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[Moogie]

~Success! The battle is won. Leaving this post intact to help others, but you'll find discussion and solutions if you follow the posts below.~

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I hate PKs. But I like the "Weaker, faster PKs" mod. But I hate that this mod also changes other, completely unrelated game settings, and also seems to fudge up the enemy AI after a few turns.

So I figured I'd do it myself. But of course, Silent Storm is a very old game, and the MapEdit tool requires a very old MySQL server, which is not compatible with Windows 7. I tried installing the 2005 version but MapTool was having none of it.

No problem- this is exactly what XPMode is for, right? Right. So now I have XPMode running and good old MySQL doing... whatever it is MySQL does. Database shit I guess. I have no idea.

First problem is that MapTool doesn't like running from my real (mapped) drives. So I copy over dlls and the res folder to the vm.

Next, I'm told 32bit color is an absolute necessity. MapTools apparently uses every single color known to mankind and will not accept 16 or 24bit modes. Great, but... XPMode is limited to 16bit. Nevertheless, after a bit of Googling, I also worked around this problem. Nothing a little regediting and Group Policy editing can't fix.

So, I try the program yet again, and get yet another error- "Cannot initialize Direct3D8". Fucking thing wants DirectX now? *Sigh* Fine...

After very specifically finding and installing DirectX version 8, and rebooting the vm, I try again. Get the same error. Some headscratching later, I decide to copy over the entire game folder, just in case.

Next try feels like a winner, it might actually be loading this time! But oh, wait, nevermind. I'm now told I "need 32 bit color" again. What? No! I already fixed this one! I check my settings and... I've suddenly lost the ability to use 32 bit color. Now I'm limited to 24 bit and there's no way in hell MapTools is going to let me run it unless it has those 8 million more fucking colors at its disposal.

All I want. Is to edit. One. Shitty. Database file. I'm so close now, but there seems to be no way to get 32bit color back, and the chance of that being the last problem MapTool throws at me is unlikely.

I hate whoever created this piece of garbage.

*Cries*

[JustOnePixel]

Have you considered using some virtualization software to run XP in?  VirtualBox is relatively easy to use, and allows you to basically set up a computer within your computer.  It's a pretty extreme unction (kinda like using a chainsaw to trim threads), but if you're super-serious about this, then you could run XP from VirtualBox and have access to all the settings you'd need.

But for real, the fact that you would even have to consider these kinds of options is pretty ridiculous.  Good luck with whatever path you choose on this!

[Fayrik]

So I figured I'd do it myself. But of course, Silent Storm is a very old game, and the MapEdit tool requires a very old MySQL server, which is not compatible with Windows 7. I tried installing the 2005 version but MapTool was having none of it.

As far as I know, the old versions of MySQL run fine on Windows 7.
And, again, as far as I know, that game uses MSSQL, not MySQL.
Infact, this topic came up in another thread recently, here.
Though, I've no idea if my suggestion in the other thread actually works or not, since I don't even know what the game's about, let alone how it runs.

[Moogie]

Have you considered using some virtualization software to run XP in? <snip>

Missed the bit about me using XPMode, eh.


@Fayrik: It's probably MSSQL that I've been referring to- they are the same thing in my mind, because I have very little idea what all this actually is, lol. In any case, I couldn't install it; the MapTool looks for a specific service to be running, and since it doesn't find that, it won't run.

However! I have actually made progress. Following these instructions, I've actually managed to get it all set up, even so far as to edit some table data. But now I'm stuck getting an error from the dataimport tool, because apparently "original.db cannot be read". Grrr!


Edit: Success! Those instructions are pretty poorly written and missed one hugely important step. Thankfully, though, it wasn't too hard to figure out. You actually have to create the "original.db" file by running that first line of the batch, except you do it for "a5game" instead of "a5gamemod_modname", and instead of "full-mod.db" you name it "original.db". Then once you have your full-mod.db and original.db, you're ready to do the -diff and export the differences to a new game.db.

