CM:BB and win8

[Dynaman216]

To add to the Win7 fun. My old machine died and I had to buy a win8 machine. I installed CM:BB and the 1.04 patch but the game is running like slide show. Is there any kind of setting I can work with to fix it up? Or is it finally down for the count...

[decimated550]

I love to play Jane's IAF and Microprose's M1 Tank Platoon 2 (both from 1998) . But since getting a new computer last year I cannot play them anymore. I don't know how to mess with a virtual machine, so I paid fifty dollars and bought 2nd hand the same old computer that i long ago used to play those titles on. Sure i have an extra computer and the space it takes up, and it is a clumsy workaround, but that's my advice to get your obsolete games back in play.

[Streety]

Firstly, strictly speaking you can still buy a very few new Windows XP machines, yes NEW (not refurbished or second-hand), so you didn't "have" to buy Windows 8. Or else do as decimated550 says and just get an old second-hand XP machine that's dedicated to old games and do all your other on-line stuff on a new rig...

...But back to your problem. I've yet to read that the game won't run on windows 8 and will be sad to learn if it doesn't. Did you ever try it first without the 1.04 patch?? 1.04 was a specific Vista fix that might or might not also help with win7 or 8 if the game doesn't run properly on v1.03.

Otherwise, it could be any of a number of issues - Tech Support might need more info, like what machine you have, its main specs, and graphics card. And sometimes other programs or settings can create conflicts that can require a lot of detective work.

By "slide show" I take it you mean very slow or jumpy fps?? You could try turning down or otherwise tweaking some of your graphics card's properties. But I'd assume a new machine in 2013 should easily have the ommph to play CMBB, even if all the graphics settings are set to quality rather than speed (unless you are trying to play it on an under-powered portable). So have you tried these Administrator, Compatibility and/or Virtual mode solutions?

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-run-old-games-software-in-windows-8/

Might be worth a try.

Hope that helps. Would be interested to know if you get it working ok on Win8.

[altipueri]

aargh.

Tried it (Well CMBO) and got same strife as OP. Tried various compatibility, screen resolution changes but no joy. It wasn't even slow fps - it was no fps. Frame - wait 10 secs, another frame.

Not a problem for me at the moment because I have old win7 and xp; but there will come a time when hard disks die. It would be good if this can be got to work.

See if Schullen.... on tech can solve - maybe post in CMBN tech forum as the dust is gathering here. Good luck.

[Erwin]

I have been able to copy the old CM1 games to a flash drive and run them from there. You should be able to copy CM1 to other HD's as well. (However, I have the original versions from a decade or so ago and was able to locate .exe files that enabled them to run without having the original disc in the drive.)

Does Win 8 not have a Win 7 or XP emulator like Win 7 does?

[Streety]

Hiya Erwin - no, if you see the link in my previous post, Windows 8 doesn't have the XP emulator that Windows 7 does (gee, thanks Microsoft, another great step forward!). But that same link says you can load XP in a Virtual Machine on Windows 8 (but presumably they mean you have to buy an XP disk/licence to do so - not sure). Either way, it seems the Virtual Machine has only limited 3D support and would be an imperfect cure.

Erwin - Are you saying you played the games successfully on Windows 8 from a flash drive?

Yes, my shop-bought (well, Amazon) copy of "Combat Mission: Anthology" had the great advantage of not requiring the disks to be in the drive.

Just found a new, cheap XP machine for sale (an ex-display, box-less model that still comes with a full 12-month "as new" warranty). Ker-ching! reel that baby in! There's also a few brand-spanking-new XP machines available (at least in the UK) in the form of twin-loads (XP and win7) and optional loads (you can choose XP if you want to) but they'll almost certainly have Direct-X 10 and newer graphics architecture that means no fog table emulation (aka "pixellated fog" I think) that CM1 fog requires. But at least all your old games will run, and maybe you can find a way to add an older graphics card - dunno.

[Streety]

P.S. - Am I allowed to suggest to Win8 owners, if they can't get CMBB working, that they have a look at "Panzer Command: Ostfront"? Looks like a similar game to CMBB but uses a different graphics engine and only recently released. Maybe such competition might jog Battlefront to look at CM1 on Win8 after resolving any CM2 issues...

P.P.S. - Jeeze, my new Compaq XP machine comes with a 2-year warranty! (I didn't know they did that). And just bought a refurbished 1600x1200 (non-widescreen) samsung. Back to the war, see ya guys......

[Erwin]

Streety: No I still use Win 7 - is there any advantage to 8 other than touch screen?

