Schrullenhaft

I can only guess that something is uncompleted with the transaction. You can possibly contact the Helpdesk (click the blue, '+new ticket' button in the upper right), but they may not have an immediate solution for you until tomorrow (if it doesn't resolve automatically at some point).

To expand on what DerKommissar said, there is a limit of 4 activations per license key. After that you will get a message that there are 'no remaining activations'. At that point you would need to open up a Helpdesk ticket to request another activation (providing the license keys that need additional activations). When you uninstall and reinstall a game the activation remains. In fact you could potentially uninstall and reinstall countless times and the activation would remain. If, however, you reinstall Windows (especially a 'clean' install), significantly upgrade the hardware or OS of your computer, then the activation could disappear. In fact you may get a message that would likely require an utility from the Helpdesk in order to delete the current activation in order to reactivate with your new configuration. In your current situation you should be fine reinstalling the games and I assume that they should remain activated. As for the disappearance of your files, have you created a new user account on your computer ? The files are typically associated with the user that installed the games. Logging in with another account would make the files (scenarios, campaigns, game saves, etc.) unavailable to the current user. Typically the newer game files are stored in a 'Battlefront' directory within your 'My Documents' directory (and then separated in directories for each game).

You're system should generally be fine with CMBO and CMBB. Since you purchased both games from Battlefront about 7 or 8 years ago they will both be eLicense protected games (requiring a license key to run the game). With a physical shipment of the games you likely got the license key on a printed sticker attached to either the original disc case or the printed manual. If you got something that had a download, then the license key should have been emailed to you and existed in the 'Battlefront Store' account (which has been moved to the current website). If you have changed email addresses since you ordered the games, you may need to remember what that email address was in order to get into the proper store account. Currently the CM1 series suffers from some issues with some 2D info screens coming up without text or possibly completely black. Usually this can be resolved by minimizing the game (Alt-Tab and Esc or Alt-Esc, I can't exactly remember) and then re-maximizing it (clicking on the icon in the application bar at the bottom of the Windows desktop). This should usually 'refresh' the 2D contents and draw everything properly again. With eLicense you may need to set up DEP (Data Execution Prevention), which is mentioned in this Knowlegebase article. This isn't always needed, but sometimes it is. Also you may want to launch the games by right-clicking on the icons and selecting "Run as administrator" from the popup menu. Some security programs may decide that CMBO and CMBB with their eLicense copy-protection systems are some sort of malware. I'm not sure how common this is, but it is a possibility (and it could happen suddenly with certain 'signature' updates for the antivirus). Setting an 'exception' (or Vipre might term it 'Always Allow') within your Vipre antivirus would potentially tell it NOT to interfere with the game's operation or quarantine the files. There's a couple of different versions of the Vipre security software, do you know which one you have ? The Vipre Business edition has these instructions for setting an exception. You may need to temporarily disable the Vipre antivirus when you install, activate and initially run the games (if this is possible). I'm not aware of any particular video driver having an issue with CMBO and CMBB. With a Geforce GTX 970 I believe you should generally be fine. There are no particular 3D Settings that are needed to my knowledge either (set from the Nvidia Control Panel with the Control Panel). One other thing to watch out for is the initial resolution selection process (once you've activate the games). Typically this will start at the highest resolution supported by the video card. I think the maximum resolution supported by CMBO and CMBB is 2048 x 1536, then it comes down to 1600 x 1200. If your video card and monitor don't support the first resolution, then the maximum will typically be 1600 x 1200. At this resolution the games will try the highest vertical refresh rate supported by the video card (which the monitor may NOT support). This could be as high as 160 Hertz (Hz) or 120 Hz. If the monitor can work with that resolution and refresh rate, then it should appear in a box in the middle of the screen with buttons to 'select' or 'skip'. If the monitor can't support the resolution and/or refresh rate then the screen may either be black or possibly scrambled like a bad TV signal. If you wait 5 to 10 seconds the game will select the next lower vertical refresh rate and then the next one until it reaches 60Hz at a particular resolution. The the next attempted display will be a lower resolution, but at a high vertical refresh rate. The process repeats until you reach 800 x 600 at 60Hz (or so) on CMBB and possibly 640 x 480 'software rendered' on CMBO. If no resolution is selected, then the games will give a DirectX error and close. You can simply relaunch the games and go through the process again. Once you select a resolution it will be recorded into a Prefs file on a proper exit of the game. If you don't get to exit properly, then the setting doesn't get recorded in the Prefs file and you have to go through the resolution selection process again the next time you launch the games.

