Triqamus Posted April 10, 2003 Share Posted April 10, 2003 I am really dissapointed with my purchase of CMBO :mad: Picture this: You go to a good computer store and you purchase new Compaq computer with Windows XP. Two days later you are in a game store and you find Combat Mission Beyond Overlord at a reasonable price. Earlier you've checked the system and software requirements for the game at www.battlefront.dom there should be no problems. And the game has been in the market for some time so it should run in a brand new computer with no major difficulties, right? Well it doesn't! After loading the game I get a notification that the game needs Indeo drivers. The notification has a link to Indeo site which tells me this (http://www.ligos.com/indeo.htm): "With the September 2002 update to Windows XP (known as Service Pack 1), Microsoft suspended distribution of the Indeo codecs as a base part of its operating system. This only affects users with new PCs that are shipping with Windows XP Service Pack 1, or clean installs of Windows XP SP1 on an older system. Unfortunately, a number of game and multimedia titles require Indeo to be installed on the OS in order to function." The price for Indeo is $ 14,95. Now that nearly doubles the price I paid for the game! I would appreciate if Battlefront.com would give some kind of an official statement on the problem that was not described in the system/software requirements. Based on the quote above the problem has been there since last September! [ April 10, 2003, 07:02 AM: Message edited by: Triqamus ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil stanbridge Posted April 10, 2003 Share Posted April 10, 2003 I'm a little baffled by this. Isn't an Indeo codec purely for video useage? In which case it's struggling to play the intro movie. I would say the problem would lie more with the compaq build than within the game. I've never experienced this problem myself. It's not surprising (to me). You always get problems with Dell, Compaq and such like when it comes to OEM O/S builds. They tend to 'customise' them. Which is why I like to build my own. Then you know what you're getting. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triqamus Posted April 10, 2003 Author Share Posted April 10, 2003 According to Battlefront.com's troubleshooting for CMBO, the intro movie could be skipped by holding down shift key when loading the game. But that doesn't get the game running for me, so perhaps Indeo has a bigger role in the software? I'm a little baffled myself as well when you say that for big global computer brands these kinds of problems are normal. And if the problem is in their HW/SW customization (not in missing Indeo codec) there is nothing I can do to fix it. The conclusion would be that if CMBO is truly not compatible with Compaq (and possible other major computer manufacturers), it should be said so in the HW/SW requirements. And if CMBO is compatible only in computers home-built by customers themselfs, that should also be stated. Sounds crazy, doesn't it? I'm still hoping an official comment from Battlefront.com, at least in the troubleshooting section in their site. [ April 10, 2003, 07:01 AM: Message edited by: Triqamus ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted April 10, 2003 Share Posted April 10, 2003 I have no idea why your OS is claiming you need an Indeo codec. The CDV version (which you may have purchased since you got this from a retail location) might require this, but there really isn't a movie on the CDV version, just a CDV 'splash' (and I'm not sure what codec it needs). The BTS/Internet version has a QuickTime movie, which you can disable while holding down the Shift key (on launch - double-click and then quickly hold down the Shift key). All you need to do is go to Apple's QuickTime download. The software has no need of external codecs beyond this. You do not need to purchase Indeo to play CMBO, CMBB or the future CMAK (to my knowledge). With all of the things that have to get stuffed on a CD, the intro movie is the first thing to get dropped when space is needed. It's also quite next to impossible to specify every possible problem a person is going to run into with every computer brand, hardware configuration, software setup, etc. Major manufacturers change their consumer offerings quite often and I don't see it as BTS/BFC's job to track every one of these for a potential problem. The issue is just one of software setup - and Compaq/HP, Dell, etc. usually have an abundance of *crap* on their machines or other proprietary settings that make them questionable when it comes to running a clean system. Your Dell should work fine (other than all of the possible junk software Dell might have loaded up). There have been some funky Dell problems in the past (a certain 'Up Timer' problem that only affects Dells and other computers that utilize it), but you may not experience this problem. If the CDV version does require the Indeo codec, then there may not be a whole lot that BTS can do. At the time that CMBO was released, Indeo was free and a common codec that was installed on a number of PCs (and it would have been CDV's decision to require this codec - not BTS/BFC's). [ April 10, 2003, 08:56 AM: Message edited by: Schrullenhaft ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easytarget Posted April 11, 2003 Share Posted April 11, 2003 