Combat Mission - confusion....

JudgeDredd · October 17, 2015, 01:34:30 AM

lol - this happens every time I have to reinstall these games.

I have
Combat Mission Shock Force (Gamers Gate version I believe)
Combat Mission Shock Force Marines
Combat Mission Shock Force British Forces
Combat Mission Shock Force NATO
Combat Mission Afghanistan
Combat Mission Battlefield Normandy
Combat Mission Battlefield Normandy Market Garden
Combat Mission Battlefield Normandy Commonwealth
Combat Mission Red Thunder
Combat Mission Fortress Italy
Combat Mission Black Sea

I also have
Combat Mission Shock Force 1.21 Patch
Combat Mission Battlefield Normandy v2 Upgrade
Combat Mission Battlefield Normandy v3 Upgrade

Those are the modules that I have serial numbers for. There are probably patches I have to install.

As I had to rebuild my PC, I started installing the modules. So I started with Battlefield Normandy. As I didn't have the "base game" on my harddrive, I thought I'd see if I could install the BN v3 Upgrade. It did install and fired up and showed that the CW and MG modules weren't installed. So off I went and installed them. They are all activated and all looked fine - but when I started up BN, I noticed it said v2.10 at the bottom. Now I'm just utterly confused. Has CW and MG "reverted" my v3 install of BN to v2?

I am not looking forward to the rest of this at all. Maybe I'm just mixing it up in my head and making it more complicated than it actually is.

I've not even got to the CM:SF install where I have to find the patch that "converts" it to BF game and then go through the activation process which (if I remember) has to have an exe put in some "exception" list on the OS!!

Oh dear god... :'(

JudgeDredd · October 17, 2015, 01:54:19 AM

So...I decided that installing CW and MG did revert BNv3 to BNv2.

So I reinstalled BN v3 hoping that set the game back to v3....it did...yaaaaay...except, MW and MG are now showing as not installed.

So I guess the proper process is

Install original BN
Install BN patches
Install CW
Install CW patches
Install MG
Install MG patches
Install BN v2
Install BN v3

I'm going to have to right this down

JudgeDredd · October 17, 2015, 03:00:58 AM

I think I nailed it looking at my purchase history

CMSF
CMSF:Marines
CMSF:British Forces Module
CMSF:NATO
CMSF:1.21 Patch
CMSF:1.31 Patch

CM:BN
CM:BN Normandy Commonwealth
CM:BN v2.0
CM:Red Thunder
CM:BN Market Garden
CM:BN v3.0

CM:Fortress Italy
CM:Fortress Italy v3 Upgrade

CM:Afghanistan

CM:Black Sea

Where all the "regular unpaid for" patches fit in, I have no idea. ::)

JudgeDredd · October 17, 2015, 03:07:21 AM

We'll just make this my bitch thread :D

If you've got nothing constructive to add, please don't bother replying and just move on...'cos I'm about to commit murder anyway.

That wasn't the install process.

Installing SF Retail Patch 1.21 made Marines, British Forces and NATO disappear ::)

Back to the drawing board

Edit
I don't understand. I bought Shock Force from Gamersgate. I then bought Marines in September 2008, British Forces in July 2009 and NATO Forces in October 2010 and the 1.21 SF retail patch was purchased in September 2013!!

So why does installing the SF Retail Patch in 2013 and installing wipe Marines, British Forces and NATO from my game??

And why is the 1.31 patch stamped September 2010...it doesn't make any sense to release a patch named 1.21 3 years AFTER a patch named 1.31?

JudgeDredd · October 17, 2015, 03:18:36 AM

All questions are rhetorical :)

JudgeDredd · October 17, 2015, 03:53:42 AM

lol

So I installed Shock Force, 1.10 patch, Marines, British Forces and Nato. I then installed the rather bizarrely names 1.21 patch (as it has a 2013 date stamp) and it "removed" my modules and left me with Shock Force.

Ok. At least the game was showing 1.21.

I went to install the 1.31 patch and it stated it needed 1.21 installed. That was ok. However, what was a little disconcerting was it was showing the game title images for Marines, British Forces and NATO...so I thought I'd leave 1.31 until I reinstalled those modules.

So I re-installed Marines and guess what - the game is showing as v1.10 again!

I am absolutely, totally and utterly lost.

I'll tell you what this does mean...I'm letting DCS off the hook.

If anyone has ANY idea how to install Shock Force, it's modules and patches please feel free to jump in and give me a pointer (is Elvis still in the building?)

Zulu1966 · October 17, 2015, 03:54:24 AM

Judge. Completely understand the hair pulling. But if you search their helpdesk there are a couple of items in there that detail what to do. there are also a couple of posts in their forums that do the same.

Done this myself a couple of times - if you follow them it works ok. Though yes. It could be much easier. I think they now have one installer for the whole thing but thats only for new purchases - it would be useful if they made that available to those who already bought it.

Zulu1966 · October 17, 2015, 03:59:02 AM

This one for Normandy for example

http://battlefront.mojohelpdesk.com/help/article/127908

Zulu1966 · October 17, 2015, 04:00:34 AM

This one for shock force ...

http://battlefront.mojohelpdesk.com/help/article/127930

Hope these help

JudgeDredd · October 17, 2015, 04:07:03 AM

You, sir, are a legend O0

Bookmarked for future.

I started the install process thinking like you do when you install games...you install them in chronological order.

It didn't once occur to me that it would be so convoluted that I'd have to go looking for an installation procedure.

JudgeDredd · October 17, 2015, 04:25:52 AM

Zulu1966 · October 17, 2015, 04:34:16 AM

Quote from: JudgeDredd on October 17, 2015, 04:07:03 AM
You, sir, are a legend O0

Bookmarked for future.

I started the install process thinking like you do when you install games...you install them in chronological order.

It didn't once occur to me that it would be so convoluted that I'd have to go looking for an installation procedure.

No problem. I feel your pain.

JudgeDredd · October 17, 2015, 04:48:07 AM

Although....it's not really working out. :'(

Each time I install the 1.21 patch, it removes my modules.

This piece (from the link you gave)

Seems to be contradicted by the notes in the install of 1.21 which says this

So I'm thinking I may not need 1.21?? I'm really not sure.

I'm now wondering if it's because the modules were installed and licensed. Just unlicensing 1.21 and the base game and then uninstalling the base game hasn't seemed to help

I'm going to walk away for a bit - 'cos I am seriously in danger of causing a huge amount of damage to my keyboard

Grim.Reaper · October 17, 2015, 04:52:26 AM

Whenever I have reinstalled, I just followed the instructions from the helpdesk FAQ (ignoring everything else) and things seemed to work fine for me. Yes, they made installing patches harder then it probably should be, but when I followed the FAQs, everything seemed to go ok.

JudgeDredd · October 17, 2015, 05:05:53 AM

But two things...
1. The FAQ says "Make sure you make the correct selections for the modules you have"...but there's NO selections coming up. I install SF, Marines, Brits and then 1.21 and no selection options for modules appear to me
2. The 1.21 read me notes say "This 1.21 is for you if: - all you have installed is the base game of Combat Mission Shock Force and NO module"

Regardless...as soon as I install 1.21, my modules have gone...and it's not because I haven't ticked any options for any modules...because they are not showing up for me to select anyway!

Where's my boardgames?