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Author Topic:   Air Defense Causes Crash

Urban Ranger posted 05-02-99 11:42 AM ET
I read somewhere that another poster has the same problem. As soon as one of my interceptors take off going after an intruding aircraft, the game crashes.
I am using Windoze 95 OSR 2.
S_Carton_Esq posted 05-03-99 05:13 PM ET
Well I'm glad to see that at least one other person has experinced this problem (glad that it's not the result of some freak damage to my copy of the game; I'm sorry that you are plauged with it). Please see my post in the thread "When will version 4.0 be available" for a description of how to "prime" the game in order to solve this problem.
Urban Ranger posted 05-05-99 01:37 AM ET
I have just read your other message.
It is a really weird bug. I can't even tell if Firaxis is able to fix it. There seems to be some mysterious interaction deep inside Windows somewhere that nobody knows anything about.
Windows is a royal pain in the neck. Things just don't work consistently. For example, I use WinFax Pro 9.0. It used to work flawlessly, but now, whenever I try to fax a document, it never works the first time, telling me that's no dial tone. However, when it re-dials a second time, the fax goes through.
Or how about this one? When you run WordPerfect 6.0 on Windows NT 4.0 using Times New Roman at 11 points, some characters will stick together if you print on a HP 4/5 M (or one of the variants). Yes, I know: huh?
pdoerr posted 05-06-99 07:06 AM ET
I have the same problem with SMAC 3 German.
Is there any workaround ?
Peter
Urban Ranger posted 05-07-99 06:50 AM ET
It seems that you need to "prime" the program. Check S_Carton_Esq's message above for more details.
pdoerr posted 05-07-99 08:23 PM ET
I have found a workaround. Just deinstall SMAC and then new install with only th V3 patch. It works :-)
Peter
TonyG posted 05-08-99 12:15 AM ET
Peter's right. I was having the Air Defense Problem too, and nothing fixed it, until I reinstalled. Time to see what Transcending is like!
Urban Ranger posted 05-08-99 02:59 AM ET
You mean de-install SMAC, then install it, then patch it with V3?
So is it something in V2 that's causing the crash, and Firaxis didn't remove it with the V3 patch?
pdoerr posted 05-08-99 10:14 AM ET
Yes, thats the way. Happy gaming :-)
Peter
TonyG posted 05-08-99 03:17 PM ET
OK, so maybe uninstalling and installing again isn't the answer. Damn Air Defense Bug is at it again. I have even clicked the 'Debug' button and staring at the assembly code that VC++6 shows:
0046D656 ret 0Ch
0046D659 mov eax,[009106D8]
0046D65E sar eax,1
0046D660 imul eax,dword ptr [ebp+0Ch]
0046D664 sar esi,1
0046D666 add eax,esi
0046D668 lea ecx,[eax+eax*2]
0046D66B xor eax,eax
0046D66D mov ax,word ptr [edi+ecx*4+0Ah] <--- CRASHES HERE
0046D672 lea ecx,[ebx+3FFFh]
0046D678 shl cl,2
0046D67B shr eax,cl
0046D67D pop edi
0046D67E pop esi
0046D67F pop ebx
0046D680 and eax,0Fh
0046D683 pop ebp
0046D684 ret 0Ch
0046D687 nop
I've indicated where it always crashes. Not sure if this helps at all, but I can say for sure that reinstalling is NOT the solution - but just a temporary fix, and not a good one at that.
pdoerr posted 05-09-99 06:25 PM ET
Yes, you are right. The bug is back ... :-(
Peter
pdoerr posted 05-11-99 12:22 PM ET
After deleting the INI-file the game did not crash again.
Peter
TonyG posted 05-11-99 01:59 PM ET
Hmm...given this bug's on-again off-again nature, I'd give it some time to pop up again. But we can hope.
I've also found that S_Carton_Esq's 'priming' method may not be necessary (at least no the setting up of an air defense situation with the editor). I just start a new game, then load the savegame that has been crashing, and it works.
