#4033787 - 11/09/14 11:26 AM
Longbow 2 working flawlessly on Windows 8.1 Pro X64
|
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 3,453
Flyboy
Senior Member
|
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 3,453
England, UK
|
I had an e-mail the other day from a guy wanting to tell me about his recent success with getting LB2 to run 'flawlessly' on his ultra-modern PC with Windows 8.1 Pro X64. Here is his e-mail... Hi, just wanted to give you a heads-up in case this has not been addressed yet.
I used your Win Vista / 7 fix, but had the freezing issue (especially in quickstart) and it seemed to be sound related, so I tried using Creative ALchemy... it works. I've been playing for over an hour with no issues.
Hope this is of some help to you and others.
System and settings:
Win 8.1 Pro X64 32 GB RAM AMD FX-8350 @ 4GHz Radeon R9 280X Creative X-Fi sound card nglide Your Vista/7 fix Creative ALchemy XP SP3 compatibility mode with Admin Follow-up e-mail after I replied and asked for some clarification... No problem... thanks for all the work you do for the community.
Yes, it seems the sound card is what made it work for me thanks to ALchemy; First, I tried playing how I play most everything, via my headphones (wireless USB Logitech with their own drivers) but kept getting crashes about 1 minute into gameplay. At this point I hadn't clued in to it being a sound issue. I got tired of taking my headphones off every couple of minutes, so switched the audio to the HDMI connection (the ATI video card drivers) on my monitor while I tried to get things working. Then I noticed that the crashes seemed to come during specific events, often with radio chatter or an explosion, and thought perhaps it was sound related. I tried the Creative card (usually reserved just for music, being hooked via optical to the stereo behind me so of no use for gaming) but it still crashed.
As a last ditch effort, I took a look at the files on the CD, and realized LB2 used Directsound, which hasn't been supported by Windows since XP due to the removal of HAL (hardware extraction layer). I recalled reading about ALchemy in my soundcard manual (it translates Directsound into OpenAL calls), so installed it from my driver disc and tried it out. Since then, I have had 100% functionality and stability, having completed training and several single missions. I now have a set of headphones going into the Creative card's phono jack.
Looks to me like Directsound is one of the major issues with LB2 instability on operating systems newer than XP. ALchemy is one solution, but perhaps there is another third party program for others with different sound cards.
Hopefully others can benefit from this, because I'm absolutely loving LB2! It's one of the sims that has always evaded me over the years, and I was thinking I may have had to build a retro system to get it working... yet here I am playing it on Win 8.1 with full glide support at 16X AF and 24XAA! Absolutely gorgeous. Thanks for all your efforts on that front. Your site is excellent! Thanks for the kind words, also. As I'm not updating my website anymore I thought this was the best place to put up the info.
|
|
#4051791 - 12/16/14 10:55 PM
Re: Longbow 2 working flawlessly on Windows 8.1 Pro X64
[Re: Flyboy]
|
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 539
The Punisher
Member
|
Member
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 539
|
Thanks for the info Flyboy! Nice to know!
My old trusty computer finally died (RIP), so I got a new one with Win8.1. I installed LB2, then copied a backup I kept from my previous computer. Everything is working fine so far except for a small shuttering. Is not that bad except when you accelerate time. Between life and work haven't got much time to dig around for a possible reason yet.
Edit 12/19/2014: Following the great example provided by Flyboy, I looked into the Realtek Audio Manager. My speakers were set to Stereo. I fixed the configuration to 5.1 and the shuttering has almost gone!
Last edited by The Punisher; 12/19/14 01:37 PM.
|
|
#4053986 - 12/21/14 12:00 PM
Re: Longbow 2 working flawlessly on Windows 8.1 Pro X64
[Re: Flyboy]
|
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 539
The Punisher
Member
|
Member
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 539
|
Hey Flyboy, Thanks a lot! I always come and check the forums and always look forward to your postings as they always help in one way or another (but barely post due to SimHQ always logging me out). This Saturday I had a chance to play a few missions and so far haven't got any crashes so far (and this time I don't have the Windows CTK as Win8.1 x64 doesn't seems to like it). My only problem was related to Win8.1 and my old Sidewinder FFB where it keeps loosing the FFB functionality (and the green light goes off) and becomes "too loose". I could fix it temporarily by disabling the Joystick in Device manager and enabling it again but the problem would come (sometimes immediately, sometimes took some time). After long hours searching I found better a solution by running a small app called simFFB (found in one of the MANY forums I visited while trying to find a solution). I don't even have to do anything with it (no config changes or anything), just launch it and the Joystick works fine as long as it is loaded. Happy Holidays!!!
