Topic: Help with installation of SFC I (yes, ONE, 1) after too many years!

[E_Look]

After many (many) years, I both built a new computer (Core i7, GeForce 2060 [the one where the logo does not glow; I thought initially it was broken!]) with modest specs (to be used mainly for work and maybe streaming a ballgame),
AND reinstalled SFC I.

And it works!...

... sorta:

It's the ORIGINAL CD-ROM I bought at a Costco or someplace like that (not the Gold Edition) and it plays okay (haven't encountered the blowing up 'cuz I bumped into a planet issue yet), except for the see-thru ships.
Then, I remembered- back in the day I patched it (numerous times)!

Well, the patch .exe's don't patch!
I mean, I run them, but nothing happens; the game stays at the same 1.00.01 version.  I even tried running each program as an administrator, tried also running using the command line.

Of course, it's running on Win 10.

Does anybody know what's going on or knows how to fix this?

Thanks.


(Yeah, it's been a while since I even peeked in here; I don't expect anyone here to remember or to have interacted with me, especially since I never played Multiplayer or online with anyone.)

[Nemesis]

I remember  you.  However I can't help.  I haven't played in years and no longer have a windows machine and don't have my disks anymore. 

There are some who do periodically check here who may be able to help.  Good luck.

Nice to see you around, stay safe from Covid. 

[d4v1ks]

i created 2 patches for SFC1 sometime ago which doesn't require installation.
just download the version you wish and overwrite the existing files.

https://hotandspicyforums.com/sfc-1-hd-patch-t24716.html

there are also other things there that might help you
the SFCLauncher (which scales the UI up) and the dgVoodoo package for better graphic compatibility.

hope it helps

[Javora]

Glad to see you again E_Look. Check out that link d4v1ks posted, think it might surprise you...

[E_Look]

Well!
Thank you very much!
This is an incredibly FAST response to a query from an old geezer... well, I wasn't when I was really active on the boards!

Now let's see if I can get my buns toasted by non-see-thru-ships.

I'll let you know, for sure!

Hopefully, SFC II and SFC III won't have these issues; I don't feel up to messing with them yet.  But it's either the SFC series or EGATrek (which I haven't played in quite a while too; I play a lot of the solitare app I kept from Win XP.  I still get my buns toasted...  )

[E_Look]

I must be so old my manners have rotted off!

Nemesis, thanks for your well wishes.
Javora, I actually remember you a little; I might have mouthed off at the two of you in the Off-Topics... 

And d4v1ks, if it works, I'll be ecstatically grateful.
If it doesn't, I'll just be ecstatic you repsonded!

Now off to try your link!

[Javora]

Oh geez, I think we all mouthed off at each other more than a little way back then.  Good to see you’re doing well...

[E_Look]

Okay,

I tried your 1.03 patch.

And no criticism intended, but just reporting what I found:  no more see through ships, but if I put the camera lock on the enemy ship, there is picture of the enemy ship on the lowest tactical screen on the left side, preventing any of the buttons there from being accessed.

Is there a work around for that?
Or is there a followup patch?

Thanks, d4v1ks because otherwise, it seems pretty good and hope to hear from you guys on this again soon.

[d4v1ks]

Dont know if you have tried it already,
but try to launch the game with the SFCLauncher (link bellow)
It should fix the layouts for you.
just set the game path there, chose the appropriated resolution for you, and launch it.

https://hotandspicyforums.com/sfc-launcher-august-2019-t26181.html

[Nemesis]

Well!
Thank you very much!
This is an incredibly FAST response to a query from an old geezer... well, I wasn't when I was really active on the boards!

The old guys are still lurking and helpful.

Over 6,000 posts does make you pretty active back then.

[E_Look]

Nemesis-
LOL.  I meant I wasn't a geezer then; that's probably why I was that active!

d4v1ks-
Okay, I'll giive that a shot... tomorrow.  It's late here and I'm about to zonk out.

Really, thanks guys.  It is much appreciated.

[E_Look]

d4v1ks, and all-

Ah!
The Launcher REALLY works!
It's *almost* like it used to be on my old WinXP/Athlon 64 box!  I see you can still get it to look like it was on my old store-bought Win HP Celeron integrated graphics [orig. Win 95] computer!  SFC 1 ran pretty well on Win 95!

Your Launcher just about makes an old 1990s game run on a just-built system like it did on a 1990s machine.  Sweet!

