Freedom Reborn Archive

Freedom Force Forums => Technical Issues => Topic started by: stumpy on February 19, 2007, 06:59:07 PM

Title: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: stumpy on February 19, 2007, 06:59:07 PM
Well, we've reached the point where one must actually be careful when buying a new PC or it will likely be shipped with Windows Vista as the OS. This is the stage before it becomes an actual annoyance to get it with any other Windows, followed by it actually being a pain in the rump.

At least some of the downsides are obvious. For FF and FFvT3R players, we have no sign that our games will work under Vista. At some point, someone will end up with a new Vista-equipped PC and hopefully post that the games work under it or (my cynical side says this is more likely) post that he is having trouble getting the games to run. In addition, it looks like Vista is even more of a memory hog than previous Windows versions. Microsoft is recommending 0.5 GB of RAM for Vista Basic (1 GB for premium/business/ultimate) and I think XP used to recommend 128 MB. Obviously Vista isn't using all of that RAM itself, but it is still a 4x increase. I know my applications aren't using any less RAM, so an increase for Windows is not a good thing.

So, is there any real upside? I'm not saying there is none, but I am having a tough time finding it. For me, there is no advantage to further OS integration of firewalls or antiviral software. I don't have any need for more out-of-the-box multimedia capability. Any stylistic changes to the of the desktop/UI are utterly without value to me. Meanwhile, there may be some aspects of the interface that are more intuitive or whatever, but I already know my way around what I have.

This is really seeming like an expensive downgrade that's getting harder to avoid.
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: catwhowalksbyhimself on February 19, 2007, 07:27:06 PM
95 was the last Windows version that I actually considered a genuine upgrade.

XP crashes less, but isn't that big of a deal otherwise.

Vista.  I don't care and I don't want to have to upgrade especially if they're breaking older software.  I like older software.
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: crimsonquill on February 19, 2007, 07:49:23 PM
From what I'm reading in the dozens of computer magazines that I thumb through in waiting rooms and book stores... Windows Vista is mainly designed for multi-tasking users who wanted a far more "visual" upgrade to their operating system - plus it's the only way you can use the Direct X 10 upgrade. It's become a memory hog from the huge 3D graphical upgrade that the system forces upon you. Think of all of the unneeded graphics tools and toys that XP gave us upon it's introduction - full desktop mods (wallpapers, sounds, icons, pointers) and of course Direct X becoming a core element of the whole system. Demos have shown that it has "floating windows" which you can drag forward and open with full DVD playback in a live "window pane" plus fully animated wallpapers and 3D rendered icons if you want them.

I've been told that it's far more "backwards" compatable then XPSP2 was because the new OS allows you to open a virtual shell to play older games within (far less buggy and system dependent then the XP "rollback" options). Hence the bigger memory requirements for using Vista and almost needing to upgrade your required system memory to 4 Gigs just to keep up with all of the "Next Gen" Vista games.

The next biggest plus to Vista is that for those who download episodes of Heroes, Jericho, etc. the built-in DVD creator/burner is far more versitle then any Nero or in-store software that XP has at the moment.

I think the biggest "oops" that Windows Vista currently has is the miscode in Microsoft Office which doesn't set the auto Daylight Savings Time correctly and might throw off your calander for 6 months because some coding idiot didn't set a manual setting in the Vista System Tools. I'm sure that this and many fixes shall be promptly addressed in the next month or so.

My PC is having many weird keyboard and graphics card glitches but thanks to a full Platinum warrenty that I got with the system - I shall be recieving a new upgraded replacement since my current model is no longer sold by them any more. I'm told that my new PC doesn't ship with Vista because of their "game model" that OS has to be 100% fully compatable with all of the popular games. Whatever that means.

- CrimsonQuill
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: Lunarman on February 19, 2007, 10:25:15 PM
Me, I'll be waiting to Vista SP2 when they've got rid of all those bloody bugs and it actually works
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: Symon on February 26, 2007, 12:14:27 PM
The only game related things I've heard so far are that you can expect a 10-20% performance hit, even with more memory and that older games do not run.

Morrowind apparently has some serious issues on Vista. It of course uses the same (4.0.0.2) Nif version as FF.
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: stumpy on March 04, 2007, 08:42:47 AM
That is ominous. I wonder if that is a broader problem with the rendering engine and Vista or something more specific to Morrowind?

