Matrix Games Forums

I am having a problem trying to open the American ship details. No matter which ship I click on, be it a carrier to set the wing orders, or a lowly destroyer, I get the same result...a crash to the desktop. I don't seem to have this problem with the Japanese forces. Any suggestions out there?

ORIGINAL: wallace18

I am having a problem trying to open the American ship details. No matter which ship I click on, be it a carrier to set the wing orders, or a lowly destroyer, I get the same result...a crash to the desktop. I don't seem to have this problem with the Japanese forces. Any suggestions out there?

I'll beat the testers to the punch... We'll need something on your system specifications to help...

XP/ME/98SE, etc... PC, RAM, sound card, etc... List it all. More info makes it easier... Without that there's no way to know for sure whats up.

I am having a problem trying to open the American ship details. No matter which ship I click on, be it a carrier to set the wing orders, or a lowly destroyer, I get the same result...a crash to the desktop. I don't seem to have this problem with the Japanese forces. Any suggestions out there?

This specifically Scenario #1?

This is also happening to me. It happens in scenario 1 (tutorial) but so far has not happened for scenario 3.

Same here. Clicking on the name of a US ship in the tutorial immediately crashes the game to the desktop.

I've also seen some odd data displayed in the tutorial, as when setting an air group to a mission that calls for a target to be selected (airfield attack, for example), the default target is sometimes displayed as hex "-1, -1". (This has been for Japan only, I haven't looked for it in the US side.) Neither of these problems has shown up for me in any of the other scenarios I've tried.

Hello...

The game is trying to play a sound file. Make sure you have the latest driver for your sound card and DirectX 8.0+ installed. See sound file problems, here, in the forum for more.

Bye...

Michael Wood

ORIGINAL: wallace18

I am having a problem trying to open the American ship details. No matter which ship I click on, be it a carrier to set the wing orders, or a lowly destroyer, I get the same result...a crash to the desktop. I don't seem to have this problem with the Japanese forces. Any suggestions out there?

Mike,
Could a work around be to turn off the sound?

Hello...

No. The sound calls are still made. You could rename the 'SOUND" directory something like, "NOTSOUND". That way it would not crash, but you would have no sound.

Good Luck...

Michael Wood

ORIGINAL: freeboy

Mike,
Could a work around be to turn off the sound?

ORIGINAL: Mike Wood

Hello...

The game is trying to play a sound file. Make sure you have the latest driver for your sound card and DirectX 9.2 installed. See sound file problems, here, in the forum for more.

Bye...

Michael Wood

ORIGINAL: wallace18

I am having a problem trying to open the American ship details. No matter which ship I click on, be it a carrier to set the wing orders, or a lowly destroyer, I get the same result...a crash to the desktop. I don't seem to have this problem with the Japanese forces. Any suggestions out there?

Good God, DirectX.....again. A genre that has NO NEED to EVER use a Direct X API? Do you people use this because your programmers feel it is an essential skill needed for resumes or something????

DirectX.....gotta a LUV IT!!!! Jeez....

ORIGINAL: ZOOMIE1980

ORIGINAL: Mike Wood

Hello...

The game is trying to play a sound file. Make sure you have the latest driver for your sound card and DirectX 9.2 installed. See sound file problems, here, in the forum for more.

Bye...

Michael Wood

ORIGINAL: wallace18

I am having a problem trying to open the American ship details. No matter which ship I click on, be it a carrier to set the wing orders, or a lowly destroyer, I get the same result...a crash to the desktop. I don't seem to have this problem with the Japanese forces. Any suggestions out there?

Good God, DirectX.....again. A genre that has NO NEED to EVER use a Direct X API? Do you people use this because your programmers feel it is an essential skill needed for resumes or something????

DirectX.....gotta a LUV IT!!!! Jeez....

Why dont you design the game then?

ORIGINAL: kev_uk

Why dont you design the game then?

Lol -- ain't that the truth!

focus on the why direct x?.. not just your antipathy to the person

ORIGINAL: Mike Wood

Hello...

The game is trying to play a sound file. Make sure you have the latest driver for your sound card and DirectX 9.2 installed. See sound file problems, here, in the forum for more.

Bye...

Michael Wood

ORIGINAL: wallace18

I am having a problem trying to open the American ship details. No matter which ship I click on, be it a carrier to set the wing orders, or a lowly destroyer, I get the same result...a crash to the desktop. I don't seem to have this problem with the Japanese forces. Any suggestions out there?

On the box it says you need DirectX 8.[X(]

On the box it says you need DirectX 8.

The operating system needs DirectX 9.0c to be stable and hack free. Matrix doesn't need it, but your computer certainly does. [;)]

One thing to keep in mind: Your display and sound drivers *also* require DirectX for reasons that has nothing to do with the game.

ORIGINAL: Mr.Frag

On the box it says you need DirectX 8.

