Guild of Writers

Disclaimer :
This FAQ is not exhaustive, it is always 'under construction', and many things might be missing. If you found a problem that is not covered here, please add it or post about it on the forum.

What is this FAQ?
For now this FAQ focuses on problems with Uru and the Tools (essentially PyPRP). Problems that are related only to Blender and modelling/texturing/animating/sound are located in the Blender FAQ.

Common advices:

• Make sure you have the latest version of the tools.
  
• Make sure to always keep various back-ups of your Age files. Save your Age Blend file with incremental numbers (MyAge01.Blend, MyAge02.Blend etc)
  
• If you have enough space on your hard drive, keep a 'clean' back up installation of Uru. It is always useful for testing; or getting back missing/corrupted files for your 'regular' Uru installation.
  
• Whenever you have a problem with an Age, try to remember the last things you changed; the source of the problem is certainly here.
  
• If you sometimes use PyPRP 'Importer' make sure you do not use it to export, and switch back to the regular PyPRP to export your Age.
• Patience is your best tool. :)
  
• If all else fails, ask on the forum.

- PyPRP Setup Issues

PyPRP does not appear in the list of Exports

Make sure that you copied the Python files out of the PyPRP distribution's "src" folder into your .blender/scripts directory.

- PyPRP export error messages

"Blender Error Saying 'Object <object_name> Has no material. Export cannot continue!' "

That object does not have any materia. Either you delete that object, or you give it material. Giving it material does not mean setting bounds. To fix it, select the object, and in the buttons window, go in to object mode, (The red dot), and click on to the red dot right next to it, (same symbol as before), and click "Add New". That should fix it.

"Blender error pop-up saying: Python script error: check console"

The console is that small black and white window that opens up with Blender. So whenever you get that error open the console and look at what the last line says. That error may be listed in this FAQ, if it isn't ask on the forum.

"Couldn't load image data in Blender"

Sometimes Blender 'forget' some images. Solution: Reload the image in question in UV/Image window, or by simply selecting the problematic object, open a UV/Image window and hit 'F', this will display the image and fix the problem. This happens often.

"TypeError: 'NoneType' object is unsubscriptable"

I'm not sure why but this has to do with an object having multiple materials.. Try to remove materials from your objects.. If your objects needs several material try to subdvide it into more objects, one for each material.

"ValueError: Need more than 0 values to unpack"

This is most likely because your object use one (or more) vertex groups. Remove them. Select your object and go to the 'Editing' panel, and in the leftmost part of the panel there is the Vertex Groups area, click 'delete'.

"ValueError: face has no texture values"

The mesh has a texture assigned but it is not yet UV mapped. Select the object and hit 'F' to edit its UV mapping.

"Checking for installed Python... No installed Python found."

There is a problem with Python. You need to install Python; find it here: Installing PyPRP

"ImportError: No module named glob"

There is a problem with Python. Make sure it is properly installed, or re-install it.

"ImportError: No module named Image"

You need to install the Python Imaging Library. Find it here: Installing PyPRP

"ImportError: No module named yaml"

You need to install YAML. Find it here: Installing PyPRP

"ImportError: No module named PyPRP"

There is a problem with the PyPRP scripts installation. Make sure they are copied in the correct folder (see PyPRP:Installation).

"ImportError: No module <anything other than glob, image, yaml or PyPRP>"

The python file mentioned is missing. Make sure that the various PyPRP files are installed in the PyPRP subfolder of blender's script folder. The default path for this: C:\Program Files\Blender\.blender\scripts, also see PyPRP:Installation.

"UnboundLocalError: local variable 'col_r' referenced before assignment"

This error can be related to vertex painting if you are using an "alpha" layer but no "col" layer. If you do vertex alpha the "col" layer is also required, even if you don't use it. So make sure to have one.

"WindowsError: [Error 2] The system cannot find the path specified: 'C:\\DOCUME~1\\user\\LOCALS~1\\Temp\\..."

You may be trying to export an age from a .blend file that you opened within a temporary ZIP file folder (obtained by double-clicking on the ZIP file in Windows); and the plugin is unable to find the files it needs to in this temporary file. To fix this, exit Blender and right-click on the ZIP file, then choose Extract from the popup menu. Once the file has been extracted into a folder, double-click the .blend file and try again.

"Assertion Error: SRE module mismatch.

The system is picking up,there is something wrong with your Python file. Look if you have the latest version of Python. If you have the right version of Python, check you have no older version of Python standing on your computer.

- Other PyPRP Issues

PyPRP ignores my AlcScript at export

Make sure that your AlcScript is in the proper text datablock called "AlcScript". This may seem obvious but it is a very common beginners mistake.

- Uru problems/errors messages

"Files are corrupted or missing"

This is the most frequent problem and the easiest to fix. Some files are indeed corrupted or missing. If you have worked with the PRP files by hand then this is related to the .sum file of the Age either it is out of date and need to be updated (by any tool like Plasmashop,UruFun, ULM) or some of the PRP files for the Age are missing. Make sure you haven't deleted or renamed any files..
If you have this problem when you start Uru, this is a problem with the Personal Age files, or some of the other necessary Uru files. Make sure you haven't deleted or renamed any files.

"Black screen when linking"

There are several possibilities:
It might be a problem with the linking point for the Age. Either you don't have one, or it is placed in an improper place (inside a wall, under the floor etc) or it is incorrectly named.
This could also be a problem with the .Fni file. If it is corrupted in any way some graphic cards will display a totally black fog in the Age instead of the fog you have set in the .fni file. Make sure it is not corrupted in any way. The best way to avoid this is to create the .fni file in Blender, and never touch it outside of Blender unless you know exactly what you are doing. Just incase you don't have the fni file, you can get it by exporting the age again, but instead of clicking on "Generate Age", click on "As Full Age".

