Any work done on this or just re release?

[Big Poppa]

this was a great game back in the day but very buggy any work done on it?

[Saracen26]

Roll DOSBOX back to 0.72.. See how that goes.

[moe120]

thanks for the tip, but this also didnt help (installed 0.72 + copied the .exe and 2 dlls to max's dosbox directory). Timer runs out after "end turn" and after several clicks on the top menu "files" or "preferences" the memory error and crash occurs

[Saracen26]

Hmm, not had this issue myself and usually those 2 changes sort the problem. I will have a look into it and see if there's anything else that can be done.

[moe120]

i've uploaded the save file to http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=39442456146319711524
i hope all needed files are in, seems a save file in max is not a single file but a bunch of them, if it works, just press end turn to reproduce

[Gorgious]

Most of the time when the game locks at the end of its turn, you just have to wait it out. Eventually (it can take up to 10 min but usually it's around 3 or 4) the AI finishes its turn.
Also, dont play simultaneous games.
I assume it's the same version as on GOG and I managed to get to turn 240+ with 3 AI ennemies, basically the game is finished anyway so I won't bother continuing it. Just go do something else or launch a series in the background when it freezes at the end of AI's turn.

If it's a hard crash or a memory overflow usually, the bug doesn't repeat itself right away when your re-start and re-load your game. So it's upsetting but not game-breaking. At least for me.

Also I won't enter into details but there are some fan-made alternatives to the game's issues that are pretty solid (one is even playable on modern TOUCH tablets). I'll let you google it.

[moe120]

it seems the turn-time was the cause in my case, i had it to 40 seconds and the ai never finished, now i removed the limit (set to 0) and guess what? the ai finished its turn in 32 seconds now and i can continue ... thanks for the hint

[Sal]

Sorry for the OT.

Originally posted by Saracen26:

Luckily MAX is one of those games that calls DOS4GW.EXE externally. So it is literally a case of downloading DOS32A, removing the old DOS4GW.EXE and renaming the 32 Bit compatible DOS32A file to DOS4GW.EXE

A very simple file swap fix, and hardly as bad as I'm probably making it sound really.

Hey Saracen26, as far as I have learned from the gog forum, MAX runs DOS4GW.EXE internally.
If you do the swap, you can see the old DOS4GW.EXE still loads when you start the game.
You can also delete the DOS4GW.EXE which shouldn't let you the game start, if I a not mistaken

Unbinding the executable gives you a maxrun.le which can be loaded with a new dos extender.
This worked for me as you can see below.
[IMG]http://i63.tinypic.com/9puruh.jpg[/img]

I have the gog version only, but it should be similar with the steam version.

To start the game I have this line in my dosbox startup config :
dos32a.exe MAXRUN.LE -fD:\MAX

For more info ->
https://www.gog.com/forum/m_a_x_series/changing_dos_extenders_might_be_the_solution_for_all_of_us

Explanation by Klei ( great m.a.x. reverse engineer from the past )
https://www.gog.com/forum/m_a_x_series/m_a_x_i_fixed_memory_assertion_error_that_occurs_in_late_large_games/post9

compact info
http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/showpost.php?s=57707ec6eec864c8092e636ef5782931&p=458686&postcount=14

Crashes seem to be less fatal, though there are still some bugs left.
Cheers!
sal

[Legendary Presser]

Originally posted by Gorgious:

Most of the time when the game locks at the end of its turn, you just have to wait it out. Eventually (it can take up to 10 min but usually it's around 3 or 4) the AI finishes its turn.

This was the case with the disc version too. Honestly if you remove time limit computer doesn't take that long to finish its turn. And having the extra time to think will help you as well. (especially at Master or God modes.)

Originally posted by Gorgious:

Also, dont play simultaneous games.

Couldn't agree more - crashes galore!

[Zasso]

Originally posted by Saracen26:

Originally posted by Big Poppa:

I remember lock ups and i looked on gog and i saw someone say they couldnt get past turn 120 or something without it locking up. I guess we will have to see once it releases.

All this steam version needs is to change from DOS4 to DOS32A, it completely negates those problems and allows stable long-games with plenty of units. No memory stack overflow in sight.

Fingers crossed this has been addressed. If not, I'll hunt down the fix. Shouldn't be too difficult to implement here manually.

EDIT: Since this will release at Midnight here in the UK. Here's the DOSBOX wiki reference on how to do it manually should it be a DOS4 executable: https://www.dosbox.com/wiki/TOOLS:DOS32A

I've been looking forever to find a way to circumvent some of the long term issues with running this game, and that's a first I ever heard/seen that one and I am very grateful for you posting it here.
So I went and tried it on my gog version but unfortunately without succes.

