Just need to rant

[DanceswithUnix]

Not looking for solutions here, just some rant therapy after an hour or so wasted.

I recently found an unopened copy of the game "Carrier Command: Gaea Mission" in a cupboard. I think I bought it some years back in somewhere like Morrisons in a bargain software rack, but I really enjoyed playing the original game back in my youth on the Atari ST and wasted many happy hours on that.

The game says it ideally wants Windows 7, a quad core CPU and 4GB of ram which sounded pretty promising that it might run in Windows 10. Could I get it to run? No. I fought all sorts of nonsense in Windows before finally hitting a problem where it seems like the root certificate that the game was signed with was revoked.

Looks like I could buy the game on Steam, but for another £20 I'm not *that* nostalgic. I was briefly tempted to install Windows 7 in a VM, but for a game that might just be wasting more time and it means I have to go find a Windows 7 install disk. With a long list of games I've bought on Steam sales etc but not yet played I've given up, but my already poor opinion of Windows backwards compatibility went down yet again.

[Rob_B]

Looks like it could be fun, and not giving you a solution but does it have a CD key you can redeem on steam similar to the original HL/OpFor etc jewel cases had?

[AGTDenton]

I know not looking for a solution but it possibly could be down to the intro videos. Which are also an issue for some old Command & Conquers.

https://steamcommunity.com/app/65740...3335743867461/

I feel the frustration though, nothing more annoying than spending time on something that should realistically work.

[DanceswithUnix]

Looks like it could be fun, and not giving you a solution but does it have a CD key you can redeem on steam similar to the original HL/OpFor etc jewel cases had?

I did wonder, but I didn't have to log into steam to use the key. I did ofc get as far as typing in the key, so hopefully it didn't online verify that and somehow burn it.

I know not looking for a solution but it possibly could be down to the intro videos. Which are also an issue for some old Command & Conquers.

https://steamcommunity.com/app/65740...3335743867461/

I feel the frustration though, nothing more annoying than spending time on something that should realistically work.

Thanks, but I did find that and couldn't find any key combinations that helped.

The "it just worked under Windows 11" was quite annoying, given I need to convert my old Windows MBR ssd layout (Linux is already gpt at least) for the upgrade to work. Apparently there is a Microsoft utility to do that, but it specifically states that it doesn't work in a dual/multi boot environment so I would have to remove my Linux SSD, get WIndows to fix itself, and then put Linux back. I'm sure I'll have to do that at some point, but it's all work for little benefit.

Perhaps I can just stick Windows 7 on an old laptop, and see if that works.

In the meantime, on my Linux box here I typed "dnf install hatari" and now have an Atari ST emulator installed. The original game floppies are probably in the loft, but can I find a floppy drive to create an image of them I wonder? I think I have one of those LS120 drives in the garage, which I could plug into an old USB to IDE adaptor which I think I have kicking around somewhere and then see if I have a molex to floppy power adapter... or I can go read a book


Edit: I see I can buy a USB floppy drive on Amazon for £15. Nah, I don't need one, that's getting silly

[MrJim]

If you don't mind using third-party game key shops, it seems to be available on Steam for 45p!

https://gg.deals/game/carrier-command-gaea-mission/

[DanceswithUnix]

If you don't mind using third-party game key shops, it seems to be available on Steam for 45p!

https://gg.deals/game/carrier-command-gaea-mission/

Lol, well it worked out as 50p in the end but I went for that.

I could activate the game in Linux, after dinner I'll reboot into Windows and let you know how it went

[MrJim]

Lol, well it worked out as 50p in the end but I went for that.

Ah, you forgot to use the 'GGDEALS10' discount code to save yourself the extra 5p?!

[DanceswithUnix]

Ah, you forgot to use the 'GGDEALS10' discount code to save yourself the extra 5p?!

That would be it!

Game sort of runs OK. The videos stutter (perhaps my 5900X can't keep up ), and I had to crank the gamma right up to see what was going on but I'm in the game.

