Info: Windows Vista and Windows Seven Installation

[secretgeek]

Thanks for the info Krol.

Have moved the folder, updated to 5.5 and everything appears to be hunky dory. Nice.

Now where was that artillery? :-)

[kolc]

I loaded MBT on my WIN7 according to the instructions you provided. While it will play in Windowed mode, I can't get it to work in Full Screen mode. Not sure what I need to do now??

[Mobhack]

Originally Posted by kolc

I loaded MBT on my WIN7 according to the instructions you provided. While it will play in Windowed mode, I can't get it to work in Full Screen mode. Not sure what I need to do now??

If you have the demo version then that will only play in 800x600 mode at maximum, so it may be that your video card cannot handle that resolution in full screen mode?. (Not many these days will handle the old DOS 640x480 mode either, other than as a window).


Cheers
Andy

[kolc]

Thanks. Will the CD version play in full screen mode on Win7 or does it depend on the video card for the computer?

[Mobhack]

Originally Posted by kolc

Thanks. Will the CD version play in full screen mode on Win7 or does it depend on the video card for the computer?

The CD version will happily adapt to whatever screen resolution you have currently set in its "desktop resolution" mode. My W7 laptop happily plays 1368x768 or whatever weird wide-screen mode Dell provided, or at lower resolutions than the "natural" as well.

But full screen windowed mode is really the best way to run the games - that way you get to use other windows programmes as well, and you can see the task bar as you play (so keep track of the time, incoming emails etc).

Also, because of the way Microsoft has messed up 256 colour palette handling in their aero interface (Aero thinks it is the only owner of the 256 colour palette!), full screen mode in vista/seven requires running the game under a batch file that nukes the Aero interface and also disallows running other windows programmes (unlike windows XP and earlier). So - in vista/seven then windowed mode at "desktop resolution" is the best way to run it. The window will then expand to take the entire screen real estate, bar the task bar but it's a regular window that does not interfere with task swapping. Windowed mode cooperates with the operating system - full screen mode does not.

In vista/seven I think the use of real full-screen is probably only of use to run at a different resolution from your current desktop. (e.g at 1024x768 instead of 1368x780, perhaps if your eyesight requires the lower resolution?). Some modes will expand to fill the screen with an interpolated set of pixels , others may play in a letterbox with darkened ends - it depends on your specific graphic card and drivers really - all wide screen monitors seem to do things differently if presented with a 4:3 aspect screen ratio. Another reason to stick to windowed mode at "desktop resolution" IMHO.

Cheers
Andy

Oh - BTW - another reason your download of the demo version may not work in full screen on W7 may be that you have not yet patched it to the latest version?. Remember that you have to go here http://www.shrapnelgames.com/Camo_Wo.../MBT_page.html and download and apply each and every patch in order from the downloads section, since we have not yet got round to doing a consolidated patch yet.

[Rosollia]

I am running 64bit Windows 7 Home Basic Edition.

If the game is installed outside the Program Files directory and launched from GameOptions.exe the Win7SPMBT.cmd file does not work correctly. Explorer.exe is closed and game starts with no color corruption, but when the game is closed explorer.exe is not restarted. I then need to press Ctrl+Alt+Del and start the Task manager and from there manualy start explorer.exe. Curiously if I do not start the game from GameOptions.exe, but instead directly from the Win7SPMBT.cmd file it works as it is supposed to and explorer.exe is restarted when the game is exited.

If the game is installed in Program Files directory (which you do not recommend) the Win7SPMBT.cmd works fine with GameOption.exe and explorer.exe restarts when game is closed.

By the way the game works just fine from the Program Files folder in windows Vista/7 if you disable UAC (User Account Control). Disabling UAC also disables virtual store.

What I did first with my Windows 7 was to go to the control panel and disable every new UAC and other "security" feature that Microsoft had planted there. Bottom line being that most of those anoying features can simply be turned off.

Also note that when running 64-bit operating system there are two program files directories: Progran Files and Program Files (x86). Your information screen which pops up if the user has installed his game to Program Files folder only appears if the game is in the "Program Files (x86)" -folder on a 64bit OS. The way 64 bit Windows works is that the "Program Files (x86)" -folder is the legacy folder for 32 bit aplications. 64 bit aplications use the regular Program Files -folder...

