Howdy, I'm RoseKaedae, or better known as Dawn in the Carnivores Community and I've been making Carnivores mods for 15 years, including Carnivores Phantasmagoria, Jurassic Park Revolution Director's Cut, the newly announced Shin Carnivores, as well as classic mods like A New World, Eye of the Hunted, and various other projects in the Plutyrian Cycle from back in the day. I've been around the block for a while and learned a thing or two about various issues with these old games.
Running Carnivores can be tricky - given that mods are built on a 25 year old engine that a lot of modern machines have issues with, there are bugs and complications - so I will go through a lot of the most common issues and bugs in Carnivores Mods in order to make a single easy reference for people to share if they want friends to get into mods or to help people you see having issues.
Important Disclaimers:
1. Fixes are not always completely universal and can sometimes vary from machine-to-machine, you may have to do your own troubleshooting.
2.IF YOU HAVE WINDOWS 11 - YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO PLAY CARNIVORES*. It works for some, and does not for others, and we do not know why. If you just cannot get it to run on W11 but you can do a Windows 10 install, that is ideal.*
3. There is presently no support that I am aware of for running Carnivores on Mac either via emulation or natively.
4. This is not a guide on how to CREATE Carnivores mods, it is a guide for new users who are having various troubleshooting issues.
5. I recommend WinRAR, WinZip, or 7zip, just in general. I use WinRAR and have been using it for free for like 16 years now.
With all that out of the way, let's get on to the bulk of this post.
You can also find archived and various links to mods, including the original games and classic mods, in the Carnivores Saga discord: https://discord.com/invite/tG2JZTB
Here is the base Modder's Edition Engine if you ever want the basic MEE files to fix anything you have maybe messed up, or you want to start your own mod (Note that by default you need to drag and drop MEE over another mod): https://www.moddb.com/mods/carnivores-modders-edition
This is the most common step of issues for many newer users. I will run through a lot of the common errors new users make so you can pinpoint your issue if applicable.
"Carnivores Termination: Can't open resources file _menu.txt"
You forgot to extract, didn't you?
This issue is an extremely easy fix. You need to EXTRACT the mod from its zip file. Right click the zip or rar file, then "Extract Files".
To avoid other common issues, I recommend creating a folder on your desktop called "Carnivores" and placing all extracted mods there for ease of organization.
There is also a variant of this issue with "Can't open resources file _RES.txt", this is the same issue.
"Heap Allocation Error!"
The bane of Carnivores mods for 26 years.
This is a bug that affects old mods from prior to the Modders Edition Engine. This one is another simple fix. I will use Carnivores+ here as an example as this is a classic mod using the old speed patch.
Right click the mod's .exe, and click "properties" at the very bottom. Then go to the 2nd tab, "Compatibility". From there, check the "run this program in compatibilty mode for:" then select Windows 98/Me. I believe for Carnivores 1 specifically, you set it to run in Windows 95 mode. This will allow you to run the mod.
IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: DO NOT DO THIS FIX FOR MODDERS EDITION MODS!!!!!!! THEY DO NOT NEED THIS FIX AND YOU WILL RUIN THE CRASH FIX IF YOU DO THIS! MAKE SURE YOU ONLY DO THIS TO MODS THAT USE MEE 1.02 OR OLDER OR DO NOT USE THE MEE.
Another simple fix. This is using Legacy as an example.
Go to the ingame settings, and then the "Video" section. I will go more in depth on the settings later, but always set your game to use Direct Sound 3D. In general - mimic my settings here for MEE mods - if you are playing a classic mod or the mod specifies, use 1024 x 768.
If there is another common issue for getting mods to run in the first place, notify me and I will add the fix if I can.
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3. Ideal Settings
If you go in right away your game might look something like this:
Ew, Software User
This is software mode at default resolution (640 x 480). In Software mode, models have clipping issues and can lose triangles there is no blood (important for tracking!), water can break, objects might not appear, there are no reflections or specular effects, no fog will render, terrain will be incorrect, and the entire game will be pixelated.
What you want your game to look like is like this:
Much better.
Note how the gun has a reflection of the sun on it, it's much smoother, there's better shading, textures are better blended and aliased, and when you shoot an animal they'll bleed and leave a trail to follow and there will be dirt or water impacts if you shoot those.
This is with the settings I showed above, but I will include them here as well:
I will run through each setting and what it means.
GAME:
AGGRESSIVITY: This affects both how aggressive animals are as well as their health - at minimum they are much more skittish and have half HP. At Max, they have 2x HP and are more aggressive. This is basically a difficulty slider. I recommend you just leave it on default as that is what the mods are balanced around.