Thanks a lot, and I've said this before when I pop in every so many decades, I'll drop by.  And all the more if I have questions for you guys on this.
It is nice to see this site still up and to my eyes, going very strong.
Keep at it, boys!
E_Look


Javora-

Yes sir, I am surprised!  d4v1ks has designed an excellent piece of software.  He's done a great job.


Nemesis-

Eh, I'm trying to stay off the Internet as much as I can, which is to say, I can really only minimize it.  I try to stay off fora and BBs, as they do suck you in and hold you there (as if I'm so blameless at that!), all the more ever since the pandemic quarantines hit and I have to be online more because of that.  I mean, I still read news, follow my teams (I should tell the truth... only one team for the most part), e-mail, aside from work.  My gaming consists of several minutes of Solitaire on the program I saved from Windows XP, just for blowing off steam.  SFC (all of them I suppose) still seems like a lot of fun, but they, like just about all games, seem a bit also like, ugh, work.   Solitaire?  I turn my mind off and just sit there, maybe get mad a bit if I lose, even though that's most of the time.
I do have great memories participating here, though!

[E_Look]

Gentlemen,

Um... just how do you disable the spacedust effect?

I set the value in sfc.ini to 0, renamed the spacedust0.pcx to spacedust.pcx.
But no change.

Thanks again in advance, guys.

[d4v1ks]

Um... just how do you disable the spacedust effect?

I set the value in sfc.ini to 0, renamed the spacedust0.pcx to spacedust.pcx.

Why would you rename the name of the texture, if there is a explicit option in the sfc.ini?
Let me explain:

spacedust=0    means the game will use spacedust0.pcx (empty texture)
spacedust=1    means the game will use spacedust1.pcx (dust pattern)

[E_Look]

Okay then, what about the original spacedust.pcx file in there?  Leave it?

Ah, never mind!
I failed to appreciate how good a job you did, the extent to which you went with the Launcher!

I was very puzzled when every time I went to check the sfc.ini file, the value for spacedust was set back to 1; I knew I didn't do it!
And then just absentmindedly playing with the tabs on the Launcher, I found some control checkboxes... one of which was for the disabling of the spacedust.  Excellent convenience feature, well thought out!
I hope others have given you the properly due accolades on your work here.
If only the developers thought of giving us the players of the game that much access to feature control back in the day...
... or not- I suppose they might have feared that if SFC was too successful, they'd have to stay with it for years and years (as this site could attest to such a possibility) and they'd never got to move on!

Whaddaikno?  I think I might kinda still prefer my old StarTac (maybe 'cuz then I could fantasize as being a member of a Starfleet landing party??) to my more-powerful-than-any-Borg-technology smartphone!
I drive my family's ears nuts by my preference for clicky keyboards (oh how I miss the Focus FK-2001!) over those superquiet mushy ones (hey, I type better on something that at least tells me the white lie that I'm typing on a typewriter, not a computer), or DOS over Windows... I'm still trying to find ways to make my old HP RPN calculators talk to Win 10!!  (Serial port??  What's that??!)...

... eh, nothin' to see here, move on...

... to the SFCLauncher!  Great piece of code there; hat's off to you, sir.

[Panzergranate]

For the past few years, I've been running an enhanced version SFC 1 game on 3 older dedicated PC's, one a laptop running Vista and a pair of Gateway P3 500 LS desktops (one's a tower), both running Windows ME (Migraine Edition). They link together via one of my home's wireless LAN networks. It's been many years since I've run a multiplayer LAN game here though.

I have the original pre-release demo of SFC 1 as well.

[E_Look]

Sweet!
Enhanced verson?

[Panzergranate]

I added in more planets, ships, things also fighter for the other races. I run over 250 ships in the library and use the Eagle Eye Software's SFC Mission Builder to create missions and scenarios for single player and multiplayer LAN games.

I have also created my own models over the years for SFC 1.

[E_Look]

Hey!
I might ask you sometime if I can see some of those planet models, ship models, and missions.
It sounds like you rejuvenated a 25+ year old game!

[Panzergranate]

Actually a 21 year old game (1999 to 2020)!!

I recently acquired a copy of the SFB 1991 Captain's Module P1 on E-Bay, as it has the Frax fleet included. I'm in the process of converting the Frax SSD's into the SFC shiplist file using Ship Edit an using placeholder hull models to test them out. I'll then have a go at modelling them actual ships (which have no official SFB models). Then again if somebody else does a better job, then I'll use their models.