[X3AP] Commodity Logistic Software Peek-a-Boo

[windscar232]

I re-installed my game and now I notice that I don't have Commodity Logistics Software in my game. It just says now you see me and now you don't. WTF?

[Alan Phipps]

After reinstalling the X games, did you reinstall the relevant Bonus packs? (Needed for CLS/CAG.)

[windscar232]

After reinstalling the X games, did you reinstall the relevant Bonus packs? (Needed for CLS/CAG.)

I don't see where you get the bonus packs, it says it is up to date with the latest version of patch 2.5.2. Don't you have to get it from steam with steam version?

[Alan Phipps]

BPs are not routinely available from Steam, they are signed bonus material downloads from Egosoft that are optional add-ons to the vanilla game that do not make your game show as modified. Because they are optional, Steam cannot automatically include them. See here (X3AP) and here (X3TC).

Also in the FAQs and again.

You must have downloaded the BPs from there before to have had CLS etc before you reinstalled the games.

[windscar232]

You must have downloaded the BPs from there before to have had CLS etc before you reinstalled the games.

I got it when I had the disk version, but then I didn't have CD-Key so then I got the steam version. It has been real helpful with saving my games with all the problems I have been having. I think I still had an old folder that did not have an installation in it because it gave me that error when I tried to get the pack for Terran Conflict. I deleted that old folder and hopefully that will fix my problems I have been having. I heard a while back that it can mess up having two installations of the same game. I removed the old instillation but didn't notice it left behind some goodies. I will let you know if it helps my other problems.

[windscar232]

I got the software now, I thought I read somewhere recently that you have to get it from steam but maybe that was just the update for the latest version. Deleting the old X3 folder didn't see to fix my tabing problem

[Alan Phipps]

I didn't think reinstalling the game would fix your Alt/Tab issue to be honest. I think that is more likely to be fixed in a future Steam Client update (my opinion anyway).

Having multiple game installations causes no problems whatsoever. What you heard was more likely a myth born from confusion. When you start the game using a typical shortcut, it only uses the folder where the exe is and doesn't go looking for other game versions elsewhere unless you deliberately go to the trouble to make it do so.

[windscar232]

Having multiple game installations causes no problems whatsoever. What you heard was more likely a myth born from confusion.

That was what they told me was wrong when I had crashing problems years ago on another computer when I ended up calling tech support on phone. I may have had installations overlapping each other. It happened right after they came out with the Program Files (x86) in the new windows.

It is like every other solution I have heard for problems with the game, there is another file or program that is affecting it that then has to be deleted. Most of the time you can fix a game by reinstalling it, but it hasn't seemed to work with this game because it will still be affected by other things that are not part of the game. (that don't seem to affect other games)

[Alan Phipps]

That is not the case here unless you have modified your X-game and as such you then took full responsibility for any changes you made.

Common sense and a short search on your system will show you that the gamefiles for Steam and DVD versions of the X-games are not even in similar folders. There is no interaction whatsoever unless you allow both (of the same X-game) to use the same controls profile and gamesaves from your Documents folder - and with fully-updated (+BP) vanilla versions of both, even that poses no problems at all.

Anyhow, I have multiple Steam/disk vanilla and modded versions of all the X-games from X2 onwards in my system with no cross-contamination. I do use mrbadger's excellent gamesave manager though to keep the saves separate.

[windscar232]

Like you said earlier I would have had to have installed the booster pack before. When I did this I thought it installed onto my other installation of the game that was none steam that I kept so that I would still have those unmodified saved games. I was afraid that I would end up having the same problems because of this and then my game started tabbing out. I was just relieved that it was not crashing. Then I decided that having that installation wasn't worth having those problems so I deleted it, but I still have that problem. Then it does it now even without the booster pack installed.

I then noticed that I had the booster pack on my steam installation that was a surprise. I may have been mistaken and just installed it onto the steam version, but that is why I thought the two installations where affecting each other. Now there is no way to know since I completely deleted my other non-steam installation. But, when I got it again it tried to go to my old installation by default and wouldn't let me when I had uninstalled the game. I then had to remove that folder so that the booster pack could find the steam file by default.

I have had various problems with this game for years on different computers. I wouldn't dream of modifying the game in a way where then I would have to take full responsiblity for everytime it scews up. The only mod I thought was neceassary to the game was to be able to set up a manuel trade run between your own stations, and now that they have added that ability to AP, I feel there is no need to mod the game. The only mod to the game I think they need is to make it work on my computer correctly after all these years!

[Alan Phipps]

Steady on. OK let's take this one pace at a time. So you had a DVD install with BP and that did not have an Alt/Tab problem but might have had other issues. Check.

You then tried a Steam install of the same game but did not load the BP into this one. Check.

You still see the Turbo in the Steam game without the BP and hence no Turbo scripts installed - but did it work? You see it there because you loaded a gamesave from your DVD game that said it was installed on your ship - but whether it works or not depends on whether you are running the game from your Steam gamefiles or from the Virtual Store set up by your DVD version before you installed the Steam version (see this).

