TTD Configurator problem (not the Patch)

krtaylor · Post by **krtaylor** » 11 Aug 2003 22:45

This is not a problem with the Patch, it's with the TTD Configurator program, I hope it isn't totally out of place here.

I installed the newest test version of the Patch on a Windows 95 system. I'd been using a beta Patch version (post-MB Temperate/Arctic; pre-buildonslopes/MB DB) on TTDW with no trouble. I'd been using the TPS Starter program, NOT Configurator.

I decided to upgrade to the latest Patch to get buildonslopes. I installed installed both the latest Patch, and the pre-assembled package of GRF files.

Since the Configurator can handle the newest Patch switches, and I hadn't tried it before, I decided to put it on instead of Starter.

When I went to fire up the Configurator, it complained about the missing files. It wanted me to download a complete program from Microsoft, NOT just the individual ZIP files with one file each within. I did so, and installed it. Then I ran Configurator again. The system crashed completely. I hit reset, and as soon as it had booted, it crashed again immediately, before I could do anything at all. This happened several times. So I decided it was time to install Windows 2000 from a boot CD, which I did, and under Windows 2000 TTD, the Patch, and the Configurator work just fine. I had to reinstall them all of course.

Because I had to put W2K on top of everything, I can't tell you what the versions of everything that I used was. The Patch ZIP file said 20b3W, and the Configurator ZIP file said 17.

I know W95 is pretty old but I still use it on some systems because it's more stable than W98 or ME, and some of my older systems are too wimpy to handle 2K or XP. There is one more W95 system I'd like to put the latest Patch and Configurator on, but I don't need another computer to freeze up and need a complete reinstall. Any thoughts? Or is W95 just too old to be cared about?

SHADOW-XIII · Post by **SHADOW-XIII** » 11 Aug 2003 23:06

TTDPatchStarter can work bit odd on Win95 but:
try to download TTDPatchStarter in ZIP file (not EXE, EXE require additional Win components which are not avabile on win95/98 and I cannot say how those components will work)

then use auto-update (if cannot connect, try change Timeout to higher)
or download and replace files from TTDPatch.Du.Vu

krtaylor · Post by **krtaylor** » 11 Aug 2003 23:34

It wasn't Starter that caused the problem. I'd moved to Configurator, which is what caused the trouble. I know about the install problems of Starter, I ran into them the last time and as you said, the ZIP file fixes that.

Starter is current with the Patch alphas I guess? Then I'll try and use that on my other W95 system, to avoid whatever the Configurator problem was. I think the problem wasn't actually Configurator itself per se, it was with the Microsoft program (VB runtime maybe?) that it needed.

SHADOW-XIII · Post by **SHADOW-XIII** » 12 Aug 2003 08:57

TTDPatch Starter is updated to TTDPatch betas ....

Andrex · Post by **Andrex** » 13 Aug 2003 05:04

Well, a few problems were happening with the Configurator under windows 98, caused by a different behaviour of the VB runtime libraries, and I fixed that removing some features from the program. But I never tested in under Windows 95, and it's most likely that the windows 95 VB runtime libraries are not the version 6.0 ones, they may be older version, which are causing crashes because incompatibility between versions. This is very common from Microsoft, it does not surprise me at all.

The only way to make the Configurator absolutely compatible with all systems is programming it manually in assembler, writing all the 0's and 1's one by one. But I don't know anything about this language, nor cobol, etc, so I use VisualBasic 6.

krtaylor · Post by **krtaylor** » 13 Aug 2003 14:43

I see. In that case, since it seems to lock up the system completely, maybe you can put something that checks for the OS and if it's W95, it says it won't work on that version. Oh well. Shadow says the Starter will work, so I'll use that instead. Currently I like the Configurator better but I haven't used the Starter in a while so maybe I'm not being fair.

BobXP · Post by **BobXP** » 13 Aug 2003 15:19

How about just run TTDPATCH.EXE -W and then use ALL the patches then you can dispose of dumb starter programs.

krtaylor · Post by **krtaylor** » 13 Aug 2003 15:37

Because I don't use all the standard patches.
For example, I don't like using the Patch default setting of never sending vehicles in for repair. I prefer to leave that at the default, but to also set up my vehicles to repair themselves. Thus most of the time it will be taken care of by my programming, but if something goes wrong, then the vehicles won't forget to ever get repaired and fall apart. Also, in the past this affected the enemy companies too and their vehicles just fell apart, which was no fun. I think that's fixed now, but I haven't fiddled with it.

Also, something I've tried to encourage is to make the Patch, in all its glory, easier to use. That way more people will use it and there will be more interest in the game. Thus more cool mods, and maybe someday a new version.

BobXP · Post by **BobXP** » 13 Aug 2003 15:54

lol vehicles don't "fall apart" in ttd

krtaylor · Post by **krtaylor** » 13 Aug 2003 16:15

Actually, someone put a suggestion in once that the vehicles change their appearance as they get older. You can imagine it - they get dirty, rusty, dented, pain peeling, whatever. That way you know they are shabby and should replace them. This isn't so important for the locos, but for the traincars it would be useful since it isn't obvious how old they are but it does affect your ratings over time. As I understand it, there are flags that would make it possible to do that, but it hasn't been built in yet because it would require a Patch modification and also a whole lotta graphics work, most likely by MB who is very busy already.

BobXP · Post by **BobXP** » 13 Aug 2003 16:30

Who's MB? (I don't think I can believe you're referring to the person who wrote a set of 15 custom VB controls)

krtaylor · Post by **krtaylor** » 13 Aug 2003 16:41

MB is Michael Blunk. He has drawn all new graphics for complete new trainsets, including:
An Arctic set with various Swedish and North American locomotives
A DB trainset with maybe 30 German trains from 1900-2000
A new Cargo set which provides new traincars that are better looking and more accurately suit the various "goods" produced by the industries; and have random variants so the trains look different
New and improved Ships

He's working on a Scandinavian trainset, and I've heard rumors of automatically assigned new station graphics (e.g. if the station is for passengers, it looks like the current ones, but if for freight only, it gets travelling cranes, stacks of freight, storage tanks, etc.

He is probably the most prolific mod artist we have (though by no means the only.) He seems to work closely with the Patch crew on projects that require both Patching and graphics. The wearing-out vehicles would be one of those, but he has so many things he's working on I don't think he wants one more.

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TTD Configurator problem (not the Patch)

TTD Configurator problem (not the Patch)

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