Patch for Children of the Nile is now available

[Blair Evans]

A patch for Children of the Nile is now available here:

http://www.tiltedmill.com/cotn/

You can also simply click on the Children of the Nile link at the upper right of this page.

To install the patch, all you need to do is download the file and then run it. It is a self-extracting executable, so there is no need to decompress or unzip it.

Now that the patch is available, please download and use it as a first remedy for any problems you may encounter. The patch download page lists the major issues that were addressed by the patch, but a number of other seemingly different issues can also be resolved by the fixes included in the patch. It should produce generally smoother gameplay overall, so patching is highly recommended even if you are not encountering problems.

In some cases the fixes in the patch do not resolve problems once they are saved into a savegame - once it's happened it cannot be undone. In these cases, the fixes will prevent the problems from happening again from scratch, however. For these types of problems, if the issue is truly a game stopper, it is best to go to an earlier savegame from before the problem and resume play there.

To elaborate on that, here are the issues that we know will not be resolved in savegames made before the patch (though they will not re-appear from scratch):

1. Choosing to replay a scenario within a campaign can stop campaign progress - If you chose to restart a campaign scenario (via the replay button) prior to the patch, any saves (of that scenario) made after that are no longer recognized as campaign saves and so we cannot rescue them. To proceed along this same campaign path, you will need to restart the scenario from the campaign progress autosave (which will be named something like: Grand Campaign_1 2004.11.18 - 18h.31m.32s.ank) and play through the scenario again. Anyone who did not restart a campaign scenario before the patch or anyone choosing to replay after patching will not encounter this problem.

2. Stuck figures - Not all stuck figures will be cleared in savegames by the fixes in the patch, but nearly all of them should be. It may take a little bit of time, though, so please be patient with your confused citizens. For those that do not become unstuck, the best remedy (as mentioned above) is to go back to an earlier savegame from before they get stuck. The improvements in the patch should prevent them from getting stuck again.

3. Stuck barges or sleds at barge landings - Unfortunately, savegames in most of these cases will not be fixed by the patch. For some cases, the problem can be addressed by deleting your current barge landings and then rebuilding them. In many situations you will no longer be able to place the barge landings in the exact same spot, as the original spot should not have been valid in the first place. If replacing the barge landings does not help, then the best remedy is to load an earlier save from before the problem and then rebuild the barge landings.

The fixes for other issues addressed in the patch should all propagate to savegames and resolve the issues.

We hope this helps and that you all continue to enjoy playing Children of the Nile, now version 1.1!

[dreamsoftwilight]

Wow, that patch looks like it covers a lot of stuffs! =)

[Enigmatic_Sphinx]

Thanks fore getting this out so quickly, and by your description, so comprehensively!

[Snowwolf]

I must say, compared to most game companies you did this at the speed of light. Most patches seem to take 2-3 months unless a game ships totally broken, which this one was NOT BY FAR!!

You are a very impressive team, and I thank you so much for your effort and a wonderful game.

[Pi-Xerxes]

Thanks for such a quick fixes! Quite a bit in a short time. I look forward to replaying the game from scratch (it is much fun) and testement to its work. :)

[NilePlanckton]

Thank you, thank you, thank you TM! :D Very quickly and efficiently, the patch was released! You really care for your fans :) That's good! Thank you again!

[Pi-Xerxes]

I wonder if the EU version will incorparate the patch?

That is one good thing about having to wait for the game; many times the patch is already in the code for future use. :cool:

[Innovan]

I'm guessing the fix for treadmilling in the patch is in C:\Program Files\Tilted Mill\Children of the Nile\data\unit ai scripts\generic movement.tai

I'm too lazy to uninstall and reinstall the game to spot the difference in the updated version of this file tonight. Is someone else willing to save the first version of the file before installing the patch and running diff on the two to spot the differences? Did we even have the "before" version of this file?

Also a lot of db changes. I don't have MS Access installed at the moment to look at the db files.

Look at the time stamp. 11/19/2004 5:45AM. Poor, poor guys.

[googoo]

Thank you for this wonderful patch, it fixes soooooooo much!

[Hans Schroeder]

I wonder if the EU version will incorparate the patch?

That is one good thing about having to wait for the game; many times the patch is already in the code for future use. :cool:

It will. The european version will indeed come with the patch already included. So there is a silver lining to having to wait.

[Innovan]

They added just two more lines ito "generic movement.tai"

Advance:
NoMoreWaypoints true(TurnToUnitFacing)
}

and in TurnToUnitFacing:
JustStandingThere true(ReacquireGoal)
}

I'm guessing the fix for treadmilling in the patch is in C:\Program Files\Tilted Mill\Children of the Nile\data\unit ai scripts\generic movement.tai

[Pandemonis]

Does this patch is recommended only for retail version or can it fix troubleshootings with the demo too ?

[Hans Schroeder]

The patch won't do anything to the demo.

