Update does not work

[RudiTheGerman]

I haven't checked back forever - so I have two questions
1) the is game worth playing by now? as in is it stable? Does at least the barbarossa campaign work without crashing?
2) how to get the newest version
I have 2.1.4,
On matrix games I find as latest a downloadable 2.07 from jan 2016 (http://www.matrixgames.com/products/latestdownloads.asp)
my downloader tells me I have the newest

however recent formum posts suggest that there is a 2.9.5

[&o][&o][&o]

[Aranthus]

The latest update is 2.9.5. You can find it here: tm.asp?m=4580031

As far as the playability of the game. I think that the major combat systems work reasonably well now. I haven't had a crash during air combat in a while. Land and naval also seem to be working. There may still be some supply issues in extreme situations, but I haven't encountered them. The one big disappointment still is the convoy and trade subsystem. Playing the Commonwealth is still frustrating, and you can count on losing 1 or 2 build points a turn to bad convoy routing, especially when you are trading resources to France or China. So if you are playing Barbarossa, you won't have a problem. If you like playing the CW, then you might want to wait. The ability to edit game files may be a way to balance that out by giving the CW a few more resources in England, but I haven't worked that out yet.

[paulderynck]

Before going to 2.9.5, you should go to Matrix downloads and get the public release 02.07.01.00. That is a full install and the latest EXE (i.e. 2.9.5) won't work right with 2.1.4.

[RudiTheGerman]

Alright - uninstalled everything
installed base game from the CD
installed 2.94
copied 295 exe over the 294 exe
started the game
loaded barbarossa fast game
port attacked - worked
tactical bombardments worked
disabled historical videos
initiated some land combats
=> get stuck in land combat resolution (may expectation that clicking a combatant brings up some menu doesn't work)
note that the menus still work aka game is not frozen - I just can't choose the combat to resolve

I am using Windows 10

One more funny observation - land combat resolution works in the Guadacanal scenario
as well as adding ground support through TACs




P.S.: Also the fast barbarossa is really a super stupid Russia deployment, why not teach a newbee something better

[paulderynck]

Can you save the game at this point, zip it and post it?

[michaelbaldur]

P.S.: Also the fast barbarossa is really a super stupid Russia deployment, why not teach a newbee something better

im guilty of that.

I made the fast start back in 2009. it was a different game back then.

it was always the plan, that I would redo them before the release. but we simply forgot it. [&:].


does save games were made for testing with limited options. so they are, yes stupid.

the plan was to make a public thread, and find a universal fast start

[RudiTheGerman]

save game

I really appreciate your guys help and responsiveness. This really gives me hope that sometime in the future I will be able to actually paly this game

[RudiTheGerman]

Make sense - I have also save a setup where I can trach myself the interface, like how to conduct overruns in the movement phase, and that stuff.
If I where you, I would definitely focus to stabilise the game without any optional rules in the most basic scenario and only then add the more complex stuff. This game is super suited for agile development and automated testing. BUt I fear the development unit is way past the point, where the architecture could be setup in this way.

[Courtenay]

ORIGINAL: RudiTheGerman
P.S.: Also the fast barbarossa is really a super stupid Russia deployment, why not teach a newbee something better

A long time ago I posted an improved Barbarossa Quick Start setup in the first post of this thread: tm.asp?m=3504213.

It is not perfect; I can see improvements that could be made. It is, however, much better than the one that ships with the game.

[paulderynck]

ORIGINAL: RudiTheGerman

save game

I really appreciate your guys help and responsiveness. This really gives me hope that sometime in the future I will be able to actually paly this game

When I opened your game, the Combat form showed up on my right hand monitor and was useable. Somehow your Screen Layout form although named "New Game" has got the Combat Resolution on a second monitor.

Do you use a second monitor or did you try to use one in the past? If not then the New Game SLY in the Barbarossa Scenarios/Map Views must have gotten corrupted. I'll check to see if I can find where these coordinates are in the file.

Edit: now I'm unsure if this is in the SLY file. I've tried a couple SLYs on your game and the Combat Resolution form remains on my right hand monitor until I manually drag it back. If you have another monitor hanging around, even an old small one, you could try connecting it to your system, dragging the form back, and then see if it stays in place after that.

For now, it seems to be a mystery as to how it got over there...

[paulderynck]

Some progress - after I dragged it back, your same saved game opens with it all on one screen.

[paulderynck]

Here is your saved game with the combat form showing along with the game, all on one screen.

When you load it, there may be a warning message about the screen layout file (named "First") but you can ignore that and it should use a default SLY file. If your combat form still does not appear then there must be a problem with your SLY file. In that case you can try closing the game I sent you, then placing the SLY file in the next post into the folder named: "Matrix Games\World in Flames\Scenarios\Barbarossa\Map Views", then opening the game again.

[paulderynck]

Here's the SLY file.

[RudiTheGerman]

Thanks for your effort.
I think the solution in the end is to use only Monitor.
I understood that setting up does not work with 2 monitors and apparently combat resolution has its limitations as well.

I just ran my game from before combat resolution and it shows the combat resolution just fine. Consider this problem solved

[paulderynck]

I use two monitors all the time although many in Europe have reported the set-up tray missing problem. Perhaps it is due to some regional setting delivered from our good friends at Microsoft or that MWiF fails to anticipate.

But even if you had to use only one monitor for set up, then afterwards you could switch to two. What works for me is the Main Form and others, like those that open under the main form or can be positioned by SLY file - like the global map and the Naval Review form, are on the primary monitor (which I keep on the left side). Then just the Detailed map on the secondary righthand monitor. If your choices for two monitors were different, you might try mine before giving up since maybe other combinations don't work as well. I seem to recollect others reporting problems if their Main Form was not on the primary monitor (what Windows calls the primary, that is).

Also keep the Main Form 3 cm or more over from the left edge of the monitor so it won't cover where the air unit mission form opens, because its position cannot be changed.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

I run with 3 monitors all the time.

I did a bunch of testing to make sure that 4 monitors (different pixel counts) also work.

---

As for the problems you encountered using 2 monitors, I don't know what to tell you. The program keeps track of where forms should appear in the SLY file. Each SLY file holds separate positioning data for each major power. See section 11.4.1 in the Players Manual volume 2 for more information on the SLY file contents.

It is a simple text file - you could even edit it using Notepad if you are courageous. But perhaps simply looking at your current SLY file (NEW GAME.SLY most likely) you will be able to figure out what the problem is.

Another source of information about the monitors is the Player Interface form. It displays how the program perceives the location of the monitors in terms of pixels.

[paulderynck]

There are a lot of forms that are placed by the program in relation to the Main Form and these cannot be changed in the SLY. I think Combat Resolution is one of these.