Topic: SFC & Win7 x64

[Joker41NAM]

I'm trying to run SFC (of most any variety) on my PC.  I've looked through all the recommendations I can find, but nothing seems to work.

System is Win 7 x64, with widescreen monitor (1080)

In my most recent attempts has been with SFC2.  I was able to to skirmished, but whenever I try to load a campaign, it freezes before it finished loading.

Any help appreciated.

[FoaS_XC]

Hey joker.

The problem is that SFC's Dynaverse interface (ie: the campaign interface, either locally or on a server) bugs out on windows 7. apparently there are issues with DirectX something or another. Our coder's have just announced that they are on the problem. Basically we were in limbo for a bit, but we now have access to the source code. Bonk, marstone, among others are working on a way to compile the source to work with more recent libraries. Thus: it should work on win7 .

[ShadowDiver]

Side note:


I have been playing on GameRanger (Gameranger.com) and a bunch of guys over in Europe, Brazil and in the Czeck republic and they have been playing online with Windows 7 and SFCOP.

they know how to set it up and they are very friendly and helpful..

If you would like to chat with them, I would be glad to give you an invite..

[FoaS_XC]

Ah, thats a direct game, not a campaign. Direct multiplayer games are fine - its the campaign interface that goes all screwy

[ShadowDiver]

Opps...your right...

My bad....sorry..

[Beeblebrox]

I'm having a similar problem with OP on Windows 7.  The game installs just fine but OP Plus 4.0 absolutely will not install for some reason.  Or at least, it will install but it doesn't change anything at all.  The only result is a folder inside the Taldren folder titled opplus.  Mod Chooser is a total loss as well.  It will install but when I run it after install OP4.0 it doesn't seem to notice the new mod.  It doesn't show up in mod chooser even when I copy and paste the files into the Assets folder.  Also, the SFC setup option will run but no matter which setting I use the screen resolution never changes from 800x600.  What am I doing wrong?

[FoaS_XC]

I wish I ran a second partition with 7, if only to be able to troubleshoot, but alas, I'm still on XP... I'll bring it to the attention of our better tech-savvie folk, though.

[James Smith]

Long time no post for me on these forums, but I reinstalled OP the other day, came back on here and saw this topic.

Running Win7 x64 on my PC, and OP installs and runs just fine both in skirmish and campaign modes. OP+ 4.0 also installs fine. I have to run a less-than-optimal screen resolution (my screen native res is 1600x900, which OP doesn't support at all AFAIK), but that's the extent of the issues.

[NuclearWessels]

Long time no post for me on these forums, but I reinstalled OP the other day, came back on here and saw this topic.

Running Win7 x64 on my PC, and OP installs and runs just fine both in skirmish and campaign modes. OP+ 4.0 also installs fine. I have to run a less-than-optimal screen resolution (my screen native res is 1600x900, which OP doesn't support at all AFAIK), but that's the extent of the issues.

It's just the online dyna that has issues, not SP.

For the 1600x900 res, in your sfc.ini file, try adjusting the lowres setting to

Code: [Select]

lowres=6
It's something like
 0 for 800x600, 1 for 640x480, 2 for 960x720, 3 for 1024x768, 4 for 1152x864, 5 for 1280x1024, 6 for 1600x900

(Its also an option in one of the install/configuration apps from KhoroMag IIRC.)

dave

[James Smith]

For the 1600x900 res, in your sfc.ini file, try adjusting the lowres setting to

Code: [Select]

lowres=6
It's something like
 0 for 800x600, 1 for 640x480, 2 for 960x720, 3 for 1024x768, 4 for 1152x864, 5 for 1280x1024, 6 for 1600x900

(Its also an option in one of the install/configuration apps from KhoroMag IIRC.)

dave

I thought lowres=6 gave 1600x1200, but I could be mistaken 

[Bonk]

What am I doing wrong?

Nothing. Microsoft began hiring brain damaged developers in the last decade. Either that or the pointy haired bosses are doing the software engineering now too instead of just boinking hot secretaries.

Can you detect my dissatisfaction?

Microsoft tried to implement a multi-user operating system as an afterthought. Therein lies the problem. That and the fact that there has been no new development of any significance since Win2K. It is all trappings... the emperor has no clothes.

In short, the problem you are most likely experiencing is virtualisation. (file and registry)

If you want to install old applications on post XP windows operating systems then do not let windows take control. You need to make a folder that is yours - not microsofts... say... C:\SFC\*  then, install applications to it as administrator... (the enh. pack may pose problems with this as it is a series of installers... but each should be launched with the permissions of the parent... but Pestalence is the Clickteam expert, I don't know a thing about it.)

There is more to it than that, but that is a start.

Also, make sure neither McAfee or Norton/Symantec is installed, if so then just don't bother, throw the whole box right out the window and go buy a new one. Seriously.

[FA Frey XC]

While we certainly appreciate Bonk's expertise on Apache, and worship him daily for the coding guru he is, Bonk doesn't speak for D.Net in regards to Windows 7, Norton or Mcafee.

While everyone has their own personal views, it's D.Net's view to never tell anyone to remove or otherwise disable any antivirus or antispam applications.

We expect end users to do the necessary research to determine what works for them, and of course we'll tell you if we've detected a problem w/ installation or the like.

I'm sure that's what Bonk meant, just making sure you know that as well.

IMHO, Windows 7 is leaps beyond Vista.

