Feel free to comment and discuss this game here. Also, if you have any useful tips or tricks don't hesitate to share them with the others! Thanks!

Review and Download (if available)

This looks like my kind of game thanks abandonia! :ok:

Thisi is one awesome game. One I lost many hours with. It has a sequel, but I never got around to try it. If you like things "complicated", this is the game for you...

It's a pity, the sound files have been removed. Maybe, if the reviewer is found, they can be provided as a separate download. The game looses some of its atmosphere together with its sound and music.

All my regards
~Wasty

Thank you so much for putting this up Abandonia, I always wanted to try this game.

Also, is there any chance you might be adding the missing music files to certain sections of your site for separate download if it is not possible to include them in the main file? I would really appreciate it.


THANK YOU ABANDONIA!

I downloaded it and it keeps asking for the cd. Whats up with that?

I´m gonna test drive this one. Looks promising... since i´m a great adept of complex games.

I´ll review it by tomorow... :)

Yeah, I have fond memories as well.
The ONLY startegy game that my adventure/rpg oriented stomach can digest!
Too bad for its punishing difficulty - but maybe it's my fault, I just suck at startegy games...

Actually I was such a huge fan, that I bought the sequel too.
You SHOULD NOT do the same...
Everything that was good in MAX, was botched in MAX 2...
... The game tried to be a real-time C&C clone ... need to say more?


MAX would be my all-time greatest strategy if it would have some story in it... Without it, I feel like playing a high-tech chess game!
Don't worry about the missing movie files though. If memory serves right, there were only two of 'em:
- An intro (typical, mechanized army shoots then explodes)
- And a weird cutscene (battleships & submarines, totally unrelated to the current game setting)



<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Guest_Igneos Eructid_* @ Feb 13 2007, 05:24 AM) [snapback]279015[/snapback]</div>

As a Battle Isle addict, this is right up my alley ! Great !

To bad theirs no multi-player avaiable because for the cd and all so I'm goin on e-bay to buy the game for 1.00 LOL with out biding :ok:

I still have that gem here on its original CD. I spent a lot of time with it, especially in hot seat mode with a friend or two. ^^

I used to play this back on the older systems. I can clearly recall it's all about range/damage. Although if u can get infiltrators then you can nullify that and steal some of the enemy's units. But with infiltrators you have to watch for those with the ability to see you. Cause if they do your infiltrator unit is soft and easily splatted. Upgrade your range and damage then you can move in like a chess match and destroy defensive piece by defensive piece until the war is won.

can anyone run the game with sound? it appears i have the same problem that the guys above.

I run it with dosbox, and i notice that the sound files (in .wav format) are there.

Can someone give me any hints?

For what it's worth, there was also a movie scene of some huge tracked vehicle turning into a mining station.

I loved this game, and have only a minor gripe - the enemy units always seemed to 'know' to stop just out of range of my unit's weaponry, without previous knowledge that my unit was there. For example;

Imagine I have an Anti-Aircraft emplacement, which has a range of about 8 squares. Without 'in game' knowledge of this building (ie, without the opponent having detected this on any of their unit's scanners) the opponent's Ground Attack Planes (These can only 'see' for two squares around them) would always 'know' to stop just outside the range of my AA weapon.

I think I've only had two incidents of an enemy unit 'accidently' moving into range of a gun emplacement. Frustratingly this even seems to extend to land/sea mines, their units seem to avoid them even though I know they haven't swept that patch of terrain with their own minelayer/surveyor/foot units.

Seems mildly cheaty, even though obviously the computer knows where all the units are, the opponent AI shouldn't until it locates them in-game.

(MAX2 was awful, keep away!)

Try running the game's setup/install/config (etc) executable. Default soundcard emulated by DosBox is Sound Blaster 16 with IRQ 7 DMA 1 and adress 220h.

Did you manage to run it with sound?
I think the only setup file "setup.exe", only allows to select the language.
The readme advises to use sound emulation...
Thanks anyway. I´m gonna try some new things. If someone of you guys manage to run it (with sound) let me know. Maybe i´m just lame.

cant run setup either. In XP you can set the language then quits. In dosbox the setup gives an error and quits.

My colors look weird when I star tthe game in XP.

can't start it either in XP - even with Dosbox.

Tried changing the settings to run maxrun.exe with compatibility to Win 95 - no luck...

anyone figured out how to get around this?

It runs with dosbox. the only problem is the sound.

everytime i start the setup exe i'm getting this output:

Loading...
Error processing MAX.INI, line 2.

Error: 0001
Error: HMI drivers not present in current directory.


has anyone an idea?

Yeah, same thing to me.
It looks like this is a nut hard to crack.

I normally only use the basic features of dosbox, are the any options to play with sound settings?
I tried with VDMSound but it´s the same. Is it because the normal configuration (220 7 1) is a no go?

Maybe if someone who actualy has sounds in the game could copy paste the sound settings from the .ini file to the forum.
Could help allot.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SirPeter @ Feb 15 2007, 06:58 PM) [snapback]279424[/snapback]</div>I'm not sure if you have sounds with the game. I downloaded full version and it works, but the movement in xp (I run it with vdmsound) of the screen is to fast. Here is a listing of my max.ini file.

[SETUP]
player_name=Igneos
player_clan=7
intro_movie=0
ipx_socket=0x51e7
music_level=100
fx_sound_level=100
voice_level=100
disable_music=0
disable_fx=0
disable_voice=0
auto_save=1
last_campaign=1
movie_play=0
alt_movie_res=0

[OPTIONS]
world=16
timer=180
endturn=40
start_gold=200
play_mode=1
victory_type=0
victory_limit=100
opponent=2
raw_resource=1
fuel_resource=1
gold_resource=1
alien_derelicts=0

[PREFERENCES]
effects=1
click_scroll=0
quick_scroll=40
fast_movement=1
follow_unit=0
auto_select=0
enemy_halt=1

[MODEM]
modem_port=3f8 (Com1)
modem_baud=19200
modem_irq=4
modem_init=ATX
modem_answer=ATS0=1
modem_call=ATDT
modem_hangup=ATH0
modem_command=+++
modem_phone=

[TEAMS]
red_team_name=Igneos
green_team_name=Green Team
blue_team_name=
gray_team_name=

red_team_player=1
green_team_player=2
blue_team_player=0
gray_team_player=0

red_team_clan=5
green_team_clan=1
blue_team_clan=8
gray_team_clan=2

[DIGITAL]
Device_Name=Sound Blaster 16/AWE32
Device_IRQ=7
Device_DMA=5
Device_Port=0x220
Device_ID=0xe018
Channels_Reversed=0

try running MAX in dosemu under linux. its fast as hell !!

tested with dosemu 1.3.4 and the dosemu-freedos-image

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(catchaserguns @ Feb 13 2007, 10:12 AM) [snapback]279047[/snapback]</div>I have the same problems. Have tried running it in dosbox & windows but still get the cd error. :sos:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tobias @ Feb 14 2007, 12:17 PM) [snapback]279195[/snapback]</div>Congratulations, you just found out the AI is smart enough to use AWACS, which can see at least 12 (or was ist 14) fields. Far more than the 8 your AA can fire.
This works for the AI, you can make it work for you.

Cu
Jan

Edit "Maxrun.bat" to include the correct path to MAX directory on the DosBox mount. Then start the game via Maxrun.bat.


Does anyone know what should I enter for Device_ID= to make the game work with Sound Blaster Pro 2 ?
Or is that the same as for Sound Blaster Pro 1 (0xe001)?

I still can run the game...
if I find some place to upload the iso from hole cd can anyone upload?

Actually, we have the ISO in the "ISO Cellar" forum. You have to get 20 posts to access that place.

super sweet!!!
10% now... to get the iso cellar!

thx!

Hi all. I'm Trepach and I was dawnload the game, but I can't lounch it. Or maybe the intro is too long and I can't skip it...I see only moving stars :( please help me

Use DosBox or VDMSound to run the game. Whichever works better on your system.
You can get VDMSound from our programs page, and most recent version of DosBox can be downloaded here.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Guest @ Feb 15 2007, 02:01 AM) [snapback]279279[/snapback]</div>i have the same problem. i tried to run it with dosbox and had no graphic probs there, but my cpu is not strong enough and its nearly not playable.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(the_fifth_horseman @ Feb 16 2007, 11:58 AM) [snapback]279522[/snapback]</div>How do you edit that file? :huh:

I bought the original version today, and it seems impossible to run the game under XP. Even with compatibility mode :(
It works with DOSBox, but the with a horrible frame rate.

