QS have released Patch info!

[Crostoneman]

If the PD bug is fixed, does this mean the point defence missiles go after missiles, or do you have to assign them to point defence ships. If this is true, then there is merit to why the A.I. keeps building I.F. task forces, and the battles would be a lot more interesting.

[BobD]

Originally posted by Stuie

The only time I have experienced this "bug" is when another program becomes the focus in windows (either by alt-tab or by hitting the Start Menu key or Sleep key by accident), and I have to re-focus MOO3 from the windows' toolbar. I just avoid all of the above by running MOO3 with no other programs active and avoiding the aforementioned keys.

Is it happening under other circumstances? You might need to turn off a screen-saver or something - the solution may be that simple.

To the best of my knowledge this isn't the problem. I never alt-tab out of the game, nor do I have other programs running (except my internet connection). It usually happens during (or just after) a combat sequence, so it's "inbetween" turns. The game I was playing was pretty far along (turn 350+) so maybe it has something to do with the huge amount of data that the game has to process? Anyway, I'm putting my hopes on the patch.

[CharlesBHoff]

Originally posted by BobD
Thank god, there's finally a light at the end of the tunnel. After suffering through the Dirext X Surface bug 5(!) turns in a row I have given up trying to play this game until it gets fixed. Hopefully it won't be too long.

I have the same problen untril I change the graphic setting in the option in MOO3 from hight to either Medium or Low.

[CharlesBHoff]

Since I started playing computer games since the late 1970's let me shared some thought on this. I than also did some programming on the early computers. The games make to day are alot more complex than the one make in the past. All games of the late 1970's with afew exception where DOS game's which where very stable compare to windows 3.1 and early win 95 games. DOS programming is alot easyier to do than windows programming which is why game companies didnot release windows game untril later.
In DOS only one thing was running the games and what ever support from DOS program that was needed to run. Windows programming is many time harder as you must worry about background program's running while your game is also running. Some background are vital windows programs which cannot be block or turn off without windows
crashing on you. DOS games very rarely crash on you untril you have the wrong type of DOS on your computer and you have to upgrade your version of DOS.
The reason that the early games where bug free was that detecting bug is easy when your program are simple and the operation system you where writeing for was also simple. Debugging than simple short program will take from 2 to 3 hours per hour sent programming. In the more involse game programming and more complex windrows program it might take at least 10 to 20 hours of debugging for each hours sent programming.

[CharlesBHoff]

The time sent debugging isnot the total time sent writeing the program. The program when it is being delveoply is also being rewritten and debugged while they are working on the code untril near the end when their have a pretty good idear that they have good codes in place. It is very common that in the beginning that codes for the game is going throught many revision and is contation being change and debugged.

[Nirvana_CN]

Plus the fact Moo3 was make as a modders paradise doesnt help, instead of an Exe file calling data and code from one massive file, they are calling it from 100's of data sources. Makes testing a lenghy process i would expect.

I still stand by the fact M003 could be a true classic with a few patches

*ones off for a few more turns before the gf has finished sunday lunch *

[Kc7mxo]

Unfortunately there were quite a few who were driven away by the initial offering and refuse to come back. Unfortunate for them, anyway.

<= raises hand

[CharlesBHoff]

Originally posted by Nirvana_CN
Plus the fact Moo3 was make as a modders paradise doesnt help, instead of an Exe file calling data and code from one massive file, they are calling it from 100's of data sources. Makes testing a lenghy process i would expect.

I still stand by the fact M003 could be a true classic with a few patches

*ones off for a few more turns before the gf has finished sunday lunch *

When than game is being work on it is commonly broken down into many smaller files to make rewritten and debugging code easyer. Then for betra testing and releaseing the final program is it recompile into larger files.

[MariOne]

Re: Re: Re: Re: QS have released Patch info!

Originally posted by Stuie


Unfortunately there were quite a few who were driven away by the initial offering and refuse to come back. Unfortunate for them, anyway.

Unfortunately, I was not driven away by bugs, or by any intial unbalance whatsoever in the game parameters, but by the very philosophy behind the game design itself, which made it imho dull, shallow, unattractive despite all its promises.
And that view is not just my freak prejudice, but is shared by more than a few gaming-committed and openminded members of this same site.

I hardly figure a patch can fix THAT.
I could be nevertheless giving it a try again sometimes, but that's not in my priority list. After all, in six or twelve months, I'll have to dust the top shelves too....

PS: shameful, lame, provocative plug: I found SEIVGold more exciting and interesting to play than Civ3!

[Kahn]

Asleep at the wheel!

HELLO!?! Is anyone awake at Quicksilver/Infogrames?

With over half of the poor schleps taken in by the slick spin doctoring not even able to run this piece of crap for more than a couple of turns before the now infamous "DirectX surface not available" make an appearance, followed by a crash to the desktop, and this is all QS/IG has to say in response:

Originally posted by Nirvana_CN
Taken from here :- http://www.ina-community.com/forums/...hreadid=277756

We are concentrating on the Military AI (offensive, defensive and build queue) and point defense problems, along with some UI glitches and any crash or easy to fix bugs. Changes which require any artwork are extremely unlikely for this patch.

The plan is to release a data-only patch fairly quickly which should help with some of the Military AI problems (and other things) and may also contain some additional documentation on use of the spreadsheets to help the modders.

What planet are you from??? Fix the errors in the game before you begin "tweaking the AI". The errors are not the result of improper "{Alt}{tab}ing", nor the result of bad drivers. It results from anyone having a video card with less than 128 megs of RAM (and even that only gives you a 50/50 chance of being able to run @#$ thing)!

It's quite apparent that no beta testing was done before this "release" was shoved out the door. If this is any indication of what this studio is capable of producing, then I suggest that next time they attempt to hire programmers that were not asleep during "Introduction to C/C++" class!

[vmxa1]

Kahn, the game will not crash if you use Cntrl-Alt-Esc when you come back to the game and get the direct x msg. I use the windows key to bounce out of Moo3 and come back many times each day and have never had it crash using those keys. I have had the game all day without a single crash.

[Kahn]

Originally posted by vmxa1
Kahn, the game will not crash if you use Cntrl-Alt-Esc when you come back to the game and get the direct x msg. I use the windows key to bounce out of Moo3 and come back many times each day and have never had it crash using those keys. I have had the game all day without a single crash.

Apparently you have failed to read the posts on this subject. WE don't give a @#$%& about the DX problem your talking about (otherwise know as the "recoverable"error. The code consistantly crashes the program to desktop once it has faied to recycle enough pointers to the DirectDrawSurfaces.

Hopefully, you are just trying to help. If so, I'm sorry for comming down on you so hard, it's just several of us who have complained about the problem keep getting the same, stupid, idiotic advise from non-programmers trying to explain away a problem that is clearly contained within the code as if it were a figment of our imaginations!

[Alex-C]

I have a Voodoo3 3000, which is significantly less than 128mb ram, and my copy works like a treat, so your accusation toward that system specification was a little inaccurate

[Kahn]

Are you running Windows 98 too.

(This was the only exception to the 128 meg rule we could find in our research.)

[Eric S]

Well, I'm another exception, I guess. I've never had any crash/hang with MoO3 except for the DirectX surface error relating to Alt-Tabbing. I'm running Win2K and a GF3 video card with 64MB, I believe, and I've played 15 hours straight without a problem. I do have 512MB RAM if that might be a useful datapoint. (Just trying to be helpful, the more data points collected, the more obvious the problem may appear).