Manalink Update - October 12th: Zendikar

[Salbei]

http://salbei.spacequadrat.de/htdocs/ma ... l#ml2guide

this guide should be up to date

[Trollheart]

Normal magic exe seems to be working for me now,the launcher however crashes nearly instantly. It crashed a fair amount before but I chalked that up to being a vista user,it flat out refuses to do anything now. I guess I will have to try a fresh install of everything. I also wanted to say how much I appreciate all the work you guys have done on this,being able to sit down and play this game again has really made me smile,thank you.

[Salbei]

can´t say anything about the launcher .
just used it once and never again ... this simply doesn´t do anything i would have to use this launcher for.
its like a window that asks me if i really want to start magic ... and i don´t like .exe files messing around with my game folder(deleting decks ,moving decks around so i don´t find em again etc or exchange a 0 with a 1 in the config.txt)

Instead i got a normal shortcut to the game and a shortcut to the config.txt on my desktop

[Trollheart]

OK,reinstalled it following the guide and everytime I try to do anything it crashes. I am at a loss here,any idea what I can do?



EDIT - Removed the newest patch and all is well. I must be doing something wrong with the new patch when I install it or there is a bug that seems to only be affecting me

any ideas from the gurus would be greatly appreciated.

[Salbei]

could you a little more precise please ?
"everytime i do anything it crashes" doesn´t really pinpoint out where the error is.

i need some information :

1. what operating system do you use ?

win95-working fine
win98-working fine
winme-working fine
winxp-working fine after the compatibility tool
vista-crashes like a whore
win7-(untested,but from the reports i suppose it is equal to winxp and is working)
linux-no clue,but should work

2.what exactly are you doing when the game crashes ?

[Trollheart]

Sorry I wasnt trying to be vague but literally any action that starts a duel/challenge/draft etc causes the error and game crash. In gauntlet for example I get the notification of who is playing what deck and then it crashes.

EDIT - Saw your edit after I posted my short response.

I use Vista and have tried running it in compatibility for xp and without.

[Salbei]

sounds like you didn´t update the DuelArt folder correctly.

download this:
http://rapidshare.com/files/255736204/DuelartNew.rar

and extract everything inside the DuelartNew folder into your DuelArt folder (c:\magic\Duelart).
don´t copy the folder itself - just the images in there - thats what most people do wrong.

there are 2 folders in that download .

DuelArt and DuelArtnew , they both contain the same 84 files (all images) , DuelArt doesn´t change anything , just makes it work. DuelArtNew changes the skin and will make it work aswell.
YOU HAVE to choose one,otherwise the game will crash before it is even beginning.

copy the 84 image files directly into your DuelArt folder in your game folder and overwrite existing files.
(c:\magic\Duelart)
there are no subfolders in this !

does the error look like this ? "couldn´t initialize card draw" then it is a DuelArt folder issue 100%

[Trollheart]

The Error I get is manalink 2.0 has encountered a problem etc. I am redownloading the Duelart pack and will install the new patch again. I must be doing something wrong since after I reinstalled and did not add the newest update but the one before it only the game plays fine,I just cant figure out what.

I will try and reinstall it now and drop the duelart/cardart in the appropriate folders and after I reboot I will post what happens. thanks for trying to help me figure this out.

[Salbei]

got bad news for you :
hmm vista is the problem.
you will encounter countless crashs. any chance you got another operating system available ? i could show you some links how to setup a dual boot / virtual mashine then , but you will need another operating system first (or you maybe have a different one at another PC ).

Hi everyone
I know very well how frustrating it is to be unable finishing a single game...
The bad news is that nothing can be made to help.
Manalink is a wonderful game but also a very old one : it was release under Windows 95. While Windows XP can still run this game rather good (the crashes are still present but far less frequent), Windows Vista doesn't seems to be able doing the same, whatever configuration you made (like Rack said, XP compatibility help a little). And as far as I know, unless someone rewrite the entire code, no improvement can be made (it's Vista's "fault" in fact :p ).
All you can try is (like discoransom said) :
-) downgrade your system to XP (don't think it's the better option)
-) run a virtual machine with Xp or even better with Win98 (@discoransom : I don't really understand why you can't run a virtual machine. I know this subject very well, so I may be able to help you)
-) make a dual boot with XP or Win98 (not an easy task for a beginner, and I don't think it's worth the trouble...)
-) just by personal experience, I found that Windows 7 (especially the 64 bits version) run the game pretty good (perhaps even better than XP...) : you can take a look at this option
Sorry for that bad news, but if you still have questions : just ask

PS : @Rack : Manalink doesn't really need an installation and you can run it without problem from your "XP installation folder". Unfortunately, you did the right thing but this is "a known error that can't be easily fixed".

--> viewtopic.php?f=55&t=1447 (Crashes in Vista)


quote for windows 7:

Hi and welcome on this forum

I too use win7 RTM 7600 x64 and I had the same issue than you

In fact, compatibility mode've helped a lot.
Just check the following options :
- Compatibility mode XP SP3 (optionnal but seems to reduce random crash)
- Turn off visual themes (mandatory)
- Turn off "desktop composition" (mandatory, it's the option just under visual themes)
- Run as administrator (optionnal but seems to reduce random crash too)

With this, Magic runs like a charm

PS : Don't worry about the filtered folder, you don't need it anymore.

maybe this will work for vista aswell - couldn´t test it since i don´t use it.

[Trollheart]

Yeah its a no go with the newest update,crashes at the start of every gauntlet/challenge whatever. Odd thing is I can play with very few crashes with the update right before this one. Guess I will have to wait for the next update and see if I can play with it.

EDIT - Only disk I have with xp on it is a reinstallation Cd from Dell,no clue if that will work.

EDIT 2 - could this be a bad deck issue? I just tried to start a duel about 25 times total and it seems like certain decks crash everytime but others will actually start. Are there decks from the base install that dont work or could my decks be corrupt in some way? I used the moks installation from your tutorial.

[Salbei]

no deck issue - its the cards themselve! certain cards cause crashes in vista. can´t tell you much more about it since i don´t use vista.
just tried to get the game to run on a friends vista laptop and it seems like every 3rd card crashes it.

---
google led me to this:
http://www.technibble.com/how-to-create ... l-machine/

and this:
http://www.vistarewired.com/2007/02/21/virtual-pc-2007

looks promising - didn´t test it though.

[Trollheart]

Hate Vista

Thanks for all the help Salbei. I do not have the product code for my xp disk so I will have to just deal with not having the newest update. Hopefully whatever is making Vista act so terrible wont be an issue in the next update. I can not wait to get rid of Vista,I hope Win 7 will actually be decent.

Thanks again Salbei,sorry to have taken up so much of your time in here but I do appreciate it.

[Salbei]

check your pm´s

[reng0r0]

I hope Win 7 will actually be decent..

I run manalink in Windows 7 and haven't had any issues. Outside of the normal crashes.

[jatill]

Link updated. Minor bug fixes etc.
http://rapidshare.com/files/292921117/20091014.zip