the suggestion that cmbo or cmbb don't run on dell comps is nonsense i'm running both of them on not one, not two, no folks not even three, but four different dell computers this includes, win98se, xp home ntfs, xp pro fat32 and gasp, win95 all are also running different vid cards and different drivers all instances of cmbo and cmbb install went flawlessly w/o any modification whatsoever even as i type this you can go to dell.com and purchase a poweredge 600SC server w/ no o/s for $299 or a dimension w/ xp home for $349 - at these prices, you build your own guys basically crack me up [ April 10, 2003, 08:59 PM: Message edited by: easytarget ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len Posted April 11, 2003 Share Posted April 11, 2003 How do you check if you DO have the Indeo codecs installed? I was thinking that if we found CMxx working on systems without them we could start looking for other causes for the problem. Regards, Len 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil stanbridge Posted April 11, 2003 Share Posted April 11, 2003 Originally posted by easytarget: the suggestion that cmbo or cmbb don't run on dell comps is nonsense Read my post again mate, I never said that. All I said was I wasn't surprised. Also, FWIW, the components you buy in your dell machines - what are they? Do you know? For that sort of money there's no way on earth they will give you something for nothing. You will not have decent spec kit. Simple as. Why do you think people (like myself) go out and buy decent kit - because you can't buy it from people like Dell, off the shelf. [ April 11, 2003, 07:43 AM: Message edited by: phil stanbridge ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artty Posted July 15, 2003 Share Posted July 15, 2003 Hey, I have had the same problem. And I'm also fairly upset. I can get past the video and even get the computer to start showing the screens corretly. But when it loads the 3-d graphics everything is black except the cursor. Background noises work. The hot keys work (I can save the game although I can't see the save box. I can also quite and surrender my forces.) Everything seems good except the big black screen with my mouse cursor floating in it. Very disappointing. :mad: Here's the kicker, if I load the demo I can see the 3-D graphics on CM:BO. The animation works fine. However if I toggle to a different application everything goes black just like with the regular game. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzertruppe Posted July 15, 2003 Share Posted July 15, 2003 GET RID OF WIN XP!!!! You guys crack me up! Gotta have the newest OS....the newest 3D card ( FX is a joke. Lesson 1......Win 98E is the most stable OS for if not all games.... COMBAT MISSION! ( I use Win ME...no problems). Lesson 2......Battlefront tests it's games and patches what needs to be fixed ( unlike...what was that GI Combat?). So when you get a new computer don't blame it on Combat Mission...blame it on all the new fancy.. yuppie.. crap that comes with your new PC! I need a beer! Good Luck...and good night! [ July 15, 2003, 04:29 PM: Message edited by: Panzertruppe ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artty Posted July 15, 2003 Share Posted July 15, 2003 Great news! That last e-mail making fun of people made me think. I erased the video file and now the game runs fine. Whoever wrote it is right that companies put too much trash on computers to get stuff looking good. But then again I'm not going to spend hours trying to figure out how to create a system. So I'll deal with a mediocre product (For you economists I'm thinking on the margin.) It's a great game and I'm glad to figure out how to make it work despite my lack of computer smarts. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzertruppe Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 Excellent! Just tear that stupid video file out of there! Sorry if I offended anyone with my post but sometimes I just have to put my foot down when my favorite WW2 game is blamed because it won't run on the new computers. Oh well....had my beer....glad to hear that another fellow is enjoying his Combat Mission! My work is done here. [ July 15, 2003, 09:54 PM: Message edited by: Panzertruppe ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madmatt Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 Some versions of Windows already come with the Indeo video codec pre-installed. Others do not. Apparently at one time Microsoft and Indeo had a dispute and MS decided to pull the codec from Windows altogether. Later on Indeo decided they were going to start charging for this same codec (I guess as a snub to MS). The solution to this problem is very easy. Browse to the AVI folder that is installed with CMBO and delete it. This will allow the game to install without asking for the codec or playing the short (13 seconds) CDV logo movie. We have contacted CDV about this issue and they are looking into it. What is weird is that apparently that video should not even require the indeo codec but for some reason some copies of Windows has that codec incorrectly associated with certain types of AVI's. I have updated the online CMBO troubleshooting guide with this fix. Madmatt [ July 17, 2003, 12:45 AM: Message edited by: Madmatt ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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