Multiple Installations of Railroad Tycoon 3

[maro11111]

Thank you Hawk! :)
With Vista fix the game works without any problem on W7 :)

[Hawk]

That's great news!

[Gumboots]

Hey question. Has anyone ever tried installing from disc twice, to different directories?

I can't see why it should break anything in the first installation, but this is a funny old game that sometimes does funny things.

Reason I want to know is because I need to install from disc to get some files I've ditched from my usual installation (namely, the .lco and .car files for electric and diesel locos).

[Blackhawk]

If I remember correctly, when you put the cd in to try installing a second time rather than giving the option to install, I think it says play RT3. If you can find a way to get around the prompt saying "play" instead of "install" then you probably could install from another directory. There are probably various ways to get around it but I've never bothered trying to find one. I.E. move your existing install into the recycling bin temporarily, or maybe just the .exe file (depending on what the game searches for to determine the play vs install prompt) or maybe find a setup file on the cd that loads just the install, etc.

[Hawk]

You could try this. Move your current install to a new folder somewhere on your hard drive. Then uninstall the regular install.
Install RT3 again, then you can grab whatever you want from that, back it up to a new folder somewhere on your hard drive, then delete all the contents of that install, but not the main folder, then copy your previous install (that you backed up) back into it.

Does that make sense?

You could also, after installing the second time, create multiple installs as described in this topic . Then you can move your old install into one of the multiple installs.

[Gumboots]

Yeah it makes sense. Might give it a go.

[Sauerteig]

Just thought I would chime in that user maps I downloaded caused the game to crash because I did not, as Hawk advised, created multiple installations. After swiping clean and reinstalled to only 1.5, it works. Now have two installations and will give the 1.6 stuff a go. I feel it has not bee made sufficiently clear how multiple installations are not just a suggestion, but an absoltue necessity, at least for me.

[Hawk]

In this thread, it does state that 1.06 maps will not display in the 1.05 selection list.
1.05 maps will play in 1.06, but may not play as intended.
Therefore, multiple installations are not an absolute necessity. Although highly recommended, it is up to the user to decide.

[Sauerteig]

Well, I did multiple installation, and thank god because in the 1.06 I am having the same problem as before--I get a loading error "CarSideView_3.imb> is missing" I did in fact do a search, and found your suggestio n that this is caused by not installing coast to coase in order. Problem is that 1.5 works fine. Any help?

[Hawk]

You need to install the Coast to Coast Expansion, which is version 1.04, before installing the 1.05 patch. The 1.05 patch does not include everything in the C to C Expansion, and that imb file is a small part of it, along with a bunch of maps and rollingstock.
That error you're getting is because the C to C patch wasn't installed or not installed properly.

Does it say Cast t Coast on the first screen you see when you load RT3?

C to C.jpg (86.12 KiB) Viewed 6979 times

[Sauerteig]

With all due respect, its not Coast to Coast. I installed Rt3, c-t-c, 1.5 in that order. Then installed the cd crack. Then copied and pasted that folder to a new separate location for 1.6. 1.5 works fine. 1.6 does not.

EDIT: just reran 1.5. I don't see the coast to coast emblem. Will uninstall than reinstall. Hope fourth time is the charm. Perhaps doing the cd crack messed things up.

[Sauerteig]

Well, uninstalled it all, reinstalled, in same order. To wit 1) rt3 2) c-t-c 3) 1.05 4) cd crack. No dice, when I load up, it states version 1.05 but without the coast to coast emblem. So if i cannot fix this I am abandoning my short lived bid to play this game again.

[Hawk]

The error you reported getting is due to the C to C patch not being installed or not installed correctly. It's mentioned several times in these forums. The fact that you're not seeing the Coast to Coast emblem on the main page leads me to believe the C to C patch is not being installed correctly. If it were you wouldn't be getting that error and you would see the Coast to Coast emblem on the main page.

Are you changing the install location to point to wherever you have RT3 installed? If you don't have RT3 installed in the default location - c:\program files\railroad tycoon 3 - you need to change that to point to wherever you have it installed. Same with the 1.05 patch.
This is where you have to change the install location.

Patch.jpg (16.33 KiB) Viewed 7473 times

Unlike some installers that look in the registry for the installed location of a program, neither RT3 patch does. The location path shown when you try to install them is pre-configured to the default installation location. That path needs to be changed if RT3 is not installed in the default location, highlighted in maroon above.

The fact that you're seeing the main page say it's version 1.05 could be due to the fact that the version you get from Steam is the 1.05 version, but I don't think the C to C patch was installed by Steam or not installed correctly.

[Sauerteig]

I uninstalled the steam version and am back to using the cd version, with the crack.
I am not changing the location. I will run the c-t-c exe one more time to make sure it is is in program fiels 86/rt3/

[Hawk]

OK! Now you're running into a whole different problem. If you have RT3 installed in the Program Files (86) directory, the patches will not install, no matter what you do.
Starting with Vista, and carrying on to later versions of Windows, files in either the Program Files (86) directory or the Program Files directory can not be written to. They are protected form being changed.
You have to install RT3 in another directory, outside of the Program Files (86) directory.

[Sauerteig]

I fixed it (i think). The c-t-c patch was going to program files, not program files 86.

[Hawk]

Let me know if that worked, because I'd be surprised.

[Sauerteig]

Well, I uninstalled yet again, and installed to c: program files, not program files 86. And now it wont' start up again. I don't thoink I can get it to run and its proving far more hassle than its worth. I think I'm out.

[Blackhawk]

Your best bet to get it working would be to install it to something like C:/RT3, then patch it and change the unzip/install file of the patch to where you installed it (i.e. C:/RT3). Be sure to run the patches as an administrator.

I don't know all the details going on here, but for some people (on Vista, maybe some on Win7) they also needed to use the Vista Patch. (or start the game after version 1.03? or 1.04? and then turn off hardware acceleration for the graphics), then patch to 1.05/1.06.

[Hawk]

Well, I uninstalled yet again, and installed to c: program files, not program files 86. And now it wont' start up again. I don't thoink I can get it to run and its proving far more hassle than its worth. I think I'm out.

You didn't read my post. I said not to install it into either Program Files (86) or Program Files. Both directories are protected by Microsoft's infinite wisdom - for your protection.
As BH said, install it into a directory like C:/RT3 or C:/Railroad Tycoon or something of your own idea.