Very impressed

[Leslie]

Well I am glad I stayed up http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

File downloads nicely.

I have posted a message over at SZO and no doubt there will be a surge of new members shortly.
I had the presence of mind to make a point of noting the forum management has some strict forum guidlines.

Noticed the price tag at just under 40 bucks. Bit steep for this "but the CD Edition includes helpful items like a printed quick start guide and nice goodies like higher possible resolutions, and a cut-n-paste map editor."

But all things considered, it is likely I will buy a cd just to offer something back to SP Camo for all they have done over the years, and not give a hoot what I might think of the dollar value.

[kevin]

Darn, I was staying up to have bragging rights of being the first one to post on the new scenario.

Thanks to all the SP Camo group for all the hard work.

[Mindi]

Thanks for the compliments. We're very happy to bring this offering to the Steel Panthers community.

One word on the forum guidelines, although we have them and we do inforce them when necessary, we also are not forum Nazis and don't run the forum as a police state. The only things we absolutely won't tolerate is user fighting and copyright/crack infringement.

Treat everyone with respect and don't break the law and I think you will find we have a pretty relaxed, friendly atmosphere here. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[Leslie]

Dang I have the game, I have installed the game and run the top 5 scenarios, using an assortment of resolutions.

I am getting CTDs though, and that's not something I normally encounter.

I hate to be a wet blanket and all, I hope it's just me. Late here though, I will leave it with others that get here before my morning arrives to comment on this matter further.

[Double_Deuce]

Leslie said:
Well I am glad I stayed up http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif


Me too! Was just getting ready to go to bed and thought I would check the SZO SP Forums to answer any questions and now there's no sleeping tonight!

Thanks to Shrapnel for hosting this for the CAMO guys. Glad to see you got them off the Yahoo Forums, they deserve better, and now they have it!

[junk2drive]

Got it running. DL took about 10 minutes on DSL at 130+kb
Thanks to all of you. I will probably order the CD just to show my support.

(pasted from my post in the intel forum)

[PlasmaKrab]

Please show a little respect for people with a social life AND a time table!!!
Good work releasing at nearly 00:00 on the 22nd, but now I'm hours late on the schedule!!

I think I'complete the download, dive into the thing, try the first tweaks, and see if I find time to eat, sleep, reply...

Congratulations again!

[danrh]

Good show guys, waiting for the download to finish but its good to see the forum up and I hope you guys do well out of the enhanced version you deserve it. I might even have to get it myself, the AU/US exchange rate is not too bad ATM.

Daniel

[Pyros]

Welcome guys to the WinSPMBT forums.

I am very happy to see friendly names/users (and be able to actually answer to your questions...LOL http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif )

As for the CD Edition, I plan to order a copy, not just to show my gratitude to the SPCAMO for all these years of contribution to my free PC game entertainment, but also for 3 additional reasons:

1. The CD Edition has an incredible map editor (not to mentioning the other goodies),
2. I wish to "force" the developers to make further improvements/versions on this fine game,
3. The game will soon be an all-time classic!

cheers,
Pyros

p.s Mindi could you inform me if/when the game will arrive in Europe, or should I order it by UPS?

[Mobhack]

Leslie said:
Dang I have the game, I have installed the game and run the top 5 scenarios, using an assortment of resolutions.

I am getting CTDs though, and that's not something I normally encounter.

I hate to be a wet blanket and all, I hope it's just me. Late here though, I will leave it with others that get here before my morning arrives to comment on this matter further.



What setup are you running this under, and where exactly are the problems showing?.

My first guess would be a corrupt download, this can happen so it's probably worth downloading the file once again to see if that was the case.

Also - how long has it been since you ran Scandisk on your drive, as you may have a bad or lost clusters?


