Madmatt

Yup, buggered you be, at least for the time being. See https://www.combatmission2.com/cmbb_sis650.html for an overview of this problem. There is warning on the ordering pages with regards to the Sony Vaio's or system using the SIS 650 chipset. Madmatt [ March 10, 2003, 10:48 AM: Message edited by: Madmatt ]

Well, to date your the only person I see reporting this specific issue so I am not sure where else you see this being reported by others. Can you give me more info about the lockups please? Does this occur in all game modes (Solo, PBEM, TCP/IP)? If in multiplay, are you always playing the same person? Does this occur on one specific battle or any battle you play? Do you have any other software running in the background like for example an instant messenger package? IS your computer an Athlon powered system that uses the VIA chipset? If so have you downloaded and installed the latest 4in1 drivers available here? http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=2 Crashes that occur after a specific amount of time passes are very often heat related. A simple test is to remove your computer case and see if it seems more stable. Since you said the crashes did not occur before the patch that isn't as likely as something else but its a worth the effort to make sure. Madmatt

Guys, the version number is reported by the game itself so if you launch the game and it still says 1.01 then you are still running the 1.01 version of the game BUT the patch files could in fact be installed (see below). My guess (and I am checking into this) is that for some reason the 1.02 patch (CDV German version) creates a DIFFERENT named exe to launch the game. Whats happening is that people are using the old shortcut to launch the game and its launching the OLD executable instead of the new one, which is also in the same location. Any of you that have installed the German CDV patch, just look into your game folder and see how many .exe files you see. If you see two of them than that is the problem. I will check this myself and let you know what I find. Madmatt [ March 10, 2003, 10:55 AM: Message edited by: Madmatt ]

Assuming you have the Battlefront.com version of CMBB you can create your own .reg file that will add the neccesary info to your registry that should fix the text corruption. Save the following text into notepad and name the file "kyro.reg" (without the quotes). If you have the CDV version then change Barbarossa to Berlin.exe to combatmission2.exe. Once you have saved the file as a .reg, simply doubleclick it and the info will be added to your registry. Reboot and the text should be fine in the game. >>>ADD EVERYTHING AFTER THIS POINT<<< REGEDIT4 ; Combat Mission BB [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\PowerVR\KYRO\Game Settings\D3D\Barbarossa to Berlin.exe] "DisableCopyBlt3D"="1"

Seems this issue seems to be popular in several threads at the moment so let me weigh in quickly. I wish it were as simple as us just changing the code and everything with Nvidia would be peachy keen but that simply is not going to happen nor is it even realistic. Nvidia releases patches almost weekly (either official releases or leaked beta drivers to sites like www.guru3d.com). Look at the comments from people that download and install these drivers. Fluctuating 3D Mark scores, all sorts of visual anomolies, system instabilities etc... Nvidia does not divulge WHEN new offical release drivers are coming out so if we were to do some sort of code hack to fix something how do we know how long it would work until the next new drivers were released? What about all the scores of OEM drivers that are floating around, many based on different Nvidia driver versions themselves? Their is also the fact that Nvidia KNOWS that their drivers are where the errors lie. The issue with the FSAA we saw before 2 years ago. When CMBO was released everything worked fine, then a month or so later they released a new official release of TNT/GeForce drivers that totally screwed up FSAA. We told them about it and after a few months another driver release came out that fixed the problem. Now, here we are 2 years later and in Decemeber Nvidia released the current 41.09 series drivers replacing the 30.82/30.87 series and the problem is back again. Its not a new problem, its the same mistake they made before and we have once again notified them of it. Remember, CMBB will get maybe one more patch, and then thats it. Since the track record of Nvidia is anything but consistent it makes sense for us to just ensure that our code obeys the rules and hope that Nvidia once more comes around with their drivers and fixes the problem. Look, I KNOW its frustrating to have to sometimes play driver bingo. I do it all the time myself. Every time a new beta driver is released I test it on my home machine and then I end up going back to either 30.82 or 30.87. They are simply the best. I will be doing some testing very soon with the new GF4 4800's as well and will let you guys know what I find. One last thing, don't stake too much weight on WHQL drivers. In order to get WHQL certified all a driver has to do is perform up to spec on some arbitrary tests that MS has setup. None of them have to do with performance or features, rather they are about how they install and uninstall primarly. Its sorta like ISO9001 certifications. Those of you that have worked at a place that was ISO certified will know what I mean. WHQL is not a standard for quality, just for compliance to what MS wants. Madmatt

