Drakan Community Patch

[Mechanist]

Huh. On my machine, swapping out just Dragon.rrc (on a fresh install) resulted in a blank keybindings list, as it was suddenly looking for German command names in Drakan.cfg - and obviously, there were none.

In your case, I guess it's because you already had the German version running before, so the properly-named keybindings already existed in Drakan.cfg.

But there were total different setting including joystick inputs. Guess those were yours?

Yeah, the Community Patch comes with its own default keybindings, including a preset for the XBox gamepad.

To be honest, I'm having a hard time reconciling what you've told me now with what I've seen in my quick testing so far.
Now I'll need to check it very thoroughly... there goes the prospect of a "quick fix".

[Arokhs Twin]

As a matter of interest I had great difficulty installing this CP on one of my machines due to the AV seemingly identifying drakanserver.exe as a virus. The AV program blocked access to the whole drakan folder resulting in the installer failing. The NTFS permissions were messed up requiring chkdsk then reboot.

I had to disable the antivirus whilst installing then when re-enabled it detected the drakanserver.exe however this machine is not used as a server so it didn't matter much. This is what my AV detected:-

c:\program files (x86)\psygnosis\drakan\drakanserver.exe

Details

Malware: Gen:Trojan.Heur2.LPTaq0@aayvFDbi
Type: Infected file
Status: Cleaned
Path: c:\program files (x86)\psygnosis\drakan\drakanserver.exe
Move to quarantine: Succeeded

I have tried Norton and Mechanist uses Avast. My other machine uses MS windows defender and none of these detected it as a virus.
Maybe Bullguard detects it as a false positive?

Anyway if this happens to you drakan.exe & drakanserver.exe gets deleted and then of course the CP installer won't work as it can't find it! So for Bullguard and Bitdefender users; to fix disable antivirus whilst installing the community patch.

[Mechanist]

Thanks! Works great (except Violence is greyed out - but its set to excessive).

Ok, I've done some proper testing with the German version of Drakan you provided.

The correct way to handle it (and this is how it will be integrated into the next release of Community Patch) is to install German Drakan from game disc (done by user) install German Patch 445 install AiO patch (which is actually language-neutral).

Done in that way, it is fully functional and can connect to multiplayer servers just fine.
Unfortunately, this still results in the violence setting being grayed out.

I'm currently preparing the next release of Community Patch - I already have some fixes and other content lined up for it - so I'll include German language support in it as well.
But the CP installer is still going to be English-only, unless someone offers to translate the custom text strings it uses (the generic installer text, such as the welcome screen etc., already has multilanguage support; it's just not enabled because of these untranslated custom text strings).

As for the violence setting being grayed out - sorry, but that's a WONTFIX.
While in principle it can be un-grayed (and made usable) by using the debugger, doing that would take far too long, for far too little benefit.
And replacing Dragon.rfl instead is an absolute no-go, since it would prevent multiplayer from working - thus largely defeating the entire purpose of the CP.

My Community Patch installer already presets the violence setting to maximum ("2") - and if anyone ever wants to change it in the German version for any reason, they can just edit Drakan.cfg with Notepad or any other similar tool.
I'll put a note to that effect in the patch readme, as well.

EDIT: Ok, I've included support for German Drakan into an unreleased test build of the Community Patch, and it works perfectly fine

[Pat86]

I can have a look at those strings and translate them. But most people shouldn't have a problem with english text only, i guess.

As long as the game violence is uncut anyway, the greyed out setting shouldn't be a problem at all. I doubt anyone would want to set the violence lower or even off.

[Mechanist]

I can have a look at those strings and translate them.

Sure, feel free
(BTW: the %n is a newline escape character, copied verbatim from the installer text strings - I left the %n's in because the forum's (Code) tag handling is kinda broken, and lumps everything together into one line anyway).

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Please choose the type of installation. Click Next when you are ready to continue.%n%nNOTE: The optional dgVoodoo2 DirectX wrapper is not available on systems running Windows Vista SP1 or older.

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Full installation, including the optional dgVoodoo2 wrapper (recommended)

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Full installation, but without the optional dgVoodoo2 wrapper

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Compact installation, contains only the files required to play Drakan

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Main game files (required)

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Optional extra content

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dgVoodoo2 DirectX wrapper

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Other tasks:

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Reset dgVoodoo2 settings to the recommended defaults

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Set up the Level Editor to use dgVoodoo2 for 3D View (helps prevent 3D View-related crashes)

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Reset the Level Editor's dgVoodoo2 settings to the recommended defaults

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Purge poor quality fanmade maps from the Drakan Gold Pack

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Don't change any existing Drakan settings (NOTE: if no existing settings are found, this will load the recommended preset values)

