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OK, now I'm really mad ... - 10/4/2000 12:07:00 AM

mao

Posts: 167
Joined: 9/15/2000
From: Michigan, USA
Status: offline

I am having no luck with installation, I have tried to install this on 2 quite different Pentium systems running windows98, I have direct-X 6.1 Here is the saga: 1. I got a v3 from the PC Gamer disk. The disk was bad 2. I spent a week downloading v4 grom matrixgames.com but I did not have enough space to run the install! So, I have to use a CD for installation 3. OK, I finally got a replacement disk from PC Gamer and it installs without errors, but the program crashes to the desktop after the credits. It does this on more than one system. So why is it crashing to the desktop, another bad disk? some other problem?? I have been trying to install this for weeks and weeks and would dearly love to play the game ... Please help!

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- 10/4/2000 12:15:00 AM

Wild Bill

Posts: 6821
Joined: 4/7/2000
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Understandable, Mao. I would be too. Question: Did you try to install your download...the one you did yourself on CD? Question: Did you say you have DirectX 6.1 I think you need version 7 for this game. I believe you can get that from DirectX. That possibly could be the problem. Question: Which one is crashing, the second one from PC gamer or the one you downloaded? Question: Do you have enough space on your hard drive for the game to play. I think it needs about 100 megs or more of hard drive space to run after installation. The more technically minded can correct me on this. Question: Do you have other programs running in the background? That can cause problems? Question: At what point precisely does the game crash, during intro screen, after? Question: Have you tried starting the game with SPWAW.exe instead of autorun.exe? Lemme know...WB ------------------ In Arduis Fidelis Wild Bill Wilder Coordinator, Scenario Design Matrix Games

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Post #: 2

- 10/4/2000 12:19:00 AM

Tom_Davie

Posts: 66
Joined: 9/22/2000
From: winnipeg, manitoba, canada
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Just a guess, but please try upgrading to Direct X 7.0a? All the other usual questions, such as how much ram do you have? how much hard drive space? what kind of video card (turn off hardware acceleration and see if this helps at all), what kind of sound card do you have (could also try turning off direct 3d acceleration here), and how up to date are your drivers? Just guesses though. Tom

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- 10/4/2000 12:19:00 AM

NOVA350

Posts: 16
Joined: 9/14/2000
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I had the exact same problem with the PC Gamer disk. Look on this site for a thread where a person has graciously uploaded a MECH.exe file for download...I believe the thread has something to do with somebody mistakenly wanting the English mech back after installing the Finnish one (I can't remember which thread- try doing a search). Download it, and replace YOUR mech.exe with the downloaded one. They are both English. I was getting to the point of throwing in the towel on this game, but as a last resort, I tried it and it worked! BTW- I tried the other language mech.exe's on the SPWAW site, ie. GERMAN, but they didn't work. It's a COOL game, so I hope this helps you out and allows you to enjoy it!

