Patch Project 1.2.5 Patch question

posted on January 16th, 2013, 8:12 am

I was wondering why I am not getting any Bug Reports (Exception) files when ever my game crashes for the mod I am working on. I have noticed this since I moved my mod over from my old laptop PC, a Toshiba Satellite L350 Series where the mod was originally started on and installed on to on to my new HP Pavillion g7-1310us Notebook PC. Ever since I got this new laptop, whenever my game crashes, I am not getting any,ore bug reports. I was wondering if these means that the Patch Project 1.2.5 Parch might be broken in my mod?

I guess I should tell you the steps as best as I remember them for how I transferred the mod over from the Toshiba to the HP Notebook PC.
1) I installed Star Trek Armada II from the disc to my HP. It's a 64-Bit PC and the game installed to the Activison file in Program Files (x86).
2) I installed to that new install of the game the Official 1.1 Patch and then the Patch Project 1.2.5 Patch.
3) Once everything was installed, I cut from the Flash Drive my mod and pasted it into the Star Trek Armada II directory that was now located in Program Files (x86) /Activison/Star Trek Armada II. I overwrote (replaced) every file that was in that directory with all the files that were in my mod.

Ever since then, I haven't been getting any bug reports (exception) files whenever the game crashes and I don't know how to fix this.
Could I reinstall the patch (if its possible) and if I do, what will it do to my mod especially since its almost near completion?


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On a side note, I think my HP Pavilion g7-1310us wasn't made for gaming, or at least playing Armada I and II because when trying to play the game, it freezes a lot, then starts playing then freezes again and eventually totally freezes. The same happens with trying to play Fleet Ops. Yet I haven't had problems like that with other games such as Star Trek Online, and a game called CrossFire.

posted on January 16th, 2013, 12:28 pm

Firstly, sorry that I am unable to help on this issue. I have the same problem (no bug reports) except in FleetOps itself, which uses the same bug catcher architecture.

The only thing I can think of is that it's something to do with Windows 7 error reporting overriding the FleetOps one. Does your new laptop have Windows 7?

posted on January 16th, 2013, 5:29 pm

I recall someone having a similar problem with their logs and settings files (ARMADA.PRF in armada 1). The problem can be traced to having the game installed in the Program Files directory. I can't guarantee that this is the same problem, but do try running the game from a different install directory. Can be C:\Activision\Armada, or a different drive altogether if available.

Not sure about the freezing issue

posted on January 16th, 2013, 6:40 pm

i thought the fo devs removed the a2 bug reports with patch 2.5 and fo in favour for their own

posted on January 16th, 2013, 6:47 pm

@Squire James: Yes, I do have Windows 7, it's far better than Windows 8 especially since that is geared towards tablet PCs and it seems that Microsoft will start gearing towards OS's for tablets other than desktops and notebook PCs. So if I understand that correctly, they'll be putting the same OS on everything, desktops, notebooks, and tablets no matter how good it is for the different devices/machines.



@Mr. Vulcan: I have found where all the extra files go for playing the game for Armada 1, they are in a folder called Compatibilty File that is clickable in the toolbar of the Star Trek Armada I install. It leads from the Programs (x86) file to another folder located within a few other folders in the directory just called Program Files. There is an Activision file in there with folders for both A1 and A2 except in the A2 file I've found nothing but unopenable Windows Crash Dump files for the game, their dates correspond with the crashes but after a restart of the computer, these files are usually gone. I managed to save some and put them in the "Logs" file that was empty in the Star Trek Armada II file within Program Files (x86).

I have also tried my mod on both a flash drive and an external hard drive where it has its own directory and not in any Program Files folder and there are still not any bug reports.

In any directory though after playing the game, I have gotten those ugly looking key shaped icons and I've deleted them all the time and they haven't affected the game, I've even hidden them hoping they had something to do with the bug reports not showing up and they don't.

Plus the popup box that is also holding the bug report data never comes up either right after the crash. There is just nothing when it comes to bug reports/exception files.

Possibly the freezing could be hardware or software related, but that is just a guess.


@Blade: I've been using the Patch Project 1.2.5 Patch for a very long time and I have always gotten bug reports with it. This is even the case with other mods that have had it in it as well. If there was a crash, I'd get a bug report, at least I did well I had my Toshiba and it was running Windows Vista.

posted on January 17th, 2013, 1:34 am

I was if any of the Devs can address this sometime and also if there are any plans to create a new patch that would help the game on Windows 8 for example?

Also is there ways to turn the game into a game that can be played on tablets such as iPads?

posted on January 20th, 2013, 5:01 am

Another question, still related to the Patch Project 1.2.5 Patch, how does the Max Buildable Number coding affect the AI? If its used does the AI also get hindered by it? Could the coding already that's already in the stock version of the game and mods with it that have its AI. How does the patch project affect the AI?

posted on January 25th, 2013, 8:01 pm

I was if any of the Devs can address this sometime and also if there are any plans to create a new patch that would help the game on Windows 8 for example?

