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Author Topic: SMAX won't run under Windows 10  (Read 6741 times)

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Offline Kirov

SMAX won't run under Windows 10
« on: June 18, 2017, 12:45:25 PM »
I see that this issue is mentioned here a couple of times, but I could find no effective solution. Recently I've 'upgraded' my Win7 to Win10 and noticed just today that my SMAX won't launch. I looked up a few solutions but they won't work. First of all, the GOG version should work in Win10 (mine is GOG). Secondly, the opening movie should be disabled and mine is. Then I tried two approaches to run the game in the compability mode (for Win7 and XPSP3), all to no avail.

Did anyone have a similar problem and found a trick that worked?
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Offline gwillybj

Re: SMAX won't run under Windows 10
« Reply #1 on: June 21, 2017, 09:33:25 PM »
Can you try this:
Run the installer (I'm assuming it's named Setup.exe) as Administrator in XP Compatibility Mode (mine is in SP2).
Run the game directly from terranx.exe as Administrator, also in XP Compatibility Mode.
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Offline Geo

Re: SMAX won't run under Windows 10
« Reply #2 on: June 22, 2017, 12:11:13 AM »
I have the GOG version installed on my computer, and the game seems to run like a charm?
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Re: SMAX won't run under Windows 10
« Reply #3 on: June 27, 2017, 09:20:39 PM »
Try PMing Petek if none of that has worked...
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Offline Kirov

Re: SMAX won't run under Windows 10
« Reply #4 on: June 28, 2017, 08:08:38 AM »
Quote from: BUncle on June 27, 2017, 09:20:39 PM
Try PMing Petek if none of that has worked...

Thanks, I will when I find a moment.
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Offline Kirov

Re: SMAX won't run under Windows 10
« Reply #5 on: June 28, 2017, 08:10:28 AM »
Quote from: gwillybj on June 21, 2017, 09:33:25 PM
Can you try this:
Run the installer (I'm assuming it's named Setup.exe) as Administrator in XP Compatibility Mode (mine is in SP2).
Run the game directly from terranx.exe as Administrator, also in XP Compatibility Mode.

Tried it, didn't work. I will reinstall and rerun in other compatibility modes (SP3, W7), maybe this helps.

Crap. To have a rig without a working SMAC is a huuge bummer. :( Switch to Win10, they said, your games will run more smoothly, they said.
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Offline TarMinyatur

Re: SMAX won't run under Windows 10
« Reply #6 on: July 01, 2017, 11:50:52 PM »
Windows 10 now opts out of a legacy component called DirectPlay. You can opt in to it to play older games. https://windowsforum.com/threads/turn-on-direct-play-to-use-older-games-windows-8-8-1-1-and-10.205952/
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Offline Kirov

Re: SMAX won't run under Windows 10
« Reply #7 on: July 02, 2017, 01:05:22 AM »
Quote from: TarMinyatur on July 01, 2017, 11:50:52 PM
Windows 10 now opts out of a legacy component called DirectPlay. You can opt in to it to play older games. https://windowsforum.com/threads/turn-on-direct-play-to-use-older-games-windows-8-8-1-1-and-10.205952/

At least one of my copies works right now. You, sir, are a true hero of this board, I cannot tell you how grateful I am. If you ever start a cult, consider me in.

Thank you so much!!!  ;b; ;b; ;b; I mean it.
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Offline Quinch

Re: SMAX won't run under Windows 10
« Reply #8 on: July 09, 2017, 05:18:13 PM »
Hi, I'm having {had?} the same problem. Turning on DirectPlay gets the program to start.... but I can't actually switch into it. Any ideas?

Hmm, reinstalling the game from scratch seems to have fixed it - so it might have been one of the patches that was causing it? More experimentation is in order...
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Offline Kirov

Re: SMAX won't run under Windows 10
« Reply #9 on: July 10, 2017, 09:48:24 AM »
Quote from: Quinch on July 09, 2017, 05:18:13 PM
Hi, I'm having {had?} the same problem. Turning on DirectPlay gets the program to start.... but I can't actually switch into it. Any ideas?

Hmm, reinstalling the game from scratch seems to have fixed it - so it might have been one of the patches that was causing it? More experimentation is in order...

Yes, I will look at it in a free moment (which is not going to happen too soon), but it seems that Yitzi patch makes the program start but somehow "in the background", meaning I don't get to see the screen although the intro music plays. I have never experienced any serious compatibility issues among various patches and I believe it's just a formality that everybody uses the same version. Nevertheless, I'd like to fix it.
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Offline Quinch

Re: SMAX won't run under Windows 10
« Reply #10 on: July 11, 2017, 02:40:10 AM »
Let's see - running W10, 10.0.15063 Build 15063 {Creators Update}

Running without DirectPlay enabled - crashes on start.

Direct Play Enabled - launches fine without compatibility mode.
-----
PracX installed: Starting movie plays, initial menu sound is heard, but screen is black with a cursor.