€dit: Ok, VDM sound works. But the performance is still horrible. The sound is stuttering like hell :(

Any hints?
Has anyone tried to install patch 1.04? Seems not to work with me.

Cool game, I still have te original (german) box flying around here somewhere. Does someone know how to beat the "One shot"-scenario?

I downloaded the game, and while I can run the game (with default MAX.INI) but has some problems:

Windows XP (mouse scroll too fast, but can be adjusted in preference, no sound)
Dosbox (slow, no sound)

I tried running setup.exe, but it crashes after language select. Editing the INI myself results in the game unable to launch.


Then I go checked Home of the Underdogs, and they have M.A.X. uploaded too. Their download size is 48MB, while the one here is about 46MB.

The one from HotU contains more files, and the setup.exe can be run successfully, allowing me to config and test my soundcard (in Dosbox only).

So now I'm running M.A.X. with sound in Dosbox. :D For those having problems, I think it's worth a try.

xp users

go to web site "home of the underdogs" and find the MAX game.
There's an option to pick which files you want to download instead of the whole game.
Download the following
Setup.exe
HMIDET.386
HMIDRV.386
HMIMDRV.386

Place files in the MAX diretory.
Edit max.ini file to read....
Devicename=Sound Blaster Pro
IRQ=7
DMa=1
Port=0x220
DeviceId=0xe001

Dont use dosbox, just start using VDMsound
I'm now getting sound and good speed.
Hope it works

I've tried running this game with sound with a game file downloaded a couple months ago. I have to say that the first couple moves were okay and you get the cool effects, but soon the game becomes molasses at -20 degrees fahrenheit.

Heads up, people!
It indeed appears that someone has uploaded a corrupted version of the game to the site. If the party responsible is ever determined, I'll have a couple words with them on the subject.

For the moment, I have uploaded a replacement archive to our FTP server and it should be up for download shortly.

In the name of Abandonia's staff, I apologise for any and all inconvenience caused.


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Nightkin @ Feb 17 2007, 12:39 PM) [snapback]279713[/snapback]</div>With Notepad.

If you have problems running it window you can try dosemu under linux (maybe with knoppix, so you don'T need to install). It's works like a charm there (despite the sound, but i guess that's because of the broke narchive). A lot of perfromance intensive games work very good with dosemu, but stutter in dosbox. So you might consider installing a GNU/linux distribution....

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(the_fifth_horseman @ Feb 19 2007, 02:21 PM) [snapback]279955[/snapback]</div>
that would explain why i coulden't unzip the file when I downloaded it the otherday.
when i first took a look at this game when I have to admit I though uh no C&C clone (I never was a C&C fan becuse of all the hype) then after playing it for a few minuets I thought not bad now i think I'm hooked LOL
though is it me or is the AI a bit of a coward I found in most of my battles the AI would stay just out of rainge of my weapons. I had 3 tanks and 5 scouts plus support units (scanners, repair units ect.) all pinned down at a bottle neck with a single tank. all they had to do was rush me. the worst I could have done was take out a scout or two before they broke through and distroyed my base but instead they just sat there while I built up a line of tanks, assault guns and rocket launchers to wipe them out :max:

Love this sight, love the games. Brings me back to the good old days. No bills, no taxes, no rent. Spend all your money on games. MAX was one of my favorite's mainly cause i could kick the crap out of my arch nemesis. Anyway, how do you get DOSbox to start at a faster cycle rate? Mine always starts at 3000 but i need about 30000 for most of the games i play to run right. Do i have to edit the DOSbox config file?

Yep. It's easier than it seems, though.

For your reference, explanation of dosbox.conf (link).

is there no possibility to play this game online?! :(

i've got the sequel on cd - both are very great games!

<_< That explains it... it explains a lot...

hello everone, I cannot run this... In DosBox, it crashes; when I try to start it via dos prompt, I get told "screen init failed". I'd be grateful for help :sos:

What is the error message when it crashes in DosBox?

This game is a hit :ok: of month for me.

Can someone give me a step by step instruction how to run M.A.X of win XP...
Thanks in advance

Step 1 and only: Use DosBox to run the game.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(the_fifth_horseman @ Mar 5 2007, 04:47 PM) [snapback]282012[/snapback]</div>DAMN... it's very hard... i'm italian i dont understand really well what is the right process for run this beautiful game whit xp please please explain it to me!!!!
i download dosbox and the other program but I dont understand how to use it...... please
Play to this game is wath I wont to do in my life! ( my english is orrible! )

Italian Language Patch + Readme.
The readme explains the entire procedure.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(the_fifth_horseman @ Feb 26 2007, 05:14 PM) [snapback]281072[/snapback]</div>sORRY wen i try to stert it it compares "screen init failed" and stop..... why?

Hello all together!

At first I want to thank you for the notes. Now I got this game running with sound (in DosBox). Also thanks for replacing the corrupt version of the download files.

I loved to play this game since the first time I played it some years ago. And I can remember some aspects of the original manual. But can anyone tell me where and how to get this manual (german version preferred ;-) ) again. My own got lost with the game.

Greetings Die Bärtige

Hello,

I've managed to get MAX up and running, but I've been unable to get the game to play multiplayer because it is asking for a CD. I have the CD, but I have been unable to determine where MAX is looking for the CD or if I've got it configured properly. Has anyone had any luck mounting the CD drive properly to enable multiplayer?

Thanks in advance.


+++MERGED+++

Hey, I've solved my own problem and will post the solution below.
The more advanced options for CDrom mounting seemed to make it not work (although it could have been a number of other things).



ipxnet startserver
mount c c:\games
mount d e:\ -t cdrom
c:
cd max2
maxrun.exe -fD:\max

Note that in the last line, the "D:\Max" is used because it's an interplay "pack" and there are other games on the CD.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rob @ Mar 10 2007, 11:31 PM) [snapback]282845[/snapback]</div> ok but this is your solution for max 2.... if I use dosbox for max with this keys:

mount c c:\max
c:
cd max
maxrun

it crash and compare "screen int failed" and I dont know why

hmm... you're right, my solution above is not clear. It is *not* for max2, despite the directory name. I had "screen init failed" once but that was when I tried to run it with the follow commands

c:
max\maxrun

which didn't work and gave the error you described. Other than that, I'm unsure, since I was successful with the default settings everywhere else.


+++MERGED+++

sorry, I left off my suggestion. Maybe try

./maxrun.exe

as your last line.

Hail!
Finally a forum where they speak of M.A.X. (2) and the last post isn't 2005 August. I've been hunting this game for quite som time now, but it's nowhere to be found, and I won't ship it to Europe for 30$. So could someone give me a hint where to find MAX2?

Try
mount c c:\
c:
cd max
maxrun

Feel free to correct me, but doesn't dosbox recommend *against* mounting the root of your drive?

Yes, it does.

However, mounting MAX directory as a drive in DosBox is not a good idea either.
In order to work properly (without modifying maxrun.bat, at least), this game must be in a location that after mounting your virtual C drive in DosBox is seen as C:\MAX\. Ex: if you mount C:\OLDGAMES\ as your C drive, the game should be in C:\OLDGAMES\MAX\.

From what I understand, you unpacked the game to C:\MAX\ on your real hard drive (unless you unpacked it to C:\MAX\MAX\ and aren't telling us that).

are there only 4 scenarios in the campaign mode? When I beat the fourth scenario I am just booted to the menu screen

There should be more than 4, I'm currently on number 7. I don't know what else to suggest except that maybe you did not meet the victory conditions for level 4. Other than that, nothing comes to mind.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rob @ Mar 14 2007, 08:33 AM) [snapback]283511[/snapback]</div>I eliminated the enemy, but the briefing says capture cooler in 50 turn, I assume wiping out the computer player

Arrrg! The game keeps on freesing.
Im on turn 90 and am playing against 3 computer players and the game started to freese every 10 turns or so, now the game is freesing on me every turn.
Another problem Im having is that I can´t finish campaign scenario 4, I destroyed every eco sphere but the game won´t end. I even tried to annihilate the enemy but the game won´t let me advance to the next scenario.

This game is win. Seriously, I love it. Coulda used more maps, or at least a map editor, but oh well.

Anyway.

Is there any way I can get the music, video, and the rest of the sound files that were removed? I can understand wanting to keep the file size down - I'm on dialup; trust me on that one - but there are those of us who'd still like to get the rest of the game.

Hi everybody,

does somebody happen to have M.A.X. 2 ?

if yes, please send me a note to [BEEEP]@gmail.com

Thank you!!!

I reiterate.

How do I get the music and missing sound files for this game?

The archive on the site contains the music.

