Marines campaign crashing?

[donnieitaly]

I bought this game years ago when it first came out, but when playing it recently I had multiple crashes. Not wishing to try to find the hard copy I had bought (!) I bought and downloaded a new version (the Army and Marine combo.)

On the second scenario of the Marine campaign it still crashed mightily, and I have had to save every turn.

Is this me or a known problem?

[Buzz]

Have never had any Marine campaign crash. I have the CMSF Mac Bundle and no campaign crashes at all.

[donnieitaly]

Thanks, but is that due to owing a Mac and not a PC I wonder?

[Buzz]

Doubt it. I have CMSF & Marines in PC from long ago in boot camp on Widows 7 Pro and no campaign crashes that I remember there either. I suspect Schrullenhaft 

Battlefront Tech Support will see your request and help you figure it out.

[Schrullenhaft]

I'm not specifically aware of a common crash in the 2nd mission of the Marines campaign. Are you at patch version 1.32 ? Do you have ONLY CMSF + Marines or do you have other modules ? When you installed the game, what was your install process ?

If you have just the CMSF + Marines module bundle, then you may want to reinstall the game or double-check what you may have installed according to this procedure:

1) Install CMSF + Marines bundle.

2) Launch CMSF and you should be prompted to activate the license key (for a reinstall, this probably won't happen since you are already activated).

3) Install the 1.21 patch. Make sure to make the correct selections for 'CMSF' and the 'Marines' (British Forces will be mentioned in this patch which you will NOT want if you don't have that module).

4) Launch CMSF and confirm that you are now at version 1.21 and that the Marines module is still present (Stryker and LAV icons in the lower left corner of the main menu).

5) Install the 1.31 patch. Again make sure to make the correct selections for 'CMSF' and 'Marines'.

6) Launch CMSF and confirm that you are at version 1.31 and that the Marines module is still present.

7) Install the 1.32 patch. Again making sure that you select to update only CMSF and Marines.

8) Launch CMSF and confirm that you are at version 1.32 and that Marines module is still there.

If at any point you get prompted for a license key for British Forces or NATO (and you don't have them), then reinstall the last patch and make sure to make the correct selections for the modules that you have.

What video card and drivers do you have installed ? Are you doing anything in particular when the campaign crashes ?

[donnieitaly]

Jeez chaps, I'm 65, my son usually figures all this stuff out for me <g>.

I'm now on the fourth scenario, actually just finished that, and the crashing seems to have stopped. (Tempting fate.) I'll keep playing until it crashes badly or I forget it used to crash.

What I can't figure is that I had NO problems the first time I bought the game (the CD version) and no problems when I added the Marines and British.

If I add patch 1.31 will that delete all my saves? I simply couldn't go through all those scenarios again. (You ought to think of a way to offer the campaign as a series of stand alone scenarios, and forget about making them dependent on the result of the previous battle. ((Optionally I mean, not instead of the campaign.)) )

If I have just bought a "brand new" CMSF and Marines bundle why do I need to download patches? Don't you retro fit them to the products you are selling?

I wasn't prompted to use a licence key and don't know what that is this time around.

How do I discover which version of the game I do have?

You tech people are really good at offering help. Many thanks even if we don't figure this out. :-)

[donnieitaly]

I've updated the gfame to 1.32 the version that your website tells me is the lastest, but now my computer tells me trhat I have to have Administrator rights to complete the installation! Well according to my log on details I AM an administrator so...?

I have contacted my son. All should be well...

Incidentally I still have the British manual on computer from (presumably) the first time I bought the game. The second installation didn't seem to wipe that out - although having said that maybe the patch will.

[donnieitaly]

Great - now all my saved games have gone!

[donnieitaly]

Okay. So I've loaded the patch and am now up to date.

I've clicked on Administrator and the game has loaded.

All my saved games are gone.

I've "played" the first and second scenarios of the marine campaign.

Whilst playing my Marines are now named, in the bottom left hand corner of the screen as "Stug 1v" - a world war two German weapon. (Yes I do have the Battle front Overlord bought and saved.

It doesn't seem to crash anymore. I just can't now access a saed game of any kind!

Over to you. (It's 23:24 here in the UK.)