Cheers
Andy

[Boonierat]

Just downloaded and installed the game in less time you need to say Windows Steel Panthers Main Battle Tank http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/evil.gif Already started the 5th Marines 'Nam campaign! and also happy to find all the old SPMBT scenarios included (as far as I can remember anyway)

Awesome job guys http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Darius359au]

Looks sweet , Runs sweet http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/cool.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif
Great job again guys

R

[Ambush7169]

Hello !

Thanks to the SPCAMO Team ! I'm downloading and, after that... I'll check the new features and play !

And of course, I'll see for... WinSPMBT Viet War Pack !!! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

Best regards,
Laurent Touchard

[RedMike]

Ah man! It's Christmas in June!!!

Yeehaaaa!!!

RedMike OUT

[nemo]

Good job on this one guys. After a long break, I'll eventually play SP again...

Installs and runs smoothly - just great!

[Arralen]

Leslie said:
Dang I have the game, I have installed the game and run the top 5 scenarios, using an assortment of resolutions.
I am getting CTDs though, and that's not something I normally encounter.




Please check the size of the WinSPMBT.exe (self-extracting installer which is in the zip file):
Just downloaded and got 104.847.109 Bytes

If the file (seemingly) is uncorrupted, check some other CPU-intensive game - maybe you PC has a thermal problem. Due to it's DOS-heritage, WinSPMBT runs with 98% CPU usage (shown), so it may get a bit warmer than usual.

EDIT: just had the downloaded game run for 18:51 in 800x600 windowed, message delay turned to 0 and klicking "next turn" 15 times or so. Run fine.

[wulfir]

Very impressed indeed! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/cool.gif

Especially like the new terrain!

[Mobhack]

Arralen said:

Leslie said:
Dang I have the game, I have installed the game and run the top 5 scenarios, using an assortment of resolutions.
I am getting CTDs though, and that's not something I normally encounter.




Please check the size of the WinSPMBT.exe (self-extracting installer which is in the zip file):
Just downloaded and got 104.847.109 Bytes

If the file (seemingly) is uncorrupted, check some other CPU-intensive game - maybe you PC has a thermal problem. Due to it's DOS-heritage, WinSPMBT runs with 98% CPU usage (shown), so it may get a bit warmer than usual.



Also - the user should check whatever other programs he has running (including task-bar objects and background tasks) on the machine.

If it is time related, then it may well be something like (say) an email application in the background scanning email every 5 minutes (and then bringing in virus scanners on the messages and so on), so the solution there would be to close the email application when playing the game.

The best solution for any such conflict resolution is to turn off all the other programs you have running, before starting the game. That includes taskbar type utilities, the Microsoft Office "manager" utility etc.

Cheers
Andy

[Leslie]

I am using an atypical 800 Celeron with a 32 meg video card of no real import and a more or less mediocre sound card. Running XP and I have nothing else running (to my knowledge).

Changed over to 800x600 and even went to 16 bit colour mode. I have tried scenario after scenario and I am lucky to get 3 turns in without a CTD.

To say I am frustrated is a great understatement.
I am sure the download went fine. I am sure the install went fine. I think I can recite the manual now from memory too http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Anyone got any thoughts?
CTD, its an experience I never experience normally.
Going to of course bring this up over at Shrapnel.

edit to add, going to now attempt the "download again" option. Thank god for broad band.

Keep in mind, I am sad, not angry, and I hope I am more or less a rare case here.

[KevinRanger95]

Yes I will buy the cd just for support, cause this is good stuff, and I'm going on vacation, couldn't have timed it better

[Leslie]

The short story here, I seem to have hit the memory requirement wall.

Guys, get some skill in closing things in Taskmanager, you might need it.

Finally got a game operational after doing some work in Taskmanager.

This might be the source of my CTD issues.

The jury is still not convinced though. I will need a while more.

[Double_Deuce]

Leslie said:Changed over to 800x600 and even went to 16 bit colour mode. I have tried scenario after scenario and I am lucky to get 3 turns in without a CTD.

Anyone got any thoughts?
CTD, its an experience I never experience normally.
Going to of course bring this up over at Shrapnel.


