Might & Magic 7 - Unstable???????

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg (More info?)

Hi,
I just started MM7 and am having stability problems, too bad because so
far I really like the game a lot.

When I go into an Armor Store, Weapons Store, Alchemist, or any other
house, store or whatever, the voices sound like one of the keys is
stuck on the key board, like they repeat a sylable oh oh oh oh, etc,
real fast. Sometimes its okay for a few seconds at first but pretty
much always does it?? Also, my system freezes up randomly after maybe
1/2 hr - 1 hr. no mouse, keyboard, total lock, have to pull the plug.

My OS is XP-Home, video card is nVidia GeForce 5700 LE 256M. 1.3GB of
RAM and a 1.8GHz P4 processor. I have downloaded and installed the
latest driver for the video card and the AC97 sound card that's
integrated into the motherboard.

When I installed MM7 and when I play it I have nothing running in the
background, like anti-virus, spyware or pop-up blockers. I also
downloaded and installed the MM7 patch, but it executed in a flash
which makes me wonder if it really installed? I'm not sure how to tell?

Appreciate help.
Tucsonjim

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg (More info?)

Hi Grant,
Can you tell me how to turn sound acc off in DX?
Thanks
Tucsonjim

PS: Maybe the lockups are not related to MM7?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg (More info?)

"tucsonjim" <jim@kanewebdesign.com> wrote in message
news:1126674485.422714.37310@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Hi,
> I just started MM7 and am having stability problems, too bad because so
> far I really like the game a lot.
>
> When I go into an Armor Store, Weapons Store, Alchemist, or any other
> house, store or whatever, the voices sound like one of the keys is
> stuck on the key board, like they repeat a sylable oh oh oh oh, etc,
> real fast. Sometimes its okay for a few seconds at first but pretty
> much always does it?? Also, my system freezes up randomly after maybe
> 1/2 hr - 1 hr. no mouse, keyboard, total lock, have to pull the plug.
>
> My OS is XP-Home, video card is nVidia GeForce 5700 LE 256M. 1.3GB of
> RAM and a 1.8GHz P4 processor. I have downloaded and installed the
> latest driver for the video card and the AC97 sound card that's
> integrated into the motherboard.

I've never tried MM7 under WinXP. I did try it under Win2000 and had a lot
of problems, don't think I got it to run successfully at all but it's so
long ago I don't recall the details. I imagine it would be about the same
under WinXP. It's a slightly quirky game anyway, especially in the sound
department. I originally ran it under Win95 or Win98 (not sure now which)
and had no problems, but friend of mine installed it under Win95 and had
problems with the sound cutting out. But when I later installed it under
Win98SE on another machine it gave me sound cutting out problems too. On the
*same computer* it has no sound problems under WinME (it's a dual-boot
machine). So that's strange. That particular computer uses on-board sound,
but both the previous machines mentioned had discrete sound cards so it
seems whatever the sound problems are you're equally likely to get 'em
either way.


>
> When I installed MM7 and when I play it I have nothing running in the
> background, like anti-virus, spyware or pop-up blockers. I also
> downloaded and installed the MM7 patch, but it executed in a flash
> which makes me wonder if it really installed? I'm not sure how to tell?

Go to the folder where the game is installed (Program Files\3DO\Might and
Magic VII) and right-click on the MM7 application file, then click on
Properties and then the Version tab. It will say Version: 1.0.0.1 for some
reason, but ignore that, go down the list and click on Product Version. If
the patch installed all right it will show 1.1. At least that's the way it
is on my WinME system so I assume it would be the same on your machine.

Just out of curiosity I may try installing it on one of my WinXP computers
and see how that goes.

N.


>
> Appreciate help.
> Tucsonjim
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg (More info?)

OK. I have just installed MM7 (haven't put in the patch yet, but I doubt
that matters for this) on a system which is as follows:

Athlon XP 2200+, 512 MB
GeForce FX 5500, 128 MB, 61.77 drivers
WinXP SP2 (Home Ed.)
DirectX 9.0c
Realtek AC97 audio (onboard)

First installed with all the defaults. MM7 would not start at all, just gave
an error message (report to Microsoft? etc.).

