WitP AE and different instances. HELP!

[LoBaron]

I currently got two issues to address, and I hope all you experts (or maybe Michael) can help me:


1)

Ok, first the easy one: Is anybody currently running WitP AE on 1366 x 768 successfully? If not, can anybody running a laptop at this resolution suggest the next best one to use (I am currently drawn towards a windowed 1280 x 720)?


2)

Ok and now comes the meatgrinder:

This is the setup:

I got a new laptop recently, OS: W7, nothing fancy.

Until now I have only used WitP AE on my desktop PC, same OS, different system specs obviously.

I am currently playing a PBEM (on the desktop), DBB-C mod, extended map, and specific beta .exe (not the most recent one).

For reasons well know to many here I have several instances of WitP installed. Different versions, different mods, etc.. All, including the initial instance I installed from the DVD, are located in the D: partition of my HDD (I think this is important).

What I usually do to create a new instance, is: I copy the WitP AE folder and paste it to a new location. Then I create a new shortcut to the desktop and rename it, add the required switches to the shortcut, done.



Now here is the problem I ran into: I thought I could do something similar (copy/paste the instance) to install the version I am using for my PBEM on my new laptop, but this does not seem to work.

Here is what I did:

a) Installed WitP AE on the new laptop from the DVD - this I did to create the required registry entry.
b) Verified this installation is running fine (it does) and upgraded to the latest official patch (not required I think, but anyways).
c) Copied the beta/DBB-C mod instance I am using for PBEM from my desktop PC (via USB stick) and pasted to a newly created folder on my new laptop.
d) from that folder (the beta2 folder to be precise) created a desktop shortcut to run the instance.

Currently this instance does not launch and I get an error message: 'Cannot find PW data!!!'


I searched for this error message and basically came up blank. There are a few threads but most dead-end with either the suggestion to contact matrix support about a faulty DVD or simply fade out. I can verify the DVD is not the problem, the instance I installed from the DVD is running fine.

So this is my personal take on the situation:

- My best guess is it has to do with the fact that the original folder, where the instance was located on my desktop PC, was located on my D: partition, whereas my new laptop only has got a single partition labelled C:. I suspect the drive label might be stored somewhere, and this is the reason the new instance does not work on the laptop. This might also be related to the fact that the registry has the C: partition logged, obviously, but the copied instance comes from a computer where the registry points to the D: partiion.

- My second best guess is that the files somehow got 'damaged' while copying. I will retry the copying process to verify, but my IT background suggests me this will not turn out to be the root cause.

- I got no third best guess currently, most of all because the instance installed directly from DVD is running fine.

Before anybody asks, the reason why I do not like to do an installation/upgrading flow on the new laptop from scratch is:
I don´t know if I can get the correct beta version, I do not want to install all the graphics mods and DBB-C mods and extended map again, and PBEM is very sensible to modified data/versioning and so if possible I don´t want to touch that.


Any of you multi PC / multi WitP AE instance veterans have a suggestion on how to proceed? Is there a file in the instance where I need to edit folder config or something similar? Is there another workaround I am not aware of?


Any help is greatly aprechiated, thank you!!!

[Spidery]

d) from that folder (the beta2 folder to be precise) created a desktop shortcut to run the instance.

Is your "start in" directory the beta2 directory or the main directory? I think it should be the latter.

[LoBaron]

Good catch Spidery! Thanks!

I will verify this as soon as I get home.

[witpqs]

On your first question, the resolution, I have a laptop with slightly higher resolution than you stated. But I run in windowed mode at exactly the resolution you said, so that the Windows (8.1) menu/program bar is visible across the bottom. The command line I use:

"C:\Matrix Games\WITP AE - PBM #2\Beta2\War in the Pacific Admiral Edition.exe" -altFont -archive -wd -deepColor -px1366 -py768 -fixedArt -noFire

See Cap Mandrake's AAR for a pic of another setting (make the window start "Maximized"). Plus, I use the 'start in' as noted by Spidery.

[Itdepends]

Yes- if you "start in" the beta- you get that PW hex error.

As for laptop resolution- I use -px1680 -py1050

[LoBaron]

Gentlemen, many thanks for your rapid and kind support. Everything is up and running, as you correctly assumed the 'start in' pointed to the beta2 folder.

witpqs, thanks for providing the command line switches you are using, they now work fine on my new laptop (removed the -wd, now running fine on full screen).

Just an unrelated question, as I noticed from your command line: is there a reason you have not added the -skipVideo switch? Asking because this switch already saved me uncountable seconds of my life...

[Sardaukar]

ORIGINAL: LoBaron


1)

Ok, first the easy one: Is anybody currently running WitP AE on 1366 x 768 successfully? If not, can anybody running a laptop at this resolution suggest the next best one to use (I am currently drawn towards a windowed 1280 x 720)?

I run 1366x768 with no problems on my W7 laptop. But maybe your laptop doesn't have that resolution as native?

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: LoBaron

Gentlemen, many thanks for your rapid and kind support. Everything is up and running, as you correctly assumed the 'start in' pointed to the beta2 folder.

witpqs, thanks for providing the command line switches you are using, they now work fine on my new laptop (removed the -wd, now running fine on full screen).

Just an unrelated question, as I noticed from your command line: is there a reason you have not added the -skipVideo switch? Asking because this switch already saved me uncountable seconds of my life...

I rename the video and sound folders to novideo and nosound, so the game just ignores them already!