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Reset Drakan registry settings to the recommended defaults

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Revert *ALL* Drakan registry settings to their *default* values

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Drakan Engine Options

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Drakan dgVoodoo2 Settings

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Manual <translation note: refers to the game manual - it's for the Start Menu shortcut>

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Drakan Quick Start and Troubleshooting Guide

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Drakan Community Patch Readme

NOTE: It should go without saying - but for the following entries, only the text to the right of the equals signs needs to be translated

english.WhereToBuyLinkText=You can click here to learn where you can find a copy of Drakan.
english.SearchQuestionTitle=File search required
english.SearchQuestionCaption=Setup needs to search for Drakan installation files on your computer.
english.SearchQuestionText=Setup was unable to quickly locate an existing installation of Drakan on your computer.%nDo you want Setup to perform a very thorough scan?%n%nPlease click "Next" to proceed with the file search.%n%nNOTE: This can possibly take in excess 10 minutes to complete, depending on your computer hardware.%n%nHowever, this is a one-time scan only; no more scanning will be needed when installing any subsequent updates to the Community Patch.%n%nPlease be advised that this Drakan Community Patch can only be installed over an existing copy of the full game.
english.ProgressTitle=Searching
english.ProgressCaption=Searching for an existing installation of Drakan.
english.ProgressText=Search is in progress... (this may take a few minutes)
english.FailureMessageTitle=Critical error!
english.FailureMessageCaption=Setup cannot continue the installation.
english.FailureMessageText=No copies of the full version of Drakan have been found on this computer.%nBecause of that, the installation of this Community Patch cannot continue.%n%nPlease first install the full version of Drakan, then run this installer again.%n%n%n
english.InputOptionsTitle=Search results
english.InputOptionsCaption=Setup has found the following copies of Drakan on your computer.
english.InputOptionsText=Please select an installation location for the Community Patch from the options presented below.

I doubt anyone would want to set the violence lower or even off.

In the Drakan readme (or was it in the manual?), they imply that this option was intended to make the game kid-friendly. Which is also why the violence setting can be locked with a password (in the non-German versions, at least).

I suppose the times have changed over the last 20 years - since from what I have seen, kids these days play/watch considerably more 'violent' stuff, so the whole point of changing that setting is probably kinda moot.

Personally, I think Drakan:OOTF isn't nearly violent enough
I'd love to see Arokh rip enemies to pieces (as opposed to just biting them), or have Rynn perform some brutal finishers

[Pat86]

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Bitte wähle die Art der Installation. Klicke auf Next (Weiter) wenn du fortfahren möchtest.%n%nHINWEIS: Der optionale dgVoodoo2 DirectX Wrapper ist für ältere Systeme als Windows Vista SP1 nicht verfügbar.

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Komplette Installation, mit optionalen dgVoodoo2 Wrapper (empfohlen)

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Komplette Installation, ohne optionalen dgVoodoo2 Wrapper

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Kompakte Installation, enthält nur Dateien, die zum Spielen von Drakan benötigt werden

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Hauptdateien (benötigt)

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Optionaler Zusatzinhalt

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dgVoodoo2 DirectX Wrapper

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Weitere Optionen:

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dgVoodoo2 auf empfohlene Standardeinstellungen zurücksetzen

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Nutze dgVoodoo2 für die 3D Ansicht im Level Editor (verhindert Abstürze in der 3D Ansicht)

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dgVoodoo 2 Einstellungen für den Level Editor auf empfohlene Einstellungen zurücksetzen

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Entferne minderwertige Fan Maps aus dem Drakan Gold Pack

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Keine Änderungen an bestehenden Drakan Einstellunen vornehmen (HINWEIS: falls keine Einstellungen vorhanden, werden die empfohlenen Voreinstellungen geladen)

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Drakan Registry Einstellungen auf empfohlene Standardeinstellungen zurücksetzen

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*ALLE* Drakan Registry Einstellungen auf ihre Standardeinstellungen zurücksetzen

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Drakan Engine Optionen

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Drakan dgVoodoo2 Einstellungen

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Bedienungsanleitung <translation note: refers to the game manual - it's for the Start Menu shortcut>

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Drakan Schnellstart und Fehlerbehebung

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Drakan Community Patch Liesmich

