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Topic Review (Newest First)
29-12-2017 01:14 AM
guest053 Where do you find pre-patched saves for the unofficial 1.56 patch? The only place I found them was in a modified warez copy of the full game, which I'd like to avoid. Also a user named "Xcoronner" posted an "Enhancement Pack" for the game on page 14. Although the DOSBox components are likely obsolete, he implied that it included a custom launcher of some type, which would be really convenient. Reupload if you got it please!
08-01-2015 08:37 PM
JustForLogin Hi.

I just registered here.
The reason I'm posting is that I tried to find a fix for the crash related errors which make it impossible to have a really long game and nothing worked for me BUT some others reported that they didn't have or had less crashes. This post is intended to summarize everything helpful I can think of related to the game.

For crash issue testing I used one of my savegames which would always crash next round. None of the fixes worked for me. Maybe a fresh start would also have been necessary but I doubt it.

Tries to fix the issue:
1) I tried to optimize the Dosbox .conf file, which didn't work:
output=ddraw
memsize=64 (and also with 63)
cycles=max
core=dynamic

What I forgot to change and was mentioned earlier was to change

mpu401=intelligent
to
mpu401=uart
or
mpu401=none

I guess that doesn't matter as this only affects midi which M.A.X. doesn't use ?

2) The official 1.04 patch (I have version 1.01) made the game crash by just loading my save game.

For those who still want to give it a try:
English patch version 1.04: scroll to the bottom link or Ctrl + F "last entry"
German patch version 1.04: http://www.patches-scrolls.de/patch/2523

3) I searched for the 1.56 inofficial patch which was really, really hard to find and which didn't work either. And let me tell you that: This patch is so hard to find because it introduces some new, also game crashing bugs and also changes the keybinds and some things in the game to the earliest version of M.A.X. which is the reason this was actually taken down and why it is so hard to find.

One of the 1.56 bugs was: Exiting the game will cause and endless loop of text spam inside Dosbox which requires Alt+Tab and then a task kill.

Also all previous save games won't work with this patch and the other way around.

Patch 1.56 download:
http://www.sal4.de/new/max/maxrun156.rar

4) Then I stumbled upon this post:

http://www.gog.com/forum/m_a_x_serie..._for_all_of_us

It's contents in short:
M.A.X. uses Dos 1.97 which has an error related to memory:
"A bug in our DPMI INT 31h/0800h caused mappings of 4MB or to be misaligned."

As far as I understood this bug exists either within the Maxrun.exe inside the M.A.X. folder because the Dos 1.97 executable is somehow part of the Maxrun.exe or something.

The workaround to this:
1) Get the program PMODE/W
2) Search for a Dos extender (which I heard of for the first time)

copy the Maxrun.exe inside the folder of PMODE/W's file, named Pmwbind.exe and either type in the command prompt or text code of your .bat file:

PMWBIND /U MAXRUN.EXE
=> Upon code execution this will create a new file called Maxrun.le

What's to do with this file ?
Well, as far as I understood PMODE/W has now removed the buggy 1.97 that was part of the Maxrun.exe and created that new, fixed file, named Maxrun.le.

This ".LE"* file can't run on it's own.
*Line Executable -or- Linear Executable

The .LE file needs a Dos extender to run:
http://maximumhoyt.blogspot.de/2008/...ternative.html

I went with Dos/32A with it's file Dos32a.exe
I copied both files inside the M.A.X. folder.

Next I edited Dosbox' .conf file I have for M.A.X. and replaced the starting parameter Maxrun.exe with the parameter

Dos32a.exe Maxrun.le

so that the Dos32a.exe will execute the Maxrun.le and all that within Dosbox.

Well that didn't fix my permanently crashing savegame but maybe I should have started a fresh game or whatever.

Deep down I fear it's no use and the crashes will continue even after a new game.

[Casual information:]
To get Dosbox running to execute the game you want you need to know the drive your game is installed on, it's path and which executable starts the game.

As Dosbox is a command prompt and no GUI you need to navigate to your game's folder and start it's executable.

