UMOD/Problems

While the concept of UMOD installers is a very convenient one, there are a variety of things that can go wrong creating or using them.

Problems using UMOD installers

When I double-click the .umod file, nothing happens (or: Explorer asks which program I want to open it with).

Your .umod file association is most likely broken; that occasionally happens for arcane reasons. You can either download [this tool], run it, enter your Unreal Tournament path and click "Speichern" and everything should be working again, or check [this FAQ entry] for a manual way to fix the problem.

Psychic 313: That ego-creations link seems to be broken, here's a similar utility I wrote: [Paradox Productions UT registry fixer]

Wormbo: Here's another tool created specifically for problems with UT2003 registry entires: UT2k3 Regcheck

Jan: Link is fixed

(some of this will be moved to a page on Unreal and the Registry)

Uninstall path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\UnrealTournament
Main Registry entry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Unreal Technology\Installed Apps\UnrealTournament
(...\Installed Apps\UT2003 for UT2003)

Check the Folder value if the UMOD installer keeps suggesting the wrong directory. Or download and run MeshMaker (UT only) – if your registry path isn't set correctly, it'll conveniently let you select the right one and update the Registry.

UT2003 also requires the CDKey value which must contain the CD key like you'd normally enter it in the setup program, i.e. in capital letters, with all the hyphens and no spaces anywhere in the key.

GRAF1K: If explorer can't find which program to open the umod/ut2mod with, just select Setup.exe – that fixed it for me.

I can start the UMOD installer, but it keeps complaining that I don't have Unreal Tournament installed.

Seems somebody messed up your Manifest.ini (see below). Assuming you do have Unreal Tournament installed, proceed as follows: Make a backup copy of Manifest.ini in your System directory and create a new Manifest.ini containing the following lines in its place. That'll make the UMOD installer rightfully believe that you do have Unreal Tournament installed.

[Setup]
MasterProduct=UnrealTournament
Group=UnrealTournament

[UnrealTournament]
Caption=Unreal Tournament
Version=436

For UT2003 the Manifest.ini should contain the following lines:

[Setup]
MasterProduct=UT2003
Group=UT2003

[UT2003]
Caption=Unreal Tournament 2003
Version=2107

If you installed the 2136 or 2166 patch, change the Version to 2136 or 2166 respectively.

Installing on a Mac stops partway through with an error.

The UMOD installer probably contains a file whose name is longer than 31 characters, the current Mac limitation.

Problems using UT2MOD installers

Basically UT2MOD files are the same like UMODs, but for UT2003. UT2MOD installers don't work correctly with pre-2166 builds.

If you have a working installation of UT or any other game that uses UMOD installers, then you could also rename the UT2MOD file to UMOD and install it via that game's setup program. The installer will detect that the file installs UT2003 content and usually you don't even have to enter the UT2003 directory yourself.

The UT2003 free dedicated server doesn't seem to associate .ut2mod files when it installs. I don't know if the free server's setup program is even capable of handling them, although it probably does. If you have the free dedicated server and want to install mods on it that are packaged in a .ut2mod, you'll have to set up the filetype using the info below.

Localized versions of UT2003 may have minor problems, too. They have a file Manifest.det, Manifest.frt or another INT File like that in the UT2003\System directory. This file should be renamed or deleted to prevent UT2MOD installers from installing their content as "Unreal Tournament 2003". This name will also show up in the uninstall dialog window. Don't delete Manifest.ini from your UT2003\System directory!

ZxAnPhOrIaN's cure

If your *.UT2mod has that windows symbol paper as the icon, follow these steps:

Press on the taskbar: Start >> Settings >> Folder Options...
Go to the File Types tab once the window comes up
Press the New Type... button
Once a window pops up, press the Change Icon... button
Go to the folder that you installed UT2003 in and double-click on UT2003.exe
Select the icon that shows up in the white icon field
Press OK

Now the fun part starts!

Type in what ever you want in the Description of type text box. I used UT2003 umod installer as the description (the default is UT 2003 Module, though)
Content Type (MIME) stays empty (put in "application/ut2mod" if you like, but the default value is empty)
Dont worry about the Default Extension for Content Type:.
In the Actions: box, press New...
Action: is anything, what I use is Install the UT2003 umod files (the default is Install this UT 2003 Module)
In the next box, find your UT2003 system folder, and double click on Setup.exe
At the end of that string (after any quotes that might appear there) type in install "%1" (with the quotes around the %1)
Press OK
Select the action, and click on the Set Default button, it will make the action bold
If you like, check the box, Enable Quick View
Press OK
You have just set up the UT2MOD registry!
Double-Click on the *.ut2mod file and go on from there!

These steps also work for UMOD ("Unreal Module") files.

Problems creating UMOD installers

Accidentally installing Manifest.ini

The file Manifest.ini that's contained in every UMOD installer describes where files are to be copied to; however, installing Manifest.ini itself completely messes up the user's Unreal Tournament installation. Be sure to always include the statement Copy=(Src=System\Manifest.*,Flags=3) in the .ini file when creating a UMOD installer in order to prevent that.

Install directory box is initially empty

Since the concept of UMOD installers spans the entire range of games based on the Unreal engine, you'll have to tell the UMOD installer which game to look for in order to automatically fill in the install directory. Simply add a requirement for UnrealTournament (versions 413 or 436 are commonly used) or UT2003. Use version 2107 for unpatched (all version) or one of the official patches, i.e. 2136, 2166 or 2186 for now.

The UMOD's ini needs to contain the following lines:

[Setup]
Requires=UT2003Requirement

[UT2003Requirement]
Product=UT2003
Version=2186

For UT the product is "UnrealTournament". The section's name is irrelevant, as long as it doesn't collide with any other sections' names.

Localized versions of the game show the mod as "Unreal Tournament 2003"

To prevent this problem as the UT2MOD creator simply copy the INT File used to create the UT2MOD to al the localized versions, i.e. DET, FRT, EST, ITT, KOT, SMT and TMT. This will override the localizatized version of Manifest.* in the UT2003\System directory.

Category Troubleshooting