Schrullenhaft
-
Posts
9,204 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
3
Posts posted by Schrullenhaft
-
-
The copy-protection system for CM games since CMBN does NOT have an unlicensing mechanism (eLicense) like the original CMSF had. So you don't need to 'decommision' your previous installs.
The 'all-in-one' installers for your games will usually be found with the links in the purchases of the '4.0 Upgrade' (or 3.0 Upgrade if you only had that Upgrade version). If you made purchases of any of the games after the 4.0 Upgrade, then those links should also have the 'all-in-one' installers.
To get to the downloads go to http://www.battlefront.com and click the 'Login' button in the upper right. This will be the 'store account' login, which may differ from your Forum account (it should be the email address at the time of purchase). Hopefully you haven't used multiple email accounts in the past when making your purchases. Otherwise you may need to remember these other accounts in order to find all of your downloads. Once logged in you'll be at the 'My Account' page. Click the 'My Orders' link and you should be presented will a listing of all of the purchases that this account has made. Unfortunately you won't see what exactly was purchased with each order in this list. You'll have to guess when you purchased the games and then click on the 'Click to view' link at the right side of the order. This will show you the details of the order and also provide the initial links to those downloads. Within the 'Order Content' section of each order should be a listing of each item purchased at that time and a link within each listing that should take you to the 'Sharefile' download. Also within this listing will be the license key ('Activation Code(s)').
Within the downloads, if you're presented with a folder icon for the download, you may want to click on that to 'drill down' to a listing of the individual downloads within that folder. You will want the 'Windows FULL...' download for each game. Putting a 'checkmark' in the upper left of the folder icons will download that entire folder. With the 'folder' downloads the default filename will often be 'Files.zip', so you may want to pay attention if you download multiple files like this and possibly rename them during the initial download process (to identify them correctly later).
With the .zip compressed files the Windows Explorer decompression capability should typically work. However you may want to install 7-zip or some other compression/decompression utility. Occasionally some people have run into problems properly decompressing some of the files.
With the 4.0 Upgrade installs you will need the license keys for each of the modules, packs and the 4.0 and 3.0 Upgrades (unless your base game purchase was of a 4.0 version). After entering the initial license key you will need to use the 'Activate Modules' shortcut that may be in the Battlefront folder in your Windows 10 Start Menu. Pay close attention to the 'success' dialog box at the end and what the text is in the 'green boxes' that tell you what is currently activated.
-
Are you both on the same version of this CM game ? Are you playing the same CM game ? What size is the .ema file ? If you're not playing the same game and version, then the file may fail to show up in the game. If there is file corruption, then the .ema file may not be recognized as an CM file.
-
CMBN 1.x will NOT work with Windows 10. The copy-proctection system used with the 1.x versions is what is incompatible (and the source of the error message that you're getting). If, for some reason, you're using individual installers, then at a minimum you will need the 2.0 Upgrade installed before you can actually activate any license keys.
-
If you have the 3.0 Upgrade, download the 'all-in-one' ('FULL') installer (should be available from the link provided with the 3.0 Upgrade purchase). "Invisible men" indicate that you have forgotten to apply one of the patches that was necessary (and you end up missing a .BRZ data file). I'm thinking that this might be the 1.11 patch or something to that effect.
-
Yes, the bug is acknowledged by Battlefront and there is a report in the bug reporting system currently.
-
What version of CMBN are you running ? Is this a purchased version or the Demo ? Is the same user logged in that installed CMBN ?
Is the 'getTempDirectory' the last command you see in the Console before CMBN fails ? How does CMBN fail, does the icon simply bounce in the Dock and then disappear (or remain bouncing) ? Or does it issue some sort of error message ? The temp directory's name and contents can vary, but there is usually a 'T' subdirectory at the end of that path, which may not get populated with files until the rest of CMBN actually loads (a bit later in the loading process).
Running the 3.12 CMBN Demo on OS 10.11.6, the next event listed in the Console is a 'Gestalt selector' error, which apparently is a limitation of that particular service (used for OS/service identification/enumeration). After that the 'CarbonCore' loads up and then 'libdispatch.dylib' loads a couple of times and then a couple of more loadings of CarbonCore (this may be specific to the way that the Demo loads compared to the purchased version). A 'Qt' library loads and then the CMBN app actually loads (and seems to initialize again).