Anyway, running the same saves over 2 different game versions (different in that one is with BP scripts and one is without) is a possible recipe for disappointment. Removing the BP from the DVD version but using the same saves as before probably makes things even worse. However, install the correct X3TC BP to the Steam gamefolder as well as the DVD gamefolder and you should be OK with those old saves in either version. I have no idea how stable any saves you made in the interim period (while the game versions were unbalanced or lacking in terms of the BP) would be though.

Back to the Alt/Tab issue, I cannot really say any more than that I don't think it is anything to do with the X-games but is a current Steam Client issue. If I am correct then all the reinstalls, tweaks and BP removals/installations of X-games will not make the slightest difference.

[windscar232]

Steady on. OK let's take this one pace at a time. So you had a DVD install with BP and that did not have an Alt/Tab problem but might have had other issues. Check. .

The only modification to the game I made was the bonus content for commodity logistics trading. Like I mentioned at start of the thread. May have said wrong name for it lol.

You then tried a Steam install of the same game but did not load the BP into this one. Check.

I installed this pack on my CD install of the game and then I noticed it on my steam version. I didn't have problems before this time.

You still see the Turbo in the Steam game without the BP and hence no Turbo scripts installed - but did it work? You see it there because you loaded a gamesave from your DVD game that said it was installed on your ship - but whether it works or not depends on whether you are running the game from your Steam gamefiles or from the Virtual Store set up by your DVD version before you installed the Steam version (see this).

I don't think I have turbo boosters in my game unless it comes with that same package I haven't checked. I just think I got the trading pack in my steam game from installing it onto my CD version. But, after reinstalling my game without this pack I then still had problems.

Anyway, running the same saves over 2 different game versions (different in that one is with BP scripts and one is without) is a possible recipe for disappointment. Removing the BP from the DVD version but using the same saves as before probably makes things even worse. However, install the correct X3TC BP to the Steam gamefolder as well as the DVD gamefolder and you should be OK with those old saves. I have no idea how stable any saves you made in the interim period (while the games were unbalanced in terms of BP) would be though.

I had seperate save games in both versions, that was the whole reason of keeping two installations. I was getting tired of losing my save games and starting over.

Back to the Alt/Tab issue, I cannot really say any more than that I don't think it is anything to do with the X-games but is a current Steam Client issue. If I am correct then all the reinstalls, tweaks and BP removals/installations of X-games will not make the slightest difference.

So then i would have to get the disc version of AP and that would fix my problem? Then start over again... Starting to think this game just hates me. I really liked it but it gets tiredsome having to start over completely everytime I go back to playing it.

[Alan Phipps]

OK, when you said Booster pack I thought you meant Turbo. The vanilla-safe download script package is the Bonus Pack.

"I installed this pack on my CD install of the game and then I noticed it on my steam version. I didn't have problems before this time. "

Yes that is my point - no Alt/Tab issues with the DVD version. Also you would have had problems with the Steam version if you used the original gamesaves because you hadn't installed the BP for the Steam one. You see it only if it is installed, or perhaps in this case because it is still present in the gamesaves and/or Virtual Store scripts - even though it may not work from there.

"I had seperate save games in both versions, that was the whole reason of keeping two installations. I was getting tired of losing my save games and starting over. "

You only lose a save game by corruption (rare) or by overwriting it (highly likely if you don't use save backup folders or a gamesave manager). I have no idea why you had to keep restarting nor what your issues were because you have not reported them here.

"So then i would have to get the disc version of AP and that would fix my problem?"

No, not at all. What I said was that your old saves from the DVD version with the BP installed will work fine with the updated Steam version with the BP correctly installed. What might not work are any saves made or cross-loaded while you were messing about with or missing the BP installations.

Summary; install the BP into the Steam version and play on from a save made in the DVD version with BP from before you cross-loaded and saved when you had these 'phantom' Steam BP issues.

EDIT: An idea just struck me. Did you install entirely from Steam download or did you copy all your DVD version files across and then use Steam just to verify and add to the files? If the latter then you would have copied across the BP files too and everything should have worked OK if they were all transferred that way. Then, in effect, you would have had the BP in both versions as long as the BP scripts were complete and undamaged after transfer.

[windscar232]

OK, when you said Booster pack I thought you meant Turbo. The vanilla-safe download script package is the Bonus Pack.

Right, I was just thinking booster as in an add on that is sometimes called a booster pack. You just kept saying BP and I figured the B was for booster.

Yes that is my point - no Alt/Tab issues with the DVD version. Also you would have had problems with the Steam version if you used the original gamesaves because you hadn't installed the BP for the Steam one. You see it only if it is installed, or perhaps in this case because it is still present in the gamesaves and/or Virtual Store scripts - even though it may not work from there.

I have the disk version of Terran Conflict, I just don't have the disc version to AP. When I got the AP from steam I didn't have the Terran Conflict registered for steam, so then I ended up getting a Terran Conflict from steam.

I then had two terran conflict games on my computer, one the disk and one steam. They then both had different save games from them. If I went to my icon for the disk version i would see games I played before steam. If I went to my steam icon I would not have these games in that installation. IDK why you keep talking about saves from different installs, they where completely separate in both games.