NOTE: It should go without saying - but for the following entries, only the text to the right of the equals signs needs to be translated

english.WhereToBuyLinkText=Klicke hier, um herauszufinden, wo du eine Originalversion von Drakan finden kannst.
english.SearchQuestionTitle=Dateisuche benötigt
english.SearchQuestionCaption=Das Setup muss nun eine Drakan Installation auf deinem Computer suchen.
english.SearchQuestionText=Das Setup konnte leider keine existierende Drakan Installation auf deinem PC finden.%nMöchtest du, dass das Setup gründlicher sucht?%n%nBitte klicke auf "Next" (Weiter) um mit der Suche fortzufahren.%n%nHINWEIS: Dieser Vorgang kann, je nach Hardware, bis zu 10 Minuten dauern.%n%nDies ist jedoch eine einmalige Suche; für anschließende Installationen und Updates ist keine erneute Suche nötig.%n%nDieser Community Patch kann ausschließlich auf eine vorhandene Installation der Vollversion installiert werden.
english.ProgressTitle=Suche
english.ProgressCaption=Suche nach einer existierenden Drakan Installation.
english.ProgressText=Suchvorgang läuft... (dies kann einen Moment dauern)
english.FailureMessageTitle=Kritischer Fehler!
english.FailureMessageCaption=Das Setup kann die Installation nicht fortsetzen.
english.FailureMessageText=Keine Installation der Vollversion von Drakan auf diesem Computer gefunden.%nAufgrund dessen kann die Installation des Community Patch nicht fortgesetzt werden.%n%nBitte installiere zuerst die Vollversion von Drakan und wende anschließend diesen Patch erneut an.%n%n%n
english.InputOptionsTitle=Suchergebnisse
english.InputOptionsCaption=Das Setup hat die folgenden Installationen von Drakan auf deinem Computer gefunden.
english.InputOptionsText=Bitte wähle einen unten angezeigten Installationspfad für den Community Patch.

[Mechanist]

Thanks; now the Community Patch both supports patching the German Drakan, as well as has German as a language option for the installer

I did miss one text string though, since it had been hardcoded into the search progress bar handler, buried amongst hundreds of other lines of code.

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english.CurrSrchDrv=Currently searching drive:

I had to put something in there, so I came up with this:

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german.CurrSrchDrv=Derzeit suchen Festplatte:

That's probably translated incorrectly, but at least should get the meaning across.
Feel free to correct me, I'll fix that for the next release then

-------------------------------

In other news, Community Patch build 135.03 is out now - I've updated the OP with the details

[Pat86]

Thanks; now the Community Patch both supports patching the German Drakan, as well as has German as a language option for the installer

I did miss one text string though, since it had been hardcoded into the search progress bar handler, buried amongst hundreds of other lines of code.

Code: Select all

english.CurrSrchDrv=Currently searching drive:

I had to put something in there, so I came up with this:

Code: Select all

german.CurrSrchDrv=Derzeit suchen Festplatte:

That's probably translated incorrectly, but at least should get the meaning across.
Feel free to correct me, I'll fix that for the next release then

-------------------------------

In other news, Community Patch build 135.03 is out now - I've updated the OP with the details

Actually i need more context for this one to get a coherent translation.

What is it doing? Searching files on the current drive or is it searching a drive?


PS: I just gave the new version a try on a fresh german drakan installation and its working nicely as intended. Kudos!

[Mechanist]

Actually i need more context for this one to get a coherent translation.

This text appears when the installer is performing a full search on each disk drive in turn (from C to Z).
It's directly followed by the drive letter, such as:

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Currently searching drive: C:\

(a progress bar appears underneath)

BTW, this is for a scenario that doesn't usually happen (when there are no valid registry entries pointing to any installation of Drakan), which is why you probably haven't actually seen it in action

EDIT: Here's a screenshot, for reference:

Installer searching.png (11.97 KiB) Viewed 49587 times

[Pat86]

Ah thanks, then it is:

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german.CurrSrchDrv=Durchsuche Laufwerk:

[UCyborg]

Regarding the greyed out Gore Level option in German version, the correct fix would be modifying Dragon.rrc. The problem is finding what bytes exactly to change.

As for Drakan on Linux via WINE, it basically goes like this:

1. Install Drakan as usual.
2. Patch it.
3. Install DirectMusic using winetricks (which also pulls in DirectSound and some other DLLs that aren't needed; Microsoft's dsound.dll tends to decrease the sound quality when used in WINE).
4. Import Drakan_WINE_Settings.reg from AiO Patch ZIP into registry, which does the minimum required work to ensure correct DLLs will be used.
5. If you have decent GPU with Vulkan support, download dgVoodoo and DXVK and extract appropriate DLLs to appropriate places (game folder always works and is the most idiot-proof). And minds the bitness, DXVK comes in both 32 and 64-bit flavors, 32-bit is the only one suitable for Drakan.

AFAIK, installing DirectInput DLLs via winetricks is only needed for special cases. Many games' input functionality breaks with native Windows DLL.

[Mechanist]

Community Patch build 139.01 is out!
Go grab your copy, the link is in the OP as usual

[Mechanist]

New version of the Community Patch is now out (build 153.01)!