[Magnus]

When running the 1.2 patch, it completes successfully, but the last line of the log states "Data\Graphics\buildings\p_gofer_shack.sst: cannot remove, denied access". That file doesn't exist. Is it supposed to? Or was that file removed by the 1.1 patch already? The only file of a similar name is p_gofer_shack.tga.

[Neferneferuaten TaSherit]

1. I have encountered problems that I didn't before... would you like to know about them?
2. I still only have the beta version... any more patches for me??? Pretty please?
3. What happened to all the patches that we were given? I can't seem to remember if I was able to download all of them...

Anyway... I still love the game.

A Very poor TaSherit :D

[Sister]

I'm looking for the patch in the spanish version, but when I click the link (in the spanish web site) any thing occurs........... :(

can you help me? :rolleyes:

thanks in advance

[JuliaSet]

When I try to get the patch, I find a "cannot find" message. Was this hosted by the publishers and not TM?

I had a crash a few hours into the game, but know I can resume it from a saved game.


Nolan

Whoops, I found it on this site by looking at CotN in the upper area.. eventually led me to the patch.

[Ugaki]

When i run the patch, it asks to where to patch it. It says the following: "Children of the Nile's files will be updated in the following directory:" and then there is an empty field.
I have have no idea what to do. Please help quickly!

[Keith]

When i run the patch, it asks to where to patch it. It says the following: "Children of the Nile's files will be updated in the following directory:" and then there is an empty field.
I have have no idea what to do. Please help quickly!

Is the patch file you downloaded on the same hard drive that the game is installed on?

Is the game game installed in the default C:\Program Files\Tilted Mill\Children of the Nile path?

Try reinstalling the game to the default location that the installer suggests, the install the patch.

[Ugaki]

Is the patch file you downloaded on the same hard drive that the game is installed on?

Is the game game installed in the default C:\Program Files\Tilted Mill\Children of the Nile path?

Try reinstalling the game to the default location that the installer suggests, the install the patch.

1. Yes it is.

2.Yup, i have tried to manually patch it there but no use. It says that the game i an unknown version(?!) that the game can't be patched.

I'll try to reinstall.

[Keith]

1. Yes it is.

2.Yup, i have tried to manually patch it there but no use. It says that the game i an unknown version(?!) that the game can't be patched.

I'll try to reinstall.

Did you buy CotN as a digital download from a place like Direct2Drive or Trymedia? If so you have to get your patches from them.

Also, if bought your game in the U.S. or outside the U.S. the patches are different. You need the patch from CotN site (http://www.immortalcities.com/cotn/) at TM for the U.S. version and the patch from Sega for all other versions purchased outside the U.S.

It may also be that your game is already patched and doesn't require one. Many times later versions sold on the maket come fully patched. Unfortunately, the version numbers of the game are no help in this matter because the patch file does not update the number so you are left guessing.

According to the patch 1.2 list of fixed items, if you delete the palace in the second tutorial it won't be rebuilt if you do not have version 1.2. Patch 1.2 fixes that. So try deleting the palace in the secont tutorial to see if you have 1.2 or not.

The palace could not be rebuilt if destroyed in the second tutorial

[Ugaki]

My game is at least not version 1.2 because it doesn't rebuild the palace.

I downloaded my patch from an Finnish site so it should be the same as Sega's site. Still it dosn't run automatically. And my game from a shop not Internet.

[Keith]

The only thing I can think of is that the alphabet of some languages can cause problems like this. Caesar IV had problems with the install under the Turkish version because of one letter used in Turkish that was not used in english or other languages.

I don't recall, but is there a point during the patch install where you can manually type in the path location to your CotN file folder on your hard drive? If so, type it in manually.

What is the path of your current install of CotN?

If there is not, then try rebooting to the Windows Safe Mode and run the patch install from there. There may be something blocking the installer on your normal desktop.

[Ugaki]

I try to patch it here: "C:\PROGRAM FILES\SEGA\IMMORTAL CITIES" but it says something about unknown version or invalid directory when i try to do it manually.

[Keith]

The path looks correct, so it has to be that you have the wrong version of the patch.

You have to get a language version of the patch that matches the language version of your game. Not just any version of the patch will do.

If, for example, the version of the game you have is in english and you bought your game outside the U.S., you would have to download the U.K. english patch. You cannot use a German patch, let's say, on a english version of the game.

[Ugaki]

What page would be the right one to get the correct patch?

[Keith]

You said you downloaded the patch from the Finnish site, is your game in that language? If not, what language is your game in?

For the non-U.S. version of the english patch you can get it it from the Sega site:

http://childrenofthenile.sega-europe.com/site.html

You will need to have a flash player installed in your browser to use the site.

[Ugaki]

Thanks a lot man! I got it working and the game is so better now! Thanks!

[Keith]

Good, glad to hear it. ;)