I have also heard (and it looks like I'll have to spend an afternoon sometime trying to figure out what's really going on with this) that Vista's DRM implementation is a real disaster, to the point where I would pretty much have to boycott Vista even if I never played any PC games.

Regarding our favorite superhero RPG: I miss the days when I worked with a bunch of techies where, by now, one of them would have installed Vista on a machine just to test it and I could have done a test install of FF/FFvT3R to see where things stood.

BTW, I saw a somewhat humourous Vista Simulator (http://www.voidspace.org.uk/python/weblog/arch_d7_2007_03_03.shtml#e650) post on one of the tech blogs I infrequent.
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: Epimethee on March 04, 2007, 02:32:37 PM
It's shocking how much Vista is a non-event. You'd think that the first major mainstream update to the OS used by ~93% of everyone would create a bigger buzz. Hey, even Windows Me had more media coverage! But then again when the main feature promised in Vista (the BeOS-style database file system) isn't part of it* and you're left to tout "improved parental controls" to sell it... Ahem.

So far, the few reviews I've read were looking as if the Vista monster wasn't due for another year. Of course, the fact is that they all ended along the lines of "To hell with this. I'm getting a Mac."... and FWIW, DRM for DRM, I'll be joining them (I just wish Bootcamp would support XP SP1 for FF1).

*Actually, IIRC, that feature was promised for 2000 way back in 1994, IIRC correctly an article of the time title "The Road to Cairo". :P
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: Symon on March 06, 2007, 11:04:52 AM
"The road to Cairo" rings a bell, so I think you're right.

I'm not the biggest fan of Microsoft as many of you know, but I do think they have seriously dropped the ball on Vista. I can't think of anything in it that sells it to _anyone_; except of course, the crippling DRM that is very popular with big media companies but no one else.

Of course, this board still does have it techies (me for one). It's just that I opted out of Microsoft-land as much as possible a long time ago. I'd try it out at work, except my company has no plans to roll out Vista unless it has to.
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: stumpy on March 06, 2007, 02:37:04 PM
Quote from: Symon on March 06, 2007, 11:04:52 AMIt's just that I opted out of Microsoft-land as much as possible a long time ago.

Just curious: how are you playing FF/FFvT3R. I'll admit, there isn't really much personal stuff I need to do under Windows, but that is sort of a big item for me.
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: Symon on March 07, 2007, 10:27:20 AM
I retain a high-performance machine loaded with Win98SE and the unofficial Win98 service pack. It plays the games I like (FF, FF3R, Civ3, Morrowind, Fallout, Fallout2 etc).

They don't make games for me anymore so the fact that new games won't load (if they did, I bet some would run) is not an issue.

As it happens, many XP only games will run on 98SE or can be made to. Oblivion (not that I am interested in it) only needs a dll change I believe.
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: Juanjete on March 16, 2007, 02:46:54 PM
So.. FFVTR runs in windows Vista?
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: stumpy on March 16, 2007, 03:03:48 PM
Quote from: Juanjete on March 16, 2007, 02:46:54 PM
So.. FFVTR runs in windows Vista?

No one has said so, yet. So few people here have any interest in using Vista that it may take a while to find out. (Though UE might be buying a Vista laptop soon.)
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: m101969 on March 18, 2007, 10:02:02 PM
Just a note  :ff: char tool does not work in vista, as the 3D models, if it even loads, are broken into floating pieces.  That is why I am  :banghead: working on this  :angry: friggin' xp multiboot partitioning.  Which, by the way is not working.  :rolleyes: Otherwise Vista looks alot like a linux OS, visually speaking.  And the do you authorize this action? thing gets a bit tedious....  It's actually even worse than in the Apple commercial.

Peace!

Mike
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: JKCarrier on March 19, 2007, 08:26:25 AM
Quote from: m101969 on March 18, 2007, 10:02:02 PM
Just a note  :ff: char tool does not work in vista, as the 3D models, if it even loads, are broken into floating pieces.

I get that effect in XP too. Very weird.
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: m101969 on March 20, 2007, 07:04:26 PM
As far as Vista goes, I had no indication that FF and FFv3R would work on it, and the driver downloads to re-install xp are mostly 40-100 mb which takes forever when you suffer from a financial need for dialup.  The "upgrade" came with my new PC which I bought because the old one kept crapping out.  However, the real bummer for me is that it took 2 reboots of the factory install to wipe the junk that Geek Squad apparently added to my system when I bought it.  And after 3 attempts, I am just leaving XP as the primary boot, because something is preventing my multiboot partition from working. Too bad I couldn't have waited another 6 months and bought a Mac. 

