Disappearing Gui.
 

Hi guys, new here.

I have a problem, as you would have probably guessed from the title of this topic, a specific part of my gui keeps disappearing.

Wait! Don't point me to the customer support just yet. This is not the copy protection, that would remove the entire gui. (I tested that one). But in my case only the gui part in which you select a commander disappears. The rest of the gui still works.

And it also occurs only in specific situations. So far it started to occur after I patched the game to the newest version. And it only happens after loading a save on large map playing LA Ermor. In which I already have a sizeable army (and a lot of computer opponents). And then only after doing a few things. (checking orders, changing orders etc. And poof, part of the gui is gone). It does not happen if I start a new game. Only after saving and loading.

If it happened it stays for that running of the game. (So if I restart the application it is gone, but if I start a new game, still no commanders/hero s gui).

I'm also using a dual screen desktop setup. So perhaps it somehow generates the gui off screen or something.

It seems like a problem with very large games. (but actually those where the games I mostly play) But it cannot be a memory problem, as my machine has plenty, and the game had not reached this.

Any guesses what the problem could be?

Re: Disappearing Gui.
 

What is the "gui part in which you select a commander"? The list of commanders on the left? The commands that appear when you click on "defend" order?

Re: Disappearing Gui.
 

Do you use the mouse to select? Or keypresses?
What operating system? WinXP? Vista? Mac? Linux?

Re: Disappearing Gui.
 

The list of commanders on the left. It disappears when I return to the main game screen. (Not the main menu, but the ingame screen). So it disappears after I did something. For example, after I used the army management button. When I return, the commanders on the left do not load.

And I use winXP.

Re: Disappearing Gui.
 

If it's the problem with the list of orders menu not appearing when you hit space with commanders selected (or just click on them to give orders), then that happens with resolutions larger than 1024x768 (or was it larger than 1280x1024 ?). Solution is to hit Esc, move mouse leftward (as usually the menu appears to the right of visible screen space) and try again.

If it's something else, we need more specifics: What part of the GUI, under what conditions and so forth.

Re: Disappearing Gui.
 

No, it is not the list of orders not appearing. (I noticed that one, but I solved that on my own :) ). But it is the list of commanders of the left not reappearing when you are on the main map screen. You can compare it to the 'h' command, which hides the menu on the right. This also stays hidden when you return to the main map screen.

Of course it isn't the same, as this is not initiated by a key command. It just happens after I load a save of a big game, and issue some orders, go into the army management a few times, and select a few provinces. (The army management seems to trigger it the most).

Thanks for helping everyone.

Re: Disappearing Gui.
 

It can be a corrupted CD-Key, try deleting the file where the game stores de cd-key (forgot the filename)and when you enter the game again it will ask for you cd-key, inform it and see if the problem reappers.

What you are relating sounds like the cd-key protection from the game acting up...

Re: Disappearing Gui.
 

Yeah, that was my first thought too, but the copy protection just removes all the gui, and kills any possible input commands. In this case I'm still able to play. (An I tried it, same result. gui still disappears).

The odd thing is that it only happens after you load a save, if you play the game from the start it does not happen. But save that game, and load it, it can happen. This is the main reason I think it is some sort of bug, and not the copy protection acting up.

Re: Disappearing Gui.
 

Did you install from the CD or from a saved copy you installed on another machine? It could be a difference between the settings it finds on bootup, and the settings it "remembers" that its supposed to be using.

You might also play with some of the runtime switches that affect how the graphic screen is managed.

Re: Disappearing Gui.
 

Already did a clean dom3 reinstall.

Is there a list of command line options?

Edit:
also small noob question, when guides mention indy mages, they mean all types of spell casters that are recruitable in indy regions right? Or are there certain types better than others?

Re: Disappearing Gui.
 

You can get much better mages from magic sites, but the normal recruitable mages can also be good. Lizard Shamans, amazons, X Tribe Shamans (if you don't have Nature) etc.

Re: Disappearing Gui.
 

Its visible when calling the game from the commandline but thats kindof hard for some people to see so here is a capture of it.
http://www.dom3minions.com/docs/CommandLine.txt

Indy mages means poptypes, but sometimes people also mean those available for recruit by finding a magic site. In both cases, YES some are definetly better than others. But to pin down which ones tends to get into personal preferences due to playing styles.

Re: Disappearing Gui.
 

Somehow using cmd it did not show that command line options (on windows).

I played around with it a bit, but nothing fixed it.

I did zoom in on the problem. It always seems to happen after I close the army setup screen. After I have moved troops around. I have not seen it happen by changing orders. And the more troops I move the more likely it was to happen.

The debug mode showed this (A lot of these):

dc 0
u 5599 t -1 dc 0
dc 1
u 5599 t 0 dc 1

But I guess those are just unit numbers and selection stuff.

Re: Disappearing Gui.
 

On windows it outputs those command line options to a text file. I forget what it's called but you can sort by date in Explorer (or do dir /o:d) to spot it. It's probably called system.out or something.

-Max

Re: Disappearing Gui.
 

That would probably be it. The stdout files.


Started a Niefelheim game. To see if smaller amounts of troops would help.

So far very funny. After mainly playing with undead. (only undead until you shout at them, after shouting they are truly dead). The proto SC's are great.

My strongest Niefel Jarl "Balder" has already won the arena twice. The second time using only one arm.

My other Niefel Jarl's are equipped with stuff I got from the Bogus raider event.

Re: Disappearing Gui.
 

Small update.

Somehow the problem solved itself after creating a few new games. Don't really understand why.

Re: Disappearing Gui.
 

Possibly your games were landing in a bad spot on your harddrive creating a broken game. Did you clean up space, or defrag. Or maybe making more games just moved it to a better space on the drive. (totally ballparking at this point)

Re: Disappearing Gui.
 

Yeah, I also thought it must be something like that. Didn't find any errors by checking. (Sadly finding no errors does not mean there are no errors).