You only lose a save game by corruption (rare) or by overwriting it (highly likely if you don't use save backup folders or a gamesave manager). I have no idea why you had to keep restarting nor what your issues were because you have not reported them here.

I would always lose my save games before I got the steam version. That is the only version of the game I have had that has kept my saved games from re-installing the game. The issue I was referring too was with X3 Reunion. I didn't have a CD-Key because I think someone threw my booklet in the trash. So then I could not come to the forums with these problems. I have had problems with this game ever since then.

Summary; install the BP into the Steam version and play on from a save made in the DVD version with BP from before you cross-loaded and saved when you had these 'phantom' Steam BP issues.

I have installed the BP into the Steam version of the game since that is the only version I have on my computer right now. I no longer have any save games from before I played X3 on steam now. I deleted the old folder, I have never been able to move save games out of there before deleting it. It never has let me do that. I was told that my old installs of the game caused my problems with Reunion so I deleted them.

EDIT: An idea just struck me. Did you install entirely from Steam download or did you copy all your DVD version files across and then use Steam just to verify and add to the files? If the latter then you would have copied across the BP files too and everything should have worked OK if they were all transferred that way. Then, in effect, you would have had the BP in both versions as long as the BP scripts were complete and undamaged after transfer.

Yes I installed my game that I am currently playing completely off of steam. I no longer have the disk version installed on my computer.

So then could I uninstall my game again and then install the disk Terran Conflict and then transfer that game onto steam? But, I don't have the disk version of AP to do this as well. AP was the version I was actually wanting to play without problems.

What I did is I bought the game from steam and then downloaded and installed it from steam to then have two installations. One install of the game was from disk and the other from steam, but then I only had one AP from steam. In no way did the save games in both of these reflect anything that they where the same save games.

[Alan Phipps]

"They then both had different save games from them. If I went to my icon for the disk version i would see games I played before steam. If I went to my steam icon I would not have these games in that installation. IDK why you keep talking about saves from different installs, they where completely separate in both games."

That is not the case. While they use separate gamefile folders, both DVD and Steam updated X3TC use the exact same game save folder (and profile & screenshots folders) in your Documents folder. When you select a save slot using the save xnn.sav number then they will overwrite each other. They will run each other's saves though if both are fully updated vanilla and both are either with or without the BP. That is precisely why you need a gamesave manager or to keep moving your saves about if you want the saves from different versions to be kept separate.


"That is the only version of the game I have had that has kept my saved games from re-installing the game."

That is not the case. Uninstalling any X3-game, DVD or Steam, does not delete the saves, profile or screenshots folders in Your Documents unless you do that yourself. You more likely lost your saves from allowing the different versions to overwrite each other's saves as I said above.


"I could not come to the forums with these problems."

You can now as X3:Reunion Tech Sp does not require game registration.


"I deleted the old folder, I have never been able to move save games out of there before deleting it. It never has let me do that. I was told that my old installs of the game caused my problems with Reunion so I deleted them."

That is a Windows permissions/account status issue and nothing to do with the game. You just needed to have permissions to copy/move files/folders in your own Documents folder. To be honest, I don't even see how you could delete them if you could not move or copy them! As I have said before, having Steam and DVD versions installed (or even using both) is not an issue if both are updated vanilla with the same BPs - and you don't mind them using the same saves.


"I no longer have the disk version installed on my computer." ..... "What I did is I bought the game from steam and then downloaded and installed it from steam to then have two installations. One install of the game was from disk and the other from steam, but then I only had one AP from steam."

The contradiction in that pair of statements is obvious. Yes X3AP (which is Steam only in your case) also requires Steam to download the Steam version of X3TC. This is because X3AP is an expansion of X3TC and uses the Steam X3TC gamefiles as well as its own extra files in the Steam X3TC 'addon' folder.


Summary: You do not need to reinstall any DVD version. You either have no DVD version installed or you failed to delete it as you think you did. Either way it does not matter. You are now running on the Steam version only and going back to your original post in this thread you just needed to install the BP. I would also do a Steam gamefile cache verify for your further confidence. Frankly all the talk of a DVD version since has been total misdirection I think. Meanwhile I am pretty sure that the Alt/Tab issue is a Steam Client issue and not an X-Game issue.

Hopefully we are pretty much done here now?

[windscar232]

Hopefully we are pretty much done here now?

Ya, I just started playing Tera since it went free to play.

[windscar232]

I figured out what it was that was giving me problems, it was the McAfee Virus!

While playing Tera I noticed that Netgear Genie that came with my new router would get blocked by my McAfee Virus. Then when the McAfee Virus blocked Netgear Genie it would make it create a pop up bubble in my game.

So then I just had to get rid of Netgear Genie because the McAfee Virus doesn't allow it to work anyways.

I just didn't notice it in X3 because it would not allow Netgear Genie to create a bubble in game and would just tab out without showing the bubble.

[Alan Phipps]

So that was the cause of the Alt/Tab issue? (I take it that you don't think it also caused your missing CLS, phantom game installation, missing gamesaves or inability to copy/move Your Documents files issues.) That is useful to know about, thanks.