Changing Alpha Centauri.ini to

[PRACX]
ScreenWidth=1
ScreenHeight=1
Or anything other than <default> makes the game display properly.
On the other hand, when the turn ends on a moving unit, the End Turn button doesn't activate until the mouse is moved. Pathfinding itself seems a little slow, but that might be subjective.
---
Yitzi's Patch

Works fine by itself.
Enabling PracX in the ini file throws error "Unable to allocate draw-buffer".
----

That's all I got so far. Anything else worth testing?
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Offline DrazharLn

Re: SMAX won't run under Windows 10
« Reply #11 on: July 12, 2017, 12:41:17 AM »
Could you clarify if Yitzi + DirectPlay=0 works?

I've attached a debug binary for you to try, if you have time.

If you do, please unzip the attached in your SMAC dir and delete the PRACX section from your alpha centauri.ini. Run SMACX to the menu screen, then quit. Rename the file pracx.log to something sensible, like "pracx_defaults.log".

It's important you rename rather than copy because the log file is appended to, rather than replaced, so if you copy it the logs from previous runs will still be there and it will be harder for me to decipher what's going on.

Then set ScreenWidth and height to a couple of different values and repeat. Letting me know whether any of the runs differ from what you've described earlier.
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Offline Quinch

Re: SMAX won't run under Windows 10
« Reply #12 on: July 12, 2017, 01:14:34 AM »
Game doesn't seem to start without DirectPlay regardless of patches, Yitzi's included - having the feature on seems to be non-negotiable.

Should I try the debug binary thing with PracX installed by itself, Yitzi's Patch, or both combined?
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Offline DrazharLn

Re: SMAX won't run under Windows 10
« Reply #13 on: July 12, 2017, 02:35:53 AM »
Here's a slightly improved debugging build. If you've already tested with the old one, don't bother doing it again.

Let's just test the recommended install so:

base + yitzi + pracx_debug

That will leave terran.exe unpatched for pracx's hooks (but terranx.exe will be). If you want it patched, just install pracx v1.09 before you overwrite with pracx_debug.
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Offline Quinch

Re: SMAX won't run under Windows 10
« Reply #14 on: July 12, 2017, 02:50:52 AM »
Let's see - I didn't get to the main menu - the process starts and shows up on the taskbar, but clicking on it does nothing. Killing the process from the task manager {have to use Ctrl-Alt-Del instead of ctrl-shift-esc, the game presumably reserves some of the functions}. On a bit more testing, I can right-click it and close it from there - at that point, the starting movie plays and the game closes.

Here is the log;

6098750:pracx.cpp:2498:DllMain   65C50000   1   00000000
6098750:pracx.cpp:2504:DllMain   Loaded
6098750:pracx.cpp:2292:PRACXHook   
6098750:pracx.cpp:2498:DllMain   65C50000   2   00000000
6098765:pracx.cpp:776:PRACXGetSystemMetrics   3   17
6098765:pracx.cpp:754:PRACXWinMain   00400000   00000000      1
6098765:pracx.cpp:1368:PRACXRegisterClassA   0019F824
6098765:pracx.cpp:776:PRACXGetSystemMetrics   0   0
6098765:pracx.cpp:776:PRACXGetSystemMetrics   1   0
6098765:pracx.cpp:647:PRACXCreateWindowEx   w: 0   h: 0   x: 0   y: 0
6098812:pracx.cpp:776:PRACXGetSystemMetrics   13   32
6098812:pracx.cpp:776:PRACXGetSystemMetrics   14   32
6099125:pracx.cpp:2498:DllMain   65C50000   2   00000000
6099125:pracx.cpp:2498:DllMain   65C50000   2   00000000
6099140:pracx.cpp:2498:DllMain   65C50000   2   00000000
6099187:pracx.cpp:2498:DllMain   65C50000   2   00000000
6099187:pracx.cpp:2498:DllMain   65C50000   2   00000000
6099187:pracx.cpp:2498:DllMain   65C50000   2   00000000
6099187:pracx.cpp:2498:DllMain   65C50000   2   00000000
6100140:pracx.cpp:2245:PRACXMainMenuUpdateVisible   -1
6100140:pracx.cpp:2144:GetMenuCaption   3000
6100140:pracx.cpp:2144:GetMenuCaption   3001
6100140:pracx.cpp:2144:GetMenuCaption   3002
6100140:pracx.cpp:2144:GetMenuCaption   3003
6100140:pracx.cpp:2144:GetMenuCaption   3004
6100140:pracx.cpp:2144:GetMenuCaption   3005
6100140:pracx.cpp:2144:GetMenuCaption   3006
6100140:pracx.cpp:2144:GetMenuCaption   3007
6100140:pracx.cpp:2144:GetMenuCaption   3008
6100140:pracx.cpp:2144:GetMenuCaption   3009
6100140:pracx.cpp:2144:GetMenuCaption   3010
6100140:pracx.cpp:2144:GetMenuCaption   3011
6100656:pracx.cpp:1748:PRACXLoadIcons   
6105859:pracx.cpp:708:SetWindowed   1
6105875:pracx.cpp:1207:PRACXWinProc   WM_USER+3
6106000:pracx.cpp:1228:PRACXWinProc   WM_SYSCOMMAND   61472
6128796:pracx.cpp:2498:DllMain   65C50000   2   00000000
6128796:pracx.cpp:2498:DllMain   65C50000   2   00000000
6133265:pracx.cpp:1228:PRACXWinProc   WM_SYSCOMMAND   61728
6141062:pracx.cpp:1228:PRACXWinProc   WM_SYSCOMMAND   61472
6147234:pracx.cpp:1228:PRACXWinProc   WM_SYSCOMMAND   61728
6178515:pracx.cpp:1228:PRACXWinProc   WM_SYSCOMMAND   61536
6178531:pracx.cpp:583:PRACXShowMovie   opening
----
Also, not sure if these bits of info are relevant - installing Yitzi's patch. I copy over the 3.5 files, followed by the 3.5d executable.

