Fast Attack dosbox crash - Help!

[Eugene]

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!

[Eugene]

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.

[Eugene]

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.

[MBot]

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.

[Eugene]

Originally Posted by MBot

What a fantastic game!

I wished those guys were still around today.

I'm with you Mbot. A followup and different take on modern sub simulation would make life more interesting indeed.

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.

[MBot]

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.

[Eugene]

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.

[MBot]

Aegis es even older, I think about 1993. Tough I played it after Fast Attack. It was a simulation of a Aegis cruiser, not nearly as complex as Fast Attack as a platform simulation. But it had a nav map where you could command other units and played almost like a (simple) wargame. It was nice back then, but can't stand up to todays standarts.

Today I remebered why Fast Attack never was a big hit. This thing crashes on almost every mission... Can't get past the second mission in the GUIK scenario. What a shame (but brings back memories...).

I realy like how fire control is handeled in Fast Attack even compared to the "modern" Dangerous Waters. First you make a initial solution on the plot, then head over to the BSY console to refine it with the dot stack. The fire control stations have that authentic BSY look. Torpedo control, while still simple, gives a good overview of the situation (range to enable, time to target, intercept course to current solution, weapon enabeled and aquired etc.). The crew even calls out when torpedos execute a re-attack and to which side. And best of all, compared to SC and DW, no weapon-show-truth for non wire-guided weapons.

Edit: Pictures speak thousand words:

[Eugene]

Been spending a few hours in front of these screens, going through the tutorials. I do enjoy them, although I struggle obtaining some of the dot stack solutions. So far, have not "enjoyed" a crash. Did you find that to be the case in tutorial missions also? OIr does it crash only in the "real" missions?

I assume you are using the patched version, and mounted as we discussed above?

[MBot]

Jep, mounted and patched. Also tried various soundset settings. Like I said, it's not realy unusual for Fast Attack. Though tha fact that all my last 10 missions crashed is a little bit much Just had the game crash on pressing "end mission" on the first gulf mission. Ah well, thats Fast Attack

[jmr]

I still play FA every now and then I do agree I like the way sonar and fire control is presented to the user. The sonar screen even shows bearing rate which is lacking in DW on the sub platforms.

Did you guys make sure to download the Fast Attack training guide hosted here at Subsim?

http://www.subsim.com/subsim_files/p...tml#fastattack

Also, I have a .pdf copy of the original manual if you guys would like a copy.

[Eugene]

Yes - the guide here at Subsim is excellent. Thanks for the reminder and link. For anyone curious about FA it should certainly whet the appetite.

[Eugene]

Just had a thought regarding the mission crashes Mbot described. Are you using the time expander, that replaces the missions from the install with a new set providing for hours more time to complete each one? If so, it might be worth reverting to the stock mission folder and seeing if the behavior changes at all.

[Onkel Neal]

Eugene, thanks for the Fat Attack tip, I hope it helps others enjoy this great game

Neal

[Eugene]

Thank you Neal! I'm encouraged by your assessment, given your long experience with this class of sims. Still working on perfecting my passive solutions.

Maybe I should have edited the first posts to (now) simply layout the mounting method for installing Fast Attack and launching it. Would make a tidy reference for anyone interested.