Streety

TAKE MY WESTERN FRONT MOD DOWN IMMEDIATELY!!! I was not approached for permission to re-upload this mod. Although I am no longer actively modding any one of you could have contacted me via details provided within the mod. I do NOT and CANNOT give full permission because of the following: 1) Although there is a lot of my efforts therein, there was a lot of other stuff too, for which only some of it did I have full permissions. For the rest it was either limited permissions along with some pending (i.e. unknown or uncertain authorships/permissions/copyrights of which I asked for feedback). 2) After taking the mod off-line for other reasons, I was later made aware of two potential copyright issues and one modder who explicitly would not have given permission. These matters died because I'd already taken the mod offline - and promised not to re-publish it. 3) You have now re-uploaded the mod and with my details and thus exposed me to all and sundry, and made me a potential target of complaints and potential copyright action. I have had to flag Battlefront, and initiate tortuous correspondences with DropBox and the Internet Archive to try to minimise potential blow-back.

I gave you my free advice, buddy, because people have asked Battlefront kindly before (including me) about their either correcting stuff or opening code to allow others. It won't happen, sorry, you'll get nowhere. Give it up.

Battlefront will never do it. And gaming on linux is a pig and will never be much good - I should know, I used to have a linux device. Forget it. Dual booting is prob your best option if you're techie enough and your hardware is up to it - you can still buy legit win7 discs and legit keys on Amazon (I did 8 months ago). Otherwise buy a cheap 2nd-hand refurbished device - if possible get an XP one and add any nVidia card up thru the 900 series which can use the very last nVidia XP driver, 368.81 (which came out as recently as July 2016 and is still available), as this should give you the nice mist and fog weather effects you just won't get via Vista or any later Windows editions. Btw: fellow missioners, yes Streety is still alive and kicking! - and still playing CM1 games - but sadly I stopped modding years ago (initially argued with a host, but thereafter had eyesight problems), and for the past several years anyway work as a 24/7 live-in carer and no time to mod. Stay frosty!

You're welcome, Kettler. But if I got something wrong or if Schrullenhaft's PM (personal message) to you is otherwise of possible use on this subject, surely it should be publicly posted, for the benefit of all, as being one of the key purposes of this forum. Else, what the hell are we doing here, playing at some secret boys' club for the favoured few, Schrullenhaft?? Others coming to this thread for help on this subject in the future are going to wonder if what I've put is counter/incomplete to the best Tech Support advice, or wonder if special favouritism is required in order to get best help. I don't mind if I put something wrong - Hell, I've only got it from others' past threads' advice, or gleaned it from personal experience, so fess-up for the benefit of all, jeez... Bad Tech Support! I'm out of here.

Kettler - P.S. to my last message after your latest: I accidentally-on-purpose forgot to mention trying to run the game in Win7's "compatibility mode" or as "administrator", because I've yet to read CMx1 feedback saying that those methods actually helped for any of the specific problems that players have been experiencing. And I don't think they're related to your pal's apparent text problem anyway, but I suppose they're worth trying after the ALT+TAB, ALT+TAB method, just in case... PPS - yes it might be that some problems arise out of the differences between the relative success-rate of compatibility between desktop graphics cards and laptop integrated graphics chips (and perhaps sometimes related to how laptop chips are more tied into the integrated screen rather than the perhaps greater built-in flexibility of a desktop which will usually have any of a number of potential external monitors). However, I do wonder if in fact just as many problems might be caused by the differences between the downloadable CMx1 games and the retail CD versions, which at least for CMBB and CMAK are definitely different in terms of a few (but potentially significant) DirectX aspects (and so maybe CMBO is too). For example, I bought a Vista laptop (and found Vista to be a piece of junk) but it installed and played all my retail CD CMx1 games without any issues whatsoever.