Doubt it they have already said that they will focus 100% on FleetOps.

Also is there ways to turn the game into a game that can be played on tablets such as iPads?

Not unless you spend the next five-ish years figuring out how to yourself then no. Plus this game would make any tablet cry anyways.

posted on January 25th, 2013, 10:40 pm

I was if any of the Devs can address this sometime and also if there are any plans to create a new patch that would help the game on Windows 8 for example?

Doubt it they have already said that they will focus 100% on FleetOps.

Without any support for Windows 8 eventually FleetOps will die out as well. Because it still is running off of the Armada II CD and if the CD drives can't install the game from the CD then it won't be possible to use FleetOps.

I don't think one can work without the other. A2 wasn't designed for Windows 8/7/Vista the Patch Project fixed that for Windows Vista & 7. For those that still play 1.1 versions of the stock game are going to have problems without a patch.

Does this mean that the days are numbered for A2 & A1?

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Also is there ways to turn the game into a game that can be played on tablets such as iPads?

Not unless you spend the next five-ish years figuring out how to yourself then no. Plus this game would make any tablet cry anyways.

There is an iPad and iPhone app that is called Star Armada and it pretty closely resembles Star Trek Armada II, I have tried it out and just found that it wasn't as interesting as A2.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/star-ar ... 86886?mt=8

posted on January 25th, 2013, 11:20 pm

Without any support for Windows 8 eventually FleetOps will die out as well.

it's going to be a very, very long time before any chance of windows 8 replacing windows 7, if it'll ever happen at all.

windows 8 is not designed with desktops in mind, it's aimed at tablets (that's why i think it'll flop tbh). if you have a desktop in need of an OS and you want to play games, windows 7 is your best bet. windows 8 just doesn't bring anything to the table for desktops. windows 7 support isn't going anywhere for a long time, 2015 is when it enters extended support. 2020 is when m$ drop support. i don't even want to guess about what the a2 community will look like in 2020.

posted on January 25th, 2013, 11:41 pm

i've heard that theres something you can download (costs very little, like £5 i think) that lets you use the improvements of windows 8 but it lets it work like windows 7 desktop. although i cant remember what its called google might be able to help you out with finding it.

posted on January 26th, 2013, 10:31 am

i've heard that theres something you can download (costs very little, like £5 i think) that lets you use the improvements of windows 8 but it lets it work like windows 7 desktop. although i cant remember what its called google might be able to help you out with finding it.

there are several programs for adding win7 style things to win8 (eg add the start menu back). problem is this means adding more third party software on top of windows. if you really want windows 8 to behave just like win7, then you might as well just install win7. nearly all the real benefits for the end user in win8 are for tablets. the other things are just not worth the hassle.

posted on January 26th, 2013, 7:31 pm

Without any support for Windows 8 eventually FleetOps will die out as well.

it's going to be a very, very long time before any chance of windows 8 replacing windows 7, if it'll ever happen at all.

windows 8 is not designed with desktops in mind, it's aimed at tablets (that's why i think it'll flop tbh). if you have a desktop in need of an OS and you want to play games, windows 7 is your best bet. windows 8 just doesn't bring anything to the table for desktops. windows 7 support isn't going anywhere for a long time, 2015 is when it enters extended support. 2020 is when m$ drop support. i don't even want to guess about what the a2 community will look like in 2020.

You do know that "Extended Support" is actually only for businesses and not in-home/private us. That means by 2015 support for Windows 7 will cease to exist, that even means no updates from Microsoft for the operating system, and any virus definitions well new software that you might end up wanting will be geared towards the operating systems that are still going to be getting support from Microsoft, namely Windows 8 by that time.

Plus on top of that if you haven't heard anything about it, Microsoft isn't going to even be releasing any new Service Packs for Windows 7 and that means SP1 is the only Service Pack for Windows 7. Microsoft has actually decided to get away from putting out Service Packs and gear their time towards making new operating systems for the devices they are gearing more towards now, and according to what I have read on their website, that is tablet PCs, especially since people are trying to get away from desktops and laptops and moving towards more portable computing devices such as iPads, and other tablet PCs.

Like ant other company, Microsoft will go towards where the money is going to be geared towards, tablets won't be flopping they are getting more and more popular since they first started coming out and are also getting better and better.

posted on January 26th, 2013, 9:48 pm

You do know that "Extended Support" is actually only for businesses and not in-home/private us. That means by 2015 support for Windows 7 will cease to exist, that even means no updates from Microsoft for the operating system

you are mistaken. i direct you to microsoft's page on the matter:
http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifepolicy
as it says, they will continue provide security patches for the OS during the extended phase.

feature wise, win7 is finished, it's obvious they aren't going to add new features to win7, they don't really have any new things to add. win8 has precious few new features that aren't aimed at tablets.

and any virus definitions well new software that you might end up wanting will be geared towards the operating systems...

anti virus definitions do not work that way. anti virus software is third party software, and as such its support for specific OS versions is something that microsoft have nothing to do with.

