EXTREMELY FRUSTRATED with CotD

[HarryInk]

Sorry to post a grizzle but I am SO frustrated with CotD. I LOVE the concept & I WANT to use it in partnership with the forthcoming Les Grognards from Histwar.com (in fact another LG player-to-be proposed using CotD to generate our first battle(s) but the CotD just won't work so that idea is a fizzer...). However, though I wish I could say I've had value for money, I can't.

I so much want to use this game that I have had my laptop reformatted from Vista where it never worked, to XP in the hope that that would help. Even with the compatibility set back to Win2000 I'm having no luck. I have uninstalled, reinstalled, and installed all the patches several times. When it runs, there are error messages and it always collapses when battle is joined, being unable to find \graphics\backgrounds\battleback.bmp I fail to understand how - even after re-downloading the game from Matrix and installing it afresh, it can miss an apparently key file!???? (I've checked, it's not in the graphics folder). I asked my friend if he could supply me a copy of the file, but he doesn't have it either!! (In which case he may have been thoroughly stiffed too!)


For example, while writing this post I kicked up the game with the 1805 scenario and pushed Lannes and Ney into combat @ Ulm. At contact the error msg: 'Access violatin at address 0040A8C in module 'Danub~1.exe' Read of address 00000062' came up. I don't know what if anything it means but at least the game limps on... Knowing that if I tried to get the computer to resolve the following battle it would choke without the .bmp file listed above, I chose 'resolve with miniatures'. When I uploaded the saved game to report the result, the screen I got has key information missing!:





'Who won?' four times but no indication which box to 'tick'?!

Are you getting the picture? Do you see why I feel like I've been sold a pup?

A possible problem is that my computer is a Intel(r) core(TM)2 Duo CPU (2.53GHz). Possibly the game doesn't like duo's? But a solution...? And how would that fix a needed file that just isn't there??

BTW: After all this, I'm glad to see Frank Hunter pop up again as I felt the game was effectively abandoned, which has stopped me buying anything else from Matrix. I'm really hoping that his patch might achieve something positive. I'm also hoping that there might be a slim chance of a stable usable version of the 1813 game he was working on some years ago. Though frustrated I am an optimist, you see!

[mallak]

Do not install COTD in program files and you need to ensure all parts of the game ( including patches ) go into the same directory, as the game and the patches have different default directories.

[HarryInk]

Thanks very much Mallak.

Alas, it's not a solution. The files are all saved OUTSIDE the programs files in their own folder: C:\Matrix Games\Campaigns on the Danube 1805 & 1809

ALL the patches save into this folder (I've just checked).

Moreover, I've just uninstalled, reinstalled to double check the above and, of course, it offers no solution to the missing \graphics\backgrounds\battleback.bmp file, which renders the program unusable.

I'm still stuck with a lemon.

[1NWCG]

Harry, one thing mentioned in the past is that you need to install it with no antivirus or firewalls up, so be sure to unplug your PC from the net, but it somehow has issues with not getting files to install right when they are up.
 
It may also be your computer is too advanced.  This is a much older game and was never designed right from the get go.  Matrix has good games, so don't get down on the whole place, but this one has been issues for sure. [:(]

[HarryInk]

I shall try that and see if the missing file(s) turn up.  However, given your last paragraph and my experience, you can understand my disappointment.  I don't imagine anyone feels great when they've paid money for something that fails to work.

Still and all, maybe the patch the designer alluded to might achieve something...

[HarryInk]

Nope.  Tried it all - went offline & killed the protection software; unistalled, cleaned, reinstalled - and I'm back exactly where I've been pretty well since buying the game.

If my computer is 'too advanced' I wish the specs page would have warned me.

I await Matrix support...

I really would like this game to work or to be compensated for the frustration and the money spent on it.

[1NWCG]

Hm darn...sorry it was the only trick I could think of....sadly there are games here that are lemons that should really be pulled....I am not without my grips to Matrix too..... [:-]

[cherryfunk]

For the first time in years I emerge from Steam and actually buy a game (this one) from Matrix and have the same problem that HarryInk cites above -- the game won't run. Uninstall, reinstall, still won't run, or it runs with constant error messages about missing bmp files.

Buying from Matrix is like a journey to the dark days of yesteryear, when we were wary of online purchases because the process was so cumbersome and fraught with risk. I will say I was surprised when I came here -- the place hasn't changed in ten years. Hint: in the world of online retail that's not a good thing.

Sigh. No gloire on the Danube for me it seems.

[Recognition]

Yes very frustrating and time consuming trying to get a game to work on your system.

All I can say is that Im running CotD on 3 systems without any problems, Win XP, Win 8.1 and a Win 8.1 tablet.

Maybe try to install to C:/ CotD and try out all the compatibility modes like Win Xp or Win 7 and run from the CampaignsOnTheDanube.exe application and not the autorun.

Worth a try and I really hope it works for you.


PS And try different screen resolutions, make sure its matching your PC`s screen resolution

[Rasputitsa]

I am running the game in Windows 10, after a straight forward installation, although I didn't start trying to play until the the latest patches were applied.

I have applied the map and counter mods and fiddled with some of the files myself, to get a better a town name effect and the game has taken it all.

I cannot explain why the game should work on some systems and not on others, but AFAIK this re-issue of the game has been intended to bring it up to date with modern systems and working compatibility back may not be the answer.

My game automatically installed into C:/Matrix Games/Campaigns on the Danube 1805&1809 (default folder), with the whole game going into the one folder, including the saved games. All the updates are also automatically set to go in the same Matrix Games/Campaigns folder and should not be going into different destinations. If components of the game are being spread into different destination folders it is not surprising that it doesn't work. I am not using 'autorun', but starting from the main application file 'CampaignsOnTheDanube'.

[SteveD64]

Mine is working on Windows 10 as well, with all the mods. The only thing I think is wrong is that I don't get the crossed sabers on the battle hexes. No crashes or anything like that.

[76mm]

ORIGINAL: cherryfunk
Buying from Matrix is like a journey to the dark days of yesteryear, when we were wary of online purchases because the process was so cumbersome and fraught with risk.

I think you're being a bit dramatic...I've bought dozens of games from Matrix and don't recall any problems installing or running a game. And cumbersome? Maybe it's me, but I don't think that downloading and clicking on the exe is particularly complicated.

I'm sorry that the game doesn't work on your system, but I would not portray this as some kind of inevitable consequence of "emerging from Steam", as you put it.