Scenario League dying?

[Leonidas]

Exile: I just noticed something. You had your video display setting on 32 bit. Instead, change it to "High Colour 16 bit" and see if that makes a difference. That is the only colour setting I use. Most games such as West Front, etc use that colour setting. Although, I noticed that Gettysburg! uses the 250 colour setting.

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Go tell the Spartans, passerby:
That here, obedient to their laws, we lie.
[This message has been edited by Leonidas (edited March 28, 2001).]

[Exile]

I am going to defragment the thing today. The 16-bit high color is where the thing usually sits, and I only switch it to 256 color to play the Gettysburg game, then switch it back. First defrag, then see what will work, what won't, and address other problems.

I can't thank everyone enough,
Exile

[Exile]

Well, defragmentation is complete and things seem to run a bit faster now. But still no luck with the Civil War Collection or Imperialism II. Both are still doing the same things. Screens that are not showing all the information they should be showing, in the case of the latter, and errors that shut down the system whenever I try to use the former. I tried going at the CWC through the files; clicking on the icon that will start the game. The opening screen shows up, but the in-game error message appears telling me that the game I have selected is not installed. This after I just installed it. Inexplicable.

"We can't do that, General,"
Exile

[St Leo]

BTW, I am working on a sequel to one of my released scenarios.

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St. Leo
http://www.sidgames.com/hosted/ziggurat/
http://www.sidgames.com/forums/

[Leonidas]

Exile:

1) First, follow Miner's advise and defragment your hard drive at least once a week. The computer does all the work. It will sort your computer files properly and speed-up your machine. Be sure to choose "C" drive to defragment (most people use this drive for all your files). When it is done defragmenting, the computer will prompt you. Just click on the panel and you will be done. Copy the instructions down and do it on a weekly basis.

2) Also do a "Scan Disc" every week. Very easy to do. Click on "start" at the lower left hand screen, then "Programs", then "accessories", then "System Tools", then select "Scan Disc", then click on "start", select "C" drive, and then follow all of the prompts. Use "Standard". Tis will check all of your files and will automatically fix any problems it finds.

3) Also use "Clean Disc" every week. Go to "System Tools" again by tracing the path I gave you for "Scan Disc", and select "Clean Disc". Follow all of the prompts. This will delete all unnecessary files from your computer. Don't worry about this one - only temporary files are deleted.

That's enough for now - I also have Win'98 - and the above features will work wonders for your computer. It will also nake you feel comfortable working with your computer.

The video card you have sounds like it is a generic video card - usually a very cheap card that some computer makers put in their computers. They are not really meant to be used for games. However, all hope is not lost. Do the above steps. Later, we'll tackle DirectX and se if we can't get that viseo card working properly




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Go tell the Spartans, passerby:
That here, obedient to their laws, we lie.

[kobayashi]

Have you tried to run self diagnostic on your PC. It would tell you exactly what is wrong.

I hesitate to mention this. I had a corrupted video driver once (found out after runnig the self diagnostic) and the folks at Compaq told me to delete the video driver by right clicking my Computer and choosing properties/device manager/display adapters/[the driver]/remove. When you reboot, Windows will reinstall the driver from the its library. It worked after that.

However, do not try this without consulting someone familiar with your system. I don't want to be blamed if it doesn't work out.

[kobayashi]

Another thing you can try is:

right click My Computer

Choose Properties/Performance/Graphics

There will be a slider which controls hardware acceleration, usually set to Full. You can reduce this incrementally by three steps to none to see if there is any effect.

[Leonidas]

Exile: I should have explained earlier - what we are doing with defragmenation, etc right now WILL NOT FIX YOUR VIDEO PROBLEM. We are just preparing/repairing your computer - to eliminate errors in the registry, etc.

Later, we will tackle fixing the game problems. For now, don't try installing or playing your problem games. We will get to them shortly. Since no maintenance has been done to your computer for a whole year, we need to make sure that your computer is running properly, first. Please have patience

1) Now we will run "System File Checker". This will locate and fix any corrupt files on your computer. Since I have been using this, my computer has run like a charm. Basically, the computer will fix itself! Here's how to do it:

Go to "start", then "Program", then "Accessories", then "System Tools", then "System Information". A panel will now appear. On this panel it will tell you how much system resources you have left. How much system resources do you have left? Write it down and let me know.

Next, while still in the "System Information" Panel, select "Tools" from the menu at the top of your browser. Now select "System File Checker". A panel will appear. Click "start". If a corrupt file is located, it will prompt you to place your Win'98 CD in the CD-ROM drive. If you have to do this, click cancel when the Win'98 CD screen appears. Now, click to continue, and follow all on-screen prompts. You computer will locate the bad files and replace them with the good files. If you are asked whether you want to save the bad files as backup, select "yes". Whether corrupt files are found or not, eventually, this program will be finished. It will prompt you when it's done. Then click "OK" and then "close".

Perform "System File Checker" every week along with the other computer maintenance actions we described in earlier posts.