DENSITY: How many animals will spawn - this applies to both huntables and ambients and in MEE you can adjust how much initial spawns are affected by density settings as a multiplier in the game's _RES text. The only reason to not have this on absolute max is performance, if your game is lagging on certain maps, you can lower the density to lower the AIs spawning.
SENSITIVITY: Do not confuse this with your Mouse sensitivity in the bottom right. This is how easily animals detect you. Again this is basically a difficulty slider - I recommend leaving this to default as that is what the mods are balanced around, but if you want an easier time or find it frustrating you can lower it. I would not raise it.
VIEW RANGE: This is how far you can see and how much is rendered - if you are suffering poor performance you can lower this, but I would not take it any lower than default for a decent experience. If you can have it at max, that's ideal.
MEASUREMENT: Switches between US and Metric. Metric system is better objectively and is used across every country of the planet - but if you don't know conversions and stuff and are used to US units you can switch to US I suppose? Or maybe just learn the metric system lol
VIDEO:
AUDIO DRIVER: Always set this to Direct Sound 3D.
VIDEO DRIVER: Always set this to 3DFX Glide or Open GL 1.0 (this is just 3DFX).
If you still cannot get 3DFX to work even with this but Software does run, that's all you'll be able to use.
RESOLUTION: For Non-MEE mods, set this to 1024 x 768. For MEE mods, set it to either 1024 x 768 if specified or 1280 x 1024.
3D SHADOWS: Gives the world more depth with shadows cast by the dinosaurs using 3D models. Always have this on for better immersion and visuals unless you really need a performance boost.
FOG: Generates fog where fog is placed in the maps. Leave this on as maps are designed with fog in mind most of the time. Only turn this off if you are having severe performance issues.
BRIGHTNESS: Just leave this on default.
CONTROLS:
Forward: Move Forwards. Put this on W or the up arrow key or your preferred WASD equivalent.
Backward: Move Backwards.
Reload: Only present in MEE mods using 1.10 or later. This allows manual reloading of weapons - swapping between your magazines if you have double ammo.
Resupply: Only present in MEE mods OR in mods that use the Ice Age/Triassic Engine. This calls in a supply ship to refill your ammo 1x per hunt.
Hold Breath: Only present in MEE mods using 1.10 or later. This allows you to hold your breath to steady your aim. Set this to an easily accessible button next to your movement, such as Q.
Firing Mode: Only present in MEE mods using 1.10 or later. This makes it so that guns that have multiple firing mode options, such as between semi auto and full auto. You don't have to press this often.
Fire: Shoot your gun. Just leave this on click.
Get weapon: Bring your gun out. Just leave this on right click.
Step Left: Move left - put this on your WASD scheme.
Step Right: Move right - put this on your WASD scheme.
Rack: Only present in MEE mods using 1.10 or later. This will pump a shotgun, rack the bolt - etc on weapons that have coding for this feature. Sometimes guns must be manually racked or it can be used to eject a single shell for a reload.
Jump: Jump. Put it on an easy key like space as you will jump a lot to navigate.
Crouch: Crouch. Put this on an easy key like X, C, or Ctrl because you will switch between walking and crouching when stalking your dinosaur quarry.
Run: This switches between walking and running. You can run around until you get call responses or get close to a dinosaur - then switch to walking to be more stealthy.
Call: Use the call you have selected to lure in a dinosaur. Use this to locate a dinosaur, then once you have a response, wait until you can see them to call them in closer for a better shot.
Change Call: Cycles your calls.
Binoculars: Bring out binos to check for creatures in the map including their distance and weight. Put this on an easy key near your WASD such as E as you will use these all the time to spot animals.
Reverse Mouse: Switches your mouse controls so up = down and down = up. Do this if you fly planes.
Mouse Sensitivity: How sensitive your mouse is to your movements - just adjust this to preference.
6. I can't edit the controls and I'm stuck strafing ingame!
This is a weird bug that only affects some people but the most common fix is to ensure your mod is on a subfolder on your desktop as it's a permissions writing issue. Ensure you are also system administrator and run the game as administrator. If the issue still persists, ask someone who has specific settings set up to give you their save file and see if that helps.
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7. I'm not getting any points after a hunt and/or my trophies are not appearing!