Dos (and Dosbox) commands:
1) mount letter path:\

[Example:]
mount c e:\Dosgames\KKND\

[Does this:]
Tells Dosbox that the drive e and the path E:\Dosgames\KKND will be viewed to the game run as if it was the drive c alone.

Mounting is required to acutally be able to browse drives and folders within Dosbox.

2) dir/p

[Does this:]
This command will list the files and folders that are within the path you're currently in.

3) letter:

[Example:]
c:

[Does this:]
Browses to the drive you've picked and, in case you've been in any of the drive's sub-folders before, you'll automatically land there again instead of the main path of the drive.

4) cd path

[Example:]
e:
cd Dosgames
cd KKND

[Does this:]
Browses from outside of a folder to inside of the named folder if it exists as a sub-folder of your current path.

Better pick names of less than 9 characters because Dos requires the use of 6 characters + ~1 etc. numbers in case the folder name is more than 8 characters.

5) cd..

[Does this:]
Leaves the sub-folder you're and goes one up in the folder hierarchy.

[Example:]
While inside the E:\Dosgames\KKND folder this would go to E:\Dosgames and show the sub-folders of the folder Dosgames when dir/p would be used.

Dosbox can run individual .conf files with the command prompt -conf
-> Example: Doxbox.exe -conf MySettingsFileForGameABC.conf

The .exe executable file to run the game normally is either an executable with the game's name, a short term for the game's name, a file containing "start" or "run" as part of it's name or "main".

[Example:]
I have Dosbox installed on drive D within the folder Dosbox (D:\Dosbox).
My Dos games are installed on drive E within the folder Dosgames and there within a sub-folder for the specific game that I refer to, like KKND for example (E:\Dosgames\KKND).

To start KKND's KKND.exe file I use two files:
A .bat file which contains all the text I'd normally have to type manually in the command prompt each time.
A .conf file for optimal configuration for that specific Dos game and most likely some start parameters.

What the .bat file does:
Starts Dosbox and tells Dosbox which .conf file to use.
-> Text within the .bat file:
@echo off
Dosbox -conf KKND.conf

What the .conf file does:
Aside from the optimal settings for the refered game at the end of the file it contains all the gibberish that I'd usually have to type within the command prompt each time I want to start my game:

mount c e:\Dosgames\KKND
c:
KKND.exe

Dosbox presents the path E:\Dosgames\KKND to the executable of KKND as if it was within the drive C which is useful for some games that require drive c to be installed but not really important otherwise.

Dosbox key bindings:
Ctrl + F12 increases the cycles
Ctrl + F11 decreases the cycles
Alt + Tab changes between fullscreen and windowed mode

And as last entry...
A very good fan site (file and content wise) that has the patches and a tutorial how to get multiplayer running.
http://tauronr.netii.net/dl_bse/fnc_...ads_bgbd2.html

------------

Ignore this:

Google tags so that this fucking trainwreck of a search engine actually manages to find that hard to gather information:
Interplay
M.A.X.
Mechanized Assault and Exploration
Stack Overflow
assertion failed
smartlst.cpp, line 189
error errors
crash crashes
bug bugs

Edit:
Untested: 1.56 version with Dos extender
Now tested. Result: When saving a game manually in 1.56 it'll crash MAX but the savegame will work when loading it after a restart. Autosave works without any issue so enable it in the options.
1.56 didn't help at all to get around the "Stack Overflow!!!" error.

One thing I forgot: On page 25 someone wrote that
-having a Maxrun.exe with version 1.03
and
-having a Maxrun.exe with version 1.04
was a workaround for him whenever a crash occured. In case of crash proceed to switch one version with the other until the next crash occurs.

Haven't tested THAT yet as that requires me to find the 1.03 patch and test that with and without Dos extender but as far as I can tell Dos extender didn't help anyway so as long as 1.04 and 1.03 save games are compatible with another this could work.
Will give it a try when I'm in the mood in.

The one thing 1.56 does well is unlock rounds so that the player gains control back but had rounds freeze with it nevertheless. Also the workaround for that is to load the quit and then load the autosave.


Bottom line:
No fix possible. The game will inevitably crash at some point.
The game's .exe needs to be fixed / reprogrammed.