When was the last time you were able to run CMBO and CMBB on this computer ? Do you know if anything changed on this computer (new hardware, new drivers, other new software, etc.) ? What security/anti-virus software do you use ? Do you have an 'exception' set for CMBO and CMBB within this security software ? What type of copy-protection do your copies of CMBO and CMBB use, disc-based (where the CD has to physically be in the drive) or eLicense, where a license key was entered in order to activate the game ? CMBO and CMBB originally used the disc-based copy protection system and then around 2006 move to eLicense. There is also the possibility of having a CDV distribution of the games (bought from other retail outlets) that typically uses a disc-based copy protection system, though I believe CMBO and CMBB are called 'Combat Mission' and 'Combat Mission II'. Do you know what video card/chip is in your PC ? Are you playing CMBO/CMBB on a laptop or desktop ?

I would guess that map size may be another factor. Larger maps may involve more memory usage (LOS/LOF checks, etc.). Naturally most players would want a fairly large map when large forces are in play.

Your 'username' will typically be your email address (rather than a 'forum handle). In essence you will be writing out your email address twice on this form. If that doesn't work, then contact the Helpdesk.

Steve has mentioned to me that he intends to put these games back into the Store. However he always seems quite busy and this, I assume, is a lower priority. The CMx1 games (CMBO, CMBB and CMAK) WILL eventually be in the store, but when is anyone's guess.

You can downgrade to the 388.71 driver and see if that makes a difference for you (the link assumes you're using Windows 10 64-bit). If you try it, I suggest performing a 'clean install', which is a checkbox option during the installation process. This should require a reboot during the install/uninstall process.

There is also the issue here of 'expectations'. You may be expecting a far more fluid game play than CM will give you. You can't compare it to most games which have optimized graphics engines (and generally excel at graphics presentation vs. more detailed game mechanics). Graviteam typically has far less units on screen to be controlled (to my knowledge). I'm not familiar with the 'Command' game unless it is the 'Command: Modern Air/Naval Operations', which isn't a 3D game as far as I can tell. The nicest video cards will not give you incredible performance as you might expect. The CM series is primarily CPU-bound (which also includes OpenGL graphics calls, as far as I can determine), so there are diminishing returns with higher-end video cards, though I couldn't tell you what the 'optimum' video card configuration would be for CM. There are some threads in the forum about 'shadows' and certain Nvidia driver versions (though I don't know how well that would hold up for your R9 290 -based system, and the linked thread is mostly about crashing). For some people turning off shadows results in a noticeable improvement in frame-rate, while for others possibly downgrading your video driver to 388.71 (somewhere in that range, December 2017) may help. What is on screen can make quite a difference to the framerate. A lot of buildings, trees, units and significant elevation changes along with a large resolution can bring down your framerate significantly. You should notice differences between a small map with mostly open country and one with a lot of buildings, forests, etc. Since CM is quite CPU-bound, making sure that nothing else (or very little) is running in the background helps a bit. CM basically only runs on one core (there are a few exceptions to this, such as when it is loading up scenarios and possibly a few other things). CM is also 32-bit on the PC, which means at the best only about 4GB of memory space will be utilized by the game. If you're running a very high resolution (beyond 1920 x 1080), you may want to consider coming down in resolution and see what sort of difference that makes. This thread mentions some issues with 'irratic framerates', which may point you in a certain direction. I'm not sure if power-saving settings may have an effect on what you're seeing. I would assume not, but it may be worth checking out (using 'optimized/performance' settings, etc.). Here are some Nvidia settings from an old thread (which might not be the most up-to-date).

If your installation of CMBN is 4.0, then the Market Garden module is already installed (all of its files get installed with the base game, so they are already present). You just need to activate it with the 'Activate Modules / Other Products' shortcut (I'm not absolutely sure of its name). This may be within the Start Menu for Battlefront and CMBN or you may have to search for it in the game's installation directory (quite possibly at 'C:/Program Files/x86/Battlefront/Combat Mission Battle for Normandy'). Edit - beaten to the punch with a more accurate description of the shortcut - 'Activate New Products'.