This time, instead of map improvements, its main features are the new changes to the Level Editor - alleviating some of the most egregious usability issues which plagued it since day 1.

Another major change is that dgVoodoo2 now has new default settings, which greatly reduce the text blurring issue that was happening previously.
With the new defaults, text readability is only ever so slightly affected; it's an improvement of roughly an order of magnitude in terms of sharpness.

If you've been using dgVoodoo2 previously, remember to select the option to reset the dgVoodoo2 settings during installation, to take advantage of the new defaults.

As usual, I've updated the OP with the new changelog.

[DragonsLover]

Hello! Long time no see!

Does the Drakan Community Patch also support the French version of the game? That's the version I have and it would be a shame to not be able to use this patch just because of that.

Thanks for your reply.

[Mechanist]

Hi

The French version is not properly supported... not yet, anyway.
More specifically: you can still install the patch and it will work just fine - BUT it will also convert all of the written text in the game to English; spoken dialogue will remain in French though.
In case you're wondering... English is the default patch language, used as a fallback when the installer fails to recognize the language of the current Drakan installation - which will always happen when trying to patch a language version that it hasn't been programmed for.

I can add support for the French version, but I would first need to have access to the following things:

• (REQUIRED) A French copy of Drakan which I can download from somewhere,
• (REQUIRED) French version of the original Drakan Patch 445,
• (OPTIONAL) A translation of the custom text strings used in the patch installer (so that the installer itself would also be in French; this has no effect on gameplay though).

Alternatively, you can just download the English version of Drakan from MyAbandonware.com, and then it will all be consistently in English after applying the patch... although I guess that's not really a satisfactory answer in this case.


BTW, if you're interested in translating the installer, here's a list of all the text strings which would need to be translated:

english.WhereToBuyLinkText=You can click here to learn where you can find a copy of Drakan.
english.SearchQuestionTitle=File search required
english.SearchQuestionCaption=Setup needs to search for Drakan installation files on your computer.
english.SearchQuestionText=Setup was unable to quickly locate an existing installation of Drakan on your computer.%nDo you want Setup to perform a very thorough scan?%n%nPlease click "Next" to proceed with the file search.%n%nNOTE: This can possibly take in excess 10 minutes to complete, depending on your computer hardware.%n%nHowever, this is a one-time scan only; no more scanning will be needed when installing any subsequent updates to the Community Patch.%n%nPlease be advised that this Drakan Community Patch can only be installed over an existing copy of the full game.
english.ProgressTitle=Searching
english.ProgressCaption=Searching for an existing installation of Drakan.
english.ProgressText=Search is in progress... (this may take a few minutes)
english.CurrSrchDrv=Currently searching drive:
english.FailureMessageTitle=Critical error!
english.FailureMessageCaption=Setup cannot continue the installation.
english.FailureMessageText=No copies of the full version of Drakan have been found on this computer.%nBecause of that, the installation of this Community Patch cannot continue.%n%nPlease first install the full version of Drakan, then run this installer again.%n%n%n
english.InputOptionsTitle=Search results
english.InputOptionsCaption=Setup has found the following copies of Drakan on your computer.
english.InputOptionsText=Please select an installation location for the Community Patch from the options presented below.

english.FulldgVInst=Full installation, including the optional dgVoodoo2 wrapper (recommended)
english.FullInst=Full installation, but without the optional dgVoodoo2 wrapper
english.MinimalInst=Compact installation, contains only the files required to play Drakan
english.ComponentsDescMain=Main game files (required)
english.ComponentsDescExtras=Optional extra content
english.ComponentsDescdgVoodoo2=dgVoodoo2 DirectX wrapper
english.OtherTasks=Other tasks:
english.dgV2DefSettings=Reset dgVoodoo2 settings to the recommended defaults
english.dgV2forEditor=Set up the Level Editor to use dgVoodoo2 for 3D View (helps prevent 3D View-related crashes)
english.dgV2forEditorResetSettings=Reset the Level Editor's dgVoodoo2 settings to the recommended defaults
english.GPackCleanup=Purge poor quality fanmade maps from the Drakan Gold Pack
english.SetRecommRegSettings=Don't change any existing Drakan settings (NOTE: if no existing settings are found, this will load the recommended preset values)
english.ResetRecommRegSettings=Reset Drakan registry settings to the recommended defaults (!)
english.ClearRegSettings=Revert *ALL* Drakan registry settings to their *default* values (!)

englishDrakanEngineOptions=Drakan Engine Options
englishDrakandgV2Settings=Drakan dgVoodoo2 Settings
englishDrakanManual=Manual
englishDrakanQSTG=Drakan Quick Start and Troubleshooting Guide
englishDrakanCPReadme=Drakan Community Patch Readme