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JCB206 · Post by **JCB206** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 11:54 pm

I am trying to play Spartan via Game Ranger which me and my friend have done multiple times in the past. My last computer died and had to download a new game. The codes are different and says the games are incompatible??? He bought the game in the last 12 months and and me about 3 years ago. Why would there be a different version? This game of course an older game. Both have the .017 patch and i am not getting any other errors, just the incompatible one. Our codes are different after the patch version. He has the disc and I downloaded the game from your website. That shouldn't be an issue but thought I would mention it. Thank you for your help. Have been trying to run this for quite a bit. Thanks again.

Post by **pipfromslitherine** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 1:01 am

Can you be more specific about the error message, where and when you see it, etc. I'm not sure what compatibility checks would be going on, nor what Game Ranger is.

Ah - just a thought - looking at the code (which I have not looked at in a long time!) it could be that you both need to be playing in the same gfx mode (e.g. 2D or 3D). Could that be it?

Hmmm - looking now - I think it uses the build number to check! If one of you has a newer version, that could be the problem. We had to do a rebuild recently because of the change in download partner. Hmmmm. Let me have a think about how we could solve this!

Cheers

Pip

JCB206 · Post by **JCB206** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 2:39 am

pipfromslitherine wrote:Can you be more specific about the error message, where and when you see it, etc. I'm not sure what compatibility checks would be going on, nor what Game Ranger is.

Ah - just a thought - looking at the code (which I have not looked at in a long time!) it could be that you both need to be playing in the same gfx mode (e.g. 2D or 3D). Could that be it?

Hmmm - looking now - I think it uses the build number to check! If one of you has a newer version, that could be the problem. We had to do a rebuild recently because of the change in download partner. Hmmmm. Let me have a think about how we could solve this!

Cheers

Pip

It says your game is incompatable versions at the game start menu . We are both playing in 3D mode. The only thing that looks different is mine (the most recent) download says Text V1.017, Code 2438 and his says V1.017, Code 2024.

Thank you so much for the quick response. I know this game is old but it is great game. Thanks again for looking into the issue.

Post by **IainMcNeil** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 10:17 am

Are you playing on a Mac? Game Ranger was something the Mac developers added if I remember correctly - they are VP Ltd. We didnt develop or sell the Mac version and unfortunately have no way to support it if this is the issue.

If it has stoped working you can ask VP Ltd if they can help but there is nothing we can really do.

JCB206 · Post by **JCB206** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 1:57 pm

"Hi all (and Iain ), just thought I'd let you know about a new multiplayer network I've created for playing Spartan (and its demo) online called GameRanger.

Basically, GameRanger makes it quick and easy to play your friends online.

It has full lobby support for over 500 different games and demos (including Spartan, of course), without the hassles and headaches that usually happen with network connections (eg. routers & firewalls).

I'm really excited to be releasing it, and hope it helps boost the Spartan community by allowing people to play that were unable to until now due to problems with opening ports, etc.

You can download it at www.GameRanger.com"

This was another poster here on a previous post about Game Ranger back in November 2008. We have been using this online gaming site to play for a few months now (Spartan and other games) and only have had an issue when I downloaded the game from Slitherinie. My previous game was a CD. If I must purchase the CD, I figured this would be posted somewhere. The biggest difference I see is that the d3drm.dll and latest patches came with the digital download from slitherine.com and his had to be added. But since he has added these downloads, in the proper place, then why would they be incompatiable.

Neither of us use a Mac.

This doesn't seem to be Game Ranger issue as we have played Spartan on it before (including the day before I downloaded the new one) and it loads like it always has but now is incompatiable.

Look forward to hearing any ideas that you may have. I have seen you fix MANY issues on this board and look forward to getting this issue solved and added to your huge library of troubleshooting for fellow Spartan and GOT fanatics. Thank you.

P.S. I do have GOT and he does not but we loaded from his game as host. Does having GOT on my computer affect anything?

Thanks again Pip and Iain!

Post by **IainMcNeil** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 3:12 pm

It may be some odd issue related to Gates of Troy. Can you ask him to uninstall and try again and see if it helps?

Game Ranger is not something we have anything to do with so it's very hard for us to know what the issue might be. If it used to work and doesn't know then something that has changed on one of the PC's is the issue. Completely uninstalling and reinstalling on both machines might help.

Post by **pipfromslitherine** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 4:23 pm

Hi JCB. This looks like an issue arising from some historical decisions from way back. Over time, as we have built new versions, things have gotten mixed up. So I am going to send you a Private Message (PM) via the forums here. You should see a notification at the top of the forums. It will explain how we will solve this issue and get you guys playing again.

Cheers

Pip

JCB206 · Post by **JCB206** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 5:08 pm

pipfromslitherine wrote:Hi JCB. This looks like an issue arising from some historical decisions from way back. Over time, as we have built new versions, things have gotten mixed up. So I am going to send you a Private Message (PM) via the forums here. You should see a notification at the top of the forums. It will explain how we will solve this issue and get you guys playing again.

Cheers

Pip

Thank yall very much. We are playing again and everything is working. I do have a couple of questions though.

1. When we are playing on multiplayer, the game gets stuck "processing AI" at random times and needs to be restarted and sometimes restarting and ending turn a couple of times without making moves. At times causing us to lose cities that we could have saved. There doesn't seem to be a set time when this happens. Sometimes it happens three months into a game, sometimes a year, sometimes three turns in a row, etc. It happens more in the later stages of the game, when nations get more advanced of course. We play on smaller maps because of this "theory" but it happens on both small maps and the Grand Campaign. Is there a fix for this issue?

2. I noticed this on my previous game I bought a few years ago and it seems to still be there. On Spartan alone, Gates of Troy fixed this, Mercenary Hoplites has animatiion, when in campaign mode, of what seems to be "Parthian Archers." In Gates of Troy they are hoplites. It is a small issue but thought I would ask. Can I change the animation of the unit? Is this causing a larger problem? Or will changing this cause more issues? (Small Issue)

Thanks again for all the help. This is the best customer service I have ever recieved about a game and I will definetly be purchasing more of your products.

Post by **pipfromslitherine** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 9:11 pm

We've not heard of any MP issues previously - it could be some kind of interaction with the Gameranger system? I don't really have any idea unfortunately.

Cheers

Pip

Post by **IainMcNeil** » Mon Jan 30, 2012 10:56 am

I'm not sure about the hoplite animation issue (I dont remember as it was nearly 10 years ago!) but you could try copying the units graphics files from Gates of Troy across to Spartan. There shoudl be no issues as they use the same file format.

JCB206 · Post by **JCB206** » Mon Jan 30, 2012 10:05 pm

iainmcneil wrote:I'm not sure about the hoplite animation issue (I dont remember as it was nearly 10 years ago!) but you could try copying the units graphics files from Gates of Troy across to Spartan. There shoudl be no issues as they use the same file format.

How would I do this? THank you.

Post by **IainMcNeil** » Tue Jan 31, 2012 10:53 am

You'd need to find the files and copy them over. I don't know which ones it would be. It would mean looking around the games install fodlers. It could break thigns though so be careful.