I’m having a problem with loading the War and Pace module WAP_Vassal3.1.4_v04272009.vmod.
It seems to be a problem common to other modules, in that although I’ve downloaded the module in the normal way, when I try to open it within VASSAL it doesn’t appear in my module library despite being located in the right folder.
Manually locating the folder finds it okay, but then I get a list of the elements within the folder, most of which end in the file extension .SAV Trying to open any files within the W&P folder fails, giving me the error message
INVALID VASSAL MODULE
The file ‘/Users/simonthompson/Documents/WAP_Vassal3/Austerlitz-1805.sav’ is not a valid VASSAL module.
It seems that the default setting on the Opera browser unzip zip files autotmatically. You have to turn this off. A VASSAL module is not a folder, it must be a Zip archive. The .SAV files are scenario startup files from within the module that are supposed to be inside the Zip file.
Try zipping up the contents of the WAP_Vassal3 folder into a Zip archive, rename it to WAP_Vassal3.vmod and open it in Vassal.
It looks like this module was incorrectly saved with a double extension, namely .vmod.zip, instead of just .vmod.
Because of this, if you try to launch on it by double-clicking on it, the Mac OS X archive utility will unzip it, and you’ll just get a folder with all the module components in it.
Instead, you should be able to launch the module by launching Vassal first, then click File > Open module. Browse to the War and Peace file you downloaded and pick Open. Follow the wizard steps. In the process of launch, there will be a scenario dropdown where you can pick the scenario–Austerlitz, Jena, Waterloo, whatever. (The Austerlitz.vsav file you quoted in your error message is actually the scenario file for that battle, and is just a component of the main module.)
Alternatively, you can rename the file and remove the .zip extension. If your file extensions are set up properly, you should be able to launch Vassal by double-clicking on the renamed file.
It might be a good idea to contact the module designer and ask them to repackage/rename the file, to clear up confusion in future.