Steve Schacher

Were you within the 30 clicks docking range?

CTRL-V will display the frame rate.

Did you shut down any other processes that are running? They could be competing for CPU time and getting slices of time periodically.

quote:"wished into the field" Is this a subtle "Twilight Zone" reference?

Maybe I'll name my ship The Flying Dutchman!

My point about self-consistency is that if you have sensor technology that can detect a threat 200 years away, wouldn't you also expect to have other technology that would enable you to create a ship like this in less than 200 years? I'm not trying to criticize Stone's story, but he said that he just estimated and asked what might go into making for a long construction. I'm only suggesting that the reasons be plausible and consistent with the storyline that he is developing. On the other hand, I am no author and I have no experience in these matters, so my comments should be taken in their proper context: I'm just a guy posting on a BBS... Good luck, Stone, and don't let me discourage you in any way! [This message has been edited by Steve Schacher (edited 03-09-2000).]

quote: how long do you think it should take them to build a ship of that size? And could you also explain why you think it would take that long If you are trying to create a self-consistent sci-fi story, you have to start with some reasonable assumptions and project them into the future with plausible advancements. If you are creating a fantasy story, then you can make it up as you go along. Ask yourself what can happen in 200 years. The American Revolution was 224 years ago. How much has changed since then? If you started building a ship today (with today's technology), would the later components added 150 years from now be compatible with what you built today? Would what you built today still be a part of the ship 200 years from now? 200 years is roughly 8-10 generations. Could a project like this sustain interest for that long? Why? How? I could possibly see it if you were creating an ark to preserve mankind from an impending disaster, but why would someone spend 200 years on a warship? Wouldn't the threat be more immediate than that? Just some thoughts...

I'll put this here, in case anyone cares. John Colicos, the actor who played Kor in TOS and DS9 died on Monday. The Klingon Academy will have one less Dahar Master...

[This message has been edited by Steve Schacher (edited 03-07-2000).]

Man o' man... I just had a hecka session with my battlecruiser. I captured Idan and boy, do those raiders want it back! Wave after wave of attacks. And, you know what?!? No Crashes!!! Seriously, I've been doing some more tweaking -- I put in Cacheman to better manage VCache, I found a mouse tweak that boosts it up from 40hz to 200hz (I'm running it at about 85hz). But mostly, I installed the 3dfx beta version of their new drivers (I know, I know...) but I also put your glide2x.ovl in my C:/BC3000AD directory. That might have made the difference (for now). Without your version of glide2x.ovl, the game ran fine until I saved, and then when I clicked on Continue, it locked up. With your version it runs smoothly. The main reason that I went with the beta version is that they dropped all attempts to maintain compatibility with the Banshee card and wrote a whole new driver for the Voodoo3 alone. However, they admit that it hasn't been fully tested yet (it's all spelled out on the www.3dfx.com site). But I'm happy (for now).

All I can say is... You ain't seen nothin' yet! The current version is 2.09. The biggest enhancement (note *enhancement*, not bug fix) is ground operations. $15 for the upgrade is worth it considering that you are buying into a franchise -- read up on Battlecruiser:Millenium and Battlecruiser:3020 for the scoop on the future vision.

Something strange is going on at the 3dfx website. Last week, they had a screaming picture announcing "New Drivers!! 2/9/00! Now it's gone and the most recent driver is dated 1/28/00. I'll have to wait until I get home tonight to see what version is on my system. quote:Do u have 2 put it in the C:BC3000AD file or somewhere else? If you put it in the C:Windows folder, then it will affect every application you run. If you put it in the C:BC3000AD folder, then it will only apply to BC3K. You may want to take it out of your systems folder and put it only in your BC3K folder.

quote:if the glide2x.ovl driver, included in the most recent 3DFX driver update (yes, they screwed it up again, which is why I have drivers on my site that are known to work) does not work, why are you telling him to download it? Because there is more to the 3dfx drivers than the glide2x.ovl. There are changes to the display adapter control options that he may want. I admit that I'm no expert (insert LOL here ) on what is included in device drivers, but I thought that there were more files involved than just the glide2x.ovl that he may want/need.

quote:I downloaded the 3dfx Voodoo drivers on the download page Try updating your Voodoo3 drivers from the www.3dfx.com page. Only copy the glide2x.ovl from this site to your game directory.

I have a P3 550 with a Voodoo3 3000, Windows 98, and 128 meg of ram. Did you make sure that the glide2x.ovl from this site is in your game directory? When I downloaded the January 2000 version of the 3dfx drivers, I no longer needed this file in my directory. But when I downloaded the February 2000 version of the drivers, I had to put it back.

