Help with CMMOS

[Iraqi Tank Commander]

I downloaded and installed CMMOS and everytime I point it to a zipped mod it doesn't show up within CMMOS. Not sure what I'm doing wrong here :confused:

[Philippe]

There's a whole host of questions that need to be addressed to solve your problem.

1) Which CMMOS ? I might be able to help you with the official one at CMHQ that's numbered 4.03.

2) Exactly where did you install it ? It needs to go to something that looks like C:\Program Files\GEM Software Productions. If you put it inside the game it won't work.

3) As an addendum to the last point, if your game isn't exactly where the program expects it to be, CMMOS won't work. CMMOS expects CMBB to be at C:\Program Files\CMBB. If you let Bill Gates convince you that it belongs in a folder called "My Games", nothing will work.

4) Exactly what do you mean by "point it to a zipped mod" ? Please spell out your actions in excruciating detail, because barring something alluded to in 2) or 3) above, this is very likely the source of the problem. I hope you aren't trying to describe the process of telling CMMOS where CMBB is located the first time you configure it.

5) In the older versions of CMMOS I would have told you to take a peek inside the GEM Software/CMMOS/CMBB folder to make sure that the rule set and rule is installed. It's not a bad idea when you're trying to figure out what you forgot to do. If you don't see it, it probably means that you forgot to configure the mod. So click on the CMMOS desktop icon, click on CMBB (assuming that you have CMBO in there as well), and make sure you have the add mod tab pressed before you start trying to point.

In truth, if I have to guess what you're doing and list all the things you might have done wrong I'll just confuse you more. So please spell out exactly what it is you're doing. Half the time just stepping back to figure out what you've done makes you realize that you forgot something very basic.

[Iraqi Tank Commander]

Hi.

1. 4.03

2. It's in its own directory

3. I don't have CMBB installed in the default directory however when I first ran CMMOS I did point it to the CMBB executable.

4. Per the instructions I launched CMMOS, clicked "configure" and selected the "mods" tab. Then I clicked "add" and pointed downloaded a zipped mod file (JUJU's stonewall for example) and double clicked it. That's all I did but I don't see the mod added to CMMOS.

The only thing I didn't do was add a rule set. Since I just want to play with the default CMBB rules I didn't download any 3rd party rule set.

EDIT: I just found the CMMOSLOg file and opened it.

CM Mod Option Selector Version 4.03

CMMOS install folder is g:\games\CM Mod Option Selector\

ERROR: Unable to load RuleSets

ERROR: "E:\Backups\IEDownload\GamePatches\CM\DRTYWNTRRDMIKEYD.ZIP" is not properly formatted for installation by CMMOS

ERROR: "E:\Backups\IEDownload\GamePatches\CM\UD_SKY_MOD_HI_RES_DUSK.ZIP" is not properly formatted for installation by CMMOS

ERROR: "E:\Backups\IEDownload\GamePatches\CM\FatherofNonesoundmods\FATHEROFNONESOUNDMOD_ZIP2.ZIP" is not properly formatted for installation by CMMOS

Hmmm why won't it accept those mods?

[Philippe]

Glad that you put CMMOS inside its own directory, but where exactly did you put it ? What is the path ?

Could you explain No. 3 ? That may be the problem.

The other possibility is that you're trying to run a CMMOS mod that hasn't been converted to CMMOS. I'm not sure I know where to find Juju's stone wall on the CMHQ site.

So to be sure we're on the same page, try a different mod. Get the Juju_smallarms_CMMOS file from the Miscellaneous ruleset. Make sure that you've downloaded and installed the ruleset first or the rule won't have anywhere to go and the mod won't install (is that your problem, perhaps?)

Please tell us exactly what you're doing. Making me guess is bad, because if I guess about how to do something in CMMOS I'll probably guess correctly: I'm used to how it works and I tend to instinctively do the right thing. Until you rewire your brain for CMMOS think your assumptions will tend to be wrong, so please spell everything out this time.

One more thing. What does the cmmos log say ? You haven't mentioned anything about clicking on tabs on the main cmmos control screen, but that kind of activity and its results will show up in the log. And if something is wrong or is missing, the log will tell. At an even more basic level, what is the name of the ruleset that you're looking in, is there a normal icon or a disabled icon ?

As I said before, try it again with the small arms. My CMBO CMMOS is encyclopedic, but my CMBB CMMOS is anything but. Having said that, I don't seem to have that mod (the juju stone wall) that you mentioned as a cmmos mod, so I have to wonder. Does it have zips of rules inside, and do the bmp files have cmmos extensions ? What is the rule number for the mod ? [Again, if you know that, go look in the cmbb ruleset folders and see if a) the ruleset is there and the rule is there.