I followed the instructions from the wiki, downloaded the dos32a.exe, backed up the old one, renamed the new one and ran it in dosbox which returned the following error:

"DOS/32A fatal (8001): syntax is DOS32A <execname.xxx>"
any idea where I went wrong?


I'd be thrilled if I could finally have a working version that can run Ai vs Ai matches to the end as it has been a long standing dream of me, but no luck so far.


edit:
as per https://www.gog.com/forum/m_a_x_series/max_patch_156
apparently there is a russian community who worked on the old version a lot, but unfortunately my virus scanner doesn't like their .exe :(
anyone here who is more familiar with this group/version/patch or the Russian language?

[DeafSniper]

What I wouldn't give for an updated version of this game (graphics/interface). The game itself...ate away countless hours of my life :)

[=VG= kiwirambob/killabot]

Same ...

[Bolt]

I have the original cd version of the game, tried all official patch versions with it, the dos version changes and even savegame-swapping between them just to continue from round to round as a workaround to crashes / freezes / a hanging game, even tried the russian fan patches and versions (their sites are down by now).

To make it short: The game WILL crash at some point. I've managed to get games that last up to 400 rounds (just by luck, without additional tinkering) but usually one of these things will happen:
-the timer hangs indefinately and doesn't switch to the next player when expiring
-pathfinding crashes the game
-some error happens (stack overflow or some .cpp error, there are multiple)

The AI seems to cause these issues as well as destruction. I had a situation where I could crash my game by manually using self-destruct on one of my structures to make room for something else.

In search of fixes I've tried the old dosbox forums, abandonia (German site) and we all have searched long and far for solutions. There are none. Even the Gog version of the game has these bugs that will make it crash at some point.

Due to this game's age and unresolved issues it's not worth such a price by far. Don't buy it. Use the abandoned version with dosbox. It's the same but for free.

There was a fan project "MAX Reloaded" without AI, that I've never bothered with. Just to let you know about it.

There's also a follow-up title of the game, MAX 2 that was different from the original. I haven't played that one much as I didn't like it.

The best thing anyone could do would be to work on a modern version of this with actual strategy in it and maybe some new units and structures. Logistics come a little too short whenever it's about transportation of materials and defense doesn't cost any power while being pretty strong. Would need armor classes along with the game's concepts to fix that. Research would also need an overhaul to raise the prices on everything else that was not researched to have a profile what to go for instead of widely upgrading all units as upgrading one unit with the final upgrades doesn't pay off as much.

[Zasso]

Originally posted by Hollow:

I have the original cd version of the game, tried all official patch versions with it, the dos version changes and even savegame-swapping between them just to continue from round to round as a workaround to crashes / freezes / a hanging game, even tried the russian fan patches and versions (their sites are down by now).

To make it short: The game WILL crash at some point. I've managed to get games that last up to 400 rounds (just by luck, without additional tinkering) but usually one of these things will happen:
-the timer hangs indefinately and doesn't switch to the next player when expiring
-pathfinding crashes the game
-some error happens (stack overflow or some .cpp error, there are multiple)

The AI seems to cause these issues as well as destruction. I had a situation where I could crash my game by manually using self-destruct on one of my structures to make room for something else.

In search of fixes I've tried the old dosbox forums, abandonia (German site) and we all have searched long and far for solutions. There are none. Even the Gog version of the game has these bugs that will make it crash at some point.

Due to this game's age and unresolved issues it's not worth such a price by far. Don't buy it. Use the abandoned version with dosbox. It's the same but for free.

There was a fan project "MAX Reloaded" without AI, that I've never bothered with. Just to let you know about it.

There's also a follow-up title of the game, MAX 2 that was different from the original. I haven't played that one much as I didn't like it.

The best thing anyone could do would be to work on a modern version of this with actual strategy in it and maybe some new units and structures. Logistics come a little too short whenever it's about transportation of materials and defense doesn't cost any power while being pretty strong. Would need armor classes along with the game's concepts to fix that. Research would also need an overhaul to raise the prices on everything else that was not researched to have a profile what to go for instead of widely upgrading all units as upgrading one unit with the final upgrades doesn't pay off as much.

Thanks a lot for your additional information on things that have been tried and the status of some of the projects.

[rathchanger]

i put this game on an old laptop with windows 95.
You have to change the stacks and not patch it up.
It still crashes every so often when the computer gets to clustered up in its turn.
I have played games beyond 2000 plus turns I just put the game on 9999 points to win.
I haven't tested this on steam yet.
I've also had some great multi games that get really out of hand.
Having research so you can see the whole map and shoot across the battlefield .
Fun times when the computer doesn't just send a swarm of scouts.

[Sal]

You guys should try Max Touch https://discord.gg/kTytc3
Also https://www.facebook.com/MAXTouchGame/