diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index c33b663..ed6877c 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 build/*
+builds/*
 CMakeLists.txt.user
 third_party/bit7z/*
 third_party/liblcf/*
diff --git a/src/changelogwidget.cpp b/src/changelogwidget.cpp
index 769b118..b3cfc86 100644
--- a/src/changelogwidget.cpp
+++ b/src/changelogwidget.cpp
@@ -59,10 +59,20 @@ void ChangelogWidget::on_pushButton_clicked() {
                     if (QStringList{"+", "*"}.contains(i.first(1))) {
                         if (ex.match(i).hasMatch() && i.mid(2, 3) == "MAP" && i.contains("]")) {
                             // map
-                            z.addFileFromDisk(QString("Map%1.lmu").arg(i.split("[")[1].split("]")[0]).toStdString(), QString(work_dir + QString("/Map%1.lmu").arg(i.split("[")[1].split("]")[0])).toStdString());
+                            QString map_string = QString("Map%1.lmu").arg(i.split("[")[1].split("]")[0]);
+                            try {
+                                z.addFileFromDisk(map_string.toStdString(), QString(work_dir + map_string).toStdString());
+                            } catch (const minidocx::io_error& ex) {
+                                QMessageBox::warning(this, "Warning", QString("Could not include file %1 in the zip file! It is already in the changelog. Add the file to the archive manually.").arg(map_string));
+                            }
                         } else if (!ex.match(i).hasMatch() && i.split(" ").size() >= 2) {
                             // file
-                            z.addFileFromDisk(QString("%1/%2").arg(i.split(" ")[1]).arg(fileex.match(i).captured(1)).toStdString(), QString(work_dir + QString("/%1/%2").arg(i.split(" ")[1]).arg(fileex.match(i).captured(1))).toStdString());
+                            QString file_string = QString("%1/%2").arg(i.split(" ")[1]).arg(fileex.match(i).captured(1));
+                            try {
+                                z.addFileFromDisk(file_string.toStdString(), QString(work_dir + file_string).toStdString());
+                            } catch (const minidocx::io_error& ex) {
+                                QMessageBox::warning(this, "Warning", QString("Could not include file %1 in the zip file! It is already in the changelog. Add the file to the archive manually.").arg(file_string));
+                            }
                         }
                     }
                 }
diff --git a/src/pickerwidget.cpp b/src/pickerwidget.cpp
index 87013bb..1067827 100644
--- a/src/pickerwidget.cpp
+++ b/src/pickerwidget.cpp
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 #include <QCryptographicHash>
 #include <QDirIterator>
 #include <QTreeWidgetItem>
+#include <qmessagebox.h>
 
 PickerWidget::PickerWidget(QWidget *parent) : QDialog(parent), ui(new Ui::PickerWidget) {
     ui->setupUi(this);
@@ -182,6 +183,9 @@ void PickerWidget::gendiff(QString orig_path, QString work_path) {
             // shared. only add them if the files actually differ
             QFileInfo a(orig_path + "/" + i);
             QFileInfo b(work_path + "/" + i);
+            if (!a.isFile() || !b.isFile()) {
+                break;
+            }
             if (a.lastModified() != b.lastModified()){
                 shared.push_back(i);
             }
@@ -248,38 +252,42 @@ void PickerWidget::gendiff(QString orig_path, QString work_path) {
     }
     ui->treeWidget->sortItems(0, Qt::SortOrder::AscendingOrder);
     // get ldb data
-    std::unique_ptr<lcf::rpg::Database> orig_db = lcf::LDB_Reader::Load((orig_path + "/RPG_RT.ldb").toStdString());
-    std::unique_ptr<lcf::rpg::Database> work_db = lcf::LDB_Reader::Load((work_path + "/RPG_RT.ldb").toStdString());
-    // troops
-    dbdiff(orig_db->troops, work_db->troops, "Troop");
-    // tilesets
-    dbdiff(orig_db->chipsets, work_db->chipsets, "Tileset");
-    // terrains
-    dbdiff(orig_db->terrains, work_db->terrains, "Terrain");
-    // states
-    dbdiff(orig_db->states, work_db->states, "State");
-    // skills
-    dbdiff(orig_db->skills, work_db->skills, "Skill");
-    // items
-    dbdiff(orig_db->items, work_db->items, "Item");
-    // enemies
-    dbdiff(orig_db->classes, work_db->classes, "Enemy");
-    // elements
-    dbdiff(orig_db->attributes, work_db->attributes, "Element");
-    // classes
-    dbdiff(orig_db->classes, work_db->classes, "Class");
-    // animation2 (battler animation)
-    dbdiff(orig_db->battleranimations, work_db->battleranimations, "BattlerAnim");
-    // animations
-    dbdiff(orig_db->animations, work_db->animations, "Animation");
-    // actors
-    dbdiff(orig_db->actors, work_db->actors, "Actor");
-    // variables
-    dbdiff(orig_db->variables, work_db->variables, "V");
-    // switches
-    dbdiff(orig_db->switches, work_db->switches, "S");
-    // CEs
-    dbdiff(orig_db->commonevents, work_db->commonevents, "CE");
+    std::unique_ptr<lcf::rpg::Database> orig_db = lcf::LDB_Reader::Load((orig_path + "/RPG_RT.ldb").toStdString(), "UTF-8");
+    std::unique_ptr<lcf::rpg::Database> work_db = lcf::LDB_Reader::Load((work_path + "/RPG_RT.ldb").toStdString(), "UTF-8");
+    if (orig_db == nullptr | work_db == nullptr) {
+        QMessageBox::warning(this, "Warning", "Could not read the database files! Database info will have to be included manually.");
+    } else {
+        // troops
+        dbdiff(orig_db->troops, work_db->troops, "Troop");
+        // tilesets
+        dbdiff(orig_db->chipsets, work_db->chipsets, "Tileset");
+        // terrains
+        dbdiff(orig_db->terrains, work_db->terrains, "Terrain");
+        // states
+        dbdiff(orig_db->states, work_db->states, "State");
+        // skills
+        dbdiff(orig_db->skills, work_db->skills, "Skill");
+        // items
+        dbdiff(orig_db->items, work_db->items, "Item");
+        // enemies
+        dbdiff(orig_db->classes, work_db->classes, "Enemy");
+        // elements
+        dbdiff(orig_db->attributes, work_db->attributes, "Element");
+        // classes
+        dbdiff(orig_db->classes, work_db->classes, "Class");
+        // animation2 (battler animation)
+        dbdiff(orig_db->battleranimations, work_db->battleranimations, "BattlerAnim");
+        // animations
+        dbdiff(orig_db->animations, work_db->animations, "Animation");
+        // actors
+        dbdiff(orig_db->actors, work_db->actors, "Actor");
+        // variables
+        dbdiff(orig_db->variables, work_db->variables, "V");
+        // switches
+        dbdiff(orig_db->switches, work_db->switches, "S");
+        // CEs
+        dbdiff(orig_db->commonevents, work_db->commonevents, "CE");
+    }
 
     // yoink the maps and put them up top
     for (auto &i: ui->treeWidget->findItems("", Qt::MatchExactly, 1)) {