Isn't amazing what a little lawsuit can do? quote: Gates Foundation pledges $350 million to education By Associated Press, 3/2/2000 06:45

I'll answer this one for you. Go to the Tactical Computer, then select the loadout option. From there, select your shuttle, then cargo. From here, you can individually unload items or press the unload all cargo button at the bottom of the screen. Now go find out where this is described in the manual.

quote:whats the stability of your setup (especially those obscure issues you post) got to do with fleets? Just that I don't want any multi-player commitments if I keep crashing when I play. I'm hoping that these problems go away with BC:M. quote:I'm surprised MINESWEEP is even in the BC orders menu. It is an order for fighters, not the BC. Since the BC won't auto-arm its weapon systems, its pointless giving it this order. Actually, the BC still targets the mines with the PTA's and blows them up. quote:update: Just tried the above. Works fine here. I know, that's why I said it is intermittent. I don't know if it has anything to do with my savegame, or if it is an internal conflict on my PC. I can play for hours without a problem, and then all of a sudden this starts happening. I spent the past weekend updating every driver on my system (including the bios), and my savegame still crashes. I can't figure it out. I'm *desperately* trying to make it work consistently. The true test for me will be when I can let it run overnight without crashing. I don't know what else to do... [This message has been edited by Steve Schacher (edited 02-29-2000).]

I've been very hesitant to post this because I've always thought that this was something that was conflicting with my PC, but now I'm not so sure. I'd like to know if others are experiencing this crash also. I get a strange GPF crash that I think is related to setting the FPD target when in Autopilot mode. When in battle with hostile (red) targets, I often take manual control of the BC. I will target the hostile and set the FPD (by pressing the F key). This goes fine. I maneuver, fire, etc., no problems. But sometimes (not always), if I then turn on the autopilot (AI or Direct), the game crashes. Also, this can happen just by ordering the BC to ATTACK the hostile when in Autopilot. From the TLM, I select BC->ORDERS->ATTACK->ENEMY->target, and when I click it I get the crash. The thing that leads me to believe it is related to the FPD is the first case above. A variant of the situation is when the BC is already in Autopilot and is flying to a destination. If a hostile suddenly appears in the region, I will clear the FPD and target the hostile (still in Autopilot). When I press F to set the FPD, the game crashes. This is the converse to the first situation where I set the FPD in manual mode and then press A to activate the Autopilot. It crashes then, also. My latest frustration is that I went to explore the Debris Field in the Earth region. I found a bunch of cargo pods and two mines. I order the BC to hold and save the game. Now I order the BC (in autopilot mode) to MINESWEEP. As it is orienting towards the first mine, the game crashes. I have the saved game, and every time I start it, it does the same thing: it rotates clockwise to align with the verticle crosshair in the tac scanner, it then pitches upward to center on the mine, and as soon as the mine passes the inner-most tic mark on the crosshair, the game crashes. System specs: Gateway Performance Pentium 3 550 mhz 128 meg of ram Voodoo3 3000 AGP video card about 600k of conventional memory Config.sys and desktop icon memory settings to FAQ. Anybody else seeing this? Any ideas? This is what's keeping me from getting involved in fleets, since I can't get a stable setup yet.

I had this problem. Strangely, the solution was to update my mouse driver. I am using a Microsoft Intellipoint mouse; I went to their site and downloaded the most recent driver and the problem went away.

It's a slur on Chinese immigrants, mostly prevalent during the railroad days of the late 1800's in the old west. New York Senator Al Damato (sp?) got in trouble for talking like that about Judge Lance Ito on a radio talk show during the O.J. trial.

I don't mean to sound like I'm nitpicking, but after many years in a corporate environment where valuing diversity and ethnic sensitivity are stressed, do you think that topic names such as this might be considered offensive to some ethnicities?

I am running version 2.09. Collisions are a fact of life with the current flight dynamics. Things happen too fast for the algorithms to adjust. I let the AI get me close, and then I switch to manual and take it from there, except for stationary objects which the AI seems to handle OK.

I saw this once or twice while fiddling with memory settings. Are you using EMS and XMS? Does your XMS setting have the Use HMA box checked? Start an MSDOS session and type MEM. What does it say? Right click on My Computer/Properties. What is your resources percent free?

I was going to put this in the Development Suggestions folder, but on rereading it, it sounded more like a tip (although it would be nice to see the ATTACK order processing changed). Currently, assigning ATTACK orders (or DEFEND, FLY-TO, and ESCORT) causes your ship to fly straight towards the target vessel. Often, this results in collisions (I know, the flight dynamics are being revamped). As a suggestion, it would be nice to see ATTACK orders set up a broadside run where the BC heads to a point about 3-5 clicks off the side of the target vessel instead of directly towards it. Furthermore, orient the ship so that its port or starboard side faces the target ship to allow all turrets to fire. I currently do this manually. I wait until the ship comes out of hyperspace and then switch off the autopilot. I then match speed with the target ship and try to keep it on my side as I slowly circle around it. It seems like the current head-on strategy assumes that the IOD is the main weapon, but I find the PTAs to be more useful for ship-to-ship combat.