I haven't used a 4K monitor for CM, so I'm not quite sure what to expect or recommend. If your current monitor is standard HD (1920 x 1080), then the 4K is going to make things almost twice as small (if it were the same size monitor). So if you're currently running a 21" - 24" monitor, doubling the resolution and going up a few inches in each dimension with a larger screen is probably going to result in fixed graphics and text appearing about 1.75x smaller or somewhere in that range. For a number of people it is annoying and others may not care as much. Driving a higher resolution will also drop your frame rates a bit since there is quite a bit more on the screen for the video card to draw.

Yes, you can install the games on your new computer. The copy-protection/activation system that the CM games utilizes allows for 4 activations per license key (with additional activations being available by submitting a request to the Helpdesk and providing your license keys). There is no 'unlicense/un-activate' feature with the current licensing system. Yes, CM can display at the 4K resolutions. However you may find it a bit hard to read the text and control panel (depending on the size of your 4K monitor) since they utilize fixed-sized graphics elements that will NOT scale up with a higher resolution. There is no way to mod this to make them larger.

I believe that if you didn't activate the game properly that it would show you the activation window again when you launch CMBN. Outside of deleting your activation (with an utility that be requested from the Helpdesk) there isn't a way to get the activation window to come back up again. Uninstalling that game does NOT get rid of the activation. Do you have any security/anti-virus software installed (there may be a default installation of something from HP... that may only work for a month or three) ? McAfee might be a likely possibility. If you do have security software, then you may need to add an 'exception' within it so that it doesn't interfere with CMBN (listing either the main game directory or possibly the game executable). The 'audio software' is a problem seen with a few programs that manage the audio, specifically Nahmic Audio and another one I can't quite recall. Even with these uninstalled your sound should still work (since they aren't drivers themselves). I don't know if the HP Audio is a similar program or not. If necessary you can also launch the game by right-clicking and selecting 'Run as administrator' from the popup menu (I believe that's still part of Windows 10). I wouldn't think that it would be necessary, but you could possibly upgrade your video driver and see if that makes a difference. Your HP Pavilion 590-P0024 has a Ryzen 3 2200G that has a 'Radeon Vega' built-into it. Here's the latest driver for Windows 10 64-bit: Adrenalin 18.9.1     (click on the '+' next to the 'Windows 10 64-bit' to have it open up and show the download options) Generally I wouldn't assume that the error you're seeing would be related to the video driver, but it is a possibility. There is the possibility, similar to the audio program, of something interfering with the running of the game. This is where you may need to bring up the 'Task Manager' and look for programs/utilities running in the background. Most of them should be fine, but there may be one that is causing a problem with CMBN.

Is this new hard drive just being added to the system (a second drive) and NOT replacing the main boot drive ? If so, then I believe you can simply copy the game locations over to the new drive and update the shortcuts to the new location. Your game saves, scenarios, etc. will likely remain on your boot drive (within the 'My Documents' folder).

Sent an email.

hedgehobbit - I can't quite remember if the 3.0 Upgrade has a full installer or not. I suspect that it doesn't and this is only something that came about once the 4.0 Upgrade was released. Which specific game do you have and what exactly have you purchased ? Since you mention 'version 1.0' I suspect that you have CMBN. The 1.0 version will NOT work under Windows 10 due to the copy-protection system for that version not being compatible (it will give you the 'UI not found' error). OK - I see you have another post saying that you have an issue with your download. Does it mention 'International Download' like the thread originator or is it some other error (simply the lack of a download link, etc.) ? Looking at the web page for the CMBN 3.0 Upgrade it DOES mention a 'full installer' download being available. Looking at my download link for the 3.0 Upgrade for CMBN it shows two files, one for the Mac and the other for Windows, with the Windows version being a 4GB file ('CMBN Windows 3.12 Full Installer.zip' is the download file and the name to select is 'Windows CMBN 3.12 Full Installer'). So until you have access to that download, you won't find the file on the site.

