Lt. Kije

Schrullenhaft & Wicky, Good pointers and suggestions, but repeated bouts of problem solving behavior here at Chez Kije are getting me nowhere except headachy. I think this is turning into a sullen deathmarch across the plains of Mordor when all I wanted was to play a game, errrr... simulation, for a few hours, relive those happy hours spent screaming at the screen, "What! You can't do that! That makes no sense at all! That was my only tank and there's no way you could have nailed it with one shot from some invisible uber-gun! You cheating, filthy scum sucking dog!" I can't decide what the final straw was. Maybe it was when I somehow got my OS9.2 boot system so that it thinks my laptop screen isn't the main screen with the menu at the top and I now cannot use the basic menus in the Finder because I'll never see them again in OS9. Or maybe it was when I opened up my Controls Panel and Extension folders and discovered I have over 100 CPs and Extensions, including nine (9!) different ATI Extensions, and many CPs/Extensions without any English characters in their names. Hell, I have an entire folder in my System Folder called, and I'm not making this up, "∆ƒøˆ «√∑ر◊¿Œ". Clearly, this computer was set up by an IT Dept, and seeing to it that the user can make sense of things was not on their priority list. Might as well have a PC, if I'm going to have a computer where nothing makes any sense, right? I think that's what the IT Dept is hinting at here. Thanks for all your help. You guys, especially Schrullenhaft, have been great! I'm now moving on to something less irritating, such as hitting my thumb repeatedly with a can of baked beans. -- Lt. (ow!) Kije (ow! ow!) Ahh. That's better. (ow!)

I'm not sure what the designation of this PowerBook is. It was purchased for me by the college where I teach, so it's not something I researched and selected. They bought it for me, it works, and I'm mostly happy with it. I do know it's an aluminum case, not a titanium, and has a 15" screen. I dug around in the distant crannies of my hard drive and found the following specs that were given to me for this machine. I'm a little confused by these, as I see "32 MB DDR Video Memory" listed here but when I run Apple System Profiler it shows 64 MB video memory. So, as usual, I'm a bit unsure. Sadly, this machine did not come pre-configured, specifically prepped for CMAK. Where are these peoples' priorities???? It's an outrage. -- Lt. Kije Relying upon the kindness of strangers since 1973. (The year I first began working with computers.) 15.2-inch TFT display 1 Ghz PowerPC G4 processor 256 K L2 cache, 1MB L3 cache 512 MB SDRAM memory 60 GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive DVD-R/CD-RW Super Drive ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 32 MB DDR Video Memory 10/100/1000 BASE-T Ethernet 56K internal modem Two USB ports One FireWire 400 port Airport Card included Mac OS X 10.2/9.2

Schrullenhaft, Again, thanks for taking the time to reflect upon my situation. Actually, if you could spare a bit more effort, I wonder if you might make time to take my situation outside and beat it senseless? I'd be happy to hold your coat. I also wonder if mirroring could be going on, seeing as how the OS9 "Monitors" Control Panel thinks that there are two quite distinct resolutions on the "two monitors" it lists. (Last time I checked, it thought the LCD was at 800 X 600 and Monitor 2 was at 640 X 480.) Would mirroring assume or try to force equal resolutions on the mirrored displays? Also, when I'm in OSX, there is no option to Turn Mirroring On, suggesting that at some deep hardware level the PowerBook correctly recognizes there is no external monitor attached. As for running through the checklist and reducing all Extensions and Control Panels to a minimum, thanks for reminding me. One year of using OSX and I'd forgotten this basic step. I'll create a minimum list and retry. -- Lt. Kije Depending upon the kindness of strangers since 1973

Schrullenhaft, Many thanks for your pointers. I tried the things you suggested -- ATI hotfix, remove Classic RAVE -- but no joy. One odd thing I did notice is that my OS9 "Monitors" Control Panel seems to think I've got two monitors running off my PowerBook, an LCD and a second monitor. I assume the LCD is my PowerBook screen, but I may assume too much. In truth, I have no second monitor attached. Ah, well. Perhaps this is all somehow for the best. Perhaps. Somehow. Nah. -- Lt. Kije All snuffly and stuff

