Cosmic Evolution

As an owner of HL:2 I'm actually very glad that someone has hacked a work around for the connection the steam that was required to play the game. It annoying enough to have to go through the process of downloading and validating the game in the first place, then I have to wait two minutes to LAUNCH the game so it can connect to steam every time. Â Ridiculous! Â I bought and own it, but am forced to wait each time I play (and who knows what would happen if I lost my internet connection. ) I agree, if you want protection your player id method or the method used with Joint Operations are both MUCH better then Valves idea.

Alright, I consider myself fairly lucky to have picked up the last three copies of OFP:GOTY from my local Best Buy a few months back. But now I'm wondering, as I'm still trying to get more of my friends invovled in this great game, WHERE IN THE WORLD CAN I GET MORE COPIES? I went to the Codemasters site, and they will let me buy each individual selection for this (ie: CWC, Gold Update, Resistance) but come on, I want the whole GOTY edition, without purchasing 3 copies for each person. Does anyone know of a game distributor within the US, perferrable in Florida (Tampa Region) that can still has (can get) a couple of copies of this version?

My guess on it is this: Originally Independence Lost was going to be an extension for OFP #1... Then the australian team started working on production of VBS (1 or 2)... By the time they could have gotten back to IL, it was decided that they should work on OFP XBox/OFP 2 and postpone IL until the engine work for OFP 2 was completed. What this means to the community (if its true) it that there will probably be some changes needed to current models/addons for OFP to make them work in OFP 2, that would require these guys to start re-working everything that they created for IL around the time they finished it, so it would be compatible with OFP 2 (Hence the delay). (It's the only reason I could imagine that it would be necessary for them to hold off until after OFP 2 to complete IL.) But I'm probably wrong, since this is all just a guess.

Wow, Its amazing to me how long a topic about which side of this coin is better then the other can get. Â I figure I might as well throw in my two cents. They both suck, but at least if you vote for Kerry you can say you didn't realize at the time how badly he sucked. Â If you vote for Bush your only encouraging all of our politicians to suck even more in the future. One thing I do agree with is that their past is only good for media coverage, and says little to nothing about how they will do as President. Now then, four years of preparing themselves for the end of the world (or their lives, or whatever they decided was going to happen that was so horrible it didn't matter if the US still had clean air, clean water, pristine wilderness, less national debt or anything that could help future generations) shows that someone is NOT capable of doing the things that a President is supposed to do. And I'm not even getting involved in talking about the "War to Make Fear Your #1 Concern"

I got a pre-order of Half Life 2, just waiting for its release so I can d/l it off Steam... And FYI: I bought 4 copies of the game YESTERDAY, they will be in my hands tomorrow... And officially, I have only a single copy (besides the one I already owned) left. The other three already have new owners awaiting their arrival... Long Live OFP!

, thanks for the quick responses guys, now i just need to get 4 copies .... just in case. P.S. I never got a gogamer.com link through google, odd.

Alright, I consider myself fairly lucky to have picked up the last three copies of OFP:GOTY from my local Best Buy a few months back. But now I'm wondering, as I'm still trying to get more of my friends invovled in this great game, WHERE IN THE WORLD CAN I GET MORE COPIES? I went to the Codemasters site, and they will let me buy each individual selection for this (ie: CWC, Gold Update, Resistance) but come on, I want the whole GOTY edition, without purchasing 3 copies for each person. Does anyone know of a game distributor within the US, perferrable in Florida (Tampa Region) that can still has (can get) a couple of copies of this version?

Check out this post, your CTD problems could be caused by the background services your video drivers install automatically. Just scroll down to the longest post.

I had similar problems when I first installed my new Radeon 9600XT & when I upgraded the drivers for it as well. I fortunately solved these issues fairly easily. The newer versions graphics drivers from these two companies run "management services" constantly in the background on your system.  If you CTRL + ALT + DEL and look at the  processes tab, you will notice a couple of .exe's running called something like nvidia*.* or ati*.* (on mine their called atiev2XX.exe or something like that)...  These "management services" are most likely whats causing your CTD's (or at least in my case they were).  You can test this by shutting them off and trying to play the game.  They aren't needed for anything that OFP does, or from what I can tell, anything at all.  If they do turn out to be your problem, just type services.msc into run under the start menu (for win XP-2000) and turn them off permanently (set them to manual and they will turn themselves on if needed). If you can't figure out which processes you need that are running, feel free to post them here and I can try to deciphor them for you.  Hope this helps, especially you bedlam... EDIT : Before I turned stopped (then deleted) these files from my system I couldn't play OFP without it rebooting my computer.  EVERY time, no exceptions. One thing though, I don't use any of the special tools or features that come with my card. I don't use the file player, or the tools suite, or anything like that. So these files my be needed for some of them, just not for your gaming experience.