Which drivers are you using with your new card? I have seen similar slowdowns when I have tested some of the latest beta drivers for the GeForce Cards. I have made Nvidia aware of this issue. You should be okay with the 41.09 series drivers (be sure to turn off FSAA with those drivers though) but you want to be sure that you deleted all the remnants of the old drivers BEFORE you install those. Leftover parts of old drivers can and will cause issues. You also might want to reinstall/upgrade to DirectX 9 which you can get from here: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/downloads/drx90.asp Madmatt

You don't to email me, I am here. You can accuse of anything you want but you are very wrong in pretty much everything you say above. We do discuss issues with Nvidia and they are aware of a number of issues that affect Combat Mission. In every case they admit that the fault is with something internal to their driver code. Since we know and they know where the problem lies it makes no sense for us to change our code to fix something that is on their end. Sure we could do so but what happens when their next drivers change something once more? Do we release another patch to fix the fix we made the first time? The simple reality is that someone has to maintain the intergrity of the DirectX and DirectDraw calls that Microsoft has laid down in their API. Combat Mission (both BO and BB) do that. Now it is up to the video card makers to release drivers that do the same. Our stance on this is quite solid. You can disagree with it if you want but that is simply how we do things. We make it very clear up front that we advise people to test the demo's BEFORE they make a purchase of any of our games. Thats why we offer demo's for every product we release (unlike some game companies). I am sorry the game isn't working for you as you want it to, but people have offererd to help you and you have simply shunned thier attempts. As such I doubt there is much we can do to make you happy so I am going to close this thread up to make room for people that are willing to accept the assistance that is provided here. Madmatt

Just the other day we sent another letter to our Nvidia technical contact detailing all the issues with the 41.09 drivers and above in CM. We are hopeful that they will incorporate fixes to these problems in a upcoming driver release. Madmatt

Um, since there is no purpose for this thread... Guess what that sound is?

The legitamacy of this persons copy of CMBB is very suspect so I am going to lock up this thread for now. That and reading his spelling is hurting my head. Enigma, if you have a real copy of CMBB then the manual is on the disk as a PDF file. If you don't well, i doubt you will be able to get far here on the forum. In fact, i know it. Madmatt

It's not the cards themselves, its their drivers. If you use the older 30.82 or 30.87 series drivers with a GeForce 4 card you should be able to access all FSAA modes. You can get those drivers from here: http://www.nvidia.com/view.asp?IO=winxp-2k_archive Madmatt [ March 03, 2003, 03:16 PM: Message edited by: Madmatt ]

Le me make a few points here real quick. CMBB and CMBO are probably the only games in existance which follow TO THE LETTER the requirements of DirectDraw in the way they handle graphics and all function calls. Charles is adament about not breaking those rules. That means that when video drivers DO break the rules, which they always do in order to improve performace, issues usually crop up in our game. Such is the problem with FSAA and the latest Nvidia drivers. Also remember that many games are OpenGL based now so you can't compare them with CM. Now, with the radical slowness you are seeing, I have encountered that too, I *think* that it appears to be a conflict with remnants of older 30.xx based drivers that are not removed when you upgrade to the newer drivers. A good way to test this out is to completely purge your system of any video drivers, install the Standard VGA driver and then apply the newer 40.xx drivers and see if the slowdown continues. I wanted to do this myself but havent had time. I have been reading that these latest batch of beta drivers from Nvidia are really focusing on advanced features for the new GeForce FX line of cards but have really sloppy DirectDraw support. That would also explain the slowdowns. Remember though, these are BETA DRIVERS so use at your own risk. Most benchmarks I have still show 30.82 and 30.97 to be the most stable and best performing so you really aren't sacrificing anythin by using those older drivers. Madmatt [ March 03, 2003, 03:11 PM: Message edited by: Madmatt ]