You shouldn't need to make ANY SORT OF CHANGE to the /var/folders directories. Clear them out by rebooting (not 'Sleep', but actually restarting or shutting down and then booting up) your Mac. You should NOT need to make any changes to permissions on folders in here or 'hand create' folders in here.
You can run the 'Disk Utility' in the Applications/Utilities folder. This can repair some system permission issues (if there are any here in this situation), though I don't suspect that may be the issue here.
In the System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General tab > 'Allow apps downloaded from:' is set to 'Anywhere', correct ?
-
Has something changed recently about your computer, new hardware, etc. (including inserting USB headphones) ? Typically these errors show up when you try to launch the game. Is that what is happening here, where the error appears when you launch CMBN and NOT during the loading of a specific scenario (after you've reached the main screen) ?
If you haven't restarted your computer in awhile, perhaps try that and see if the game behaves any differently. If necessary, make sure that the game executables/directories are set as exceptions to your security software, though that is usually not much of a problem lately.
You MIGHT have to contact the Helpdesk and request the gsClean utility for CMBN (you may need to mention all of the modules and packs you have installed and what exact version you're running). This utility will delete specific license keys and allow you to reactivate.
-
As Erwin mentioned, with CMSF1 you're eligible to upgrade to CMSF 2. With your current base game, Marines and British Forces modules you would want to purchase the three separate upgrades for those ($15, $10 & $10). The Big Bundle Upgrade would require that you have a NATO module too.
These 'upgrades' do NOT need CMSF1 installed. In fact they don't use the previous installation at all as it is an entirely new installation. You will however need your old license keys (in addition to the new ones you get with the Upgrade); so find that Marines disc if it has the license key on it. The installer is an 'all-in-one', so there are no patches to worry about. It should install in its own directory (NOT your current CMSF1 one !). Just license the game and modules as you would with CMBN and newer games (though you need to use your CMSF1 license keys in order to activate the modules, in addition to the new license keys).
-
What version was CMBN before you purchased the 'Upgrade' for it ? If it was 1.x or 2.x, then you would have needed the '3.0 + 4.0 Upgrade' (CMBS only has a 4.0 Upgrade). If your copy of CMBN was 3.x, then only the 4.0 Upgrade would have been necessary (though the 3.x version should have worked with Windows 10). Do you have a problem during the actual installation of the games or do you only experience a problem during activation ?
With these upgrades I would suggest downloading the 'FULL' installer that comes with the upgrade. This is a full version of the game (possibly including modules and packs you may not have purchased). It includes all patches and there is typically nothing else you have to install. If you have old save games, mods and/or downloaded scenarios and campaigns, you may want to back those up and then completely delete whatever you may have currently installed of the games and then run the 'full' installer.
As for activating them, the "Right-click and select 'Run as Administrator'" option to launch the game sometimes is necessary (as you've apparently already tried). Also, if you have any anti-virus/security software you may want to add an exception within it for the game executables and possibly their directories. Some security software's active protection features may prevent the game from running and sometimes it might take awhile for the executables to be scanned (if they are not completely blocked). Usually just launching the game the first time around should bring up an activation screen. In the case of CMBN you have several modules and packs that also need to be activated and that requires using the 'Activate Modules' shortcut that might be on the desktop or within the Start Menu (in the Battlefront and then Combat Mission Battle for Normandy folders).
The 3.x and 4.x versions of CMBN are definitely compatible with Windows 10. I'm not sure of the 2.x versions of CMBN. CMBS should work without the upgrade (it is based on the 3.0 Engine for its 1.x versions). Typically there should be no need to run the games with a 'compatibility mode' (such as Windows 8 or 7, etc.).
-
Richard McMahon - How did you get your 'activation code' ? I assume you were sent an email with it. Were there any download links within that email ?
If your email doesn't provide a link, then you can go to your Battlefront Store account (http://www.battlefront.com) and click the Login button in the upper right. You should have created an account when you purchased the game with your Username being your email address. If you don't remember your password, you can reset it with the link just below the login boxes.
Once logged into your account go to the 'My Orders' link and in here it should list all of your purchases. On the far right of the order listing will be a link, 'Click to view' that will show your order details. Within here will be a download link to the Sharefile server that has your download. Click the checkbox in the upper left of the icon of the download you want. Make sure to get the correct version, since you may see both a Mac and a Windows/PC download. The download may default to a name of 'files.zip' and you'll need to extract it with either your OS (Windows) or a program (7-zip or others). With these extracted files you should be able to install the game. The game will require to install some of its data files in your 'user account' directory. So if you were intending to install on a different drive than your boot drive, some files will still end up on your boot drive (where the 'user' directory is usually located at).