Ops, almost forgot. We were using v1.96 dedi. server when this happened, if that helps.

Really I'd just like to ask a question of the folks at BIS. I was involved in a MP game the other day and had something I've never seen before happen. Â During a mission 3 players lost connection to a server at the same exact time. Â The strange part about it was that they were still receiving packets from the server (ie: they could still see what we were typing in chat) but the server wasn't receiving anything from them (we couldn't see what they were typing). Â They did not lose their connections to the internet, could still browse web sites and were still connected to our teamspeak without any problems what-so-ever. I am wondering if you could tell me, when a connection is made to a server with OFP, are both incoming and outgoing communication sent along the same path, or does the client resolve their path and the server respond along a different one? Â (I'm not sure if this question makes sense, but I don't have a very good understanding of how the internet works, so ?) Anyway, If you can think of any reason that this might have occured, please let me know, it would be very helpful.

Could the loss of connection problem be a result of increased bandwidth usage do the the new "anti-cheat" additions to the netcode? (Or something along these lines) I have also experienced the "no message received" error, playing CTI on a few servers, where it would last for around 10-25 sec. and then come back into the game. This (v1.96) is the first time I've ever seen this happen. In the older net code, the lost of connection was almost always permanent. Another error we have been getting alot recently is with the server crashing during a player connecting (probably due to a issue with an addon (ECP?) being used by the player thats attempting to connect. I will start asking these players what addons they have loaded when this occurs to see if we can narrow it down better.

One thing I'd like to see if you are going ahead with the addition of join in progress would be to have scripting functions that would make it only possible for the person that disconnected to rejoin the game in that spot. Â It would be REALLY cool if this only effected the playable spots that HAD players at the start of a game (in CTI for example, it would be great to only have people that dropped out be able to rejoin their spot, but still have new players be able to join in at any point as long as the slot they joined was an AI from the start of the game.) Â Something along the lines of the respawn command, with multiple variations of a single line giving you as much flexibility as possible. I think this would GREATLY enhance the usefullness of JOIN IN PROGRESS...

I agree with this completely. It wouldn't necessarily be a good thing to have random people jumping into the game in the middle just to have the teams full. But if there was a scripting option that allowed for the server to only let the person that disconnected rejoin (ie. matching name and id) then it would be GREAT. Most good CTI games can easily become boring wastes of time if players disconnect due to some problem. If these people could rejoin it would make for games with more people in them, that would likely end more quickly. Hopefully BIS will add some feature like this to the scripting within OFP2, since I'm sure that they will include join in progress ability. Having the opinion that CTI sucks is fine, but if you don't like it just don't play it. There are servers that play different maps all of the time, and I'm sure they would love to have more players.  If your favorite server sometimes gets tied up with CTI, talk to its admin and see if he'd get rid of it or place limits on when it can be played. Otherwise, go somewhere else. I DO think that there would be a major improvement in the quality of an average CTI game if the net code for OFP was optimized and strengthened, use 64bit at least in the server code and the ability to have multiple processor servers utilized (I think a AMD Athlon64 FX-51 Dual Processor Server with 2 gig of RAM could do anything! There just isn't any use for it atm.), so hopefully BIS will add this into OFP2. I would love to see CTI with 15-20 people on each team, it would be the most realistic fighting experience available. Unfortunately, CTI is just too complex for a single processor to handle atm in any larger form. If it could be done it would. And I dont see bandwidth as too much of a problem, as most service providers would be to ones to have to upgrade, not the players. Just look at Roughnecks Whorehouse, that server has 4+ mb u/l & 7+ mb d/l, if that isn't enough for 30-40 people to play then I dont know what would be. Also, another thing with CTI is that the majority of servers running it constantly just aren't up for the task.  Places like Auria just don't have the processing power for the game to make it to completion, so people drop out in the middle.  If only servers that could play the game did, you wouldn't see nearly as much mid game ditching.  If you really want to complain about something, complain that a server thats running 2-3 CTIs at the same time SHOULDN'T BE, 4 they may be able to handle just one.  At least with IFE 0.92 (after all, how could 500+ user placed objects ever be good to a server.) I'll stop ranting now.  I like CTI personnally, if you don't- kewl.  I dont really see how it's "destroyed" the OFP community.  I didn't play online much until CTI came out.  DM and CTF are ok, but aren't very realistic and end up as spawn camping BS more often then not.  When I play coop, I play with friends on a LAN, so  .  Anyway... -Cos. P.S.  If your sick of games with people leaving and ruining it, come play with us on the 10th Special Forces server.  You'll need to get the MFCTI CR 3.0+ addons first, so follow this link. http://cr-ofp.dyndns.org/index.php?id=8 You'll need the cti-addons1.0, KEGak107, and barracken files. If this is what your after, check Central Wars at our site (link below).

