Preferences & air sorties & flickering & crashes

Noah_Vaile · #1 August 30th, 2006, 04:53 PM

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

Mobhack · #2 August 30th, 2006, 07:49 PM

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

Noah_Vaile · #3 August 31st, 2006, 07:08 AM

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?

Mobhack · #4 August 31st, 2006, 10:18 PM

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

Noah_Vaile · #5 September 1st, 2006, 06:43 AM

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 ((+:

Mobhack · #6 September 1st, 2006, 07:56 AM

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

Cheers
Andy

Noah_Vaile · #7 September 2nd, 2006, 11:19 AM

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

Mobhack · #8 September 2nd, 2006, 12:26 PM

Quote:

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?

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

Noah_Vaile · #9 September 2nd, 2006, 02:36 PM

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.

Noah_Vaile · #10 September 3rd, 2006, 08:12 AM

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