an important file for your save game. If it is missing or damaged,
fixsave is not able to repair your game. If it finds a problem with
your savetree.dat file, you are notified of the situation and given
the option to continue with the repairs.

UPDATE INFORMATION FOR v1.71:

	Fixsave now operates for all install sizes. You may be requested
to insert your CD-ROM when running Fixsave. Please make sure that the
CD-ROM's drive letter is the same as when you installed the game.

HOW TO USE FIXSAVE:

	When you run fixsave, you will be provided a list of the 6 save
games that you currently have. When you pick one, it will analyize various
parts inside your save game and notify you when it finds something wrong
while it repairs it. Sometimes, a quest will be found to be damaged and it
will have to be removed. However, most of the time, your game will be
repaired with no noticable changes.

NOTE:	Because fixsave backs up your game before it attempts to repair it,
do NOT try to run the repair utility more than once on a particular game
between gaming sesions. Running fixsave more than once will NOT improve its
chances of being fixed. Plus, your original save game will be overwritten with
the newly modified one. This could prevent you from being able to repair it later
with a more enchanced version of fixsave designed to deal with your specific
problem.

WHAT FIXSAVE FIXES:

	In order to know when to use fixsave, a detailed list of what
the program can repair is described below.

*	All versions - If you are unable to find the dungeon that contains
	the Dust of Restful Death on the Isle of Balefira, fixsave will
	activate it for you. If fixsave reports "NOT ACTIVE", it does
	not mean your game is damaged. It just means that the quest is
	not running therefore, there is nothing to activate.

*	Pre 1.02.177 - Quests that failed to find a particular person
	it needed would would improperly create a person to use instead.
	This caused an invalid quest link to occurr. Fixsave will remove
	those quests that have this problem.

*	Pre 1.03.179 - Quest monsters were not having their items properly
	tagged to the quest. When the quest terminated, any items remaining
	in the world (Like the ones picked up by the user) would become
	invalid quest objects. Thus the invalid quest object error when
	trying to load a game suffering from this problem. Fixsave will
	remove the quest information.

*	Pre 1.04.191 - 6 main story quests were found to illegally share 3
	locations. This would cause problems when a second quest was started
	that tried to use a location already involved in another quest. An
	invalid quest map id error would be generated. If you have a game
	saved before you do the following:
		* Give the painting to Queen Akorithi (!)
		* Give the Dust of Restful Death to Medora
		* Give the Unicorn Horn to Medora
		* Give the Jewelry to Mynisera.
		* Get sent to Shedungent by Queen Abuk-i.

	Running fixsave on these games will prevent the invalid quest map ID
	crash while saving from happening.

(!)	NOTE: You will need patch v1.04.191 or later before giving the
	painting in order to be 100% sure that this invalid map id problem
	will not happen.

*	Pre 1.04.191 - Sometimes the faction information for a main story
	character is deleted. This would cause nothing to happen when you
	clicked on the NPC. Fixsave will restore this information so that
	the person will talk to you again.

*	Pre 1.04.191 - Objects were found to sometimes not be properly
	released from a quest. The item was no longer marked for a quest,
	but still linked into the system. This would cause a wide range
	of problems. Fixsave will remove the remaining quest information
	from the objects.

*	Pre 1.05.195 - For people having 113 crashes after using items
	in their inventory, (which includes buying and selling of items)
	fixsave will repair those games.

*	Pre 1.05.195 - Some objects are found to be misreported as quests.
	This will cause both Daggerfall 1.04.191 and fixsave to crash when
	loading a save game. Daggerfall has been modified to ignore this
	problem and fixsave will return the object back to its original
	state.

*	Pre 1.05.195 - More problems with the invalid quest map id have
	been fixed. Stronger logic code has been added to deal with this
	problem.

*	Pre 1.05.195 - A change done to the "Soul of a Lich" quest, caused
	the game to crash in a special instance when you killed the lich.
	Fixsave will allow you to kill the lich and continue the game.

*	Pre 1.05.195 - Fixsave will allow people who turned down the
	painting quest in the game to take the quest after all. This will
	allow them to finish the game.

*	Pre 1.05.195 - A serious bug was located in the game that would
	cause your items to disspear from the inventory screen. This would
	also cause the inventory screen to crash when you tried to view
	a group of items. (Like the ones on your cart.). 1.05.195 will
	no longer create this problem, but you must run fixsave to repair
	the game if it suffers from this. Because this is a complicated
	repair, it may not succeed at reconstructing your map file
	properly.

*	Pre 1.05.195 - A quest was found to be creating an invalid sprite
	index for an NPC. So if you've been crashing with an error 520
	while trying to enter a house for a quest, and fixsave says its
	fixed an invalid sprite index, then you will be able to continue
	in your quest.

*	Pre 1.05.195 - The problems with people having wild variations
	in their level advancement has been located. If fixsave sees that
	you've lost your starting skill sum, it will repair it with a
	precalculated average sum. Since it is not the sum you stared with,
	the level you return to may not be the one you had before the
	problem started.

*	Pre 1.05.195 - For people who are getting map id errors after leaving
	the starter dungeon, fixsave will repair your game so you can
	continue your journey.

*	Pre 1.06.200 - Another fix in the v1.05.195 version of the
	"Soul of a Lich" quest activates the mummy to be sent after you.

