Machines, Anarchy and Destruction Open Beta released!

[BS-er]

Did you catch my earlier post on installer mistakes?

I made some mistakes in the installer.  It was supposed to install two essential components, which may or may not be on many systems already.

If anyone is having trouble getting it to run, try installing the two components below:
Microsoft Redistributable Libraries for VC2005 SP1
OpenAL Installer

Let me know if you're having the problem even after installing those items.

[CivBase]

I did that, now I get these:

[OvermindDL1]

And that means your DirectX is out of date.  MAD uses DX9 version 2008summer(spring?), aka version 33, yours is outdated.  Update directX.  Or you can try it in OpenGL, that just relies on your video card drivers being somewhat new.
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[CivBase]

How do I update it?  I got those messages after I downloaded the two things you told me to download.

[Nielk1]

You still had the errors before you put in what he said, you just never got to them. A DirectX updater is linked in a post in this topic already, and as he said, just select OpenGL from the list to not use DX at all. Note that screen, with all the options?

[BS-er]

I did that, now I get these:

Sorry for the hassle Civbase.  Goes with the territory of releasing a beta I guess.  Those messages indicate the need to update to latest DirectX.  I'm going to update the first message of this post so that others don't have to scour the thread to know what needs updating.  Thanks for your patience .

[BS-er]

I'd hate to bloat the size of the game to double its size by including DirectX 10.  I may look into a way to check for the required DLL, and recommend an update during the install.  I'd have it use a smaller web installer to install DirectX 10, but some people may not want to shift to DirectX 10, and I don't know if there are any reasons one might want to avoid installing DirectX 10.  I think Microsift is still keeping the DirectX 9 installation up-to-date. 

[CivBase]

Awsome!  That looks much better than I expected!

I'm currently in training and there's a few minor things that probably aren't as miner on your side:
When I am looking backwords, my turn keys invert, making turning very difficult.
I suggest adding a 3rd person view (or is there one that I just haven't found yet?)
When I press reverse to slow down, I turn to the side.
Turing is extremely fast.
The voice is kinda weird (Microsoft Sam?), but that's no big deal.
The default boost key is in a funky position, but like the voice, that's no big deal (especialy since I can change it).
When you shoot the water, there is no splash animation
The vehicle explosions are a bit.... big, don't you think?
When I built new units from the factory, they didn't go to my squad menu.
The hauler circles around the area that the crate is being dropped at, rather than waiting there.
Do you have to manualy command haulers?
The reasource meter uses rather small numbers... couldn't you move those up a diget?  Then decimals wouldn't be neccessary.
I had some problems moving my squad in water, in the end I was driving around and noticed one for the vehicles was just sitting in the water.  Is that just because it was there when the vehicle I told the squad to destroy was destroyed?  If so, I recomend you have them continue to the destroyed enemy rather than just sitting there (possibly in enemy teritory).
The redical for making buildings is very misleading.  Couldn't you make it so the building shows up as a hologram or something so that you can see what it is?
You may want to make it so that you can still operate your vehicle while in a menu.

I don't mean to sound picky or anything, it's an awsome game!  But, hey, that's what a beta's for.

[BS-er]

i played, but damn is it heavy on my machine! wont run properly unfortunately. ill try on my higher spec system later on. but i have to say, it looks very promising and i love the BZII influence =]

Jamsh, could you post specs of your machine (laptop?), and maybe typical framerate, with low graphics settings (800x600, turn off anistropic terrain and bloom for sure, maybe weeds at half density).  I'm trying to get an idea of what graphics cards/chips are just barely tolerable and what is just below the tolerability threshold.  I suspect that your system is barely tolerable?

Thanks for the feedback CivBase.  Don't worry I'm used to the pickiness.  It comes with the game development territory.  Gamers (me included) are picky and fickle .

Do you have to manualy command haulers?

In the Warefare Unlimited strat mission, haulers are self-sufficient at gathering resources unless you need them to do your bidding.  Telling them to "Hold" will cause them to go about their business.

[Commando]

I'd hate to bloat the size of the game to double its size by including DirectX 10.  I may look into a way to check for the required DLL, and recommend an update during the install.  I'd have it use a smaller web installer to install DirectX 10, but some people may not want to shift to DirectX 10, and I don't know if there are any reasons one might want to avoid installing DirectX 10.  I think Microsift is still keeping the DirectX 9 installation up-to-date. 

I still use Direct X 9.0 because I am still on Windows XP.  As far as I know, only Vista has DX 10.  If I were to install Vista, I would install it as a secondary operating system and not as my primary OS.

[OvermindDL1]

I'd hate to bloat the size of the game to double its size by including DirectX 10.  I may look into a way to check for the required DLL, and recommend an update during the install.  I'd have it use a smaller web installer to install DirectX 10, but some people may not want to shift to DirectX 10, and I don't know if there are any reasons one might want to avoid installing DirectX 10.  I think Microsift is still keeping the DirectX 9 installation up-to-date. 

As I stated somewhere else on your boards before, your DX SDK comes with a redistributable that is quite small, only containing enough of DX to run your mod, as such it updates peoples DX to include what yours needs (but not really anything else, just enough to run your game), or if they are already updated enough it does nothing.

And yes, DX9 is still being updated to this day, as well as being faster then DX10 due to design.
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[Huscar]

Tested all instant options, looks good really. Aiming was not an issue this time as the vehicles definitly got blown up. Maybe the helicopter has a bit of trouble with it but I'm not 100% sure about it. Oh, and does the chopper have a down key? Tried q but didn't work . In case there isn't any: it does kinda need it in order to get to the right level with the service bay.
Well, that's pretty much it, sure it isn't finished but seems to me it's going to be great, runs smooth as well. Keep it up!

[Commando]

I've been saying the same thing regarding the down key.  At least I'm not the only one who feels it is needed.

[BS-er]

Z is the down key.  I thought more people would notice the help button on the esc screen, which describes the control keys.  The training guy even mentions the help button.  Maybe he's too boring .

Vehicle control keys will be rebindable in the next beta anyway on the Control Settings page.

[BS-er]

As I stated somewhere else on your boards before, your DX SDK comes with a redistributable that is quite small, only containing enough of DX to run your mod, as such it updates peoples DX to include what yours needs (but not really anything else, just enough to run your game), or if they are already updated enough it does nothing.

And yes, DX9 is still being updated to this day, as well as being faster then DX10 due to design.
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What would be ideal is a web installer that will patch up the DirectX 9 interface on computers with both DirectX 9 and DirectX 10.  Maybe Microsoft has built such flexibility into their we installer but I'm too jaded to believe it off the bat.  I don't have the latest DirectX SDK myself, and not sure I want to fuss with getting it until I've looked into whether Microsoft's web installer is truly smart and will do the right thing on any machine.