Question winSPMBT in Windows8

skyray · #1 December 10th, 2012, 06:33 PM

Hi All: I just got lucky and managed to get a new laptop. Nice Acer too. Only problem is that it comes with Windows 8. I had no choice about that. I want to install winSPMBT in it but I'mnot ure if the game will run in windows 8, or how to modify the install if that's necessary. Windows 8 is something I'm just learning to try to use so any and all suggestions will be welcomed.

Mobhack · #2 December 11th, 2012, 05:34 AM

Windows 8 is not a supported operating system, as yet.

Congratulations on being a pioneer - awaiting your test results with interest.

The Windows 7 installation routine should probably work, if you can find your way to its desktop, and not the kindergarten Metro blocks interface, I believe...

Cheers
Andy

DRG · #3 December 11th, 2012, 09:09 AM

The folks at Shrapnel Games tell us ...."it works on our Windows 8, just like Microsoft says regarding Windows 8– “backwards compatible with window 7 and vista”"

Don

skyray · #4 December 12th, 2012, 12:19 AM

Well....that's not encouraging news but it is a challenge. I guess I'll have to see if the pioneer spirit still holds strong inside me lol. I saw the metrocrap Iface and knew I wouldn't want it. I literally had no choice given MS's stranglehold on the market. Decided to study it all the weekend and I can function at least. Now lets see if I can advance our cause and take that hill

Any ideas will be entertained and tried to some extent at least.

Rosollia · #5 December 14th, 2012, 07:31 AM

A user by the name "Zap" posted on the Matrix Games forum info on running SPWAW on Windows 8 machine. In it he says there is no longer color distortion and he did not need to use the fixes.

This is interesting if it is true. Since Windows 8 now has the new Metro user interface it might be that there is no longer interference with the color palette of these games.

If you have Windows 8 you could try to test this by first setting the game to run in Full screen mode and then starting the game directly from WinSPMBT.exe or WinSPWW2.exe thus bypassing the command line fix and see if the game runs fine.

Mobhack · #6 December 14th, 2012, 09:14 AM

Windows 8 has apparently ditched the "aero" look, and that was what interfered with the 256 colour palette. If that truly is the case then it is an actual improvement.

Now if they reinstate the registry switch that removed the Metro front end (was available in the pre-release beta versions, deleted in the release one - duh!

) then it may become a useful desktop operating system. Perhaps it will be back in SP1 in 6-9 months?. (The metro blocks thing and its "gestures" and "charms" may make sense on a touch screen tablet, but have no place whatsoever on a normal desktop machine where the screen is out of arms reach and not touch-sensitive in any case).

The Aero look in Windows 7 I never used - looks rather silly to have semi-transparent windows. I simply set up the "classic" windows theme and forgot about it. Saves wasting CPU power as well.

Cheers
Andy

Rosollia · #7 December 15th, 2012, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mobhack

Windows 8 has apparently ditched the "aero" look, and that was what interfered with the 256 colour palette. If that truly is the case then it is an actual improvement.

Now if they reinstate the registry switch that removed the Metro front end (was available in the pre-release beta versions, deleted in the release one - duh!

) then it may become a useful desktop operating system. Perhaps it will be back in SP1 in 6-9 months?. (The metro blocks thing and its "gestures" and "charms" may make sense on a touch screen tablet, but have no place whatsoever on a normal desktop machine where the screen is out of arms reach and not touch-sensitive in any case).

The Aero look in Windows 7 I never used - looks rather silly to have semi-transparent windows. I simply set up the "classic" windows theme and forgot about it. Saves wasting CPU power as well.

Cheers
Andy

Yeah Metro looks pretty awful. It says alot that there are already third party programs appering that bring back a start menu and other win7 features to win8.

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rycUk5kEx0k )

DRG · #8 December 15th, 2012, 12:46 PM

As I have already said..... we have been told by Shrapnel Staff that the games install and run fine with win8.

That said, the vast majority of postings about the win8 OS have been by people who are not using it and it would be nice to start hearing from the people who are using it instead.

Don

Rosmarus · #9 December 18th, 2012, 04:28 PM

I've been running Win8 for a few weeks now and I'm quite happy with it. Of course there are some issues with it but it's still fresh and there are bound to be some bugs. You can skip metro interface very quickly and apart from seeing it when you boot up you don't have to use it at all. As for the SPMBT, the game works like a charm. Even without the fix file. Reason for that is that Win8 ditched Aero interface which was causing all the problems. I can even run SPWAW without any problems straight from the box on Win8. Actually this OS seems to be more backwards compatible than Windows 7 (I have no experience with Vista).

Now that I'm at it, I ordered MBT mostly because of the higher resolutions it offers, but I was wondering whether it supports any resolutions meant for 16:9 displays, 1080p for example.

Mobhack · #10 December 19th, 2012, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rosmarus

I've been running Win8 for a few weeks now and I'm quite happy with it. Of course there are some issues with it but it's still fresh and there are bound to be some bugs. You can skip metro interface very quickly and apart from seeing it when you boot up you don't have to use it at all. As for the SPMBT, the game works like a charm. Even without the fix file. Reason for that is that Win8 ditched Aero interface which was causing all the problems. I can even run SPWAW without any problems straight from the box on Win8. Actually this OS seems to be more backwards compatible than Windows 7 (I have no experience with Vista).

Now that I'm at it, I ordered MBT mostly because of the higher resolutions it offers, but I was wondering whether it supports any resolutions meant for 16:9 displays, 1080p for example.

Desktop resolution does whatever display your desktop is currently set to - I am using a 1080p display on XP ATM. So 1920 by 1080 wide-screen.

Looks like I may advance to Windows 8, after the release of the first service pack of course!. Reports do say the actual windows is a real advance, once you get past the kiddy's front end blocks interface of "metro".

Once I have the real beast to hand then I can fix the launcher to detect it and avoid the script for full-screen running that Windows vista/seven required due to nasty Aero not playing nicely with the 256 colour palette in full screen (not just a problem with this game, but all old-style 256 colour mode games of the DOS era, it appears)

cheers
Andy