PHEW! So I think that's it... I did it. Got my new little mod freshly baked. Unfortunately I'm not even anywhere near encountering Panzerkleins in my current game... anyone want to test it out? The only things changed are VPs reduced to 75% of original, and Armor reduced from 180 to 120. No weapon changes, no game changes, nothing else.

[Gunner-Chan]

Hey uh. If you got it recognizing another SQL server install you mind helping me out there? I'm at a total standstill when it comes to getting anything working.

[Moogie]

Sure, I'd be glad to. What step are you on?

The most annoying part for me was not realising I didn't have to ACTUALLY load MapTool the entire way. Knowing I just had to click "New", name the mod, and then close the app would have saved me about an hour of fussing around, heh.

[Gunner-Chan]

The step I'm on is getting Maptool to start at all. I've tried some servers before and it doesn't want to  start with any I've tried.

[Moogie]

Ok, here is exactly what I used. (Probably isn't relevent, but my host machine is Win7, 64-bit.)

I ran XP-Mode. I copied my SS folder over to the virtual harddrive, so it could interact with it properly. I also grabbed the MSDE folder from the CD and stuck it onto the virtual drive as well.

Still in XP-Mode, I installed MSSQL from the MSDE folder. Just for good measure, reboot the virtual machine.

Also installed DirectX8. No idea if this was actually necessary or not. I did it after trying vainly to load MapTools the whole way. Only later figured out I didn't need to.

Now, MapTool complained about a lot of things. The biggest hurdle is 32-bit color desktop. But it can be done!

First step is to edit the registry (still inside the virtual machine). Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Terminal Services and add a new DWORD key there, called ColorDepth, with a decimal value of 4.

Reboot the vm again.

Now, following the instuctions of this url, run GPEdit.msc and find Local Computer Policy -> Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Terminal Services. Doubleclick "Limit ColorDepth", tick the radio button "Enabled" and choose 24-bit from the dropdown list.

Now, your virtual machine should have a Tools menu somewhere if you're not in fullscreen mode. You want to Disable Integration Features. You might be asked for your vm's user password for this. Once disabled, you SHOULD be able to rightclick your desktop and set the color mode to 32-bit!!

Now then, as long as you're following this guide: http://www.strategycore.co.uk/forums/How-to-MOD-SS2-compiled-instructi-t3244.html I think the rest should happen without trouble. But let me know how it goes.

[Gunner-Chan]

Oh damn. I was hoping you somehow got it working with some other installation. I've never even used XP mode.

[Moogie]

Sorry. As far as I know, MapTool absolutely requires the MSSQL version that comes on the CD. And that does not install on Windows 7. I tried the 2005 version from Microsoft's site, with no success. I certainly didn't want to resort to XPMode either, but oh well.

[Gunner-Chan]

Well fucking great. I can't even GET XP mode. This really sucks.

[Fayrik]

@Fayrik: It's probably MSSQL that I've been referring to- they are the same thing in my mind, because I have very little idea what all this actually is, lol. In any case, I couldn't install it; the MapTool looks for a specific service to be running, and since it doesn't find that, it won't run.

I just...
It's no wonder it's not working really.
I could try and explain what needs to happen in more detail, if I had more details to go on.

[chaoticag]

Well, running the game gives a "Can't open MSSQLSERVER" service when you try to run it. It looks like it's looking for that specific service, so I'm not sure how compatible with other versions of  SQL servers it is.

[Fayrik]

It's not compatible with any other kind of SQL server. MSSQL runs on a different network port to MySQL, just like all the other different kinds of SQL.

However, SQL tends to run over network. So, two kinds of MSSQL will run on the same port.
How long does it take to come up with that error message from inital run?
If it takes a little while to open then it's probably waiting for a local network connection.
The fact of the matter is, I know that MSSQL Express will install a MSSQLSERVER service.

[chaoticag]

Considering I cannot even install the packaged server on Windows 7, almost instantly. As far as I know, there isn't even an SQL service on my network either.