MS is really starting to PMO, as they seem to only prevent people purchasing their systems from using them without hassle and the constant watching eye of big brother.  i.e.:The error reporting claims not to collect private data, but when I showed the contents it listed every website I visited in Vista.  Not that I have anything to hide, but it's none of their friggin' business!

*deep breath*

My vote: NO advantages to Vista if you use your PC for anything other than business.  Just waiting for Longhorn now, so they can charge us monthly to operate the equipment we run.  Then, games or not, I'm converting fully to Linux or Mac.

'Scuse me, I ramble on...
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: stumpy on March 20, 2007, 08:18:01 PM
Sorry to hear it was such a pain to get things going. Did you try to install :ff: or :ffvstr: (the games themselves) on your Vista system.

Out of curiosity, what is the Vista advantage for businesses? From what I am hearing, most businesses are sticking to XP (that's largely why it's easier to buy a new PC with XP if you look at "business systems"). And, MS will support for XP for many more years.
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: Epimethee on March 21, 2007, 09:05:58 PM
In case anyone is interested in the supposed featured of the V. monster, Ars Technica has the first of a series or articles on Vista: http://arstechnica.com/reviews/os/pretty-vista.ars
I'd say it might not quite up to Ars' usual standards (i.e., you won't be able to replace Vista's lead architect while he's on vacation) and it's suffering badly from TMA (Too Many Acronyms) ; still an enlightening read.
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: Symon on March 22, 2007, 03:27:08 PM
Quote from: stumpy on March 20, 2007, 08:18:01 PM
Out of curiosity, what is the Vista advantage for businesses? From what I am hearing, most businesses are sticking to XP (that's largely why it's easier to buy a new PC with XP if you look at "business systems"). And, MS will support for XP for many more years.

I can answer this one. As some know, I'm an IT Manager for a publishing company (in the UK).

For those that don't know, the usual PC for business use is very different from a Game or home PC:-

Often no sound card, almost always no speakers or other multi-media frills. (You need sound with MS Excel?)
Barely adequate memory.
The cheapest graphics card you can get, often an on-board.
Often a slow (by the standards of the day) processor.
A network card is a must though.
No CD/DVD-Rom burner, just a reader.

Totally unsuitable for games, but cheap, because you'll want lots of them, one on every desk. The budget goes on the software.

You'll note that the machine I have roughed out is unsuitable for Vista. Vista requires the typical office PC actually have a top-flight games machine spec. Yes business are totally uninterested in spending that much extra per seat to enable a 3D one way rolodex type thingy for open windows, especially when most Office workers are unlikely to have even three windows open at once.

Vista has nothing in it of use to the average commercial user.
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: Juanjete on March 24, 2007, 03:52:09 AM
Tested: I install FFVTR and mod tools in a Vista Ultimate and works fine.
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: Epimethee on March 24, 2007, 06:29:41 AM
Great news! Thanks Juanjete.
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: m101969 on March 27, 2007, 07:28:48 PM
Ok ok--

So I am a blithering idiot ;) .  I rant and rant only to discover...it wasn't Vista itself after all.  You see, it appears that I purchased a returned PC.  So either the person who purchased it first inadvertantly acquired the win32/Parite and win32/parite.b viruses, or installed them on purpose to give the new MS OS trouble for someone else (me, as it turns out) so as to fuel anti MS feelings.  The thing even infected the factory install of Norton, so it could not update and detect the little beast.

Well it worked, at first.  Now I have cleaned the whole thing up, and (again) reinstalled from a freshly formatted drive  :P .  So far, Vista seems to be working nicely.

I will see about a Real answer to Stumpy's question in a week or so, after I have some time to check Vista out a bit.  I do notice the upgrades on IE make it more or less a Firefox piracy.  Way to go Billy and co.  You finally stole something useful for the first time since adding color to the original MacIntosh OS design!  :lol:

Thanks to all who responded to my vicious messages, as I was 4 weeks into frustration over being unable to use my new duo core PC other than to delete and install programs.

Note to those of you with websites:  You may want to check them for the infection, in case I inadvertantly spread it when visiting.  It did not kill my browser until yesterday (03/27/07).

Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: life_matrix on April 14, 2007, 10:15:17 AM
catwhowalksbyhimself wrote:
Quote95 was the last Windows version that I actually considered a genuine upgrade.

