SF install assistance needed

[HEMISENT]

After waiting months to get SF, a friend was able to Dl a copy of SF earlier this week for me from Gamersgate. He put it on both disc and a separate drive. We also installed it and ran it on his computer and it started ok. I then attempted to install on mine but game will not install. I get the initial install screen(from setup.exe), but absolutely nothing happens upon selecting the "Install" button. I then attempted to install on my wife's computer and the same exact thing happens.

The readme advises of potential install problems and to install the included "vc redist 86 exe" program, update dirextx9, and possibly dotnetfx.exe.

All but the dotnet.exe install ok. the last one fails and says it's incompatible with current program. Anyone have any clues on this. I recall reading of some having install problems (and a possible case of some downloads having missing DLL files I think) but have checked here and at the Graviteam forums but can't find the applicable threads.

[Kyth]

Hi Hemisent,

What O/S are you using?
I'm not sure whether you have a 'Starter.exe' executable, you might want to try using that for the installation. Also a good idea to install in any other folder except '/Program Files/'

Good luck! :salute:

Just curious, does the download version require any activation code?

[HEMISENT]

Kyth
Thanks. I've got an older setup using XP. There is an "autorun.exe" used to start the install. I've tried putting starting it directly from the separate drive, from desktop, and finally put it in the C/program files where all my games usually reside and there is no change. I hit the autorun.exe, the install screen pops up instantly, i then hit "install" and ...nothing.

The only thing that I can think of is my graphic card is an NVIDIA GTX 580. Everything else should be ok. A new rig is in the works but not for a month or so.

[Kyth]

Hi,

Here's something else from the readme file, under 'Known Issues':

12) If the game was installed on Windows XP Service Pack 1, it is necessary to upgrade to Service Pack 2, or, enable Windows 95 Compatibility Mode for the game application and the game installer. In addition, it is required to install .NET Framework 2.0 as well.

I think there are a couple of suggestions right there,

Good luck!

[HEMISENT]

Kyth
Thanks for the reply. I tried the windows 95 compatability -same. I reinstalled direct x 9-same. I attempted to install .Net Framework 2.0 but a window pops up advising it's not compatable with currently installed program. I then DL'd .Net Framework 2.0 from microsoft site (thinking that perhaps my copy on the disc was corrupt) and got the same window. Funny thing is I tried all this on my wife's rig and got the same results.

I opened up my add/remove programs and found .Net Framework 2.0 sp2, .Net Framework 3.0 and .Net Framework 3.5(the last time used was 2009 according to the log.

Could this be the glitch? What's with 3 versions of the same program?

[Kyth]

:hmmm:

I don't think it's a .Net 2.0 problem,
could it be your anti-virus program being over-protective?
One more thing, do you have a copy on CD?
You might want to try installing from that; maybe something was corrupted on the portable drive,

[HEMISENT]

Hi Kyth
Yes I have it copied on a CD also but I get the same identical results with both. I never thought of the anti virus program I'll try shutting that down. I would normally think this is a corrupted download but the game DL'd, installed and played correctly on my friends rig. There's got to be a reason for this.

[Kyth]

Good luck with the anti-virus protection;

one final thing is to see if your ID has Administrator rights?

:06:

[HEMISENT]

Hey Kyth
No luck on the anti virus. As for Admin rights...don't know. I don't recall ever getting into that as I'm the only user. How do I check it? Just went into the help/support section and can't find anything pertaining to setting administrator rights.

[Kyth]

The settings are under 'Control Panel > User accounts'

I'm totally stumped, usually the game installation is the easy part, :-?

Here's the contents of my game CD.Do you see anything missing?

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_Hbtk24rNEPw/TYt1tqD_u6I/AAAAAAAAAQ4/OHEl1_B_KCQ/s800/cdstuff.jpg

[HEMISENT]

Hi Kyth
In comparing the included files/folders the only differences are; yours shows a "set.exe" mine does not, and I have a "launch" file. The odd thing is your setup.exe is 332 kb and so is my "launch" at 332kb Could it be that yours is off a hard copy while mine is a DL version? I'm hitting "autorun.exe when I attempt to install the game which brings up the install screen which then does nothing.

Just checked and I am listed as adninistrator.

AAAARRRGGGHHH!!!

Thanks
H

edit: Just checked the instructions for the zillionth time and they say "setup.exe" is used to install the game, there's no mention of an "autorun.exe" I just assumed that was the file to click on as I have no setup.exe either on my burned copy or the separate drive.

[Kyth]

Well, I assume you've tried to use the 'launch' executable? It's worth a shot, if you haven't, :hmmm:

[HEMISENT]

Hey Kyth
Thanks for sticking with me on this. The "launch" that I have is not an exe. just a file in a program similar to all four of the "setup-#. bin" files. Yes, i have tried it but am unable to open it.

