Nascar Heat MOD Launcher Thread

[TheMask]

Hi Peter and everyone,

I'm VERY glad you figured it out! I must give you credit for being persistant

But that's odd that you had your options.cfg in the run folder, unless you copied it yourself there... Normally, it should be created automatically in the correct folder when you start Heat or any MOD.

At least we know the solution now, thanks Peter.

As for ML2 not giving you the prompt - do you have 'nascar heat.exe' in the main folder or 'nheat.exe' ? Or both? If you do have 'nascar heat.exe' then this is why you don't get the prompt, if you have 'nheat.exe' most likely you will get that prompt, and finally if you have both then most likely you will also get that prompt. ML2 acts differently depending on what you are launching, how you do it and what you have in your folders, thus, v1.4 searched for 'spl_scr' file in a MOD directory which is a custom splash screen, and it showed it if it found it, but I forgot that XP users get that prompt when they launch Heat, when ML2 v1.4 launched a MOD with a new splash screen on XP system, users couldn't press "Yes" to continue, unless they minimized it, so I fixed it and now I can say for sure that you won't get the prompt on XP if the MOD has a 'spl_scr' file in it, if it doesn't then you might get it, it depends on the name of your executable in the main folder.
BUT, I can make so that the prompt didn't appear in any of the cases, I just need to know if it does appear on anybody else's PC ?

So grab v1.4.1 and give it a try:

MOD Launcher 2 v1.4.1

Oleg

[PeterV]

What an odd thing.
I have NHeat.exe and Nascar Heat.exe
Both are the exact same exe file anyway. Same file date, size etc.
But if I run NHeat I get the 'Windows 2000' pop up. Nascar Heat.exe not.
And both run the game fine and identically as far as I can see. So why is that??

DOH....it is due to compatability mode set for one and not the other of course....

So what are the two game exe files for anyway? Any difference? Where do they come from?
One original game and one the later Versions?

Is there info on the spl_scr format required?


It is sort of fun testing these things....but less so when you get muddled up with changes not tracked properly!! hehe

[size="1"][ June 11, 2003, 08:07 PM: Message edited by: PeterV ][/size]

[TheMask]

Wait a few mins Peter, I'll make a beta for you to test out, I'll send you a PM

[PeterV]

No, something is rotten in Denmark now....

I used to be able to run the game exe manually (though I dont know which one I had the shortcut to) and I got the Windows 2000 pop-up.
When I got ML2 going it didn't do so. Which I assume was because I was using the NHeat.exe with compat set for Win2000, and the ML2 was calling the Nascar Heat.exe which had no (or unknown) compat set.

And a bit more testing has now cleared it up......

I originally had used Win2000 compat because with NO compat I was getting sound popping in the game. Which I also get in Win95 or Win98.ME compat too. But recently I have loaded newly released sound drivers, and it seems that now the NO compat mode runs without sounds pops etc.
And I only started using MH2 days ago, so that called the NO compat Nascar Heat.exe, which now works with clean sound (due to new drivers).
So that all explains the whole sequence of what has been happening.

Now..as for spl-scr.....
I have none, So can't tell what effects they would have to the pop-up. BUT seeing I don't need a Compat mode at all now, I don't get the pop-up anyway, so it wouldn't be an issue.
I can always make the pop-up occur, to test spl-scr effects for you if you want. Tho I would need a spl-scr first!!!


Beta: It appears to run the same as V1.4.1
With Win2000 Compat on it has a pop-up.
(with final understanding of everything the V1.4.1 is fine as is really).

I guess a little data bank of Heat game knowledge has been compiled now at least!

[TheMask]

Ok, looks like this is one of my worst days, 2 bugs which I thought wre fixed now are not
It works absolutely perfectly on my old Win98se system, no bugs at all, it's only XP (and Win2000?) that calls headaches...

Thank you for testing Peter.
As for spl_scr, read the 'readme' file, it's all there...

[PeterV]

I did find out that the V1.4.1beta runs the Heat V1.73 patch in WindowsXP, with NO compabitlity selected, without a pop-up occuring.
The V1.4.1 stills gets a pop-up.

[TheMask]

A tiny update (but essential enough!)

When I coded "Disable GCF" option I forgot that GCFs can come in the RES file (ghostcar.res) and not as separate GCF files, hence ML2 didn't do anything with it (actually strange that noone has mentioned it, I guess noone uses it...) - ghostcar.res support has been added now

For those who don't read the 'readme' file here's a copy/paste about this option:

Disable GCFs Option:
=================
A GCF is a file with a ghostline for AI cars. When a new MOD is released it has to have its own GCF files for ALL tracks which are associated with this particular type of racing. So, the reason you race competitive AI (OFFLINE) is because people who were involved in the project of this MOD made these GCF files for you. But sometimes users want to make their own ghostlaps, and they do them, and then, naturally, replace the original ones. With that said, when they go to race ONLINE, they may have different GCF files. This is one of the reasons of the warp during online races. 'Disable GCFs' option eliminates unwelcomed warping by temporarily renaming extensions of ALL track GCF files to TGF and GHOSCAR.RES to GHOSTCAR.TMP (if such exists) (NASCAR Heat will think that there are no custom GCFs in the MOD folder). Thus, all users will have the SAME GCF file which is packed into the track file itself (.TRK) . Therefore, I strongly recommend 'ticking' this option before going 'online' !
IMPORTANT: When you 'tick' this option, NO changes are made, this option will ONLY work if you launch a MOD from within this program (and not by running a shortcut or 'BAT' file), because, when 'Launch Nascar HEAT' & 'Connect to Server' button commands are being executed, MOD Launcher 2 looks if you had checked/ticked this option, and if you DID tick it, then ALL GCFs (+GHOSTCAR.RES) for current MOD will be disabled. You might wonder: "How do I turn them back on?", the answer - simply, don't tick this option, MOD Launcher 2 will look if you had ticked this option and if it sees that it's unchecked AND GCFs for current MOD had been previously disabled, it will enable them ALL back on.
NOTE: This option will NOT work for the 'Winston Cup 2000' MOD (this is the original NASCAR Heat game itself) and you won't get any error message, simply, nothing will happen, exept that the MOD will be launched.

MOD Launcher 2 v1.4.2

[Sel]

I think the reason we haven't had a major problem after removing gfc's or disableing them with launcher may be due to the fact that most users will have the same RES files.

Urr I think.