For licensing I'm not sure how the Big Bundle licensing works. You may need to license the base game and all of the modules separately, but possibly with the same activation code/license key. Usually just launching the game once will bring up the license dialog box. This should allow you to license the base game, but pay close attention to the 'success box' that shows you green boxes for what has been licensed. With your Big Bundle there may be listings for '3.0 Upgrade', '4.0 Upgrade', 'Commonwealth', 'Market Garden', 'Vehicle Pack' and 'Battle Pack' and maybe 'Base Game' (I can't recall the exact list). If something is NOT activated it will appear as either a dim/greyed out box or not appear at all. Only the bright green boxes indicate what is currently activated. If only one or a couple of the boxes come up bright green (for being successfully activated), then you will probably have to use the 'Activate Modules' shortcut that may be in your Start Menu group for Battlefront/Combat Mission Battle for Normandy to activate the rest of the modules and packs. Launching the Activate Modules shortcut you will need to provide your license key again (I assume it will be the same for all of the modules) and pay attention to what gets activated. Launch the shortcut again and provide the license key again. With several launchings of the Activate Modules shortcut you should eventually get to the point of activating all of your modules. When you launch CMBN it should show you all of the modules and packs that are activated with some icons in the lower left of the main menu screen when you launch the game initially.
Regarding the original question. In the past Battlefront had a limited download window (10 downloads or 1 year of access) due to bandwidth limitations from the file hosting provider. The current host provider doesn't charge for bandwidth or number of downloads (as far as I know) and there currently is NO LIMIT to access the downloads. However it is probably a good idea to have local copies in case accessing those downloads are problematic. Sometimes non-North American customers get slow download speeds for one reason or another. So having a local copy prevents such delays.If you don't have local drive space you can always copy the files to an USB flash drive (8+GB).
-
Assuming you still need help with this...
Which game do you have and is it for the Mac or PC/Windows ? Depending on what you downloaded you may need to 'extract' the file since it may be compressed into a '.zip' file (especially if you selected multiple files to download). With this .zip file extracted you should have the installers for the game (in the case of a 'files.zip' download, you might have more files that may need to be extracted). With Windows, it will typically be capable of extracting most of these .zip files (I can't remember what MacOS native ability is with .zip files). If for some reason the extraction doesn't work, then you may need a program to extract them (such as 7-zip). If there are still problems extracting the file, then you will probably need to redownload the installer again.
The installer is fairly automatic with most of the defaults that you would want. Once installed, you will need to activate the game with your license key (that may be listed in either an email you received after the purchase or in your Battlefront Store account).
-
The Mac version of CMBO ONLY worked with OS 8.x and 9.x. It is COMPLETELY INCOMPATIBLE with OS 10.x.x because it required the 3D RAVE API, which ended up not being supported under OS X and it was coded for Motorola PowerPC rather than Intel x86. Battlefront and Gog.com do NOT offer it for sale and the only way to find it would be to buy it used. Running it on a Mac would require BootCamp and an installation of Windows (using your current PC copy), but this is something you already have with a separate PC.
-
So you have CMBN 3.x and CMRT 1.x, correct ? Have you read this thread on Mac Catalina 10.15.4 ? There appear to be some issues with the way that Catalina 'trusts' applications and delays their startup.
As for licensing, what license keys have you activated ? For CMRT it should only be the base game (since you don't have the 4.0 Upgrade or the 'Battle Pack', I assume). The above link may suggest a work-around of sorts for CMRT. For CMBN and activating it, you may need to have activated more license keys to get the game to actually run (2.0 and 3.0 Upgrade keys at a minimum, I believe). Also, you can't simply launch the game to activate the license keys. That may work on the first key used, but subsequent keys will need to use the 'Activate New Products' link (that exists within the Application folder for the game) that Ultradave mentioned above. If you just launch CMBN after activating one license key, then you're going to get the error you saw.
-
Do you have the 4.0 Upgrade (I assume you do, since the v2.00 brz is only associated with that upgrade) ? If so, then just use the 4.0 Upgrade all-in-one installer, which doesn't need any other patches, etc. Go to your purchase of the 4.0 Upgrade for CMBS and download the file that says 'FULL' in its filename. CMBS's FULL (all-in-one) installer is 2GB in size.