I think I need to get back to the computer that dl'd the game and see if there is a setup.exe and copy that. He's back in town this weekend so it shouldn't be too big of a deal. Other than that I'm pretty much at a loss. Thanks to the screen shot of your game's contents at least now I think I have a direction to look.

H

[Kyth]

If all else fails, here's something I wouldn't normally recommend:

Try renaming the 'Launch' file as an executable, and see whether it works,

:confused:

[frinik]

If worse comes to worse Hemi I can send you a cd copy of my installation disc. I proposed it to you a while back when you were desperately looking for SF.My offer still stands.

One advice I am giving you once you got your installation problems sorted out is to make copies of your game on separate partitions.By copy I mean all you have to do - which I have done dozens of times and still do routinely - is make copy of you entire game folder with all the mod s and missions isnatlled and simply past eit into another folder ina separate partition.It works very well and allows you to have many copies of your game without having to use the installtion CD all the times.In addition I keep a back up of all my installtions on an external hard drive this way I can copy and re-install my games.I have 14 copies of SF on a laptop and a pc and all were made simply by copying and pasting a whole installation without using the installation Cd. I thus keep SP 1.4, the Htezer-Panther mod, Unfofficial 1.5 and Beta 1,5 multiple installtions .Useful for experiments.


I think your problem is the lack of qn exe file which is why it does not start installing.

Best of luck!

With Meister Kyth you are in very good hands!Luck!

[HEMISENT]

Frinik
Thank you for the offer and I may yet take you up on it. The friend who dl'd the game for me is returning in a couple days...I'm hoping I can re-copy the game making sure I get the correct contents this time. If this somehow blows up in my face then I will PM you for sure. Can you believe I've been trying to get this stupid thing since Christmas time? Makes you want to chuck sims and go buy a Playstation or something.:damn:

Thanks once again.

[frinik]

I prefectly understand yoru frustrations Hemi as I have been following your long treck to get the game ever since you originally started looking for it.

Your problem seems to be connected to your pc though not to the installtion Cd since it works well on your friend's pc. There's something missing and since you have Direct X9 C installed and all your drivers updated I really wonder :06:

I have the game installed on a laptop and a pc with 2 different OS Win 7 64 bits and Vista 32 and absolutely no issues. I also have 2 different anti viruses AVG and Panda thus we can eliminate these causes as well.

Have you looked into your BIN folder? Take a look and see if you have a shell file.My suspîcion is that a file is missing either one of the codelib ones(base_main or base_install or base_gener) of perhaps the shell starter .You should also have in the same BIN folder the following:

d3dx9_31,35,36,37,38 and 39 and msvcm80, msvcp80, msvcr80. All these files are eseential for the game to start or work properly.

One way or the other we are goign to solve your problem. don't quit!:rock:

Cheers

[HEMISENT]

Thanks Frinik
I have no intention of giving this up and greatly appreciate all the help from both you and Kyth.

Checking the bin folder as I write to compare and I find:

shell.exe, all 3 base files you mention (11 total base_ files), also seeing the d3dx9_31,35,36,37,38 and 39 and msvcm80, msvcp80, msvcr80. Everything in your list appears to be there.

I got an E mail from the guy who dl'd it and he checked his laptop for the setup.exe in question and it does exist on his machine. I think right now the first step is to get another copy burned and check all the files-those you mention plus the setup.exe. That probably won't happen till late tomorrow or even Monday.

[frinik]

OK good but do you see the shell folder at the bottom of the list?This where the soul of the game is , the spark if you will.Without it your game is.... Uh an empty shell:D

[HEMISENT]

Frinik
Sorry for not getting back sooner, my work load has been really heavy this week. As for a "shell" folder you refer to, all I have in the bin folder is a "shell.exe"

3 base_ files
8 basic_files
1 compress dll file
6 d3dx9 files
a microsoft manifest file
3 msvcp or m files you mentioned earlier
1 shell.exe file

no shell folder

[Kyth]

I have no shell folder on my CD either.

I hope you've gotten your new copy of the CD (with the setup.exe this time), :(

[HEMISENT]

Kyth
Thanks-should be picking it up this weekend, unfortunately real life reared it's ugly head once again and I was swamped with work.

Glad to hear there is no shell folder-I guess I misunderstood Frinik's reply.
Right now, thanks to both of you I have an idea what to look for on the new copied disc and will be sure to double check the contents before I go through all this again.

H

[frinik]

Yes >Hemi actually <i should have been more specific there's only shell.exe file.

BTW You did not mention the protect folders inn the bin/rel folder there a protect exe , protect dll and protect.x64 and protect.x86 folders as well( I guess it depends on what type of OS 32 or 64 bits).Do you have them?