 Having installed v1.95b but still as of yet not having played it much, I have noticed one interesting bug:   While running the "old" v1.91 executable to play multiplayer I've been having problems with the server list refreshing.  The server list hangs while trying to refresh (without the progress bar moving at all), most noticeably when leaving one server to join another.  I find that I have to go back to the main menu and then re-enter multiplayer mode to get it to resfresh.  It doesn't only happen when leaving servers though, sometimes it will not refresh at all, even right after joining MP.   I didn't have anything like this happening when playing v1.94 or playing v1.91 with 1.94 installed, so it is new to v1.95... (and I would think not something in the exe.) I'm wondering if it might have something to do with the new "anti-cheat" functionality of the v1.95 servers/clients in the server list? -Cos. P.S. Tonight I'll be patient and see if I let it sit long enough if it does eventually refresh...

You were pretty close on this, but should start off with clearWeaponCargo NewGuns clearAmmoCargo NewGuns then load whatever you want into it... Â The name doesn't need any quotation marks around it. There is a complete listing of all the commands and syntax for editing available at http://www.flashpoint1985.com/docs/comref_102002/data/comref.html that should have everything you need to know about the differnet commands. All you'll need for this is a trigger that covers the entire area of the town thats: activated once east not present & in the activation field the objective complete command. (seem com ref. above for this.) -Cos, P.S. Â Sorry if this is a little vague but I'm pulling from memory & not in front of the game right now... oh, and make sure yourt editor is in advanced mode not easy...

I repeat: You get this error from broken addons. You normally get those messages ONLY in missions NOT using the broken addon(s). ADDITIONALLY these addons put themselves in most missions you make yourself, so that everyone NOT using the broken addon will get that error message with any mission you make. Broken addons cause 2 errors: one for ppl having the addon, in missions that do not use that addon, and one for ppl not having the addon in missions made by someone with the broken addon. Believe me, i have fixed enough of that kind of errors on my server to know what i am talking about. Open the crater pbo and look for a line addonsrequired in the cfgpatches section. Compare that to all classes referenced in the addon and look which of those are from "additional" addons (the official ones in res\addons count too, except those which bis preloads in their config.bin). It's exactly the same error, bas_repair depends on the ah64 without declaring that dependendy. All missions using the ah64 (and NOT the bas_repair) will stop working, complaining about a "missing addon bas_repairh". It can be fixed by putting <table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE">requiredVersion=1.85; requiredaddons[] = {ah64}; into the config.cpp of bas_repair.pbo. Putting the addon into the normal addon folder helps too (but it does not really correct the error). In other words, the config.bin your using with the GMR mod doesn't have the gmr_crater inclusion in it... Â So it really should be something that is fixed when goldmember gets the chance to do so. The error should occur whenever you are using this mod and playing the game, since no mission thats was made without this mod running will have the gmr_crater addon included in the mission .sqm... I can't test this since i am at work, but what benu said is true. Â It is the same error you would have gotten if you created a vehicle in game using scripting but didn't reference the addon in your mission.sqm file. (since this is essentially what is happening. ie. the tanks blows up and creates the crater, which causes the error.) Â It doesn't really effect the game or visuals, just brings up the grey box that requires you to press enter... -Cos.

I run a: P4 1.7ghz 512 mb RDRaM 128 GForce ti4200 and I only experience frame loss when I server a lan game and try to play at the same time. To upgrade to a system with these specs would only cost 200-250 $ at this point. -Cos.

