ECM 4.1 BETA Patch - OUTDATED

[thunderchero]

did each system use the same download? if not it might be a corrupt download.

or the newer system might need some missing directX files "DirectX 9 redist"

this topic has links and info for both issues

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=3509&p=50954&hilit=md5#p50954

I did check Utopia Planitia shipyard and it is giving the 200 industry bonus.

on my test T5 start turn 1 with Utopia Planitia shipyard powered

industry 1642
science vessel II cost 1990 (2 turns)
after next turn buy cost was 148 credits

1642(industry) + 200(UP Bonus) + 148(buy cost) = 1990

note; ship building bonus is not added to industry display on left.

[God-is-a-Geek]

did each system use the same download? if not it might be a corrupt download.

or the newer system might need some missing directX files "DirectX 9 redist"

this topic has links and info for both issues

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=3509&p=50954&hilit=md5#p50954

I reinstalled DirectX 9, but the "Error Correction mod" and the vanilla version of BoF will still NOT work with a Nvidia 970M graphic-card ... :-(

I did check Utopia Planitia shipyard and it is giving the 200 industry bonus.

on my test T5 start turn 1 with Utopia Planitia shipyard powered

industry 1642
science vessel II cost 1990 (2 turns)
after next turn buy cost was 148 credits

1642(industry) + 200(UP Bonus) + 148(buy cost) = 1990

note; ship building bonus is not added to industry display on left.

I use the "Error Correction mod" and there the info "200 Pointbonus" is also NOT added under industry display on the right while building a ship.

[thunderchero]

I reinstalled DirectX 9, but the "Error Correction mod" and the vanilla version of BoF will still NOT work with a Nvidia 970M graphic-card ... :-(

you might try to un-install everything again, but install "tools" first this will setup DxWnd to run game from desktop shortcut and may fix your issue.

I use the "Error Correction mod" and there the info "200 Pointbonus" is also NOT added under industry display on the right while building a ship.

correct ship building bonus is added silently. you will not see it displayed anywhere. But it is working as intended if you do the math

[Spocks-cuddly-tribble]

"Error Correction mod" and the vanilla version of BoF will still NOT work

As you state this is not an ECM specific issue. But if not done try setting the rendering in the ini file in the ecm directory via notepad to software. I don't recall the exact name of the ini file and 3d rendering line in it.

I use the "Error Correction mod" and there the info "200 Pointbonus" is also NOT added under industry display on the right while building a ship.

That's an unfixed mod independent glitch. A difference might be this:

"Albeit the shipbuilding bonus preview-bug has been fixed (i.e. preview screen shows updated industry output when turning on/off building (or scrapping), there is still the Build Queue update bug i.e. old bonuses until re-entering screen or changing worker/energy settings (cf. 'Dilithium Shortage' warning)." viewtopic.php?f=265&t=2317#p32929

[God-is-a-Geek]

you might try to un-install everything again, but install "tools" first this will setup DxWnd to run game from desktop shortcut and may fix your issue.

I uninstalled the "Error Correction mod" and BoF (vanilla) and reinstalled both together with DxWnd. I start both with DxWnd-Tool and now it works with Nvidia 970M, BUT there are still some issues with random crashes-to-desktop on my Windows 7-64.

[God-is-a-Geek]

As you state this is not an ECM specific issue. But if not done try setting the rendering in the ini file in the ecm directory via notepad to software. I don't recall the exact name of the ini file and 3d rendering line in it.

My setting in the ini-file was already 3D=SOFTWARE.

That's an unfixed mod independent glitch.

And there is really no way to fix it? A displayed info (200 extra points from Utopia Planitia) under production on the right side while building a ship, well... it would be a fine feature, because the 200 points are "invisible".

PS: I do play BoF for some days and must state that BoF, a game from 1999 (!), is one of the best Star Trek Games ever made, but unfortunately NOT free of bugs.

[thunderchero]

more details would be needed about crashes,

dose crash happen at turn process, combat or viewing the same screen
is there any crash logs in install path (crash.log)
windows also might have a log in "event viewer"
is this in multi player or single player game.
do crashes start happening late in the game (after 200+ turns)

I might have some suggestions depending your answers.

PS: I do play BoF for some days and must state that BoF, a game from 1999 (!), is one of the best Star Trek Games ever made, but unfortunately NOT free of bugs.

so true, but even with all the bugs it is still popular today after 20+ year

[God-is-a-Geek]

more details would be needed about crashes,

dose crash happen at turn process, combat or viewing the same screen
is there any crash logs in install path (crash.log)
windows also might have a log in "event viewer"
is this in multi player or single player game.
do crashes start happening late in the game (after 200+ turns)

I might have some suggestions depending your answers.

