PBEM helper problem SOLVED

[Cabe Booth]

I posted this solution in another thread but thought I should re-post it here to make it easier in a search for solutions. If anyone else has solved a PBEMH problem. Plz add to thread.

Mine refers to:

The only major bug I have found and solved is one where the program, when telling it to start a PBEM game, it goes to the wrong screen (usually the select scenario screen) and on your way out of a game it goes to the map editor screen.

Very irritating.

This happens because you have modded your splash screen (start screen with all the buttons).

Some user made splash screen will move the buttons on the screen from the default CM location.

what happens:

PBEM Helper auto launches the CM game and then enters the password with a file called (CMBB.VBS)

That sets a series of automatic mouse clicks and keystrokes in a scripted order on parts of the game screens. (A side note, don't go looking for a CMAK.VBS file, it doesn't exist, All use same file named CMBB)

In other words when you hit "play" in PBEM it launches games by automatically double-clicking the games executable (.exe file) , then auto-clicking the "multiplayer" button then enters your password and hits "enter" automatically to take you straight into your PBEM game,

If you have a modded splash screen that has moved the buttons, PBEMH will be clicking the correct area of the screen that the CMBB.VBS file has told it to do, but since the buttons have been moved the PBEMH mouse click will miss the button. or hit a different one,

In my case the screen was modded with a user made screen that made all the button shift down a bit on the start screen, this made the mouse click "start game" since it is right above the multiplayer screen and then it would enter my password and well.....

since it was on wrong screen it was a mess and stopped the process/flow of entering the PBEM game.

To fix this problem either go back to the original splash screen for the CM game you are having trouble with or use a screen that is known to work with PBEM Helper, or in other words, "doesn't alter the button placement"

Modded screens that are known to work so far (and the only I have used since I figured this out) are the ones in the Tarkus interface mods.

“Tarkus’s Dirty Olive Interface” for CMAK

“Tarkus Dark Steel Interface” for CMBB

both found at CMMODS.com and are brilliant to use anyway.

So if you ever decide to use a different start/splash screen than the one supplied by the game, make sure to compare the image in a graphics program like Photoshop by comparing them side by side to note button placement. Some user made screens don’t show the buttons in the .bmp and I always assume they are bad because they don’t have a setting to place the buttons correctly, and this would cause the problem. Hope this helps.

[ April 29, 2007, 01:14 PM: Message edited by: Cabe Booth ]

[GreenAsJade]

Congrats to Cabe & the other people who helped him track this bizzare symptom to its cause.

GaJ