From the
Herald:
"USER SETTINGS CHANGES
Running two instances of the same client with different user settings
Now that the user.dat file, the character .ini, and .ign files all are saved in the same client folder, users will have the same settings for two instances of the same client. There is a work around for those players who would like to run two instances of the same client with different user settings. Instructions follow:
1. Create a paths.dat folder, using a text editor such as notepad, in your game?s root directory (the directory where the game?s executable file exists).
2. In the file put the following:
[paths]
settings=Config1
3. Login to your first client
4. Edit paths.dat to the following
[paths]
settings=Config2
5. Login to your second client.
Now your two clients will use different paths to read and write to user.dat and all the character .ini and .ign files for the duration of the time that these instances stay opened.
Note: You will need to repeat this process each time you want to launch two instances of the same client with different user settings. The client will always use the folder name that is currently set in paths.dat prior to launching."
Create batch files and shortcuts to switch user settings
You can make changing a bit easer by creating a batch file that changes from one [paths] setting to another. That way you open the first version, click the batch shortcut for changing the [paths] and click the daoc icon again to open the second game window.
If you want to create the batch files that will switch back and forth so that you can easily switch from user 1 settings to user 2 settings, I put down some instructions that may seem complex but are actually very easy.
The following may be kind of a round about way of doing it but I wanted it to be fairly easy and step-by-step. Perhaps others will come up with a better way and post it.
To create the batch files you will need to use the text editor rather than notepad. The text editor can easily save files in *.dat or *.bat format.
You will need to know the location of your game folder. It can be different for different people but you will need to save the files in the DAoC game directory and you will need the string identifying the game location for use in the *.bat files you will create.
Example of a game file location:
C:\Mythic\Labyrinth_beta (I never changed my folder location or folder name from way back during the beta)
Or your location could be
C:\Program Files\Mythic\LotM
Or perhaps
D:\Mythic\Labyrinth
Etc . . .
Once you know your game folder location, write it down and then go to the START/RUN and in the little box type edit and select OK.
A window will open, it will be like an old DOS text editor (because that is what it is).
Type:
Echo off
Xcopy (single space here) <your game folder location>\1paths.dat (single space here)<your game folder location>\paths.dat
Exit
For me I would type
Echo off
Xcopy C:\Mythic\Labyrinth_beta\1paths.dat C:\Mythic\Labryinth_beta\paths.dat
Exit
At the top of the editor select FILE / SAVE then on the save screen type:
<your game folder location followed by>\user1.bat
For me it would look like this:
C:\Mythic\Labyrinth_beta\user1.bat
After you save the file the text editor should still be open. To create the next file all you need to do is to change what you typed in the text editor from 1paths.dat to 2paths.dat (you should not need to type it all in again. Just change the 1 to a 2)
So the new text will look like:
Echo off
Xcopy C:\Mythic\Labyrinth_beta\2paths.dat C:\Mythic\Labryinth_beta\paths.dat
Exit
and select FILE / SAVE AS
In the save selection it should already have the old file name and location so just change the file name
user1.bat
to
user2.bat
and SAVE it.
To create the .dat files.
Don't close the text editor, just clear all the text in the text editor and type the following:
[paths]
settings=Config1
save it by selecting FILE / SAVE AS and in the file name save it as 1paths.dat (The save location for your game folder should still be the LotM game folder but make sure the location it is saving to is still the DAoC Labyrinth game folder.)
Now in the same text editor change the
=Config1
to
=Config2
The new text should look like this:
[paths]
settings=Config2
Select FILE / SAVE AS and change the file name to 2paths.dat (make sure the location it is saving to is still the DAoC Labyrinth game folder.)
Select FILE / EXIT
Create the short cuts on the desktop
To create shortcuts to the desk top, open the folder where the LotM game is (use the window button in the upper right so that the game folder is not full frame). Find the user1.bat file. RIGHT CLICK the file and while holding down the right button, drag the user1.bat file to the desktop. Select CREATE SHORTCUT HERE. After the shortcut is created you can change the name to what ever you want.
To create a shortcut on the desktop for the user2.bat file just RIGHT CLICK the user2.bat file and drag it to the desktop and select CREATE SHORTCUT HERE.
Now you should have the following files created in your game folder
1paths.dat
2paths.dat
user1.bat
user2.bat
and on the desktop there should be 2 new shortcuts called
user1
user2
The first time you run one of the shortcuts (user1 or user2) a window will pop up asking if you want a FILE or DIRECTORY . . . select F for FILE and the paths.dat file will be created.
Once the paths.dat file is created, every time you select one of the short cuts (user1 or user2) a window will pop up asking if you want to over write the existing paths.dat file . . . just hit the Y key for YES.
Now you can start the game by hitting the shortcut for user1 and then open the LotM game.
Shrink the game window and select the user2 shortcut and then open your second version of the LotM game.