Index: /fierce2/branch/fierce
===================================================================
--- /fierce2/branch/fierce	(revision 229)
+++ /fierce2/branch/fierce	(revision 230)
@@ -402,7 +402,7 @@
     }
 }
-
-my $include_path = "tt/$format";
-my $template;
+my $template = "tt/";
+my $include_path = "$template/$format";
+
 if ( $options{template} ) {
     if ( -d $options{template} ) {
@@ -413,4 +413,10 @@
 my $include_path_txt = $include_path;
 $include_path_txt =~ s/$format/txt/;
+
+if ( ! -d $template ) {
+	print "Error: template directory not found.\n";
+	print "Please copy the tt/ directory to the current directory or use --template to specify another location.\n";
+	exit; 
+}
 
 # some useful options (see below for full list)