Re the flash drive comment I was referring to the mention that your HD will break one day. It's easy to save and transfer CM1 software.

But, it is ridiculous Win 8 doesn't have virtual 7 or XP. (Presumably an XP license is free or very cheap these days?)

[Streety]

Ah, I see Erwin. Yes, I suppose a flash drive could save your HDD (I've only used flash for storage & transfer) - but I guess it might depend on what read-speeds you can get, does USB2 cut it or do you use a card?? Although HDDs eventually wear out, they are at least replaceable. I think the bigger problem is your motherboard or processor (if it's welded to the motherboard) eventually dying. But maybe I should start doing more on flash to eke out the remaining life of my old HDD?

No, I can't see any benefit to Windows 8 other than for better touch-screen functionality. I can see XP living on for ages in the refurbished 2nd-hand market. Microsoft have just announced they're ending XP support in April 2014, but they said in 2009 they were ending XP in 2012, so don't be surprised if it limps on thanks to Vista/7/8 underwhelming the public. You heard it here first: "XP Classic" is on the way (or more likely "Windows 9" will have a full XP emulator).

But a free XP licence these days? Ha! No, you still gotta buy it (over £100 for a full version) if you can find it as they're pretty rare if still sealed with an unused user licence. You can get OEM versions much cheaper (£25-£100) but not sure if they'll work the same way. If you're lucky and have a separate XP disk for an old machine that you have scrapped (or at least one that will never go on-line again so that it'd be invisible to Microsoft), I think you might be able to reuse the licence, but I've never tried it. And I think that'd be the worry with buying a used XP system disk - you don't know if the unique licence key is still valid.

[Schrullenhaft]

The 'flash drive' method that Erwin is using ONLY works with the pre-2006 copies of CMBO, CMBB and CMAK. Because the copy-protection for those games is very easy to circumvent and it is NOT tied to a particular computer like eLicense would be (mid-2006 and later purchases).

I'm not sure of the reason for the 'slide show' with CMBB on Windows 8. I ran a Demo copy of CMBB on a Windows 8 install with a Radeon and the game worked. However loading up a saved game had all of the soldiers standing at attention. Also the animation of the soldiers moving/running was off (strange foot movements/speed). Windows 8 has some interesting quirks that may make running these older games problematic. Windows 8 has some strangeness with its 'Real Time Clock' that can affect benchmarks, as mentioned in this Tom's Hardware article. This article basically looks at the effect on benchmarks, but it can potentially result in some odd behavior for the CMx1 series. However I wouldn't think such RTC issues would cause a complete slide show of the frame rate.

The other question for users experiencing this is what video card/chip and drivers do they have installed ? Windows 7 had a limited number of files installed for DirectX 9.0c and earlier, which necessitated installing the DirectX 9.0c updater to get most (but not all, I believe) files for DirectX 9.0c and earlier (not sure what sort of effect this may have had on the CMx1 series). Windows 8 doesn't have such an updater, but it may be possible to install it. Here are some user experiences with installing DirectX 9.0c on Windows 8.

DirectX 9.0c web updater

DirectX 9.0c June 201 'redistributable' - the entire installer

Windows 8 isn't listed in the System Requirements for either one. It is quite possible for NEITHER installer to work, though you may be able to overcome this by attempting to install the game in 'Safe Mode'. You may also want to install .NET 3.5 Framework (redistributable - though Windows 8 is NOT listed in the System Requirements) and here are some instructions on installing the .NET 3.5 Framework in Windows 8.

I don't know if any of the 'Compatibility' modes (right-click on launch shortcut > 'Properties' > 'Compatibility' tab > 'Compatibility mode' near the top of tab) may help with this or not. I suspect not, but it may be worth trying for some. I would suggest the 'Windows XP Service Pack 3' mode. You may also want to run the game by right-clicking and selecting "Run as administrator" (a check box option within the 'Compatibility' tab mentioned above), though I don't think this would resolve issues with frame rate.

[Streety]

Thanks for info Shrullenhaft. I'm glad you got CMBB working on Win8. Yes, my link (see post #3) already provided instructions for running as Admin, in Compatibility, or via virtual machine (though the virtual machine method seems to require loading XP software, and even then has limited 3D capabilities).

I hope the issues for some people is just installing some DirectX9c bits as per the Neowin Forum users experiences link that you provided. But why oh why do Microsoft keep bringing out new operating systems with such holes! After all, my CM1 Anthology only came out in 2004 - hardly ancient - and there are many games and probably some other graphics-intensive programs that need X9c bits. I've been massively underwhelmed by Vista/7/8 - I'd love a newer, sleeker Windows OS and only love XP because everything since has been so bloody p*ss-poor.