XP crashes less, but isn't that big of a deal otherwise.

Vista.  I don't care and I don't want to have to upgrade especially if they're breaking older software.  I like older software.
Amen to that! :thumbup: I agree 100%: Long live classic software!

Instead of fixing the serious bugs in the 95/98/ME family, MS moved on to 2K and XP - breaking a lot of older software along the way. Now the MS flock is moving on again, except that I don't think they're moving forward.

I don't expect to ever "upgrade" to Vista. In fact, I'm still using Windows 98SE. Though, I am using it with the Unofficial Win 98SE Service Pack 2.1a (http://exuberant.ms11.net/98sesp.html). And for 98SE users I also recommend the "98SE2ME Upgrade Solution" from AXCEL216 / MDGx (http://www.mdgx.com/). (If you happen to own a WinME install disk.) These two packages solves a lot of 98 problems and updates the files with those from ME and elsewhere.

Just recently I installed Xubuntu (Linux) to see if I can use it. I'm still learning the ropes, so it's too early to tell.


Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: m101969 on April 14, 2007, 08:04:26 PM
Quote from: m101969 on March 27, 2007, 07:28:48 PM
I will see about a Real answer to Stumpy's question in a week or so, after I have some time to check Vista out a bit. 

So, this is what I discovered:  Vista (Home Basic) which came with my new PC is virtually useless to a gamer.  It is slower, and flags most any game / 3d application I try to run as having "known compatibility issues with Vista."  Ultimate may be a different story entirely, but it will be some time before I can aford to find out.  Peace and best wishes.  Hope all goes well.  I am back to XP, or possibly following Catman's advice and updating 98. 

Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: m101969 on April 14, 2007, 08:13:06 PM
Quote from: m101969 on April 14, 2007, 08:04:26 PM
Quote from: m101969 on March 27, 2007, 07:28:48 PM
I will see about a Real answer to Stumpy's question in a week or so, after I have some time to check Vista out a bit. 

Ultimate may be a different story entirely, but it will be some time before I can aford to find out. 


Wow,

"I are a good spellar..." :doh:  And my grammar rocks, too.

That should be afford.  Apparently, I can't even afford to use spellcheck...  :lol:
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: happymelv on April 23, 2007, 09:20:13 AM
Quote from: Juanjete on March 24, 2007, 03:52:09 AM
Tested: I install FFVTR and mod tools in a Vista Ultimate and works fine.

I upgraded XP to Vista in February and I'm actually liking Vista. However I do admit am pretty miffed a lot of my old programs don't work.

I dusted off FF and FFvsTR and tried installing them again, however they don't seem to run. Am at work, so can't say exactly what the error was. Might just be my comp and probably need to update a few drivers.

Playing CoH still, however mothing beats FF for all the mods that I've downloaded through the years! It still rocks my sock! *slavers at the thought of playing it again*
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: Symon on April 23, 2007, 10:19:22 AM
Interestingly, Dell, having withdrawn all options to buy a computer with XP, have re-instated some due to 'overwhelming demand'.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/20/dell_offers_xp_again/ (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/20/dell_offers_xp_again/)
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: Cyber Burn on June 02, 2007, 11:56:57 PM
Unfortunately, the new PC that I'm stuck with has Vista as the operating system, and if I'm reading everything correctly here, that means I no longer get to play  :ff: or  :ffvstr:.   Am I correct in this assumption?   Can I at least install the games (with the appropriate character tool) so that I can skin? Also, what about NifSkope?   Is that workable yet with Vista?
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: Lunarman on June 03, 2007, 12:19:13 AM
you can play FFVTTR fine i think :)
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: bevo on June 03, 2007, 05:08:05 PM
for 235 buck I am deeply sorry i bought vista, 95% of my programs didnt work anymore. Plus you have to call and get permission any time you want to reinstall it and go through 20 questions and they yell at you in hindu. The best system I have had is this winxp 64 pro. Clean and simple, runs fast. I would stay away from vista.
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: Shogunn2517 on July 09, 2007, 01:24:10 AM
Just to let anyone and everyone reading this, Freedom Force can run on Windows Vista.  I am running it right now.  Infact, I can see it in the bottom window.  I actually think Vista is pretty cool.  If it's anything more than cosmetics, I'm not entirely too certain, but I do know I heard many complain of problems with Vista and as of yet, I have had problems(crashes mainly), but nothing major.  As for Freedom Force, yes, it does work.  Although, initially, I didn't think it would.  I got a similar message many probably got with compatibility issues, but those were appearently resloved after I found and downloaded patch 1.2 and patch 1.3 and from what I can tell, it plays as well as to be expected.  In fact, better than what my machine previously did for me.  It might have been tech problems, but there were certain animations and fx I could not see previously.  Now, for whatever reason, I finally see a lot of these fx for the first time.