Bugs exist when unit names are manually changed or too often due to upgrades being applied. I also noticed a cost calcluation bug for the -cost research, displaying other values in the construction menu as price than used by the game.
18-09-2014 07:02 AM
diego gr
ONLINE THROUGH HAMACHI!!!!

Hey guys, I just want you to know that we are playing MAX online using Hamachi using its IPX simulation.
If you want to play, look up our facebook group called Mechanized Assault and Exploration,
or call me at diego4779 AT gmail DOT com

On top of that, there is a Russian group that programmed a copy from scratch called MAX Touch. It works on touchscreen cellphones. At this moment, the only way to play multi is hot seat, where each player have to end turn and pass the cellphone (or tablet) to the other player (or through saved games sent by email). Real-time multiplayer is under development (note: from scratch!)
Jah bless russians LOL
14-04-2013 08:20 AM
Unregistered-guest
possible way around game freezes and crashes

Hi,

I played M.A.X. a lot during my youth and had a lot of fun with it.
The best way to get around the game freezes and crashes was switching back and forth between the 2 patch versions 1.03 and 1.04 - these patches just change two (for gameplay unimportant) readmes and the file maxrun.exe. Both of these versions of the game tend to crash but mostly in different situations. So what to do:

1) Installation:
- install the game
- update it to 1.03 with patch for 1.03
- update it to 1.04 with patch for 1.04 (this leaves the maxrun.exe from 1.03 as maxrun.000 in the MAX-Directory)
- play

2) going around a crash
- downgrade it to 1.03 (simply replace the maxrun.exe from 1.04 with maxrun.exe from 1.03 patch)
- load last savegame
- play till the next crash

If you don't want to do the copying bewteen the patches manually you may use a .BAT file like the following (put everything between the (--)lines in a file called REPATCH.BAT and use it like the PATCH.BAT from the official Pacthes):
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@echo off

if not exist maxrun.exe goto :no_exe
if not exist maxrun.000 goto :got_no_old
if exist maxrun.new goto :got_new

echo Renaming active files to new files...
ren maxrun.exe maxrun.new
ren readme.txt readmet.new
ren readme.wri readmew.new

echo Renaming old files to active files...
ren maxrun.000 maxrun.exe
ren readmet.000 readme.txt
ren readmew.000 readme.wri

echo rePatch finished, downgrade successful.
goto :done

:no_exe
echo ##### ERROR! Unable to find maxrun.exe.
echo ##### Press any key to view patch instructions.
pause
type patch.txt
goto :done

:got_new
echo ##### ERROR! New version of maxrun found.
echo ##### Delete all .new files and run repatch again.
pause
goto :done

:got_no_old
echo ##### ERROR! No old version of maxrun found.
echo ##### Do not run this repatch again.

:done
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3) repeat 2 in the different direction
- update it to 1.04 with patch for 1.04
- play till the next crash

Have fun!
24-11-2012 08:37 PM
bukimi I have a problem with unlocking campaign missions in the game.

I complete the mission with success and get back to main menu. I click "new game" and I still have the same number of opened missions in campaign.

I had this problem between missions 4/5 and now I'm stuck on level 6 (so I should have 3 more missions to unlock).

There is no cheat code to unlock campaign. What can I do? Maybe someone has a save file with all missions unlocked?
23-07-2011 12:54 AM
guest
Conclusion

What a pity, the major technical problems to run that game in DOSBOX are solved, and this thread could deal about more gameplay specific questions.

A lot of people are likely to get this, so why not taking $ 5.99 for it?

... OK copyrights are copyrights and Interplay has to pay its programmers too.

--- To give a conclusion: ---

The first downloadable version here on this site was considered to be corrupted. It can be doubted that the corruption occurred by uploading the archive or before, for several reasons:
1. Those files had been on the ftp- server for several days, enough time to become corrupted. The archive has been built by a fresh installation (directly from the original CD, with patch to v 1.04) and was immediately uploaded.
2. The archive had been tested before uploading (extracting and playing).
3. The technical problems described here did not change in any way after the archive has been replaced.

