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...



Follow-up e-mail after I replied and asked for some clarification...



As I'm not updating my website anymore I thought this was the best place to put up the info.

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!

Hi, Punisher, good to see you still hanging around.

Glad that the e-mails I posted up helped. The guy who sent me them isn't a member here so I thought it would be good for me to share them on his behalf.

It's strange what things are affecting these old sims... who'd have thought it was anything to do with audio configurations!?

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!!!

Well it's good to hear that an old retro guy like yourself ended up migrating to Windows 8.1 and are still able to play LB2. Good find with the joystick fix. I really wish I could find the time/energy/motivation to update my website with all these new findings...

Happy Holidays to you, too!

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

I can't run this tutorial gets stuck in a loop and freezes comp

Possibly the CA.INI fix will fix this. If you don't have it already...

Open the 'CA.INI' file found in your game folder, in Notepad.

Add the lines...

[Backdoors]
HEAP_PERCENT=0

... to the top of the file and re-save.

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

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.

Your fix is working good

The CA.INI fix?

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

Hi John

Check if this helps you...

_http://SimHQ.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3461776/Re:_Getting_it_to_work#Post3461776

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

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

Weaves - From the FAQ on my site...



john84 - Nice. Will add it to my website at some point.

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.

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.html
Note 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.

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)

1) Apologies about my site, many people have experienced problems at one time or another. I've never had problems so it's hard for me to address it. Try accessing it from a proxy site, such as www.kproxy.com

2) The panel in the 2D cockpit view is simply a texture-based overlay. It will not conform, per se, to forced higher screen resolutions. It will remain the stock 640x480 and simply stretch to fit (and that in itself is made up of several panels, hence the hairline splits at higher resolutions). It's only the 3D portion of the game world which will be affected by any forced higher screen resolutions... which makes sense if you think about it... as nGlide (or any other glide wrapper for that matter) emulates the 3DFX driver which of course is a 3D hardware-accelerator. Switch to the 3D cockpit view and you might be pleasantly surprised!

I finally figured that out a couple weeks ago. I have no idea how or why, but my IP is listed as spam so it won't EVER let me just go to your site. I always have to use the proxy but its no big deal.

My whole http://digitality.comyr.com/ domain is also blacklisted as spam on some websites. So that's one reason also, why people can't access it.

God knows how it got blacklisted as spam.

Funny part is, I bought a house and moved a couple months ago, different company, different modem, and same problem. Now when I signed up, it assigns me a new IP, so how is it BOTH totally random IPs are listed as spam, my old one and now my new one? Odd company to list so many IPs as spam.

Edit: So I went to find the exact listing that your site told me my IP was spam, and your site loaded right up without an issue..../boggle. Dunno if you contacted them but for the first time ever I can access your site without a proxy...cheers

No, I haven't contacted anyone. It's just one of those weird things. Sometimes apparently if you clear your web history, cookies and cache it can make it work, too.

Sorry to bump such an old thread, but if it helps someone to play a sim or two I think it's worth it. I'm the guy who emailed Flyboy about Creative ALchemy. Just wanted to mention my latest experience:

I haven't played LB2 in a few years, and went to install it on my newer Windows 10 PC. Ran into the same issues as before, then remembered. I slapped a Creative card into my new rig and just like that, I could play LB2 again... zero issues on 64 bit Windows 10. This time though, I grabbed the box for Eidos' JSF which I haven't been able to play it since 2003 or so despite trying on several systems over the years. Sure enough, right there in the requirements is Creative SoundBlaster... most games say "sound card" but this specified Creative. I used ALchemy on the JSF executable, and just like that can play it. I'm partway through a campaign. Earlier when I went out to do yard work, I left it running on instant action and it was still running over an hour later. The only thing is, I need "big pixels" enabled for some reason. Works great though.

I'm going to have to dig through all my older games and see what else this fixes. Just wanted to share that, in case it helps anyone else. Cheers.

Hi SippyCup. I'm so out of the scene now, I do remember something previously about ALchemy. So just to be clear... do you need a real Creative SoundBlaster card AND this ALchemy program or does ALchemy act as an emulator with no need for a real sound card?