Has anyone succeeded in bringing CM to the PowerBook G4? Here at Chez Kije, we are in misery, saddened by what appear to be insurmountable issues in getting the CMAK demo to run. Are you a surmounter? And yes, I'm able to boot into System 9.2. The problem seems to be video. The CMAK demo wants my screen size to be something or other, yet all manner of resetting of screen sizes has so far failed to satisfy its imperious demands. I've tried setting several different screen resolutions from the PowerBook native 1280 X 854 all the way down to 640 X 480, including the hallowed 800 X 600, but nothing pleases CMAK, that haughty task mistress. I get a fatal error message before the game even launches, complaining of my screen resolution. I'm not even sure which video card is in this PowerBook. Here is what System Profiler tells me: Built-in AGP Card Type ATY,DDParent Card Name ATY,XiaParent Card Model ATY,RV250M9 Card (Video) Memory 64MB From my limited Sherlockian skills, I deduce that I've got an ATI Radeon, but beyond that I am unable to match the code words above to any ATI model names I've seen mentioned in forums (e.g. "ATI Mobility"). I've tried searching the Forums and FAQs and the only "clew" I've stumbled upon is something about my video card not announcing or identifying itself properly to CMAK. I went to the ATI web site in hopes there might be a driver update that would speak to CMAK in the proper tone, but never recognized anything as addressing my problem. I'd go on and on here about how much I miss playing CM -- I drained away my golden youth playing CMBO and CMBB on earlier Macs -- but then I'd just start weeping and you guys wouldn't ever look at me the same again. So I'll just stick with gruff and demanding. Any you grunts got some advice for the old man? Goldang it! -- Lt. Kije Baffled. Always baffled.

Thanks, Wicky. I'll follow your suggestion. Anybody else out there with other advice? -- Lt. Kije

After a long layoff, I'm trying to return to playing CMBB. Problem is, I've got a new machine, a pretty new Mac powerbook G4. Has this odd native resolution of 1280 X 854. When I try to launch CMBB, having booted via System 9.2, CMBB complains about screen size being too big. "Set a smaller screen size then try again," is the upshot. But in the Monitors Control Panel I find only one screen size to select: 1280 X 854! 1GHz G4 512 MB RAM Video card: "ATY" (ATI Radeon??) 64MB (machine was bought for me; I don't recall video card choice) Anybody got a workaround, a fix, or a word of advice? And yes, I did remove the Classic RAVE extension from the Extensions folder. It is a cruel irony that Battlefront cast its CMBB lot irrevocably with technology that Apple was just about to declare jihad against. CMBB is my favorite game of all time, but it has been many months since I've even tried to play it. Many thanks for any help, -- Lt. Kije Baffled. Always baffled.

- double post - [ July 11, 2003, 11:58 PM: Message edited by: Lt. Kije ]

Just a note from real life. My Dad spent the entire duration of the European Theatre (D-Day plus 6 to VE Day) as one of those artillery spotters. For forty years I listened to him tell stories about what it was like. He said that only one time in his entire service was he singled out as a target by anything other than small arms at close range, and it sure wasn't at 2km or while riding in the back of a truck. It was at less than 1km and exceptionally exposed in his role. (I won't bore you with the details.) Just a data point. One forward observer walked all the way across Europe without encountering even once what is common in CM. -- Lt. Kije (By the way, I found redwolf's summary of the TacAI's behavior spot on, and would like to note that one of the things that distinguishes a CM veteran is that he will take advantage of the TacAI's unrealistic hyper-knowledge, by not choosing targets himself. Big hint to new players. Don't try to help.)

Readable? Readable????? You bet. I'll just go and nomadize myself now. Looks like a dessication is setting in. But wait, where shall I nomadize myself to? Hmmmm... perhaps the inter-zone? Yes, that's it! The inter-zone my destination is. This way I won't find myself sincized. Gotta go. -- Lt. Kije

double post [ March 06, 2003, 03:38 PM: Message edited by: Lt. Kije ]

You think Glantz is a bad writer? Ha! I spit on your paltry bad writing. Let's see you top late-career John Keegan: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: "The settlers, particularly those implanted in the great bend of the Yellow River, tended to nomadise themselves when dessications set in and thus to swell the numbers of the horse peoples who beat in successive waves against the Wall; offensives by the horse peoples also undid the efforts of the frontier commanders to sinicise the semi-nomads whose natural home the inter-zone was." :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: I relish that final, exquisitely unreadable, phrase. Forgive me, but I must repeat it, "...to sinicise the semi-nomads whose natural home the inter-zone was". Now THAT is bad writing. Glantz is a lightweight, a PzKw38(t), in relation to Keegan. -- Lt. Kije My moving shadow scars the heart of the world

I also have experienced this problem. I would not call it rare, or even infrequent. It is indeed very frustrating and I see it as a serious problem, reducing both the sense of verisimillitude and playability. -- Lt. Kije My moving shadow scars the heart of the world.

Were there booby trapped little packets of garlic butter nearby? -- Lt. Kije

aka_tom_w volunteered as follows: Thanks a million, aka_tom_w! Where can we Mac users download your 'conversion' from? Can't wait! -- Lt. Kije