Schrullenhaft

I'd love smaller tiles and more variety to textures, sizes & shapes to buildings, etc. A smaller tile size will increase the memory requirements for CM though (and slow down the CPU with more LOS calcs). As for a "macro" tool to fill in areas... Hold down the Shift key and paint; you'll get a 5x5 paintbrush to fill in areas (if you didn't know this already).

I believe the Voodoo 2's max out at 800 x 600 and 16-bit color (can't remember if these limitations are platform specific). Is this a Mac or a PC system ? Basically the refresh rate will only help with "flicker" on the monitor. It will not speed up the 3D rendering. In fact a slightly higher refresh could slow it down a bit (depending on the hardware of the video chip/video card).

What is your current resolution under Win2K ? What monitor do you have defined ? CM will limit itself to the current running resolution of your desktop. However I'd easily guess that you're probably running 1024 x 768 at least. More than likely you probably have your monitor defined as a Plug-N-Play monitor. Any chance you could pick your specific monitor model or download an updated inf for it in Win2K ? If you're running a very high resolution (1600 x 1200 +) you may want to come down a bit and try 1024 x 768 and delete the prefs file to see if it will detect your display at any other resolutions. [This message has been edited by Schrullenhaft (edited 07-02-2000).]

I'm under the impression that BTS has disabled support for the Voodoo 1 & 2 on the Mac side. Too many problems with the RAVE support. When CM sees the Voodoo, it just skips it as a possible display device/video accelerator. There have been hints that BTS is talking to some developers at 3dfx about RAVE, but no word on that as of yet. Maybe a forthcoming patch will address this issue (and a new RAVE driver for the Mac Voodoos). Until then you will have to make do with your built-in ATI display.

This problem has been posted before. I believe that it may be addressed in the next patch. Curious how it popped in there.

According to HP's specs on your Pavilion it looks like you have an AGP slot. If you can afford it then the Creative Annihilator 2 is a good buy (one of the least expensive GeForce 2's). Though I have no specifics, I believe it should work with your Pavilion. You will need to either disable your built-in ATI video with a switch/jumper, in the CMOS/BIOS setup or it will disable itself automatically when there is another primary video card (with Windows 98's multi-monitor support I would check to make sure that you can disable the ATI or you may not see the Windows desktop as you would expect to). According to the HP site there are a number of software/firmware upgrades available for your Pavilion. You may want to consider applying them. The latest audio/modem driver is dated June 2000 : http://www.hp.com/cposupport/swindexes/hppavilion11042_swen.html When it comes to your ATI's support of fog tables it's a bit of a mixed matter. Some newer (but maybe not the latest) video hardware sometimes doesn't support the older version of fog tables. Whether this is a driver related issue, a hardware one or a combo of both in certain cases, I'm not sure. It may have been a concious design decision on the software or hardware not to support the older fog table emulation. Why this has to be the case, I don't know. Maybe it speeds development and support time for the manufacturer. As for you lockups; that's strange. It's interesting that enabling non-default options crashes the game for you. I assume that you've already deleted your prefs file already since you've changed resolutions. You are playing with a "full" install, is that correct ? If you've updated to the v. 1.01 patch have you actually replaced the CM executable ? Are you playing with any mods ? The primary problem with Madmatt's mod pack was primarily audio in nature (and only for some people). If you've already done all of this (which you may have), then my only suggestion is to wipe out CM on your drive (save any scenarios that you've created or saved, beforehand), run scandisk to check for any messed up clusters and then perform a full reinstall of CM and patch it.

You are saving your files in a standard TEXT format correct ? Any other file type, including RTF, will not work as far as I know. If worse comes to worse. Open your files in a simple text editor (Simple Text on Mac or Notepad on Windows) and save a file from that applet. Other than that, I have no clue.

I'm not familiar with the exact numbering scheme that Intel is using on its drivers, but it does look like you don't have the very latest ones. Here is the URL for the generic drivers from Intel. They should work with your card, but there is a caveat that some cards will not work with the generic driver because of modifications to the Intel reference design (most of the clone i740's follow the ref design). Get the PV 4.0 without the video capture support: http://developer.intel.com/design/graphics/drivers/ If Windows tells you that it has the latest drivers does it offer a way of overriding that dialog (i.e. - a radio button to use the ones you are attempting to load) ?

I believe it is a "cumulative" thing. More on -screen textures, more troops, larger maps, etc. just lead to slower recalc times, etc. from the game. Unavoidable unfortunately.

