The Test Channel

[thedereksmart]

As per this thread, I gave some people access to the build before it goes live in the coming weeks. I am shooting for on or before Oct 1st.

The compendium contains four games, but only BCM Gold is installed by Steam.

I don't plan on making any code changes to any of the 4 games; though I will probably compile BC Gold for DX9 at some point. I already have it all setup in a VM, but haven't done it yet. Plus I would rather release them as-is for now.

The game isn't live yet, so the store page and forums aren't open to the public. Below are images of what it looks like when it goes live.

http://www.3000ad.com/bin/bc_comp_store_page.jpg

http://www.3000ad.com/bin/bc_comp_store_banner.jpg

KNOWN ISSUES

The game requires WINXP SP3 compatibility mode to run under WIN7 or WIN10.

1.0 The Steam installer isn't updating BCSETUP.INI to reflect the install folder. So saved/restore of games won't work.

FIX: The defaults are now as indicated below

cdrom=.\
home=.\

2.0 The game requires some DirectX components which aren't part of WIN10. Steam should automatically run DXSETUP.EXE but sometimes it doesn't. You can do it manually.

FIX: Run DXSETUP.EXE from the \_CommonRedist\DirectX\Jun2010\ folder where the game is installed.

3.0 The game was built with DX8, which has problems in WIN10 - even with compat mode. So you will probably see some visual artifacts and super high frame rates which can affect the AI tick rate.

FIX: Go to http://dege.freeweb.hu/dgVoodoo2/dgVoodoo2/

- Download dgVoodoo v2.75.1
- Extract contents to a temp folder
- Copy all 4 files in .\MX\x86 into the game install folder
- Read the QuickGuide for more info

Then, you can either run the game as-is or create a shortcut to BCM.EXE and run it in WIN XP compat mode.

4.0 WIN10 doesn't have the Indeo 5 codecs used for the 3000AD logo movies. So you will hear audio but not see any visuals during playback. The issue is that the movie player written into the game code is only going to use specific code to render it to screen; that's why having the codec installed isn't going to work like it does for the in-game animations which use a different process to render into 3D world space, instead of a window.

FIX: For now, add /n to the shortcut to bypass the intro animations. This is also forced when the game is run from the Steam client.

5.0 Without the Indeo 5 codecs, in-game animations (explosions, jumpgate, fluxfield etc) won't play.

FIX: See 2-3 above

6.0 There are 3D audio processing issues on WIN10.

FIX: For now, add /x0 to the shortcut to disable 3D spatial audio processing. This is also forced when the game is run from the Steam client.

7.0 If Steam doesn't run install_extras.exe, you have to run it manually from the Steam game folder. See BCG_COMP_README.PDF for more.

FIX: I can't fix it. That's a Steam client quirk.

NOTE

I won't be fixing any bugs, as that would mean code changes. So all I am focused on is addressing legacy type issues as per the above; so that they can be addressed before I set it live.

[BrianRubin]

Subbed!

[Tapasvi]

I've thought it's just the intros, but then I've checked the "avi" folder, and there are some more videos, like a lot of explosion animation, jumpgate, flux field, etc.
Then I've checked it in the game. Wormholes are not visible, only the point in the target reticle. The jump gates have metal frames only, without any glowing animations inside them. I haven't played it before, but I assume it's not how it was meant to be.

I've tried some trial and error with Indeo codecs on Win 10 because I remember going through this with some other old game long ago. But could not make movies work in the game. The best I could achieve is to hear the sound without a video. Or the frozen video in a separate ActiveMovie window... Used the old Indeo 5 installer, enabled it through the command line, tried K-Lite configurator - the tips from forums. Will try later again.

Also, for some reason, the game crashes when I rotate the camera after making the jump. For example: Default start -> jump at Jupiter -> F9 -> rotate camera to look back -> Crash. I wonder if it's just me with this old laptop and the mess I've done with codecs...

[Tapasvi]

A small note.
For some reason, when I tried to launch version 1.01D7C of BC3K, I was getting the CD-ROM error, when I've used the "C:\BC3K101D7C" directory (double-checked and copypasted it in .ini file). The problem disappeared when I've renamed the folder to short "C:\BC3K1" (and changed it in .ini obviously).

[thedereksmart]

Автор сообщения: Profile

A small note.
For some reason, when I tried to launch version 1.01D7C of BC3K, I was getting the CD-ROM error, when I've used the "C:\BC3K101D7C" directory (double-checked and copypasted it in .ini file). The problem disappeared when I've renamed the folder to short "C:\BC3K1" (and changed it in .ini obviously).

ah-yes, I need to note that in the docs. Old games don't like long (more than 8 chars) filenames.

However, if you're following my docs and mapping to C:\ in DOXBOX, it would work as long as that path matches what's in the file.

