EAWPRO NoCD version

[VonBeerhofen 63]

the original Microprose NoCD version from the Source Code is now implemented, making the the old NoCD hack redundant. It allows the game to run on newer operating systems, even when a CD drive isn't present. This change will be in the next release.

VonBeerhofen

[VonBeerhofen 63]

Almost forgot, a big thx to Mark EAW for testing it's funtionality!

VBH

[RIBob 39]

Now, that is a definite advancement for those who lack a cd, but want to try the game.  Well done!

[MarkEAW 63]

The big advancement is that NO CD-Rom device needs to be present anymore. The NoCd fix was there before.
For me I have an external DVD drive, it was a pain to keep turning it On just so the NoCD fix worked. This also help folks without any removal disk device on board their case.

But just so you know, you still need the original EAW CD to get the stock files off of, then you over write some of those files with the EAWPRO files, this allows EAWPRO to work.

Edited June 2, 2019 by MarkEAW

[RIBob 39]

Yes, I've done that.  But isn't there a version of the game, either v1 or v2, that can be downloaded and so helping the people who lack a disk?

Of course there is, and they're on your aptly-named Help Site.

So, the person who wants to try out EAWPRO simply downloads and installs the correct version of EAW from your Site, then installs EAWPRO over that, correct?

[MarkEAW 63]

I put it up there just for folks who needed it cause of Cd problems, but its not the complete CD.

Its a v1.2 download (Its not the CD (1.0) version or even 1.1)
Its missing the /music folder and all the movie files are missing as well.
The original eaw.exe isn't there either, a replaced NoCd 1.2 exe is in it.

You can't play the movies anyhow unless your using the DXWND wrapper I believe.
The music folder was removed just to save space, but I highly recommend you get the CD with the music on it.

 

 

[RIBob 39]

OK, let's put it another way.  Is there, on your Help Site, a patched version of the EAW game suitable for downloading as a basis for EAWPRO?  What I'm after is  a easy pathway to EAWPRO.

Sort of "download THIS", and then install EAWPRO over it.  Is it clearly labeled as such?

The goal, as I see it, is to make things stupid simple/easy for newcomers.  I've shredded my CD disk as per your suggestions, and finally got the game to run.  BTDT.

While straightforward, following your suggestions, that's tedious, and will certainly discourage prospective newcomers to the EAW game.  

That's rather difficult for many newcomers, and will discourage them., I am certain.

May I suggest making it much easier for newcomers?

 

What I would like to see is an Easily available pathway for newcomers to play EAW.  Something they can easily download--W/O CD, and play a reasonable version of the game.  Beyond that, I'd like that version of the game to be entirely compatible with EAWPRO, and whose download link should be immediately available.

IOW, "Download "This" to play EAW, and if you like that, download, try "This" to play an enhanced version, namely EAWPRO. 

Is that feasible?    I understand the V1.60 folks will not be thrilled, but V1.60, while having many benefits, is so complex as to be daunting.  EAWPRO is fundamentally different, and much simpler for the newcomer.

What can be done to help newcomers? 

[MarkEAW 63]

lol, ha ha

Crazy. :)

I was putting together a 700MB iso for my self to burn to a CD-ROM. But Perhaps I want to move all the installer files to a separate folder. Once I do that then that would leave the simple v1.0 files behind in the root directory of my CD.
Thus, all I would have to do is copy the files over, or the folder over to my system when needed. I'm putting all MPS files on there with very few thirdparty files, if any. Just the basic stuff is what I'm putting on it, but still.  I'm not finished deciding what particular files I want on the CD as I'm limited to 700MB. So its not done.

I can only suggest you to find a ISO  of the CD or EAW download online if you can locate it. I've seen it in my travels in the past. in a few places, but never saved the links as I have a CD.

The CodeGroup have been putting out standalones for the past 5 or more years now. But that won't work with the complete EAWPRO.

I'd personally would like a standalone EAWPRO will the least possible files, but I don't know which files are needed and which are not. As there are files left in the folder which we don't need anymore.
VBH may someday provide a standalone, but until then we'll have to apply EAWPRO to v1.x.

You can for the time being grab the file on my site, the one thats missing files, and use that. It will run and such, just no music. You can even put EAWPRO over it.

or you can take your CD and highlight the files that need copying over, as per my install instructions and then burn your own CD to make things easier for you later on.

Let me know how you make out.

 

 

[RIBob 39]

Oh, Hell, I've done that, and saved a copy so that I can copy it again if need be.  No problem there, Mark.

What I would like to see is an easy, simple-as-possible download for the various versions of the game.  REPEAT: as SIMPLE as possible.  In a good world, I'd like to see, for instance, an single-click download for, say, EAWPRO, or any other variant of the game. 

None of this "Edit your own CD" or download this set of files and edit it just so, in order to play the basic game, and THEN, Maybe download a vastly superior version of the game, like EAWPRO,, which currently must be overlaid on a (specific) version of EAW.  I think we can do better than this.

I think the various Modders are concerned with their product, and have neglected the marketing of their product.  Huge mistake.  Sony BETA video tapes were arguably better than what finally was made the industry  standard.  Sony did not market their superior system properly, and so lost the race to relatively inferior products whose mfrs aggressively marketed their systems.