Uh oh an SM56, Sorry Elvis, those were one of the software-based modems that were truly crappy. I think that Motorola decided to drop the whole line of analog modems a year or two ago. Do you know what version of the driver that you have (you may be able to tell from the SM56's own control panel) ? Here's the latest software I can find. Follow the instructions on the page for downloading the correct version (Goto Control Panel > Modems control panel > Diagnostics tab > highlight your modem in the list > click the More Info button). The responses that you get back will have the info you need for this page. Any "errors" that you get in response are normal. Motorola SM56 drivers: http://www.mot.com/networking/products/sm56_pci_software_modem/drivers.html Unfortunately, as usual, these may not solve your problem. But if you're lucky they may just work. Again, keep/find an old copy of the current drivers you are using in case the new ones don't work well. Depending on how these drivers work, you may have to setup your ISP connections again if the modem is "identified" differently. Also, download and run the "PCI cleaner" listed at the bottom of the page BEFORE you install the latest driver. This will remove all traces of the previous modem driver (so find that copy of the old driver somewhere before doing this). [This message has been edited by Schrullenhaft (edited 07-02-2000).]

Actually a "re-reinstall" over an old copymay not be good enough. Some settings get left in the registry after a reinstallation. The only sure way to get rid or any bad influences is to wipe the drive and start the installation from scratch. The best way to do this is to use another hard drive (that's big enough) that you can wipe clean without problems. That way you could spare your current setup from being wiped out in case that isn't the answer. As for backing up your entire registry make sure you have the "My Computer" highlighted when you go to "export" your registry. This should get your entire registry. There is also a hidden copy (2 files) in your Windows/System directory of the registry at the time of the last good boot. In a drastic situation, you could rummage through DOS with a couple of commands and have your registry restored. Pfalz XII is right about the case too. Sometimes leaving a case open can ruin the airflow for cooling the components. The power supply's fan is actually drawing in air that, in a well designed case, should draw air over components to help cool them. Some systems with a lot of hardware may be pushing off a lot of heat and the standard cooling may not be enough. If you detect a lot of heat in your computer you may want to consider a large "case" fan (which should be used with the cover on) if you have a place to mount it. Many clone tower cases will usually have a place to mount one near the bottom of the front (where there may be vents to draw in air).

Do you know exactly what modem you have ? PCI modems are dependent on the CPU to perform part of their function ("software based"). Some modems and their drivers do a better job than others (some brands are notoriously buggy and can't maintain connections for very long). It could be that at a certain point with CM loaded that your modem isn't getting the the CPU cycles that it needs to perform certain functions. It's not completely stopping your modem, but at some point your connection is getting killed. Anyway, it is just a guess. But it would be an interesting experiment to try an external hardware-based modem (if you had a free serial port) to see what would happen.

You can search around on this board for the definitive answer on which set of drivers to use, but as I recall the BETAs were the ones that worked with the transparencies: 3dfx Voodoo 3 2000/3000 Beta 1.04.07: http://www.3dfxgamers.com/drivers/voodoo3/voodoo3_win9x_beta.stm

This is a wild guess... Are you using a software-based modem (i.e. a PCI modem) ? It is possible that CM is just taking up too many CPU cycles for the modem to operate effectively ? If this is the case then you may want to consider getting a hardware-based modem, which are usually ISA or external (and more expensive than the PCI ones).

Nah... your monitor shouldn't be affecting your computer. The only thing I can think of to do at this point is to run a thorough scandisk and then defrag your drive. Then, depending on how much memory you have you may want to customize the swap file on your hard drive. Goto Control Panel > System control panel > Performance tab > Virtual Memory button and select "Let me specify...". Depending on how much space you have I'd suggest a minimum of 200 and a maximum of 400+ Mb. What this will do is set aside "permanent" space for the swap file. Other people on this forum may have suggestions on the size. Basically all this should do is help with the pauses, possibly. Your lockups/crashes in CM will probably continue. Sorry we couldn't find a solution to your problem. Depending on how much it annoys you, you may want to consider the dreaded "wipe and install from scratch". Brutal, but often effective at getting rid of pesky software/settings that just can't be ferreted out. If you go this route I would suggest installing Win98, all of your hardware drivers (updated) and then CM before any other programs (including "utilities"). [This message has been edited by Schrullenhaft (edited 06-30-2000).]

