can't use "old" scenarios in TOAW III

[Writhdar]

I have some edited scenarios from TOAW I, II, and COW. They opened fine on COW but are "non-loadable" in TOAW III. When I try to use the scenario editor, I get a "parent unit is invalid" message - when I press "continue", the game crashes.

I noticed that all the senarios that come with TOAW III have both an .sce file and also a Windows bitmap file. My "old" scenarios are only as .sce files - there isn't any asociated bitmap.

COW does not work on my computer - it is new and has Windows 7.

Any suggestions on what I can do?

Thank you

[sPzAbt653]

"parent unit is invalid"

Its been a while but I've seen this one too and I seem to remember it is a show stopper.

I still have COW, so if no one else can offer any solution, you can send me one of the scenarios and I will see if I can work it out.

[shunwick]

Writhdar,

Something changed in 3.4 that means some ACOW 300 scenarios cannot be loaded into the editor. You can still get them into 3.4 but you must load them into the 3.2 editor and save first. The "parent unit is invalid"message is an indiction of this.

The bmps provide the background picture for the briefing. They are not necessary but give a more professional look to the scenario. You can create your own bmps and there is an excellent tutorial by Bob Cross whiich explains how to do that in the documents folder.

When you say COW does not work on Windows 7, do you mean you cannot install it or that it will not run, or that it will not run correctly?

Cannot help you directly with getting COW to run on Windows 7 since I don't have Windows 7 to test it on. Have you tried setting the setup file or the Opart files to win 95/98 compatibility?

Hope this helps.

Best wishes,
Steve

[Oberst_Klink]

ORIGINAL: Writhdar

I have some edited scenarios from TOAW I, II, and COW. They opened fine on COW but are "non-loadable" in TOAW III. When I try to use the scenario editor, I get a "parent unit is invalid" message - when I press "continue", the game crashes.

I noticed that all the senarios that come with TOAW III have both an .sce file and also a Windows bitmap file. My "old" scenarios are only as .sce files - there isn't any asociated bitmap.

COW does not work on my computer - it is new and has Windows 7.

Any suggestions on what I can do?

Thank you

COW should run in the Windows 95/98 compatibility mode. The Windows 7 compatibility troubleshooter actually works in most cases. If not, send the .SCE to Steve1 (sPzAbt653) or Steve2 (shunwick). If you want the settings, e.g. AD, MRPB, Supply updated, send the .SCE to the Oberst

Klink, Oberst

[shunwick]

ORIGINAL: Oberst_Klink

If not, send the .SCE to Steve1 (sPzAbt653) or Steve2 (shunwick). If you want the settings, e.g. AD, MRPB, Supply updated, send the .SCE to the Oberst

Klink, Oberst

Herr Oberst,

It looks like we are beginning to offer a comprehensive service for the rehabilitation of the older scenarios. So many of them and definitely worth preserving. [:)]

Best wishes,
Steve

[Writhdar]

Gentleman - thank you all very much. Since I want the scenarios to run in TOAW III in Windows 7, I'll email them to Herr Oberst. The scenarios were all created by others (e.g., AG_North, etc) with a few modified further by me.

With regard to COW - I was able to install it and the game would open. However, the game window could not be enlarged to cover my screen - it was relatively small - about 35% of the monitor screen. More importantly, I could not select and move any unit. The mouse cursor remained as a circle with a diagonal slash in it. I used XP compatibility as COW runs on my old computer which is XP with service pack 3.

With regard to the 3.2 editor - how would I do this? Would I do another install of TOAW III to a different and then apply the 3.2.... patch? Or uninstall my present version of TOAW III, reinstall & patch to 3.2....., open & save scenarios in edit scenario mode, and then apply the 3.4... patch?

Thank you

Dan aka Writhdar

[sPzAbt653]

Something changed in 3.4 that means some ACOW 300 scenarios cannot be loaded into the editor. You can still get them into 3.4 but you must load them into the 3.2 editor and save first. The "parent unit is invalid"message is an indiction of this.

Thanks Steve. It seems like something should be done about this. Maybe it can be fixed for 3.5 ?

[Oberst_Klink]

ORIGINAL: Writhdar

With regard to the 3.2 editor - how would I do this? Would I do another install of TOAW III to a different and then apply the 3.2.... patch? Or uninstall my present version of TOAW III, reinstall & patch to 3.2....., open & save scenarios in edit scenario mode, and then apply the 3.4... patch?

Thank you

Dan aka Writhdar

Install TOAW from the earlierst version, keep the .EXE and rename it *see example* and continue the update process, keeping all different .EXE file and it will look like this...

Klink, Oberst

[shunwick]

Guys,

I just installed TOAW III again but to a different directory and then updated it to 3.2. It's more wasteful regarding disk space but I had my reasons for keeping that particular installation clean. Plus - I am a lazy bugger... [:)]

I don't know what changed with 3.4 it seems an odd thing since it does not affect all ACOW 300 scenarios - only a few.

Best wishes,
Steve

[shunwick]

ORIGINAL: Writhdar

With regard to COW - I was able to install it and the game would open. However, the game window could not be enlarged to cover my screen - it was relatively small - about 35% of the monitor screen. More importantly, I could not select and move any unit. The mouse cursor remained as a circle with a diagonal slash in it. I used XP compatibility as COW runs on my old computer which is XP with service pack 3.

Dan,

Unfortunately I cannot help you any further with this because I do not have Windows 7. Hopefully though, Someone else will pick up the problem.

You could try Win 95 or win 98 compatibilty to see if that makes any difference.

Isn't there a thing about disabling desktop composition? I think I have seen that somewhere but I might be dreaming. You might try it though. It's on the properties/compatibility tab on my machine (Vista).

Best wishes,
Steve

[rwenstrup]

You can run an XP emulation in Windows 7...I use that for Civil War Generals 2...

[Writhdar]

well, I set up a separate directory & installed TOAW III and then applied the 322.. patch. I was successful with roughly half the scenarios. So, I'll leave things alone for a while.

Again, thanks to everyone.

[Writhdar]

update - most of the other scenarios were made to work by scenario editor opening & saving in COW (on old computer), then the same on the 322... version of III. The AG_South and Guderian Drives on Moscow are still resisting - I'll look I can find updated versions

[Oberst_Klink]

Dan,

I got the latest of the Road to Moscow series; drop me a line if you'd like them with the updated settings, too.

Klink, Oberst

[Writhdar]

Thank you very much - the Road series are already in the scenario files (WW II - East Front)

I do have a extremely trivial question - with the newest patch, there isn't any picture in the center box of the "welcome to ..." screen. It is there on the 322... version - is there a simple way to ad it back?

Dan

[shunwick]

Dan,

That may be a Windows 7 thing because on my Vista machine I don't get the menu items displayed until I click away from the welcome screen. As soon as I click away, the menus appear. I do have the banner dodah though. Best advice: don't let it bother you.

Best wishes,
Steve

[Telumar]

ORIGINAL: shunwick

Dan,

That may be a Windows 7 thing because on my Vista machine I don't get the menu items displayed until I click away from the welcome screen. As soon as I click away, the menus appear. I do have the banner dodah though. Best advice: don't let it bother you.

Best wishes,
Steve

Since 3.4 I have that on my Win7 machine, too. But only when i use the Win7 theme. With the Classic Windows theme (the good old grey) however TOAW doesn't have this problem. Might be related to certain graphics drivers/APIs/aero/glass thingies.