Last edited by The Punisher; 12/21/14 12:07 PM.
|
|
#4059200 - 01/03/15 07:19 AM
Re: Longbow 2 working flawlessly on Windows 8.1 Pro X64
[Re: Flyboy]
|
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 279
flightsimer90s
Member
|
Member
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 279
|
I am running it well...so far..... except the base screen is always odd washed out colors as well as ending mission area. Screen blink every 3-4 seconds on base screen as well
Last edited by john84; 01/03/15 07:59 AM.
|
|
#4062158 - 01/10/15 05:41 PM
Re: Longbow 2 working flawlessly on Windows 8.1 Pro X64
[Re: Flyboy]
|
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 279
flightsimer90s
Member
|
Member
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 279
|
I downloaded and installed your GUI sound fix file. Seems to be working ok except for color washout still.
Are you running the gui sound fix file on the pure longbow 2 version with no win7 fix patch installed?
I did notice the options setting has a bug in it where when you went load the default keyboard key commands and tried to save it it wouldn't hold the save, and you would have to just save it from main screen.
I don't think the manual ever mentioned what the lines in the ca.ini mean.
Can the CA.ini graphics sectioned be changed?
[GRAPHICS] XResVideoMode=640 YResVideoMode=480 GammaCorrection=1 FarClip=7890 MeshDetail=2 TerrainLighting=1 Shadows=1 ObjectDetail=2 DetailedHelicopters=1 ObjectLighting=1 CockpitRotorFx=1 LensFlareFx=1 TextureMap=8 Perspective=1 DrawSky=1 Dither=1 SmokeDensity=1 SmokeEffectFx=1 MaxBitmaps=100 Trees=1 TreeDetail=9 TreeSamples=80000
Last edited by john84; 01/10/15 06:17 PM.
|
|
#4062178 - 01/10/15 06:36 PM
Re: Longbow 2 working flawlessly on Windows 8.1 Pro X64
[Re: Flyboy]
|
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 3,453
Flyboy
Senior Member
|
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 3,453
England, UK
|
The GUI/sound fix, as with all Phoenix's fixes, can be installed on a fresh LB2 install or on top of the Windows Vista/7 fix. All the Windows Vista/7 fix is, is the game in an installed and patched state... with one or two minor tweaks. It wasn't so much put together because people couldn't get the game to run... but because some couldn't even install it. Of course the manual wouldn't mention the lines in the CA.INI file... they're not meant to be messed with! Believe me, we have experimented and experimented with that graphics section... to little or no avail. Some of those lines are defunct and weren't even implemented into the final game code. The 'Tree' entries are believed to be the options for the beta LB2 which either had... or was going to have... trees in it! In-game, any tweaks to level of detail or draw distance are not visible with the naked eye. The only way to 'improve' graphics is by using hardware-accelerated mode (Direct3D or 3DFX), and in 3DFX's case involving a glide wrapper which can force such things as higher screen resolutions, triple buffering, etc.
|
|
#4062327 - 01/11/15 12:31 AM
Re: Longbow 2 working flawlessly on Windows 8.1 Pro X64
[Re: Flyboy]
|
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 3,453
Flyboy
Senior Member
|
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 3,453
England, UK
|
|
|
#4062404 - 01/11/15 04:40 AM
Re: Longbow 2 working flawlessly on Windows 8.1 Pro X64
[Re: Flyboy]
|
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 279
flightsimer90s
Member
|
Member
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 279
|
I spoke too soon. Game continues to freeze up during a mission. Lucky if I can get past 1 without a freeze.
I installed LB2
Installed the LB2 Patch 2.09E (Reads 2.09F in game)
Installed LB2-WinVista-7-Fix.zip
Installed LB2_Crash_GUI_Sound_fix.zip -Fixed the horizontal blinking lines at base screen -Still got washout and sound freezes
Selected run as administrator and XPSP3 compatibility mode.