Are you running in Windowed or Full Screen Mode? Not that I have an anwer for you just been reading through the manual and came across some important points. Not sure it is relevant in your situation BUT one of these is:

<font color="blue">NOTE!

Before attempting to play the game in WINDOWED MODE first ensure that you do not, repeat do not have your windows task bar set to "Auto-Hide" mode. Right click your task bar, choose "properties" and ensure that The Auto Hide check box is not checked!. Auto hide, if on, will confuse the game's calls to the windows system metrics routines, and a false result will be returned for the desktop size. As well, you should also ONLY run the taskbar from the top or the bottom of your screen while playing in WINDOWED MODE. DO NOT run it from the side of the screen.

These are simple restrictions to make the game happy. NO autohide and DO NOT run a taskbar from the side of your screen.

These restrictions DO NOT apply to fullscreen mode! </font>

[Mobhack]

Leslie said:
I am using an atypical 800 Celeron with a 32 meg video card of no real import and a more or less mediocre sound card. Running XP and I have nothing else running (to my knowledge).

Changed over to 800x600 and even went to 16 bit colour mode. I have tried scenario after scenario and I am lucky to get 3 turns in without a CTD.

To say I am frustrated is a great understatement.
I am sure the download went fine. I am sure the install went fine. I think I can recite the manual now from memory too http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Anyone got any thoughts?
CTD, its an experience I never experience normally.
Going to of course bring this up over at Shrapnel.

edit to add, going to now attempt the "download again" option. Thank god for broad band.

Keep in mind, I am sad, not angry, and I hope I am more or less a rare case here.




The game minimum system requirements are as at http://www.shrapnelgames.com/SPCamo/wSPMBT/8.htm
and item 1 in that list is:
Pentium II 500 MHz

And as specified in the Game Requirements section of the manual, as well.
"Recommended CPU would be a Pentium 2 of 500 MHz or better.. ."

A Celeron is not a Pentium, unfortunately!.

Early model Celerons have no Floating Point Unit (I think they use a software emulation). Later P4 based Celerons are the same chip (FPU is not disabled) with half the level 2 Cache, so may well be up to the job.

This game does quite a lot of floating-point maths!.

I have put a call out to the playtesters to see if they have actually run the game on that processor, or have one to try it on, but as far as I know it was only ever tested on processors that had an actual FPU. (Pentium 1..4 and Athlon).

We'll see if anyone comes up with any success, but it may well be that we have to emphasise that "Pentium" means precisely that, i.e. Pentium or AMD processors, and (possibly) Pentium 4 based Celerons, but not the early model no-FPU celerons based on the P2 and P3.

Cheers
Andy

[Mobhack]

Double_Deuce said:

Leslie said:Changed over to 800x600 and even went to 16 bit colour mode. I have tried scenario after scenario and I am lucky to get 3 turns in without a CTD.

Anyone got any thoughts?
CTD, its an experience I never experience normally.
Going to of course bring this up over at Shrapnel.


Are you running in Windowed or Full Screen Mode? Not that I have an anwer for you just been reading through the manual and came across some important points. Not sure it is relevant in your situation BUT one of these is:

<font color="blue">NOTE!

Before attempting to play the game in WINDOWED MODE first ensure that you do not, repeat do not have your windows task bar set to "Auto-Hide" mode. Right click your task bar, choose "properties" and ensure that The Auto Hide check box is not checked!. Auto hide, if on, will confuse the game's calls to the windows system metrics routines, and a false result will be returned for the desktop size. As well, you should also ONLY run the taskbar from the top or the bottom of your screen while playing in WINDOWED MODE. DO NOT run it from the side of the screen.

These are simple restrictions to make the game happy. NO autohide and DO NOT run a taskbar from the side of your screen.

These restrictions DO NOT apply to fullscreen mode! </font>



Nope - the entire game screen area becomes "squished" in that case. Very obvious when it happens, and requires task manager to kill the process.