Registered forum users with a certain postquota have access to our ISO Cellar forum, where links to CD-images of abandoned games are regularly added. MAX happens to be hanging in there for last two months.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(the_fifth_horseman @ Mar 23 2007, 02:44 AM) [snapback]284640[/snapback]</div>'kay. 20 posts to get it ain't so bad.

I got stack overflow error when I built too many structures. Anybody else got this error?
At that time, about one quarter of entire map has covered by my structures.
When I moved a constructor which just completed a new power station, game crashed and I got error msg.
Is there maximum amount of buildings? Any possible solution?
I use windows 98se to play.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tim @ Feb 18 2007, 08:37 PM) [snapback]279877[/snapback]</div>
many years ago i've played this game, best turn-based strategy ever, and let me tell you, without sound it aint half of excitement!
than i tried with settings above and all i can say is thanks!!! it works great!

I also had this problem, seems no matter what you do you can't win. Eliminated the enemy (to the point of scouring every connector off the map) and built up a large eco-sphere rating (over 200) but to no avail, gets to turn fifty then game over, no new scenario even though you are in first place.

There is a way around this however and I felt justified in doing it as I felt there was nothing else I could do to beat this scenario. In the main game folder is a file called max.ini, in there is a line called lastcampaign=4 (this is assuming you are stuck on the cooler one), cahnge this to lastcampaign=5 and hey presto, the next campaign is available.

It's not really cheating if you don't tell anyone, oops.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(The Man @ Apr 8 2007, 03:07 PM) [snapback]286483[/snapback]</div>I seem to be having that same problem. Ive just about done all the things you did. Thx for the tip though I think I will go and give that a try.

Hello, i read this forum befor post but i cant see the game... :(

When i launch MAXRUN.exe from Dos box with XP i have this message:
" Detection System Failed to find hardware"
C:\MAX>_

when i try to launch MAX.Bat from C:/Max (in XP) ,
détail of Max.bat :
set DOS4GVM=SWAPNAME#C:\MAX\DOS4GVM.SWP
Maxrun.exe -sC:\MAX
C:
the dos window take my screen, but it go away and i back in xp.

someone know how to help me?










hope some one know to help me because, il like MAX but l lost it.

max 2 its still sold at cdaccess we need to wait next yeari suppose to become abandonware

i run max on my pc using dosbox perfeclty :D

use [maxstorage] to replenish your units of raw materials :D

Hello! I was wondering if anybody know where i can get master of orion 2??? I searchrd the whole net but could not find! there must be some place where i can download it.

Master of Orion 2 - Published 1996 by Microprose - ESA protection expired - Game still sold at http://www.cdaccess.com/html/quick/megapak8pr.htm

Please post what exact commands you have entered in DosBox and we'll try to help you to the best of our ability.

1) mount c D:\
2) c:
3) cd intrplay
4) cd max
5) max or maxrun


thats my commands

Even after trying everything in this thread, I can't get this working on XP. Guess I'll farm posts for ISO cellar then, tired of fiddling around with this .rar O.o

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Subach @ May 24 2007, 01:11 PM) [snapback]291138[/snapback]</div>For 5), try:
maxrun.exe -fC:\intrplay\max

Or go this way:
1) mount c D:\intrplay
2) c:
3) cd max
4) max

Hi everybody.

I installed MAX from a cd I had laying around(will download from your page if nothing else works and see if it makes a difference).

I Run Vista and are trying to run it with DOSBox 0.70

I use the commands: (Installad to h:\INTRPLAY\MAX by the way)

- mount c h:\INTRPLAY
- c:
- cd max
- maxrun.exe (Have also tried maxrun.bat but that didnt work either)

what happens is that it freezes into a black sceen dirctly when I start it and nothing happends.

I havent configured DosBox anyway if I need to do that since I havent really used that program before

Instead of just typing in maxrun, try:
maxrun.exe -fC:\max

Did the game ask you for soundcard configuration when you installed it?
If not, look around it's directory for a setup utility and run it.
The correct parameters to comply with DosBox defaults are Sound Blaster 16, IRQ 7, DMA 1, Adress 220 h.

If you want to have ISO of M.A.X. CD to share, torrent may be the way. However, if you don't find any, write me at [BEEEP] at gmail. com.

What I liked the best on that game is upgrading. You can upgrade something to be twice (and even more) as good as it was in first round by either paying enough gold to research using gold refineries or use research labs powered by energy only (and human teams, they're free :D ).

So scout can destroy a tank if you upgrade it enough, but it is better to upgrade something that's good enough from the begining.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(the_fifth_horseman @ Jun 1 2007, 01:07 PM) [snapback]292490[/snapback]</div>I advise using ntvdm with VDMSound to emulate sound blaster, it runs well then.

We have something called "ISO Cellar". It's accessible to registered users with 20+ posts... and yes, MAX is already in there.

Hi.
Best game ever :).
And I've got a question.
Is there a way to enable IPX for max under win XP?
Just adding the IPX protocol to the network settings of LAN didnt work, max still can't detect the ipx socket.
It works fine under dosbox, but i dont want to use dosbox as my CPU cant keep up.
The soundcard emulation program works perfectly, so I can play this game fine under XP, so i was wondering whether there is some dox IPX emulation similiar to VDMSound? Or any other way to make max detect IPX settings? (then maybe a way to use Hamachi to play over the internet).
EDIT : probably emulation will not work with hamachi. so i'll put it in other way : anyone knows how to play max over the internet not using dosbox? :) hamachi or not hamachi.
EDIT 2: What version is this game? I can see there written 1.56, but on the underdogs page it says it includes patch 1.4, and this is the same version as on abandonia. Beside, I can't find any info on v1.56, additionally gamespot has download of 1.4 as the latest patch, so is it really 1.56?

DOSBox includes full network support as far as I know.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(the_fifth_horseman @ Jun 6 2007, 01:06 PM) [snapback]293194[/snapback]</div>I know it does. But as i have written, my CPU can't keep up when emulating with dosbox, and the game works too slowly, or too chokey. So I wanned somethig to emulate IPX only, preferably in a dosbox way, to emulate ipx over tcp/ip. (unless dosbox does that ? But i doubt).
I need ipx only, not the whole dosbox emulation.

I think this answers your question:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(the_fifth_horseman @ Jun 6 2007, 02:07 PM) [snapback]293214[/snapback]</div>Nope. not really.
You just copied dosbox's features. As i have said already twice, I dont want to use dosbox, since my computer is too slow, and the game doesnt run too well. I was asking if dosbox can emulate IPX ALONE, like vdmsound (which i said i doubt, but who knows...). That is load up drivers into normal _NOT_ emulated dos. Have you even read one of my posts? This is my third one so far, in each im saying that I can't use dosbox's dos emulation and i'm asking if there is other way to emulate IPX ___ALONE___.
I perfectly know that dosbox emulates IPX, but to have dosbox's IPX i need to run the game in dosbox as well, and that is not an option.

It cannot, but you might want to ask around at http://vogons.zetafleet.com - maybe someone there will find a solution for your problem.

ok, thank you very much :).

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Raduuuz @ Mar 19 2007, 03:12 PM) [snapback]284213[/snapback]</div>Well, can't help you much there, I do have max2, but it would take ages to upload with my slow connection speed. But I wonder, why do you want it? Have you tried max and decided that max2 might be good too? or have you already played max2 some time ago and thought it was fun?
From what I can say, max2 could be voted as one of the worst games ever made, along with master of orion 3 :) . It's all that was max 1, except the best parts were cut out, and nothing was added worth mentioning (the semi 3D terrain isnt too well represented, its damn ugly and hard to distinquish betweem units and the terrain obstacles). The game aint worth the effort.

I'm not sure anybody reads this, but I've done some little overcloacking, and now max more or less works in dosbox. IS there anyone who would like to try a multiplayer game? PM me, or leave a message :).

Can someone run through a quick guide please on how to run M.A.X. on XP installed from the CD(it requires the CD in the drive to play it, atleast on Win 98).

Have got a dual boot setup on 2 PC's to play this beast but have to reinstall 1 now and dont want to use dual boot takes too long to setup.

Thanks in advanced.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(NeFuRii @ Jun 6 2007, 03:19 PM) [snapback]293225[/snapback]</div>Well, can't help you much there, I do have max2, but it would take ages to upload with my slow connection speed. But I wonder, why do you want it? Have you tried max and decided that max2 might be good too? or have you already played max2 some time ago and thought it was fun?
From what I can say, max2 could be voted as one of the worst games ever made, along with master of orion 3 :) . It's all that was max 1, except the best parts were cut out, and nothing was added worth mentioning (the semi 3D terrain isnt too well represented, its damn ugly and hard to distinquish betweem units and the terrain obstacles). The game aint worth the effort.

