Hi all,
Yesterday I got a message form Microsoft that I can download and install a free upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10. Somewhere in July it will be available.
Does anyone know if this is a useful upgrade in terms of SC4 game play? Will everything work, including SC4-Pim, SC4tool, Reader etc..?
Frank
I wouldn't bother with windows 10 now. At the moment 7 is working perfectly for what we need (apart for a few crashed with SC4tool)..
I don't see any reason to upgrade from 7 to 10 (don't even get me started on 8) now nor for the upcoming years.
Maybe when the day they stop support for it, just like they did with the old trusty XP.
I'd be inclined to tread very carefully with Windows 10 if SC4 is important to you, I suspect the game will probably work, but I can foresee many issues with graphics and drivers causing problems.
As for the tools, I'd say that was less clear, Windows 10 has been changed massively, who knows at what cost to compatibility and these tools all need different run-times to work. I think it is therefore worth looking at, but with a mind to being able to restore your Windows 7 setup if it doesn't work out.
If you've a large external HDD, you could image your existing Windows installation, upgrade to Windows 10, run the necessary checks to see if everything works, knowing if it didn't work out, you could simply restore your computer to before the upgrade. Otherwise, just wait and see what experience others have before diving in, I guess I'll setup a test system for this, if it's a slim as they say, perhaps my laptop would benefit from it. My main PC, I dunno, Windows 10 will have to be pretty special to get me to change.
The main problem is that Windows 10 has now directx 12. I do not know how to react to it
As for the programs I do not think there are any compatibility issues. The best thing to do is to wait and see in July
My experience with many modding tools is that getting them just to work 100% with Windows 7 is hit or miss without a bit of tweaking. Given that Windows 8/8.1 broke many things with the game itself, and other legacy support options, I am wary to recommend Windows 10 even if they correct these issues.
If you wanted to grab a new computer and put it on, then I would say sure. But upgrading an existing installation? I'd wait at least a month or two until the dust settles before changing anything, especially if it's your SC4 computer.
I put in for Windows 10- has to be better then 8.1.
I tried Windows 10 this weekend (buid 10130), unfortunately SC4 did not even start, even playing with the compatibility modes.
I hope the problem will be solved... &mmm
OK, that does the trick.
I'll wait.
Thank you!
Quote from: APSMS on June 03, 2015, 03:00:56 PM
I'd wait at least a month or two until the dust settles before changing anything, especially if it's your SC4 computer.
This fellow speaks the truth. Wait until the drivers for your video card are updated to fully function with Windows 10. Vista was a mess for the first six months because Nvidia and ATI were slow on the updates, and peoples' opinions of the operating system were bad for the entirety of its lifetime because of it.
will all apps and data currently on a persons computer even stay put?
Perhaps Windows 10 is more like Windows 8.1 rebranded? Don't know, Windows since XP have changed interface a lot.
Quote from: art128 on June 03, 2015, 03:32:30 AM
... (apart for a few crashed with SC4tool).
I don't see any reason to upgrade from 7 to 10 (don't even get me started on 8) now nor for the upcoming years.
...
@all: SC4Tool works fine on Win 7-8 in Compatibility Mode disabling the Aero theme.
@art128: In Win 8, do you try in Compatibility Mode for Win 7?
Will all data and apps I have for 8.1 carry over so that I don't need to reinstall everything?
Probably, that's normally how it works, of course that doesn't mean they will all work, that idea is dubious at best. In reality prepare for driver problems being the worst headache - i.e. don't rush to upgrade Win 8 to Win 10 until all your drivers are available at the very least, software will no doubt pose some issues too. If all Win 7-8 software worked under Win10 I'd be surprised, that sort of suggests the code has not changed, which it has.
thats why I issued it via e-mail- that way I choose, not Windows.
I've just installed SC4 (GOG Digital Version) on my friends Win10 Laptop, it's the current Release to OEM version which should closely resemble the final release version for next week.
Test hardware was a Lenovo Thinkpad T520. Spec Intel i5-2450M, 8GB, NVidia NVS 4200M GPU.
Using the following command line shortcut:
-intro:off -CPUCount:1 -f -r1920x1080x32 -CPUPriority:high
The game not only run sucessfully, but also happily works with DirectX Hardware Rendering (in this case, no extra config required). Tested with both NAM 32 and Sudden Valley terrain mod installed, I did not run into any problems. Therefore I'd say with some confidence that at least for now, Windows 10 does not seem to be a problem for running SC4. Note: I did not have a chance to check stability since this is not my machine, I don't expect to either.
Well that's good news.
Hopefully they won't screw it up post release. I am waiting to upgrade until I know that this and other programs run without too many hiccups.
I guess the real question now is how well Terraformer, Mapper, ILives Reader, the Lot Editor, and other tools run on the new OS. I guess that will probably be a bigger hurdle, but hopefully my doubts are proved wrong.
That's good, but I still doubt that it will work on any computer with an Intel integrated graphics chip (like on my laptop). If it didn't work on 8.1, it won't work on Windows 10.
I had to buy an NVidia card to supplement my HD4600, it's a driver support issue, I can't see Intel rushing to support old games, for example Doom3 was never stable (CTDs made it unplayable) on the Intel card either, it's fine with newer stuff though. You can use it, but only with software rendering.
I upgraded last week (begrudgingly!) but only had a chance to load the game this evening.
My version's from Steam so I had to change the registry settings so that game would pick up the UK version.
For some reason, since the upgrade, my game has reverted back to the standard US settings with cars driving the wrong direction. All the text is also missing.
The UKEnglsh file is still present in the Steam directory, however I have noticed that the Registry keeps setting itself as 0X0001.
Has anyone else had this issue? I'm a bit stuck as to what to do next. Would it be worth re-installing?
Thanks!
I'm guessing here (don't have Win10) that some security setting is stopping you from editing your own registry.
Just add this to the end of your target line in the shortcut for SC4, -l:"UK English".
This will change your game to run in LHD mode. You need to keep the UKEnglsh file/folders as before.
Thanks mgb!
I've had a go at that, and also reinstalled the game and changed the registry under "Developer Mode" Think I may go back to Windows 7...things seemed to be ok then!
If I were into RHD, everything would be fine!
Thanks again!
[EDIT] Windows 7 back running...as are my cars on the LHS!
Might be one for LHS counterparts to look out for?
Quote from: mgb204 on July 24, 2015, 11:46:33 AM
I've just installed SC4 (GOG Digital Version) on my friends Win10 Laptop, it's the current Release to OEM version which should closely resemble the final release version for next week.
Test hardware was a Lenovo Thinkpad T520. Spec Intel i5-2450M, 8GB, NVidia NVS 4200M GPU.
Using the following command line shortcut:
-intro:off -CPUCount:1 -f -r1920x1080x32 -CPUPriority:high
^would that work on the disk version of the game too? where do i type that in?
does anyone here know?
These "command line switches" work, regardless of the version used, it just needs to be added to the shortcut for running the game. Right Click your shortcut to SC4 and select properties, add the commands you want to the end of the "Target" field.