After closing the game, the .ini file reforms the pracx section with all <default> values.

Edit: Just to check, I put 500 {just random} in screenwidth and screenheight -

7001453:pracx.cpp:2498:DllMain   66D00000   1   00000000
7001453:pracx.cpp:2504:DllMain   Loaded
7001453:pracx.cpp:2292:PRACXHook   
7001468:pracx.cpp:2498:DllMain   66D00000   2   00000000
7001531:pracx.cpp:776:PRACXGetSystemMetrics   3   17
7001546:pracx.cpp:754:PRACXWinMain   00400000   00000000      1
7001546:pracx.cpp:1368:PRACXRegisterClassA   0019F824
7001546:pracx.cpp:776:PRACXGetSystemMetrics   0   1024
7001546:pracx.cpp:776:PRACXGetSystemMetrics   1   768
7001546:pracx.cpp:647:PRACXCreateWindowEx   w: 1024   h: 768   x: 0   y: 0
7001656:pracx.cpp:776:PRACXGetSystemMetrics   13   32
7001656:pracx.cpp:776:PRACXGetSystemMetrics   14   32
7001718:pracx.cpp:2498:DllMain   66D00000   2   00000000
7001734:pracx.cpp:2498:DllMain   66D00000   2   00000000
7001734:pracx.cpp:2498:DllMain   66D00000   2   00000000
7001812:pracx.cpp:2498:DllMain   66D00000   2   00000000
7001828:pracx.cpp:2498:DllMain   66D00000   2   00000000
7001828:pracx.cpp:2498:DllMain   66D00000   2   00000000
7001828:pracx.cpp:2498:DllMain   66D00000   2   00000000
7002015:pracx.cpp:2245:PRACXMainMenuUpdateVisible   -1
7002015:pracx.cpp:2144:GetMenuCaption   3000
7002015:pracx.cpp:2144:GetMenuCaption   3001
7002015:pracx.cpp:2144:GetMenuCaption   3002
7002015:pracx.cpp:2144:GetMenuCaption   3003
7002015:pracx.cpp:2144:GetMenuCaption   3004
7002015:pracx.cpp:2144:GetMenuCaption   3005
7002015:pracx.cpp:2144:GetMenuCaption   3006
7002031:pracx.cpp:2144:GetMenuCaption   3007
7002031:pracx.cpp:2144:GetMenuCaption   3008
7002031:pracx.cpp:2144:GetMenuCaption   3009
7002031:pracx.cpp:2144:GetMenuCaption   3010
7002031:pracx.cpp:2144:GetMenuCaption   3011
7002515:pracx.cpp:1748:PRACXLoadIcons   
7002671:pracx.cpp:583:PRACXShowMovie   opening
7006984:pracx.cpp:1128:PRACXWinProc   WM_MOVIEOVER
7006984:pracx.cpp:708:SetWindowed   0
7007203:pracx.cpp:1228:PRACXWinProc   WM_SYSCOMMAND   61488
7009312:pracx.cpp:2498:DllMain   66D00000   3   00000000
7009312:pracx.cpp:2498:DllMain   66D00000   3   00000000
7009343:pracx.cpp:2498:DllMain   66D00000   3   00000000
7009343:pracx.cpp:2498:DllMain   66D00000   3   00000000
7009359:pracx.cpp:776:PRACXGetSystemMetrics   0   1024
7009359:pracx.cpp:776:PRACXGetSystemMetrics   1   768
7009359:pracx.cpp:708:SetWindowed   1
7009593:pracx.cpp:776:PRACXGetSystemMetrics   0   1024
7009593:pracx.cpp:776:PRACXGetSystemMetrics   1   768
7009750:pracx.cpp:2498:DllMain   66D00000   0   00000001
7009750:pracx.cpp:2507:DllMain   Unloaded
----
So by the looks of it, the issue has something to do with getsystemmetrics?
« Last Edit: July 12, 2017, 03:06:22 AM by Quinch »
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