You're welcome. Some of the issues might relate to compatibility with how the e-licence recognises how/where the game is installed, but I'd have guessed there wouldn't be an e-licence on the demo version (but maybe it's wrapped up in the same install package). Apparently the downloadable versions of CMBB and CMAK from Battlefront used different DirectX protocols or triggers than the earlier retail CD versions. The later Vista 1.04 patch was a fix for the downloadable versions of CMBB and CMAK (which you have to buy!) to account for this difference, so the retail CD versions should be ok. Don't know if the current CMBO downloadable demo is similarly affected but there seems to be no Vista patch for it (so just buy a used retail CD version). But what helped some CMx1 Win7 users was to also download the DirectX installer: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/confirmation.aspx?id=35 which should back-fill any parts of DirectX 9c (and maybe earlier verisons) that didn't already come as part of your pal's current DirectX 10 or 11 package (thanks for that crappy approach, Microsoft). Again, however, if it were me I'd just buy the cheapo 1p used CD version I previously posted and see if that worked ok before tinkering with updating my rig's drivers (hate messing with drivers if everything else works ok with them). Otherwise, if the ALT+TAB, ALT+TAB doesn't work and your friend has an ATI graphics chip, it seems that installing the text file could work, and failing that installing the CCC (catalyst control centre) for ATI. But before installing/updating graphics card drivers/utilities, he could also try something I found with NVidia for CMAK on Windows XP: If I played the game on my NVidia control panel's highest quality graphics setting, I'd lose some of the text, but if I put the quality settings down a notch (or maybe it was two notches) the text came back. Never investigated it further. I guess, to summarise, I'd probably advise this order of tinkering and see if they worked before trying the next one: 1) ALT+TAB, ALT+TAB 2) Change quality settings on your graphics driver 3) Try the amended text file 4) Try a different desktop resolution 5) Then, sorry, but buy a used retail CD version and try that 6) The DirectX updater 7) Install/update CCC (for ATI cards) or otherwise update the drivers/utilities for your graphics The best retail CD version to buy is of course the most expensive: "Combat Mission: Anthology" (2004) which not only has all 3 games but has executables which mean that once installed you don't have to put the respective disks in your machine to play them. And it came out late enough to have all the patches, I think (except for the vista 1.04 patch - but that was only ever needed to correct the downloadable versions of the game, not the retail CD versions, so you wouldn't then also want the 1.04 patch anyway).

Sounds like your friend might have the common text problem. First, try simply pressing ALT+TAB keys together to come out of the game, then ALT+TAB back into the game (which works for some Win7/8 users for CMx1). But if that don't work, ahead of help from Tech Support or from someone who's tried the same situation, there's these CMBO threads: http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=100600 http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=92907 And maybe others. Or if that don't help you could try the various CMBB or CMAK threads about Vista/Win7/Win8 issues - maybe one of the same solutions would work... In those CMBO threads it seems at least the full CMBO does work with Win7, so if it turns out that it's just the demo that's the problem, you can get a used copy of the full game (plus the additional mods disk) for just a penny at Amazon (look for "Combat Missions - Xplosiv Range"). One of those 1p copies currently comes with free postage!!! (well if your friend is in the UK, but I suspect other Amazon and similar reseller sites have similar cheapo copies). Well worth the risk.

Redwolf, I'm not targeting anything, just putting information and queries out there about resolutions and how to obtain them, just in case it's of use to someone. And I've been asking if anyone has found other resolutions. And in my last message I was just confirming, for posterity and completeness, for what residual use it might be to anyone, something that Schrullenhaft some while ago suggested might be possible about software rendering of CMBO but not CMBB or CMAK. And in my message it is very clear that I'm merely pondering/querying what potential use it could be to anyone, hence the "??" in my last message. And if you had read the message and the thread all this would have been perfectly plain to you. And so, regrettably, I have to suggest to you (yet again in this thread, and from my experience of your antics in other threads) that you read things properly instead of being selective and/or over-eagerly jumping in to show off. And may I also beg that you avoid inventing arguments just to show off some nugget of knowledge. Because all of it would only serve to put you in a poor, overly-competitive light instead of a constructive one, and make people prefer to disengage with you - as now, sadly, shall I.

Right. Back to the core purpose of the thread. Just for the hell of it I tested CMBO, CMBB and CMAK at software-rendered 640x480, and Schrullenhaft's notion was correct in that you can run CMBO but not the others at that res. See attached pic. I suppose it might be of residual interest to someone cobbling together a low-spec mobile device?? The ground tiles don't look right and the buildings look a little pixelated (though this might be corrected with smaller bitmaps? or look better depending on your rig) but otherwise it isn't too bad. Perhaps we'll be able to play CMBO on smart phones or smart watches... If anyone finds any other CMx1 resolutions not yet listed in this thread, please feel free to add.

