[Glovedog]

Originally posted in wrong forum, I think it belongs here.

So I was finally able to get Freespace 1 to work on my laptop and I have been having a great time....until I got to the mission "A Failure To Communicate." I saved ALL of the escape pods and defeated every wing of bombers to attack the communication station but the mission never ends. The Hope reaches the waypoint it is set to reach and then it flies past it and turns around. From there it spent the next thirty minutes moving in an arc trying to get to the waypoint and it did this twice only to repeat the process and fail all over again.

This has happened to me once in the past on this mission but I would just restart the level and it would fix itself. Not this time, I've played the level ten times now. Quit the game, and restated the game and played it twice more and every time this happens. I finally gave up and for the first time ever, I ragequit Freespace.

Any help? Is there an error in the script? Should I uninstall and reinstall the game?

[Mito [PL]]

Does jumping out after all enemies are defeated return AWOL debriefing?

[Yarn]

Are you playing the FreeSpace Port or the original FreeSpace 1?

If you're playing the FreeSpace Port, then please post your fs2_open.log file.  Instructions on how to do this can be found in this post.

If you're playing the original FreeSpace 1, then make sure it's patched to version 1.06. If you have the North American or Australian version, then get the patch here. If you have a different version, then get the appropriate patch here. (If you got the game from GOG.com, then it's already patched to 1.06.)

[Glovedog]

Are you playing the FreeSpace Port or the original FreeSpace 1?

If you're playing the FreeSpace Port, then please post your fs2_open.log file.  Instructions on how to do this can be found in this post.

If you're playing the original FreeSpace 1, then make sure it's patched to version 1.06. If you have the North American or Australian version, then get the patch here. If you have a different version, then get the appropriate patch here. (If you got the game from GOG.com, then it's already patched to 1.06.)

Thanks, I'll give this a try. It is the original CD version of FS1. I want to know why it's doing it now when it had never really been a problem before? In either case, I will patch it.

[Glovedog]

I just noticed that I have a file named "patchw32.dll" that is already in my Freespace folder, I think it was installed from the disk. How do I check what version I have of FS and where do I install the 1.06 patch if I decide I do need it? I'm confused where to put it because I already have this "patchw32" file.

I'm so confuzzled.

[Yarn]

In the main hall, there should be a version number in the lower-right corner of the screen. If it's missing or lower than 1.06, you need to install the patch.

The patch is an EXE file. Run it and, when prompted, browse to where you have FreeSpace installed.

[Glovedog]

In the main hall, there should be a version number in the lower-right corner of the screen. If it's missing or lower than 1.06, you need to install the patch.

The patch is an EXE file. Run it and, when prompted, browse to where you have FreeSpace installed.

Thanks again, you've been helpful as always! 

[Glovedog]

In the main hall, there should be a version number in the lower-right corner of the screen. If it's missing or lower than 1.06, you need to install the patch.

The patch is an EXE file. Run it and, when prompted, browse to where you have FreeSpace installed.

So I ran the patch and now the game is telling me I don't have enough RAM again. I'm still running it in compatibility mode. What do I do now? I'm starting to think I'm destined to just never play this game again.

[General Battuta]

That's what FreeSpace Open is for!

[Glovedog]

That's what FreeSpace Open is for!

Great, except I don't have, nor care much for FS 2 or the graphical enhancements. Looks like it's gog.com for me all over again. Care to explain how come the patch screws up compatibility mode or do I now have an original copy of FS 1 that's been rendered useless after working fine for years?

[General Battuta]

Whoa, easy there. I'm sorry the game isn't working any more and I don't know the technical details.

[Black Wolf]

A reinstall from your discs will remove the patch, and you can save your pilot file so that you wont lose your progress. It's been ages since I did anything with FS1, so I don't know whether the patch changes any mission files, but the bug you're hitting almost certainly has to do with the structure of that particular mission, nothing to do with the engine or the way your game is playing. Volition's missions were historically fairly straightforward, and in many instances not heavily stress tested, thus they were (in some cases) easy to inadvertently break, which may have happened here. Someone who has worked on the Port (Goober is probably the best man to speak to) might be able to tell you if they tweaked that mission to prevent this particular bug - if they have, it's probably not too challenging to convert their FS2 mission file into an FS1 mission file which you can use it to progress.

All that being said, however... FS1 is a very old game now - over 15 years - and a lot of technology has changed since then. If you do end up heading back to GoG, I'd strongly recommend getting FS2 and FSOpen in place of FS1 - you can install the port, and never touch the main FS2 campaign or any of the mods, and it will play and look almost exactly like FS1 - you can even set it to FS1's 640x480 resolution if you so desire. The only things that will change that you're likely to notice will be the structure of the Command Briefing window (just the position of the anis, nothing significant) and the nebula BGs. Otherwise, it's effectively identical, but the engine will run flawlessly on modern systems with >2 GB of ram.

[Glovedog]

A reinstall from your discs will remove the patch, and you can save your pilot file so that you wont lose your progress. It's been ages since I did anything with FS1, so I don't know whether the patch changes any mission files, but the bug you're hitting almost certainly has to do with the structure of that particular mission, nothing to do with the engine or the way your game is playing. Volition's missions were historically fairly straightforward, and in many instances not heavily stress tested, thus they were (in some cases) easy to inadvertently break, which may have happened here. Someone who has worked on the Port (Goober is probably the best man to speak to) might be able to tell you if they tweaked that mission to prevent this particular bug - if they have, it's probably not too challenging to convert their FS2 mission file into an FS1 mission file which you can use it to progress.