Regards,

[Bonk]

While everyone has their own personal views, it's D.Net's view to never tell anyone to remove or otherwise disable any antivirus or antispam applications.

Nah, don't disable... open window... lift computer... heave... listen... satisfying thud! And yes, I am a bit extreme on this, but my personal opinion stands. The major AV houses and MS have lost it... some time ago. Round about 1997-98? (on the desktop... MS has not strayed far from NT on the server - but I have not seen the 2008 product yet - , no idea how they borked their desktop OSes so bad.)

I could write a book on what is wrong with them, perhaps I should? Though I would rather be Atilla the Hun of my own platform. The QA would be so airtight on an OS developed under my supervision it would run until the end of time and would be pointless to replace as the ultimate in man-machine interface.

Steve Jobs would have nuttin on me.

(thanks for covering my butt though... )

P.S. check your scheduled tasks... dig deep... ask yourself... should all these things be scheduled tasks? Why so many band-aids? Why not just do it right in the first place instead of dealing with it later... this release schedule approach to development has compounded idiocy and will continue to do so until the product is completely useless.

P.S. just to show no bias... as I know people will think I'm one of those blow-hard "evangelists"... RedHat (I hate to even post the name publicly) suffers almost exactly the same problems as MS, started right about the same time too. Marketing should not determine engineering. For a good idea on how to do it right.. (pretty darn close anyway) take a look at QNX. or Be actually showed incredble promise, not sure what/who killed them... QNX lives on though - where engineering determines the market, not the reverse.

OK, I'm back to work now. Enough rambling. Sorry.

edit: maybe not.... further... an OS and should manage the processor and memory for the use of applications, not consume it.

...and don't get me started on object-oriented code... people are only now beginning to see what I saw all along. Actually, now that I think about it... the proliferation of the oo coding meme corresponds quite well with the degradation of the commercial platforms. I think that observation is significant.

lol, some more... I'm finding this examination interesting... I think it all started with that first little garbage can icon from Apple... I remember seeing the first Mac guis and thinking - WTF? Little pictures? What are we to become illiterate? I delete something but it is not gone? But I asked for it to be deleted! Now I have to ask twice? If Apple had not gone down that road - in turn driving the direction of MS's development paths - I suspect MS would still be producing simple, tight and efficient operating systems. DOS5 was the peak for MS. After that little white garbage can (and all the ideas behind it) appeared, it all changed. For the worse.

The Apple IIs made sense to me. The first Macs did not. The first one I was exposed to I actually thought was some kind of joke. None of it made sense... still doesn't really. The easier they tried to make it for household users the less useful it became for any genuine computing applications. This pattern continues... each version of windows takes it a step further. (the 7 ads with the toddlers) The Mac one button mouse... there are certain human interface paradigms that evolved according to function for efficiency and intuitiveness. A better mousetrap? No... just no.

I don't understand toddlers all that well (uh, actually I do much better than most), but an operating system designed for them is no improvement as far as I am concerned. In fact, were I a father, I'd probably start my toddler at the command line... They'd be a social outcast, but a smart one. The Vic20 was perfect for a learning seven year old... a multi-core 3d gui beast - not so much.

[Czar Mohab]

I don't understand toddlers all that well (uh, actually I do much better than most), but an operating system designed for them is no improvement as far as I am concerned. In fact, were I a father, I'd probably start my toddler at the command line... They'd be a social outcast, but a smart one. The Vic20 was perfect for a learning seven year old... a multi-core 3d gui beast - not so much.

If it makes you feel any better, I wasn't allowed to use the Windows portion of the computer until I mastered the "C:\>" portion. I still have fond memories of the "k-chunk-k-chunk-tha-da-da-da" of the floppy drive reading a diskette, and of DOS reminding me to spell better with its various errors. Ahhh, the good ol' days...

But I digress. To bring this thread back on track, buried somewhere in the forums is Pestilence's write-up on how to get SFC2/OP running on Vista/7. I can't help you on SFC2, as I have long lost the discs to install it, but for OP, it runs perfectly on my Win 7 x64 machine. I'll try to find it and link it here before someone else with some time on their hands does.

I believe once you find the instructions for the install, everything should be peachy.

[NuclearWessels]

For the 1600x900 res, in your sfc.ini file, try adjusting the lowres setting to

Code: [Select]

lowres=6
It's something like
 0 for 800x600, 1 for 640x480, 2 for 960x720, 3 for 1024x768, 4 for 1152x864, 5 for 1280x1024, 6 for 1600x900

(Its also an option in one of the install/configuration apps from KhoroMag IIRC.)

dave

I thought lowres=6 gave 1600x1200, but I could be mistaken 

Must have been asleep at the switch, you're absolutely correct, it's 16x12.  Doh!

dave

[USS Mariner]

IMHO, Windows 7 is leaps beyond Vista.

Win7 is Vista, albeit with slightly less inane GUI.

Also, make sure neither McAfee or Norton/Symantec is installed, if so then just don't bother, throw the whole box right out the window and go buy a new one. Seriously.

I've actually had a great experience with Norton Internet Security 2010/11, though I had to set many of the permissions myself but that's standard operation procedure for me. The first thing I did with Win7 was shut-off almost all of the GUI fade-in garbage and UAC (which is BROKEN as both a program and as a concept, given that most computer users are told by the companies themselves that they cannot understand how their system works. Thus, the idea of giving the user the responsibility of administrating permissions for things they cannot and do not understand is BROKEN) and delete as much non-essential shovelware as I could from the stock machine.

But that's for another topic.