[Mobhack]

Program Files (x86) is also "managed" by Windows vista/seven. No legacy code therefore should be installed there, ie any code that was written before the compulsory split into code (which remains in that tree, and cannot include even the programme's own .ini files etc) and data sections (the changeable user data now has to reside under each user's profile (each user is supposed to have his own individual ini file for the programme, save games etc). And the installers written before Windows Vista sometimes will install files that are meant to go into the programme's root directory under whatever user profile is current instead.

Using the full screen mod with the cmd file is not really required, since the desktop resolution of the full game (CD) version does away with the need for it. Thus it's merely a convenience for those who want to stick with the old antiquated style. We also point out the process for restoring the windows explorer in the help files.

The cmd file works perfectly well when called from the Game Options programme - since I developed that on a Dell laptop with the windows 7 O/S installed. However since this is windows seven, it may well barf depending on whatever flag you have set etc, whether it is Tuesday etc. or perhaps if you installed it in a memory stick (it refused to restore the desktop when I tried that on mine anyway). But as stated - the desktop resolution mode removes any need to use full-screen mode.

Cheers
Andy

[kgambit]

Originally Posted by Mobhack

..... or perhaps if you installed it in a memory stick (it refused to restore the desktop when I tried that on mine anyway). But as stated - the desktop resolution mode removes any need to use full-screen mode.

Now that's strange. My old XP based machine died about 3 weeks ago. I managed to save the contents of the hard drive, including the full installations of the (free versions of) winSPMBT & winSPWW2 folders that were stored on a 32gb USB 2.0 flash drive.

Using a neighbor's Dell Windows Vista laptop, I can plug in that same flash drive and run both programs with no issues whatsoever in either windowed or full screen mode simply by launching the game either from the gameoptions.exe or directly from the {game].exe as opposed to a shortcut. Game launches, runs and exits perfectly. Shows 800x600, directX graphics indicator, windows vista or higher in game and either full or windowed options as selected. I've played scenarios and done some map editting without any seeming problems. Haven't made a single change to the winXP installation nor have I made any UAC control changes.

So my new windows 7 pro 64 bit system shows up a week ago. I reinstalled both games under windows 7 Pro 64 bit. I installed in a directory outside of the program files structure as recommended. I re-downloaded all the patches, double checked them for size against my previous versions. Repatched in sequence. Starting around v4.0 I started getting the program did not run successfully messages for patches for both games. I checked the progress of the game.exe files to make sure that the mod dates closely matched the patch dates and saw no obvious mismatches.

Both games seem to run fine in windowed mode at 800x600 when launched from desktop shortcuts.. Games Launch fine, close fine; restore desktop on exit, absolutely no issues. I can see the GDI graphics indicator on the game launcher.

However, the full screen mode does not properly restore the desktop when I exit. In fact, it totally wipes my desktop and I have to do a control alt delete and reboot the machine. I can see the CMD window flash briefly when the game starts and again when it shuts down.

Just to make sure it's clear, this happens for both games - winSPWW2 and winSPMBT. I just posted it here as I thought it might get more visibility.

Any suggestions here? Any particular files that I might check to see if they did NOT get fully or properly updated?

By the way, my native desktop resolution is 1920 x 1080 widescreen (16:9). Graphics card is a geForce 680 GTX.

[Mobhack]

Originally Posted by kgambit

Now that's strange. My old XP based machine died about 3 weeks ago. I managed to save the contents of the hard drive, including the full installations of the (free versions of) winSPMBT & winSPWW2 folders that were stored on a 32gb USB 2.0 flash drive.

Using a neighbor's Dell Windows Vista laptop, I can plug in that same flash drive and run both programs with no issues whatsoever in either windowed or full screen mode simply by launching the game either from the gameoptions.exe or directly from the {game].exe as opposed to a shortcut. Game launches, runs and exits perfectly. Shows 800x600, directX graphics indicator, windows vista or higher in game and either full or windowed options as selected. I've played scenarios and done some map editting without any seeming problems. Haven't made a single change to the winXP installation nor have I made any UAC control changes.

