raymangold22
Clubman
posted 07-12-15 08:56 PM
ET (US)
1502 / 1970
Oh boy...
Well I was hoping to 'update' a few problems with the AI via this patch (since let's face it, the AI is old and can be improved; always has been a gripe of mine).
So I happily pop it on a USB stick onto my trusty pentium 1. Nope. Package is not supported on your version of Windows (windows 98se). Lovely...
I go ahead and install it on my Windows 10 laptop via the original CD-ROM. Nope, game installation not found (most likely due to the fact the installer hangs at 100% on newer versions of windows). Lovely...
Finally have to fire up my old XP box which I keep around for archaic software... It does install on *that* computer. Great.
Then I go ahead and punch in a few parameters such as -midimusic in hopes to bypassing the MP3 music (since decoding MP3s for an older microprocessor consumes a fair bit of resources). The new bootloader of course doesn't support these parameters. So now I am just cherry picking the files to see if I can make an "unofficial" patch for 98SE while still keeping the old audio options.
I actually like enabling the midi music on the old FM synthesizers present on older computers.
So this unofficial patch is a *pain* to install on older or very modern computers-- and does not allow dynamic tweaking, instead you're reliant on what the package comes with. I'll probably just end up using Customize AOE to get better AI enhancements and forget the unofficial update.
SonicBlade
Clubman
posted 07-12-15 08:59 PM
ET (US)
1503 / 1970
@Suppiluliuma, I think you have the right point about what you said since you told me the real stuff about the Greeks over Chariots and I quite understand that. So that means there's no need to give Chariots to the Greeks. They are better off with no Chariots.
@aoe_scout, have you ever found the Chosen to be overpowered yet. I do understand that you want the U-Patch to be closer to the original game though.
raymangold22
Clubman
posted 07-12-15 11:51 PM
ET (US)
1504 / 1970
Hmm... it appears the unofficial patch actually uses chab's customize aoe executable.
I'll have to see if earlier versions work on 98SE (I wonder what was used in these modded EmpiresX executables that break compatibility with 9x).
It definitely would be nice to get working in 9x as... XP works with far less games I own and is a dog on older hardware.
chab
Clubman
posted 07-13-15 12:43 PM
ET (US)
1506 / 1970
Anyway, what's right is it would be extremely convenient if UPatch could be installed in a custom folder.
Ris1ng
Clubman
posted 07-13-15 02:47 PM
ET (US)
1508 / 1970
I've found a minor issue:
The game comes without the "screenshots" folder by default, when you press CTRL+F12 the screenshot will not be saved, that can be easily fixed by creating the "screenshots" folder manually, then the game will save your images as intended.
raymangold22
Clubman
posted 07-13-15 09:40 PM
ET (US)
1511 / 1970
@aoe_scout
It's true 98SE isn't used a whole lot by modern gamers, however it is still used fairly heavily for retro-gaming with those who have a large collection of older games. Saying "no one uses it" is a little over the edge.
I've been running AOE on my trusty old computer since 1999. Making it incompatible for the very platform it was released for seems a bit surprising; especially since said computer is used for a host of other games which require legacy support (since it is a legacy game in and of itself).
The entire unofficial patch would have to be reworked from the ground up to 're-implement' the legacy features and programmed with older software to retain 9x compatibility (newer .NET versions use incompatible API functions): and I know you don't care about Windows 9x and FM Synthesis so we'll end that here.
One quick question: did you change how the executable handles multiplayer traffic / disconnects?
Kenntak
Clubman
posted 07-18-15 08:02 AM
ET (US)
1519 / 1970
For difficulty level "hard" and "very hard" against the computer, how much additional resources does it start the game with compared to a human player? Are those the only advantages for the computer at those difficulty settings?