richterm

Are you running Windows 98 or Windows 98SE? 98SE is listed as the minimum OS rev for UC.

Yeah, I was playing a bit at lunch and had the same thing happen. I DID say "if I recall" and since I'm getting old, I'm covered.

If you're really new, one of the best practical safety tips: Always power off Launch Control when you don't actually need it on. If intruders get onto your ship (and they will) they will often make a beeline to the shuttle bay and try to steal one. While it's possible to get the shuttle back, you may be looking at the expense of replacing it. If Launch Control is off, the intruder will be trapped and the Marines can gun him down. And if I recall properly, you only need Launch Control on to launch craft, not to recover them.

I've played it enough now to give it a solid two thumbs up for performance and stability on a Lenova T60 laptop. (running XP, 1 GB RAM) I'm using the latest Omega drivers for the ATI Mobility Radeon X1300. I did buy the game at some point, but managed to lose the CD in my last move. So having it released like this is excellent. I've also bought UCCE to run on my main Windows rig...it should be interesting to play them side by side and see what's new and different. Thanks Derek.

Ok, uninstalling and reinstalling fixed it. I did not patch up to 1.00.05....I'll wait on that for now.

I've downloaded the free version to play with on my laptop...I'll run the latest on the main rig. Anyway, I had a CTD issue until I turned off DXT Compressed Textures. The game then ran flawless for I'd say (gulp) 6 hours or so. Yeah, don't tell my wife. This included all sorts of operations - space, ground, me and some Marines beaming down, mining drones deploying and being picked up. So if you are having crash problems, give that a go. Moral of the story: it's usually the video driver's fault.

Derek, thanks for looking into this. I'll stop at 1.00.04 Axil, thanks for the tip. I'll probably try it tonight after work. And no, there really are no other games like this. It's worth spending the time to get familiar with the interface and the universe.

I'm in the middle of the same issue myself. Bought, ran it fine, saw the patch was released, ran the updater, confirmed that it was installing to the proper place and now it wants to be activated again. I'm in the middle of an email exchange with the Direct to Drive folk now. Hopefully we can get this worked out.

Thanks!

Street, what's the direct IP for your server?

Always, always, always patch. The bug fixes alone are worth it. The added features top it.

(looks around) Moi? I'm never going to hear the end of that one, am I?

quote:Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr: btw, the patch will invalidate some saved games. It was late when I wrapped up the patch yesterday, so I didn't have time to add this to the patch version of the VCF; though its in the online version. Any common pattern of saved game we should know about or it's hard to say? Solid looking patch, thanks as always for your efforts.

Not trying to waste your time...truthfully, I was a little nervous pursuing this in the first place, as I understand that you're busy and don't like to chase down false leads. As I said in the email, I've narrowed the issue down to shuttle 4 attempting planetfall on Earth. (although it performed planetfall on the moon fine and all the other shuttles planetfall onto Earth without issues) I don't know if it's somehow related to the shuttle being a replacement asset or not. (with the mining drone from the original shuttle 4 still deployed on Earth...is there some sort of broken association?) I missed the correlation the first time and for that I feel silly. If it's an obscure bug, there's some data for you. If you think it's not worth pursuing further, I'm ok with that. In any case, once I get all of the mining drones off of Earth, I'll see if shuttle 4 can successfully planetfall there at that point. Thanks for your time.

Derek, check your email. The adventure continues.

Aye. Got it, flew around a bit, things look good. Thanks. Not sure what the heck was going on.

I'd download the next BC product in a heartbeat. Much easier than driving to the store and has the instant gratification that mail order can't give you.

quote:Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr: Yeah, MSN is complete rubbish; dunno what MS was thinking. The company that brought us "Microsoft Bob"? Microsoft probably has more failed and mediocre products than successes, if you look at their whole product line. Why anyone would be surprised that something from Redmond is "crapware" is a mystery to me.

Saved game sent. Thanks again.

Issue the "Launch" order from the menu... try popping the menu up by clicking on the craft's little box. (right side in the main view) Also, you do not instantly appear in the vehicle when you order yourself to pilot it...use Perscan (Alt-P) to track your movement in the ship and don't launch until you see that you are in the fighter.

Sure thing Derek. I've read about Quicksaves being an issue, but you were also going to take them out...I've never run this career at anything other than the .13 patch. Also, I've saved either through the "Quit and Save" menu option or CTRL-ALT-G (which brings up the Save screen) I haven't tried running in a window...certainly worth a shot. We've got back to school night for my oldest tonight, but I should be able to zip it up and get it to you by tommorow night at the latest. Thanks for caring.

Ack...it seems that my saved game is borked somehow. It locks hard regardless of what I'm doing after a certain amount of time reloading. (sigh) So it looks like this instance of the Star Fury will be retired and I'll be starting over. Probably just as well, as I should have been killed a few times already...

Safety tip: After you capture a ship and tow it back to base, DO NOT release the tractor beam manually. After repairing Star Fury and replacing one of her shuttlecraft, several hostiles jumped in. I scrambled fighters 1 & 2 to take them out and the Gammulan fighter managed to cripple both of them and kill the pilots. I jumped in and started pounding on a Sentry...I think it was a Valkrie. (the Gam had jumped out)A flurry of missles and my PTAs crippled the bugger and I tractored the prize. I jumped back to Galcomm and ordered my shuttles to tow the fighter-shaped wrecks back to me. I figured I would bring the fighters on board, retractor the Sentry and then deliver it. Well, no sooner do I drop the tractor than the alert klaxon goes off, the Valk blasts me a little and scratches my paint and then goes hyper. We chase him to the Pluto jump gate and then let him go (as I've got assets floating into space) So....next time, I'll be sure to deliver the captured ship first.

Abby (my five year old) pulled up a chair and was watching me play. I asked her if she wanted to see me go outside my ship and she did...so I popped out of the Star Fury (my Megaron) and floated around for her. She thought that was pretty neat. Since I was approaching Galcomm, I hopped back on board and then went EVA once in docking range. We both were mighty impressed with the size of the station versus the size of me. You know that "little hump" on the very top and centor of Galcomm HQ? Well, it ain't so little when you're walking around on it. She then wanted me to point out Pluto...which I told her we couldn't see from where we were. Then silly Daddy decides to fly there for her. We were jumped by some baddies and I ran for the planet...bad bad move, which I didn't realize at first. We figured we'd land to look around and I suddenly find myself in an atmospheric storm from hell, with my shields LOWERED. (see my "Back into the breach..." thread for the aftermath) Anyway, I somehow survived and she wandered off to have a snack and leave Dad to the mercies (or not) of the galaxy. Yeah, the scale of things is really cool. Think I'll land on Earth tonight and show her some animals running around and maybe take a swim to check out the fish with her. (That's right, it's for the benefit of the kids only, not me. Heh...)

quote:Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr: You should be shot. He will be if my gaming experience is any indication. .... Oh, you meant In Real Life...sorry...