[Brindlewolf]

Is this a pc version you have bud

[Brindlewolf]

i'll help you if i can;)

[Brindlewolf]

Oh well i was about bud.If the main guys don't get back to you in time(i believe they're well busy) drop me a PM and we'll go through some stuff bud.It won't be the game,it's just patches have to be installed in order and right boxes ticked etc.Then there can be anti-virus issues with certain modules(again it's the AV software not the game) and if you have issues with an install-always restart a clean fresh install(without mods installed or old data in the main file etc).

[donnieitaly]

Thanks for the offer.

Yes it's the PC version, downloaded cmdr and marine combo bundle.

Should I uninstall completely and reinstall? Not sure I know how to re-download.

It's now 00:29 here and my wife thinks sleep is more important than games.

Women!

[donnieitaly]

I mean "cmsf and Marine".

Spellcheckers!

[Brindlewolf]

Actually Schrullenhaft has posted all the details you need to know.Follow that step by step.Do a totally fresh install from scratch,have everything from the Game launcher,and all the patches you need ready(everything is in his post) and then do it one step at time.It shouldn't take long.I have all the modules and it takes less than 20 mins from downloads to patching.ONE FINAL POINT-before you start installing anything,turn off your Anti-virus until the final install is finished.(AVG used to hate my Brits module and caused crashes galore ingame-i no longer use it).Turn it back on when youre done.

You should be good to go.Have fun bud

[Schrullenhaft]

Yes, the games are NOT up-to-date. Downloading and installing a new copy of CMSF + Marines will mean that you are at version 1.10/1.11 if you don't install any patches.

The version number can be seen at the bottom middle of the main menu. Icons on the bottom left represent the modules that are installed - the CMSF Stryker, the Marines LAV, the British Forces Challenger and the NATO Leopard.

So you currently have CMSF + Marines and the British Forces module, is that correct or do you also have the NATO module ?

If you start a game in one version and then upgrade, it is quite possible (and normal) that the old game will not work or be seen by the newer version. Saving at a particular spot ('orders/command phase') BEFORE upgrading the patch can allow 'saved games' to work with newer versions, with some exceptions (which are probably applicable to your situation). If you are upgrading from an earlier version than 1.20, e.g. 1.10 or 1.11 (which is the likely version of your CMSF + Marines install), then save games from these versions are NOT compatible with 1.21. In this case, we recommend you backup your existing "CM Shock Force.exe" file before continuing with this install by renaming the file to something like "CM Shock Force old.exe". You can still launch the game with that renamed exe and finish your previous in-progress battles.

You can actually have MULTIPLE copies of the game running on your computer with different versions (which may be needed to finish your campaign - if you can find the files). So you could have an install (in a separate directory) of CMSF + Marines patched to 1.11 and then another install (again, in a different directory) of CMSF + Marines + British Forces patched to 1.32.

I'm not sure what got corrupted to have WWII labels show up, but that seems to happen for some customers sometimes (and the reverse is true, CMBN having CMSF labels). Other than removing anything in your 'mods folder' ('Z folder'), I can only guess that a reinstall would correct this.

A reinstall of CMSF + Marines and British Forces to a new, empty directory should go like this:

1) Install CMSF + Marines bundle.

2) Launch CMSF and you should be prompted to activate the license key (for a reinstall, this probably won't happen since you are already activated).

3) You should now be at version 1.10/1.11 (as seen in the bottom middle of the main menu screen) and you should see the CMSF Stryker and Marines LAV.

4) Exit out of CMSF and install the British Forces module.

5) Launch CMSF and you may be prompted to activate the British Forces module. Check that you are now at version 1.20 and that you also see the British Forces Challenger icon in the lower left of the main menu.

6) Install the 1.21 patch. Make sure to make the correct selections for 'CMSF' and the 'Marines' and 'British Forces'.

7) Launch CMSF and confirm that you are now at version 1.21 and that you see all three icons in the lower left, Styker, LAV and Challenger.

8) Install the 1.31 patch. Again make sure to make the correct selections for 'CMSF' and 'Marines' and 'British Forces'.

9) Launch CMSF and confirm that you are at version 1.31 and that you see all three icons in the lower left.

10) Install the 1.32 patch. Again making sure that you select to update only CMSF and Marines and British Forces.