[altipueri]

Well now it's acting just like a tempremental tart. Sometimes perfectly reasonable, sometimes really difficult and useless. Being male I have absolutely no idea what I've said or done wrong.

However, it does seem that it works better second time round. That is, start-up, it goes jerky, eventually exit Alt-Q. Then start again and it's reasonable - albeit 1024x768 on a 1366x768 screen- but we strategy players aren't worried about graphics are we?

I've a HP 6gb AMD laptop. Oh, and it really doesn't like trying to work on an external screen. Hope that helps - but yes stay off Windows 8 until you have no choice I say.

Edit: I was talking CMBO. Just tried CMBB and can't get anything - it just won't load graphics. Oh well.

[Streety]

Well now it's acting just like a tempremental tart. Sometimes perfectly reasonable, sometimes really difficult and useless.

Don't call me "it" - I have a name! Oh, wait, never mind....

[Schrullenhaft]

altipueri - which specific HP laptop do you have ? Do you know what graphics chip it has ? Have you updated the drivers or does the laptop only have the drivers that came installed on it (which may be the only ones that work at this point, a common issue with laptops).

I don't know if the DirectX 9.0c installation instructions/links I provided earlier may help or not. CMBO, CMBB and CMAK are all DirectX 5/6 type games, with the 1.04 patch updating a few of the DirectX commands to slightly newer versions (to originally fix a DirectX 10 issue with video cards in Windows Vista at the time).

CMBO had no such updates and I assume it was just left to be to work in 'Software Render' mode (one of the 640 x 480 resolution selections) as a last ditch resort if the other resolutions did not work. The 'software renderer' was NOT an option with CMBB and CMAK.

[altipueri]

Ok after more time wasting it sort of works if I'm patient and don't mind fuzzy graphics.

On starting a scenario it seems to hang, but after waiting a bit, then going to control panel, then starting another program, exit and back to CMBB it runs.

[Streety]

Glad you got it working Altipueri. As to fuzzy graphics, are you familiar with graphics properties (such as antialiasing and anisotropic filtering)? Try turning them on or up a notch if you haven't already. Or some graphics have a general settings option of quality, balanced, or performance - so you could try the quality setting. If you have screen-stretch on you could turn that off too, but 1024x768 is probably going to be a tiny bit fuzzy on a 15 or 17inch screen.

Have you tried Schrullenhaft's DirectX updater? He might be able to suggest one or two other things if you know your laptop's exact model and series name (eg, HP Envy 15t-j000), and know your exact graphics chip (eg, something like NVidia GT740M). If you do have the HP Envy, it comes in two forms - an HD ready, and full HD version. Neither got rave reviews for their screen quality from many on-line critiques. Even the the full HD version (1920x1080 - which could run a 1280x1024 game) is described as "grainy" in the Trusted Reviews opinion (http://www.trustedreviews.com/hp-envy-touchsmart-15_Laptop_review). So if you have the 1366x768 version you may be fairly stuck with the fuzzy graphics, but some graphics tweaks could well sharpen/improve the image at least a bit.

[altipueri]

OK for completeness I got CMAK working too.

In both cases there are some flickering graphics on the horizon (four bands) and some pop up menu things - like re-inforcements don't have the text displayed so you have to hunt around a bit clicking with the mouse. All in all - try to avoid using Windows 8 if you can.

My machine: HP Pavilion g6 notebook. AMD A8-4500M APU with Radeon HD 7640G - I've no idea if that's good or bad!

PS - smoke and fog seem to show up on screen and work - this surprised me.

Good luck trying to keep these games going. Re-furbished XP laptops can be bought in the UK for about 100 to 150 pounds.

[Streety]

Altipueri, for the benefit of others coming to this thread later, are you starting the game normally or using one of the suggested Admin or Compatibility modes I linked (post #3)? But wow, you got fog with Windows 8!?! Not just mist on your glasses is it? But seriously, that's a bonus. But HP's "G6" is just the series, not the model number (which would something like "G6-2217cl" or "G6-2201ax").

If you reread some of the other threads on text not displaying with ATI Radeon cards (such as here:http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=82561), albeit back in the XP days, some found turning off AA (antialiasing), or setting it to "application controlled" worked. Others started the game then hit ALT+TAB to return to desktop, then ALT+TAB back into the game. Others used a text fix (see the zip file in the example thread I've linked), others updated Catalyst (the graphics card's control software) or played around with its settings.