Yes, the random crashes do happen in the late game (after 200 turns) for example on saving, combat (against "Planet Killer"). The crash.log in the BoF-game-directory is empty. According to "event viewer" trek.exe is a "faulty" application. And a "faulty" module is also named: ntdll.dll, Version: 6.1.7601.18798, Code 0xc0000008, Erroroffset: 0x00082a4c.

[thunderchero]

Spocks-cuddly-tribble might be able to give you more info about planet killer crash since it is exclusive to Error correction mod.

The saved game crash might also have to do Planet killer also?

since you talked about 2 systems is this a multi player game? unfortunately Multi player game are very prone to random crashes with ntdll.dll error.

but for now it might be best just to turn off Borg and random events. This can be done by editing stbof.ini before starting a new game.

edit;
if you have a saved game the turn prior to combat with planet killer please upload it. (zip file before uploading)

also have you patched ECM with 4.1 patch (see first post of this topic), but new game would be required.

has crash happened since reinstall? if so your crash log would have been deleted.

[Spocks-cuddly-tribble]

Hi again Geek God,

1.) Crashes/freezes with no entry in the crash.log of the mod are most not game code related but OS & hardware compatibility. From what I understand DxWnd is not a source port but just a compatibility workaround, albeit still the best option we have, since MPR++ also has its issues(AFAIK). My limited tests with DxWnd indicated it has become way more buggy with windows 10 than windows 8 (crashes/freezes with no BotF crash log).

2.) Even if the planet killer crashes vs. a cloaked fleet (i.e. 4.1 patch from this topic is not used) there should be a crash log entry?

3.) The ship building bonus UI bug is not a simple calculation error or display bug, but a structural programming bias wrt updating parts of the UI after changes in the build queue. It surely can be solved, but QD (our expert on GUI modifications) needed two years with countless working hours for his extended fleet patch. Modifying the build queue code is even more work. So I kindly recommend to push right and left arrow key (for example) after putting a ship in the build queue to update the displayed industry calculations.

In the long run not the unfixed bugs (the worst being the turn lag) will cause you to lose interest, but things like very limited AI and diplomacy with the potentially great multiplayer being REALLY crashy.

[God-is-a-Geek]

since you talked about 2 systems is this a multi player game? unfortunately Multi player game are very prone to random crashes with ntdll.dll error.

No, it is not a Multiplayer game.

but for now it might be best just to turn off Borg and random events. This can be done by editing stbof.ini before starting a new game.

The Borg and "random events" were always ON in my BoF-settings. I remember --playing BoF vanilla--- that I had an encounter with just one Borg cube in the whole game (with Borg ON in the ini-settings). Playing the "Error Correction mod", I was later overruned by 10 (?) Borg cubes in short time. I survived this massive Borg invasion only because of the romulan cloaking device.

edit;
if you have a saved game the turn prior to combat with planet killer please upload it. (zip file before uploading)

I have deleted the saved game the turn prior to combat with the planet killer.

also have you patched ECM with 4.1 patch (see first post of this topic), but new game would be required.

No, I have not.

[God-is-a-Geek]

Hi again Geek God,
2.) Even if the planet killer crashes vs. a cloaked fleet (i.e. 4.1 patch from this topic is not used) there should be a crash log entry?

I am playing the Romulans and of course my fleet is always cloaked and there was no a crash log entry (ECM version 4.0).

In the long run not the unfixed bugs (the worst being the turn lag) will cause you to lose interest, but things like very limited AI and diplomacy with the potentially great multiplayer being REALLY crashy.

In your ECM I had NO turn lag (more than 400 turns). The AI and diplomacy might be "limited", but that do not disturb me. The basics work!
PS: To "lose interest": I do still think, BoF is one of the greatest Star Trek games on the market. It makes really fun even though it has his "issues". That is my honest opinion....furthermore I am not into multiplayer.

[thunderchero]

At least it sounds like none of these crashes have prevented you from continue the game.

if you have a crash that is repeatable upload the saved game and I will take a look at it. If you do upload a saved game include info for current resolution you are using.

[Spocks-cuddly-tribble]

1.) Since you said before that you crash log is entirely empty. Could this be an OS / virus protection issue preventing the game from writing to the log file?

2.) Those crashes/freezes when trying to save are clearly DxWnd issued (I remember them as well, and many more). I dunno whether there is any nerdish trick to solve this.

3.) In fact in ECM the first appearing of the Borg gets delayed in low tech epic games, but if they come, they search exclusively for player systems and leave AI alone. The number of cube limits and replication ratio after system assimilation is unchanged.

[God-is-a-Geek]

At least it sounds like none of these crashes have prevented you from continue the game.

You are right...I do love BoF!

if you have a crash that is repeatable upload the saved game and I will take a look at it. If you do upload a saved game include info for current resolution you are using.

I have played BoF (DxWnd) for some hours today and had not any crash to desktop. But i am thinking of it to upload a saved game for you.
PS: I have not changed the intial game resolution of 800x600.