Windows 7?

[Zonks]

Windowed mode works fine.

[Mobhack]

Originally Posted by Zonks

Windowed mode works fine.

That is the psychedelic screen, where some other Windows programme has messed up the 256 colour palette.

I find that it seems to be the Avast anti-virus on my machine that triggers that (e.g when it does a database update in the background). A restart of the PC clears the problem. If it has not been happening before on your PC, then suspect something new - software or hardware (e.g. a new video driver update). Also - running memory-hogging programmes like MS Office (word, excel etc) sometimes gives me the problem if I then decide to play the game. Probably from lack of virtual RAM - sometimes, just closing down word, Excel etc will allow me to restart the game in normal 256 colour, but sometimes one has to reboot the PC and play it "fresh" without having run any other programmes.

But if it happens a lot, then windowed mode is just as good esp if you have the CD version. If you have the CD version then set up the resolution to something larger than your desktop. You now have a "full screen" game, but with the Windows taskbar visible at the bottom of the screen - you can see if email has arrived, and you have a clock. You may need to configure the mouse scroll area, if you have problems with scroll detection at the bottom of the screen. Also, remember to use the default Windows taskbar (standard height, and no auto-hide) as described in the tuning your machine section of the GG. Windowed mode full screen is also the best option for wide-screen monitors.

I must admit that I really hardly bother with Full Screen DirectX. It has performance advantages for folks with older more restricted machines, but modern CPUs manage the game with no lag, so using a windowed mode means that the programme is more "friendly" to other windows apps. (It will still hog CPU since it is a traditional DOS engine at heart).

Full Screen DirectX mode may still be useful to those who only have the D/L version and like running in 800x600 full screen mode. However, some flat-screen wide monitors dont show that very well, as it is not a native resolution. CRT monitors don't have the problem, obviously! .

Cheers
Andy

[Zonks]

I think it may be Windows 7 64bit or the drivers that go with it, I have a ton of resources available, both RAM and Virtual.
I had never seen this before, only after installing windows 7, but as long as it runs fine in Windowed mode Im happy.

This was the first time I ever started it up in windowed mode and it don't look too bad at all, I have the CD version so I can run it at 1280 x 1024.
Thanks for the tips Mobhack.

Mark.

[DRG]

I never run full screen, always windowed mode.

98% of the time I'm in the game it's for development and I need access to other programs that are running and at any one time that could mean the game, paint Shop Pro, a text editor, outlook express, internet explorer , windows explorer and sometimes Borland C++ builder. I have, on occasion, had all that AND both winSPWW2 and winSPMBT running

That's with a 7 year old computer running XP

The game generally works better in windowed mode in 99% of the cases where full screen is an issue . The only issue I have with full screen is the palette is slightly off with all colours shifted a bit to red and magenta so not only does full screen not allow me easy access to these other programs while I play or test it doesn't give me optimal colour either.,

We included both modes because at the time with all the different OS and computer set ups this offered the best way to ensure virtually everyone would find one mode to suit them best. Unfortunately what has happened is " full screen" is being treated as the primary way to play the game and that was never the intent when we set up both modes. If one mode works better on your machine than the other then that's the mode you should be using for your machine. Full screen is NOT the mode players should be using if they have problems like this. That's why both modes are included.




Don

[jfcottigny]

Hello all !
I do have exactly the same screen than the one showed by Zonks, but never went further in the game when having this screen. I'll try.
And agreed about Avast, when disconnecting it I have a chance to play, while otherwise one can do anything, it doesn't work in full screen. Maybe have to accept windowed (I have the CD, but never liked this windowed version...).
Regards and greetings to you all, you anyhow do a magnificent work we all appreciate !

[demyansk]

I had the same problem with the psychedelic screen in this game and also SPWAW. I run it in the Windowed format and its perfect.

By the way, I purchasing the cd enhanced version will it allow me to play full screen? I have a 24" widescreen monitor

[DRG]

If you have problems running it in FS with the DL version your have trouble with the CD version but you will be able to run windowed at the higher resolutions which should hopefully fill your screen. Let us know how it works out

I assume then that becasue WaW only runs full screen it was unplayable for you or was there a workaround ?

Don

[Mobhack]

Originally Posted by demyansk

I had the same problem with the psychedelic screen in this game and also SPWAW. I run it in the Windowed format and its perfect.

By the way, I purchasing the cd enhanced version will it allow me to play full screen? I have a 24" widescreen monitor

It is the same game, so if your video card is barfing on 256 colour full-screen mode now, it will still barf on 256 colour full screen mode. Your hardware has not changed in any way.

Full screen windowed mode is already described in the posts above, so simply follow the advice already given once you get the cd version. The relevant item is your screen size in pixels, and not the inch size. e,g 1024 by 768 mode worked fine on my 1024 by 600 wide-screen netbook as a full screen window mode there. It simply displayed the game in a 1024 by (600-XP task bar height) window.

Andy

[Imp]

Originally Posted by DRG

If you have problems running it in FS with the DL version your have trouble with the CD version but you will be able to run windowed at the higher resolutions which should hopefully fill your screen. Let us know how it works out

I assume then that becasue WaW only runs full screen it was unplayable for you or was there a workaround ?

Don

Long time since I played but WAW was unstable graphicly in XP without serious tinkering.

[TheDesertFox]

Originally Posted by stormbringer3

Steel Panthers is still in my top ten of PC games. I'm getting a new PC soon which will have Windows 7. Any thoughts on how this game will function on Windows 7 would be appreciated.
Thanks.

Never had any problems running win-spww2 or win-spmbt from Win Seven. I have 3 machines here: One desktop pc with a nvidia gtx260 running seven-x64, another desktop with a nvidia 7950 running seven-x86 and a laptop with an ati chip running seven-x86. All is running smoothly as it did before with vista-x64 and x86. Only problem that still persists is the intro bug (disable intro and all is fine).

Happy Holydays from a former SP-Camo Beta Guy

cheers

Helge