ORIGINAL: shunwick
The game manual from the launch window thing seems to be an incompatibility between the Matrix launch window and Adobe Reader Version 8.
I have the following Matrix games: TOAW III, Harpoon 3, Steel Panthers World at War, The Campaign Series, War in the Pacific, Chariots of War, and Titans of Steel. I have tested each one and the only game that will now let me access the game manual from the launch window is Steel Panthers World at War. All the others fail.
So it's not specific to the TOAW patch but why would Steel Panthers be OK if all the others fail? Note that I can still access the manuals by going to them via explorer and double clicking or by launching the reader from the desktop and then loading the manual. It's not the end of the world.
It would not surprise me. It may have to do with some security setting with it. I would have to upgrade to Version 8, as well, to confirm it. In the meantime, I'll send off an email to Matrix to let them know of a potential incompatibility.
By the way, are you using XP, or Vista? More specifics on your system might be helpful in running down the problem.
ORIGINAL: shunwick
As for the blank line in the Advanced Options window, I reinstalled the patch but it changed nothing. I have just re-downloaded the patch and I am going to back up my scenarios and saves, completely uninstall TOAW, reinstall the base realease, and apply the new patch to that.
The Matrix uninstaller leaves a LOT of stuff behind, and does not give you the prompt that it did not remove everything. At least the Windows uninstaller (from the Add/Remove Programs dialogue in Control Panel) has the courtesy to let you know that there are things left behind in the folders...most of the time. I would heartily recommend that after you back up and move to a safe place all of your "important" files, i.e., saved games, scenario work, special graphics, etc., that you completely wipe the "The Operational Art of War III" folder from your Matrix Games directory, before reinstalling. Good luck.