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- 10/4/2000 1:15:00 AM

mao

Posts: 167
Joined: 9/15/2000
From: Michigan, USA
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Hard drive space; one machine has not all that much space left but one has many many many gigabytes so I doubt it's a disk space problem. RAM: One has 20MB (yes, 20) one has 64. Video; Neither is a gaming machine, but every game I have tried works fine. I do not have a 3d card on either computer - on one computer at work it is a fairly recent Matrox G-200 AGP card on the other at home it is an older Diamond Stealth card, I can't remember which (Diamond Stealth VRAM??) - I doubt there have been new drivers for years but the card generally works with almost anything. However, even on the newer Matrox card I have no luck. " Question: Did you try to install your download...the one you did yourself on CD?" No, I don't have a CD burner. "Question: Did you say you have DirectX 6.1 I think you need version 7 for this game. I believe you can get that from DirectX. That possibly could be the problem." The manual says (as far as I can remember) 6.1 - I will download 7. "Question: Which one is crashing, the second one from PC gamer or the one you downloaded?" The second one from PC Gamer crashes (as did the first, but at least the second installed without errors). The v4 I downloaded installs but is not complete. It's missing all the scenarios, for a start, but it does actually successfully run - which suggests to me either I still have a CD with errors or there is a big with the v3 on the PC Gamer disk. To answer the obvious; I have not tried the v4 on the faster computer with more disk space mainly because it is a work machine and I could hardly justify downloading 300+ MB and I have no way to transport the file from one location to another. "Question: Do you have enough space on your hard drive for the game to play. I think it needs about 100 megs or more of hard drive space to run after installation. The more technically minded can correct me on this." I think so, the machine with less space would have 100MB, but maybe not on the partition the program is installed in. But, the other computer has LOTS of space and does not run. "Question: Do you have other programs running in the background? That can cause problems?" No, nothing. Except Windows98 "Question: At what point precisely does the game crash, during intro screen, after?" If I let the intro run it finishes, starts to switch between windows (or does something, I can hear my monitor switching) and just fails and goes back wither to the desktop or the autorun program. If I use ESC to end the intro early the same thing happens. "Question: Have you tried starting the game with SPWAW.exe instead of autorun.exe?" Yep, the exact same thing happens

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- 10/4/2000 1:58:00 AM

Charles22

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Joined: 5/17/2000
From: Dallas, Texas, USA
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I've been running all the SPWAW versions with DirectX 6.1, with no problems other than the recent lockups, which may be history now.

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Post #: 6

- 10/4/2000 2:24:00 AM

Schrullenhaft

Posts: 24
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From: Provo, UT , USA
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mao - Let me reiterate the info you've supplied so far. One box you have at home is a Pentium with 20Mb of RAM, a Diamond Stealth PCI video card and less than 100Mb of free disk space on the partition (I assume this is your boot partition) where SPWAW is installed. The other system at work is a Pentium w/ 64Mb of RAM, a Matrox G200 video card and plenty of disk space. Both systems have Windows 98 ("SE" I guess ?) and DirectX 6.1. You had problems with the first PC Gamer CD (the installation didn't go correctly) and the second CD seemed to have installed fine, but the game continues to crash to the desktop (these CDs are based on a 3.x BETA of SPWAW by the way, so a download of the Upgrade to 4.0 file would be necessary at some point). You've also tried the "full version" download of 4.0 (about 345Mb), but this also didn't install/work properly on your home computer (unable to move to work machine to try out). Admittedly your home computer is a bit on the slim side for memory. While it should work to my knowledge, the combination of a lack of disk space for your swap file may be complicating things. If you need to, manually redirect the swap file to the partition that has more space. Run scandisk on your computer and possibly defrag your drive to free up contiguous clusters on your drive. Before running defrag I would suggest "cleaning up" your computer by uninstalling programs and files that you don't need anymore. The lack of disk space during the install might be problematic. I'd also suggest uninstalling SPWAW (or your previous installs of it), including manually deleting the Matrix Games folder (of course you'll want to save any games and modifications you have first). If you haven't already, here is the page to download DirectX 7.0a (approx. 6Mb). It includes the latest version of the driver from your card (though Diamond/S3 probably has something different, it would be older): DirectX 7.0a: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/release.asp?ReleaseID=16819 Also, during the install I would suggest disabling any utilities, especially virus protection utilities. Ctrl-Alt-Del will bring up the task list and you need to check to see what is running here. You will want to keep Explorer and Systray running and everything else you can shutdown (including any Diamond specific utilities for your video card). Though I wouldn't suspect much of a problem with this I suggest making sure your CD is clean and streak/spot free. You may also want to "dust out" your CDROM drive with some controlled bursts of canned air to make sure that the CD isn't having problems reading (though you'll usually get a big blue screen in Windows if this were a problem). With all this done, now install the PC Gamer or "full install download" and see if everything works. If it doesn't, then there is some more work that may need to be done to your system in regards to drivers or possibly the registry. If you could afford it, I would suggest getting some more memory for your home PC. You probably have 72pin SIMMs (possibly EDO) and all four slots may be taken up. I would suggest getting two 16Mb (or possibly 32Mb, but not necessary) SIMMs. These are probably going to be more expensive (on a per-megabyte basis) than DIMMs, but it will make playing SPWAW at home more enjoyable (once it's working). [This message has been edited by Schrullenhaft (edited October 03, 2000).]