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Author	Topic: Air Defense Causes Crash
Urban Ranger	posted 05-02-99 11:42 AM ET I read somewhere that another poster has the same problem. As soon as one of my interceptors take off going after an intruding aircraft, the game crashes. I am using Windoze 95 OSR 2.
S_Carton_Esq	posted 05-03-99 05:13 PM ET Well I'm glad to see that at least one other person has experinced this problem (glad that it's not the result of some freak damage to my copy of the game; I'm sorry that you are plauged with it). Please see my post in the thread "When will version 4.0 be available" for a description of how to "prime" the game in order to solve this problem.
Urban Ranger	posted 05-05-99 01:37 AM ET I have just read your other message. It is a really weird bug. I can't even tell if Firaxis is able to fix it. There seems to be some mysterious interaction deep inside Windows somewhere that nobody knows anything about. Windows is a royal pain in the neck. Things just don't work consistently. For example, I use WinFax Pro 9.0. It used to work flawlessly, but now, whenever I try to fax a document, it never works the first time, telling me that's no dial tone. However, when it re-dials a second time, the fax goes through. Or how about this one? When you run WordPerfect 6.0 on Windows NT 4.0 using Times New Roman at 11 points, some characters will stick together if you print on a HP 4/5 M (or one of the variants). Yes, I know: huh?
pdoerr	posted 05-06-99 07:06 AM ET I have the same problem with SMAC 3 German. Is there any workaround ? Peter
Urban Ranger	posted 05-07-99 06:50 AM ET It seems that you need to "prime" the program. Check S_Carton_Esq's message above for more details.
pdoerr	posted 05-07-99 08:23 PM ET I have found a workaround. Just deinstall SMAC and then new install with only th V3 patch. It works :-) Peter
TonyG	posted 05-08-99 12:15 AM ET Peter's right. I was having the Air Defense Problem too, and nothing fixed it, until I reinstalled. Time to see what Transcending is like!
Urban Ranger	posted 05-08-99 02:59 AM ET You mean de-install SMAC, then install it, then patch it with V3? So is it something in V2 that's causing the crash, and Firaxis didn't remove it with the V3 patch?
pdoerr	posted 05-08-99 10:14 AM ET Yes, thats the way. Happy gaming :-) Peter
TonyG	posted 05-08-99 03:17 PM ET OK, so maybe uninstalling and installing again isn't the answer. Damn Air Defense Bug is at it again. I have even clicked the 'Debug' button and staring at the assembly code that VC++6 shows: 0046D656 ret 0Ch 0046D659 mov eax,[009106D8] 0046D65E sar eax,1 0046D660 imul eax,dword ptr [ebp+0Ch] 0046D664 sar esi,1 0046D666 add eax,esi 0046D668 lea ecx,[eax+eax2] 0046D66B xor eax,eax 0046D66D mov ax,word ptr [edi+ecx4+0Ah] <--- CRASHES HERE 0046D672 lea ecx,[ebx+3FFFh] 0046D678 shl cl,2 0046D67B shr eax,cl 0046D67D pop edi 0046D67E pop esi 0046D67F pop ebx 0046D680 and eax,0Fh 0046D683 pop ebp 0046D684 ret 0Ch 0046D687 nop I've indicated where it always crashes. Not sure if this helps at all, but I can say for sure that reinstalling is NOT the solution - but just a temporary fix, and not a good one at that.
pdoerr	posted 05-09-99 06:25 PM ET Yes, you are right. The bug is back ... :-( Peter
pdoerr	posted 05-11-99 12:22 PM ET After deleting the INI-file the game did not crash again. Peter
TonyG	posted 05-11-99 01:59 PM ET Hmm...given this bug's on-again off-again nature, I'd give it some time to pop up again. But we can hope. I've also found that S_Carton_Esq's 'priming' method may not be necessary (at least no the setting up of an air defense situation with the editor). I just start a new game, then load the savegame that has been crashing, and it works.