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10-12-08, 01:03 PM | #1 |
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Fast Attack dosbox crash - Help!
I realize this is not most people's sub sim of choice. But it does have some good points and still an entertaining and serious modern sub sim. Cranked it up again on my new machine (still XP), with dos box .72 as the install method as well as the launching method. Applied the upgrade/patch. It ran perfectly, sound, mouse, animations, voices.
After running through the tutorials I shut down the program. Starting it up again via dos box, I reached a momentary opening Sierra screen and then a crash with the dreaded error message: "Opening C:\Sierra\Fast\Savegame\HOFS.dat Program Aborted." A google search revealed one or two posts elsewhere with the same error, but the only response was to check the ini file to make sure the location of the cd or directories was correct. I've tried every angle I can think of to resolve this error: 1. Installed from my original disk; ensured that the .ini file points to the correct (mounted) location (for me, the location is within a directly named "mydosbox") and that the entries within .ini reflect that mounted drive - on my machine drive "m" is the virtual cd drive. 2. Made an image of my original disk, installed from the mounted image - same procedure checking for accurate locations within the .ini file. 3. Deleted the contents of the Savegame directory 4. Deleted the Savegame directory 5. REM-med the line in the .ini that points to the Savegame directory 6. Changed the location identified in the .ini file for Savegame directory to add in the "mydosbox" folder that Sierra\fast resides in Rebooted each time, or not. I'm baffled. Running the game successfully once must change something besides the Savegame folder contents in the relatively small installed directory on my drive, since deleting those contents doesn't fix the problem. But I can't identify what that might be. I've seen that others have gotten Fast Attack running with dos box and XP. Has anyone seen this error? Been able to fix it? Know something I am overlooking that is or could be causing the crash? This is particularly frustrating since I know the sim WILL run just fine - the first time it is launched - but not subsequently. Thanks for any advice on a solution!
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10-12-08, 03:43 PM | #2 |
A-ganger
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Must have been something in the ini relationship to the mounting. By manually entering the dosbox commands, rather than using a bat file, today it works. Possibly mounted the full path through to fast directory as c. Might retry the bat to verify.
A good thing though, and still a decent program. But the "Red Storm" thread is enticing also.
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10-12-08, 05:39 PM | #3 |
A-ganger
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Using a bat file containing --
c:\mydosbox\Sierra\fast resulted in the error after typing "fast" from that dosbox prompt. A bat file that only mounts the directory above the Fast Attack installation DOES work just fine. Here are the contents of that bat file: dosbox.exe C:\mydosbox fast.exe -c "MOUNT m m:\ -t cdrom" -fullscreen From the resulting dosbox "c:" prompt: cd sierra\fast fast You would alter the path for your own install and directories. Mine is "mydosbox\Sierra\fast" Note that this bat fails to execute the fast.exe command for reasons unknown to me. The bat file is in the dosbox main directory, wherever you installed it. The bat file I was originally using did report in Dosbox that I had mounted "C" as, and was at, "c:\mydosbox\sierra\fast". However, manually launching "fast" at that prompt resulted in the Savegame\hofs.dat error.
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10-14-08, 04:58 PM | #4 |
Loader
Join Date: Apr 2002
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Thanks for your efforts Eugene, it also helped me to run Fast Attack again. What a fantastic game!
I still remember how I played it now anou 12 years ago. Then I had no idea about subs or naval warfare. I saw Hunt For Red October in the TV and was quite fascinated. Some days later I saw Fast Attack in a store and picked it up. Then I was sold to modern submarines. Fast Attack was such a fantastic gaming expierience, a incredible combination of great gameplay, realism, great presentation, music and atmosphere. I played it for many hours... When I learned in this years Subsim Almanac that the developers of Fast Attack were working on a Akula sim when they closed down, I could almost bite in my own arse (as we say here)... I wished those guys were still around today. |
10-14-08, 09:04 PM | #5 | |
A-ganger
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Quote:
Glad you were able to crank Fast Attack up again. I found I had to install the sim from the cd using dosbox also, although that was easy: mount c c:\mydosbox (or whatever folder name you want to use) mount d d\: -t cdrom (or whatever the letter is for your cd/dvd drive) d: install Follow the usual prompts.
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10-15-08, 04:00 AM | #6 |
Loader
Join Date: Apr 2002
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What I find interesting is that Fast Attack doesn't look that bad at all even today. Of course it looks old, but considering it is a retro-sim by now it stills keeps up quite well. After some minutes of playing I already got completely used to it again. It is different to many old sims, which we have in great memory, but are simply too outdated by todays standarts to play (and I mean "real" playing, not just having retro-fun).
I think the developers decision to go with detailed station graphics and loads of small rendered clips realy payed off. Compare that to how horrible the younger Janes 688(I) H/K looks today... Interestingly I found out in the Fast Attack article in this years Subsim Almanac, that the developers of Fast Attack also did 'Aegis: Guardian of the Fleet', which I also enjoyed. |
10-16-08, 12:22 PM | #7 |
A-ganger
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Never played Aegis, Mbot. will google around. Do you have any comments about it?
I do agree with your observations about the continued immersion strength of Fast Attack.
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