I'm not sure anybody reads this, but I've done some little overcloacking, and now max more or less works in dosbox. IS there anyone who would like to try a multiplayer game? PM me, or leave a message :).
[/b][/quote]


Would be up for that once I get it running smoother. Need it running on 2 machines. First is AMD Athlon 1GHz 768MB SD and the other is Core 2 Duo E6400 1GB DDR2.

Any help on this would be appreciated, but have only just started myself so will proberly sort something out just anxious to get back into it, without dual booting.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(4TR3X @ Jun 25 2007, 03:09 PM) [snapback]296283[/snapback]</div>Look in the Compability-Section for all info on dual boot, virtual machines and setups / compabilities in plain XP.
Too bad you didn't make an image... Then it would be maybe 40 minutes to do a rollback and the system would be up again.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Icewolf @ Jun 25 2007, 02:18 PM) [snapback]296288[/snapback]</div>Look in the Compability-Section for all info on dual boot, virtual machines and setups / compabilities in plain XP.
Too bad you didn't make an image... Then it would be maybe 40 minutes to do a rollback and the system would be up again.
[/b][/quote]


To be honest I would prefer not to run Win 98 anyways.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(4TR3X @ Jun 25 2007, 03:31 PM) [snapback]296290[/snapback]</div>Look closer. There's a guide for running games in XP.
If that doesn't work on your machine, try VDMSound or DosBox.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Icewolf @ Jun 25 2007, 02:35 PM) [snapback]296291[/snapback]</div>Look closer. There's a guide for running games in XP.
If that doesn't work on your machine, try VDMSound or DosBox.
[/b][/quote]

I got it running in DOSBox on both machines in Win XP took about 15 mins to work it out and setup on both :P

Problem I got now is networking.

The IPX tunnelling just will not connect.

I start the server fine with no issues then I have to connect to the server. It says the server is on 127.0.0.1 so I set IPXNET CONNECT 127.0.0.1 and it comes back with Failed To Connect To IPX Server.

Any ideas what I am doing wrong?
I am able to ping via IP and have deactivated firewalls on both machines, only possible is router but for internal it should be ok.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Guest @ Jun 25 2007, 07:20 PM) [snapback]296326[/snapback]</div>Look closer. There's a guide for running games in XP.
If that doesn't work on your machine, try VDMSound or DosBox.
[/b][/quote]

I got it running in DOSBox on both machines in Win XP took about 15 mins to work it out and setup on both :P

Problem I got now is networking.

The IPX tunnelling just will not connect.

I start the server fine with no issues then I have to connect to the server. It says the server is on 127.0.0.1 so I set IPXNET CONNECT 127.0.0.1 and it comes back with Failed To Connect To IPX Server.

Any ideas what I am doing wrong?
I am able to ping via IP and have deactivated firewalls on both machines, only possible is router but for internal it should be ok.
[/b][/quote]

Sorry this was me just forgot to login. I have it all working now, using connect to pc name instead of ipx address.

Forget about M.A.X because you are heading to the worst nightmare!!!!

Yes, M.A.X is the best turn per turn strategy game ever created. No doubt about that. As soon as you start to play this game, you cannot go away from it. It is like a drug!!!!

BUT, you will soon discover that the game is full of bugs. If you start a gme vs computer opponents, no matter what you do, the game will start to freeze when you will have a lot of units on the map.

In fact, at the end of a turn, when the clock reach zero, the game will freeze. You can reload and sometimes, it is going to work, till the next turn when the bug will happen again and again.

I have installed the latest patch but it seems this bug was never corrected. And this is really annoying.

If someone encountered this bug and found a solution, please feel free to talk about it. Because, sadly it turned the best strategy game ever to a nightmare...

You have been warned!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Gordon @ Jul 7 2007, 11:41 AM) [snapback]298349[/snapback]</div>Are you talking about running it in dosbox or on newer computers because I played this game all the way through to the end when it was released and had no problems like you just mentioned. The only problem I had was that I lost a lot of sleep trying to beat the AI. I was never sure if it cheated or not but by reading all of the replies here I'm pretty sure it was just one of the best AI's ever.

Hi. I have MAX original instaled on my xp pc. I tried to run it with dos box but it runs too slow and stucks. so i tried the vds sound emulator but there it goes mad and its too fast. Can someone please help me how i can run this game on XP.

You can try configuring DOSBox to run faster. It's been discussed around here plenty of times before.

Hey guys :)

I recently got MAX installed again, but there's still the same problem as there was back in the 90s, IPX cant be initiated, and the only real option for Multiplayer that remains is Hot-Seat or Serial :/

I know that people have successfully played IPX games from what i have read on various forums, but i have never seen anyone write exactly how to do it.

I run M.A.X in DOSBox, and from there i'd be really grateful for any hints on how i get it working :sos:

Kind regards, Simon

Noticed that the first step after activating IPXNET was to get the ISO.

*gets his plowshare out*

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sartoris @ Feb 13 2007, 11:54 AM) [snapback]279042[/snapback]</div>You + Me + Hamachi = True?

the game rocks. many hours are spoiled already. this game has it all. I prefer a different tactic each game. A perfect game means wasting an enemy's base defense with and then splatting all defenseless buildings with bomber planes. as a finishing touch I like to hunt down desperately fleeing constructors and engineers with my U-boats. Until now, the game is still not beaten in many ways. even not by the newest games. guess it's the turn based thing that makes it a little bit boring. But still, it allows you to think out tactical plans at your own pace. I think there is no game that enables you to use more different methods to achieve the same goal. To me, this game was the best of its age. (I still got the original copy somewhere, my dad bought it 11 years ago.

I cant run the game. I am running it in DOSBox 0.71 whit Windows XP.

Here is the error the DOSBox gives:

DOS/4GW Profesional error 2504 > cant create swap file c:\games\max\DOS4GVM.SWP
DOS\/4GW Profesional fatal error 1011 : VMM initialization error 1

Can anyone help me?

Thanks in advance.

If I get these errors my head instantly screams "REINSTALL!" although I've never had problems with M.A.X. so that might not be the case.

The first thing to do is reinstall, it might sound like a "I don't really know what the problem is" kind of charade, but it's always worth a try.

The second thing to do is to make sure you didn't run any install files, that can always cause a problem.
The third thing to do, if it doesn't work at that point, is you might want to look at your file permissions.
I have an absolute LOAD of games I can't play because my computer refuse to let certain files be created and stored on the PC, this includes games such as Ultima 6 when needs to create a save file by building up nearly the whole game.

Of course, that's much older and way different than M.A.X. so the problem might be something else, the game itself can be corrupt, but I highly doubt that since the download worked fine for me, or the Zip might have been the problem.

Whatever the case is, I'm not familiar with that error, so the best is to try what I posted until someone with more knowledge can help you, which certainly shouldn't take too long.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mekorig @ Aug 26 2007, 07:34 PM) [snapback]306854[/snapback]</div>Did you mount C: as C:?

Obviously, he has to, to even get that far. He mounts the drive, the folder, THEN he runs the game, then he gets the error.

Well that's still a good question.

Mekorig, can you give the exact steps you took to mount the game?

mount c c:\

c:

cd (game folder)

c:\gamefolder\maxrun or c:\gamefolder\max

In both i have the same error. I run the setup file to get the Sound Card config.

Ok, then it shouldn't be giving you that problem in relation to DosBox, you did it perfectly.
Have you tried reinstalling yet? I'm still looking for someone who knows something about MAX's history of problems.

I will try reinstalling it.

Tell me if it works, I'll try to download the Abandonia version and try it myself, it may be something I overlooked.

EDIT: Well my result was fine, I extracted the rip from this site and played it via DosBox and it worked fine.
I can only assess that you either came across a problem when extracting the game (corrupted Zip, it happens, just download again) or your installation of DosBox is fudged up, (which it could be judging from that error) so if MAX still fails to work, a re installation of DosBox would be the next step.

If it STILL doesn't work, then it might just be a problem with DosBox, you could go check out the site for troubleshooting problems, you can access it through the Abandonia Utilities section.

Hey Folks.

I got the game running and all but upon completing the first map -"Islands in the Sun"- of the campaign, the game crashes. I think there is an error but I can't see it because DosBox closes down immediately.

Has anybody else experienced this?

Does anybody know a way to skip the first mission?