[ShoHashi]

I can confirm the work around works for the savegames. :)

On another note, in-game music works fine for me all the time. However, when I shut that off, the comms chatter and other sound effects don't work. Sometimes they will, but more than often they won't. I'm going to have to look into this more. Anyone else getting this?

[thedereksmart]

Автор сообщения: Profile

I've thought it's just the intros, but then I've checked the "avi" folder, and there are some more videos, like a lot of explosion animation, jumpgate, flux field, etc.
Then I've checked it in the game. Wormholes are not visible, only the point in the target reticle. The jump gates have metal frames only, without any glowing animations inside them. I haven't played it before, but I assume it's not how it was meant to be.

I've tried some trial and error with Indeo codecs on Win 10 because I remember going through this with some other old game long ago. But could not make movies work in the game. The best I could achieve is to hear the sound without a video. Or the frozen video in a separate ActiveMovie window... Used the old Indeo 5 installer, enabled it through the command line, tried K-Lite configurator - the tips from forums. Will try later again.

Also, for some reason, the game crashes when I rotate the camera after making the jump. For example: Default start -> jump at Jupiter -> F9 -> rotate camera to look back -> Crash. I wonder if it's just me with this old laptop and the mess I've done with codecs...

Have you tried running it in WINXP compat mode?

All the files in the .\GFX\AVI\ folder were encoded using the Indeo codec. If that's missing, they simply won't play.

General
Complete name               : gfx\avi\fluxfield.avi
Format                      : AVI
Format/Info                 : Audio Video Interleave
File size                   : 70.5 KiB
Duration                    : 1 s 600 ms
Overall bit rate            : 361 kb/s
IsTruncated                 : Yes

Video
ID                          : 0
Format                      : Indeo 4
Codec ID                    : IV50
Codec ID/Info               : Intel Indeo Video 5.0 Wavelet
Duration                    : 1 s 600 ms
Bit rate                    : 349 kb/s
Width                       : 128 pixels
Height                      : 128 pixels
Display aspect ratio        : 1.000
Frame rate                  : 10.000 FPS
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)          : 2.128
Stream size                 : 68.1 KiB (97%)

[thedereksmart]

In WIN10, the Indeo codecs are present but NOT enabled. To enable:

WIN10x32

• Run CMD (command prompt) as admin, then type:
  
• Type: regsvr32 ir50_32.dll and press ENTER

WIN10x64

• Run CMD (command prompt) as admin
  
• type: CD c:\Windows\SysWOW64 and press ENTER
  
• type: regsvr32 ir50_32.dll and press ENTER

DISABLE

From a CMD prompt, use regsvr32 /u ir50_32.dll

Now if you start the game, then select a jumpgate in the NID, you should see the animation at the center playing. This means that all the animations will also play just fine.

Now I gotta figure out how to force the Steam installer to enable this. Or I could just recode them in another format. But I don't want to do that as that would mean I am modifying the original assets - which I really don't want to do.

[thedereksmart]

I have pushed a minor update.

- Update via Steam client

- Go to the Start menu, uninstall "Battlecruiser Millennium Compendium Extras"

- Run the updated INSTALL_EXTRAS.EXE file in the game folder

- To make 100% certain that you have all the DX runtimes installed, extract DX9_Jun2010_Redist.zip and run DXSETUP.

- Read it (no, seriously, read it - I have added a lot more new info)

[ShoHashi]

Done and done!

Perfect! The -X0 commandline parameter fixed my sound issue! Awesome!

[thedereksmart]

And your visual issues (including in-game animation playback) are also resolved?

The intro sequences may still be troublesome under WIN10, but the Indeo 5 codecs are what's most important since they make the in-game animations (jump gate, fluxfield, explosions etc) work again.

[Tapasvi]

Solved the crashing and missing animations too. It was probably a DirectX issue. I think, but not 100% sure that missing animations can also be caused by it, because as far as I remember, after enabling the codec and some other magic related to that, they were still broken.

[ShoHashi]

Автор сообщения: dsmart

And your visual issues (including in-game animation playback) are also resolved?

The intro sequences may still be troublesome under WIN10, but the Indeo 5 codecs are what's most important since they make the in-game animations (jump gate, fluxfield, explosions etc) work again.

I never had the in-game animation issues. Maybe that was someone else. I did have the opening 3000AD logo issue not playing, but I just added the -n commandline parameter to skip it and all is well.

[thedereksmart]

Yeah, I can't fix the intro animation (it's not important, just company logos) because the player for that is source code based. I tried converting those animations to a different codec, and it still didn't work because the older source code isn't compatible with any codecs that came after the game was released in 2003.

[thedereksmart]

I have updated the default Steam client executable to automatically do /n /x0 if the game is launched from Steam. I will release that update later today with the GBSII update and some minor tweaks.

[Satoru]

https://codecguide.com/download_kl.htm

If you're having issues with the indeo codec, try installing the klite codec pack. The basic package includes the indeo codecs (I have this because I have an entire archives full of Real Media player nonsense that all of Asia used for a decade)