So, yes.  It works.  The only question would be with FFvTTR, which to my knowledge is more high-end and reportedly to download and play successfully, I assume that works with Vista as well.

Now, I don't know if they've had time to work out bugs with Vista or what in the 7 or 8 months it's been released, but this works.
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: stumpy on July 09, 2007, 06:41:13 PM
That is great news, Shogunn2517! I was worried that I would have to maintain a separate XP SP1 partition for at least FF (and possibly FFvT3R) if I bought a new PC. That they both run is the best piece of news I've heard about Vista in a while.
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: zuludelta on July 09, 2007, 08:40:04 PM
As a bit of a PC hobbyist who does a lot of audio/video remastering, I don't think I'll be making the switch to Vista anytime soon, the potentially crippling effects of its hardware-based DRM system is just a bit much. Anybody interested in reading about the potential problems Vista can cause with content creation can read Peter Guttman's cost-analysis paper (http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.html) for the details.   
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: General Jerky on July 11, 2007, 06:40:49 AM
I have Vista Ult. and I love it. <.<. I can play Fallout and Fallout 2 fine(games from 97/98) in fact its not really older stuff that doesn't work its newer stuff. I have more problems with Madden 2007 then anything else. Hell Freedom Force works fine. I get no problem with slow down, in fact my computer runs a whole of a hell lot better on Vista then it did on XP.
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: Lunarman on August 23, 2007, 12:43:08 AM
Did anyone find out about getting FFVTTR to work with Vista? I have vista running upstairs just now and FFVTTR doesn't work, however I think that may be a driver issue.

When  I start up vista I get an error with 'starforce protection' drivers and then it is disabled. I get the same error when I start FFVTTR as well as a 'runtime libraries'. Vista thinks it may be able to solve the problem once it's on the internet but as of yet it's not. I'll try Freedom Force on it too when I get online.

BTW, I have the euro version of FFVTTR

Any luck?
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: Lunarman on August 24, 2007, 03:33:04 AM
Ok, Good news for everyone:

Vista works with FFVTTR, all you need to do is download some drivers :)
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: stumpy on August 24, 2007, 04:50:09 AM
:thumbup: That's great. More confirmation that FFvT3R will run under Vista. I think we have a report or two above that even FF runs as well. (http://home.graffiti.net/stumpyanker:graffiti.net/emoticons/banana.gif)
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: Lunarman on August 24, 2007, 06:10:09 AM
Just another confirmation about FF1, it works too.

does a mod want to post a sticky at the top of this forum confirming both games run fine incase people are worried about upgrading?

Thankyou

Lunarman
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: stumpy on August 24, 2007, 04:56:49 PM
Quote from: Lunarman on August 24, 2007, 06:10:09 AMdoes a mod want to post a sticky at the top of this forum confirming both games run fine incase people are worried about upgrading?

Good idea. This issue will probably come up again as more people move (or are shoved) to Vista.

Done. But, maybe later on I will split the thread at some point to isolate the general ruminations and rumblings about Vista from the FF and FFvT3R compatibility question.
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: thehod on September 12, 2007, 12:32:50 AM
Quote from: Lunarman on August 24, 2007, 03:33:04 AM
Ok, Good news for everyone:

Vista works with FFVTTR, all you need to do is download some drivers :)

Any idea what those drivers are, and where to get them?

I get the same error message regarding 'Starforce Protection' drivers.
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: Lunarman on September 12, 2007, 08:06:30 AM
Well my vista popped up with a box saying 'looking for a solution to the problem' then it download drivers automatically and it just worked.

What edition have you got? I've got home premium.
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: thehod on September 12, 2007, 01:03:03 PM
Quote from: Lunarman on September 12, 2007, 08:06:30 AM
Well my vista popped up with a box saying 'looking for a solution to the problem' then it download drivers automatically and it just worked.

What edition have you got? I've got home premium.