There may be far more CMx1 gamers than are realised by tourney players, as over the decades, nearly half of all the few wargamers I've actually ever met in person are solo-gamers, either sometimes or often (like me) exclusively. No wargame is perfect - and CMx1 and CMx2 certainly aren't - but the abstractedness of CMx1? Hmm, well, when I played CMx2 a few times I noticed those nicer-looking individual soldiers, doing a stutter-"vogue" like Madonna and walking through each other etc, so if those individuals represent the exact positions of each soldier for the purposes of battle calculations, I'd be a bit worried. But even if not, my two main reasons (and possibly many others' reasons) for still playing CMx1 is that it seems far easier to play bigger battles, whereas CMx2 seems more suited to skirmishes, and CMx1 seems to have a more truly "random-map, random-battle" setup which solo gamers yearn for. Shame it never got it's own proper campaign mode going... As to historical data, it can often be biased, incomplete, contradictory, etc, and some is partly or purely hypothetical anyway, and so I wonder how close we can now ever get to military-hardware accuracy, let alone accurately model human battlefield behaviour. But, to a certain extent, larger-scale battle-gaming will at least minimise some of these issues by way of averaging them out. Regarding Avalon Hill's Tactics and Tactics II, it's interesting how some (presumably stateside) websites wrongly declare that "the hobby of wargaming was born in the 1950s with the publication of the game Tactics..." (see http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1574/tactics-ii). For, if one puts aside more abstract games like Chess and playing cards, or military training exercises, in Europe hobby-wargaming that we would recognise today began in the late 18th century with the fore-runners of Kriegspiel: http://www.commonroomgames.com/timeline.html#early. The World's first hobby wargames club (i.e., for hobbyists, that is, not connected with the military) may have been sometime in the late 18th century too, but the earliest officially known of was supposedly started at Oxford Uni in the 1870s. For the UK, the first published rule-books were actually written in the 1890s by no less than John Jane (who started "Jane's Fighting Ships" - probably first researched and published for his naval wargames), and for land-battles it was no less than H.G. Wells! ("Floor Games" and "Little Wars", both 1910s). Of course, he got the idea from me, young scamp! And I still regret to this day telling him that if he didn't put my toy soldiers away and go to bed the bloody Martians would come and show him a real battle! (Despite dying from a full-on man-flu cold, I stumbled over the scene with my walking stick, like a giant tripod, emphasising my words by jabbing the air with my smoking pipe and kicking horse and cannon to the four corners of the mansion, little realising the effect on a disturbed child's mind...).

We're well past that bit of advice Redwolf - please read a short thread before jumping in - we're onto Erwin's unusual desire to force a 4:3 game to fit the widescreen horizontally, cutting off top and bottom of the in-game image, because he drank too much schnapps. But all the same, I'm glad Erwin's toying with settings also helped another soul increase their resolution, and made the thread worth starting. And Erwin! Another reported 2048x1536 means you weren't just suffering from a North-African desert mirage. And getting back to the point of the thread, I wonder what other 4:3 resolutions are possible (above and below this) that aren't already widely known? We now know at least these are possible: 800x600, 1024x768, 1152x864, 1280x1024, 1400x1050, 1600x1200 and 2048x1536. (And I think Schrullenhaft somewhere else pondered that CMBO alone might be able to software-render at 640x480 - but I doubt such a low res would be of any use...) But yes, Erwin, stick with 4:3 with black side bars - you'll soon get used to it, buddy, and your in-game resolution will look sharper on your screen that way. But I'd like to know if you've played out a battle at 2048x1536 and seen that it all works ok.

