FAQ : Victoria 4.1

FAQ : Victoria 4.1

Purchasing or Updating to Victoria 4.1

Q: I ordered Victoria 4 when she was initially released. Not realizing the Victoria 4.1 update was free, I bought and paid for the product again. Can I get a refund on the extra copy?
A: Yes, if you purchased the original Victoria 4 product, you are entitled to a free update to Victoria 4.1. Request a refund for your second (Victoria 4.1) purchase via the Contact Form.

Q: I ordered Victoria 4 when she was initially released, but the update links do not appear in My Account page. How can I get the update?
A: Go to your Itemized Order History and locate the order that contains your original Victoria 4 purchase. Then click the Reset link for that order. You'll receive a notification by email when your downloads have been reset.

Q: I originally purchased one of the bundled Victoria 4 products. When I get the updates, will all of the files be for the new Victoria 4.1 version?
A: The reset request will reset the downloads for all of the files that were included in the original Victoria 4 purchase. The only files you'll need to download for the Victoria 4.1 update will be the installers for the Victoria 4 Base, and Victoria 4 Morphs + +.

Q: Exactly what files do I need to download for the update?
A: After you reset your downloads, depending on your Account Preferences, you will see downloads for both the PC and Mac versions. Download the files that apply to the platform you use. You should only need to download the following files to upgrade to Victoria 4.1:
- Victoria 4.0 Base (ps_pe069_Victoria4)
- Victoria 4.0 DS Poses (ps_pe069_Victoria4DS) - for DAZ|Studio, not necessary for Poser users
- Victoria 4.0 Morphs + + (ps_pe070_V4Morphs)
- Victoria 4.0 Morphs + + DS Poses (ps_pe070_V4MorphsDS) - for DAZ|Studio, not necessary for Poser users

Victoria 4 Content Compatibility

Q: Do I have to delete Victoria 4 before installing the Victoria 4.1 update?
A: No, the Victoria 4.1 update was built with the intention of keeping backward compatibility with the initial release. ¹⁾

Q: Will Victoria 4 still work if I install the Victoria 4.1 update into the same Runtime folder?
A: Yes. The Victoria 4.1 update does not modify any critical files distributed with the initial release.²⁾

Q: With the changes in the Victoria 4.1 update, will the clothing & textures I have accumulated for Victoria 4 still work?
A: Yes, the Victoria 4.1 update was built with the intention of keeping backward compatibility with the initial release.

Q: Will my old Victoria 4 figures, in saved scenes, still work if I install the Victoria 4.1 update?
A: Yes; provided you have not uninstalled Victoria 4. The Victoria 4.1 update installs it's own figure and geometry files. It does not modify any critical files distributed with the initial release.

Victoria 4 Software Compatibility

Q: I haven't upgraded to DAZ|Studio 1.5 yet. Can I still update Victoria 4 to Victoria 4.1?
A: The Victoria 4.1 update utilizes features that were not supported in DAZ|Studio prior to version 1.5 and will cause errors in previous versions. You must update DAZ|Studio to version 1.5 or later to use Victoria 4.1 capabilities.

Q: Why do I get the error message “This file has a newer version number than expected. Poser will try to read it anyway.” when I attempt to load Victoria 4?
A: Victoria 4 makes use of features either not found in earlier versions of Poser and/or features that are implemented differently in versions prior to Poser 6. For this reason, the version number within the file has been set to version 6. While the figure may still load, we cannot ensure optimal results in prior versions.

Q: Why is it taking so long to load Victoria 4 in Poser?
A: The length of time it takes for Victoria 4 to load can be the result of a combination of circumstances. The most likely culprit is the manner in which the Poser application performs file searches when content assets are not located within the main runtime; the file structure that exists within the installed application folder.³⁾

More technically speaking - The vast majority of Poser content files contain relative paths; which makes several things easier under the hood. In all versions of Poser, the specified path is expected to be relative to the installed application folder; the folder where the application executable lives. The problem is when Poser doesn't find the file it was looking for, in the first place it looks. When this happened in previous versions, Poser became immediately too aggressive in its search for the file and began searching all drives for a file by the same name, with seemingly little regard for any portion of a relative path. On a computer with large capacity hard drives, and/or mapped network drives, this could significantly impact loading times. Poser 7 goes a step beyond and provides a File Searching option under Edit > General Preferences… that helps to alleviate the issue, but it can still be a nuisance if the correct option (“Shallow”) is not selected.