The first Modder who creates an Easy single-click to their sim, and which sim is Easily navigable/played from an intuitive control panel becomes the default winner.

YMMV.

Edited June 6, 2019 by RIBob

[MarkEAW 63]

I know you want a one click installer. Its just not reasonable to do so. VBH's EAWPRO evolves. The CodeGroup have one click 7-zip installers for the standalones. But they change so often you have to discipline yourself to wait for the one download to become available, and bypass all the updates in between. We can't really do better, not without some help from others that could spare there time and pre package EAW in one form or another and release so called complete versions as time permits.

 

As I mentioned I'm making my own CD, I used 540 MB out of 700MB.
Is there any important files I should add to the CD as if it was made into todays era?
I have all the files expanded so everything is just layed out openly.

I removed the CD auto installer and setup files. Thats a few megs and a mass of confusion removed. We can't use the installer anymore without issues anyhow. I left the media files from the install in there own folder. BMPs and two WAV files.

I have the patches in there own folders, they just need to be dropped into the games root folder anytime you need to update them. But only the English patches are there. I decided the other lang was redundant and confusing.

I have the pdf manual there and the offical FAQ and default key assignment page.

I added the nocd fixes , for all three versions if someone needs them, and the nomovies.cdf too.

eawpixpac is in there too . I don't know if I should put the other offical modding tools on it or not. I don't know if theres a complete donwload for them.
plus a few other files.

Anybody have any ideas. This is my personal ISO that I would love to burn to a CD for my uses, mostly just to play around with a so called ultimate EAW CD.

 

[RIBob 39]

.

DVD format has a lot more "room", and is supposedly far more stable over time.  

Be that as it may, there ought to be an officially patched version of the EAW game, perhaps minus some non-essential stuff, available as a one-click download, and playable as such on a modern OpSys, such as Win 7, 8, or ideally, Win 10.

Again, ideally, this universally available, and easily downloadable version of the EAW sim (playable by itself) should also be compatible as a basis for other versions of the sim, including, but not limited to EAWPRO, of V1.6.

If the Community wants the number of players of EAW to stop decreasing, and to grow, and if the Modders want their versions of EAW to become more accessible, than having an easily accessible version of the base EAW game --playable in itself, as downloaded-- seems to me to be an absolute necessity.

Now, am I asking too much?  I hope not.

If what I'm asking is not possible, or worse, mot agreeable, then what will happen is this:

Forward 30 years.  "Hey look guys!  I found a very cool old sim called EAW.  Play it on your XYZ convertor for old games.  Pretty cool.  Too bad there was no further support for it."

THAT "lack of support" will be due to forums like this and Help Sites becoming extinct because there was no ONGOING and SUSTAINED support for the EAW sim.

Unless all the players and Modders hang together, and maintain an ongoing support basis for the game, the above scenario is quite likely.  ALL the hard work of so many people will be lost, and will never be acknowledged.  Your call. No, OUR CALL

We have it in our hands to do the right thing, of continue the petty, divisive squabbling that has divided this community for so long.

What shall we make of the future?  Extinction, or some sort of lasting contributions?

Our Call.

 

 

Edited June 6, 2019 by RIBob

[MarkEAW 63]

Yeah DVD is 4.7 gigs or DL 8+ gigs. Not interested in making a DVD, not enough room if I tackle the larger archive. If I had a blue ray I'd make that . But I would just dump my file archive as is into the blue ray, wouldn't even bother picking files to add to the disc.

So I'm using the max of 700mb disc images. I used 578mbs so far.....

 

As far as the rest of the lasting of the game. You have to understand that the game needs to be directx and hardware coded for modern machines like win10. Otherwise its still using compatibility. The CodeGroup doesn't know how to do the necessary work. Regardless new documents and etc are reapearing to code old DX games to new levels. EAW is DX6 with input and sound basically DX5. I've updated the request on help coding. I don't know if those guys have gotten any feedback in the past few years or not. For someone intrested in doing this.

Anyways If you want a one-click thingy, you'll have to make an archive by yourself or make an iso by yourself. But an automated installer typically are ad supported for free ones, you can try to find one to use/configure. I don't know much about it. Get a folder with EAW v1.0 in it and paste over EAWPRO files. Try to determine which files are not needed and delete them I guess until you have a small footprint of a game and burn that folder to a CD or make a 7z out of it.
I have no interest myself as I know the files get updated all the time and would just complicate things.

Everyone good luck with the one click install!

 

 

 

[VonBeerhofen 63]

A complete install is against the agreement the coders have with Atari, if someone would give me the official go ahead then there's nothing in the way of what RiBob wants. It would however make EAWPRO freeware which may cause online play complications wit6h diferent versions. Another problem as Mark has described is that it's pretty inconvenient to have to remake the package every time changes are added, like the one's just now. Personally I think it's much easier for players to download a small .ZIP with the latest changes and dump it into their EAWPRO folder. It has been done this way for nearly 20 years and it has always worked, quick and easy most of the time.

