1. You'll need to create a vanilla save game before installing Cinders: run the game, create a character, finish the initial cutscene then quit out.
Without doing this, you'll get the "Save Data is Corrupted" message (only needed the first time you install this mod on a brand new account, not affected by updates).
2. This mod only works if your game is in English (this can be done by changing the main language of Steam): Settings -> Interface -> Select English.
3. Set the in-game "Launch Setting" in the menu screen to "Play Offline" before you install. If you want to play online, set the in-game option back to "Play Online" and open "modengine.ini" and look for:
- blockNetworkAccess (and set it to "0" to allow online play)
^ Be aware that this action will surely get you flagged and banned. That means you'll only be able to play with other banned people on a separate banned server.
4. Recommended to move your save files (type %appdata%/DarkSoulsIII in your PC) elsewhere if you don't want to lose your unmoded saves.
5. Make sure there are no other added mods.
6. UXM is no longer supported.
7. Currently, Cinders is bested played by rolling back the Dark Souls III executable to the original final version. You can get this old executable from here.
1. Download the MAIN FILE, MODELS FILE, and CINDERS SETUP FILE: "Cinders X.XX" from Nexus.
- If you are only updating, just download the MAIN FILE, or MODELS FILE if it has changed.
2. Decompress your .zip files with 7-Zip, since WinRAR is known for causing installation issues.
3. Put the decompressed files in the following locations:
- From the Main download, drop "Cinders" folder into your DarkSoulsIII Game directory: ~\steamapps\common\DARK SOULS III\Game\.
- From the Model download, drop the "Cinders" folder into the same DarkSoulsIII Game directory: ~\steamapps\common\DARK SOULS III\Game\. (DO NOT rename the Cinders folder, it must merge with the Cinders folder from the Main, if you have more than one Cinders folder you've done something wrong.)
- From the Setup download drop "modengine.ini", "dinput8.dll", "HoodiePatcher.dll", and "HoodiePatcher.ini" into the same DarkSoulsIII Game directory: ~\steamapps\common\DARK SOULS III\Game\ (You DO NOT need to download another separate modengine.ini or HoodiePatcher).
- If you are installing older versions, most of them will work following these instructions.
4. After you did all the above open "modengine.ini" and look for:
- LoadlooseParams (and set it to "1" if its not already)
- useModOverrideDirectory (and set it to "1" if its not already)
- modOverrideDirectory ("\Cinders" if it's not already)
^ This should be done by default with your download of Cinders but you can always check if everything is correct.
5. Copy the old executable into your DarkSoulsIII Game directory: ~\steamapps\common\DARK SOULS III\Game\ and overwrite when asked.
6. Run the game directly from the executable and it should now display the Cinders MOD version (ex. Cinders 2.15) at the bottom of the main menu if the installation was done correctly.
- This video should work for 2.09 and above, as well as older versions which use a MAIN and MODELS file (note that it is missing the executable replacement from step 5) - for instructions on older versions which only use one file, look in the video description for a link to another video. However, the instructions are the same: download whatever file you need, and extract the contents to your Game directory
1. Download the MAIN FILE for the new version (from GitHub or Nexus), drop the "Cinders folder" into your DarkSoulsIII Game directory: ~\steamapps\common\DARK SOULS III\Game\, replace everything.
2. If the MODELS FILE has updated (just from Nexus, notated by the versions listed in its description), drop the "Cinders folder" into your DarkSoulsIII Game directory: ~\steamapps\common\DARK SOULS III\Game\, replace everything.
3. If you don't have Hoodiepatcher you need the SETUP file from nexus, drop "modengine.ini", "dinput8.dll", "HoodiePatcher.dll", and "HoodiePatcher.ini" into the same DarkSoulsIII Game directory: ~\steamapps\common\DARK SOULS III\Game\ (You DO NOT need to download another separate modengine.ini or HoodiePatcher), replace everything.
4. If you are updating from a patch previous to 1.60 you will need to delete the "Data0.bdt" file inside your Cinders folder.
1. Delete/Move the "dinput8.dll file". This will remove "modengine.ini", thus disabling Cinders. Then verify the game files in Steam to restore the executable.
- This is how you can also switch between Vanilla and Cinders - just move the "dinput8.dll" file out of your Game directory and verify your files to switch to Vanilla, and put it back with the old executable for Cinders.
2. If you want to be sure that it's completely uninstalled, delete or move your "Cinders folder", "modengine.ini", "dinput8.dll", "HoodiePatcher.dll", and "HoodiePatcher.ini" to another folder away of your Game directory and verify your game files.
3. If you use Steam's Family Share and only play Cinders on the alternate account, then you do not have to worry about save files.
4. If you play Vanilla (base game) and Cinders on the same Steam account, be sure to delete the characters (you play in Cinders) or the whole save file (%appdata%/DarkSoulsIII).