You're welcome Erwin. Actually, I kept on thinking about how to possibly fulfil your unusual desire to display CMx1 so that it fills across a 16:10 widescreen but 4:3 aspect ratio maintained, so you end up cutting off the top and or bottom of the in-game screen. There is something else you can try. Go into your NVidia control panel, look for something called "manage custom resolutions", then click on "create", then click on "advanced settings", then look for a "manual" settings button (at least, that is what it's all called on my old NVidia card). In there, you'll find some parameters (probably called "back-end parameters") which dictate (among other things) how many pixels and where they start/offset/porch on your screen. At your own risk, play with the settings and click on the "test" button (you might have to click agreement to an Nvidia disclaimer first). On my old machine, it then tries the new custom settings, sometimes changing the screen, sometimes nothing happens, sometimes the screen goes ominously black. However, in "test" mode you should then be asked if you want to keep the custom setting and if you don't answer (because maybe your screen went blank etc, your screen should revert back to your normal/previous settings after 15 seconds. If you end up accidentally clicking "OK" instead of "test", and the screen goes wonky or black, you might have to do a hard shutdown (holding in the main on button for 4+ seconds) and/or restart in safe mode to change settings back. I didn't have to because my NVidia was configured not to start in custom mode). I was only prepared to try it on an old 4:3 monitor as I don't want to risk damaging the only decent widescreen we have (a 32" tv). And so I can't even suggest what settings to adjust in which direction first. But at your risk, if you want to explore all those settings, go ahead.... Once you've accepted a custom setting you should see it listed whenever you open your NVidia control panel and click on "manage custom resolutions" again, and then you'd probably have to select/deselect it before and after the game. It might prove useful on a small widescreen. But what would likely put me off bothering with your bigger widescreen, would be that even if you can get all the above to work, you might have to accept 2048x1536 as your max CMx1 resolution (??). Which, being smaller than your screen, might leave you with a blurry (low-resolution-looking) game as it'd be spread across the entire width of your high-resolution screen. And don't blame me if your screen blows up!

P.S. to my previous last para: If I recall, sometimes if a monitor will accept a much greater desktop resolution from your graphics chip than it can display, it will let you have it and then allow you to navigate the larger desktop with your mouse - e.g. as you move your mouse up and down the screen, the larger desktop will scroll to let you see another part of your desktop. However, it probably won't happen with a laptop display, but only with an external monitor, and even then only (of course) where your chip's maximum "external monitor" display resolution is greater than your external monitor's maximum resolution. But even then, there may still be a chance it might not work if the software program you are trying to run is designed to also detect your monitor rather than just your desktop-size. I managed it with one previous setup I played with a few years ago and I think I ran CMBO for the hell of it, but in-battle scrolling/navigation was difficult as sometimes the cursor would be in a part of the overall battlefield-screen that was actually off the monitor's visible screen. I suspect you'd either find the same and/or that the carefully aligned vertical positioning you'd want would then wander around somewhat as you moved your cursor around the battlefield. Basically, things like games and in-game navigation aren't really designed to work that way.

What resolutions can CMx2 run at? I've no idea but (stupidly??) assume it has widescreen capability(?). If so, it must surely have a max resolution closer to your 2560x1600 monitor? Or else you are going to have to accept that you'll need to alter scaling or aspect ratio settings depending on whether playing CMx1 or CMx2. Jeez, Erwin. Filling the screen horizontally without image-stretch but by instead cutting off top and bottom of the game sreen is highly unlikely to be possible. Graphics chips and monitors are not designed to intentionally incorrectly display an image resolution! But there's a small chance that depending on the way your monitor and your graphics chip interprets each other, you might incidentally/accidentally get the game to display that way (I've managed it by luck before now, with a chip capable of a greater resolution than the screen could manage) and then you'd need to adjust the monitor's Vertical and Horizontal display settings so that you get the interface buttons visible on the game screen.

Yes, if you de-stretch the screen (remove scaling) you'll get black bars either side because you're running a 4:3 game on a 16:10 widescreen. Your "aspect ratio" setting is probably the setting that means (and should be called) "maintain aspect ratio". This could work better if you're playing both widescreen and non-widescreen games without wanting to keep changing your graphics settings. But "maintain aspect ratio" can cause problems with other issues (desktop settings or switching between programs), depending on your graphics card and what other software you have. There's no one-size-fits-all answer - it depends on your needs, your other software, and what monitor and what graphics chip you got. That's why I previously mentioned the "mantain aspect ratio" option but on my netbook ended up going for "center image" (i.e. "no scaling"), because "maintain aspect ratio" screwed my Samsung netbook display up completely (screen went black) every time I finished a game. And "no scaling" is always the safest to try first anyway... But strange how "no scaling" screws up your CMx2 - did you delete any CMx2 prefs file (if CMx2 has one), or howsoever it's done, to reset its own graphics/resolution?