VonBeerhofen

[Jel 37]

People seem to have forgotten this:

[RIBob 39]

Your highly significant contributions to the community have not been ignored, I don't think.  But at least part of this discussion has been about a one-click download for potential brand-new users of the game; that being the easiest way to attract new users, which the community badly needs.

A simple, one-click playable download of a good 1.x version of the game would be a good start, IMHO. Adding-on versions of EAWPRO would be a relative simple process.

While your version of the game is very nice, it is also very elaborate, and requires some knowledge on how to use it to its' fullest extent.  With all due respect, the GUI needs alittle work, and V1.60 could certainly benefit from a well-written set of instructions.  I say this not in criticism, since I respect your work, but trying to play your sim is, for the inexperienced, quite daunting.   submitted with all respect.

[RIBob 39]

On 6/6/2019 at 1:30 PM, VonBeerhofen said:

A complete install is against the agreement the coders have with Atari, if someone would give me the official go ahead then there's nothing in the way of what RiBob wants. It would however make EAWPRO freeware which may cause online play complications wit6h diferent versions. Another problem as Mark has described is that it's pretty inconvenient to have to remake the package every time changes are added, like the one's just now. Personally I think it's much easier for players to download a small .ZIP with the latest changes and dump it into their EAWPRO folder. It has been done this way for nearly 20 years and it has always worked, quick and easy most of the time.

VonBeerhofen

You make some good points.  I understand that successful, longstanding practices are only discarded reluctantly.  Your observations go beyond that, of course.

However, the EAW Community is in decline, and some measures must be taken to counter-act this decline, lest the game, and all the Modder's contributions fly off into history, to never fly again.

My remarks on the "one-click", immediately-accessible version of the game pertain to all versions.  I very much want this sim to continue to exist, and it sems some changes in the way of things will be necessary to accomplish this.

Your opinions on the subject are welcome.

[Jel 37]

There are several "one click" downloads available including a 1.26e and a full 1.2.

However, on this Win10 laptop they need a wrapper to avoid the 7217 error, as does EAWPro.

[MarkEAW 63]

if you get that error on Win10, me thinks its because you don't have the reg entry in place.

Win10 sometimes adds it automatically, sometimes it doesn't.

My Troubleshoot Help Document explains this for Win10.

[VonBeerhofen 63]

Mark, I hope there's still someone around in 30 years to help people at all. You can't be of much help if you haven't read all the stuff relating to this game's problems, and even after reading it you may find your knowledge is still inadequate. If there are no trainers then there will be no trainees either.

VonBeerhofen

[MarkEAW 63]

30 years, lol. I could be so lucky to be healthy or even alive in 30 years. Anyways, my site is archived in a few places so it should be out their in that time someplace.

So far all the problems people have with EAW is covered for the last 20 years, technical problems. Not my job for future people when im not around or have no interest.

But that was RIBob that mentioned the 30 year thing, not me. heh.

[RIBob 39]

On 6/10/2019 at 6:09 PM, MarkEAW said:

30 years, lol. I could be so lucky to be healthy or even alive in 30 years. Anyways, my site is archived in a few places so it should be out their in that time someplace.

So far all the problems people have with EAW is covered for the last 20 years, technical problems. Not my job for future people when im not around or have no interest.

But that was RIBob that mentioned the 30 year thing, not me. heh.

I have had to dig deep into the WayBack machine on many occasions to come to the understanding that the Interweb is a fragile thing, and broken links to older stuff are common.  Hell, valuable info even a few years old is sometimes impossible to access, unless the WayBack machine has crawled it at the proper moment in time.  Mark's Help Site is such an invaluable resource to the EAW sim!  I don't know of anything quite like it.

Mark, you have created a resource that has helped this sim to struggle along, and perhaps even exist at all.  You have done this, almost single-handed, and not made a dollar from it

I'd call that a fair start towards a respectable legacy.  After all, all the wonderful creations offered by the Modders DEPEND on your Help Site  to get Newbies to get the game running right, or even installed and running, period.  Old-timers go there as well, as we all know.

Thanks, Mark!

[RIBob 39]

On 6/10/2019 at 5:44 AM, Jel said:

There are several "one click" downloads available including a 1.26e and a full 1.2.

However, on this Win10 laptop they need a wrapper to avoid the 7217 error, as does EAWPro.

Great!  Can you provide exact web addresses for the downloads, please?

[Jel 37]

Bob check your PMs at SimHQ

[VonBeerhofen 63]

RiBob,

Please note that other versions besides 1.2 or lower are incompattible with the EAWPRO addon.

VonBeerhofen

[RIBob 39]

On 6/12/2019 at 3:58 PM, VonBeerhofen said:

RiBob,

Please note that other versions besides 1.2 or lower are incompattible with the EAWPRO addon.

VonBeerhofen

Just so I understand you correctly, and stating it another way, EAWPRO is intended for versions of the game beginning with v 1.2, and so on upwards from there.  It is not compatible with versions prior to v1.2.  Are these two statements correct?

Is there an "upwards" limit as to the base version of the game over which EAWPRO can be installed?  If so, where is that point?

Many thanks!