Preferences & air sorties & flickering & crashes
 

Now I understand that the number of air sorties, when specified in preferences is for a maximum number. I will not always get all, or any, that I specify. I also know that if I specify "0" then there should be none. Period. I have noticed in the summary after battle (when I am admiring the devastation I have wrought) that even though I have set the AI air sortie number to "0" there are a few enemy a/c on the roster. Even though they never got into play, they shouldn't be there at all. Right?

When I go into the mission map there is a lot of flickering as the mouse flits about. The entire screen trembles.
When I am rolling the numbers to increase the number of battles in a (generate or) long campaign the screen flickers each time I raise the number. Is this a game problem or unique to my computer?

I have also had a random(?) crash as I finished setting up a Long Campaign. Continue...crash!!

I have WW2 v.1.0 with the 1,1B patch installed.
I am playiong on a DELL Inspiron 8000, 512RAM, Pentium III chip ~700gh

Re: Preferences & air sorties & flickering & crashes
 

Are you playing a campaign game?.

A scripted LC may well have the number of air sorties for a scenario programmed in by the designer.

If not, or in all other cases - air superiority in a campaign game is entirely under control of the campaign code, just like the points values are. Player 1 points, for the inital core buy is the only thing the campaign uses out of the points values and air strikes numbers.

The air strikes number, and the player 2 points (if not XXX), are only ever used in a battle generator game.

Cheers
Andy

Re: Preferences & air sorties & flickering & crashes
 

Yes. Both generated and L-C.

What is a scripted L-C? I thought they were randomly generated.

Do I presume then, that regardless of what I have put in preferences, I will need anti-air units? I can live with that.

What about my other preferences? Are they also moot? Mines? Command? Toughness?

Re: Preferences & air sorties & flickering & crashes
 

A scripted campaign is also known user campaign. It is found on the campaigns section, like the "Stalingrad" campaign.

User campaigns are a series of scenario games, scripted by the campaign designer. The designer can determine if air is random, fixed or none etc per scenario.

The WW2 LC is scripted in code for the entire war.

All other preferences are used in campaigns. Air superiority is for generated battles, player 2 points are determined by the code, or in User Campaigns, preplaced in scenarios by the designer.

Player 1 points are only ever used for the initial core buy, unless a user campaign - where the designer determines the points, or if you have fixed core etc.

Cheers
Andy

Re: Preferences & air sorties & flickering & crashes
 

Okay. I think. Are you saying that even though in my (1) generated or (2) Long campaign preferences, I have set air sorties to "0" (zero) for the AI, that the preference will be/is overwritten by the game designer.

Pardon my thickheadedness ((+:

Re: Preferences & air sorties & flickering & crashes
 

Campaign games of any type will ignore your preference settings for air strikes, whether P1 or P2.

Cheers
Andy

Re: Preferences & air sorties & flickering & crashes
 

So I suppose the flickering is to be ignored as simply an artifact of the game, then.

Re: Preferences & air sorties & flickering & crashes
 

That will be a unique thing to your computer, since only you are reporting this.

I would check your video display settings, including hardware acceleration and also ensure that you have the latest drivers for your video card. Check the user manual, and experiment with its settings.

Plus - see if it happens in both full screen and windowed mode. See if using GDI instead of DirectX makes a difference etc.

On reading the Dell website - the Inspiron has a "shared memory" graphics adaptor, and not a stand-alone video card with at least 32MB of dedicated video RAM, as we specify as a minimum requirement in the GG. That could be your problem - you dont have a "real" video card. As you cannot fix that (since it is a laptop) - see if changing the amount of shared system RAM assigned to the card to a larger amount helps.

You do not specify if you are trying to run in full screen mode or windowed. As the Inspiron has a "wide screen" 1280 by 800 screeen, then you may also need to set some sort of switch to tell the thing to use a standard Windows full-screen mode (800 by 600, 1024 by 768, etc standard aspect ratio).

Cheers
Andy

Re: Preferences & air sorties & flickering & crashes
 

Thank you Andy. I am running full screen at 800 x 600. The flickering only occurs when I am increasing purchase points or some other 'housekeeping' task. It never happens in game play. I haven't had a crash now in several hours of play. Perhaps the game is "settling in"?

I am playing on a lap-top that is only tenuously connected to the outside world, and then via CDs downloaded to a completely different type of o/s. It is unlikely that I am going to be updating anything and adding much, unless it is a particularly useful patch or brand new game.

Re: Preferences & air sorties & flickering & crashes
 

My hardware acceleration is at "full". Should I cut it back? Or just not worry about it?

Re: Preferences & air sorties & flickering & crashes
 

Feel free to experiment.

Allocating more shared RAM to the video card may be your best bet.

Cheers
Andy.

Re: Preferences & air sorties & flickering & crash
 

"Flickering" is not "an artifact of the game". My game doesn't flicker, neither does Andy's neither do any of the playtesters. Also there is no "settling in" of the game. Likely what is happening is you have been lucky or more likely, not running other things at the same time.

SOMETHING you are running is interferring with the game . It could be a background program you are not even aware of or perhaps some CODEC in your machine that is causing you grief. There are threads on the MBT forum that deal with that. You're machine specs, aside from the notebook issue, are very similar to my specs ( but it's a desktop and I'm running a PentIII at ~800mhz but with only 128MB or Ram ).