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- 10/4/2000 2:48:00 AM

Paul Vebber

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The game requires 32MB to play and 48MB for PBEM (potentially more for large scenarios...

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- 10/4/2000 2:52:00 AM

mao

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From: Michigan, USA
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"Let me reiterate the info you've supplied so far." All your assumptions are correct - it is Win98SE The computer that lacks disk space only has 500MB partitions to start with (or close to that) so there is a limit to what I can remove and the disk space is pretty much stripped down to exactly what I need. It frankly does have disk space problems and I am nursing it until I get a new computer but, remember, it also does not work on my other computer which has plenty of disk space (over 1.5GB per partition). My home PC will be changed before long - but I still cannot get it to work on the other machine, which has plenty of RAM and disk space to spare. A CD drive problem is possible, it is an old drive at home - but then ... same problem on both machines (which is what is really annoying). Maybe I have another bad CD

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Post #: 9

- 10/4/2000 2:59:00 AM

Jackk

Posts: 174
Joined: 6/2/2000
From: Charlotte, NC
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Forgive me if this is a dumb question. Do you have a sound card in your work PC? I ask because I've seen this same error when I tried to run it on a PC with no sound card before. Video will play but crashes to the desktop after that. Your home PC definitely needs more RAM. I have a PC with 32 MB and Win 98 that just barely squeaks along. Good luck to you. ------------------ Jackk "Smile today cuz tomorrow may really suck"

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- 10/4/2000 3:45:00 AM

Blackbird

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From: Varazdin, Croatia
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quote:

Originally posted by Paul Vebber: The game requires 32MB to

My friend plays with only 16MB. But with no sound.

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Post #: 11

- 10/4/2000 4:06:00 AM

Don

Posts: 810
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mao - I don't know if a new CD will help, but if you want one just email me. Jackk - That is amazing that you can run Win98 on 32 megs of Ram! I had so many problems at 64 I went to 128 and now have 320! It's common for me to have 6 - 8 windows open and I got tired of having problems! Don

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Post #: 12

- 10/4/2000 5:35:00 AM

mao

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"Forgive me if this is a dumb question. Do you have a sound card in your work PC?" Not a dumb question - one of the machines does not have a sound card

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- 10/4/2000 5:52:00 AM

Jackk

Posts: 174
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Don, I didn't say it ran well

It's just a box I scraped together so I could play SPWAW at work....all I had was 4 8MB simms...and I don't have even 2 windows open when I'm playing the game :-) But I agree with you on needing more for "regular" computing. I have 192 on my home system and it runs all I want to when I need it to. Mao, the PC without a soundcard will probably never run it until you get one. I've installed it on alot of machines and the "soundless" one is the only one it refused to run on. Hope that helps ya some. ------------------ Jackk "Smile today cuz tomorrow may really suck"

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Post #: 14

- 10/5/2000 7:32:00 PM

mao

Posts: 167
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From: Michigan, USA
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Well, it finally works. I had the program loaded on a 520MB partition, and the only other thing there was the swap file - once I move the swap file it works! One thing I have noticed is that when the program starts, and until I start a scenario, the colors are psychodelic (sp?) - after that they are fine. A video card problem?

