ScriptUO

Ultima Online Fan Board => UO-Related Tutorials => Topic started by: 12TimesOver on October 27, 2011, 05:02:28 AM

Title: UO Config File Management 101
Post by: 12TimesOver on October 27, 2011, 05:02:28 AM
I have been asked many times in the past to help someone copy settings from one character to another, setup default desktops for new characters, etc, etc. It occurred to me that some of the things I take for granted as common knowledge really aren't as common as I think. It also occurred to me that posting some UO file management lessons could save some people considerable headaches and time.

So, to that end, this thread is to discuss some basic UO configuration processes and hopefully demystify some of these tasks for people not as familiar or even as confident with the file system.

This discussion assumes that you:

1) Understand the basics of files and folders
2) Know how to browse to "My Documents" and get to the UO folder

Basic Windows file management is not discussed here, if you don't know how to do this you should consider learning before performing some of these tasks.


You should also understand that some of the paths here may be different then your own file paths depending on what OS you're running, what version of Ultima Online you started with, where you installed to, etc. I will be using examples matching my own paths and covering XP and Windows 7 as much as possible however you may find that yours differs slightly.

NOTE - anytime you modify a system file such as the ones discussed here you should consider making a copy of it somewhere as a backup. I am not responsible for anything you do wrong to your own PC while trying to follow these instructions!!

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Title: Lesson 1 - UO File System Basics
Post by: 12TimesOver on October 27, 2011, 05:04:53 AM
Lesson 1 - UO File System Basics

Ultima online stores character-specific settings in a folder structure underneath your "My Documents" folder. This structure may start with the folder "Desktop" (my XP machines) or "User Data" (My Windows 7 machines):

     Example 1 - "C:\Documents and Settings\%loginname%\Ultima Online 2D\Desktop"
     Example 2 - "C:\Documents and Settings\%loginname%\EA Games\Ultima Online Legacy\User Data"

For the rest of this discussion this path will be listed as "%UOPath%"

Beneath the %UOPath% folder can be found a folder for each account name used to login to UO on this PC:

     Example - "%UOPath%\Account1", "%UOPath%\Account2", "%UOPath%\Account3", etc

Beneath the account name is each shard logged into with that account on this PC:

     Example - "%UOPath%\Account1\Atlantic", "%UOPath%\Account1\Drachenfels", "%UOPath%\Account2\Atlantic", etc

And finally, beneath the shard is a folder for each character logged into on that shard with that account on this PC:

     Example - "%UOPath%\Account1\Atlantic\Character1", "%UOPath%\Account1\Atlantic\Character2", "%UOPath%\Account2\Drachenfels\Character1", etc

So, assume your account name is "MyUOLogin", you play on the "Atlantic" shard, and your character name is "SuperBadAssPvPer"; the path would look like:

%UOPath%\MyUOLogin\Atlantic\SuperBadAssPvPer"

Now, armed with this little bit of information, you can already perform some very powerful tasks like backing up your UO configurations so that they can be transfered to a different PC or used to restore your settings should you, for example, lose your hard drive or accidentally delete them. I periodically make a copy of this entire folder structure somewhere and have been greatful for it a number of times over the years!

Pretty straightforward so far, right? You with me? Keep your eyes peeled for lesson 2, UO Configuration Files, coming in the next couple of days!

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