One idea comes to mind .What if I email you my starter.exe file in rar format? Just paste into your game and see if it starts? What do you think?Might be worth a try....

[HEMISENT]

Hello Frinik
Just sitting down reading this and find your referance to "protect.#" folders...there is nothing that even closely resembles that. I just now called my friend, told him of your reply and we agreed to bring my computer over to his place and re-dl the game from Gamersgate. He says it runs perfectly on his machine that's why we're puzzled that the copy seems to have gotten so screwed up. I wonder what other files if any are missing.

If for some reason I cannot get to his place I'd really appreciate it if you could e mail me the set.exe and see what happens. I'll know by later tomorrow hopefully.

Thanks for everything
H

[Kyth]

To clarify things a little:

The 'protect' files and starter.exe will only appear after installation.

The setup.exe executable is needed, to start the actual installation process, which I think is the main problem?

Get it installed first, is what I'm saying, then see if you have all the other stuff.

[HEMISENT]

Kyth
what you said makes sense. Some files don't show up until the install process is complete and the game has run. What I'm wondering is if the game downloaded, and my friend copied that download or did he install it, start it, then copy it to a disk. Having never ever dl'd a game before I didn't think of this. I think there may have been process that was required to make a successful copy.

He went out of town on business right after all this so we never really got to iron it out.

Thank You
H

[frinik]

Yes what Kyth says makes sense but my understanding is that you have the game installed but it just won´t start.Is´n´t it?

As for copying the game it works very well.I have 9 copies of my game on a pc and a laptop and they work without a problem( the only thing with copying id that you have to re-create the Mission Editor every time as it does not work on a copy but I have the bat files copied to a folder so it´s not a problem for me).

Worse comes to worse I ll make a rar file for the protect files that I have and email them to you as well.What kind of OS do you have? I have the game installed on Vista Home Premium 32 bits and Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bits.

Hang on!:rock:

[HEMISENT]

Yes what Kyth says makes sense but my understanding is that you have the game installed but it just won´t start.Is´n´t it?



Frinik
Negative. I have a copy of the dl'd game on a disc. I cannot get the game to install. As we now know there is no setup.exe file on my copy, only something called autorun.exe which only brings up the install screen but does nothing else.

H

[frinik]

Sorry Hemi my misunderstanding! I put my Cd installation disc in my pc , opened the folder and made a copy of the setup.exe file on a USB.Might be worth emailing it to you as a rar file so you could paste into into your CD's game files? Might work! What do you say? If you're Ok just PM me your email address.

Cheers

[HEMISENT]

SUCCESS AT LAST!!! sort of

Here's the latest question in this saga. My friend and I dl'd the game at his place last night using his connection on my computer. 35 minutes later it successfully completed, we installed it successfully. The game started on my rig and ran just fine...no issues, I'm happy at last.

Just out of curiosity we checked the game contents looking for the previously missing setup.exe file. It's not there. We checked his computer that originally was used a couple weeks ago...no setup.exe either. I compared the screen shot of Kyth's game contents earlier in this thread and it matches perfectly except for the setup.exe.

Frinik;
I just pm'd you.

Having never dl'd a game before I have no clue what's going on.
I'm hoping that with your "setup.exe" I can add that to the game contents which will allow me to make copies as you have in case something crashes.

[Kyth]

It's probably because it's a download; they'd prefer you to purchase more instead of installing the same copy ad infinitum :O:

Anyway! Welcome in and if there's anything else we can help with, please let us know, :salute:

[HEMISENT]

Thanks for all the help Kyth
I've just been playing with the initial driving tutorial. I recall reading a thread on the Graviteam forum (I think) about changing out the Matilda for something else (with a little more power perhaps) but I can't find the thread. How do you go about swapping a tank? I think it's got to involve the ME but I obviously haven't gotten that far yet.

H

[Kyth]

The original mission files for the tutorials are hidden, packed away in compressed format.

If you install SPM1.5, the Matilda is replaced with the T-34.

A couple of useful tips if you continue the driving tutorial with the Matilda:

- Your best bet of handling the Anti-tank Ditch is to drive AROUND it. :D
- The second, 'proper' solution is to manually control the gears; gather speed all the way down the slope, then shift down to first gear climbing out. The timing has to be perfect for this.

[HEMISENT]

HAH!
You guessed it, I'm stuck in the ditch!

Thanks
H

[frinik]

Ok Hemi got your PM will email the file to you.

Yeah the Waltzing Mathilda which I have nicknamed the washing machine. The engine sounds like those old drum washing machines of the fifties. Tough tank tough. Don't worry sometimes it happens with any tank. I remember being stuck with a TIger I in one of those shell holes. My front tracks were deep into the grounds and T34 were buzzing around and taking potshots at me Grrrrrr. I finally got out of it just in time to be killed point blank by a JS....:cry:

[HEMISENT]

Frinik
I got your PM...thanks, I'll keep an eye out for it. Been playing the driving tutorial and even with a washing machine posing as a tank this game rocks, having a blast.

H

[Sledgehammer427]

Hey HEMISENT, glad to see you got things working, I've been watching and feeling bad all this time about not getting my copy to you.

Things have been a little harsh here but NOW it's all under control. :O:

Happy hunting!
if theres anything I can get to you, shoot me a PM :up:

[HEMISENT]

Hey Frinik
Got it, thanks...hope it works. check your PM.

Sledge
No worries mate, sometimes real life just plain sucks. all is working out in the end-that's all that matters.

H

[frinik]

Hemi don' t worry about the ???? that appear on your download it's simply because either the mod or installation is from the original Russian language version and since the Cyrillic characters cannot be translated automatically you get gibberish.The ???? on the lower left bar are those you click for yes and your stuff will download automatically without problem. I have that problem since I often download the original Russian mods and missions rather than wait for the English versions that are long to come!

Cheers and don' t worry

[HEMISENT]

Frinik
Thanks, I got a windows message saying the file was corrupt. I closed it, reopened and hit the lower left ??????. That did it, I think, It's running now....where to I have no idea but it's running.

VOILA! It installed itself into the mod enabler-amazing:yeah:
I already installed the unofficial patch v.01 into JSGME I believe that's enabled first then SPM 1.5. Am I correct? I know that the various fixes for it follow after that.

Appreciate you sticking with me on this. I think this is all working out now.

H

[frinik]

Hemi; I would suggest enabling it after Beta 1.5 to make sure that it overwrites any errors in Beta.Otherwise if you put it before there's no guarantee that Beta 1.5 will not overwrite the patch....Do you have the English language version of Beta?

Happy that you are finally able to enjoy SF.There are lots of mods and missions out there and more being made all the time.

BUT warning there's no Multiplayer with SF.A sore point for many( not for me). WWII Tanksim-wise for MP you either have T34vsTiger with Murkz and his group of talented and dedicated modders or Panzer Elite or the WWII i44 mod made for Arma II I believe.

Now if I can lead you to the showroom of our used Panzer III salesman Mr. Kyth you can enjoy his string of excellent missions masde for second hand Panzer III only
.

Seriously don't be afraid to ask and we will do our best to bring you up to speed or help.By the way I would recommned that you join the Graviteam.com English-language Steel Fury forum.Kyth and I and a group of dedicated Sf fans are all there and there's much stuff to obtain whether tips, mods, missions etc.It's very easy to enrol.Hope to see you there!There's also an SF forum at SimHQ but not as active as Graviteam's or this one.

Cheers

[Sledgehammer427]

There's also an SF forum at SimHQ but not as active as Graviteam's or this one.

Cheers

and this one has always seemed kinda quiet. :o

[frinik]

Miss the peace and quiet Sledge? The old cobwebs and the dust that accumulated on the ancient, disaffected stickies:03:

[HEMISENT]

Frinik
OK, if I understand you correctly; install SPM 1.5 beta first, then it's related fixes, then install the patch. I would think that SPM 1.5 would overwrite the patch as it's got a bunch of mods included. Please advise as I'm a bit verklempt today...just one of those days I guess.

As for the mods and mission-I've been dl'ing and saving as many as I can find...including all of Kyth's missions. Need to get acclimated to the game first and it seems to me the game has a pretty steep learning curve.

I've been checking out the Graviteam forums for some time now and will register over there shortly.

Cheers!

H

[Sledgehammer427]

Frinik, I don't its ever been not peaceful and quiet
its like moderating a cornfield :D

Hemi, try installing the patch first, THEN SPM 1.5 the patch might run over some things in SPM and break it

And as for the learning curve, it is rather steep, not a cliff face, but a bit steep. Once you get it though you never forget it. I picked up SF yesterday and I was quite alright

[frinik]

Ok Sledge the forum is your cornfield and we are the pesky crows you have to keep an eye on and away from the maize stalks:D

Hemi; Sledge says enable it before Beta 1.5 and I say after actually at the end of all the mods or fixes.I think either way probably works and it's a matter of preference.However if you install some Russian language mods or missions then you'll definitely want the English language patch installed last otherwise your whole game menu will turn into Russian.But even for that there's an easy fix should it happen.

Cheers

[Kyth]

Hemi; Sledge says enable it before Beta 1.5 and I say after actually at the end of all the mods or fixes.I think either way probably works and it's a matter of preference.


You are correct; aside from the original text files, the Unofficial v0.1 and SPM 1.5 don't actually overwrite each other; one is mainly a set of datapacks, while the other is a set of unpacked folders and files. :yep: