Steve Schacher

Of course, I do know about upgrading. I've been here since the beginning, though I've been away for awhile. If I'm remembering correctly, the hyperdrive speeds were a function of engine power and ship mass. "Speed" Was really a matter of time that it took to get to the destination. Short planet-to-planet jumps and cross-system gate-to-gate jumps took the same amount of time, and both jumps equally drained the engines. It would be nice if the hyperdrive system were changed to one where the engine drains based on distance traveled (assuming that hyperspace speed is fixed), and not the one-size-fits-all way that it works now. And also clarify whether gate and wormhole jumps are hyperdrive-assisted, or don't drain the hyperdrive engines on inter-system jumps. Just my opinion... Steve

Wow! This is awesome news. I'm looking forward to it. One thing about the original game that always bugged me was that the hyperspace engines would drain after jumping through a gate or wormhole to a new system. When trying to pursue ships across systems, they would always outrun me while I waited for my engines to recharge after entering a new system. I wonder... Was I just playing it wrong all this time? Was this something that would improve over time with crew ability, and I just didn't give it enough time? Or is this how it was designed to operate? If it is by design, would you consider changing it so that hyserspace engines don't drain anymore after inter-system jumps? Only drain the engines if used within a system, because the ship is unaided by a gate or wormhole? Steve

That's sad to hear, but totally understandable. I know what a labor of love Battlecruiser was to you. Did you see that David Braben is releasing a MMORPG of his Elite franchise? Steve

Hi, Derek. Congratulations on your longevity and success. I've been away from PC gaming for awhile, but the early days of BC 3000AD still hold fond memories for me. I still have the disks and boxes, manuals, maps, etc. for all the titles, and Universal Combat 2.0 is still installed on my current computer. Being credited as a playtester in the BCM manual is still an contribution that I'm proud of. Good luck with your future successes. Steve Schacher P.S. I love that picture of your game collection. I have many similar titles in mine. Regarding the comment about Echelon, I still have my boxed copy of the Apple //e version. What would like to know about it?

I concur with that. The workaround is easy. Steve

I went ahead and did this before going out. I wasn't sure if VISTA had a compare tool so I downloaded something off the internet. Here is what I found. First Folder is the new install of 1.0 -> 2.0 Second Folder is the saved install of 1.0 -> 1.01.04 -> 2.0 Some notes on the folders: For First Folder, I only started the game, created a Roam Scenario, and observed Earth for the error. It did occur, which is why you see the FatalError.log file. For Second Folder, I have been playing that one all morning, and did change some configs, as well as save some games. Report: Adobe Acrobat Reader.url - different size FatalError.log - only in first folder models / BASE_MBASE01.3DG - only in second folder models / BASE_MBASE02.3DG - only in second folder models / BASE_MBASE03.3DG - only in second folder models / BASE_MBASE04.3DG - only in second folder models / BASE_MBASE05.3DG - only in second folder models / BASE_MBASE06.3DG - only in second folder models / BASE_MBASE07.3DG - only in second folder models / BASE_MBASE08.3DG - only in second folder models / MK2D.3D - different size models / MP_CITY01.3DG - only in second folder models / MP_CITY02.3DG - only in second folder models / MP_CITY03.3DG - only in second folder models / MP_CITY04.3DG - only in second folder models / MP_CITY05.3DG - only in second folder models / MP_CITY06.3DG - only in second folder models / MP_CITY07.3DG - only in second folder models / MP_CITY08.3DG - only in second folder models / MP_MBASE01.3DG - only in second folder models / MP_MBASE02.3DG - only in second folder models / MP_MBASE03.3DG - only in second folder models / MP_MBASE04.3DG - only in second folder models / MP_MBASE05.3DG - only in second folder models / MP_MBASE06.3DG - only in second folder models / MP_MBASE07.3DG - only in second folder models / MP_MBASE08.3DG - only in second folder models / MP_NBASE01.3DG - only in second folder models / MP_SBASE01.3DG - only in second folder models / MP_SBASE02.3DG - only in second folder models / MP_SBASE03.3DG - only in second folder models / MP_SBASE04.3DG - only in second folder models / MP_SBASE05.3DG - only in second folder models / MP_SBASE06.3DG - only in second folder models / MP_SBASE07.3DG - only in second folder models / MP_SBASE08.3DG - only in second folder models / SBASE1.3D - different contents models / SBASE2.3D - different contents models / SBASE3.3D - different contents models / SBASE4.3D - different contents models / SBASE5.3D - different contents models / SBASE6.3D - different contents models / SBASE7.3D - different contents models / SBASE8.3D - different contents models / SITE_MBASE01.3DG - only in first folder models / SITE_MBASE02.3DG - only in first folder models / SITE_MBASE03.3DG - only in first folder models / SITE_MBASE04.3DG - only in first folder models / SITE_MBASE05.3DG - only in first folder models / SITE_MBASE06.3DG - only in first folder models / SITE_MBASE07.3DG - only in first folder models / SITE_MBASE08.3DG - only in first folder models / SITE_OUTPOST00.3DG - only in first folder models / SITE_OUTPOST01.3DG - only in first folder models / SITE_OUTPOST02.3DG - only in first folder models / SITE_OUTPOST03.3DG - only in first folder save / player.log - different size save / player.sav - only in second folder save / player0.sg0 - only in second folder save / player0.sg1 - only in second folder save / player0.sgd - only in second folder ucconfig.ini - different size Found 62 differences and 2,349 identical files. >>> End of report I'll check back later (after midnight your time) for more. Steve