All that info should be available in the .rtf files that come with the stand alone server exe's... Â They also include a listing of all the commands for a server admin... -Cos.

I've had a similar problem when I first moved in with my roommate. We were connected through my computer and the only way we could get the game to allow both of us to play at the same time was for me (the computer connected directly to the net) to log into a server first, then he could join. If he logged into the server first it wouldn't even let me connect. We choose to splurge and get a router though, and have had much better connection and less lag as a result. I know you said without a router, but it truely is worth the $50 for a # of reasons.... Cos.

You could also, trying to stay with generals, make areas located all over the map that would have to collect supplies from....some like a independent salvager running back and forth to the supplies and back to a supply center at the base... not to sure how well that would work in a CTI. I agree with killbox on this. Â Having something like ports, oil fields and/or power plants that your team controls (with or without a supply chain moving between them and your base) instead of holding towns for money would add to the realism. Â And if you had supply convoys moving between these areas and your base you would have the need for players to protect these convoys and keep the enemy from following them to locate your base, adding a new dimension to CTI as opposed to how it currently plays out. This would begin to force players to do things other than directly attack the enemy base, though this will surely still happen. Â Adding defenses like AA guns might help a little too, but the main objective still seems to be destroy their base... I also think that the towns still need to hold some form of value even if minimal. ... For the mission we've been working on, we considered creating multiple types of resources (ie. money, oil, electricity, etc.) similar to games like Rise of Nations and C&C... Â Using different buildings like powerplants and oil derrects(sp?) that could be randomly placed of the map to add additional objectives (and points of conflict)... We've also toyed with the concept of having the towns you hold slowly fill with civilians that "work" around the town earning your side wealth. Â Something like this brings a more strategic aspect to CTI, creating a reason to not "kill everything in sight". (the more civils left alive when you take a town, the more money your team earns immediately.) Â This isn't really how C&C plays though, so i digress... ...anyway, just some thoughts on the subject... Â gtg Cos.

 I have something similar to this in the map I've been working on.  I got around all of the difficulties with the use of a dialog that lists the units in your group an allows you to select them individually and (in my case) move them back and forth between your main group and secondary group.  It wouldn't be hard to do something similar that just removed them to grpnull if thats what your looking for, so long as you don't find making dialogs difficult. -Cos. It would be easier to be able to select them directly with the F keys though. (? Suma ?)

I know this is pretty late in the game, with the new patch already announced and what not, but I've recently encounter a new bug to v1.91... In MP when a client computer uses the deletevehicle command on a non-local object, it causes the server to CTD. Oddly, it also occurs when the server issues a deletevehicle command to an object that is local to the server as well (if a player is was recently assigned to the vehicle but had been unassigned)... This is something new to v1.91, I know because it occurs in the same Evac Chopper script that I've had in use in my mission since v1.75... I used to be able to deletevehicle while the chopper was still flying in to land and only suffer death by falling, now if I don't give the game 30 sec. or so to realize that the object is local to the server only it immediately causes CTD. It's a shame that I can't run a "remove dead bodies" script for fear of the CTD disease, but I should have found this a LONG time ago. I only hope this has been addressed in the new patch.. -Cos.

And the richest 1 % hold 90% of the wealth. So shouldnt they pay commensurately more? It's actually something more like the top %1 income-wise pays around 75% of the taxes collected in the U.S. Â Which, with 95%+ percent of the wealth, makes me wonder why they aren't paying 95% of the taxes... Â Â That would make getting my new laptop that much easier... Â (I don't know anyone rich enough to just buy me one, but I can dream. (can't I?) ... If you count corporations as rich white folk anyways .... I wonder how much of that money goes to VBS1? BIS? We have, after all, seemingly installed it in all of our military training facilities (and we have alot of those).

I think more isn't being done because Bush Jr.'s dad asked his son to give the surplus back in the form of a tax cut.  And little Bush seems to have taken that thought and run with it, now having cut our (and by our I mean whoever in this country is rich  ) taxes around 1.65 trillion dollars since he came into office.    So about that debt clock, I don't think that number will be going down anytime soon.... -Cos. P.S. Most countries care enough not to try and beat that figure, and can you blame them... At least from what I can tell most of that money is owed to our own people, so at least we are only hurting ourselves... Imagine that.