Convert Armada 1 mod to Armada 2?

posted on November 22nd, 2010, 6:29 am

So, I've been playing the Star Trek: Armada series for the past eight years or so, and during that time have gradually updated from a Pentium 3 866mhz with Intel Integrated graphics running Windows ME to a beastly Phenom 2 X4 965 with a nVidia 9800GT running Windows 7 x64.

Needless to say, I have had absolutely no luck getting the original Armada to run - I've tried everything I can think of, and keep getting glitches if it's even able to start at all. It runs...okay...in WINE, but it's very clunky.

I consider myself incredibly fortunate that you all developed the 1.2.5 patch, letting me play Armada 2 on my new computers.

Still, I miss some of the old mods I used to play in Armada 1 - the Millenium Project, the Klingon Academy Total Conversion, and most of all, the Star Trek vs. Star Wars mod.

Fortunately, I still have these mods saved on my computer, along with a couple others. Recently, I was pondering: instead of trying to get Armada 1 working right on the computer, might it be easier to convert the mods to run in Armada 2?

I have no experience modding, and wouldn't be able to start learning for probably about a month - need to finish up with college exams before I even consider starting, and I wouldn't have enough time before them anyway.

Is it possible / feasible to convert an Armada 1 mod to work with Armada 2? Needless to say, if I were to somehow manage to make it work and release it, I would give credit to the original modders, but asking for actual permission will be difficult since a lot of sites have disappeared in the past eight years.

posted on November 22nd, 2010, 6:39 am

Find me a link to an ISO for Armada 1 and I'll tell you how to make it run without issues. I think.

posted on November 22nd, 2010, 7:34 am

Yeah I haven't been able to get Armada 1 to run in Windows 7...it's annoying, but I ended up setting up a dual-boot with Vista so I could play it 

posted on November 22nd, 2010, 7:39 am

I'm not sure if it's the same mod, but a Klingon Academy conversion was made for A2 as well: Klingon Academy II: Empire at War mod for Star Trek: Armada II - Mod DB

I also think a Star Wars vs Star Trek mod was made for A2 too but I can't find the link. 

posted on November 23rd, 2010, 2:29 pm

As i understand it, the problem for Armada 1 lies in the fact that Armada 1 hates any DirectX higher than 8.0

Not sure how to fix the problem though. If you find out, let me know.

posted on November 23rd, 2010, 3:00 pm

i thought a1 just hated the new nvidia graphics cards but as far as i know its unfixable

posted on November 23rd, 2010, 3:51 pm

If it's just the new nVidia graphics cards, that won't be too big of a problem - I'm planning on getting a nice ATi one over Black Friday or Christmas or...whenever. All my computers are running a 8xxx or 9xxx series, so I could definitely see that being a problem.

posted on November 23rd, 2010, 4:10 pm

a1 is a touchy program. Whether it will run on your modern computer is decided by luck, rather than science.

It didnt work on my xp comp,  but worked fine on my vista comp. Neither used nvidia, both had integrated gfx. I've heard of people who can use it on xp, but then upgraded to vista and it wont work anymore lol.

posted on November 23rd, 2010, 8:03 pm

I also think a Star Wars vs Star Trek mod was made for A2 too but I can't find the link. 

It was only an early beta with the unfinished Fed side only.

Fleet Command is the only full SW mod.

[Primigenia]

posted on November 23rd, 2010, 9:28 pm

Last edited by Primigenia on November 23rd, 2010, 10:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.

As i understand it, the problem for Armada 1 lies in the fact that Armada 1 hates any DirectX higher than 8.0

Not sure how to fix the problem though. If you find out, let me know.

Any time I've had that issue with the game, I just let it run its included DirectX. Never caused me any problems, and the game seems to think everything is fine.

I was completely mistaken on my earlier post. My lack of reading comprehension had me thinking of Vista, not 7.

Edit: I came across a possible solution. Run dxdiag.exe, go to your Sound tab, and try to set it to Basic Acceleration. That should cover the sound issues; for video, just play with various resolutions.

posted on November 23rd, 2010, 10:37 pm

Any time I've had that issue with the game, I just let it run its included DirectX. Never caused me any problems, and the game seems to think everything is fine.

I was completely mistaken on my earlier post. My lack of reading comprehension had me thinking of Vista, not 7.

Edit: I came across a possible solution. Run dxdiag.exe, go to your Sound tab, and try to set it to Basic Acceleration. That should cover the sound issues; for video, just play with various resolutions.

Bumped into that solution when i tried to run A1 roughly a month ago, but never got it to work properly. Got frustrated and uninstalled it.