Sure. I'll do it tonight and let you know. Steve

I thought I read somewhere that it was best to install the 2.0 patch on top of a pristine install of 1.0. This time, I reinstalled 1.0, patched it up to 1.01.04, then applied the 2.0 patch. It now seems rock-solid, and the mbases are all there. I must say, the graphics are awesome. The AI NPCs are really tough, too. I stared a roam scenario, and before I could get a couple of mining drones deployed, the nasties are all over the region -- insurgents and criminals. I was planning to drop a drone on Earth and then one on Venus, and I almost made it back to Galcom but a fighter got blown up. A bunch of intruders also took out a bunch of my marines. I need save/restore more often than I am now. I'm going to have my work cut out for me to clear the sector. I better upgrade my equipment and build up my stores of fuel. Great job!!! Steve

It crashes me to the desktop when it happens. I'm running Visa Home Premium 32-bit on an HP dv7t. Anyway, I just stay away from those and I'm okay. Steve p.s. I didn't check the DVD version to see if it happens there. I can if you wish.

Sorry, I should have noted that. I'm using the 2.0 upgrade on top of a fresh DVD install with no other patches applied.. Steve

While observing Earth, I get this error message when clicking on the small box for base01 in one of the scenes/zones: PTE Error box - PTE reference to unknown object: base_mbase01 I checked other locations, and cities and other objects seem okay. I also checked other bases: base_mbase08, for instance. I also get the error. It looks like it's happening when clicking on any mbase_basenn. Steve

I got it working now. I did another clean install. I'm also running as administrator. You can delete this thread. Steve

Hi, Derek. I'm glad to see that things are still thriving for you. I recently bought a new HP notebook with dual core 2.4Ghz CPU's and 3Gb of memory, so I thought I'd try to get this game going again. I did a fresh install of the DVD version of UCCE, then applied the 2.0 patch. It seems that the saves are not taking. When I try a Save with Restore, it takes me to the save profile screen and I enter a name. When I get back to the main screen and click on RESTORE, the slots are all empty. When I try a Save with RESUME. it takes me to the main screen. When I click on RESUME, it brings me to the new game screen. When I try to save a CONFIG and exit the game, when I restart it the original configs are restored. Any ideas on what's happening? Steve Schacher

Happy birthday. It's still April 4 here in California. Steve

Thanks. It was giving me an error about "D3dx9_34.dll not found." From what I read on the web, DirectX 9 and Direct10 can be installed in parallel. By installing DX9, I was able to get the game to load and run. Steve

Hey, Derek... It's been a while, I know. I just got a new HP laptop that came with Vista Premium 32-bit and DirectX 10. Does this mean that I can't run Universal Combat CE? Is it only compatible with DirectX 9.0c? Steve

Well, I thought you'd be happy to hear that the Audigy 2 framerate problem seems to have corrected itself, then, but I guess I was wrong.

Much better! I'm running an Audigy 2, and at first I got no sound in my rear speakers and what I did get in front was choppy. It turned out that I still had hardware acceleration turned off because of prior framerate problems with Audigy acceleration. I turned hardware acceleration back up to full acceleration and I get full 5.1 surround sound and high framerates. So, you either fixed the acceleration problem or bypassed it with your optimizations. However, I'm also seeing the same thing that Ben is, in that sounds are just as loud whether I'm right there or zoom waaaay out in F9 views. On another subject, I noticed in the last patch (could have been there earlier) that if I hyperjump to a ship on the other side of the region and switch to an F9 inverse tactical view (or any F9/F10 view for that matter), I still see the hyperjump effects from my ship's perspective even though the camera is centered on the target ship on the other side of the region. Is that the way it is supposed to work? It seems odd in an F10 inverse view where my target and its target are in the view, but my hyperjump effect is overlaid.

The reason I ask is that it doesn't appear that these ships auto-generate at a jumpgate and then fly to the planet, they appear right at the planet and seem to just fly back to the planet.

Is the NPC "Flee" order supposed to have NPC's leave a planet or fly towards the planet? I'm trying to remember whether earlier titles had a "colonize" order (or something similar) that had NPC's enter a planet. In UCAWA, I see many NPC's flying towards planets with a "Flee" order, and I just want to make sure that I understand this properly, "Flee" means enter a planet, as in flee the space zone?

I did. I still wanted to see what it said.

quote:ps: The Updater will check the server, then disconnect if no new version is found.I saw that there is a message to that effect on the updater screen, but it flashes by so fast that I can't read it. Since I have all sorts of adware/spyware/registry protection software that prompts me for permissions, I was able to read the warning on the updater, otherwise it would have flashed by so fast that I'd have missed it.

Sorry, and thanks for the clarification. I used the updater when you first announced 1.00.10. The updater flashed and disconnected. Then when you posted that the Direct2Drive version was available, I ran the updater again and it found it. I just assumed that it was hosted there, since your warning in red implies that the publishers (Direct2Drive?) make patches available on their own schedules. I didn't realize that they make the patch and send it back to you. That updater is a nice service. No more downloading the exe, copying it to the game folder, etc. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

I just got it from Direct2Drive. It works great! I'm sure this will help poor raiders cash in on disabled ships, as well as for those NPC's to clear out littered regions. Thanks for the quick response!

quote:I'm going to look into tweaking item #1 at some point.Thanks. I'm sure that will help a lot.