11) Launch CMSF and confirm that you are at version 1.32 and that all three icons are still present.

If you can find your campaign saves that you were playing earlier (they may not show up in CMSF, but the files may still be present in the '\Program Files\Battlefront\Combat Mission Shock Force\Game Files\Saved Games' directory). If you want to finish this particular campaign, then you can install a copy of CMSF + Marines to a SEPARATE directory (such as 'c:\games\cmsf'). I assume that you had just the patch level that that install came with, which should be 1.10/1.11. You can then copy the campaign save games to the new game directory and they should hopefully show up.

[donnieitaly]

Well, first of all why is the game I have bought not up to date? Why am I downloading patches at all?

I have CMSF and the Marines only. (I did buy those and the Brit forces but that was a long time ago and I'm not currently bothered about the Brit forces.)

So I uninstalled the CMSF listing I had in "All programs".

Then I downloaded again my purchased CMSF and marines bundle.

I then checked the Version 1.11, and went through the laborious and confusing and unnecessary process of downloading from a myriad of sites offering me all sort of confusing claptrap until I had all three patches downloaded and installed.

So now I have a CMSF and Marines bundle patched up to 1.32.

So I ran the game.

Saved games would not open. And indeed crashed the computer. So I ran the game again and played a couple of turns of the Marines Campaign. This I saved.

I exited, went back in and clicked on Saved games and the computer crashed.

I can start to play any campaign or battle and save them. When I open the saved games the computer crashes.

Oh, I DID NOT turn off my virus checker when doing all the above.

[Schrullenhaft]

Please read a little closer in my previous post and you will see that after the 1.20 patch the SAVED GAMES ARE NOT COMPATIBLE. You will need another install of the game, located in a different directory and limited to the 1.10/1.11 patch, in order to play those OLDER saved games.

I'm not sure of all of the reasons why the downloads are not the latest version. One reason was to allow players to finish off previous PBEMs, etc. and allow for a reinstall to support an older saved game. Updating each of the games/modules is a bit labor intensive (an installer has to be reconfigured and recompiled for an update). With CMSF and later games, each of the modules came out and supported an update to the base game. In the case of CMSF Marines was 1.10, British Forces 1.20 and NATO 1.30.

Regarding your crashes with CMSF + Marines at 1.32. Are you saying that a new saved game created with 1.32 crashed the game when you attempted to load it in 1.32 ? If you are clicking on the 'Saved Games' and it crashes, then one of the game saves is corrupt. Removing this file (outside of CMSF with CMSF shut down) will allow the Saved Games listing to come up (but the file will obviously not be there). I'm not sure what caused the corruption in the game save.

Usually CM games will have issues with security software when it comes to just running the games. The saved game files themselves usually will not be a problem. If you game is installed to the 'Program Files' / 'Program Files (x86)' directory, then you may want to try launching the game by right-clicking and selecting "Run as administrator" from the popup menu.

[donnieitaly]

>>>>First of all I appreciate the efforts you're making :-) It is frustrating to be having problems with a game (and incidentally I have only three games on my computer and two of them are yours!) that I have played and enjoyed since it was first produced. What is causing these current problems I obviously, have no idea.

Please read a little closer in my previous post and you will see that after the 1.20 patch the SAVED GAMES ARE NOT COMPATIBLE. You will need another install of the game, located in a different directory and limited to the 1.10/1.11 patch, in order to play those OLDER saved games.

>>>> Yes, I understood this. I'm not bothered by the saved games now; I'll play the da*mn things all over again if have to <g>.

I'm not sure of all of the reasons why the downloads are not the latest version. One reason was to allow players to finish off previous PBEMs, etc. and allow for a reinstall to support an older saved game. Updating each of the games/modules is a bit labor intensive (an installer has to be reconfigured and recompiled for an update). With CMSF and later games, each of the modules came out and supported an update to the base game. In the case of CMSF Marines was 1.10, British Forces 1.20 and NATO 1.30.

>>>>If you don't have the resources then I guess it's understandable but it isn't very good business. A product sold should be fit for purpose and some of those patches are years old.

