Strings problem with map... Help!!!

Hi all!

This site is great. It's helped me a lot already. Now I've run into something I can't figure out on my own. Please help!

As my first serious map development project, I'm bug-fixing, adding features, etc. to Counter-Strike TD 1.6... Everything has gone well until now.

Strings have basically stopped working. For example:

- if I edit the Map Description or Loading Screen strings in the Map Editor, save and close the map, then reload it, they aren't changed.

- if I edit custom item descriptions (like tooltip or extended tooltip), and reload the map, they disappear and show up empty.

- Some custom unit names show up empty upon reloading


I've tried editing the strings file directly with W3M Map Utilities, but any time I apply it back, the WE says the file is corrupted when I try to load it...

However, I can edit the Map Loading Screen and Description fields directly from the "Edit Map Information" button in W3M Map Utils and it will work as long as I don't make some of the fields too long.


I'm using the WE with UMSWE 4.0 patched and W3M Map Util 2.5.



I'm at a loss what to do. I'm attaching the current map. The Orc Custom Units have most of the custom units in this map.

Sounds like the map you're working on wasn't made with UMSWE, but with the normal world editor. I may be wrong, but I believe that if you open a map created with the normal world editor up in UMSWE, it can screw things up.

Actually, the map wouldn't open without UMSWE... I assumed that meant that it had been made with it. Is there anyway to find out for sure?

What about the new beta version of UMSWE? From what I understand it is the result of work since the 1.13 patch..


Thanks for the reply

Another odd thing that is probably related:

If I try to send a message to a player with a string, it will not work - the string is empty after saving and reloading.

HOWEVER, if I use any other function, like concatenate strings, then it will work. So if I just try to display "Hi", it won't work, but if I concatenate it into "H" + "i" it will store in the W3M file properly and work.

Well, I went through it as thoroughly as I could, and couldn't track down the problem. All I can say is that the map is most thoroughly buggered. I tried opening it up in my editor, and got all the same results as you, except I was able to open it in the basic editor. I really hope you've saved some backups, or you've lost the work you've done. I generally save a copy of my scenarios every day, so at the worst I've lost a day's work.

It may be a longshot, but I had some problems similar to yours in a map and it turned out to be folders in my warcraft directory with files in them. (Like a Units folder, UI folder, etc). I wish I knew which one in particular was causing the problems, but I do know that when I deleted them all the problems went away.

Well, I know that regardless I haven't lost everything... The main issue was working through some design and playability issues. The triggers can all be copied over, as can the unit stats - even if I need to do it by hand. I do have several backups, but I believe this issue has been there a while - I just didn't get into editing strings until recently. :(

Redoing the regions and pathing wouldn't take long now that I know what I'm doing... :)


Anyway, I removed all old patch directories (ui, user, etc.) when I installed UMSWE 4.0. I guess I'll stop developing until I hear from someone else and go back and see where the problem starts.


But, shouldn't there be a way to disassemble the map and attempt to piece it back together part by part? That way perhaps I could at least find where the problem is. For example, it could be a particular unit causing this problem.

Any idea what might be the fastest way to check if the file is still corrupted if I am to attempt to find the problem?

Well, I figured out what messed the map up in the first place.

If I edit the strings in W3M Map Utilities (through the 'Edit Strings' button on the 'Edit' tab), and apply it back into the W3M file - even if I don't make any changes in the string file at all - this bug happens.

I think I'll start a separate post on it. W3M Utils must be somehow corrupting the strings file or the archive. Maybe that only happens in conjuction with UMSWE - or even specifically UMSWE 4.0 with the 1.13b patch or something like that...