Plus on top of that if you haven't heard anything about it, Microsoft isn't going to even be releasing any new Service Packs for Windows 7 and that means SP1 is the only Service Pack for Windows 7. Microsoft has actually decided to get away from putting out Service Packs and gear their time towards making new operating systems for the devices they are gearing more towards now, and according to what I have read on their website, that is tablet PCs, especially since people are trying to get away from desktops and laptops and moving towards more portable computing devices such as iPads, and other tablet PCs.

there is no contest on this, it isn't of much importance here though. win7 doesn't need any more service packs, all it gets are patches now, as i said before: no new features. the only reason they'd ever want to release sp2 would be to bundle a bunch of patches together for convenience.

Like ant other company, Microsoft will go towards where the money is going to be geared towards, tablets won't be flopping they are getting more and more popular since they first started coming out and are also getting better and better.

who said tablets would flop? you're putting words in my mouth. i said win8 is going to fail to meet expectations.

tablets are doing fine, and right now win8 is an acceptable tablet os. the problem is how people will get win8. if you're buying a tablet, chances are it will come with an OS already installed. right now i don't see any reason to buy a win8 tablet for personal use. ios and android have many more apps, and are mature by now. microsoft's app offering is paltry by comparison. some question if there's room to squeeze in another app-centric mobile os. as that would require app makers to make yet another app version. RIM are being left in the dust, and they were the only true competitor to M$ in the businessperson market. the only reason i see someone wanting a win8 tablet, is for Microsoft's own connectivity reasons, eg exchange.

very few people will have a tablet and want to install a new OS on it.

that leaves only desktop/laptop users to prop up retail versions of win8. and win8 is very clear about what it is, it's not aimed at anything without a touch screen interface. that's not a bad thing intrinsically, that's just what win8 is. ms hope that sales of tablets with win8 preinstalled will be strong.

fringe cases like hybrid laptop/tablets and desktop all in ones that have touch screens don't concern m$ either, they are small in number, and hence invisible to m$.

the desktop, however, is going precisely nowhere. try convince a business to ditch desktops, they'll throw you out a window then send circular emails (in lotus notes on winxp) around the office laughing about how stupid you are. if many businesses can't even be motivated to ditch xp, and that's over a decade old, how will they be convinced to completely change the office computer paradigm. businesses are sticky like maple syrup. their desktops are going nowhere. that's probably the main reason why win8 doesn't make sense for desktops, businesses won't switch, so M$ didn't care to make win8 any good for desktops.

also pc gamers aren't ditching desktops either. the more 'hardcore' the gamer, the fewer the numbers of them, but they spend disproportionate amounts of money on computer tech like graphics cards.

For people like me, win7 is still good enough and will be for at least 3 years, probably more. right now, if you need an os for a desktop, win7 is definitely the way to go. win8's features are nearly all for tablets, the few niceties for desktops don't stack up against the problems.

posted on January 27th, 2013, 1:14 pm

I have always lived by the maxim that "If It isn't broke, don't fix it". I originally moved from Windows 98 (via a short flirtation with ME) to XP because things just weren't working right with 98, newer games didn't really like it much and so eventually I went to XP.

XP was horrible at the beginning but eventually turned into a good OS. My reason for upgrading to Windows 7 (only about 2 years ago mind you) was that XP does have a limit to how much system memory it supports, and I was already hitting that limit. Modern games were a bit sluggish and I couldn't just slap in more RAM as XP wouldn't use it. Ergo, upgraded to Windows 7.

I can honestly say that Windows 7 is the best version of Windows i've seen. It crashes a lot less than XP used to (and I've even learned to somewhat make sense of bluescreens these days too) and it actually runs applications that XP wouldn't (or at least protested at me running by crashing violently whenever I so much as looked at it).

My grandfather got a new Laptop recently (my brother poured screencleaner into his, ergo my mother took it off him permanently and when she got a replacement on the insurance, she gave it to my grandfather as a christmas present). This new laptop has Windows 8, when my grandfather hadn't even got beyond XP with his old laptop.

He asked for help from my wife and I to set it up how he liked it. Simple things really, Microsoft Security Essentials, Firefox, Thunderbird, Skype etc. Anyways it gave me a chance to see Windows 8. In my eyes, it has nothing over Windows 7, and in fact seems basically like Windows 7 for Tablets, with a few new fancy GUI additions for such a platform. It doesn't seem to do anything differently or better. My grandfather said he likes the new apps like weather and such, but I pointed out that WIndows 7 has desktop tabs you can download if desired.

In short, I can't ever see me going to Windows 8. If I hit another software or hardware limitation that requires me change OS, I can't see that happening for another 5 years or so, by which point there will undoubtedly be another new Windows Operating System out there that actually does have improvements on Windows 7.