Regarding your crashes with CMSF + Marines at 1.32. Are you saying that a new saved game created with 1.32 crashed the game when you attempted to load it in 1.32 ? If you are clicking on the 'Saved Games' and it crashes, then one of the game saves is corrupt. Removing this file (outside of CMSF with CMSF shut down) will allow the Saved Games listing to come up (but the file will obviously not be there). I'm not sure what caused the corruption in the game save.

>>>>Okay. I downloaded, installed and played the CMSF Marine combo. I patched it (them?) up to 1.32. I played about three turns of the first scenario and then saved it. On trying to access that saved game the computer crashed. I then played a "Battle" for a couple of turns, saved that, and then tried to access it. The computer crashed. I can open all options except Saved games. This is all on 1.32 newly downloaded .

Interesting fact. The FIRST SAVE I made on the NEW 1.32 game was labelled by the computer, as Save Number 119. Obviously it should have been Save Number 1. The LAST Save I made with the OLD game/s was Save Number 118.

>>> I'm wondering that if |I can find the computer save of these games and delete them all (I don't care if I now lose them.) will that destroy/delete any corruption? On re-reading your comments above I wonder if just moving them somewhere else would do it. I'm not sure I have the requisite computer skills to do this.

Usually CM games will have issues with security software when it comes to just running the games. The saved game files themselves usually will not be a problem. If you game is installed to the 'Program Files' / 'Program Files (x86)' directory, then you may want to try launching the game by right-clicking and selecting "Run as administrator" from the popup menu.

>>> I regret I don't understand this,, but I'll go have a look.

Ciao.

[donnieitaly]

Well this is weird.

The game is running and the save function is working and it hasn't crashed.

YIPPEEE!

I don't know what I did.

I looked for the old saved games and couldn't find them although I found old Normandy saves (that game crashes too btw <g>)

So, for want of some action to take I looked up all the programs under Battlefront as listed in the Windows 7 Start button, All programs.

I RIGHT clicked on the program and opened the game as an Administrator and the computer asked me if I wanted to allow BF to make changes to my computer. I said yes and its running. The only saved games showing are 1 - 6 that I have just saved in these last few minutes.

If I try to open the games with a LEFT click I don't get asked that security question but I then can't get into Saved games and the computer crashed.

I don't know what I did but I don't really think it matters.

I'm a bit grateful and if you have a young daughter or sister I will marry her and care for her for the rest of her life - or alternatively sacrificed a small animal to you.

Please tell me you seem to have solved it?

[Brindlewolf]

Glad to hear you're up and running bud.Get the other two modules when you can,you won't regret it.Take care bud and happy gaming

[donnieitaly]

Crashed again.

Third marine scenario.

About the third minute watching the action.

Saves are working.

Bleughhh

[donnieitaly]

This game is now unplayable.

The brand new download will not open saved games if I simply "Open" it. If I right click and open as an "administrator" it will access saved games.

Then however it crashes every turn.

[Schrullenhaft]

Are you getting crash logs/reports for each of these crashes (a dialog box comes up saying so - a Windows function) ? Do you know what video card/chip and drivers you have installed ? If you play in 'real time' do you have the same issue (of crashing) ?

You can modify your game shortcut so that you don't have to right-click each time you launch the game. To do so, right-click and select "Properties" from the popup menu. In here go to the 'Compatibility' tab and at the bottom of this tab is a section labeled 'Privilege Level'. Check mark the box next to the text that says "Run this program as an administrator". Click 'Apply' and then 'OK'.

[donnieitaly]

First. Thanks for the Admin tip although I'm not sure it works for see below.

A real time game doesn#t seem to crash although I only ran it for about five minutes.

I saved it and then tried to go back to the save. Now I can't access that save or any other.

I then ran a battle which didn#t crash but I saved it and couldn't get back.

So I can't access any saved games now.

The windows report says that the game encountered a problem and windows will close the program and let me know if a solution is available. There has been no solution of course.

I have looked out my hard copy of the CMSF game I bought when it first came out and am thinking of uninstalling everything and running the CD.

Oh, I have no idea what cards I have set up but could probably find out if you think that will help. The game ran perfectly until this past week after a pause of maybe a year of not playing. No alterations to the hardware of the computer have taken place since then.

I don't think it can be a hardware issue since the game ran fine originally with the same hardware as last week.

I cannot find the computer storage of the saved games. If I could I'd delete them all.