Nah, you're a huge LB2 resource and why I am playing it now!
As far as I can tell, you need Creative hardware but also have to install ALchemy which brings back legacy support that was removed from Windows. At least, I tried running the software without any Creative hardware and it just said there was no supported device. Mine is the X-Fi, which is a good card anyway, so I'm happy to use it. Disabled my onboard and am using it instead.

This also solved M1 Tank Platoon 2's end of mission crashes in Glide mode. I just finished my first ever M1TP2 campaign in Glide... loved it. Number of crashes: 0

Thanks, I just meant that I'm not really active in the scene anymore and have forgotten a lot of the details about all this stuff.

OK thanks for the clarification.

I was never a massive fan of M1TP2, it's almost the same game as iM1A2 Abrams which came out a year earlier and which I have more time in and prefer. M1TP2 has better graphics, but I liked the overall gameplay and missions in iM1A2.

Yeah, I prefer it too. It was a big part of my childhood to such a degree that I made the Wikipedia article for it. Has a better map screen than M1TP2 with right-click and drop down menus, and company level control. Also seems to be less forgiving tactics-wise. Closer to (but still nowhere near) Steel Beasts. Plus there's the nostalgia factor, as I didn't get M1TP2 until many years later despite drooling over it in PC Gamer Magazine. The joys of being a 90s kid!

Been playing catch-up since my mid 20s, getting all the old sims I missed under my belt. Longbow 2 was one of the ones that got away, so it's great to finally have it running reliably and looking amazing on a modern PC. Retro builds are fun, but having old games running on modern systems makes me feel better about the future.

I'd never even heard of iM1A2 Abrams until I just happened to see it in a PC games shop one day and thought it looked cool so bought it. Back when you actually walked into a shop, browsed the shelves, and bought a big box game that came with a manual which was worth the purchase alone. Yeah you could even theoretically play the entire mission from the map view, treating it like an RTS game. You also had artillery, A-10s, AH-64s, and OH-58s as support on some missions. It's cool that you made the Wikipedia article for it. I gave up creating and editing pages on Wikipedia as people kept changing and deleting good content. The LB2 page for example was much more fleshed out than what it is now.

The good old days... I miss them. Yeah, the manuals were excellent back then. I was mostly into flight sims and wandered into Radio Shack in 1998 with maybe $25 (if I was lucky) in my pocket to see if Longbow 2 had dropped in price yet. It hadn't. Then I saw the iM1A2 Abrams box which was very eye catching. As soon as I looked at the back, I was like "I guess I play tank sims now" and started the collection. Here's a bit of it:



Yes, Wikipedia is infuriating at all times, haha...

Nice collection. I've never played Spearhead. I don't own any jet fighter sims. I did get into Jane's F/A-18 at one point and bought the big box copy but later sold it as jet sims just don't hold a long-term appeal for me. You don't appear to have any NovaLogic titles, which are some of the best in terms of immersion.

Spearhead is weird... could have been a serious sim but is pretty bare bones in the strategy department. Still fun though, in a 90s kind of way. I have played most of Novalogic's games but the boxes are long gone. The only series I really enjoyed was Comanche, up until 4. Comanche Gold is probably my favorite Novalogic game.

Yeah I looked Spearhead up on YouTube, it seems to be only a very slight step above Wargasm what with its arcade-like presentation. Comanche Gold is my favorite NovaLogic game too, and since the EXE was hacked to allow it to run on Windows 7 and above, has been absolutely flawless running on modern systems for the most part.

Spearhead has great audio and is still pretty fun. It's kind of hard to define, it's simplistic but doesn't feel very arcade-like. Just like development stopped too early. Cool, is there a replacement executable for Comanche Gold or is it just using DXGL?

Yes there is a replacement EXE for Comanche Gold. Ironically, from what I remember, it was the CD-check element that was preventing the game from executing properly on modern systems so the author removed it and as a result not only does it work on modern systems but you also no longer need the CD in the drive (or mounted disc image) to play it. You do still need DXGL on some systems though but this isn't a compatibility thing, it just fixes the messed up color issue that some people have.