= Same problems
Last edited by john84; 01/11/15 04:41 AM.
|
|
#4062638 - 01/11/15 08:15 PM
Re: Longbow 2 working flawlessly on Windows 8.1 Pro X64
[Re: Flyboy]
|
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 28
Weaves
Junior Member
|
Junior Member
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 28
Detroit
|
So, this thread is inspiring me.
I have the game installed in my C:\janes\longbow2 folder
However, I wanted to do a complete re-install.
The problem is that Windows doesn't see it as a program to be un-installed. Do I just delete the folders before re-installing?
Thanks
Blue Skies Ahead - RIP +G
|
|
#4063259 - 01/13/15 04:42 AM
Re: Longbow 2 working flawlessly on Windows 8.1 Pro X64
[Re: Flyboy]
|
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 279
flightsimer90s
Member
|
Member
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 279
|
Made a 100% fix to the color washout experience by LB2 base screen, debriefing screen and all other areas. It is a .bat file to be placed in your LB2 directory. http://www.filedropper.com/lb2colorfix
Last edited by john84; 01/13/15 04:43 AM.
|
|
#4063438 - 01/13/15 04:47 PM
Re: Longbow 2 working flawlessly on Windows 8.1 Pro X64
[Re: Flyboy]
|
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 3,453
Flyboy
Senior Member
|
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 3,453
England, UK
|
Weaves - From the FAQ on my site... If you have to remove LB2 manually: 1) Delete the install folder, and 2) delete the registry settings (below). To access the registry in Windows, click on the 'Start' button, then on 'Run...', then type in 'regedit' and click OK or press the Enter key. The only registry entries that I know of to delete are... -+ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE ---+ SOFTWARE -----+ Jane's Combat Simulations -------+ Longbow 2 [DELETE] -------+ Longbow 2 2.09 Patch (English) [DELETE] [NOTE: only if patch is installed] john84 - Nice. Will add it to my website at some point.
|
|
#4066911 - 01/21/15 03:20 AM
Re: Longbow 2 working flawlessly on Windows 8.1 Pro X64
[Re: Flyboy]
|
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 28
Weaves
Junior Member
|
Junior Member
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 28
Detroit
|
Flyboy,
Thanks. It seems to be running fine now with the Nglide (I always had problems with DGvoodoo).
1) What's the max resolution I can run it at?
2) Can't I create an ISO of the discs to store their images on my pc to run without the cd? I can't find those instructions anywhere.
Thanks
p.s. It took me some time to find that nglide settings are stored in C:\Windows\SysWow64\nglide_config I hope that can help someone else out.
Blue Skies Ahead - RIP +G
|
|
#4067198 - 01/21/15 07:00 PM
Re: Longbow 2 working flawlessly on Windows 8.1 Pro X64
[Re: Flyboy]
|
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 3,453
Flyboy
Senior Member
|
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 3,453
England, UK
|
I'm replying from my phone right now so I don't have access to my stuff, but... 1) You should be able to run the game at whatever nGlide allows... or whatever your monitor supports... whichever comes first. 2) Yes. Here is the ISO method on my website: http://digitality.comyr.com/flyboy/lb2/inst_lb2_image.htmlNote that this guide is a bit outdated now, mainly for Daemon Tools which now loads as a program rather than being just a taskbar icon... and I don't think it creates virtual drives anymore (or only when program is running). If you encounter any problems post back and I'll try to help.
|
|
#4067382 - 01/22/15 12:18 AM
Re: Longbow 2 working flawlessly on Windows 8.1 Pro X64
[Re: Flyboy]
|
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 28
Weaves
Junior Member
|
Junior Member
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 28
Detroit
|
Flyboy,
Thanks. I saw the resolutions in nglide and now have 1900x1200 for the outside views.
Here are my final problems:
1) I keep getting timed out when trying to go to your site. 2) The cockpit view is definitely not 1900x1200. Seems more like 640x480. 3) Do I need the dd patch from your website? 4) The lb2 config file isn't in my folder. bad install?
Thanks
Edited: I found my old file of your win7 fix file and extracted those over my janes\longbow folder.
The cockpit view is my last question, until I whip out my joystick (sorry, had to say it)
Last edited by Weaves; 01/22/15 03:21 AM.
Blue Skies Ahead - RIP +G
|
|
|
|
Exodus
by RedOneAlpha. 04/18/24 05:46 PM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|