The operating system needs DirectX 9.0c to be stable and hack free. Matrix doesn't need it, but your computer certainly does. [;)]

One thing to keep in mind: Your display and sound drivers *also* require DirectX for reasons that has nothing to do with the game.

I have 9.0 (b I think). Didn't know about a c version - I'll check it out tonight.

ORIGINAL: kev_uk

ORIGINAL: ZOOMIE1980

ORIGINAL: Mike Wood

Hello...

The game is trying to play a sound file. Make sure you have the latest driver for your sound card and DirectX 9.2 installed. See sound file problems, here, in the forum for more.

Bye...

Michael Wood

Good God, DirectX.....again. A genre that has NO NEED to EVER use a Direct X API? Do you people use this because your programmers feel it is an essential skill needed for resumes or something????

DirectX.....gotta a LUV IT!!!! Jeez....

Why dont you design the game then?

I intend to, eventually. And I damned sure as hell would not use Direct X in a turn based wargame. I can play wav and mp3 files all day long without ever using an X call. Why does a turn based wargame EVER need direct access to hardware interrupts? Answer me that?

ORIGINAL: Mr.Frag

On the box it says you need DirectX 8.

The operating system needs DirectX 9.0c to be stable and hack free. Matrix doesn't need it, but your computer certainly does. [;)]

One thing to keep in mind: Your display and sound drivers *also* require DirectX for reasons that has nothing to do with the game.

Say what? News to me. Maybe some OS addons like Media Player need Direct X but the base OS does not. Direct X is a MS libary set that gives developers direct access to the hardware interrupts with only a very thin API layer overlaying the driver. The parts of the base OS that access hardware do so directly using assembler calls, not Direct X calls. I sell sound enabled software all the time (softfphone apps, mostly) and I never require any kind of Direct X installation level.

But it always a good idea to keep all you system components up to date using Windows Update. That includes Direct X.....

I intend to, eventually. And I damned sure as hell would not use Direct X in a turn based wargame. I can play wav and mp3 files all day long without ever using an X call. Why does a turn based wargame EVER need direct access to hardware interrupts? Answer me that?

Because it lifts the burden of support off the developer.

I write to DX, I don't have to give a rats arse about your hardware because it is abstracted. That was the whole purpose behind it. Separate the hardware guys from the software guys and make the driver guys actually accountable for something instead of the free ride they have had over the years.

As long as your driver conforms to the standards, things work. The problem is shifted from buggy software to buggy drivers and no longer does the developer have to deal with the fact that you bought xxy vs xxx vs xxz card which are all basically the same except for those critical engineering flaws that were patched.

The blame for crap is finally landing where it should! The computer hardware guys. For decades, the software guys have been getting the short end of the stick because of substandard hardware. DX cures that and puts the blame where it belongs.

ORIGINAL: Mr.Frag

I intend to, eventually. And I damned sure as hell would not use Direct X in a turn based wargame. I can play wav and mp3 files all day long without ever using an X call. Why does a turn based wargame EVER need direct access to hardware interrupts? Answer me that?

Because it lifts the burden of support off the developer.

I write to DX, I don't have to give a rats arse about your hardware because it is abstracted. That was the whole purpose behind it. Separate the hardware guys from the software guys and make the driver guys actually accountable for something instead of the free ride they have had over the years.

As long as your driver conforms to the standards, things work. The problem is shifted from buggy software to buggy drivers and no longer does the developer have to deal with the fact that you bought xxy vs xxx vs xxz card which are all basically the same except for those critical engineering flaws that were patched.

The blame for crap is finally landing where it should! The computer hardware guys. For decades, the software guys have been getting the short end of the stick because of substandard hardware. DX cures that and puts the blame where it belongs.

But you can access sound through the WIN32 API as well. And there is a very big difference in stability but at the price of performance. Using WIN32 calls to play .wav files and mp3's and such is a lot less dependent on sound driver stability. If sound is generally working on your PC, then it will work fine using Win32 API calls. Not so with Direct X. Same thing with video. I can render a Bitmap using Win32 calls to create a compatible memory device context, select my bitmap into it then Blit it to the output DC, or use DirectX calls to do the same thing at the pixel and direct hardware level. The former works if you can see your computer screen. The later only works if you video card driver is stable enough. The former is relatively slow, the latter is lightening quick.

The difference between the two is the level of abstraction and layers of API code between the application programmer and the hardware. Win32 is a very easy thing to use, Direct X is more complex. Each is suited best to a particular purpose. My stance is that Direct X is NOT well suited to the turn based wargame. Not at all. It is like driving in a thumptack with a pile driver...

Ok ok,

I haven't purchased yet but...........

I have an old machine - 3/4 years old - PII 233, 320MB RAM, GeForce2 400mmx graphics, SB sound card. I also don't currently have Internet at home.

My questions are:

1. Based on my specs does will trhe game run ok?

2. DX 9 - do I have to download this from the Web or it provided on the CD?

I'm hoping the answers to the above questions are positive after waiting for this game for a long time [;)]

Regards,

Steven