*	Pre 1.06.200 - Some people have reported losing their scarab
	in the Soul of a Lich quest. If you've lost it, and have another
	scarab in your possesion, this will attach the quest to that
	item instead so you can complete the quest.

*	Pre 1.07.213 - Another side effect of the serious bug found prior
	to the 1.05.195 patch has been fixed. If you've lost all your quests
	or the game crashes when you try to load it up, then this will fix
	your problem.

*	Pre 1.07.213 - An internal map memory leak was found in the game.
	While the 1.07 patch will fix this problem, fixsave will remove
	the stale objects from your game. If the game is running much
	slower than it originally did, or if you've had to increase
	OBJMEMSIZE to a value larger than 2000 and you don't have many
	items, then this should fix your problem.

*	Pre 1.07.213 - Due to a variety of other bugs in the game, some
	data objects associated with your character are being deleted. Fixsave
	now replaces them when they are missing. This will help you load
	your game or prevent it from crashing when you're in your inventory
	screen.

*	Pre 1.07.213 - If your character has negative spell points, fixsave
	will set it to 0. This does not work if your max spell points has
	been set to a negative number.

*	Pre 1.07.213 - Another method of activating the zombie in the
	Soul of a Lich quest has been implemented.

*	Pre 1.07.213 - A fix for the "Guard the Mage in a Trace" quest
	was put in when it didn't terminate after the time limit expired.

*	Post 1.07.213 - A repair for the problem of a person not accepting
	the quest item has been added. This circumvents a problem with the
	quest code in the game.

*	Post 1.07.213 - An internal repair function inside Daggerfall
	sometimes causes a saved game to exit with the error "Invalid
	Character Data". If you suffer from this problem, fixsave will
	repair your game so that it is once again loadable.

*	Post 1.07.213 - Fixsave now replaces the lycanthrope spell if you've
	lost the spell.
	
WHAT FIXSAVE DOES NOT FIX:

	If both Daggerfall and fixsave crash while trying to load a game,
then your game is corrupted beyond repair. Usually this happens with the
invalid quest map id error prior to the 1.04.191 patch. Or any other time
the game crashes while saving. Another sign that your game has been lost
is when you get the error "You fall to the ground completely exhausted..."
etc. after loading a game. This game is missing the file savetree.dat and
no longer contains any map information associated with your character. This
cannot be repaired as all of your character information is missing.

	If fixsave does start its repair process and then has problems, then
there is something I can do to help you. If your game is giving you problems
and you used the repairs objects item maker advantage before the 1.03.179
patch update, then fixsave will not be able to help you either. There is too
much damage to be repaired. Fixsave is not able to deal with the case
of a main story quest being corrupted either as it cannot remove that from
your game.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

	If for some reason fixsave does not work as described above,
feel free to contact me, Hal Bouma, at hal@bethsoft.com and I'll see what
I can do to help you get your game back up and running. If you do not have
email access, contact technical support and they'll forward your message
on to me.
	
VERSION HISTORY:

1.75	- Fixsave now replaces lost lycanthrope spells.

1.74	- A side effect of an internal game correction in the 1.07 patch
	  is now resolved by Fixsave.

1.73	- Fixsave repairs problems due to lost quest links on items.

1.72	- Fixsave updated to check the state of the savetree.dat file.

1.71	- Fixsave updated to work with all install sizes.

1.70	- Version updated to operate with the 1.07 patch.

1.65	- The Zombie fix was updated for the 200 patch. A fix for N2 was
	  added so that the quest was deleted when the time expired.

1.64	- A internal corruption bug was fixed.

1.63	- Fixsave now replaces lost data objects associated with your
	  character when they are missing in your character. Fixsave also
	  sets character's with negative spell points to 0.

1.62	- Another side effect of the duplicate map identifiers was found
	  and fixed. A map memory leak was found in the game and a
	  removal process of these stale objects was added to fixsave.

1.61	- An option for people to quit or continue when fixsave is unable
	  to backup your save game. I will hopefully write a better routine
	  in the future where the backup feature will work for everyone.

1.60	- A fix for people who have lost their scarabs in the Soul of
	  a Lich quest.

1.52	- The backup savegame routine has been improved. If it didn't
	  work for you before, it should work now. 

1.51	- A problem with the v1.05.195 "Soul of a Lich" quest has been
	  found where the zombie is not properly activated. Fixsave
	  repairs that quest for you now.
	  
1.50	- Duplicate map identifers problem fixed. This would cause
	  items in your inventory to dissapear and your character
	  sheet to crash at odd times. An invalid sprite check for
	  a quest was added. A fix for people who have level problems.
	  The invalid map id when leaving the starter dungeon has
	  been fixed as well.

1.44	- Two main story quests have been addressed by fixsave. The
	  "Soul of a Lich" crash when you kill the lich and the ability
	  to change your mind about accepting the painting quest.

1.43	- A game backup system has been added. More problems with the
	  invalid quest map id error has been fixed.

1.42 	- Fixes problems with equipment causing 113 crashes and catches
	  one problem with corrupted objects.

1.41	- First major release included with the Daggerfall patch program.






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This document was last modified on: Tuesday, 15 February 2011, at 20:25:32 and has been accessed 4259 times ( dagger/files/fixsave.txt ).
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