Q: I've read some responses in the forums that say I can have more than one copy of Victoria 4.1 installed. Is that true?
A: Yes, it is possible to have more than one copy of the figure installed. However, it is not advisable unless:
- You are using the figure in DAZ|Studio and have no more than a single installation mapped; as DAZ|Studio will sequentially step through each of your mapped Poser runtimes, starting with the first, in an effort to locate the referenced files - completing the search at the first file with the specified name and relative path found. This can present a problem in that unless all mapped installations are synchronized, you run the risk of having only portions of the total figure load - depending on the order each installation folder was mapped and the completeness of the installation.
- You are using the figure in Poser 7 and you have set the File Search option in the Edit > Preferences… dialog to Shallow. Use in prior versions of Poser and/or failure to properly set the File Search option appropriately in Poser 7 may result in complications similar to those described above.
- You are familiar with the internals of Poser files, you completely understand the implications of modifying the contents of those files and you would rather specify absolute paths in the place of relative ones.

Victoria 4.1 vs. Victoria 4

Q: Do the Victoria 4 morphs work on the “V4 to V3” figure?
A: With the release of the Victoria 4.1 figure, the head [and neck] morphs for V4.1 are compatible and can be used on the “V4.1 to V3” figure. However, due to grouping differences required in the mesh for support of Victoria 3 rigging, the body morphs are not compatible; the Victoria 4 mesh is in the shape of Victoria 3 and would require that all Victoria 4 morphs be recreated to work with the Victoria 3 base shape and grouping.

Q: Does Victoria 4 have a separate eyebrow mesh like earlier versions?
A: As she was originally released, Victoria 4 did not have separate eyebrow geometry. With the release of Victoria 4.1, at the request of our users, an extra layer of eyebrow geometry has been added; as a child to the head. As a result of taking the approach we have, the figure remains compatible with morphs built for the head geometry of the previous release. The eyebrow mesh itself was built from the Victoria 4.1 head geometry, and uses the same UV coordinates; it accepts the same textures as the head. By default, the eyebrow actor is set to “Visible = Off” in the Parameters, so in order to use it the Visibility will need to be set to “On,” either manually or via a pose file.

Q: How can I smooth out the iris/cornea/sclera depressions on V4’s eyes?
A: Two new eye morphs have been added with Victoria 4.1 to address these “depressions” – EyeIrisConvexity, which adjusts the convex curve of the iris, and EyeIrisAlign, which aligns the iris with the sclera for a smoother transition between the two. In conjunction with the EyeIrisBulge morph, these two new morphs can be used to smooth out the area where the iris and sclera meet; allowing the previous method of texture mapping to be used as an alternative.

ExP Technology

Q: How can I find more information on this ExP stuff that Victoria 4.1 uses?
A: See the http://usenomics.com/ section for questions and answers relating to ExP. For technical information, please see the http://usenomics.com/ whitepaper.

Questions and Answers from Users

We also suggest you read the following User FAQ, which contains questions and answers, from other users ,that have been submitted to the DAZ|Forums regarding Victoria 4.1 …

¹⁾ Should you decide to uninstall Victoria 4, you may be able to use the DAZ uninstaller if you elected to utilize that feature during installation of the original version of Victoria 4; during setup the installer asked if you wanted to include an uninstaller, if you answered “Yes” you can run the uninstaller to remove the old Victoria 4.

²⁾ , ³⁾ If you are a Poser user, and you are not familiar with the structure and/or internal workings of Poser formatted files, we highly recommend that you allow the installer to place the Victoria 4.1 files in the application runtime so that all the supporting resource files are properly located and updated when/if additional ExP products are installed.