HOI2 Conflict with XP ( I think )

[unmerged(19077)]

I was recently forced to upgrade to XP due to problems with my earlier Windows. After I upgraded I have been completely unable to play any Paradox game. I can view the start up movie but when it tries to load the game I face resistance ( Heavy enemy fire... ). The lack of an HOI2 tech forum caused me to post this here.

When the game attempts to load ( Music starts and it SHOULD go to the loading screen... ) it acts as if my monitor is not connected. The on/off light of my monitor flickers as if the hand of god disconnected it from my tower...

I suspect this might be an issue of resolution? I keep trying to switch to 1024 x which Paradox games generally use and it causes a similar problem with my PC as a whole. Any ideas? Any fixes? Anyone know where the hell HOI2's setup file is? Vic was far kinder to me... Vic isn't working either BTW. Nor is EU2, or CK... Grr....

Much thanks

If this is off-topic please move it. I didn't see another place to post it.

Justin

BTW: With the start-up vid running so well I have doubts about this problem being a graphics card issue.

 

[Castellon]

First, Just what forum do you think this is???

It is called the HOI2 - Tech Support
So I don't know why you say such a forum does not exist since obviuosly it does if you posted in it.
And since it is the Tech support forum, Tech support questions could hardly be called OT.

So now that we have cleared that up .

Okay let's try some standard things.
1) Make sure you have the latest patch for the game.
2) Rename the AVI folder to AVI_back
3) Set the color depth to 16BIT
4) Turn off everything in the background like E-mail/ICQ/Messenger, Virus protection and everything in the system tray beside the clock.
5) Update your Windows, update your Video card drivers and audio card drivers. Then repeat steps 2-4.

 

[Phoenix Dace]

I had the problem where whenever I turned on any games made in the last five years (Hence, somewhat graphics heavy) my monitor would turn off after the loading movie. The way I fixed it was, as you suggested, by switching my resolution to whatever the game required, then switching it back once I quit the game. That's the only way I know of.

 

[Foxl]

I was recently forced to upgrade to XP due to problems with my earlier Windows. After I upgraded I have been completely unable to play any Paradox game. I can view the start up movie but when it tries to load the game I face resistance ( Heavy enemy fire... ).
...
Vic was far kinder to me... Vic isn't working either BTW. Nor is EU2, or CK... Grr....

Well it sound to me that you "upgrade" to WinXP from a former Win 95/98/2000 System. If you only do this upgrade and not a "complete" ( = formating C to make a clean XP install - removing all software ) install, this is a common issue.
Try to reinstall the games. I would suggest not to load any savegame ( might be corrupted ).
And like Castellion said, update your XP at least up to SP1 - it will solve most of the software bugs.

 

[jpd]

I was recently forced to upgrade to XP due to problems with my earlier Windows. After I upgraded I have been completely unable to play any Paradox game. I can view the start up movie but when it tries to load the game I face resistance ( Heavy enemy fire... ). The lack of an HOI2 tech forum caused me to post this here.

When the game attempts to load ( Music starts and it SHOULD go to the loading screen... ) it acts as if my monitor is not connected. The on/off light of my monitor flickers as if the hand of god disconnected it from my tower...

I suspect this might be an issue of resolution? I keep trying to switch to 1024 x which Paradox games generally use and it causes a similar problem with my PC as a whole. Any ideas? Any fixes? Anyone know where the hell HOI2's setup file is? Vic was far kinder to me... Vic isn't working either BTW. Nor is EU2, or CK... Grr....

If you intended to say that you cannot put your desktop into 1024x768 resolution either without the monitor going berserk, then most likely the problem lies with your video card/driver/monitor combination. My guess is that the video driver tries to setup the resolution with a combination of color depth (which can be any of 8 bit color = 256 color, 16 bit color = hicolor or 32 bit color = true color) and a refresh rate which your monitor cannot handle. As a precaution to being permanently damaged, the monitor switches itself of with a warning signal, which is the flashing led you see.

Try setting the refresh rate to 60 Hz (more or less the lowest setting possible) when setting your desktop to 1024x768, 16 bit color.

 

[unmerged(19077)]

Much thanks!

First of all... I posted this in the main forum accidentally. I simply copy and pasted it to the tech forum when my defficient eyes noticed it... ( Or when my awareness kicked back in... )

The herz changed worked perfectly. Thanks for the help. I feel stupid for not thinking of this myself.

Justin

 

[Castellon]

Glad you got it up and running.

 

[coreymas]

First of all... I posted this in the main forum accidentally. I simply copy and pasted it to the tech forum when my defficient eyes noticed it... ( Or when my awareness kicked back in... )

The herz changed worked perfectly. Thanks for the help. I feel stupid for not thinking of this myself.

Justin

FYI,

If you have to switch your hertz down to 60 to display 1024 X 768 then more than likely your monitor is one on the following:

1. An older monitor (around 5+ years old).
2. A cheaply produced newer model monitor
3. A 17 inch monitor.

Your problems with hertz may increase when later produced games will demand 1280 X 1024 resolution which need a higher hz than what your current monitor can provide.

You may want to consider purchasing a newer monitor (19 inch or higher) as you will have a much nicer gameplay experience without undo stress on your eyes.

All of this is of course just my opinion

Corey

 

[jpd]

Please don't confuse the issue here. The problem is not Hz (not directly, anyway). The problem is bandwidth, which is the multiplication of vertical refresh, horizontal scan, the number of scan lines and color depth. The end result is usually expressed in MHz, both for the monitor and the video board.

As a rule, take the RAMDAC specification (modern video boards rate them in 320 MHz or even higher) and try to get a monitor that has a max bandwidth with roughly the same number. If it's significantly lower, then you have to reduce one or more of the above factors to scale down the output of your video board so the monitor doesn't get more than it can handle. In this particular case, the solution was reducing the vertical refresh rate.

A different solution could have been to reduce the color depth, or the resolution. A different resolution uses a different horizontal scan and a different number of scan lines. Both are factors in the overall multiplication of total bandwidth.

As for the 1280x1024. Please keep in mind that this resolution is in 5:4 aspect ratio, while (almost) all CRT based monitors have an aspect ratio of 4:3, which means that displaying 1280x1024 on such a monitor leads to distortion. If you plan to use 1280x1204 a lot, then consider getting an LCD panel with that resolution. The panel will then also have an aspect ration of 5:4, so everything looks as it should