Stupid question: Are you sure you run it is DOSBox and not in the DOS command prompt in Windows? DOSBox should't close down like that.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mighty Midget @ Aug 30 2007, 05:52 AM) [snapback]307675[/snapback]</div>Yes it is Dosbox.

I found to skip the campaign, the campaign is tracked in the ini file. Just up the number for the next campaign.

Excuse me for the interruption, but how do you access the alien units on the map. Does it have anything to do with the strange buildings they are standing around?
The Tutorials did not cover this topic, or I have overlooked it. Thanks in advance.

Sorry for my bad English, it isn't my native language.

Okay, I finished the second map of the campaign and this time it doesn't crash but gives a proper error message.

I get two error messages and when the game crashes they reapear. One is an "illegal read from location [memory address]" and the other is "illegal write to location [memory address]"

What I think is going wrong is that the game tries to update the ini file which holds the progress through the game. So just for shits and grins I checked if the max folder was read-only. As it turns out, it is read-only and it seems to become read only on mounting it with DosBox.

It's easy to bypass though. In max.ini change, the line: last_campaign=1 to get to the next campaign.

---

Now am I the only one who has this problem?

I bought this game when it first came out, it actually got me through the school summer holidays (i was grounded for six weeks for a crime i didn't commit !) that was over ten years ago, and pretty much i have to say it has to be the best turn based war game ive ever played. The only problem i have with the game isnt one of style or substance, its one of programming.

Back in the day, me and three school buddies would spend far too much of our spare time hot seat gaming whenever we had the chance. This was all well and good, but the game had a nasty habit of locking up, crashing, freezing, skipping turns and just generally dying on you somewhere near turn 150. As mentioned in previous posts, you could load your way around this problem, but it got to be a bit annoying, having to retake your turn every so often until eventually the game ( to paraphrase Babylon 5 ) would simply stop.

A few years ago, a friend of mine found a copy on ebay and gave it to me as a present, the nostalgic memories came flooding back, and a few phone calls later the old school chums were ready to roll once more. Problem was, no one had a pc old enough to run it.

That was until about three weeks ago, when i was randomly killing some time chasing explorer links, and i found this site, which placed me in contact with 'dosbox', something id never really come across before.

such is the extent of our addiction to this game, we have uploaded it, and DOSBOX onto a memory stick, so we can play the game anywhere on anyone's PC. However -- despite the fact this version comes with the latest patch, the game still seems to suffer from the old problems of slowdown, game freezers and general crashes. damn shame really. If anyone knows how to fix these problems, id be really delighted to know!

If only it was more stable, and you could create or add new maps.

Having resources that dont expire, the ability to customize your units, and the set values of combat make this game the epitome of strategy and resource management in a controlled environment.

On a side note, we bought MAX 2 a few years after we stopped playing max -- We played it once, for about fifteen minutes, and never touched it again. It sucked donkey balls.

Who knows, one day they might re-release it in a stable format with a multiplayer option that works via a cable modem!

I have the CD for this buried _somewhere_, but I can't find it. Is there anywhere that has the download for this that works? I can't download from here, it always times out.

just wait til tomorrow, the servers should be fixed soon

I have problems running the campaign mode of MAX.
I played all the tutorial levels without any problems.

I have sound but i have no video in the upper left corner, buts ok.

But when i finish the first campaign level the screen goes black and thats it, nothing else happens.

No sound, no action, nothing.

cout this be a gfx problem? I already tried disabling the 16 mb gfx support, but it didnt work for me.
Too bad, the second mission is not unlocked in that way, so im stuck in level 1 without the possibility to finish it

Edit:
I tried to disable every sound in the game with setup.exe, but it didnt work.
I also get the "DYNX86: Can't run code in this page" Message in the other widow of dosbox

Too bad I can't do anything else with that campaign now :(m I would love to continue with next level without cheat unlocking the levels

Aw man i remembered when i ws like 12 i played this game for the first and i didn't what i was doing. Turnbased combat was completely new for me. This game introduced me to a whole new world of combat :P

hi all

any one have any idea how to stop max crashing coz it is starting to annoy me having the game lock up on me every turn

Try calling the exe directly from DosBox, not the bat file

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bethrezen @ Oct 21 2007, 05:47 PM) [snapback]316880[/snapback]</div>What operating system and hardware specs you have?
Did you try running the game in VDMSound or DOSBox?

hi

I'm running xp home and I'm running max with VDMSound v2.1.0

At first I though that maybe my problem was coz there where files missing so I looked out my max cd installed it to c:\MAX then cut and pasted the contents of the downloaded archive in to the same folder allowing it to overwrite any files I then opened up the sound set up set it to

[DIGITAL]
Device_Name=Sound Blaster Pro
Device_IRQ=5
Device_DMA=1
Device_Port=0x220
Device_ID=0xe001
Channels_Reversed=0

I then right clicked on the max.bat file and selected run with VDMS and then selected default set up and remember my settings but it wouldn't work

so I then right clicked on the short cut that it created in the max folder and selected properties clicked advanced and when to the SoundBlaster tab and changed the dsp ver from 4.05 (SoundBlaster 16) to 3.02 (SoundBlaster 16) hit apply saved the change and then double clicked the short cut and this time max loaded ok and the sound was fine

I then started up a custom game played for a while reloading periodically when the game would freeze I got up to about 300 turns with out to much problem but then the game just died I tried reloading as I had done before but this time the game just crash as soon It loaded my save and no matter how many time I reloaded the game would just crash as soon as it finished loading the save

so I figured maybe the save got corrupted so I started a new game but I'm having the same problem the game continually freezes and locks up and that's not all I have noticed many other problems as well

for instance the demo thing that would normally only pop up if you left the game inactive at the main screen for a period of time pops up continually personality i'd just remove this from the code altogether its annoying

my settings keep getting reset to the default for instance it will continually reset alien derelicts from common to none it will change the game type from turn based to simultaneous its resets the scroll speed as well and the animation you get the first time you start a new game of the builder roiling through the desert with the motorbikes keeps getting switched on even though I've set it to off

also on occasion when starting a new game I get to the point where it asks you to select a starting location I select one but instead of the game loading and going to the map it just quits back to the desk top

I have also noticed that when I try to x-fer material from one of my constructors to the one of my mines/storage silos I can’t

For instance say my total storage space is 300 and I have only used 250 I should be able to go to any building that is connected to my storage bay and select to transfer materials and it should then be transfer to which ever building or buildings have space but I cant and I then have to search all my storage bays to see which one has space then drive the builder to that bay and then transfer the material this is quite obviously a bug

Also the switch on the preferences menu that lets you decide if you want units to stop or not when enemy units are encountered is missing

I could go on but right now I’m only interested in getting max to play with out crashing/freezing and/or generally malfunctioning

Is there a way to get max to generate a crash log that I could post here that would maybe help identify what is causing these problems ??

The IRQ should be set to 7. That's the default value for DOSBox and VDMSound, unless you changed it in VDMSound setup.
Running on an incorrect IRQ like you do can - and will - cause crashes.

hi

so what open the sound set-up up in MAX and change the Device IRQ from 5 to 7 and see if that solves the problem ??

on the off chance that that is not what is causing the problem what else might be causing MAX to crash lock up and general malfunction

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bethrezen @ Oct 24 2007, 01:13 PM) [snapback]317147[/snapback]</div>Precisely.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bethrezen @ Oct 24 2007, 01:13 PM) [snapback]317147[/snapback]</div>VDMSound itself. It's not exactly the most stable thing around, and random crashes are not unheard of.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Guest_Igneos Eructid_* @ Feb 13 2007, 06:24 AM) [snapback]279015[/snapback]</div>M.A.X Is a fantastic game :ok: with lots of customization for your units, I like the three resources Materials, fuel, and gold. I have both M.A.X and M.A.X. II. the second was a bit of a disappointment as you had no fuel just power or material gathering so it made managing your resources much more problematic. The changeable turn or real time multi player is ok. I like turn based myself

Hi all

Well my problems persist I opened up the sound set up in max and changed the Device IRQ from 5 to 7 as suggested

I have also tried loading max by calling maxrun.exe directly instead of going through the max.bat file

I have also tried max with out vdm sound I opened up the sound settings and set it to no sound card

All to no joy avail Max is still behaving as described above so any other ideas or am I just going to have to wait till someone releases an updated version of the maxrun.exe

Also while I’m on the subject of the maxrun.exe who made the one found in the download archive on this site I figure it might be an idea to contact them about this directly and see about getting these problems straitened out is there some sort of a project page where one can post bugs ??

Anyone got this problem? I cant even start the game.