So my new windows 7 pro 64 bit system shows up a week ago. I reinstalled both games under windows 7 Pro 64 bit. I installed in a directory outside of the program files structure as recommended. I re-downloaded all the patches, double checked them for size against my previous versions. Repatched in sequence. Starting around v4.0 I started getting the program did not run successfully messages for patches for both games. I checked the progress of the game.exe files to make sure that the mod dates closely matched the patch dates and saw no obvious mismatches.

Both games seem to run fine in windowed mode at 800x600 when launched from desktop shortcuts.. Games Launch fine, close fine; restore desktop on exit, absolutely no issues. I can see the GDI graphics indicator on the game launcher.

However, the full screen mode does not properly restore the desktop when I exit. In fact, it totally wipes my desktop and I have to do a control alt delete and reboot the machine. I can see the CMD window flash briefly when the game starts and again when it shuts down.

Just to make sure it's clear, this happens for both games - winSPWW2 and winSPMBT. I just posted it here as I thought it might get more visibility.

Any suggestions here? Any particular files that I might check to see if they did NOT get fully or properly updated?

By the way, my native desktop resolution is 1920 x 1080 widescreen (16:9). Graphics card is a geForce 680 GTX.

I started getting the program did not run successfully messages for patches for both games.

That does not happen on my windows seven machine, so it is a point to be concerned about.

As to no desktop being restored - see point 2.2.2 of the original post about restarting windows explorer via task manager. You may need to use fully qualified paths to the windows functions in the batch file as described there too - that worked in my case when running it from a memory stick, rather than the C: drive.

Also see Imp's post above about setting up a desktop resolution change if playing the free game in 800x600 with a hotkey. (You could try manually setting the monitor to 800x600 as a quick experiment. If the desktop gets restored OK in 800x600 monitor mode then it may be for example, your graphics card or drivers having a hiccup with that resolution change from a batch file or whatever).

[kgambit]

Originally Posted by Mobhack

That does not happen on my windows seven machine, so it is a point to be concerned about.

As to no desktop being restored - see point 2.2.2 of the original post about restarting windows explorer via task manager. You may need to use fully qualified paths to the windows functions in the batch file as described there too - that worked in my case when running it from a memory stick, rather than the C: drive.

Also see Imp's post above about setting up a desktop resolution change if playing the free game in 800x600 with a hotkey. (You could try manually setting the monitor to 800x600 as a quick experiment. If the desktop gets restored OK in 800x600 monitor mode then it may be for example, your graphics card or drivers having a hiccup with that resolution change from a batch file or whatever) .

Andy, are you running the 32 bit or 64 bit version of windows 7?

Just for clarification on the patch failures:

IIRC the patch installation errors for winSPMBT started around the 4.0 version upgrades iirc, possibly the 3.5. sorry I don't remember exactly patch was the first to give me that error. Once the patch failures started every subsequent patch failed as well. i.e. with v 5.0, v 5.5 and v 6.0 and iirc v4.0 and v4.5 as well.

I going to uninstall and then redownload/reinstall winSPMBT from scratch.so I'll let you know if that problem re-occurs. If any of the patches fail to install properly I'll try re-installing running as admin to see if that works.

If it makes any difference, all of the game and patch files I've downloaded have come from the Shrapnel game site.

I actually had both games installed on my D drive. That's not a partitition but a physically separate 1 TB HD. Windows 7 Pro 64 is running on my SSD C: drive.

I'm running the english version but I'll double check the cmd as per 2.2.2 in the original post.

Resetting the desktop resolution to 800x600 and then running full screen for winSPMBT does not solve the problem. Still end up with a blank desktop after it exits.

WinSPMBT did uninstall using the uninstall.exe for me, but not WinSPWW2. Simply deleting the SPWW2 game folders did not remove telltale traces of the program. It's still showing up in the control panel I may need to clean the registry to get any tell trail traces of SPWW2 out. What are the registry key(s) for winSPWW2?

Thanks.
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Dwight