Ahhhh, I've only had got Vista on my laptop which is brand new, and haven't as yet got it connected to the net (wireless stuff is due to turn up this weekend) so by the sounds of it once I get that all connected it should do it automatically and be good to go.
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: Cousin on September 15, 2007, 12:27:25 PM
Hasta la VISTA do not use Windows Vista
Vista is looking almost like Linux Bill is out of ideas ? soon it'll be Winlux not Windows  :P

:lol:

We'll my friend has Vista and  :ffvstr: works pretty good at his computer there should be no problem at running vsTTR on Windows Vista
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: thehod on September 27, 2007, 08:57:00 AM
Vista is beginning to get on my abilities, and I think its to do with Directx issues more than anything else.

Rome Total War tells me it needs directx 9, when i've got directx 10 installed, and now FF is giving me an "Alert init renderer" message.

The funny thing is that both these games were working fine until yesterday, when the only new thing that happend was a windows update.

any ideas, or am i just going to have to wait until Vista and Directx properly do what they promise that they can do?
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: stumpy on September 27, 2007, 10:47:12 AM
I have seen this once or twice (I think more with FF than with FFvT3R) and it went away on reboot. Other people have had some luck updating / rolling back video drivers.

Sorry that's all I recall right now. There used to be a longer thread on this topic on ffans. Oh, well...
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: zuludelta on December 27, 2007, 03:52:19 PM
One minor annoyance I found with Vista is that it apparently can't read the data off of multi-session CD-Rs that were written using Windows XP's built-in CD-writing utility. I noticed this when my mum complained that her new PC (which had Vista Premium as the OS) wouldn't read a photo CD a friend had sent her. I got the photo CD, popped it into my PC (which has XP) and it read it fine. I did notice that the CD-R was left "open" (non-finalized) so I tried "closing" it with the Nero CD/DVD recording software. Popped it into my mum's PC and it could read it okay. Tried it again with a spare CD-R... burned some data on one, left it "open" and un-finalized, checked that it read okay with my spare Windows XP PC, and again same result with Vista claiming that the disc isn't formatted for Windows. 
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: RogueDW331 on June 26, 2008, 11:39:11 AM
I have Vista HP and it works great, but I've tried looking on here to see if anyone has tried the cheats on their FFvsTR game after installing it on Vista, but I've found nuthin. So I was wandering if anyone can use the cheats, cause i can't. I've even went through five different walk throughs on how to get the cheats to work. I was just wondering.
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: stumpy on June 26, 2008, 02:51:46 PM
You mean you couldn't get the console to open (http://freedomreborn.net/archive/index.php?topic=41006.msg572260#msg572260) after changing your ..\system\localinit.py file? If you can get the console open, all the python stuff would pretty much have to work. And, really, I can't see Vista having any impact on whether or not the console opens. Usually, people having trouble with that either have a non-U.S. English keyboard or have had trouble creating/changing the localinit.py file (they created it in a non-plain text editor or saved it as localinit.py.txt or something similar).

I would be curious if the console works but python doesn't...
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: RogueDW331 on June 26, 2008, 04:25:33 PM
Yeah I created it and it was saved as a text file, but that's the only type of file I can save that as. I'll just have to deal without the console I guess... &lt;_&lt;
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: Previsionary on June 26, 2008, 04:33:50 PM
saving it as a text file is a problem. Make sure you have full permission over the file and it's not read only. Also, make sure you can actually see the endings of the files you're editing as it will sometimes save as:

"localinit.py.txt" which is also incorrect.
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: stumpy on June 26, 2008, 11:24:18 PM
Quote from: RogueDW331 on June 26, 2008, 04:25:33 PMYeah I created it and it was saved as a text file, but that's the only type of file I can save that as. I'll just have to deal without the console I guess... &lt;_&lt;

Just to double-check, when things are correct, the file is a text file, but the filename can't end in the .txt extension because python source files need the .py extension. If you are not sure what the extension of the file really is, check out this part of the Game FAQ (http://freedomreborn.net/archive/index.php?topic=41006.msg572259#msg572259). If you are trying to save the file in Notepad and it keeps adding the .txt extension, then choose Save As and in the file dialog, enter "localinit.py" (with the quotation marks). The quotes should force Notepad to save it with the name you gave it, without adding it's own extension.
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: cmdrkoenig67 on August 03, 2008, 04:39:49 AM
I recently had to buy a new computer and it has Windows Vista (I guess it's the home version)...FF Character Tool seems to work fine (FF doesn't seem to want to run, though...I even checked for fixes, when it prompted me, but it came up with no solutions), FFVTTR (and it's Character Tool) seems to work fine.