Seems Computer Gaming World Magazine decided to throw us a little love as well in the April edition. CMBB was just named CGW's 2003 Wargame of the Year! They also dedicated 5 pages in their Gamers Edge section to CMBB. GO US! Madmatt [ March 02, 2003, 08:35 PM: Message edited by: Madmatt ]

Steve handles all the orders sent via check or money order personally. Once he gets the order from the PO Box he sends a confirmation email out to the customer (assuming they remembered to include it). Mail based orders usually take about 4 weeks total to process and for you to get your items. Madmatt

Right click on the executable you use to launch CMBO, I assume its on your desktop. Now select Properties. Now click the Compatability Tab. Make sure that NO compatability options are selected. Nothing on that page should be checked. If any are, uncheck them, now try and launch the game. When you UPGRADE from an earlier copy of Windows to XP it sometimes thinks CM needs to be run in Compatability Mode. It does not. Why do you get the NO CD FOUND Error then? Because CM uses a very basic CD check routine when it is launched. It looks at file count and file size. Between Win 9x/Me and XP Microsoft decided to change slightly how CD's read themseleves when they run in compatability mode just enough for that CD check to fail. When you turn off Compatability Mode, you should be able to see the CD fine. This is usually only a problem for people that upgrade from Win 9x/ME to XP. Madmatt [ February 28, 2003, 03:07 PM: Message edited by: Madmatt ]

Well, they WERE posted then, you just didn't know about it. :-p Madmatt

There were some....*issues* with jwxspoons first big solo update to CMHQ. I have fixed them... Kids these days! Come to CMHQ and load up on some new CMMOS rulesets and mods!!! Madmatt

Send me your save games of this if you have them. Preferably the end game and the turn before. Madmatt

Both Loza books are HIGHLY recommended! For Christmas a few years ago I handed out copies of his first one to Steve and Charles (and Dan too as I recall). Great book and full of very absorbing personal accounts of Russian Tankers. Loza also has a new book all about Airacobras in service in the Russian Airforce in WWII. I have it but haven't finished it yet. So far, it is on par with his previous two books. Madmatt

While not specific to TacOps, I thought some of the people here might be interested in the following... We have just added a new Bibliography page for CMBB which lists some of the best books available on the Eastern Front. All books are on sale from Amazon and we have included links to order from them for your convenience. http://www.battlefront.com/products/cmbb/biblio.html Madmatt

While not specific to SC, I thought some of the people here might be interested in the books listed.... We have just added a new Bibliography page for CMBB which lists some of the best books available on the Eastern Front. All books are on sale from Amazon and we have included links to order from them for your convenience. http://www.battlefront.com/products/cmbb/biblio.html Madmatt

We have just added a new Bibliography page for CMBB which lists some of the best books available on the Eastern Front. All books are on sale from Amazon and we have included links to order from them for your convenience. http://www.battlefront.com/products/cmbb/biblio.html Madmatt

We have just added a new Bibliography page for CMBB which lists some of the best books available on the Eastern Front. All books are on sale from Amazon and we have included links to order from them for your convenience. http://www.battlefront.com/products/cmbb/biblio.html Madmatt

Speaking of books... We have just added a new Bibliography page for CMBB which lists some of the best books available on the Eastern Front. All books are on sale from Amazon and we have included links to order from them for your convenience. http://www.battlefront.com/products/cmbb/biblio.html Madmatt

We have just added a new Bibliography page for CMBB which lists some of the best books available on the Eastern Front. All books are on sale from Amazon and we have included links to order from them for your convenience. http://www.battlefront.com/products/cmbb/biblio.html Madmatt