Often times the large PC companies don't post the very latest drivers for their products (which are OEM'd from another company). Though I don't know which HP Pavilion you have these are some of the drivers that Charles suggested getting (instead of the default ones on HP's site, if there are any updates): STB Velocity 4400: http://www.stb.com/drivers/velocity/vl4400.html Make note that they differentiate the models that have TV out. It may be backwards on their website ! There is also a BIOS update which looks like it primarily addresses the TV out capabilities and memory performance - v. 1.1. Microsoft's Intellimouse 3.1a driver: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/default.asp?Search=Product&LangIDCODE=20%3Ben-us&Value=304&OpSysID=9800&Show=Alpha Logitech's Mouseware drivers 9.00 b99: http://www.logitech.com/cf/support/mousefiles_pc.cfm You may also want to find out what audio chip/sound card you have in your Pavilion. Most likely it may be built into the motherboard. Updating this driver may also help since some audio drivers are quite CPU-intensive.

Yep, v. 1.02 (now is it 1.03 ?) will have the Quick Battle point limit lifted from 1000 to 5000 points for the defender IIRC (which can mean up to 10000 for the attacker in certain scenarios). Charles said that was an insane amount of points for a Quick Battle.

There shouldn't be. The PBEM file is just a text file. How are you receiving the file ? Is it just a text file or is it compressed in a .zip format or something ? What service are you using and what email program are you using ?

CMOS or BIOS Settings. Usually when you boot up (usually when the computer is counting its memory on power up), you can press a key to get into your BIOS setup (CMOS). Usually it's the Delete key, F1/F2, F10 (for Compaqs). IBMs may use Esc or Del, I'm not sure. You may have to press the Esc key to see what key you have to press to get into setup. Among the settings there may be a listing to set the amount of memory used by the video (I'm not sure which menu it is under). I didn't read too closely on your specs when you first posted. You mentioned that you had an 8Mb SiS 530, apparently you may already have the memory allocation for the video max'd out. Unfortunately SiS doesn't have any info on exactly what they do and don't support under DirectX (nor do hardly any of the other video chip mfg's). DirectX 7.0a is not that different from 7.0. Most of the differences amount to game controller input (joysticks, etc.) and some other minor fixes. It might be a good idea to upgrade to it just in case it does fix your problem, but more than likely it won't. DirectX 7.0 > 7.0a patch: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/release.asp?ReleaseID=17322 This is the latest SiS 530 driver for DirectX 7.0 (version 1.08). It may be the same as IBM's posted driver or it may be newer(check under Control panel > System control panel > Device Manager tab > double click Display Adapter and then double click the SiS 530 video listing under this > Driver tab > Driver File Details button > the first file highlighted will have a "File Version" info on it look to see if the last set of numbers is less than 1.08 - it may be something like 4.12.0107). One caveat about SiS's drivers though is to keep the original driver handy. They often forget to include a necessary file or set of files: http://www.sis.com.tw/support/download/530.htm Download all 8 files into one directory and extract them (just execute them). There should be a setup program that gets extracted - just run this. After all of this... you may just end up buying a 16Mb PCI card. The 3dfx Voodoo3 2000/3000 should do fine (with the latest beta drivers - the "out of box" ones probably don't support transparencies very well in CM). [This message has been edited by Schrullenhaft (edited 06-30-2000).]

Cyberfox - The TNTs should support fog tables to my knowledge (my TNT2 does). Here are the latest drivers. It is possible that an update may help (hopefully its not an issue like the ATIs where the newest drivers may not support CMs "fog table"): http://www.reactorcritical.com/ Use either the Detonator Win9x 5.30 or the Asus TNT/GF Win9x 5.16d Beta 5 (which should keep & update any Asus control panels you have). The lack of a "fog table" setting in your control panels doesn't mean you don't have support for them.

I wonder if you're having heat-related problems. If you have a can of pressurized air you may want to go inside your computer (with it powered off) and blowout any dust that may have acculumated on the CPU fan, video card, power supply fan, etc. Make sure to "ground" yourself by touching something metallic before touching anything inside the case. However a heat-related problem will usually lockup your system regardless of what program you're running. Maybe we should check out your IRQs. Goto Control Panel > System control panel > Device Manager tab > double click on the Computer icon (top-most device). The first tabbed dialog box that comes up is the listing of your system's IRQ usage. Look through the list and find out what IRQ(s) your sound card is using. Check to see if any other device happens to be using the same IRQ (you may get "IRQ Holder for PCI Steering", but check for devices other than that). If we find that one of the IRQs is being used by another device (like your video card), then your audio driver may not be able to handle the sharing of the IRQs. Next check to see if there are any IRQ numbers between 3-15 that are available (i.e.- not listed). Also tell me if you have an modem and what COM port it is on. And tell me if you are using a serial or PS/2 mouse. Let me know what you find out. [This message has been edited by Schrullenhaft (edited 06-30-2000).]