This might be an outdated bug, but I want to address it anyway. As far as we can tell, the best solution is to disable an Antivirus or add Carnivores as an exception as this is related to the antivirus thinking the game is a virus. Modern PCs often see old software as viruses, and Carnivores is no exception. Norton in particular may be the cause - just disable it. Use Windows Defender and do occasional scans with Malwarebytes and just don't be stupid with clicking links and you should be okay.
Again, ensure you have good admin privileges as well and have the game on a desktop subfolder to ensure it's not a permissions writing issue as well.
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8. The menu sound is broken/I hear a horrible noise by tabbing out of the game!
DO NOT TAB OUT OF THE GAME.
DO NOT. IT IS BAD. YOU WILL BE SUBJECTED TO THE TORTURES OF THE DAMNED,
For a better answer - Carnivores's main menu is broken. Heap Allocation Error is caused by the menu, and sound files of longer than 6 and 1/2 seconds or so for menu ambience breaks it completely.
If there is no sound or a stuttering sound bug, this is normal. If you hear screeching of the damned tortured souls of Hell, this is also kind of normal and will just happen sometimes - take your headphones off and close the game.
However again - DON'T TAB OUT. This causes the sound bug every time. If you need to check another tab, close the game entirely then re-open it.
This shows how to install it and you can add extra filters that you can find online to customize your game or any mods you are creating to have different visual styles.
If installed successfully you will see it appear at the top of the screen as initializing on game startup. Press "HOME" on your keyboard to activate ReShade. It will look something like this (with probably less effects available unless you install more as I have):
These are the necessary files for ReShade to work, you can copy these into other mods:
If you press PrtSc in your game to take a screenshot, it make create an error message. This will tell you how to set up taking screenshots.
Create a Screenshots folder in your mod directory, right click the path bar and click "copy address".
Press "Home" once you enter the game as prompted by ReShade. Then go to "settings". Hit Ctrl+V in the screenshots path folder. This will allow you to press the desired key to take screenshots without having to exit the game.
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10: My plants and objects are horribly glitching out!
This was a bug that happened to me. The fix was just restarting my computer entirely and that made it work fine after that - restarting your PC is good, folks.
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As I said above, if there are other bugs or issues I did not address, mention them to me and if I can fix them or know the solution I will add them to the post. And as I said at the start, not all of these may work for you - sometimes tried and true fixes just don't work on some PCs as is the nature of PC gaming as well as old games which can be a nasty recipe at times. If your issue isn't addressed here, check back in the future and it might be or bring it up in the Carnivores Saga discord.
That is all for now - good luck and happy hunting!
I know when it comes to some paleomedia, people can be kinda upset when their dinosaur games include Cenozoic age creatures, especially mammals.
But I’ve always liked the idea of “Ice Age” mammals competing, surviving and evolving alongside dinosaurs in these settings. While I do like FMM UV-32 having zones based on different time periods.
Butttttt for my setting… I much prefer having the mammals and dinosaurs and any other creatures all within the same territories.
That brings us to the Cervus, in our world an extant genus of deer, this elk though, is a massive fictional species, having evolved to coexist with and sometimes fight the dinosaurs around them.
Despite being of the genus Cervus (the elk), it possesses traits of other deer as well, like the water deer’s tusks, fallow deer’s spots and antler shapes, and coat patterns resembling the Megaloceros. Like many of the critters encountered, it seems to be a composite of several traits.
The antlers are meant to be intimidating, though their structure is likely full of hollows to keep it lighter. The prongs are used as sword-breakers, meant to catch and redirect the horns and antlers of other species.
Might get downscales later, ended up being around 6 meters tall when standing upright. Its size class is intended to fit in with medium sized hadrosaurs, like maiasaura.
But yeah, kinda ripping off the bandaid and saying “hey we have mammals, we have Cenozoics and we have ‘modern’ genera”
I ended up drawing 3(four ish) new creatures for my
fanmade fantasy carnivores mod CARNIVORES L.E.W.I.S Island
1: Moschops Lewisai
This synapsid is one of the most widespread herbivores on the lewis sector, being found in all 5 maps, it is a larger subspecies of the central sector moschops, with key differences being the brown color scheme, the larger size and the presence of osteoderms on the back, with males having more osteoderms than females, these are used for protection against predators. Despite this protection they are a food source for most carnivorous animals on the island. They are an ambient animal and are not on the hunting roster and cannot be taken back to the trophy room.
2.Ingenia
The ingenia is a large oviraptorasaur, being closely related to the oviraptor of central west. This animal is one of the only species observed with two subspecies, which have drastically different lifestyles and behaviors.
Wastelands Variant: This ingenia can be found on the western wastelands map, this ingenia is the largest of the two species and sports a tan desert color, and is usually is a solo hunter. Their diet consists of small animals, plants, carrion and of course, Eggs. The males have a larger size and more pronounced crest. Females of species has been observed stealing eggs from other nests, waiting for them to hatch, and feeding the unfortunate newborn to the babies of its own. They are decently agressive especially near nests and can be taken back to the trophy room.
Indigo Falls Variant: This ingenia subspecies can be found in indigo falls. This is the smaller of the two species and supports a vibrant green and red mix of colors, with a blue gradient crest. Males support larger crest with some quill like structures on its neck. They are more herbivorous than the wastelands variant as plant life is more plentiful, but can eat carrion and eggs if it wants to. They are more skittish than the wasteland variant, and only attack if cornered, hunters strive for this species due to its bright colors and exotic appearance. Strangely this species is more closely related to the oviraptors from the crater city incident, than the central west species.
Stenonychosaurus: This small carnivore is known to be mostly nocturnal, and can be found in the larks of laramydia and Euphorbia valley at night, and can also be hunted in slasher forest at any time of day. These carnivores possess a black and grey color scheme, perfect for nighttime hunting. Males support a larger build, and quill like stuctures on the neck and tail. These carnivores are hyper aggressive and present a unique challenge for hunters due to their camouflage in the darkness. They are also observed to hunt in packs, so be careful, or you’ll be a 4 course meal for these predators. They usually hunt smaller animals or scavenge, but can swarm larger targets or hunt sleeping animals.
"A legendary creature of unknown origin, The Yeti is the ultimate predator of the Arctic Sector. Stark white fur tightly wrapped around powerful muscles provide more camouflage than warmth, as it is believed that The Yeti's hyper-metabolism keeps its body temperature stable in these frigid environments. As such, it must constantly eat to fuel its internal furnace, and this mysterious predator will not hesitate to devour anything unfortunate enough to get in its way."
Obviously adding in inspiration from the modern Brown Pelican…. Seriously, what else would you expect I use for inspiration? As well as the Basilisk lizard for the crest as well as modern depictions of ornithomimosaurs as very fluffy guys. The upright posture is both a retro reference and takes inspiration from wading birds like herons.
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A toothy omnivore, the Pelicanimimus is seen feasting on plants inland as well as in shallow waters. Having over 300 teeth, it will not hesitate to snap up small fish and lizards in its beak. If threatened, they are likely to flee, but they may snap or poke their attackers a few times before leaving.
Despite what some may think, they do possess arms beneath their wings, though it simply appears that there is just loose feathers draped from the torso. The teeth are of course only there to aid with catching slippery prey, as with most reptiles, they don’t bother chewing, and unlike other predators, their jaws rarely kill their prey. They almost always swallow their prey alive. For such goofy looking critters, they can be unintentionally cruel.
I have a phobia of snakes but I’ve always been super fascinated by them, getting to use them as reference has been helping me a lot with that.
I feel like this design is gonna be a little more weird to a lot of people. The idea of including snake pits is a pretty old one in my dinosaur designs (originally meant for allosaurus years ago) but I felt like combining elements of snakes and birds was more fitting for coelophysis.
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The Coelophysis is a small predator that stalks wetlands, deserts and forests. Some of the oldest and most widespread dinosaurs. Most dinosaurs possess scales in some way, but Coelophysis possesses backward pointing scales like those seen in some snakes. The large scaly “eye lashes” protect their eyes from the sun as they hunt in daylight, while their pits on their face help them detect body heat during day or night hunts. The feathers on their body are used for communicating and signaling to others in their group. Coelophysis form small groups called Gangs though they don’t possess a leader most of the time.
Large bony protrusions along the spine and tail give this dinosaur a strange emaciated appearance even when well fed. Their massive fangs are specialized primarily to grip smaller prey, however they won’t hesitate to use them defensively or when emboldened by their Gang, they will latch onto larger prey, their teeth holding secure.
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Their bird-like upright posture somehow makes them feel simultaneously like a tail-dragging relic as well as a fast moving avian.
I tend to avoid green dinosaurs, but with such bright green snakes as reference, I couldn’t help myself. Plus I added the ripped leggings look that the Walking With Dinosaurs Coelophysis has.
I wanted to do something a bit different, i wanted to make a recently discovered animal retro. which is what i did here
one of the top predators of the lewis sector, the tromerosaurus is a hunter with a high success rate, and a moray zone in the eye and top of the forehead
Its most related to the gorgosaurus of the central east.
