Matrix Games Forums

Hey, I'll try anything, but let me get this straight...do you mean have the game install in My Documents?  In other words, when asked where to install the game, put the rest of the file name?  I'll give it a go.  Thanks for the tip.  I usually buy two games a year and this was one of them.  The other I'm waiting for is Battlefront's CMC, which who knows when that's coming out.  But I've had this longtime urge to design a scenario for TOAW involving General Smuts incursion into German East Africa in WWI.  Years ago I made a boardgame on that scenario of early asymetrical warfare.  I also would like to play the Polish-Soviet war of 1920 that I saw listed in TOAW.  I designed a boardgame for that years and years ago and always thought it had great potential as a computer simulation.  Anyway, I'll keep my fingers crossed and try out your advice.  I did spend some time this week looking for troubleshooting sites on WinXp Home as pertains to program installation but I found nothing useful.  Any websites you know of would be appreciated.  As I said earlier I'm not that computer savvy when it comes to checking under the hood, but I can always follow instruction...

ORIGINAL: Anton
Hey, I'll try anything, but let me get this straight...do you mean have the game install in My Documents? 

Yeah, install the game into the directory

C:\My Documents\whatever your user name is\

ORIGINAL: Anton
In other words, when asked where to install the game, put "the rest of the file name" ? 

Well not quite literally "the rest of the file name" but whatever you're using as your user name, which may well be "owner" without the quotes.

I'm guessing the install program will let you navigate to the folder you want to install in and all's you gotta do is choose it. And the install program will just install it into the correct folder without you having to type anything at all.

I tried the above but with the same results as before.  I think it may be more a language problem than anything else.  As I mentioned earlier, my computer's default language is Korean.  I switched the language to English to get past the problem of installing the French language files which the Korean couldn't read.  When I get to the installation textbox asking me what folder I want the shortcut to be (defaulting to "The Operational Art of War III" ), I am told I can pick one of the existing folders.  While in English, none of the existing folders, even those in English, show up.  But I recall that when I first attempted installation in Korean, I was able to choose from several files already on the program menu.  I believe that the ????\???? marks when the installation attempts to install shortcut are paths to this menu which are in Korean and can't be read by the extraction program's default language when attempting to place the shortcut.  This seems to me the best explanation for the question marks between C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\ ...and the actual folder that would hold the shortcut file...The Operational Art of War III\Uninstall the Operational Art of War III.  Does this make sense?  If so, would temporarily re-labeling the files for Korean program menu and desktop in English make a difference?

ORIGINAL: Anton....
would temporarily re-labeling the files for Korean program menu and desktop in English make a difference?

Hey that's a great idea. But I'm not sure how you would do that. We've exhausted my expertise. Maybe you need to switch to the English language just to do the install and switch back afterward???

I ought to add that even on the failed installation, everything--all the files, including the uninstall files, seem to be in the right place, though there is no shortcut or anywhere to access the game files but going into My Computer. From there I click on the autoplay and get the message I mentioned earlier, that TOAW cannot find some expected registry information and the game may have to be reinstalled. But, as I stated earlier, I am able to click on the uninstall through regular program install-uninstall in My Computer. So clearly it is the shortcut itself that is not extracting and being placed.

Is there not an OPART 3 icon in your TOAW folder? that's actually the one you would need to click on to run from my computer. Maybe try posting a screenshot of the folder and someone brainier than me could come up with a more informed piece of advice.

What happens if you double click on TOAW III directly?  Does it run?
 

Yes it does, the auto run icon just opens the menu for all the extras as well as the game. I'm wondering what is showing in his folder

()

Thanks everyone, but I am happy to report I finally got the thing running.  I stayed up until 4 a.m. playing a few games.  Actually, the original problem was as I began to suspect, that when the uninstall file attempted to install, the extraction program designed for TOAW was not designed to read complex languages, hence the ???? reported when the uninstall shorcut was attempting to find the location.  My computer, as I said, is Korean.  It reads English text, but I was not permitted to change the Korean names of things such as "desktop" or "programs menu," which the extraction program could not read in Korean.  As luck would have it, my Korean girlfriend's brother stopped in town last night, looked over the problem, confirmed my suspicion (he is a computer programmer), and gave me the cd to his old WinXP since he had just bought a new computer (which is in English, since he works for the U.S. Army).  We partioned my hard drive, put the English Win XP on half the computer, and presto, the game works!  Here is a case of the old Chinese proverb that every challenge offers opportunity and every opportunity a challenge...  Thanks again, and let the games begin!

Congratulations. Enjoy the game

Thanks for getting back with us on the fix, Anton, and especially for your incredible patience and resolve. Enjoy!