That's enough for now - next up - DirectX

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Go tell the Spartans, passerby:
That here, obedient to their laws, we lie.

[Exile]

Ok, here is some of the information listed in the system resources left category;

86% system resources free
Windows-managed swap file on drive C (17323 MB free)
Available space on drive C: 17323 MB of 19585 MB (FAT 32)
AMD-K7 processor

There was more, but I thought that this stuff was probably pertinent.
When I ran the system file checker, it ran and turned up one file that it said was corrupted; "setupx:dll" It asked if I wanted to fix it, but save the original file somewhere in a folder. I said yes, save the original (just in case) and then fix it. It did. I wrote down the address of the place where it saved the original. I'm guessing that this is a file related to the cursed DirectX.

On a different note, my apologies to Nemo for threadjacking. I didn't intend for this thread to turn into "let's help inept Exile fix his stupid computer." Sorry.

Continuing thanks,
Exile

[techumseh]

Don't worry, Exile. I'm following this thread with interest, and learning what I probably should have already known. I've also purchased games that wouldn't run: Age of Sail and Fighting Steel. In my case, I think it's a low capacity video card built into the mother board. I'll never buy an off the shelf computer again.

[Captain Nemo]

The thread was worn out anyway!

[Exile]

Well, it's gratifying (in a strange way) to think that others might benefit from my own admissions of stupidity w/computers. I suppose that's a good thing. Perhaps no one else gets so infuriated as I do about brand new, right-off-the-store-shelf games that don't seem to work. One is allright; you figure that there has to be at least one lemon in the bunch. Two is stretching things; you think maybe that it's just one company that puts out loser-products. But FIVE! AAAARRRGGGHHH! The word "frustration" just isn't sufficiently superlative to describe the level of anger that you feel. If these companies were in my home town, I would literally march into their offices and raise HELL! I would DEMAND that they do something, either get me a new product or fix my freshly-purchased one so that it works. But these companies are conveniently located in out-of-the-way places and far-off climes; too distant to seriously contemplate driving out there and creating a huge scene at their corporate HQ. And then, to top things off, the only real assistance I get is from other gamers here on the forums. Whatever happened to product reliability? Brand-name credibility?

If it wasn't for the graciousness and patience of friendly people like Leonidas, Gothmog, and others, I'd be sh1t out of luck.

Nemo; well, at least you can say that the Scenario League isn't dead. This thread is serving a useful purpose.

Thanks, thanks, thanks,
Exile

[Leonidas]

My apologies too Captain Nemo - at this rate - this will become one monster thread LOL.

Exile: At 86% your system resources are pretty good. I have freed up enough of my computer resources to have 97% free. But I won't go into that now - it can be a bit confusing. We'll just stick to the topic at hand.

Now we'll tackle DirectX:

Go to "start", then "Program", then "Accessories", then "System Tools", then "System Information", select "Tools" from the menu at the top of your browser, and then select "DirectX Diagnostic Tool".

A large panel will appear. There will be a number of tabs at the top of this panel, and there will be information located at the bottom of the panel. Near the bottom of this panel it will tell you what version of DirectX that you have installed on your computer. Please write your version down and let me know.

Then, click on each of the tabs at the top of this large panel. Within each tab, located at the bottom, you will see an area that contains "notes". As you click on each panel, please check this note area to see if DirectX has found any compatability problems in your computer system.

Now click on the "Display" tab. This should tell you what video card you are using. It will also tell you if DirectDraw and Direct3D is enabled or not. If they are enabled you should see two smalls tabs that say "Disable".
Next, click on the two small buttons at the lower right that say "test Direct Draw" and "test Direct 3D". Did they work?

Next, click on the "Sound" tab at the top. Note any problems under the "notes" section at the bottom, and test your sound card by clicking on the "test" button. Did it work OK?

Let me know the results of what you found.

Next up - we'll tackle the video problems



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Go tell the Spartans, passerby:
That here, obedient to their laws, we lie.

[Exile]

Leonidas, in the part where you indicated that I should find the DirectDraw and the Direct3D, you said to look for a "disable" button. Do you want me to disable these features? Your instruction wasn't clear on that. When I know one way or the other, I can proceed.

Thanks again,
Exile

[Leonidas]

Exile: My humble apologies. I was away last weekend and when I got back on Monday I was unable to get to this site. In fact I have been unable to get onto Apolyton for three days. Was the site down? or experiencing problems?

Sorry for the delay

As to DirectX - no - do not disable it - I was just pointing out where you can find the features. Most games require DirectX - so you shouldn't have to disable it except perhaps for some older games.

Also: a few questions:

1) What type of mouse do you have? Is it cordless?

2) Do you normally start a game by clicking on the desktop icon for that game, or do you use the start-up screen that appears after you place the CD in the CD-ROM drive?

I also did some digging and it seems that SSI makes games that are compatible only with the Intel chips - so I don't know whether that will affect you or not with Imperialism II. But we'll check on that and see.

Talk to you soon.

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Go tell the Spartans, passerby:
That here, obedient to their laws, we lie.