Windows version! Windows version! There is a Windows version! Use it!

I have tried however, it works worse than the dos version! it just crashes the pc with no excuses at all. No hope for that one i'm afraid.

Since I posted though i have been trying some of the newer versions of uvconfig and trying to force it to detect my card as super vga. UvConfig 6.7's VBETEST recongises my card correctly however uvconfig still refuses to install drivers properly for it. Grr.

Also if it helps i have been able to replicate the same graphical corruption i encountered before, by running unicentr from scitechs 6.53 dos release. Any graphical mode i choose with any refresh rate or resolution results in the same squashing of the image at the top of the screen.

Originally posted by grandwazir I have tried however, it works worse than the dos version! it just crashes the pc with no excuses at all.

You applied all the compatibility mode options for the Windows version? (Win95, 640x0480, disable themes, etc...)

Since I posted though i have been trying some of the newer versions of uvconfig and trying to force it to detect my card as super vga.

IIRC correctly SciTech never finished the XP-compatible version of UVConfig. game doesn't appear to have a VGA (320x200) option either. Not good.

It's such a great game. Anyone that has Mob Rule should recognize they use the same engine. If you can get Mob Rule running on your XP box it's pretty much a sure thing that Constructor will run.

grandwazir wrote:

I have tried however, it works worse than the dos version! it just crashes the pc with no excuses at all. No hope for that one i'm afraid.

Since I posted though i have been trying some of the newer versions of uvconfig and trying to force it to detect my card as super vga. UvConfig 6.7's VBETEST recongises my card correctly however uvconfig still refuses to install drivers properly for it. Grr.

Also if it helps i have been able to replicate the same graphical corruption i encountered before, by running unicentr from scitechs 6.53 dos release. Any graphical mode i choose with any refresh rate or resolution results in the same squashing of the image at the top of the screen.

Since you like experimenting with this, go read this page:
http://home.student.utwente.nl/r.muller/unire … /videoproblems/

And keep trying. 😀

It would be interesting to see what happens with Rob's modified univbe.drv and NOLFB. Or without NOLFB. and myriad combinations thereof.

I'm also curious if the Euro patch (coneuro.zip) provides a "newer" or "different" Windows version for American users.

There was an American version of it? heh
I'm in the US and found the Euro version at a computer fair before the fair started to blow. (eg. the first year 😜)
When I get my main box back I'll try to remember to test Constructor, though I SWEAR I played Mob Rule on my Windows 2000 computer (tried hacking the money and resources with MemHack which gave some fatal error, IIRC) which, as I said, uses the same engine.

Q. "It would be interesting to see what happens with Rob's modified univbe.drv and NOLFB. Or without NOLFB." -Schadenfreude

A. Then let's see what we can see.....

------------------

This is probably more than you need to know, but this is a known problem so I have a step-by-step for it.

(-And I'm curious about the need for nolfb with the radeon....)

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Constructor -DOS version (in winxp)

1. Download the univbe modified drivers from here: http://home.student.utwente.nl/r.muller/unire … resh/index.html (in the video problems section).

-Extract them and go to the \53a subfolder it created and copy the univbe.drv file from there to the game's /settings subfolder

2. Download the "VESA 2.0 patch for Windows NT/2000/XP (09/21/ 2002)" (nolfb.zip) from here: http://www.advsys.net/ken/build.htm

-Extract and place the files into the game's main folder.

3. You can either use notepad to create a start.bat file like this:

nolfb.com
game.exe

And then use VDMSound on setsound.bat (to configure the sound) and then use the Launcher's default VDMS config. on start.bat to play.

OR

Use VDMSound on setsound.bat (to configure the sound) and then on game.exe to play (but use the Launcher's "custom configuration" setup option to add this line:

C:\full path to\NOLFB.COM

[Note: If you do it this way, you have to use the full path even if nolfb.com is in the same directory as the game. Also, using the VDMS "autoexec.bat" box has a tendency (on my machine anyways) to crash Explorer if you are DblClicking on a VDMS shortcut.]

...into the "advanced" "dos environment" "autoexec.bat" box.

4. If you receive an error about "networking" and/or experience a frozen mouse...

Open c:\windows\system32\autoexec.nt with notepad and change:

lh %SystemRoot%\system32\redir

to this:

REM lh %SystemRoot%\system32\redir

and then save.

[If you are actually using DOS networking for anything you will need to turn it back on later and this may or may not disable multiplayer in the game. VDMS's "enable low level networking" may also come into play (one way or the other) but I didn't think about that 'til now, so I don't know.]

-If I didn't forget anything the game should work fine.

Good Luck!

Ok. I'm lost. You're saying he needs to use UniVBE AND NOLFB?!

Ok. I'm lost. You're saying he needs to use UniVBE AND NOLFB?! -Nicht Sehr Gut

Sort of.....

As far as I can see, this is what's happening:

The game is using the built-in version of univbe and univbe doesn't support geforce cards.

By using the modified driver you tell the game that univbe is installed and everything is great, please start now.

But all the modified driver does is pass everything over to the video card, Univbe itself is bypassed. So you are not really using univbe at all.

If the card does everything the game expects, the game runs.

If it doesn't the game crashes.

Which is what happens with the geforce and Constructor.

It appears that Constructor and the geforce have "issues" with the linear framebuffer (or whatever else nofb does).

Which nolfb fixes....

And the game runs.

-Note: This is just for the geforce. While I suspect that the Radeon will act the same way I don't have any experience with it, so nolfb might not be neccessary.

Gwaaaaaaa? With my GeForce256 it ran fine.

Originally posted by Snover Gwaaaaaaa? With my GeForce256 it ran fine.

"Mob Rule"? or Constructor?
May be a case of 2Games-SameEngine-DifferentResponses.

Thanks guys for all the help, going to try all the suggestions tonight. I'll tell you how it goes.

BTW mob rule does run on my pc but that uses directX i'm sure...

"Gwaaaaaaa? With my GeForce256 it ran fine". -Snover

Should have been more specific, I have a geforce 2 GTS/Pro.

But I'm still shocked and amazed that you could just install (if you are talking about constructor) and run with a geforce256.

I'd guess that the univbe version that the game is using is around 5.3 and support for the Geforces wasn't added by Sci-Tech until beta 7. Do you have that installed/in your path?

Without comparing boths vers of the game it'll be hard to tell exactly what's going on here...

Thanks for the ideas and with all the help managed to get the game to load and get to the menu with a proper display - woohoo! however as soon as i move the mouse the game crashs my computer 🙁 I have tried Mouse2kv and tried using the fixes suggested by gil22 however same problem occours (I do have a network card - sorry i forgot about it before - ActionTec Wireless PCI).

This one has me completed stumped.

Windows version. 😜

Originally posted by Snover Windows version.

So you're saying you're running the Windows version of Constructor?

no i'm trying to get the dos version to run because the windows version just bombs out to the desktop as soon as you run it. The patch doesn't help make it win95 native as it says it doesn't seem to help at all 🙁