Cheers
Andy

[Celozzi]

Im also very impressed! Just installed it and cant beolive how great it is.
Just ordered the CD also as a way to show some gratitiude, and of course, playing at 1600x1200 and having a manual to read is a bonus.

Great job guys &amp; thanks!

Celozzi

[Leslie]

The Celeron comment might bear more examination from our "expert crowd" that would exclude me though http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

To my knowledge, I have not experienced trouble with having a celeron before. But always a chance for a first.

Oh well, I am due for a computer upgrade eventually, the important thing, is will SPMBT be waiting for me? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Now that's the key detail ain't it. A week ago, there was no point in caring, now there is hehe.

[Leslie]

Oh and just so everyone knows, yes, I read the whooooooole manual.

Not something I do often, but yes, I have scanned all the permutations variations and potentialities.

I have also installed and uninstalled several times testing this and that. Also downloaded from a different source and did same thing. Plus also tested it out on my second computer.

Might be a memory hog issue and a celeron deal with me.

[MadSlob]

A superb game yet again spcamo..You never disappoint!!!Sincere thanx for all your hard work!!I would buy the game if i had a credit card.Maybe in the future when i get a full-time job.Cheers MD http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Mobhack]

Leslie said:
Oh and just so everyone knows, yes, I read the whooooooole manual.

Not something I do often, but yes, I have scanned all the permutations variations and potentialities.

I have also installed and uninstalled several times testing this and that. Also downloaded from a different source and did same thing. Plus also tested it out on my second computer.

Might be a memory hog issue and a celeron deal with me.



Some possibilities:
Early model Celeron, so software probably pushing loads of intermediate results onto the stack. Extra RAM may help, but the stack size is limited. Probably only worth trying if you had a spare stick of RAM to hand (e.g. temporarily borrow off the other PC, if compatible RAM).

Same problem on the second PC you mentioned - If so, I presume that is another Celeron-based PC?

Reduce RAM demands.
1) if you use "Show Move Radius" option, go to Preferences and turn that off, because to highlight the possible path around a unit, the game has to calculate a lot of paths, and the more you are zoomed out the worse this can be, especially with units with a large number of MP.
2) Sound off
2.1) Switch the battle sounds off first. Although these are MP3, and so much complressed, they are still large files, playing continuously as a loop.
2.2) Switch off the regular sounds. There can be upo to 20 simultaneous sound "voices" going on. Each channel is a DrectPlay object.
2.3) Switch off the interface mouse click - that gets rid of the "snick" sound, You do that in the main game control panel application Misc tab.

Cheers
Andy

[Arralen]

@Leslie

Please choose "Start", "Run.." and type in "dxdiag" .
Wait for a while.
The use "save all info" (or the button which says something simliar), save as .txt file to your desktop. ZIP it up and attach it to a posting here in the forum.

That way we can have a look at your precise machine specs and drivers version etc.

You may include a screenshot of the taskmanager as well, that we might identify some "offending" tasks by name.

[Alby]

oops

[dita]

First off I`d like to congratulate everyone involved in this project. I sat staring at the game set up screen for 5 minutes....Just couldn`t believe it had finally arrived.

Anyway, finally plucked up the courage and was very impressed with what I saw.... But (you just knew there is going to be a but!) after about turn 3 of the last scenario in the list, bang!! computer crashes with a very worrying error message. I wont clutter this thread with that, I`ll post in a new thread. I wont be put off though...:)

[WestKent5097]

I'd just like to thank everyone concerned for producing this fine product and transferring it to Windows. Having been on a technologically enforced hiatus from SPWW2 and SPMBT for over two years its great to be back.
It is truly a wonderful sight to see the advances that this game has undergone, and I can't wait to get playing properly.
My heart almost stopped when I heard it was out already.
And thanks to Shrapnel too for hosting everything too.

Haven't had any issues yet re: Celeron processors. I have a 2.0 Ghz so I'll keep you posted if I run into any problems.