Next went into MM7Setup (in the game folder) and changed Video from Hardware
Accelerated 3D to Software 3D. Same results exactly, game wouldn't start and
gave same error message.

Went into MM7Setup again and changed from DirectSound3D with Creative Labs
EAX (dunno why that's the default anyway) to DirectSound3D with Hardware
Support. Same results, won't run.

Finally went back and checked Disable Accelerated 3D Audio. That did the
trick! MM7 now runs perfectly. Tried going back and re-enabling hardware
accelerated 3D video and it wouldn't run again.

So for at least for this WinXP system, that's the answer: turn off 3D
hardware acceleration for both video and audio. It just won't run any other
way. Of course it looks different with software 3D video, but some players
insist that looks better anyway. (To me it's a wash, more variety in
townspeople's colors which is nice, but more pixellation of course.) Good to
find this out, and I'm glad you raised the question.

N.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg (More info?)

tucsonjim wrote:
> Hi,
> I just started MM7 and am having stability problems, too bad because so
> far I really like the game a lot.
>
> When I go into an Armor Store, Weapons Store, Alchemist, or any other
> house, store or whatever, the voices sound like one of the keys is
> stuck on the key board, like they repeat a sylable oh oh oh oh, etc,
> real fast. Sometimes its okay for a few seconds at first but pretty
> much always does it?? Also, my system freezes up randomly after maybe
> 1/2 hr - 1 hr. no mouse, keyboard, total lock, have to pull the plug.
>
> My OS is XP-Home, video card is nVidia GeForce 5700 LE 256M. 1.3GB of
> RAM and a 1.8GHz P4 processor. I have downloaded and installed the
> latest driver for the video card and the AC97 sound card that's
> integrated into the motherboard.

To run MM7 without the repeating sound on XP, I had to turn sound
acceleration off in DirectX (I also use the AC97).

I didn't get the hard lockups you mention, though.

Cheers,
Grant

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg (More info?)

tucsonjim wrote:
> Hi Grant,
> Can you tell me how to turn sound acc off in DX?

Go to the Start menu, then Run, then in the box type "dxdiag" and press
Enter.

Click on the Sound tab, and there'll be a slider marked Hardware Sound
Acceleration level. Move that to its minimum, and you should be able to
avoid the repeating sounds - at least it worked for me.

Cheers,
Grant

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg (More info?)

Hi Nostrobino,
That is a nice piece of detective work; maybe you missed your calling?
Anyhow,
where is the MM7Setup game folder? I don't see one in Program
Files/3DO/Might & Magic VII/
where mine resides on my C: drive?
Tucsonjim

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg (More info?)

"tucsonjim" <jim@kanewebdesign.com> wrote in message
news:1126751612.592730.150610@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Hi Nostrobino,
> That is a nice piece of detective work; maybe you missed your calling?

Heh. Thanks, too late now! ;-)


> Anyhow,
> where is the MM7Setup game folder? I don't see one in Program
> Files/3DO/Might & Magic VII/
> where mine resides on my C: drive?

No, MM7Setup is an application, not a folder. It's in the Might and Magic
VII folder. It's the only other executable that has exactly the same icon
(gryphon's head?) as the MM7 executable. Run it and it brings up the same
options that it did when you first installed and ran the game.

Let me know how you make out. There's enough difference between systems that
I'm by no means sure what works for me will work for you, but I hope it
will.

N.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg (More info?)

On 13 Sep 2005 22:08:05 -0700, "tucsonjim" <jim@kanewebdesign.com>
wrote:

>Hi,
>I just started MM7 and am having stability problems, too bad because so
>far I really like the game a lot.

Try running it in a window instead of full-screen. I had a lot of
problems with the game running full-screen, but switching to running
in a window fixed them. Its annoying, because you'll probably have to
switch to a different desktop resolution and bit-depth every time you
want to play, and back when you're done, but it worked for me.