[Philippe]

The three mods that you mention in the error texts may not be CMMOS mods.

I would be very surprised if the FatherofNonesoundmod worked in CMMOS. I haven't looked at it yet, but sound mods are very tricky to get into CMMOS. The error message is saying that the mod isn't formatted correctly, which means that it either has a mistake in it, or it isn't formatted for CMMOS (the program doesn't distinguish).

I am not aware of a CMMOS version of UD's sky. I was thinking of writing one myself eventually, but the error message is saying the same thing as on the last one. Not formatted correctly or (as is probably the case) not formatted at all.

I'm not sure I know what a drtywntrdmikeyd is, so I can't comment.

The way you test something is in little steps, starting with something that you know works. See if you can get the juju small arms mod to work.

And remember, if a mod hasn't been converted to cmmos format it won't work in cmmos. That means there are rules in zip files inside the mod, and the rules have rule numbers so the program can sort and use them.

I notice one of your error messages is unable to load rulesets. Did you download and install any rulesets ? If you didn't the rules won't have anyplace to go.

Looks like you have CMMOS in the forbidden games folder. You also seem to have it in a different drive than your mods. What is the path for CMBB? I can't tell if you're getting an "unable to load Rulesets" message because your unusual locations are confusing the program, or if the program can't find the rulesets because they simply aren't installed.

I think you really need to sit down, read the readme file, and start over again.

Please describe the structure of the contents of CMMOS. How many folders do you see when you look inside, and what is in them ? Specifically, what ruleset folders do you have, and do you have rules in them ?

[Splinty]

I think I see your problem. You must use the Rule-Sets, they don't change how the game plays, they just add the necessary insructions to make the modified graphics work. Just put the Rule-Sets in your CMBB BMP folder and do NOT unzip them. The CMMOS program will do the rest as long as you point it at the BMP folder.

[Philippe]

Rulesets won't do him any good if a) the rules don't exist, and the mod bmp's don't have CMMOS extensions keyed to the rule.

Having said that, I've never tried putting unzipped rulesets in the bmp folder. With CMBO CMMOS it is generally a bad idea to put anything other than bmp's in the bmp folder. I must say I was unaware that CMMOS 4.03 would look for rulesets anywhere but in CMMOS, but I'm not as familiar with CMBB CMMOS as with CMBO CMMOS. Have you actually tried doing what you're recommending and can you say with 100% certainty that it works ? I don't recall seeing anything about this when I was part of Gordon's CMMOS cabal distribution list, but then most of us tended to have our noses stuck in our own particular parts of the project.

[Iraqi Tank Commander]

Well I did add a ruleset (the auotbahn one) successfully but still a no go with mods.

[MikeT]

Iraqi TC, contact me at home and we can diag your problems.

MikeT

miket6065@sbcglobal.net

[Philippe]

Great that you got the Autobahn ruleset installed. I'm not sure that those three mods that you mentioned would appear in that particular ruleset though.

At the risk of beating a dead horse, how do you know that the three mods you tried to install with CMMOS are CMMOS mods ? Please answer the following:

1) Do the mod bmp's have extensions on their file numbers ? [e.g. bmp number 12345 with an Andrew Fox mod would probably appear with an "_atf" extension, and would be 12345_atf in a CMMOS mod.

2) Does the zip of the mod with the bmp extensions include a zip with a CMMOS rule for the ruleset? Many people naively think that if they put some funny letters and an underscore after their mod bmp numbers that they've somehow made the mod "CMMOS compliant". The way that you make a mod work in CMMOS is to write a rule textfile with a name like Rule123-456. If a mod doesn't have a zip file inside it with a name like that ("Rule123-456") it won't work in CMMOS.

I really think that what you have to do to understand this, besides rereading Gordon's readme files and Mike's excellent tutorial, is to take one mod and one ruleset that are easy to get right the first time. I suggest we do this with Juju's small arms, and do it in detail. So download the appropriate ruleset, and tell us what your control panel screen looks like, then download the mod, try to install it, and tell us if a new icon appears in the control panel, and whether or not it has the european one-way do not enter sign showing.

If you give us a precise answer to those questions it will eliminate a very large array of potential problems, and will save us from having to ask you a lot of questions. It will also be a good learning experience in the use of CMMOS.

In case you hadn't guessed, there are probably ten other people out there reading this who are too shy to ask their own questions, so be a mensch and help them find a solution to their problem by solving yours in public.

[Iraqi Tank Commander]

Ahh it looks like the mods I was trying to add are not CMMOS compatible which is why they're not showing up at all.