Dana
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: stumpy on August 03, 2008, 07:44:11 AM
Just curious, are you trying to run FF with the 1.3 patch (http://freedomreborn.net/archive/index.php?topic=41006.msg581630#msg581630)?
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: cmdrkoenig67 on August 03, 2008, 08:05:08 AM
Yes...It keeps crashing and saying it can't load the cutscenes.

Dana
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: Lunarman on August 13, 2008, 01:20:03 AM
You tried playing around with the compatibility modes? :s it might help
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: AfghanAnt on September 16, 2008, 03:06:33 PM
I'm buying a new laptop with Vista pre-loaded is there anything I have to do to get  :ffvstr: to run or can I just pop the disk in? Also I think it is a testiment to how much I love  :ffvstr: that I determine whether or not I buy a laptop that can run it.
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: Previsionary on September 16, 2008, 03:16:10 PM
depends on which version of vista you get. it'll work fine regardless, but you'll have to do a few work-a-rounds to get mods and such to work on the 64-bit version, I hear.
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: AfghanAnt on September 17, 2008, 07:34:46 AM
Quote from: Previsionary on September 16, 2008, 03:16:10 PM
depends on which version of vista you get. it'll work fine regardless, but you'll have to do a few work-a-rounds to get mods and such to work on the 64-bit version, I hear.

Windows Vista Home Premium with SP1 (I really hope this is the right one).
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: cmdrkoenig67 on September 17, 2008, 11:14:54 PM
So I still haven't got  :ff: to work on the new comp, the  :ff: Character Tool works, but many of the meshes display broken or shattered.

Dana
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: cmdrkoenig67 on September 23, 2008, 09:19:39 PM
Another issue I've noticed is when using FFEdit2...I open a mission and begin working on a map (it doesn't matter which one), after an unknown ammount of time (the time seems to vary)...It won't let me edit the map any further (I can open it, but I can't add things, select or move things...I can delete things in the Edit control panel, though...Weird).  This problem persists, and even though I close the Editor and re-open, it won't let me edit my map.  A few hours later or the next day when I open FFEdit, it let's me edit the map once again. 

Some things just tend to stop working (I even get the warning, that the program has stopped working and that is looking for a solution)...My DDS converter also only allows me to convert one file at a time (on WinXP, it let me convert multiple files) and it sometimes doesn't want to work at all. 

Both of these worked just fine for me on my old WinXP.   Those are the issues I can recall right now...There may have been more, that I can't think of at the moment.  :angry:

Dana
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: Uncle Yuan on September 24, 2008, 08:14:27 AM
The core game seems to work just fine, but there's some wierdness in gettin FFX to work that I don't think anyone has figured out yet.  At least, I have a thread started for that purpose and nothing that works has been put up there yet.
Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: Previsionary on September 24, 2008, 09:23:03 AM
Quote from: cmdrkoenig67 on September 23, 2008, 09:19:39 PM
Another issue I've noticed is when using FFEdit2...I open a mission and begin working on a map (it doesn't matter which one), after an unknown ammount of time (the time seems to vary)...It won't let me edit the map any further (I can open it, but I can't add things, select or move things...I can delete things in the Edit control panel, though...Weird).  This problem persists, and even though I close the Editor and re-open, it won't let me edit my map.  A few hours later or the next day when I open FFEdit, it let's me edit the map once again. 

Some things just tend to stop working (I even get the warning, that the program has stopped working and that is looking for a solution)...My DDS converter also only allows me to convert one file at a time (on WinXP, it let me convert multiple files) and it sometimes doesn't want to work at all. 

Both of these worked just fine for me on my old WinXP.   Those are the issues I can recall right now...There may have been more, that I can't think of at the moment.  :angry:

Dana

Haven't experienced any of that. Everything I've used (ctool, ffedit, map editor) have all worked without a hitch and havent crashed yet. The map problem of it locking up and such is more than likely a system error. I left mine open for about an error and was able to still play around with objects and such. Maybe I'm just ubah lucky? ^^

Title: Re: Any real advantage to Windows Vista ?
Post by: cmdrkoenig67 on September 24, 2008, 09:58:54 PM
Yeah...I still have the map-locking issue, I have no idea why it does it...I thought it was Vista, since I never encountered the issue on my old XP.

Dana  :banghead: