Invisible inventory items.
 

Some weapons in PoP, like the big square hammer from Tactics or a Polearm I got in the PoJ jail area last nite do not have visible inventory icons. They are movable, equipable and you can see the identifier tag but no icon appears in any inventory or trade window.
I looked at my EQUI_Animations.xml file to see if it was up to date and it is the same one being used in the default skin. 2/24/03 I believe is the date. Same exact file. My UI is custom only in that the Buff window has names for the buffs and my Player information window has stats and such in it. Nothing else has been modified. All inventory windows and graphics and such are the same as they are in default. So only Player Information, Short Duration buffs, and Buff window is different. The rest is default.

If I reset to default the item icon is visible in the inventory.
I have the dragitemxx.tga up to 26 just as the default does. Same files, same dates. Also the reference in the EQUI_Animations.xml file is the same in both default and in custom one. And both reference up to number 26. As I said only three files that I can think of were altered, the ones for the buff box so they would have names next to the buff icons, and I took the player info one and added a lot of info to it. I removed nothing I just cut and pasted the lines into the Player info box so I could see all stats and such at a glance. But its only those three as I recall. None anywhere in the area of the inventory icon ones. Since it does work in default I assume there is just one small pointer somewhere pointing to the wrong spot so it isn't seeing all the dragitem information that is there. I dont know what steps it takes to post the icon information so I am not sure where to look for the break in the chain. Since default shows the icon I know the files are there and could be used, I just dont know where the disconnect is. Any help would be very much appreciated. Thanks much.

hmm never heard of this one before ?? might be with something in you animation file ...this might not be updated...

Additional info.
 

I have two systems side by side, they have very different hardware configs but the same EQ setup as far as UI and such goes. The problem manifests itself the same on both systems. So I dont think it is anything with like a file downloaded corrupted or something like that because it wouldn't have affected both systems exactly the same way. One runs Win98SE the other runs WinXP Pro, different OS's, same problem on both. Very odd. Not sure really where to even being to look to find what may be the cause. Again thanks for any help in advance.

post your animation file so we can see whats wrong ..

If using the default Animations File (loadskin default) allows you to see the icons, then one of two things is (could be) wrong in the custom folder.

The Animations File
The TGA file associated with the Icon.

To Test:
1) Rename your Custom\Animations File.
Loadskin Custom
2) Rename the Dragitem.TGA files in Custom
Loadskin Custom

One of these should allow the skin to load with the Icon intact and assist you in identifying the problem area.

Also should check your UIErrors.txt file. It may indicate a missing something that is not causing an absolute crash....

Some questions about the files.
 

Not being very fluent in UI design I want to make sure I am working with the correct file when I rename it. Also to post it as Kenny was saying I want to make sure I am posting the correct one. The file is EQUI_Animations.xml correct? Just want to be sure that's the one you are all talking about. The default and custom UI both use the exact same Animations file. Same size, same date of modification, 2/24/2003 6:07:29 AM. It is 186k, is that ok to post on the message board? Not sure if there is a file size limit. But like I said same file in both default and custom. I even copied the default version over the custom one again to make sure.

Same result. Weighty Polearm is invisible in my inventory or bank or trade window. Will try the TGA file rename next, do I have to rename all 26 Dragitem.tga files? and after making each change do I have to reload the skin to see the changes? I have done that after making the first change and it didn't do anything. Except make me put all my window back where they were and reset my display preferences..heh. Thanks for helping me out.

Ok, that worked.
 

Ok, since I had never modified the dragitem.tga files I just copied them from the default to the custom folder. They were all the same size but some had days that were one off the default folder. After copying them over on both systems, and without restarting on the second system, I didn't want to reset the locations of all my windows again, the Weighty Polearm is now showing up on both. So one of the dragitem.tga must have been bad or old or something. They were all there and the right size, just different dates. Thanks very much for all your help in getting this problem solved for me. I really appreciate it.

From your posts, I assume that you copied your default folder to the custom directory and then installed the modifications over that.

You really should delete the files that are duplicated in the custom folder. Only the modified files should be in custom as the UI will automatically see that it needs to refer to the default folder for the stuff that is missing.

(IE: if you have the exact same dragitem#.tga files in custom...delete them. The ones in the default folder will be used. If you have the same exact EQUI_Animations.xml file in the custom folder, delete that. Once again the UI will do what it needs to refer to it.)

Check out the FAQ on UI loading. This will greatly assist you in making sure that only the file you have and want modified are modified and the others are updated as needed when patches come through.

I just wanted to say that this problem has been plaguing me for some time. Thanks for the great info. I deelted the dragitem.tga files from my custom ui and wa la! There they are. Thanks again.