Seeking Advice with Deluxe Privateer 2

C

Christopherger

Spaceman
Hello and thanks for the great site and forum, a wonderful resource.

I am slowly working through the WC series, and am now at Privateer 2 Deluxe,
which I have the CD's for, and just tonight loaded for the first time. I did get the
openning movies, etc. and into the story, BUT it keeps freezing after about
the time I pick the first ship and cargo, and usually in the PUD screen.

I have a Winidows 98 SE OS, with a Pentium III Coppermine 1.1 Ghz 40 GB Hard
Drive 512 RAM, Audigy 2Z S snd crd, Geforce FX 5500 256 RAM Vid Card,
and thought that this version of P2 would run on Windows 98 SE?...

Should I try slowing down the acelleration of the vid or sound cards? Is there
a patch or fix that I need does anyone know? I really like the look of the game
so far, but need some help of someone has suggestions. I am setting up a
newer system but expect then to have to do DOS box, etc.....so I would like to try to get this system, the 98SE to run it of possible.

I also have WCI, WC2, WC Armada, WC Academy, WC Privateeer I, the Kilrathi Saga, and hope to find WC III and IV sometime soon.

Thanks again for any suggestions possible....and sorry if I missed posts on this
in other threads, I looked but did not see any about this particular problem...
thanks
:)
 
Hmm, not sure exactly what could be causing the freezing. If you have DOS drivers for your CD-ROM in your config.sys, they could be causing a conflict. Disable video transitions in the ALT+O menu to minimize the risk of some crashing too. You can also try this:

You can also prevent some crashes, lockups, and video problems by disabling DirectX 3D acceleration in the DXSETUP program. You might also be able to avoid problems by turning down your hardware acceleration. To adjust your hardware acceleration:

Click on the Windows 95 'START' button, then on 'Settings', then on 'Control Panel'.
Double-click on the 'System' icon in this window, then click on the 'Performance' tab at the top.
Click on the 'Graphics' button and then adjust your hardware acceleration to 'None'.
Click on 'OK', then on 'Close', and let Windows 95 restart your machine.
When you are back up to Windows 95, try to run the game.
Click to expand...

WC1&2 should run in DOSBox on your computer. You can try Armada and Privateer, but MyJEMM might be a better choice for those.
 
Thanks for the very helpful comments.....I appreciate it very much.
I will definitely first try turning off the aceleration in both the vid card and the sound cards. i thought that might help but was not sure.

thanks again for all the help and the great great site.

much appreciated!:)
 
Thanks again Chris for the great suggestins, thinking it over I may try to locate a Win 95 system, I think I know where I can get one, and use that ......at least for WC 1 and 2, tho I do have the DOS set up for one of my Win 98 SE machines, at least I have played other DOS games on it, I was not sure what you meant by
DOS drivers (I AM increasingly comp literate but still is MUCH I have to learn!).....
anyway, I will try the de acell for Win 98 SE on my current big system for
Privateer 2 Deluxe as I REALLY like it so far and want to play it very much.

Thanks again. This is a great forum.
 
Christopherger said:
I was not sure what you meant by
DOS drivers (I AM increasingly comp literate but still is MUCH I have to learn!).....
Click to expand...

Prior to Windows 95 each CD-ROM needed some specific manufacturer drivers and perhaps some Microsoft secondary drivers to function in DOS. For a number of years after Windows came out, these drivers were still in common use on many systems. By 1998 or so, games that were coming out designed to function solely in Windows started to have conflicts with the DOS drivers. Preventing them from loading via your config.sys and autoexec.bat config files (and therefore having Windows 95/98 be solely responsible for their initiation) fixes some of these problems.
 
There are still only 3 basic CD-Rom chips, so in 99% of all cases one of 3 standarddrivers (as provided by Dos 7.0 for example) will work with any system. Its not that difficult to get a CD-Rom working, really. Now if you talk about network adapters or sound cards...
 
Thanks Chris and cff very very much. I am a bit clearer about this now, there is SO much I have learned yet so much more to learn, and going between DOS and the mid systems, 95 and 98 and now the mooderns ones, what a lot to balance.

I will print out your last note Chris and show it to my tech and see, I have a CD older deck in my main 98 SE machine, which I really think SHOULD play P2, it showed the intro film fine, and when it does run, it looks beautiful, full screen and all, and I am eager to play it through. What a wonderful game it appears to be...and what a trend setter, along with P1.....

bye the bye, I am very excited to find a Wing Commander mod that will run in Freelancer...but I hope to experience as much WC in the original as I can manage with the technicals....I hope the MOD is canon..and correct.....

thanks again so much for the kind help!
 
MSCDEX is the common one. You can find it with find, and still use it with the command line stated in manual. If you need it, let me know by PM. I'll have to look for some old stuff but I should be able to find it. Note I am using XP however, and do not have another version of windows loaded up right now.
 
Christopherger said:
I hope the MOD is canon..and correct.....
Click to expand...

By definition, a mod cannot be canon. However, I agree that the closer the mod makers stick to the established universe the better.
 
re configuration and compatability re Win 98SE and WC P2

Thanks Dran, much appreciated. I will try to see if lowering the acceleration in the 3D sound will help and maybe the vid card too, as I have a rather fast one for the
older games, GeForce FX 5500 with 256.......i may also try to run P2 on the new system I am setting up with XP, but will have to run it in 98 compatability mode
i am assuming.....?? Chris's suggestion to:

"Preventing them from loading via your config.sys and autoexec.bat config files.."

is something I will have to ask my tech about, as I am not sure what he means...but I WILL learn....;)

One thing I noticed as I ran P2 on my system was before each new film, there would be a blank screen for a short while and then an audible "click" or double ckick and the film would start....it didnt freeze until i got into the game as far as the picking cargo etc.....usually in the personal computer screen.....not sure what that means but hope slowing the acell will help....

AD thanks also for the correciton, yes, mods cant be canon, but as you say, i do
like to stick to the story line at least at first as I have much much to learn and experience.......
 
Dran said:
MSCDEX is the common one. You can find it with find, and still use it with the command line stated in manual. If you need it, let me know by PM. I'll have to look for some old stuff but I should be able to find it. Note I am using XP however, and do not have another version of windows loaded up right now.
Click to expand...

MSCDEX is only halv of the driver and should be part of any Microsoft system past DOS 4.x
The config.sys driver is the tricky one.
 
Thanks cff, sorry i forgot to log in for my last reply to you...

i am pretty sure my Dell Win 98 SE system has its drivers incld DOS cause I have
played old Doom 1 and 2 on it, and it worked.....but re the syst config drivers
i am not sure, as the system was a re build last year and the installer installed not the FULL TOTAL win 98 SE OS but did a quicky install according to my latest tech....and it has had a lot of freezes and crashes with various games that it should run easliy including Starlancer, Freelancer, and Freespace 2....sooo
i am still wondering if there may be a problem, someone has suggested that maybe there is a fault in the RAM memory sticks.....but I am not sure yet how to check that....so i continue learninhg as much as I can....

do you now easly to tell how to check to see if the config sys driver is
inatalled?

I dont mean to impose on your time and I do appreciate your posting....very much
 
That question is actually a bit tricky as the driver names are not constant. Try to open the autoexec.bat first and look for mscdex. You'll find a parameter like this MSCDEX /D:[name]. The CD driver in config.sys has the same parameter. For my system it reads:

MSCDEX /D:MSCD00
and the corresponding config.sys driver is
DEVICEHIGH=ASPICD.SYS /D:MSCD00

If you don't have a MSCDEX just look for any /D:[name] strings in your config.sys.
 
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