Few noob questions

[dbrentonbuck]

So, I just purchased this game from Amazon and am waiting on it to ship. While I am waiting I have a few questions... this may not be the right place, feel free to move this topic as needed.

So back in the day, Sid Meier's Pirates was my absolute favorite game... I mean the original... sadly yes I am that old. I loved that game and played the tarnation out of it. I was waiting for the next evolution of that game and sadly, I never think it came. I know they updated and re-released it. I got away from computer gaming, mostly because I can't keep updating my PC every 2 years to be able to play the latest games. and became a console gamer (shame on me). The other day I just started thinking about if they had ever made a game to rival Pirates and sadly, I still don't think they have out of the box; but I heard about this game with your amazing mods and thought I would like to give this a try.

Here is my problem. The last computer game I have played was MechWarrior 4 Mercenaries. I know very little about computer gaming and even less about mods.

1. When I get the original game, do I install it and then install the 14 full mod and then the 14.5 patch? Is there any reason to play this game through without the mod? Will I be missing out on anything or can I play the original campaign with the mod installed?

2. I am running Windows Vista service pack 1. I have Pentium R Dual Core CPU T4200 @2.00 GHZ and 2 GB of ram and Intel R graphics card. I read where I should just install it to my C: drive and not to program files. I also read where there might be issues with intel graphics cards... should I be worried about this and is there anything else I need to do?

 

[Hylie Pistof]

:gday

Sid Meier's Pirates is still being played. I played it on a Commodore 64 20 years ago or more. This one rivals that and then some.

Since you have Intel graphics it probably would be best to install the vanilla game and get it working. You probably need Swiftshader for it. Install it anywhere EXCEPT "program files".

When you get the stock game working, then install Build 14 beta 1 full. Do not install ENB or Swiftshader then. Then install patch 5 and run "rename.bat". It will be in your PotC folder along with "engine.ini". There are several threads around here already about how to get PotC running and most likely any questions you have are already answered.

Have you read this yet? http://forum.piratesahoy.net/index.php/topic/15382-build-14-beta-1/


Also this is a good place to visit. http://www.moddb.com/mods/new-horizons

 

[dbrentonbuck]

:gday

Sid Meier's Pirates is still being played. I played it on a Commodore 64 20 years ago or more. This one rivals that and then some.

Since you have Intel graphics it probably would be best to install the vanilla game and get it working. You probably need Swiftshader for it. Install it anywhere EXCEPT "program files".

When you get the stock game working, then install Build 14 beta 1 full. Do not install ENB or Swiftshader then. Then install patch 5 and run "rename.bat". It will be in your PotC folder along with "engine.ini". There are several threads around here already about how to get PotC running and most likely any questions you have are already answered.

Have you read this yet? http://forum.piratesahoy.net/index.php/topic/15382-build-14-beta-1/


Also this is a good place to visit. http://www.moddb.com/mods/new-horizons

Thanks for the advice... the only thing I am not clear on is swiftshader. Is this something I need to buy or can I download it? If so, where? Once I down load it, what do I do with it? Sorry, I know these are really annoying questions from someone who knows little to nothing about this sort of thing lol.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

Not a problem. Swiftshader is a utility that allows this game to run on Intel graphics. If you had a real, actual video card you would not need it.

Anyhoo, take the second link to the ModDB, register, and sign in. It's free. Then scroll down the page to the Swiftshader V2 demo. You get it there. After you install PotC and find that it does not run, install SS. I've never used it, but it looks simple.

 

[dbrentonbuck]

Another stupid question, how would swiftshader know what I want to use it for? Do I install it into the POTCB folder or something? Or, does it work for any games I play? Also, with it being a "demo", does it only work for a trial period? Sorry for the stupid questions, I have found that I am not a master of the obvious.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

and Intel R graphics card.

Indeed that WILL be a problem. The Demo aspect just means you get some text on screen to annoy you, but we removed that from the edition on our ModDB profile.
So there's no adverse effects on that account. You just install the files to the main PotC game folder and it'll work for PotC only.
The problem though is that this is software rendering it bypasses your graphics card and does it on your processor, so that doesn't work well for game performance.
It's the best we've been able to do to get around the problem, but it's far from perfect. Recommended to get another graphics card if you can.

Build 14 does contain the original game storyline, though somewhat modified. You can play the original game just to see the extent of the work we've done.
You could also play Build 13 first, because even though Build 14 is playable, Build 13 file is a bit more stable and less buggy. A LOT less content though.

 

[dbrentonbuck]

and Intel R graphics card.

Indeed that WILL be a problem. The Demo aspect just means you get some text on screen to annoy you, but we removed that from the edition on our ModDB profile.
So there's no adverse effects on that account. You just install the files to the main PotC game folder and it'll work for PotC only.
The problem though is that this is software rendering it bypasses your graphics card and does it on your processor, so that doesn't work well for game performance.
It's the best we've been able to do to get around the problem, but it's far from perfect. Recommended to get another graphics card if you can.

Build 14 does contain the original game storyline, though somewhat modified. You can play the original game just to see the extent of the work we've done.
You could also play Build 13 first, because even though Build 14 is playable, Build 13 file is a bit more stable and less buggy. A LOT less content though.

Note: Scratch everything below, I actually got the main game running... now to going to try the build

Ok, so I got the game and installed it to C/Pirates of the Caribbean.

I tried to run it and it runs up to the point that I click start a new game, then it crashes. So I downloaded swiftshader, clicked run and installed in to C/Pirates of the Carbbean main folder. The game still crashes when I try to play. I am not sure I am using swiftshader right... do I have to do anything with it? I see the swiftshader configuration file and the uninstall file... is that all that is supposed to be there? This is the info for the error

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: ENGINE.exe
Application Version: 1.0.0.1
Application Timestamp: 3ef1cbef
Fault Module Name: StackHash_3f4b
Fault Module Version: 0.0.0.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 00000000
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 0ce3b11c
OS Version: 6.0.6001.2.1.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: 3f4b
Additional Information 2: 3468bc17378a1acb2b277662e0e227d2
Additional Information 3: 8ae5
Additional Information 4: 236b90cba13a3b0a22c0ce339ccbd34d

Does this mean it is going to be impossible to play this game on this pc?

 

[dbrentonbuck]

ok... so I got it working with the original game and swiftshader. Then I installed build 14 and patch 5 and now it lets me choose the country, class, etc... but when I click to actually start the game it shows the loading screen then crashes.... this is what I get

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: ENGINE.exe
Application Version: 1.0.0.1
Application Timestamp: 52454542
Fault Module Name: StackHash_3f4b
Fault Module Version: 0.0.0.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 00000000
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 14ad6004
OS Version: 6.0.6001.2.1.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: 3f4b
Additional Information 2: 3468bc17378a1acb2b277662e0e227d2
Additional Information 3: 0154
Additional Information 4: bb52b59771a4f8587d804e719eca2b56

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Did you put the SwiftShader files in the main game folder? That's where they're supposed to be.
There should be no need to do anything else than that.