Range Check Error in demo?

[b00tch]

I'm going through the tutorial for the 1.60 Gold DEMO of Space Empires 4, and I can create a Range Check Error everytime I try to send my Explorer ship through a warp. I followed the tutorial exactly, and regardless of how many times I restart the demo, or re-step through the instructions after starting a new tutorial or reloading the save game I made just before the RCE occurs (specifically, before I selected the Warp command and clicked on the blue warp swirl).

After the RCE, the demo does not crash, just the ship's Detail tab is blank, and the System Window no longer updates to where the mouse pointer is, and I can no longer click on anything within it to make the game respond to it.

Also, the buttons on the left hand side all highlight their names like normal when the mouse moves over them, and upon getting clicked make the appropriate sounds, but nothing happens. To close the demo i alt-tab out of the game and right click its icon in the taskbar and choose Close and that prompts a box asking if I'm sure I want to quit the demo and I choose yes and it exits fine.

I'm interested in the game, however this problem has stopped me from enjoying the demo's tutorial and of course the full game.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

System configuration is as follows:

Windows 2000 w/SP2
2x1Ghz Intel Pentium 3
Asus CUV4X-D motherboard
256 megs of ram
Leadtek Geforce2 GTS PRO w/64 megs of ram
w/NVIDIA reference drivers Version 21.81

Any other information needed, I'll be happy to provide.

- b00tch

[b00tch]

It would seem that my error is the same as this post right here, however unlike him, my error isn't going away. So, any help would be very much appreciated still!

I have been searching through the forum archives and can't find any other postings with such a clear correlation to what's happening to me. His system was also Window 2000, so I venture the guess that maybe Win2000 isn't the ideal platform for SE4? Anyone running it on SE4 on Windows 2000 with no problems?

- b00tch

[b00tch]

Lots of help, thanks. yes that was sarcasm.

No problem though, I did manage to find what the problem was/is so perhaps when the next person Posts here with this problem they can be pointed to this post and/or information and fix it and be able to enjoy it.

That said, to fix the Range Error, it seemingly requires a reboot. That's the easiest way to fix it, since the real problem is that the installer never fully exits and apparenly this causes SE4 to be less than thrilled at any ship moving. So, either reboot, or hit control-alt-delete and kill off the installer or for those of you in Windows 2000 like myself, use task manager (which will be a button when you hit control-alt-delete). Once in task manager, kill the process for the installer and close task manager.

This has worked for me and I had a friend try it himself, and it solved his problem also.

- b00tch

[Derek]

quote:

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Originally posted by b00tch:
Lots of help, thanks. yes that was sarcasm.

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I think part of the problem is that most people on this board play the full Version, rather than the demo. In fact, I've never played the demo, so I can't really give much advice about it.

One note; you mentioned that your problem was solved if you rebooted after the install. It's common practice to reboot after you install anything, whether a game, a system utility, etc... I don't remember of SEIV tells you to reboot or not, but I know a lot of programs do. It would be a safe assumption that many problems can be solved that way.

Derek

[DirectorTsaarx]

The other reason you didn't get a fast response is that many of us read the forums from work during the week, so Sundays tend to be a little slow...

That being said, I think RCE's can also be caused by the path-finding routine. Some of the RCE's seem related to either issuing an order to warp through a particular warp point, or issuing orders to move through a system & having an enemy fleet move into the system just before the fleet attempts to carry out those orders. Glad a reboot fixed your RCE problem; another trick (that sometimes works) is changing orders (i.e., issue an order to move to a warppoint, than issue the order to warp through).

[capnq]

quote:

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The other reason you didn't get a fast response is that many of us read the forums from work during the week, so Sundays tend to be a little slow...

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And others of us don't normally visit the site more often than once a day.