Help Installing RTW and EB for a Vista Newb

[Red_Russian13]

I apologize if I'm asking something that's been asked already, and I am sure it must have been asked even though I cannot find the answer using the search function.

I just upgraded to a new computer in order to play some newer games like Call of Duty 5 and Fallout 3, etc. But I still keep going back to EB. Problem is, I can't figure out how to install even RTW effectively.

I installed it, and Vista kept telling me that I had no valid install of RTW. Then I uninstalled it, and reinstalled it, and I was able to patch to 1.5, and it played fine. Then I made a copy of the vanilla 1.5, and moved it to another folder in order to install EB. EB installed fine, but wouldn't play. Some error that I should have written down but didn't. Something about it couldn't find some component or another.

Does anyone have a tried and true method of installing RTW, updating RTW, and then installing and updating EB on Vista? I'm really at a loss. I read that I should install in the (x86) folder, then move it to install EB, and I tried that too. Or at least I think I did.

Again, I apologize if this has been asked a million times, but I appreciate your assistance.

[Ferromancer]

1) Don't use Vista for gaming unless the game requires DirectX 10. I would dual-boot with windows XP.
2) Turn off the windows vista security features when installing RTW and EB
3) In Vista, don't install RTW to program files.

[Red_Russian13]

1) Don't use Vista for gaming unless the game requires DirectX 10. I would dual-boot with windows XP.
2) Turn off the windows vista security features when installing RTW and EB
3) In Vista, don't install RTW to program files.

First of all, thanks for the reply.

1.) Probably above my pay-grade to achieve.

2.) All of that crap is turned off, thank the gods. I was sick of it asking me for permission to do everything.

3.) Where should I install it to? Like, my documents or something?

[ilDuce68]

Holy sh*t. I have the same exact problems with VISTA. I have spent TWO entire days trying to download EU and failed. I'm ready to kill myself. I'm going to go try find more info elsewhere on the forums.

1) what does "dual boot" even mean? Do I have to buy a copy of XP and install it? Can I have both VISTA and XP at the same time?
2) where do I turn off the security features? I think I my have done this already.
3) where do you install RTW instead of in the program files?

[Red_Russian13]

Error loading mounts database. Then something about oliphants or elephants model not being found.

This is the error I get now that I've successfully installed RTW, 1.3, 1.5, EB 1.1 and then installing 1.2. EB 1.1 seemed to work fine. But that 1.2 install mucked everything up, apparently.

To answer the guy above me, I installed RTW in my "My Documents < My Games" folder, and it worked fine up until the application of EB 1.2.

Any insight oh wise EB friends?

[Tellos Athenaios]

You should not install to any "Program Files" directory, with or without the "x86" suffix because RTW assumes certain things which are no longer true in/since Windows Vista. Incidentally the x86 suffix seems to denote 'for programs designed for the x86 architecture', or slightly less correct 'for 32bit programs'.

Your error message (missing oliphaunt models, I take it?) seems to indicate a corrupt version of the text file which manages mount models (descr_mounts ?). Or a mismatch between that one and the DMB... IIRC it has been caused once by a bad/corrupted download in the past, but that would be the 0.8 days...

[Red_Russian13]

You should not install to any "Program Files" directory, with or without the "x86" suffix because RTW assumes certain things which are no longer true in/since Windows Vista. Incidentally the x86 suffix seems to denote 'for programs designed for the x86 architecture', or slightly less correct 'for 32bit programs'.

Your error message (missing oliphaunt models, I take it?) seems to indicate a corrupt version of the text file which manages mount models (descr_mounts ?). Or a mismatch between that one and the DMB... IIRC it has been caused once by a bad/corrupted download in the past, but that would be the 0.8 days...

Hmmm...

Indeed, I installed "My Documents < My Games" and it worked just fine until I got to the EB 1.2 stage.

What would you recommend to fix the oliphaunt error? Should I re-download 1.1 and 1.2 and install them? Maybe I got a bad download of 1.2 since 1.1 seemed to work fine.

[Ferromancer]

Don't install to the my documents folder, good lord, that's just as bad! Just install to something simple like C:\games\RTW

Also, if you have the patience, you could just start over with windows XP. Just borrow an old copy from a friend. Or try dual booting: just follow one of the zillions of vista/xp dual booting tutorials you can find through google.

[Red_Russian13]

Don't install to the my documents folder, good lord, that's just as bad! Just install to something simple like C:\games\RTW

Also, if you have the patience, you could just start over with windows XP. Just borrow an old copy from a friend. Or try dual booting: just follow one of the zillions of vista/xp dual booting tutorials you can find through google.

Duly noted. May I ask why that's bad? I don't doubt your advice; just my own curiosity.

Certainly I can get this to work on Vista. No operating system is gonna boss me around! If I can just work around the oliphaunt issue, I'll be golden.

Thanks again folks.

[Tellos Athenaios]

"My XXX" directories are indexed (semi-)regularly -- which means that to put large amounts of data may cause large amounts of overhead at unanticipated moments.

A case in point would be my sister installing the SIMS to her Desktop and making a couple of back up copies to the same place as well. XP would not boot since.

As an aside: Windows Vista is actually the better OS. It is cleaner than XP is: ever tried to fix an XP box from a live USB? Oh the horror of its C drive... Not to mention the way XP handles certain UI-based configuration things... Plus the 64bit version with lavish amounts of RAM and processing power does actually outshine the 64bit XP version on equivalent hardware. That's because XP does not consider caching that much; which is why XP runs better on little RAM, little processing power machines.

[bovi]

Heh, XXX directories.

Anyway, run a validation to see what is different in your installation than a functional one.

[Red_Russian13]

So I installed it in C:\Games\Activision\RTW. I only bothered to get up to EB 1.1. I'll mess with EB 1.2 at a later time. I've been itching to play for so long, I just want to play. Except...

Now I've another problem. The battle mini-map flickers like a strobe light. It's exceptionally annoying. I'm sure it has something to do with my video card or something like that. Of course.

I'm running dual ATI Radeon HD 4850s.

PS: I searched on the forums here and on Google; I found exactly what I was looking for on through Google, but when I clicked on it, it took me to the RTW main forum page, not the thread page.

Thanks in advance.

[bovi]

So, you probably need to upgrade, or downgrade, your video drivers.

[Red_Russian13]

So, you probably need to upgrade, or downgrade, your video drivers.

That actually almost makes me laugh out loud at the absurdity of it all, because you're probably right. I probably need to DOWNGRADE them or something! Man, it's sorta funny actually.

Thanks for your help, Bovi. I'll probably just stick with the seizure inducing mini-map.

[Tellos Athenaios]

Perhaps this info may prove useful:

Driver Packaging Version	8.53-080820a-068908C-ATI	
Catalyst® Version	08.9	
Provider	ATI Technologies Inc.	
2D Driver Version	7.01.01.821	
(...)	
Direct3D Version	7.14.10.0612	
OpenGL Version	6.14.10.7976	
Catalyst® Control Center Version	2008.0820.2135.36847

My HD4870 (same driver as the HD4950, same chipset: the RVX770 IIRC) doesn't yield a flickering minimap on screen. I should note that I have my CCC override the application settings, and that I have (naturally) opted for the highest settings available.