Inside: SereneScreen Fan Forum - View Single Post

feldon34 · 12-26-2002, 11:00 PM

I'd like to line up every author who includes an idiot-check in their programs like this and have a talk with them.

Command & Conquer checks to see if you are running Windows 95/98 before deciding if it will run. At the time, Windows NT was at 3.51 and had no hope of running game graphics. Now Windows NT 5.0 is here (Windows 2000) and it would run this game fine if it weren't for the 95/98 check.

Another example. The widely-used nvMax diagnostic tool for nVidia drivers won't install on the 41.0x drivers. It says you need a "newer" driver. Funny, since the newest driver nvMax works on is 31.82 (or some such nonsense).

Thankfully, Psygonsis's idiot check on Lemmings95 is just a warning message. When I run Lemmings95 (designed for 800x600, 256 colors, Windows 95) on my Windows 2000, 1024x768, 16 million colors display, it comes up with an error message at startup "Warning: Lemmings requires a 256 color display, you have a 2 color display, proceed?" but you can get around it.

Many Developers don't seem to realize that the method of checking what version of Windows or what video resolution you have may change from one version of Windows to another and to allow people to get around these checks.

Ugh.

12-26-2002, 11:00 PM	#10
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,947	I'd like to line up every author who includes an idiot-check in their programs like this and have a talk with them. Command & Conquer checks to see if you are running Windows 95/98 before deciding if it will run. At the time, Windows NT was at 3.51 and had no hope of running game graphics. Now Windows NT 5.0 is here (Windows 2000) and it would run this game fine if it weren't for the 95/98 check. Another example. The widely-used nvMax diagnostic tool for nVidia drivers won't install on the 41.0x drivers. It says you need a "newer" driver. Funny, since the newest driver nvMax works on is 31.82 (or some such nonsense). Thankfully, Psygonsis's idiot check on Lemmings95 is just a warning message. When I run Lemmings95 (designed for 800x600, 256 colors, Windows 95) on my Windows 2000, 1024x768, 16 million colors display, it comes up with an error message at startup "Warning: Lemmings requires a 256 color display, you have a 2 color display, proceed?" but you can get around it. Many Developers don't seem to realize that the method of checking what version of Windows or what video resolution you have may change from one version of Windows to another and to allow people to get around these checks. Ugh. "Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations." - George Orwell "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal." - Emma Goldman Last edited by feldon34; 12-26-2002 at 11:06 PM.