-
The CM games do NOT use any sort of disc-based copy-protection (not since CMAK). The 'all-in-one' installers are all you need to download (in your case the 'Upgrade 3.0' installers). Just make sure you have all of the necessary license keys for what you have purchased in order to activate again.
This is the Helpdesk article about installing and licensing CMBN 3.0 with the all-in-one installer.
-
I believe the CMx1 games will need to Alt-Tab / Esc out to the dekstop and then remaximize them. This should improve the display performance (for reasons I'm unsure of).
I don't know if 'setting CPU affinity' makes any difference or not, but you could look into that. Typically the minimizing and re-maximizing has gotten the performance back up to reasonable levels and the CPU affinity may not do much more.
-
To add an activation you have to make the request to the Helpdesk. In the past there was a way for an individual user to add an activation via a webpage, but that quickly became obsolescent and can no longer be used (I don't think it is even possible to do with the latest version of the copy-protection system).
-
The 4.0 installers are 'all-in-one' installers currently. They'll install everything that is available for that game (modules, packs, patches, etc.). Activation can be a bit confusing though since you would need the 3.0 and 4.0 license keys and any module license keys and the game may not work correctly until you have enough of the required license keys activated. You do NOT have to activate everything for this installer to work (though you would obviously need to have purchased the 4.0 Upgrade), but you do need the 4.0 and 3.0 Upgrade license keys at a minimum.
There is an 'all-in-one' installer for CMBN for the 3.0 Upgrade, which covers up to CMBN 3.12 (the latest 3.x version). Log into the Battlefront Store and look at your orders. If you purchased it close to the release date it should be 2014. The download link for the CMBN 3.0 Upgrade should link you to the 'all-in-one' installer. When you initially launch the game you can provide one of the license keys you have (preferably the 3.0 Upgrade one). Pay attention to what the 'green box' says when you successfully activate. This is indicating what has been activated. There should hopefully be a link on the desktop to 'Activate Modules'. This is an activation link for activating anything for that game (upgrades, modules, packs, etc.). Launch this and provide your other module and pack license keys. With the 3.0 Upgrade I don't know if you have to provide the 2.0 Upgrade and/or the base game's license keys or not. Again, pay attention to the green boxes that get listed once you've successfully activated something. They will NOT tell you what you need to activate yet, but just what you HAVE activated.
For CMRT, your download should link to the 1.03 installer, which should be the latest version for the '3.0' series. CMRT 1.x is using the 3.0 engine, CMRT 2.x is using the 4.0 engine. Since I assume you're not using any 4.0 Upgrades, then CMRT would only require its original license key to get working.
-
I responded last week to your same question in this thread. I believe (but I haven't checked specifically) that the copies of CMBO, CMBB and CMAK purchased from Battlefront directly MIGHT work under Windows 10 (a simple disc-check copy-protection system). CDV and Paradox sold CM games in the retail channel (what you may have bought from a brick-and-mortar store or other sites online). These copies use a different copy-protection scheme that DOES NOT work under Windows 10 to my knowledge (SafeDisc). This would prevent the games from working. I believe CDV may have offered an 'Anthology' pack of the CM games that lacked any copy-protection and those copies could potentially work (though I think the CMAK game doesn't have the latest patch in this particular release).
As GerryCMBB pointed out, if your copy isn't working, then you could purchase the Gog.com distribution which has no copy-protection and will work under Windows 10.
-
gpbmike - You may want to TURN OFF shaders in the game (Alt + R). Some Nvidia drivers have issues with the shaders and turning them off will typically resolve the issue.
-
In general CM3: Afrika Korps should work on Windows 10. The problem though may be the copy-protection. Since you specifically mentioned 'CM3' I assume you have the CDV distribution of the game. If I recall correctly those copies used a disc-based copy-protection system that may not work with Windows 10 ('SafeDisc' possibly). I'm not fully aware of a work-around if that is the case. However, if you really want to play the game, then you could purchase a copy from Gog.com (Combat Mission Afrika Korps). Currently it is selling for US$2.99.