< This section needs to be expanded >

"Uru crashes on startup"

This is most likely related to the lastest Age you have added or modified. Try removing it and launch Uru again. If this solves the problem, then something is wrong with this Age; and if you have a .Pak Python file for this Age it is most likely the problem. Make sure it is properly compiled, not corrupted, and doesn't have any problem of any kind.

"Uru crashes to desktop when I try to load my Age"

There are several possibilities:

1) This is often related to a Sequence Prefix error. Have you registered a Sequence Prefix for your Age? Make sure it is not an existing number. Register your Age here: Obtaining your own unique Sequence Prefixes.

2) Another possibility is a problem with the way the Age is registered in ULM. Try removing the Age from the book and move it to a new slot on the book, or move it to a different book. It is unknown what causes this, but this fix sometimes work.

3) PyPRP version 1.4.0 and above support dynamic shadows for all objects, not only the avatar. Unfortunately this is enabled by default in all Blender materials which means that if you haven't manually disabled it it is enabled for all the objects in your Age. This is too much to handle for most computers, and it may be the reason why your Age crashes.
So if your haven't done it yet you will need to update all the materials in your Age and disable the 'Shadowbuf' button in the Material. (it is in the 'Links and Pipeline' pannel).To make things easier you can download this python script that will do it automatically. Install it in your Blender Scripts folder (where you installed PyPRP). Then in Blender open a Scripts window and in the Scripts menu go to Materials>Clear Shadbuf.

"Uru crashes when I try to load my Age and displays a 'Stack Dump' window"

Unfortunately there could be many sources for this.. A very common error which causes this is having an animated object that is not an actor; but it could be many other things. Try to remember the last things you changed to the Age or to Uru before that happened; the source of the problem is certainly here. It may also be because of a Python problem; if you use Python in your Age check that there is nothing wrong with the code or with the .pak files.

Users can send stack dumps to Tahgtahv. Browse to your game directory. Include the contents of log/stackdump.log (if it exists) along with a description of the problem and he will look into it.

"My object doesn't appear in my Age, although I had no error on export."

Check that your object isn't assigned a non-existing page_num property. It could also be a problem with the normals, in edit mode check that your object's normals are not inverted.

"I'm using a stencil on my object's material to blend together two different textures, but I only see one."

The stencil texture needs to have its 'CalcAlpha' flag turned on.

- ULM/ULM related problems

"Application couldn't initialise properly (0xc0000135). Click OK to stop the application."

To run ULM you need to have .Net 2.0 installed. Find it here.

"My Age doesn't appear in the 'Personal Ages' tab."

There are several possibilities:
1) Some (or all) of the Age files are missing in the /Dat folder. Check if they are here, especially the .age file.
2) ULM can't read the .age file. That file is broken for some reason. Fix it manually if you know how to do it, or try to export the Age again.
3) The sequence prefix for the Age is less than 100 or is already used by one of your other Ages. Make sure to use a unique sequence prefix number, and make sure that it is above 100. (Numbers bellow 100 are reserved for Cyan Ages)

"I added the age to a page in ULM, but no extra books appeared on my Relto bookshelf."

One possibility is that you have installed ULM before you installed the Path of The Shell expansion set to your URU: Ages Beyond Myst game. To fix this, remove UruLibraryManager.pak from the Python folder and reinstall ULM.

"I added the age to a page in ULM, but the link does not work in URU."

Try removing the age from the current book in ULM and adding it to another book that does not have any other ages in it.

- Blender File Issues

"I want to move my Age project Blender file to a new computer"

There may be time when you want to move your Age's Blender file to another computer.
Now, just copying the Blender file and your texture folder(s) will propbably not work as the file paths of your textures are unlikely to be identical on your new machine, and you will end up with the dreaded "pink" objects syndrome when you open the Blender file on your new machine.

Now, there is an easy way for you to "fix" this problem of moving your blender file and /or texture folder to either a new machine (or maybe even a new directory (folder) on your current machine) by using Blenders "pack" function.**

Open the blender file on your current machine and then go to File/External Data/Pack into Blend file ... and then save your Blender file. If you go and look at the size of your blender file now, you will see that it will have rocketed upwards in size (because it now has all your original, uncompressed texture files inside the blender file itself).

Now, move this new, bloated Blender file to its new location ... and then open it (from its new location) and go to File/External Data/ Unpack into files/use current directory (create if necessary) ... and Blender will create a new folder inside the folder where it now resides called "textures" ... and inside this folder will be all your (perfectly recreated) texture files... ... but, the best bit is that if you now go and look at the paths for your textures ... they now all point to this new folder ... . Even better, if you have your default Blender setting set to "Relative Paths Default" (pull down the very top menu bar ... where you set the sfx sound path) ... then all your textures will have the path "//textures\yourfile.png"

This method can also be used to bring all your (scattered) texture files into one texture folder (if you have used various different folders all over your hard drive to import textures) ... even if you are not moving your blend file to a new location or computer ...

NOTE:** you may want to try this method without "risking" your master blender file so ... BEFORE starting this process, open your master Blender file and then immediately save it with a new filename (e.g. MyAgePacked.blend) ... and then proceed with the packing process. This will also enable you to compare the size of the packed and unpacked blender files, so you will know that you have packed the file correctly.