Try checking the Direct X functioning in your machine ( type in DXDiag to the "RUN" line of the Start menu and have a look at what's happening there.) Also, try running windowed for awhile and let us know if that changes things for you. It might be a bit small on your screen but if it plays clear then that might be the only way your notebook will properly play the game. However, you problem is NOT common

Don

Re: Preferences & air sorties & flickering & crash
 

I get a flickering when my virus runs but if I minimise with ALT TAB then maximise it stops doing it

Re: Preferences & air sorties & flickering & crash
 

Allow me to (perhaps) clarify. The flickers occur only when I am doing something in the (generate-, long-) campaign set up window. Each time I change the month/year/decade, country flag, number of battles, etc. the entire window flickers. So far all I have played is the long and generated campaigns. This does not happen in the actual game play.

When I am in the (individual) battle-map edit window (View Map) and I go to the "Set OBJ" window and move my 'flag-icon' objectives about the map the entire screen, map and 'view obj', jumps and flickers with each movement of the map screen and anytime the mouse pointer touches the edge of the screen the entire screen trembles (its like an eight on the Richter scale) and flickers.

None of this happens during actual game play or in any other screens than the 'view map', 'set obj' and 'game set up' screens. As far as my limited experience goes anyway. I have done the DXDiag and have no idea what is going on in it. I don't know what it 'should' tell me and no idea of what it does tell me. I am not sophisticated enough to recognize problems that do not hit me upside the head with a 2x4. Again, I don't even know if the flickering and trembling are problems or simple artifacts- of the game or my computer.

I had to erase the hard drive on this computer several months ago and re-install Me. There is nothing on it but a few games: winSPWW2 1.01B & SPWW2 7.01, winSPMBT, SPWAW, Pz General-2, Peoples General and SP-3. The only other programs are the basic Windows Me o/s. It has never been hooked up to the internet since the re-install.

This is in no way a significant, important or in any way debilitating problem and I mentioned it out of 1) curiosity, to see if other people are experiencing it and 2) to see if it might be an early symptom of a more significant problem, either with my unique download or somewhere else in my (closed) system. I know there is no "settling in" of these programs, that was an atempt at anthropomorphism/humor.

Helm: What do you mean by "when my virus runs"? Do you mean your anti-virus?

Re: Preferences & air sorties & flickering & crash
 

What version of DirectX are you running?

Are you running the most up-to-date driver for your video card?

If you don't know the answers to that ( or don't know where to look to find the answers ) I would suggest you go to the nearset computer shop and ask them to check. What you describe happening is not in any way normal behaviour for the game and in fact you are the first person who has described anything quite like that and also.....before anyone suggests the problem may be he's running WinME.... I run WinME as well and my game is rock solid. ( however.... there *may* be laptop issues with ME I don't know about...) IF you have a good computer shop in your town they may be able to help you sort this out and get you the drivers you need ( if in fact that's the issue here )

Re Running DXDiag----- if you click on each of the tabs and read the info at the bottom and you see one that DOES NOT say " No problems found " then you may have found the problem.

Did you run "Test Direct draw " or "Test Direct 3D" ?

Don

Re: Preferences & air sorties & flickering & crash
 

I ran the DXDiag and found "no problems" in anything. But problems showed up in Display 2 for both the Test Direct Draw (my diagonals were red instead of B&W) and for Test Direct3D (where the square never appeared) but have no idea what that means, much less how to fix it.

Re: Preferences & air sorties & flickering & crash
 

OK try this

1]Turn off all sound and let me know if this makes a difference and..

2] try running the game in windowed mode instead of full screen and let me know if that changes anything

Also, note what Andy said above...

+++++++++++++++++++++++
In reading the Dell website - the Inspiron has a "shared memory" graphics adaptor, and not a stand-alone video card with at least 32MB of dedicated video RAM, as we specify as a minimum requirement in the GG. That could be your problem - you dont have a "real" video card. As you cannot fix that (since it is a laptop) - see if changing the amount of shared system RAM assigned to the card to a larger amount helps.
=======================

The game may simply be too much for your machine to handle with that shared memory graphics adaptor but try the two things I mentioned and let us know if you see a change

Don

Re: Preferences & air sorties & flickering & crash
 

I have been playing with the sound off (it drives my wife crazy after about an hour) all along. I tried the windowed mode and see no difference in the flickers in the campaign set-up screen.
The view map seems a tad smoother though.

Re: Preferences & air sorties & flickering & crash
 

Try it in windowed mode, but turn regular Windows GDI graphics on, and see if the problem goes away - that will determine if it is a DirectX problem.

Cheers
Andy

Re: Preferences & air sorties & flickering & crash
 

Nope. Still flickers with each increase in number. Does not (seem to) have any effect on game play.

This is a beautiful and versatile game and with whatever/any minor bugs it may contain it is no less grand. It certainly contains all the changes I ever wanted to SP-1 (which at the time I considered as good as it gets). The only change I would want is the lessening of the MP penalty for loading infantry and loading onto tanks in the deploy- load all key. ((+:

Re: Preferences & air sorties & flickering & crash
 

Helm: What do you mean by "when my virus runs"? Do you mean your anti-virus?

Whoops yes