In DoxBox it says the folowing:
DOW/4GW error (2504): cant create swap File "c:\TEMP\MAX\DOS4GVN.SWP
DOS/4GW fatal error (1011): VMM Initialization Error [1]

No matter what exe or bat I use it says that.

try logging in as admin and also deleting c:\TEMP\MAX\DOS4GVN.SWP if it exists

Here is a tutorial for those who want a step by step tut for running MAX with Sound, IPX NETWORK and without DOS/4WG crash...

Step1)
Download MAX archive and unrar in a folder
For exemple : f:\dosprog\max

See screenshot : www.temislog.com/@ext/maxtut/tutorial/01.png

Step2)
Download my archive at http://www.temislog.com/@ext/maxtut/...cedVersion.zip
and unzip it in the same folder
ex : f:\dosprog\max

Step3)
Edit the dosbox.conf file and add in the autoexec section like in the screenshot
See screenshot : www.temislog.com/@ext/maxtut/tutorial/02.png
You can delete keyb fr if you want the qwerty keyboard, I'm french so I have changed it.

Step4)
Edit the IPX section to enable IPX ver UDP
See screenshot : www.temislog.com/@ext/maxtut/tutorial/03.png

Step5)
Run Dosbox, you will see :
See screenshot : www.temislog.com/@ext/maxtut/tutorial/04.png

Step6)
write : MAXMENU
See screenshot : www.temislog.com/@ext/maxtut/tutorial/05.png

Step7)
My MAX MENU appears, in Coded in Old Dos design style
See screenshot : www.temislog.com/@ext/maxtut/tutorial/06.png

Step8)
If you want to HOST a game, select "Start IPX Server"
See screenshot : www.temislog.com/@ext/maxtut/tutorial/07.png

Step9)
If you want to join game , select "Connect to an IPX Server"
You will be asked to enter IP address of server
See screenshot : www.temislog.com/@ext/maxtut/tutorial/08.png
Enter IP and press "Enter"
See screenshot : www.temislog.com/@ext/maxtut/tutorial/09.png


Step10)
Select "Configure MAX Sound" if you need to configure sound card
And follow screenshots
See screenshot : www.temislog.com/@ext/maxtut/tutorial/10.png
See screenshot : www.temislog.com/@ext/maxtut/tutorial/11.png

Step11)
Select "Start Max using original dos4wg" if you want to load max.
But if you encounter problems with DOS/4WG error when playing select "Start MAX using Freedos"
it will run the game without dos4wg but using a free version dos32a.exe

Step12)
You want to Host a game follow screenshots
See screenshot : www.temislog.com/@ext/maxtut/tutorial/12.png
See screenshot : www.temislog.com/@ext/maxtut/tutorial/13.png

Step13)
You want to join a game follow screenshots
See screenshot : www.temislog.com/@ext/maxtut/tutorial/12.png
See screenshot : www.temislog.com/@ext/maxtut/tutorial/14.png
See screenshot : www.temislog.com/@ext/maxtut/tutorial/15.png
Then click on the server player
See screenshot : www.temislog.com/@ext/maxtut/tutorial/16.png

YOU DIT IT !!
Taht's all

Xcoronner
www.skorzec.com

I'd like to play this game again, but unfortunately the AI stops doing anything after turn 15. That's not very exciting..

Can anyone give me a solution to this?

Is there a way to add computer players in a network game?

M.A.X cd image
 

Full .iso cd-image can be found from [MEEEP]:

[SCHLINK!]

No links to any warez sites on these forums.

Another newbie who didn't read the rules. And WTF did he pick that username?
Nevermind.

Nemesis...
Force...
HALIBUT!!!

Nice slicing, Fifth, but just out of curiosity: What's up with that halibut? :D

It's a fish.
A heavily modified fish specially for killing spam with. As for the "Nemesis Force" part... link. :D

I need help. When I play this game (option : Custom Game), the AI stops doing anything somewhere between turn 15 and 20.

Is this some kind of copyright protection? If so, what can I do to avoid it?

Thanks.

My mistake. The AI doesn't stop altogether, it just doesn't do much anymore.

It's nothing to do with copyright, it's more likely that MAX doesn't play well in Dosbox with 12k cycles.
Unfortunately, with 3k cycles the game is too slow to be playable.
Any help would (still) be appreciated.

Dosbox 0.72 has solved my problems. Set cyles=max and the game runs fine.

For anyone wanting to play this game, make sure that the game folder is called "max". Any other name and the maxrun.exe file will not run. Poo!

Thanks that worked! :)
I forgot to update my Dosbox once in a while and was experiencing a lot of stuttering under v.68

Had my cycles set to 35000 already but it did stutter, now with v.72 (cycles=max) it runs faster than a Spartan down the Mount Everest with Oil on his foot while beeing chased by a cheetah!
:D

I have setup a fully working Version of M.A.X just right now.
It contains a highly compressed rar archive of about everything the full install does, there are no advertisements nor preview trailers from the original CD.

Including music, digital speech, movies etc... ftp://90.146.245.4/

And the best: It weighs only 230mb, Good hunting :)

Just wanted to tell you, that I managed to beat the M.A.X campaign on expert difficulty level. I dug out the game because I remembered that I never completed it, and it was rather cool!

You have to build a base like in Starcraft, but there's metal to be found first with surveyor vehicles, and the factories have to be connected with them with pipelines!
And mines require fuel, because their powergenerators don't start working on electricity, unless you have everything very realistically planned, in addition to a normal RTS-game.

M.A.X v1.56 issues
 

hi all

I have posted about these issues before but it doesn't seem as though anything has been done about them so I though I'd ask again.

does anyone ever plans on releasing a v1.57 patch for M.A.X ??

while the 1.56 version of M.A.X that can be downloaded from abandonia does seem to be more stable than the official 1.04 patch for M.A.X its buggy unstable behaviour has not been completely eliminated yet and I'm still experiencing random crashes / lockups or general malfunctions

for example

The demo that would normally only pop up if you left the game inactive at the main screen for a period of time pops up continually

My settings keep getting reset to the default specifically

it will continually reset alien derelicts from common to none

it will change the game type from turn based to simultaneous

its resets the scroll speed

the animation you get the first time you start a new game of the builder roiling through the desert with the motorbikes keeps getting set to on even though I've set it to off

The zoom level keeps getting reset so that it is zoomed all the way in even though I normally have this set at about 75%

when trying to transfer materials from my constructors to my mines/storage silos it wont let me in the 1.04 version of M.A.X when ever you transfer material from your constructors back to the complex the materials will be automatically distributed between each of the storage bays that have space but in 1.56 this doesn't happen and you have to manually search through each of your storage bays till you can find some space and then off load in to that one directly this is quite obviously a bug

On occasion when starting a new game I get to the point where it asks you to select a starting location but instead of the game loading and going to the map after you select one it crashes back to the desktop and M.A.X turns its self off

The switch on the preferences menu that lets you decide if you want units to stop or not when enemy units are encountered is missing this is quite obviously a bug

so anyone know of a newer patched version of the Maxrun.exe that has these issues ironed out ??

As far as I know, 1.56 is the highest version there is. And don't even bother asking if someone could make an unofficial patch - things being as they are, the person to manage it would have to be some sort of genius hacker/programmer.
About your settings, check if the contents of the MAX directory are set to read only. If any are, clear the attribute and the settings should not reset anymore.

oh ??? so who was it that did the 1.56 build because so far as i am aware the last official build from interplay was 1.04

if it was someone from here they would it not be possible for them to give the current build 1.56 build the once over to see if it would be possible to correct these issues that still haven been fixed ?

as for checking for read only I've checked and removed read only from all the files and will see if that resolves the issues with setting getting reset

The 1.56 we have came from Home of The Underdogs. No idea where they got it.

Why don't you get my version of M.A.X?
I've got it fully working, and I never heard of any of the problems you mentioned.

Could we pls search for the game in emule in the future, the load is just too much for my private comp, sorry.

How to install M.A.X.
 

I have downloaded M.A.X. Mechanized Assault and Exploration but have not been able to make it run. Can anyone help? Do I need DOSBot? I am running Vista....

If you're on Vista, then either try XP compatibility mode or get DOSBox. Also, a bit more info would help, like what exactly happens when you try to run the game?

There is a bug when there are too many units. I think it hits the maximum then the game crashes:
"Assertion failed: index >=0 && index<count, file smartlst.cpp, line 189"

Is there an inofficial patch which has a solution?

Multi-Player Support?
 

In the game's description on Abandonia it says;

"The multi player mode supports IPX and TCP/ IP as well as direct connection or modem."

