Major Bug- Cannot play the game

[unmerged(4063)]

I apologize if this has already been posted, I checked the last two pages, and there was nothing about this in those pages so here goes. I am using a Dell 4300 computer. My OS is Windows XP (I suspect this could be part of the prob). 1.5 GHz P4, and my video card is the GeForce 3 Ti 200. Here is the problem. I launch the game and I for a while the CD Drive is spinning and the computer is thinking. But after about 30 seconds after that, all that stops. I wait another minute, and then I press Crtl+Alt+Delete and it says the program is not responding. So I end task, but here is the really wierd part. I end task, and then the program starts to work, it says that the game is dedicated to the fans, and then goes into the numbers for that strategy first thing. But as soon as I pres a button or the strategy first intro ends, it exits. I tried the compatibility options and the effects were as follows. Windows 95 it won't load at all and says this error: Unable to load function: FT_Thunk (KERNEL32.dll). Windows 98/ME: same as Windows 95. Windows NT (Service Pack 5): Same as when I load the game in normal XP. WIndows 2000: Same as with normal XP. I have tried re-installing and that did not work. I also downloaded the patch, but that also ahs not helped. So my question is what can I do to make this great game work? Thank you for your time.

-Xanith

P.S. This is probably just my own stupidity, but I cannot find the read me anywhere.

 

[unmerged(598)]

Xanith, I've moved this to the support forum, you should get better help from the experts in there.

 

[unmerged(4063)]

Solved It!

Well I saw that somebody had a problem with blinkvideo, and sometimes I had to close that down when I started the game, so I closed blinkplay.exe and now the game works. Thanks.

-Xanith

 

[unmerged(1403)]

Hi

1) are you referring to EU or EU2?

assuming this is EU2, rename your avi folder ( inside the EU2 folder on your hard drive) to avi_old

and launch the game.


let me know how it goes

Cheers

 

[unmerged(1939)]

Is EU2 using safedisc 2.0 for copy-protection? That "let's think for a looong time and then do nothing" behaviour is typical for cases where your CD-drives just simply cant comprehend the copy prot. I should know, I get it with every release by EA (one more company whose games I'm not buying). So far the advice I've received from anywhere is exactly that "flip off dma mode" or whatever. Just too bad you cant do it in Windows 2000. The other advice usually is "buy a new CD-drive".

Anyway, you knowledgeable people: What's the copy protection system in EU2? I'm not going to bother buying a game which wont work.

 

[unmerged(1095)]

Originally posted by tijlehto
Is EU2 using safedisc 2.0 for copy-protection? That "let's think for a looong time and then do nothing" behaviour is typical for cases where your CD-drives just simply cant comprehend the copy prot. I should know, I get it with every release by EA (one more company whose games I'm not buying). So far the advice I've received from anywhere is exactly that "flip off dma mode" or whatever. Just too bad you cant do it in Windows 2000. The other advice usually is "buy a new CD-drive".

Anyway, you knowledgeable people: What's the copy protection system in EU2? I'm not going to bother buying a game which wont work.

Its Securom - but only on the Strategy First version. That too appears to be causing problems with some CD Drives.
I would suggest that you wait until the Ubisoft verson comes out. It will also be more stable and have less bugs

 

[unmerged(8001)]

I'm disturbed by that smilie…

I would suggest that you wait until the Ubisoft verson comes out. It will also be more stable and have less bugs.

What about us poor schlamiels who bought the StratFirst edition and had to work so hard just to make the thing load?

 

[unmerged(1095)]

Re: I'm disturbed by that smilie…

Originally posted by Straybow
What about us poor schlamiels who bought the StratFirst edition and had to work so hard just to make the thing load?

Then you should contact SF support and explain your problem.

 

[unmerged(8001)]

The smilie makes it seem…

…like you don't think SF will get their 1.03 patch working for us non-Scandies very soon. Or am I just being touchy?

At least EU2 is better than CTP (Never worked properly on my PII machine) or Civ:ToT (I only got that to work with a no-CD hack). So far the various bug and NOT A BUG reports here have been quite useful. No need to whine anywhere but here.

 

[unmerged(1095)]

Re: The smilie makes it seem…

Originally posted by Straybow
…like you don't think SF will get their 1.03 patch working for us non-Scandies very soon. Or am I just being touchy?

At least EU2 is better than CTP (Never worked properly on my PII machine) or Civ:ToT (I only got that to work with a no-CD hack). So far the various bug and NOT A BUG reports here have been quite useful. No need to whine anywhere but here.

You are being touchy Patch 1.03 was not mentioned either in my post or the one I replied to.
The 1.03 patch *is* working and is downloadable from their site. The patch causes a problem that is not their fault. There is a workaround for it and it will be fixed in the next patch.
My remarks concerned the copy protection that SF put on the games that they publish. It is well known that the copy protection has problems with some CD/DVD players.
The poster I was replying to said he didnt want to buy a game with copy protection that could cause a problem. I therefore recommended another Publisher.
My remark that "It will also be more stable and have less bugs " concernes the fact that the SF release was version 1.00 and the Ubisoft release will be higher and not have the Securom copy protection.
I would suggest that you read both posts again to get the correct context

 

[unmerged(8001)]

Ah, I see…

I don't know why Paradox only has the Scandinavian patch, and when I went to the StratFirst site after purchase they didn't have 1.03 yet. I couldn't get other patches to work, and had to reinstall the unpatched version. The original version seems to load when it feels like doing so.

I returned to the StratFirst site and have downloaded but still haven't installed the 1.03 patch, since I'm still recovering from the extreme frustration of getting the game to run. On two occasions I would have taken the game back to the store, except I couldn't because it was late at night. The first time I decided the 1.02 patch might be responsible, and I reinstalled and applied the 1.01 patch. The second time I decided to reinstall and play unpatched.

I mentioned it only loads when it feels like it. Sometimes it will not load until I start my dial-up connection. That's a problem, because sometimes when the connection drops the game crashes—it just disappears and the desktop reappears. To minimize that frustration, when I get the start screen I manually disconnect the modem line to force TCIP to drop. At least then I don't have any play time invested if the game crashes.

I have no idea if this behavior is due to the copy protection scheme. So far I haven't found a no-CD hack for EU2 to test that premise.

 

[viper37]

Re: Ah, I see…

I would need your config to help you. Toshiba CD-ROMs have various issues with copy protected CDs, but I don't think it's your case.

If you have XP, rename the AVI folder to AVI_OLD