Best Regards,

Matthew

[WingNut]

To the SPCAMO Team, you guys are awesome! It runs very well, is very familiar, and the new gfx are absolutely outstanding! It was well worth the wait!

Running on:
Win XP Pro
AMD Sempron 2GHz
PNY Verto Nvidia GF FX 5700VE 256MB DDR
SB Audigy LS
1GB Memory

[Mad_Cow]

Thanks for this, guys. I have been wanting to play SP:MBT for a long time now but could never get the dos version to run.

The win version runs great and I am already knee deep in gore in the Ia Drang valley.

Excellent work, again.

Now I just need to figure out all the details...

[GaryG48]

Great stuff!
Downloaded in 5 mins (Cable Modem) installed in less.
This looks very nice. I haven't played MBT before but will start with the tutorial and carry on.

Thank you,

--Gary

[Grog]

&lt;AOL&gt; Me too!!! &lt;/AOL&gt;

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif No issues here at all. Thank you!

[RVPERTVS]

I haven't tried the game yet...will do for sure but I'm reading here about several issues the game seems to have wich made me give it a second thought

The issue I'm worried about most is the "celeron procesor" one, because that's my case.

Currently I'm playing the MSDOS version and my PC runs it perfectly well(even though I know this is hard to believe), so, my question is: if my Celeron PC is running the MSDOS version quite well right now, does that cirumstance increase the chance of getting the same performance on the win version? (at least concerning the issues related to the celeron procesor)....or it has nothing to do with it?

I mean...it will be weird and ironical seeing my system running the MSDOS version pretty well but having issues running the win version

[Arralen]

The processor is most likely not the culprit. I've been running the game on a C4-1500 for some time and never had any problems.

It seems, though, that there a troubles with multimedia codecs (Windows Media Player Plugins?!) of some sorts. Seemingly the WMP gets to anxious to play the avi and mp3 files the WinSPMBT uses, that both apps cl(r)ash about it ...

[Mobhack]

Arralen said:
The processor is most likely not the culprit. I've been running the game on a C4-1500 for some time and never had any problems.

It seems, though, that there a troubles with multimedia codecs (Windows Media Player Plugins?!) of some sorts. Seemingly the WMP gets to anxious to play the avi and mp3 files the WinSPMBT uses, that both apps cl(r)ash about it ...



Yes - Plus I was wrong about the Celeron, as it does have a floating point co-processor it seems. Looks like I may have been confusing that one with another cut-down budget CPU.

The other thing seems to have been PCS with a lot of real RAM used up by background programs (loaded at start up probably). The game wants real RAM, so some folks may well need to trim down some of these service tasks to free some space, and/or increaseing the windows swap file size may help a bit.

Cheers
Andy

[Ballista]

New to the forum. Thanks to all you fine fellows for updating the classic game. I can't wait for the WW2 conversion as well.... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[junk2drive]

My .02
XP by itself is not very happy with 256 sdram
My wife's PIII 1.0 with 256 and it shares 11 with onboard video is a slug.
My computer is home built, 1.2 AMD Duron, 512 sdram, WD 7200rpm HDD 8mb cache.
WinSPMBT plays just fine as did DOS versions.

[JPYBasser]

Overall I am impressed too. The only issue that I have encountered is the intermittent sound, which is really obvious during an artillery bombardment. I actually like the 480 x 640 resolution the best. The icons are bigger so I can see them better. I tried the 600 x 800 and I just can't get used to it. One feature that I like in SPWW2 and SPMBT versus SPWAW was the bigger icons. I guess it is due to the resolution of the games.
I hope that the sound issues are resolved soon.

[junk2drive]

I appreciate the default level at 800 x 600
With DOS I had to zoom out each turn.
Now I can zoom in if desired.

[Shadowcougar]

working on my AMD 1.5 with 512 SDRAM an a 16 MD video card. does run a little slow, but I older an slower now also.