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Backing up B&W
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WHAT
TO BACKUP
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FOR
BLACK & WHITE
The default install location
for B&W is: C:/Program files\Lionhead Studios\Black & White\
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- You need to backup the following folders:
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\Black & White\Profiles.
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These are your game saves.
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\Black
& White\Scripts\CreatureMind
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As the name implies, your
creature’s mind files are here.
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Also if you use skins, backup
your creature mesh folder, since a new install rewrites it.
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\Black & White\Data\CreatureMesh
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In case of a fresh install also
backup your maps.
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\Black &
White\Data\Landscape\MultiPlayer
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\Black &
White\Scripts\Playgrounds
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FOR
CREATURE ISLE
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Since the file names in CI and
B&W are the same. I would suggest that you make a separate
folder for the CI files.
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\Black &
White\CreatureIsle\Profiles
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and
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\Black &
White\CreatureIsle\Scripts\CreatureMind
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are the two folders that you
need.
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And finally the most important
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THE
REGISTRY FILES
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This is the key to restoring
your game. Without this you’re dead.
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Click on Start>Run, type in
Regedit and press OK
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When the window opens click on
Edit and then Find.
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Type in LHMultiPlayer.
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Open the folder to see your
profile folder(s).
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Highlight the Black & White
folder.
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Click on File, then Export
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When this window opens chose your
backup folder as the location to export to.
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Name the file B&W and press OK
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This will create a registry
backup file called B&W.reg in your backup folder.
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If you also have CI, then
highlight the CreatureIsle folder and repeat the process. Only
this time name it CI.
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TO RESTORE
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After installing the game(s),
simply copy the backup folder(s) back into the game.
Overwriting the existing game folders.
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Then double click on the registry
backup(s) to restore the registry.
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However.
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When you uninstall B&W and then
reinstall it, without deleting any files. The Profiles folder
and the CreatureMind folder do not get deleted, though the
registry does..
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So all that you need to do is to
restore your registry to get going again.
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CI on the other hand is totally
deleted when you uninstall it. So you will have to copy the
two folders back into the game, as well as restoring the
registry.
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BACKING UP INDIVIDUAL
PROFILES
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This can be done to add a profile
from another game to your game. Or as a backup if you have
multiple profiles and only play one. Backup files can be huge.
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When backing up, only back up the
individual creature’s profile folder, not the whole Profiles
folder
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The same goes when backing up the
registry, you only want the one profile.
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Also backup your creature’s mind
files. These can be identified in the registry.
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To restore, just copy the files
to their appropriate folders and double click on the *.reg
file to update the registry
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LOST
CREATURES
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Point of interest. When you
delete a profile, the creature mind file does not get deleted.
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So if your profile has been
accidentally deleted, your creature can be recovered.
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Also if you have uninstalled the
game and then reinstalled without restoring the registry then
your creature might still be there.
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You can see what creature mind
files are in the CreatureMind folder by using Kong. Yes, the
dreaded KONG, it does have some good uses too.
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Kong will display the names of
all the creature minds that are in the CreatureMind folder.
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Creature mind files are the files
that look like C4abc1234.erc and PhysiqueC4abc1234.erc.They
are a set, but the first one is the most important.
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To identify your active
creatures. Go to LHMultiplayer in the registry and open your
creature’s profile.
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Across from the entry “File” you
will see your creature’s file name.
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Write this down as well as that
of any other creatures you might have.
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Now you can go to the
CreatureMind folder to identify your lost creatures.
Note: For CI, the TC#####.erc
file is Tyke's mind file.
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TO RECOVER A LOST
CREATURE
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Once you’ve identified your lost
creature. Start a new profile and quit the game.
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Open the CreatureMind folder and
copy the c#####.erc and the PhysiqueC#####.erc files of your
lost creature to your desktop. Rename these files to be the
same as that of the creature that you just created.
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Now move these files back into
the CreatureMind folder, overwriting the new creature’s mind
files with your lost creature.
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Though you have to restart on
land one you should have your old creature back.
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The other option is to rename the
registry ‘file name’ to that of your creature’s name.
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Either method above can be used
to transport a creature over to a friend’s house for some LAN
fun.
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The creature mind files are small
and will easily fit on a floppy. .
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BACKUP
UTILITIES
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I would like to advise people to
stay away from backup utilities that save as one huge file.
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I have seen a number of posts
from people who have been unable to restore.
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I would recommend using a program
like BWBackup which saves the files individually, like if you
did it manually.
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At least then if you can not
restore automatically you can still do it manually.
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With it all in one file, if
you’re backup is corrupt, then it’s toast...
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BACKING UP ON CD-R
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Warning: When you backup onto a
CD-R all of the file attributes will be change to "Read-only".
which means that when you restore the game will not be able to
write to these files to update them. Basically, your creature
won't learn. If this has happened to you, then the best thing
to do would be to find a "File Attribute Changer" at your
favorite download site.
To overcome this, it would be
best to either backup onto CD-RW, or to zip your backup before
burning it onto CD-R
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FINALLY
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I would like to encourage
everyone, if at all possible, to install games on a separate
partition or drive.
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If Windows decides to go south on
you and you installed B&W on the C: drive. Then you might have
a problem, especially if you don’t have a recent backup. Also
if you do have a backup, is it on your C: drive??
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By installing on a separate
partition you can format the C: drive, reinstall your OS and
the game is not affected. All you need to do is to restore the
registry after reinstalling the game.
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It’s easier to backup your
registry on a regular basis than all of the files. Takes less
space too.
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Do a full backup every once in a
while.
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