(note: I can not take any credit for this workaround)
Patch 18.4 broke Anarchy Online due to the addition of an in-game store using the 'awesomium' browser component.
However, it is possible to work around it with some amount of success.
Preqrequisites:
Download http://fstore.neo-vortex.net/Awesomium.zip
Unzip it, and copy Awesomium.dll to your Anarchy Online directory with a different filename (ie. Awesomium.dll.dummy). Do NOT overwrite the existing one.
Running the game:
Start Anarchy Online as usual. Once you reach the login window. Move Awesomium.dll out of the way (ie. renaming to Awesomium.dll.orig) and rename the dummy to Awesomium.dll. At this point you can log in and successfully get ingame. There are some other issues (ie. mouse look doesn't work), but the game looks playable. Keep in mind that you should never try to open the in-game store, doing so will result in an instant crash.
When you're done playing, rename Awesomium.dll to Awesomium.dll.dummy again, and move Awesomium.dll.orig back to Awesomium.dll. If not the game will think your installation is corrupt the next time you start AO.
Optional: Workaround script:
I've written a tiny workaround script that I use to do the awesomium magic. For this to work you need to have "Awesomium.dll" be the original one and "Awesomium.dll.dummy" be the dummy one. Copy/paste this into a file named "switchAwesomium" (and make it executable, chmod +x):
BEGIN SCRIPT
#!/bin/bash
if [ -e "Awesomium.dll.orig" ]; then
mv Awesomium.dll Awesomium.dll.dummy
mv Awesomium.dll.orig Awesomium.dll
echo "Using original DLL"
else
mv Awesomium.dll Awesomium.dll.orig
mv Awesomium.dll.dummy Awesomium.dll
echo "Using dummy DLL"
fi
END SCRIPT
Now when you want to play ao: Start it, get to login screen, run ./switchAwesomium, then play. When you're done run ./switchAwesomium again to move the original back. If not the game will think the installation is corrupt and offer to repair it for you, resulting in the original awesomium dll being re-downloaded.
Workaround source and credit:http://aodevs.com/index.php/topic,852.0.html