I am yet to discover where this TCP/IP or direct connection feature is. All I see is IPX (which doesn't work at all for me on Windows XP) and dial-up modem selections. About the only chance at multi-player I have at making it work is Hot Seat.

Does anyone know how to get this game to work on Windows XP to another Windows XP machine on a LAN or over broadband internet?

(I've actually tried reading every tutorial on the internet about how to use DOS Box's IPX emulation and still couldn't get this game to work in multi-player!!)

The game of the strategy games
 

I love this game
:o
And I am use to play it from time to time. I have an original disk bought from e-bay but i have same problem with freezing.

I will try your advises with DOSBox and I will keep you informed

There wouldn't happen to be a way to increase the window resolution above 640x480, would there?

You can run DOSBox in fullscreen mode. Alt+Enter when the program is running switches it between windowed and fullscreen.
Additionally, you can make DOSBox start in fullscreen by default. Open dosbox.conf and find a line that says fullscreen=false , then change it to fullscreen=true .

The exact size of the window can be controlled by the windowresolution= setting inside the config file. Note that this will not increase the actual resolution of the game screen, only the size it's shown at.

The problem is the resolution of the game screen, not DOSBox window.
:(

In this case, it's unchangeable.
Only DOS games where you could change the resolution were some later 3D titles - Duke Nukem 3D, Quake etc.

Error
 

Hi,
an error occurs everytime I try to run one of the last four training missions. Same problem for some other missions from time to time, few work but then suddenly one in the middle doesnt. WTF?!
the error looks like this:
there is the initializing screen of a map(most zoomed out look on the map and loading bar)and after oading bar is ful screen freezes and over the top of it is written in red letters:

assertion failed: object_index == read.objects.GetCount()+1, file smrtfile.cpp, line 183
ABNORMAL TERMINATION

It performs some (different) error when ending the game as well, so I always have to Ctrl+F9 the dosbox

any ideas? thx

hmm try different core settings, but if that fails, i'd try asking on dosbox forums

hailbringer
 

lol??
dude
the mirror isnt working
its not letting me download it
i want to download it
so can someone like fix it?!?!?!

Read the news on the front page.
Then sit down and wait.
We have made the neccesary e-mails. Rest is up to Studentis.

If anyone has this version, could they please upload it? I haven't had any luck with that FTP or with my full CD version of the game, which keeps giving me the swap error. To add insult to injury, Wicky has not replied to any of PMs so I assume that he's inactive.

Anyway, I would greatly appreciate if someone could upload Wicky's version on a site like Mediafire.

your version will be ready in about a day
it has about 400-500 mb though

Thanks r.u.s.s.
Or should I call you Mr. Lighter & Aerosol Can? :)
Speaking of which, an XP version of Blood would be nice.
This version of M.A.X. will be XP-compatible, I presume? In any case, I'm grateful for the upload.

you can call me mr i'm sending you 200,000 usd to your bank account just because i feel like it

http://www.4shared.com/dir/8955854/83ca2b8a/max.html

but anyways, you should become more regular on the forums. regulars have access to iso cellar (where i'm also putting this max game). blood included=P i don't know if it's xp version or not, but you can flawlessly run dos blood with windows and vdm sound, but we won't discuss it in max topic will we..

Hold on, this is the same CD image I have? I thought by "your version" you meant the one I was looking for: Wicky's. :(

Anyway, I've already corroborated that I have an uncorrupted CD version so I'll probably encounter the same swap error with your image. What I really want is a complete but portable version of the game meaning no installation and XP compatibility straight out of the archive. Thanks for the effort, though.

I also have the full image of Blood as well as all of its expansions. Anent VDMSound, I would not like to fiddle with that as it could potentially harm DOS game support; I've used it before a while ago. If I could get Wicky's version, I would be glad to become a regular here.

just because of that i'm not going to try looking for wicky's version=P seriously, "demands"? wtf? if you don't wanna then you don't wanna

Sorry, I didn't mean to say that. Also, I wasn't trying to make any demands; you said that I should become a regular to get access to the ISO cellar so I thought it would be a good idea to ask you to upload Wicky's version there. And in the meantime, I could start posting more. Anyway, it really was nothing more than a request.

well, checked that, there is windows installer and i got no swap erros. the windows autorun only covers the dos version though, you will be able to run it but if you do it in windows you probably won't get sounds. but with dosbox it worked

btw here is your walkthrough for flawless blood on xp

M.A.X. is such and awesome game :thumbs:, if it was not for the constant freezes and crashes, especially in the later stages of a game.

The Fifth Horseman mentioned that a v1.56 of the game was available from the Home of the Underdogs that supposedly fixes a lot of these problems. Unfortunately, when I went to their site the download had been removed due to a broken file :omg:

So I was just wondering if someone who has a working copy of the 1.56 version would kindly make it available (e.g. via abandonia or torrent). :)

Thanks a lot in advance.

Ok after some checking it seems like the Abandonia download of M.A.X. is also v1.56. :doh:

So, my apologies for my bogus post and please ignore my request :whistling:.

let's be ready to delete this game when gog comes out of beta, they'll be selling it

Yes. We have discussed this with Data last week and agreed that as soon as GOG is officially open for business we'll remove all games they're selling.

Time for a download frenzy.

V. 1.56
 

Hi

Is this still available for ver 1.56?

Other sites have still listed this game as abandonware, but ver 1.0 only.

ty

It's sold.
We cannot provide you with a copy or help you in finding any place where you can download it illegally.

ty

I would not have asked where to DL the game; I was just unsure if the game was still thought to be classed as abandonware.

A lot of sites claim to offer abandonware, while actually offering oldwarez. :/

Swap error
 

Got DOSbox 0.72 running, accessed the .exe file and got the swap error

any way around this?

Thanks,

Tom

Max
 

Hey there,

I have an problem at running the game, i have it istalled and it starts aswell, used deamontools and dosbox but at the start it says : failed to find hardware. I assume it means it cant find the hardware so ive tried mounting the cd iso image at dosbox, for some reason it still doesnt work, anyone have an suggestion?

Sicerely Rick

what commands did you exactly use and how did you mount the image via deamon tools. could the cd open via normal explorer, when loaded in deamon tools?

Max
 

Yes, i mounted the image and it just popped up in windows xp,(using Deamon tools lite) started it with that compability modus, installed it in the normal folder Interplay gave and tried starting it with Windows, it gives the first few lines of starting the game and than just crashes.

Via Dosbox worked fine (at least the installing) tried starting the game but it gives the same few starting lines and just stoppes after an wile saying he couldnt find the hardware.

So what ive did is "mount f f:/" (my cdrom drive) and mount the drive the game is installed on and tried to start the game again, wich gives the same error. My last idea would be that an Dos program doesnt read harddrives till "F:/"? Or idd maybe the mounting part of the cdrom drive.

Max
 

Ive copied the error line here it gives:

"Error: Detection system failed to find hardware c:\intrplay\max>"

when you mount the cdrom,
you don't type "mount f f:/"
but "mount f f:/ -t cdrom"

try that instead

...
Wrong.
CD-ROM drives are assinged drive letters after the hard drives. If you only have a C drive, then the CD-ROM mount should be D:\.

Also, don't use external virtual drives with DOSBox. Use IMGMOUNT, which is DOSBox' own internal virtual drive.

Are you trying to run the copy of the game you installed in Windows?
Please provide the exact location of the game on your real hard drive and the exact form of the MOUNT command you're using to mount it in DOSBox.

Max
 

thanks Russ really thought that would work but to bad it didnt :(

yea, ive installed the game with the normal popup the game gives at windows, and installed it to:

c:/intrplay/max

tried starting it 2 ways with dosbox and normal but normal crashes with xp and dosbox says "cant find hardware c:/intrplay/max" really weird sinse ive mounted it.

the virtual cdrom doesnt really seem to be the problem at dosbox, i can just mount the F:"

i got 2 harddisks C: and D:, E is the normal cdrom and F: is the virtual

for disk i used: " mount c c:/"
used for virtual cd: "mount f f:/ -t cdrom"

tried imgmounting but it says illigal iso

Install the game in DOSBox.
Exact syntax used?

Wait wait wait. You installed this in Windows to C:\intrplay\max. and are then mounting that folder, correct? Try mounting just the C drive, because the game will be looking for C:\intrply\max\intrplay\max if you mount the folder itself.

Hi anyone able to tell me how I can download this? Says I cant, sorry new here! :doh:

We won't host it here, because it is sold here. Sorry. :)

Putting something to that effect on the game's page would be helpful, instead of there simply not being a download link. I spent about a half hour trying to search the page for "download", update my password, refresh the page, search again... browse this forum page by page... I understand you can't violate copyright, but you *can* put the above on the game's page to help the guy who's just found your site and thought he found the one place he could download this game.

