Update:SPWAW problem (Full Version)

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DLLoveall -> Update:SPWAW problem (11/15/2004 3:27:53 AM)

I tried the suggestions about mech.exe and this is what I found. When the game-SPWAW8.30-is first installed, mech.exe is 2.84 mb in size. After playing twice, I get the error
message I noted-mech.exe is not a valid win32 program-and the game won't run. I checked at
this point and I find that mech.exe is now 2.88 mb. Removing this file and replacing it with a copy of the original slightly smaller file allows the game to run again. Two times, then the file
grows to 2.88 mb again and the game doesn't work. I changed mech.exe to read only and have
been able to start the game several times with no problem, but this may not be ideal solution.
Question is: what is being written to mech file and is it SPWAW that is changing the file or is it win XP. I noticed when working with file properties these advanced settings checked: file is ready for archiving and something about allowing index services to index file. What is the purpose of these settings and could they be having an effect? All this didn't affect the problem
of not being able to start the game with the standard intro screens, but I also think this is most
likely caused by the onboard sound. Oh yeah, to minefield, who seemed to like my system: it is
pretty good stuff, but hardly top of the line. I built it for under 500$.



minefield -> RE: Update:SPWAW problem (11/15/2004 4:39:52 AM)

Well I had you a nice reply but the forum ate it.

Any newer computer system sounds good when you're a broke college student.

My mech.exe is 2.84 megs as well. I opened the game and started a scenario and alt-tab'ed to check the file size and it didn't change. I don't know what could be changing your mech.

One thing you could do is get a hex editor like XVI32 which can be found at
http://www.chmaas.handshake.de/delphi/freeware/xvi32/xvi32.htm
With it you can open up the file and check out its contents. The only thing that makes sense to me is in the header it mentions "this is a Windows 95 application". You could try opening up the corrupted version and see if you can tell what part of the file is different.

Your video not playing is another beast. Many people have this problem and just ignore it. I never saw the video until a couple of days ago when I switched to XP. They actually won't play outside of the game; try to open MGSSI.avi and SPWAW.avi inside of your SPWAW folder and you'll see the same black screen that you see in the game. If it really bothers you, try a different video driver, sound driver, or operating system :). I had some strange problems with the game and I reverted to an older NVIDIA driver and got things back to normal.

I still can't think of what might be changing mech.exe. There is always the possibility of a virus but I would think you would have much bigger problems then this one if that was so. I'll continue to think about it.

As far as archiving and indexing go, archiving just means the file is ready to be put in a zip while indexing just allows Windows to find it when it uses the "find file" search feature. I seriously doubt either are causing your problem.



omegaall -> RE: Update:SPWAW problem (11/15/2004 3:52:17 PM)

Though it may sound a silly comment but, one thing that could be possible is your hard drive in some zones is a little fragmented hence the used block mapping is getting messed about. If the file is not contigious some bits of other files, are filling in the holes and being mixed into your Mech.exe file.

If you have just rebuilt the whole system then the files will be very fragmented.



mjpatterson -> RE: Update:SPWAW problem (11/16/2004 5:07:58 PM)

I'm having similar troubles. I played a SCN with no problems, now I can only play 2 turns and I get kicked back to the main menu. I haven't done any changes to my system and did a defragment. The old version gave me no problems (8.0)

Any other ideas to try or check?

Thank you!



minefield -> RE: Update:SPWAW problem (11/16/2004 6:08:09 PM)

mjpatterson,
While troubling, it doesn't sound like your problem really is the same as his since you can continue to start the game over and over.
Here are some things you can tell us that will help us help you:
operating system
processor & ram
version of SPWAW you are playing (assuming 8.3)

In addition, if you are having any other problems with your computer, telling us about these can help clue us in.

A virus is not out of the question. You might want to check to see how much resources are being used by your computer when you play the game. XP gives good info when you press ctrl alt delete. In addition, you could test to see if it was a resource problem by playing the smallest map you can find with the fewest units possible.

You could also try different game types. Start a PBEM with yourself and see if you experience the same problems. You might want to try cutting off every other application before you start to see if there is some interfence going on. You could try reinstalling the latest version to see if there is some file that is corrupt. If you copied the files off of a CD rather than installing then you should make sure that your files aren't marked as read-only.

You said it kicks you back to the main menu? Do you mean the menu that is inside mech.exe or the menu that has the annoying gun sounds everytime you click on something?

Have you tried starting the game by going into the folder and just clicking on mech.exe?
Have you deleted the steel.prf (or whatever *.prf file--I forget its name) that is located in your save folder?

Did you install over 8.0 or install to a new folder? You might want to try a clean install to something like c:\spwaw83 to see if any old files are causing problems.

While I haven't heard any success stories yet, you might want to create a shortcut to mech.exe (right click on mech.exe -> create shortcut) and try the compatibility features of windows xp which can be found under the advanced tab when you right click on the shortcut.

You could try a different video driver although I doubt this is the case if it worked before.

Look through this stuff then we'll go from there.



mjpatterson -> RE: Update:SPWAW problem (11/16/2004 6:37:15 PM)

WinXP
512 SDRam
P-4

I am using v8.3 and it is a clean install, no other version existed on my computer-(I have reinstalled windows about 6 months ago and haven't had SPWaW since then). But 8.0 played fine before that.

I have a good VS and firewall, with regular updating, no virus can be found

When I say main menu, I mean the in game menu, where you can select a new scenario.

The specific scenario is the flanking tutorial, I played it the first time and played until the end.

The second time I lowered the tank toughness to 100 and the game stops after turn 2, after the AI turn. I tried placing the tank toughness back to 150, thinking it had to be set there for the scn to work. I will try another scenario and see what happens and report back.

Thank you for the help, hopefully the problem will get fixed :)

*edit* Just thought of something, I have SpWaW installed on an external drive rather than as before it was installed directly into my HD.



minefield -> RE: Update:SPWAW problem (11/16/2004 6:41:31 PM)

Yeah play another game altogether to see if it is a universal problem or one with the scenario. A random or PBEM random would introduce the least variables I think.



mjpatterson -> RE: Update:SPWAW problem (11/16/2004 7:13:30 PM)

[8|] Do I feel really dumb..wouldn't be the first time though..hehe

It appears that in the previous attempts I was too aggressive, in conjunction with the AI panthers getting in some "one shot" kills. I had lost a tank in each of the other 2 tries and before the reinforcements arrived. This time I just waited for them before starting any attack, so I avoided losing any units. I guess this was my problem...like I said..I feel dumb.. [:D]



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