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Post #: 15

- 10/6/2000 6:37:00 AM

Mike Oshiki

Posts: 43
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From: Williamsburg, VA
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I'm having the same problem on my machine at work, but the kicker is that it runs on NT4.0 SP6. It's a P3 with 128M of RAM, loads of space on the hard drive, but the same darn thing happens. Worked on my old machine, but when I switched offices, too bad, so sad. I loaded V2.3 from my EZCD.com disk (got one before they went under), and have not been able to successfully run any version on this computer. The same exact thing happens - I can run the intro screen, the intro video runs when I play SPWAW, then the screen size changes, and it kicks me back to the intro screen. If I run SPWAW.exe then I get kicked back to the windows desktop. Same setup files work fine on my home PC. Anyone with any ideas? Thanks. Mike ------------------

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- 10/6/2000 8:47:00 PM

David F. Wall

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NT4.0 SP6, as far as I know, still does not support a version of DirectX sufficiently advanced to run the game. Everything I've been able to find indicates that DirectX for NT4.0 stops dead at version 3, and no amount of searching Microsoft support sites on my part has ever uncovered a more recent version of DirectX on NT4.0

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Post #: 17

- 10/6/2000 10:42:00 PM

Mike Oshiki

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That would explain a lot in the case of my current computer. Still not sure why it ran on my last machine, but from a practical standpoint, kind of a mute point now, I suppose. Wish that at least one of the two choices of advanced SP (WAW or WW2) would work on NT. #$%&*!@ Microsoft...

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- 10/6/2000 11:02:00 PM

Paul Vebber

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I run the game on the NT 4 SP6 machine I have and it plays OK vs the AI - I just can't use pbem (haven't tried online). The game should work in "solitare mode" - but I know it is very sensitive to video driver issues.

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- 10/7/2000 12:40:00 AM

Mike Oshiki

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Perhaps there was a different driver on the other machine. Stranger things have happened when our IMD is involved. Kinda sad when you want to go back to your *old* office just because the computer would load SPWAW...

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- 10/7/2000 11:50:00 AM

Jerry

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I have same trouble - game keeps returning to intro sequence. I have PCGamer CD build 3.0.23b. Downloaded version of the game used to work on my 486 with 32MB ram. But cannot get CD to work on P100 with 48MB ram and plenty of hard disk space. Have DirectX7 and older ESS sound card and Cirrus vidio card. Any ideas? I don't really want to download the whole game again unless that is the only way to upgrade it.

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Post #: 21

- 10/7/2000 11:53:00 AM

Wild Bill

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Hey Doc! Good to see you here! Sorry you are having these problems. Not a tech guru by any means. WB ------------------ In Arduis Fidelis Wild Bill Wilder Coordinator, Scenario Design Matrix Games

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Post #: 22

- 10/7/2000 11:54:00 AM

Wild Bill

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Jerry, when you say the CD won't work, I'm not sure what you mean. Do you mean you can't install the game or the game won't run after you install it? WB ------------------ In Arduis Fidelis Wild Bill Wilder Coordinator, Scenario Design Matrix Games

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Post #: 23

- 10/8/2000 4:27:00 AM

Jerry

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Hi, The PCGamer CD installed without a hitch. When I click play SPWAW from the main menu, the intro sequence plays, then the screen flashes a couple of times and instead of going to the first game screen it brings me back to main menu again. Jerry

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Post #: 24

- 10/9/2000 5:41:00 PM

mao

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I had the same problem - it turned out to be a bad CD. You can get one from PC Gamer (there is a request form somewhere on their web site).

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Post #: 25

- 10/9/2000 7:00:00 PM

Mike Oshiki

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The kicker is (for me) that the CD installed on other machines without a hitch, so I have to believe that the problem lies with something different about this machine (i.e. win NT and the way it is configured).

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Post #: 26

- 10/10/2000 5:58:00 AM

Jerry

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I installed the PCgamer CD on a friends computer and the game started and ran OK. I have a recently reformated hard drive and clean system, so I also have to believe the problem is with one of my components. Maybe the sound card or other hardware? Just updated to 4.1 and still same problem. Will finish the updates and hope for the best.

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