...*to help the guy who's just found your site *there is a faq , maybe when you're new you could read them.

http://www.abandonia.com/themes/abandonia/nogo.gif

The sold button doesn't work since the site's relaunch.

Help
 

I can get the program to run in VDMsound but can't see anything other than colored speckles.

I wish I could find a setup for graphics or something, I remember it being a 250 colored game if I remember correctly but it has been a long time.

It didn't work in Dosbox for me either, so if anyone has a clue about the graphics issue that would be great.

I can hear everything crystal clear but only see colored starts and the like, not an easy game to play by sound alone.

reply
 

Ya and whenever I try to exit it is really hard and the windows graphics are messed up until I reload. It won't just let me go in and change it back without reloading.....and surely doesn't go back to it's original settings.

@ Today
yea its a 256 color game
I have good experiences playing M.A.X via DOSBOX 2 years ago. I played an endless game about 120 turns and it worked fine. then it had some memory leak and I don't found a patch for it as yet. I installed the old 1.03 patch I loaded as I bought this game long time ago, because without it the whole game won't run!

actually I don't have a *.conf file here to look on, and its some time ago, I played this game, but if you have graphic problems, try to change the "output" settings to following values

surface, overlay or ddraw

another bit testing is required to find the fitting cpu. cycles should be set to 30000.

another thing could be the refresh rate of your monitor.

Not working
 

I'm using DOSBox 0.72 and I can't seem to get MAX to work. I did a full install (from CD) to the c drive I created for Dosbox, installed the patch 1.04 (I'd like 1.56 if anybody has it), opened Dosbox, changed directory to the max folder, and tried to run it with maxrun.exe. When it tries to start the game I just get a black screen. I've never actually used Dosbox before so I'm not ruling out the possibility that I did something wrong. Any helped would be greatly appreciated.

There's a batch file there somewhere. It has the path to the game location. Adjust it to be correctly pointing to its location on your C mount in DOSBox.

How exactly do you download this the button doesnt seem to work? I was really looking forward to finnally finding this game. I used to play this when i was 5 it was my favourite game.

Um, it's protected. Read the FAQ. There's a comic, even.

Actually, it's sold at GoG.com: http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/m_a_x_m_a_x_2

I assume you mean "maxrun.bat" but no changes I make to the file make any difference. Whenever I try to open maxrun.exe (using maxrun.bat) all that happens is the screen goes black and my speakers just make an occasional popping noise. my autoexec is:
mount C C:\DOS\CDrive -freesize 999
imgmount d c:\dos\iso\max.iso -t iso
C:
CLS

and I have max installed on a full install (installed w/ dosbox) to c:\intrplay\max (on my mount).
I used the setup.exe to change the sound settings to match DOSbox's.
Any thoughts would be appreciated, even if it's just a random list of guesses. Thanks for your help.

Ok, issue resolved, and anyone having trouble getting M.A.X. to work should just use the link I found. The site has a patch that fixes issues the game has with DOSBox, I just ran the patch as instructed and the game ran great.

[BEEEP]

The guide is at the bottom of the page.

reupload
 

Reupload the game please.
Tanks very much

The game is sold, as to be seen four posts above.

I'm getting this error. is there a solution to this?

Why is this game not downloadable anymore?

http://www.abandonia.com/en/faq
:)

M.A.X.1 Multiplayer Community
 

Hi all,

I'm Mike [the one who created that patch ;] and I just wanted to tell everyone that the patch setup has been updated now.
A full multiplayer guide is available too.

Btw, the site is: [BEEEP] - Please use that link instead of the long one.

Another thing: We established a mailinglist of MAX-players around the world.
If you're one of us and not in the list yet feel free to write me at: [Edited] .
The list counts 27 players [most of them from Brazil] atm.

Hope to see you on our Hamachi server soon. ;]
Happy gaming!

Regards,
Mike

Look, there's a very important reason we removed the download for this game.
The reason being that it's sold on GOG.com.
Under that circumstance, we can neither offer the game for download anymore, nor condone linking to any location that offers an illegal copy.

BTW, your patch can be hosted on Abandonia, if you'd like it to be.

"Sales" at GOG.com
 

Sorry, I did not know about that site. But having a closer look at it, isn't there something bugging you on GAG.com?

They "sell" the game as in they take $5.99 and allow you to "download a copy of the game" - See the big green "Download now" button? ...

Now that you surely realized the "download button" what do you think about the legality of the copy provided on that site?
Afaik, back in the days M.A.X. was only sold on CD and never was there a downloadable version.

Well, concerning that offer.. Thanks but my patch is still far from being complete - the multiplayer settings are still being tested. So I'll get back at you when I have compiled the final version.
Thanks again.

Regards,
Mike

Gog.com makes deals directly with the Copyright holders of those games. So it can't get more legal than this.

Yep, we've been watching them very carefully ever since it was first mentioned. Far as we can tell, GOG is entirely legit.

Don't you just love it when they make an acronym first, and then try to find a fitting name out of that? Or when they alter the acronym to sound cooler? :)

...
 

Idk.. Well, you got to know it.

I will tell you when my patch has reached a "n00b-proof" state so it can be hosted on your site. ;]

-Mike

Patch download
 

Is there a patch download available??? And would Abandonia be able to host or forward a weary internet searcher to it?

MAX has an unbalanced defense, making towers rule in multiplayer. There is no way to attack a fully fortified base when anti-air and missile launcher turrets have such a high range. It's a very good game for single-player, though.

Anyone know if there are more campaigns for M.A.X.
 

Heya

I see that alot of people are having a good time with good old M.A.X.

I have been hunting around but I haven't seen any new campaigns for it made by users....and I have no idea how difficult it would be to construct one....Anyone seen anything like this?

problem running MAX on Vista
 

Hi

I've read severall pages on this forum topic but couldn't find help for my issue.
I'm trying to run MAX on my Vista system but I can't get it to work! Upon starting it complains about "no support on fullscreen mode". I tried to fix that just telling it to not run on fullscreen (just by adjusting the basic properties) and still it complains...

I've seen refered severall issues, and many people use something called DOSbox which I've searched but can´t get it to work with the game (lack of the basics). Also I tried running it on XP system, still same issue.
Could someone please give me a bit of info here, had a nice nostalgic moment and wanted to play this game.

Thank you!

- Guz

Can´t register
 

Also,

after looking at where exactly I was asking for help I realised this is a forum with a lot of interesting topics for me, and for that I tried to register but I can't, it won't let me ("disabled by admin")...

Could I? :)

Thank you!

-Guz

You need to register on the main site: http://www.abandonia.com/en/
This will automatically create a forum account for you.

A beginner's guide to DOSBox should help there.

Since you're using Vista, you'd better also check Dosbox 0.73 and Vista.

A thousand regards. Starting the DOSbox investigation right about next to write this showing my gratitude to you. :thanks:

:wall::wall::wall:

:max::max::max:

what was that

My guess?
"OMG I CAN'T DOWNLOAD IT!!!"
and
"OMG I CAN BUY IT!!!"

What version is for sale DOS or Win?
I'm guessing windows since it comes packed with MAX 2

Doesn't have to be. GOG is using DOSBox with a lot of their releases.

where is the download link:wall::wall::wall::wall::wall::wall::wall::wal l::wall::wall::wall::wall::wall::wall::wall::wall: :wall::wall::wall::wall::wall::wall::hypno::hypno: :hypno::hypno::hypno::hypno::hypno:

You are like 2305835793587247249712490164162385239583th person to ask this question.... http://www.abandonia.com/en/faq

"It means that this game is either still sold or actively protected by copyright holder or an anti-piracy organisation the copyright holder is a member of (such as ESA).

THESE GAMES ARE NOT DOWNLOADABLE.
WE WON'T HELP YOU IN FINDING DOWNLOADS OF THEM.
ASKING FOR DOWNLOAD LINKS WILL RESULT IN WARNING / BAN."

how the hell do i get this game i have searched for it to purchase and cannot find it anywhere

You can buy MAX + MAX II at GOG.com (will cost $ 5.99) :rocks:

Hi everybody,

I have both of them original, but MAX2 it is not really up to MAX. I could play MAX in WXP under DOXBox but with a slight delay sometimes, full sounds, anyway I am going to give it a try again (new PC rig being built now) and I will post here any config I find working OK.

Regards

J.

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!

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 !

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.

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.

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?

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!

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

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.

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!