I fixed the freezing on the harvest turn on my WinXP machine for original Shogun (the one that came in the red box). The game was freezing when it tried to play the first harvest message. Windows reported the module being used as acc_parser.ax which is a DirectShow Filter. I got a free DirectShow Filter Manager from Softella, and removed the acc_parser.ax filter. This filter is not a Microsoft registered filter and was part of the Ace Megacodecs package that I had installed back when I first upgraded to WinXP.
However, the game froze on the second harvest message turn after some garbled speech. When I played these files in Windows Media Player, they played but the progress slider was very jumpy. I remember someone posting that the harvest mp3 files were encoded with an obsolete codec, and the fix was to re-encode them. I used the program Smart Audio Converter, but that program is truncating the files by a few seconds and I haven't yet tried any other converters. The new harvest mp3 files then played smoothly in Windows Media Player and the game works now with no freezing on these messages. Those audio files are in the folder: Voices\Throne\Messenger\Harvest. They are named disastrous.mp3, poor.mp3, average.mp3, good.mp3, bumper.mp3. The Japanese versions of those files are in the folder FVoices\Throne\Messenger\Harvest.
Well, original Shogun campaign is still crashing on me at the end of some battles, and I did get a freeze after the throne room audio cut out, and some other messages don't playback clearly. It seems like I should convert all the sound files.
Puzz,
Is this a problem I should worry about with Warlord Edition as well? Or is it only an issue with the original? (I currently have WE installed.)
I don't have this problem with the sound files in the Warlords Edition (same as Eras pack) as far as I know, but I do get a lock-up about 30 moves or so into a Warlords campaign. I don't know what's causing that, and I see other people reporting the same problem. I recently changed to the new Catalyst 6.7 Radeon video driver for my ATI 9800 Pro and original Shogun works with that, but I haven't tried Warlords Edition. For some reason, the ATI site is calling that driver 6.8, but the installed version is reported as 6.7, and 6.6 was the previous driver as of two weeks ago.
Originally Posted by Puzz3D:
I recently changed to the new Catalyst 6.7 Radeon video driver for my ATI 9800 Pro and original Shogun works with that, but I haven't tried Warlords Edition.
I'm using Original STW + MI with no problems. I have a Radeon 9000 Pro 64MB (old I know but does the job for now) and I have to use the older drivers, catalyst 6.5, because the newer drivers are said to be unsupported. The 9800 may also benefit from using the 6.5's or earlier.
The sound problems could be due to either a codec or Directsound, I've never had this problem myself so I've never been able to work on it.
Thanks Puzz. Since I had to roll back my drivers (due to the Medieval CTD problem), I haven't had much chance to see how it's affected Shogun's performance. Guess I'll just have to fire up another campaign and see if I have any problems--not that that's a great hardship!
The new Catalyst Radeon 6.7 video driver seems to have solved the crashing I was getting after some battles in the original STW v1.12 campaign. I'm not getting any crashes or lockups now, but the Dutch messenger still had his audio cut-out in the Throne Room. I'll either convert those audio files or uninstall the Ace MegaCodecs package to see if that helps. I do get a graphics distortion on the camapaign map when the harvest message plays, but it clears up when I click the OK button.
Ok. This is the REAL fix for me, for those of you out there still looking for a solution. I know its an ooooold game but I love it!
The problem I had is with the aac_parser.ax encoder. Search for that file on your pc and delete it. Voila!
Welcome to the org Setsuna. Thanks for the info. :)
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