All that being said, however... FS1 is a very old game now - over 15 years - and a lot of technology has changed since then. If you do end up heading back to GoG, I'd strongly recommend getting FS2 and FSOpen in place of FS1 - you can install the port, and never touch the main FS2 campaign or any of the mods, and it will play and look almost exactly like FS1 - you can even set it to FS1's 640x480 resolution if you so desire. The only things that will change that you're likely to notice will be the structure of the Command Briefing window (just the position of the anis, nothing significant) and the nebula BGs. Otherwise, it's effectively identical, but the engine will run flawlessly on modern systems with >2 GB of ram.

I'm sure the patch works fine, it's just that now the game won't boot up in compatibility mode anymore. I uninstalled the game and reinstalled it (kept my player file). One thing I noticed is that when I installed the patch, the .exe and launch files both had the windows shield on their icons, but I don't see how this would effect compatibility mode. If I can just fix this problem then everything should work fine.

I've also toyed around with the thought of modifying the mission file myself and just setting the mission parameter for protecting the installation to true. But I don't know if this would effect anything else in the game or for that matter how to get to the mission file (I do already have vp view).

Do I need to retail copy of FS 2 for FS Port or would any copy work?

[General Battuta]

Any full copy of FS2 (including GoG) will work. I don't think Colossus would work for FSPort but I could be wrong.

[Glovedog]

Any full copy of FS2 (including GoG) will work. I don't think Colossus would work for FSPort but I could be wrong.

That's wonderful news. Good think they're both pretty cheap too. 

Thanks a bunch!

[WhiteFox]

I think something went wrong with your installation.
I have the same Problem, if i ONLY (!) play the retail-version of the game without any FreespaceOpen-Addons or FSVPMedias.
This was an little bit tricky "Bug". A few Shivan Wings are not spawning (or joining) the Game, so the Script of the Communications - Ship goes into an error. It only triggers if all Shivans Fighters has been destroyed.
Im sure that this was an problem, that has been fixed last 2-3 years ago with newer FSPort and MediaVPs

Possible that is the Problem.  I would uninstall the hole game, delete all left folders from the Game and install it  Step-by-Step.

[AV8R]

Strange, I had this same problem a while back playing retail FS1 but with a different mission (the mission where you and a wingman have to protect the Galatea from getting pummeled with asteroids before the Galatea jumps out). The issue was similar: when the Galatea reached the point where it should've began it's jump, it would come to a stop and just sit there and spin slowly around forever. Eventually it would get hammered with enough rocks until it eventually imploded and I would jump out and get yelled at in debriefing. Jumping out early got me yelled at too. There was nothing I could do to advance the mission (and all of the troubleshooting steps mentioned above had no affect on the outcome). It's like some dependence in the mission was either not getting met or some mission flag was being ignored by the game engine.

Even more strange, if I installed and played the game on another computer, the mission played fine - but on my gaming rig, it refused to play correctly anymore.

That is what eventually brought me here - to find if using these upgrades/ports would fix the problem (which it did).

I've never played the retail versions since - I mean, what's the point, really? 

[Mongoose]

Ahh, this old bug.  I remember coming across it a few times way back in the day, and one of the fan-made missions that was bundled with Silent Threat almost never completed properly for me because of it.  The reason this happens has to do with how the departure cues are set for capital ships.  If you set a large ship to head towards a certain waypoint, and you set the departure trigger exactly at that waypoint (i.e. at a distance of 0), what sometimes winds up happening is that the ship overshoots the waypoint, because obviously big ships don't exactly stop on a dime.  The ship will then try to spin back around to get to the waypoint, and what usually follows is a comedy of errors, as it constantly overshoots that specific point and turns back again.  Sometimes you can get lucky by kicking on time compression, and watching the ship flail around for minutes until it finally manages to hit the sweet spot.  I think the reason the bug can be sporadic to reproduce is that the actual SEXP distance checks are essentially framerate-dependent, so a slower PC might not catch that exact "distance = 0" moment like a faster one would.

Fortunately, if you're making a mission, the means for avoiding this bug is easy: set your ship's departure cues for when a ship is within a certain distance of a waypoint, instead of right on top of it.  That way you won't see the derp dance.

[Glovedog]

Fortunately, if you're making a mission, the means for avoiding this bug is easy: set your ship's departure cues for when a ship is within a certain distance of a waypoint, instead of right on top of it.  That way you won't see the derp dance.

"Derp dance" is a great name for this glitch. I actually fixed it sort of, it still happens a lot when I replay the mission but through a combination of fixing the script in the mission vp and leaving one of the Dragons alive I was able to pass the mission and I completed the campaign.

I have a problem still though. I tried installing Silent Threat so I can play the user created missions (there are some real fun ones) and the game will no longer run in compatibility mode because silent threat patches the .exe file. How come when I patch my game compatibility mode fails? It makes no sense. Uninstalling both FS1 and Silent threat fixes the problem because it removes the patch, but once I try to put any patch on I get a "not enough RAM" error all over again.

 

Oh well, I don't need to play Silent Threat THAT bad. I think I'll play around with my good buddy FRED now.

[Mongoose]

Going back to the retail bit, I think running the Silent Threat installer reverts FS back to 1.04 for some odd reason, even if you've already patched it to 1.06.  You'd need to apply the patch a second time in order to get things straightened out.  (Ah, the pre-Steam joys of ridiculous patch dependencies...)