Should I or shouldn't I?

[GBS]

I now have everything I need to download the patch. there is conflicting information on the forum here as to if you should deactivate the game before installing the patch or not. I want to do this right. What should I do?

[Andrew Loveridge]

Deactivating seems to be the safest route. We are still investigating how these issues have been created. I believe it depends on which initial NSD version you bought and how it was previously updated, but we are still gathering information. We hope to have a new updater later today, that prevents these issues.

[RebBugler]

Hopefully the new update will address registry entries. This seems to be the main problem now. For once they install initially, and it messes up for one reason or another, then try to reinstall, the initial registry entry won't let them. Usually the result is demo mode. With some folks, the game just flat won't start.

Also, in SOW testing we found another problem, registry locations. With one member, there were registry paths in two different registry areas, man, was this a bugger to determine, and root out.

So, basically, if I understand this right, the new update should first delete all previous registry entries for Matrix Games/SOW, and NorbSoftDev/games listed...not exactly like this, but hopefully you get the picture.

Also, just a reminder, the updates need to have OS options to select...probably dumb for me to even mention that, since registry paths are different with each OS, being general knowledge, even for an IT idiot like me.

Thanks

[Erik Rutins]

Hi Redbugler,

We've been in regular contact with Norb on this and would welcome any additional input.

The free update we created seems to work fine in the cases we tested, but there seem to be some legacy installation issues.

Also, there's no need for OS selection. The installer automatically adjusts the registry path based on OS and 32/64-bit.

I should also mention that the work-around that deletes all Matrix Games registry keys should not be used. That will break all other Matrix Games, which will just create much bigger problems for those that have any other Matrix Games installed.

We're planning to release a new update today which will improve as many of these issues as we can duplicate and fix. The first two will be to always allow the user to change the installation path (for those users that for some reason moved their files manually after installing as we currently go by the installation path in the registry). The second is to make sure that if the update was installed previously, that it can be easily reinstalled as there are these corner cases where the update installs but the game does not work and can only be fixed by a full uninstall/reinstall.

We've read through the work-arounds and we see two issues that we're trying to get more information on.

First is the issue of additional registry keys which we were not aware of and the update installer does not consider, but which the SOW executable apparently does. We're still trying to find out which keys exactly these are, as it's not a solution for us installer-wise to just delete the entire NorbSoftDev registry section. If we can just remove those keys that are causing the game exe to get confused, we should be able to resolve this without the user having to reinstall.

The second is the issue of deactivating the game before installing. This may also help with the above. We're trying to find out if there's an automated way to do that that we can include in the installer.

That's about where things stand now.

Regards,

- Erik

[Erik Rutins]

I should clarify for new customers that these issues have nothing to do with purchasing the game from us and installing it. They only apply to old installations of customers who already own these games with the previous DRM and installation method and are trying to apply the free update to get to the new version of the game with the DRM removed.

Regards,

- Erik

[RebBugler]

Erik,

The dual registration codes situation should not be an issue simply because...Why would anyone have two different codes on their computer? This is only a problem with the SOW team because we need a retail version of the game to test plus a development/work copy to evolve towards our nest release.

Otherwise, it appears you all have a grasp of the situation. We at SOW HQ are confident this will be worked out to everyone's satisfaction within a few more days, and possibly, updates.

Thanks for the prompt and very informative reply. This is critical in these early transition days...communication!

Personal request, off topic...Could I get my ID changed to simply RebBugler, without the number and including the caps? If it's available...

Thanks

RebBugler aka Randy