Abrams - your video card, probably an Intel i740 AGP or the i810, doesn't support fog tables (at least from the look of what you're seeing). If you have an Intel 740 here is the latest driver (PV 4.0): http://developer.intel.com/design/graphics/drivers/ This driver probably will not solve your problem and it may not work with your video card depending on the manufacturer (some card manufacturers modified some hardware/BIOS settings that the driver depends on). So if you do decide to try this newer driver, keep a copy of the CD/diskette to install your old drivers. It is also possible that you have an Intel 810 (which is built into the chipset of the motherboard) - you may want to check with your system/motherboard documentation or your manufacturer's website to confirm this. This is the latest driver for that (PV 4.1): http://support.intel.com/support/graphics/intel810/software.htm Again, keep an old copy of your current drivers in case something doesn't work. sniperscope - As far as I'm aware, the fog does not move/drift. It is just a semi-fixed graphical representation (that affects LOS calcs). It may "move" around a bit when your scrolling across the screen, but this is a driver-perspective driven movement. For those who do searches: You now have to pick the forum to do the searches in. The main CM forum will get you a lot of answers on all kinds of things. If you have technical questions on the Gold Demo or Full version of CM you may need to search on the Tech Support forum. If you want to get everything in one search (including non-CM games) you can select Search All Forums.

If you play CM maybe you'll get a different perspective on how combined arms works in an "on-the-job" manner, much like the Americans had to at this point in the war. If anything, play the Quick Battles and save the scenarios for later after you've done your reading. You may not be able to employ the minutae of detail you may read of in CM, but you should be able to apply many real-world tactics and expect realistic outcomes.

ASL - it isn't necessarily a case of "incompatibilities". The older ATI cards, such as your Rage Pro, don't have the hardware support for fog. As was stated by Charles in this thread: http://www.battlefront.com/discuss/Forum8/HTML/000054.html There are two methods to do fog in DirectX. BTS chose the older and more compatible version. Some chipsets don't support one or the other or even both. Some of the newest ATI chipsets apparently don't support the older method of fog (or their drivers don't), but do support the newer method. People who have mentioned other games showing transparencies and fog with their current video card and CM not... are probably seeing support for newer fog tables, but no support for the older ones. I'm not sure if BTS could support two fog code types in CM. In this case they decided to go with the most compatible version, but it still is a problem with some cards, such as the ATIs. If there is a way to support both versions in the code, then I believe Charles will probably attempt it, but it may not be possible. BTW - ATI chipsets are very common in many of the Macs out now. How different they are in terms of hardware & driver support from their PC cousins, I don't know. So BTS did do some sort of testing for the ATIs. jimburb - The first thing I would suggest is to delete the CM prefs file. Restart CM and select a resolution, possibly one that is different from what you were using previously. I don't have a clue as to why CM didn't initialize correctly, but hopefully this is a start. If that doesn't do it you may want to play around with the sliders for "video acceleration" and "audio hardware acceleration". And one question, did you change anything since the last time you played CM with no problems ? [This message has been edited by Schrullenhaft (edited 06-30-2000).]

As indicated by your searches for the file name that came up in the fatal exception. The file appears to be the DirectX associated VXD for your sound card. If you don't want to edit the registry, at least run any possible uninstallers for your sound cards and then boot up in safe mode and remove all of the audio/joystick related drivers, and finally delete the audio-related inf files in your Windows/Inf directory. With your Yamaha audio drivers extracted to a directory you can find... reboot and see if your sound card is detected and install the drivers. If you actually have to manually run the setup program for the audio card, just cancel any of the audio hardware detection that comes up on boot - the setup program should install the drivers. If you get any warnings about overwriting files during install - say YES ! Hopefully if there is any conflicting version of the drivers you will have replaced it with a consistent set from one installation. Unfortunately you just can't turn-off VXDs. They remain loaded up in memory (for most cases, especially hardware) and you can't kill them normally. If that VXD gets loaded up, then any time something makes a call to it (and I assume in this case anytime a program initializes DirectX and starts making calls) - you could have a problem. Turning "off" the sound apparently won't prevent the problem. You have to uninstall the driver.