If there was any file, which looked good in the first place and turned out to be corrupted, this might also be a kind of copy protection. The game would try to open this file and has to work around its own crash (a so called "legal exception"). This works only in a real DOS environment! Well this is not more than an idea, but this was state of the Art (for copyprotection) 17 years ago and I know for sure that the CD is copy- protected by an unreadable sector.

A comprehensive tutorial can be found here: http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/sho...&postcount=137 (good work!)

The game should run under Win98, a common problem might be the proper definition of the working directory in the batch- and pif- files. Win98 tends to FORGET actualizing the paths when batch and pif files are moved!

There are actually 3 versions of the executable maxrun.exe depending from the installation type. The maxrun.bat has to guide the CD detection by parameters calling the maxrun.exe. Switching OFF the detection (-f%path%) does not work out with the "wrong" maxrun.exe.

The network ability does NOT include TCP/ IP (http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/sho...&postcount=161, you were right!). A direct connection by modem or com- port is possible, but not mentioned in the review. ... MEA CULPA!

For network ability the CD detection is ALWAYS activated! I haven't tried yet to work around this with a CD- image. A burnt CD- copy will do the job.

--- This game has two very nasty bugs! ---

1. If the number of units+ buildings+ actions+ waypoints... exceeds a certain level the game might freeze, when the round- end- counter times out. There are two possible solutions:
Reload the game and change anything (e.g. stop production, change unit destinations, destroy something...), so the game should hopefully bring down the calculations for the next opposite move, or
restart the game in a different environment (e.g. DOS- mode) so the problem might be bypassed.
2. Building on at least one CERTAIN square (somewhere near the eastern edge) makes the game crash! The number of unit or the type of building on this square DOES NOT matter. The game crashes, when the building is completed. If you are controlling the area, you could simply just plan not to build there. If your opponent controls the area, you are out of look.

Patching on V 1.04 does not iron it out! Maybe 1.59 is the version of the patch executable.

--- Some game hints ---

Alien artefacts cannot be destroyed and have no function at all instead of forming obstacles.
Alien units upgrade randomly and unpredictable, when they are damaged or by firing. Sometimes it takes almost eternal until an upgrade occurs, some units upgrade 4 or 5 times in a row. The subject of the upgrade is also randomly, amour and health is more likely, but I remember getting a tank with extra range, extra amour and 8 (!!!) shots per turn.
The AI is one of the best I've ever seen. If you cheat by reloading the game (e.g. if one of your infiltrators has been failed), the computer will remember what happened in this "alternate reality" and maybe retreats the unit you wanted to disable.
09-06-2010 10:10 AM
maxounou
Quote:
Originally Posted by TotalAnarchy View Post
It's written at the bottom. They sell ver 1.04
Thanks for having read that for me
I've read on the MAXR forums that v1.56 could be an alpha version, maybe something inbetween 1.01 and 1.02... Which would somewhat makes sense, despite the number "56" being greater than "04".

If anyone got a clue about aliens not getting any experience, I'd be interested in discussing it.
09-06-2010 08:52 AM
TotalAnarchy
Quote:
Originally Posted by maxounou View Post
I'm the proud owner of 1.04, which is still full of bugs (assertions fail, mostly). I've heard of v1.56 thanks to you, what is this version ? Is it unofficial ? Is it supposed to fix anything ?
What is the version GoG is selling ?

In my version, captured alien units don't get experience upgrades. I remember that some years ago, when I first played MAX, they did ; does anyone know why ?

Thanks !
It's written at the bottom. They sell ver 1.04
09-06-2010 01:22 AM
maxounou
Version 1.56

I'm the proud owner of 1.04, which is still full of bugs (assertions fail, mostly). I've heard of v1.56 thanks to you, what is this version ? Is it unofficial ? Is it supposed to fix anything ?
What is the version GoG is selling ?

In my version, captured alien units don't get experience upgrades. I remember that some years ago, when I first played MAX, they did ; does anyone know why ?

Thanks !
03-02-2010 04:40 PM
D_kool
Quizz

This version on GOG.com is better that the original that I have it?
Some new patches? Is error free? I have that issue with freezing!
What is different?

Thank you!
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