PROJECT: Playtest

[J Bytheway]

Originally posted by Flinx
How do you do that?

Assuming that you normally start CTP2 through the start menu then you'll have to go to the properties of the shortcut, and look at the 'Target:' field, which, for example, in my setup looks like this:

F:\Games\CTP2Src2\ctp2_code\ctp\ctp2.exe

And then add the desired command line parameter, like this:

F:\Games\CTP2Src2\ctp2_code\ctp\ctp2.exe nointromovie

There are two possible problems:

1. Your CTP2 shortcut presently points at the loader in the main ctp2 directory, rather than the "real" executable, which is under ...\ctp2_code\ctp or ...\ctp2_program\ctp depending on whether you compiled it yourself or not. If so, change it - it'll save you time.

2. Your CTP2 path contains spaces (e.g. "Program Files") in which case you may need to remove them by using the 8.3 versions (e.g. "Progra~1"), because the quoting system doesn't handle command line parameters very well.

Other methods you could use:

- Open a command prompt, navigate to the CTP2 directory and run "ctp2 nointromovie" from there.

- Create a batch file in the same directory as the executable which calls CTP2 with the right command line parameters.

[Tamerlin]

I have downloaded an Indeo CODEC for Win2K (I am under WinXP) and I am no more told that I need Indeo Video Playback in order to run the video. It is very strange as I have never been asked this software for CtP2 before. Very, very strange...

[Solver]

That might be a problem with your setup. I don't think that the game could ask for that under any circumstances.

[J Bytheway]

Well it is encoded in "Indeo® video 5.10 Decompression Filter" (according to Windows Media Player) so it makes sense that you would need that codec. Perhaps it got corrupted or some other unlikely occurance...

[BureauBert]

DebugSlic

Thank you Martin for proposing a workaround concerning "GrantAdvance" . I will give it a try and post ...
Unfortunately the Event:CreateBuilding has no corresponding function - so I will have to leave this one for the moment.
I understood that the scripts are somehow compiled (or just "debugged", checked, whatsoever) at gamestart for running better at runtime, and that the error I get is intended to be thrown at the first occasion even with DebugSlic=No.
But using the same scripts with Activision's patch and DebugSlic=No did not result in any error messages - my possibly over-SLICed Mod-monster on a monstrouos map just became very, very slow at certain point .
The behaviour of Activision's patch was: With DebugSlic=Yes I got the same error messages once at gamestart and every time the "buggy" function was called in-game. With DebugSlic=No I got neither. I must admit that I prefered this behaviour because, though everybody should try to produce "clean" SLIC-code, it is just impossible with a couple of functions/event handlers (in their original/current implementation) because they are buggy themselves. AFAIK there are several functions that work as expected in-game (since experienced SLICers figured out how to use them ) but are not recognized as correct SLIC by the debugger, because the debugger is buggy. As J Bytheway said:

Fixing the root problem which causes the error will probably be rather harder though

In the meantime, if it is possible with reasonable effort, dropping the mostly useless error-messages at all with DebugSlic=No, as in Activision's patch, would IMHO be a good mid-term solution

[Flinx]

Originally posted by J Bytheway
Assuming that you normally start CTP2 through the start menu then you'll have to go to the properties of the shortcut, and look at the 'Target:' field, which, for example, in my setup looks like this:

F:\Games\CTP2Src2\ctp2_code\ctp\ctp2.exe

And then add the desired command line parameter, like this:

F:\Games\CTP2Src2\ctp2_code\ctp\ctp2.exe nointromovie

Thanks John
"C:\Program Files\Activision\Call To Power 2\ctp2_program\ctp\ctp2.exe" nointromovie works perfectly for me
I didn't have the problem Tamerlin had, but why click through the movey when you do not have to?!

[Tamerlin]

Originally posted by J Bytheway
Well it is encoded in "Indeo® video 5.10 Decompression Filter" (according to Windows Media Player) so it makes sense that you would need that codec. Perhaps it got corrupted or some other unlikely occurance...

Thanks J Bytheway, I was actually becoming worried, installing the Indeo 5.11 CODEC for Win2K, though I am under WinXP, has solved the problem...

As far as I remember, I own few games using Indeo. I recently uninstalled some old games and I have perhaps erased some shared files in the process. Or perhaps have I overwritten some newer shared files when I installed some other older games...

Could someone remind me of the line that has to be added and in which file if I want to use ModSwapper and the SAP2 with the latest playtest build.

[Tamerlin]

Originally posted by Flinx
... but why click through the movey when you do not have to?!

I like things to run smoothly and as they are supposed to... and I was afraid it could hide a deeper problem.

[bartdanr]

Re: Update 2004-04-18

Originally posted by J Bytheway
New version available:

Edit: Removed link. The latest version of the Apolyton Edition can be found here.

(It has to be a .rar, rather than a .zip, because the .zip exceeds the 5MB limit on uploaded file sizes (Maybe I should subscribe to Apolyton to fix that ). Perhaps Locutus could repackage it as a zip and post it in the directory if anyone has a problem with rars.)

Changes:
Added: Rush buy button status updated when gold gained from goody huts
Fixed: Empty(ing) build queue crashes
Fixed: Invalid memory access when loading from a file with a different table size
Fixed: SLIC bugs
Changed: Menu structure and graphics

Now it's time for bed .

Thanks a ton, I was able to download your link. I look forward to playing!!!

[drulius]

Still playing with the 2004[1].04.03.CTP2Playtest, but I don't think this would have changed with the new update. Early in a game, I explored a section of the map by 3250bc, and didn't go back until 1650bc. By then, the French had settled in the area just along the edge of where I had explored, and their territory extended well into the area I had explored.

When mousing over French squares, the French ownership was labeled in the ticker data at the bottom of the command window, before the border was revealed by "finding" the French city responsible for the ownership.

I think a picture will explain it better. But I think it is not supposed to be telling the player which direction the enemy is hiding. Is this something old or new?

[Fromafar]

Bug reports on the 2004.04.18 playtest release:

The game crashes when loading an old file or starting a scenario.

In SlicStructInstance::Serialize, there is an attempt to read 6 members from the file. It looks like the file data contains 3 valid members only. Starting with the 4th member, the interpretation of the file data is invalid (e.g. haveData gets read as 3 - I would expect only 0 or 1 for a boolean).

Some memory leaks have also reappeared (popup resourcelist asserts at the end of the program): it looks like the SP subscreen cleanup functions are not executed anymore.

But the new interface looks great .

[J Bytheway]

Originally posted by Fromafar
Some memory leaks have also reappeared (popup resourcelist asserts at the end of the program): it looks like the SP subscreen cleanup functions are not executed anymore.

I guess that's due to me cutting out swathes of code related to the interface...

[Solver]

Bug reports on the 2004.04.18 playtest release:

The game crashes when loading an old file or starting a scenario.

I loaded a save from the previous playtest build without any problems.

[Solver]

OK, just tested it - saves from previous builds can be loaded just fine, but there's a CTD if a save that was saved under 2004-04-18 build is loaded.

[Tamerlin]

I have made a few tests with the latest playtest build.

I have started a new game, played a few turns and saved the game after I created my first city. I made a Quick Save and a regular one and tried to load them while the game was running and after I quitted the game. No problem at all with any kind of saves.

My CtP2 playtest installation is a patched CtP2 1.11 build over which I have successively installed the playtest builds (to the exception of the previous 2004[1].04.03 and 2004[1].04.12 builds)