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Author Topic:   NT support removed?

thudson posted 07-09-99 09:11 AM ET
I loved playing the previous version of the
demo on my NT machine; now that I have a
chance to buy the game I came back here to
download the again, but it doesn't work.
Was NT support removed in the newer versions?
I was previously running on a P200 with NT
Service Pack 3; I've since upgraded to a
dual-processor with NT Service Pack 5, which
could be complicating things...
If this is in a FAQ somewhere, please point
me to it; I couldn't find one.
Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS posted 07-09-99 11:30 AM ET
The game doesn't officially support NT, though many of our testers used NT. With sp3 or higher, it should work fine, but that is contingent upon your hardware and it's directx 3 support. If video (directdraw) is the problem, things like disabling the intro movie can solve problems. Also, directsound on nt in microsoft's words is "crude", so your mileage may vary.
jkm
firaxis games
Paladin007 posted 07-09-99 03:47 PM ET
I couldn't even get it to install on my NT - some pain in the A set thing with old 16 bit archtecture. Finally I just copied the CD onto my HDrive and double clicked the Terran.exe -- it works!
The Knight
thudson posted 07-12-99 11:45 AM ET
The particular problem I'm having is that
the demo (and I assume the game, so I won't
buy unless I can find my way around this
one) refuses to start up - it (thinks it)
installs properly; when I try to run it
from the shortcut in the start menu, or by double-clicking on terran.exe, the screen flashes to black (for < 1 second) then goes back to what I was doing before. No error message. This happens at varying initial screen sizes (800x600 up to 1280x1024).
Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS posted 07-12-99 03:13 PM ET
That sounds like you're monitor isn't selected. Can you manually set your desktop to either 800x600x8bit (256 colors) or 1024x768x8bit? If not, and you bought the thing within the last five years, you've probably left your monitor type set to standard VGA.
jkm
firaxis games
thudson posted 07-12-99 03:33 PM ET
Well, I did some more experimenting this morning after posting that message, and found something that I feared was the problem; your last message makes it seem likely.
Whatever geniuses created the video card for this monster made it apparently impossible to switch out of "True Color" mode, so I can't decrease the bit depth (from the "Display Properties" menu, at least - I'm a UNIX-loving coder, not a NT-savvy type.)
It's a high end card (Intense3D Wildcat 4000,
64MB Texture, 16MB Framebuffer - yes, I code graphics for a living), but not being able to downshift seems like a killer design flaw to me.
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Author	Topic: NT support removed?
thudson	posted 07-09-99 09:11 AM ET I loved playing the previous version of the demo on my NT machine; now that I have a chance to buy the game I came back here to download the again, but it doesn't work. Was NT support removed in the newer versions? I was previously running on a P200 with NT Service Pack 3; I've since upgraded to a dual-processor with NT Service Pack 5, which could be complicating things... If this is in a FAQ somewhere, please point me to it; I couldn't find one.
Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS	posted 07-09-99 11:30 AM ET The game doesn't officially support NT, though many of our testers used NT. With sp3 or higher, it should work fine, but that is contingent upon your hardware and it's directx 3 support. If video (directdraw) is the problem, things like disabling the intro movie can solve problems. Also, directsound on nt in microsoft's words is "crude", so your mileage may vary. jkm firaxis games
Paladin007	posted 07-09-99 03:47 PM ET I couldn't even get it to install on my NT - some pain in the A set thing with old 16 bit archtecture. Finally I just copied the CD onto my HDrive and double clicked the Terran.exe -- it works! The Knight
thudson	posted 07-12-99 11:45 AM ET The particular problem I'm having is that the demo (and I assume the game, so I won't buy unless I can find my way around this one) refuses to start up - it (thinks it) installs properly; when I try to run it from the shortcut in the start menu, or by double-clicking on terran.exe, the screen flashes to black (for < 1 second) then goes back to what I was doing before. No error message. This happens at varying initial screen sizes (800x600 up to 1280x1024).
Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS	posted 07-12-99 03:13 PM ET That sounds like you're monitor isn't selected. Can you manually set your desktop to either 800x600x8bit (256 colors) or 1024x768x8bit? If not, and you bought the thing within the last five years, you've probably left your monitor type set to standard VGA. jkm firaxis games
thudson	posted 07-12-99 03:33 PM ET Well, I did some more experimenting this morning after posting that message, and found something that I feared was the problem; your last message makes it seem likely. Whatever geniuses created the video card for this monster made it apparently impossible to switch out of "True Color" mode, so I can't decrease the bit depth (from the "Display Properties" menu, at least - I'm a UNIX-loving coder, not a NT-savvy type.) It's a high end card (Intense3D Wildcat 4000, 64MB Texture, 16MB Framebuffer - yes, I code graphics for a living), but not being able to downshift seems like a killer design flaw to me.