I wasn't aware of this problem with Nvidia drivers. Typically I've only seen it with AMD/Radeon drivers (and it has been an issue for about a decade now). Although it shouldn't be a factor in this particular problem is your 1.03 copy CDV, Battlefront (CD-copy protected) or Battlefront eLicense-protected ? What driver version do you have installed for your Nvidia ? What particular video card / chip do you have for your Nvidia ? Do you have a profile set for CMBB within the Nvidia Control Panel ? I'm not sure if some versions of anti-aliasing (MSAA, FXAA, etc.) may cause issues with the text. Since these games are older DirectX titles (DirectX 5/6), perhaps installing some older DirectX files (this shouldn't replace what is in Windows, just add some older files): DirectX Runtimes June 2010 I'm not absolutely certain this DirectX installer will work with Windows 10, but it may be worth trying. Usually if a DirectX .dll file is missing, the game will typically complain about it and not run.

Did you put the computer to 'sleep' or was it shutdown from the last time it was working ? If it has been put to sleep, then I suggest shutting down CMBS and rebooting the computer and see if it behaves differently attempting to save a game. Is your 'users' folder on the main boot drive or do you have it 'pointing' to another drive (typically done when the boot drive is a small SSD, not a default option in Windows) ? Do you have plenty of free space on your hard drive (especially where the users folder is at) ? The save game files shouldn't be too huge, but they can possibly go over 100MB if it is a large battle with a lot of action occurring. What security software do you have ? Have you added an exception within it for CMBS (possibly both the game executable, its folder and the folder within your 'Documents' folder for CMBS) ? Is this the same scenario/campaign/quick-battle that you have been playing for awhile (it was working earlier and now will not save) or is this a completely new scenario/campaign/quick-battle ? If this is a game you've been playing awhile, then perhaps start a new one and see if the issue persists in attempting to save the game. Shutdown any applications or utilities that may be running in the background, especially any large applications that may be taking up quite a bit of memory. You may want to pay attention to what is shut down in case you find something that interferes with CMBS.

Is this version 1.03 of CMBB ? Do you have a Radeon video card ? I can't remember if 1.04 fixed this issue or not. I know it fixed another issue that Radeon users experienced. In this case you'll probably need a file called the 'Radeon Text Fix' which has replacement BMP files of the text graphics. The text will look a little different from what it originally should look like, but it will be visible with these modified files installed. Unfortunately with the new website, the hosting of the 'Radeon Text Fix' is no longer on the Battlefront site. I'll have to dig around for the file at home.

Interestingly this particular crash interfere's with the copy-protection system from what I can discern of the error message. I don't know if Sonic Suite II and Nahemic have the exact same issue or not (I suspect not, though the programs are similar in function).

Is McAfee your security program ? Temporarily disable your security software and see if that allow the games to run. If there is no capability of disabling the security software, then make sure to add an exception within it for the game executables and their directories, to prevent the security software from interfering with the games. Usually if security software is to blame, you would typically see it trying to quarantine the game executables. However some protection strategies may simply interfere with the processes that the games need and potentially make them unable to run (while this security feature is enabled). It's possible for security software to be updated and suddenly consider something a threat that was previously installed and running.

Have you installed something else recently, possibly some programming or debugging tools ? It would seem likely that another piece of software is interfering with their operation since all of the games suddenly have this 'assertion failed' error. The file that is being mentioned in the error is part of the copy-protection system for the CM games, so something is interfering with it.

There MAY be a snafu in the website and the way certain orders are processed. Was your order simply a 'download only' or was there a physical product involved too ? The 'Download for International' text in your order is new to me, which suggests that it is somehow a different download URL (though it may not be). I don't know why your ticket was replied to with 'duplicate' and then closed, but it is possible that was simply a mistake. Depending on what Steve is doing this holiday you may get an answer later today or possibly tomorrow. Don't worry, you will get your software. There has just been a hiccup in delivery that had some unfortunate timing (US holiday).

You got your activation code already, via email I assume ? Is it simply not showing up in the store website with the download link ? If you received an email, does it have a download link within it (typically the URL should mention 'battlefront.sharefile.com') ?

Do you have more than one ticket submitted ? If not, submit another one (just don't submit many or they may get tossed as duplicates). You may need to provide the method of payment used, etc. The 'order code' (CMBS-BGV4) suggests that this a product with a download. In the United States it is a holiday weekend (Labor Day), so that could delay things, though typically with a download no one should need to fulfill the order. I would guess that there may be an issue with the payment processing (possibly due to the holiday or some other issue).