Note: Apparently, according to some threads, CMx1 doesn't use antialiasing anyway, so forcing it on wouldn't have helped image quality as per my previous post.

I also seem to recall something about how you might have to change your desktop resolution either to match your game's 1024x768 resolution before starting the game (or if already the same, then changing it to be different from the game), then possibly ALT+TAB after starting the game, in order for the text to display. Maybe.

Updating your display driver might help with your other graphics issue (the flickering/banding), but don't hold your breath. And though you can in theory "roll back" if updating makes things worse, you should first research this in Catalyst/AMD help and related forums, because in the past some have had problems with rolling-back.

Though I'd buy a factory-refurbished XP desktop, I'd personally stay well clear of 2nd-hand/refurbished laptops (even factory-refurbished ones), because laptops are a lot more susceptible to hidden impact-damage and heat-damage that won't always be apparent to the seller (or admitted by them, or fully fixable by them). And laptops are harder to economically repair individual components (some cheap laptop components like graphics or RAM can't even be reached/replaced at all). I speak from very bitter (and multiple) experience. A desktop is far easier - some refurbishers even advertise that they automatically put in new components and if you much later realise you got a weak part, a desktop is far likelier to be fixable.

Again, though, amazed you got fog! From everything else I've read, that just shouldn't be possible. Your Radeon HD 7640G only came out in 2012, so maybe Radeon have put fog-table emulation back in? I'd love to hear Schrullenhaft's thoughts.

[Dynaman216]

Thanks! the alt-tab alt-tab trick did the trick.

[Streety]

Yay! Glad it worked for you Dynaman!

[Schrullenhaft]

I found something out using Windows 8 on a Phenom II X4 975 and a Radeon HD 6870. The CMBB Demo was running really slow, you could see the tanks haltingly move forward rather than moving smoothly turning turn play back.

This MAY be due to the way that Windows 8 utilizing multi-core CPUs for programs and most Windows 8 users will probably have a multi-core CPU. If you can get the game to run on just one core, the performance may speed up (in my particular experience).

To do this (and you have to do this every time you play the game, unless you find an utility to set the 'affinty', like Process Lasso), launch the game and go through the 2D menus to select the options for your battle, operation or QB. Once you get to the 3D screen Alt-Tab to minimize the game. Now perform a 'Ctrl+Alt+Del' and select 'Task Manager'. When the Task Manager comes up click on the 'Details' tab and look for the game executable ('Barbarossa to Berlin.exe' for CMBB) and right-click on it. Select "Set affinity" from the popup menu. Here you will be presented with a list of check boxes for all of the cores (and one to select all of them), uncheck them ALL and then select just one, perhaps the 'CPU 1' if you have a dual core CPU or 'CPU 3' if you have a quad core CPU. Click 'OK' and then close up the Task Manager. Now maximize CM and it should hopefully run a little faster.

[Malaspina]

Thanks Schrullenhaft!

Together with your earlier suggestions that seems to have done the trick for me.

[grumpusbumpus]

Hey guys,

 

I created an account just to respond to this thread.  Thank you so much for your advice regarding the multi-threading, Schrullenhaft!  I'd been so upset that I couldn't run this classic game on my new Windows 8 laptop.  Your suggestion regarding changing the "affinity" for the EXE did the trick.  As an addition, I was able to start the game, ALT-TAB out and set the affinity (while still on the menu screen), and then go back into the game and it worked.  I didn't have to wait for the 3D part to load.  I am so excited about finally being able to play the "To the Volga!" campaign!

Many thanks,

 

-Chris

[grungar]

ack! for all that trouble you could be playing cmrt yeah cmbb has the whole war etc...now you have me wanting to check to see if my old cmbb works better then it did in win 7 wich it worked ok but had a graphic bug at the top of the screen. if i spend all day trying to figure this all out its your alls fault

[Schrullenhaft]

grungar it sounds like you may be running an AMD Radeon. If so, then the 1.04 patch fixes that bug that displays on the 3D screen (at least it has in the past). The 1.04 patch wasn't released to intentionally fix that issue, but it inadvertently did. Unfortunately the 1.04 patch isn't free (US$5.00). It also uses the eLicense copy-protection, so you no longer need the CD in the optical drive, but you do have to tinker around with your anti-virus/security software and DEP settings to get everything running (and remember to unlicense the game before making significant hardware changes or moving to another computer, etc.).