CD Issue

[Jason Maffettone]

Hey guys. i just got this game and am eager to play it. sadly, I have an external CD drive and although I was able to install the game it doesn't recognize that the CD is in there when I go to play it. Anyone have a solution? do any of the mods allow you to play without the CD the way NH for POTC does?

 

[ChezJfrey]

One of my sons also had an external CD drive and COAS would not recognize the CD in the drive, failing to launch the game. Through trial and error, purchasing a few different externals, we eventually landed on one that would work; it was a Buffalo.

The difference between the Buffalo that worked, and the others that didn't, was that the Buffalo we used had an extra, integrated USB for additional power: MediaStation™ 8x Portable DVD Writer with M-Disc™ Support | Buffalo Americas

Though the CD drive worked with just one end, data/power USB cable attached, the COAS game would not work until we attached the second USB, supplying the additional power, then COAS would recognize it and play.

However, it soon became a moot point, when I eventually got a new version of the game compiled, which has no DRM at all; my version plays all versions of the game: COAS, Caribbean Tales, GOF and ERAS are all verified and POTC and New Horizons is very close due to @pedrwyth's much welcomed work to test/verify.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

However, it soon became a moot point, when I eventually got a new version of the game compiled, which has no DRM at all; my version plays all versions of the game: COAS, Caribbean Tales, GOF and ERAS are all verified

Is the link in Age of Pirates 2 COAS and GOF - JLB version still the correct one?
Indeed @Jason Maffettone might be very happy to play the game without CD using your version of the engine.

 

[ChezJfrey]

Is the link in Age of Pirates 2 COAS and GOF - JLB version still the correct one?

Mostly...

Some complaints about MEGA constraining some free users to a daily quota, prompted me to take down COAS, GOF 1.2, 2.0, 2.5, CT, CTSupermod, with the new engine and I am considering an alternative, though in the meantime I have kept complete ERAS up there due to it being the longstanding way my primary audience has been retrieving updates and I do not yet have an alternative set up for all my working, new versions. The script fixes, that comply with the original engine (the 'patches' do not work with the new engine, as the new engine requires a whole new set, which I have, but again were temporarily taken down) since they are still small, are still there for these:

AOP2.Patch. = patch files for vanilla COAS with script fixes
GOF1.2Patch = patch files for GOF 1.2 with script fixes

So in short, only the complete ERAS for the new engine exists there. Modder01 has and supplies Caribbean Tales Supermod with the new engine, which I believe he has made available at his own link, and pedrwyth is still certifying New Horizons.

 

[Jason Maffettone]

Okay, I downloaded the files above but there was no installer, as seemed to be indicated--just a 7z file containing the modules, Program, and Resource files. I added them, overwriting the original files, but nothing has changed: it still tells me to insert the CD.

EDIT: I had, previously, attempted to install GOf from another site (Mod DB I think) and that did start up but right after the small Storm Engine splash screen it CTD'd with a "wrong version" dialogue box.

 

[ChezJfrey]

Okay, I downloaded the files above but there was no installer, as seemed to be indicated--just a 7z file containing the modules, Program, and Resource files. I added them, overwriting the original files, but nothing has changed: it still tells me to insert the CD.

EDIT: I had, previously, attempted to install GOf from another site (Mod DB I think) and that did start up but right after the small Storm Engine splash screen it CTD'd with a "wrong version" dialogue box.

This is different than the other mods and does not require overwriting the existing game; it is complete and should be put in its own game directory (Example: C:\somenewemptydirectory) else you might encounter difficulties because the engine is incompatible with all the old-style methods. I do have all the other games/mods to work with this (COAS, GOF, CT, POTC, etc,), but I need a new place to put them and they are currently unavailable. I apologize that is not clear and I should update the readme files. I notice that we have only made that clear on our own forum.

So, make an empty directory and copy that 7z extraction with the modules, programs, resources to the empty. Also, download the additional update .zip file and DO OVERWRITE your new directory with those files after the 7z extraction.

 

[Jason Maffettone]

So, make an empty directory and copy that 7z extraction with the modules, programs, resources to the empty. Also, download the additional update .zip file and DO OVERWRITE your new directory with those files after the 7z extraction.

*Okay, so I install the game normally and leave its files alone.

*I put GOF files in their own location and run it from there.

*I update the GOF files with the 1.3 and 1.4 update patches listed on its page here on Pirate Ahoy.

Do I have this correct?

 

[ChezJfrey]

*Okay, so I install the game normally and leave its files alone.

*I put GOF files in their own location and run it from there.

*I update the GOF files with the 1.3 and 1.4 update patches listed on its page here on Pirate Ahoy.

Do I have this correct?

Depends on what you want. If you want to run the game that came from the cd, but with GOF 1.2, then you download moddb GOF 1.2 and its modb patch placing/overwriting the COAS cd files. On top of that, I have additional program script fixes and such, in GOF1.2.Patch.zip at
MEGA

But, to use that particular patch, make sure you started with GOF 1.2, not 2.0 or 2.5.

But, that plays 'vanilla', meaning the original cd game, still requiring the cd in the drive to play because it only contains some program and resource fixes to GOF 1.2 that runs on the original 2.8 'vanilla' COAS engine. It will occasionally crash, because the engine remains stock, with all its problems.

If you want to play without any cd, you run the custom engine. With that, you put everything into an empty, blank directory. It will contain all new start.exe, modules, programs, resources. You get those files from
MEGA

Extract all twelve of the .7z files into that empty folder. In addition, download the update .zip, from that same link, and overwrite, into that same folder. That includes everything needed to play and will NOT require any cd in the drive to play; all of it is newly compiled, newer FMOD, no crashing, DirectX 9, instead of 8, faster/better memory management, etc. There have also been some AI improvements.

I do have 3 other version of GOF that can also use the new, custom engine, but that will be provided at a later date. I also plan to release plain COAS on that same new, custom engine at some point. None of them will require the cd, but those are still on hold.