-
1) For a vast majority of CM's functions it only utilizes a single core. There are actually a few functions that utilize multi-core (scenario loading and a few others... believe it or not), but in actual game play a single core is what is utilized. So CM doesn't generally benefit from more cores in the CPU. For a CPU you want one with a higher clock speed that is capable of higher IPC (Instructions Per Clock-cycle). AMD Ryzen and Intel CPUs are pretty close in terms of IPC when it comes to the latest generations, though Intel has a small advantage with better memory/cache latency (which might result in a mildly noticeable performance difference in games). Typically the more cores a CPU has, the more likely that it is going to run at a slightly lower clock speed. The 'turbo' clock speed will be a speed that often can only be run with one core (all others running quite a bit slower or idled).
2) SSDs tend to be quite a bit more reliable than your standard spinning-metal hard drive. If you're truly concerned about backups, then an external backup drive (that isn't constantly attached - preferably) would be the best solution. The external backup can be an SSD or a hard drive.
3) CM is "CPU bound", which means that the speed of the CPU is the largest determinant of performance, which includes a significant impact on graphical performance (a limitation with the way that OpenGL 2.x functions). While there have been a lot of improvements to CPU performance over the years, you're generally only seeing 5 - 10% improvement between most generations (some less, others more). Some of the significant differences have been the addition of more cores and improvements in cache/prediction, but these aren't enough to bring the performance of CM up to what many might expect. With videocards a lot of performance has come in terms of 'shaders' (which aren't necessarily 'shadow generators'), but OpenGL 2.x's routines don't really utilize them in the manner that you can with newer graphical APIs, thus limiting graphical performance improvements.
4) 16 - 32GB of RAM should be plenty for most computer users. Beyond that it is only useful for people doing development, databases, extensive video or image editing, etc. CM is a 32-bit game on the PC and it can only access/address up to about 3GB of memory/address space.
5) I think one of the bigger differences between large TVs and computer monitors is that the TV's will likely have a larger 'dot pitch', meaning that the pixels may be more visible on the TV compared to the computer monitor. While I haven't used CM on a large TV, a computer that is driving a 55" Samsung TV at 4K at my house looks pretty nice in my opinion in comparison to 1920 x 1080/1200 computer monitor displays. The quality of the backlighting and color can be other differences (so you may not want to 'cheap out' on your TV if you go that route).
-
What mouse driver are you currently using ? Is it provided by Microsoft or the mouse manufacturer ? If it is a manufacturer provided driver, does it have any unique settings for the pointer itself (beyond what Windows provides) ? You're using the standard defaults for the mouse cursor currently, which is: Scheme: 'Windows Default (system scheme)', Customize: 'Normal Select', Enable pointer shadow is Unchecked, within the Pointer Options tab the Display pointer trails is Unchecked, correct ? If you're using a manufacturer's mouse driver, you may want to uninstall it and see if Windows detects and provides its own driver.
What videocard and driver do you have installed ? I'm not specifically aware of any video drivers that have cursor issues within the CM games, but if you're running on a laptop that has both Intel integrated video and another GPU (Radeon or GeForce), then you may need to make some changes so that the game runs on the GPU rather than the Intel integrated video.
Another possibility is to Alt-Tab to minimize the game to the task bar and then re-maximize it and see if the cursor now appears.
-
Lockups of CM on Macs aren't common and I personally haven't experienced any (not that they absolutely don't occur, there just seems to be far fewer reports of them). It's strange that you're suffering the same problem on a new Mac, which suggests that there may be some sort of similar software setup on this new Mac that the old one had.
Are you running any security/anti-virus software on this computer ? If so, then add an 'exception' for your CM games in the security software so that it doesn't interfere with any operations.
Where did you install your CM games ? Are they on the boot volume or some older drive (external, etc.) ?
Do you have any mods installed (graphics, sound, etc.) ? If so, temporarily remove them (usually in the 'Z' folder) and see if that helps.
Are you using a wireless mouse and/or keyboard ? If so, try wired versions and see if the problem continues.
What resolution are you running CM at ? If you're running a super-high resolution, back it off to something less (1920 x 1080, etc.) and see if that helps. While your Radeon Pro Vega 16GB is pretty powerful, it might still run into some issues with 4K+ resolution games.
LOADING CM2 "ALL IN ONE" BIG BUNDLES
in CM2 General Tech Support
Posted
Yes, you can move your installers to different computers to install and activate for each computer. You do NOT need to download the installer on each computer, simply copying the files from one download should be sufficient.