Campaign didn't seem to lead me through any sort of tutorial, but so far it seems to be a basic FPS game where I have yet to get to any sort of carrier.

50p seems about right so far

[badass]

Not looking for solutions here, just some rant therapy after an hour or so wasted.

I recently found an unopened copy of the game "Carrier Command: Gaea Mission" in a cupboard. I think I bought it some years back in somewhere like Morrisons in a bargain software rack, but I really enjoyed playing the original game back in my youth on the Atari ST and wasted many happy hours on that.

The game says it ideally wants Windows 7, a quad core CPU and 4GB of ram which sounded pretty promising that it might run in Windows 10. Could I get it to run? No. I fought all sorts of nonsense in Windows before finally hitting a problem where it seems like the root certificate that the game was signed with was revoked.

Looks like I could buy the game on Steam, but for another £20 I'm not *that* nostalgic. I was briefly tempted to install Windows 7 in a VM, but for a game that might just be wasting more time and it means I have to go find a Windows 7 install disk. With a long list of games I've bought on Steam sales etc but not yet played I've given up, but my already poor opinion of Windows backwards compatibility went down yet again.

I'm glad you solved your problem for 50p in the end and I completely get this frustration. Anything involving any kind of computer seems to be consistently unreliable at best and this is pretty much due to a combination of rush to shiny new features over boring "making it reliable work"
It really, really pees me off.
However, if this is caused by a revoked certificate specifically, this is a problem for which I believe it being a pain is justified. The reason simply being security. The ability to prevent things being trusted by revoking certificates is absolutely critical and I don't believe it is in the wider interests of everyone's security to make it even remotely easy to ignore CRL (Certificate Revocation List) checks. Malware developers have many times in the past obtained private keys for signing software and that makes a lot of security solutions just trust the software for ease of configurability, reliability and performance. When these compromised certificates are discovered, they must be blocked.

P.S. If I had 50p every time I've wasted hours to try to solve a BS software problem to wish I could solve it for 50p I'd have no mortgage by now!

[MrJim]

That would be it!

Game sort of runs OK. The videos stutter (perhaps my 5900X can't keep up ), and I had to crank the gamma right up to see what was going on but I'm in the game.

Campaign didn't seem to lead me through any sort of tutorial, but so far it seems to be a basic FPS game where I have yet to get to any sort of carrier.

50p seems about right so far

Funnily enough, just out of curiosity I bought it myself (also forgetting the 10% discount code!). I'm also using a 5900X, alongside a 3080Ti, and didn't experience any stuttering at all during the video cut scenes. Maybe it's a driver issue?

[Saracen999]

...

I recently found an unopened copy of the game ... in a cupboard. <snip>

Hmmm. That probably doesn't bode well for the huge pile I've got of those.

Back in pre-Steam days, as a journalist, I somehow ended up on a distribution list for press copies of games. How? No idea. I don't remember ever reviewing games but maybe, in 20 years or so I did one or two I've forgotten. Nonetheless, they started just arriving, often half a dozen or more at a time. Unsolicited.

Now, free games? Not exactly a bad problem to have, but even back then as a keen gamer, it was way more than I could realstically do any justice to at all, and few if any of the publications I worked for did much if anything in games. And if they did, it wasn't my thing anyway and they had people who did do them.

So while a FEW of them were games I probably would otherwise have bought, and so thoroughly enjoyed, the vast bulk of them just exceeded the time I had to even look at them.

For context, the games I actually wanted, and bought, is a pile that, placed one on top of another, would be floor to ceiling. Or more. Add these to that list and it would probably triple that. And that's where it starts to become a problem. I'm a bit worried about opening the cupboard I filed them in .... I might get killed in the landslide.

Maybe I ought to open a retro games shop? I've already got a head start on stock.


P.S. I'm kidding about the shop. Most of these are reviewer's samples and more than a few have "Not for resale" stickers on them .... which may or may not be why I didn't.

[[GSV]Trig]

As a side, if you have retro games, I know the guy, Andy, that runs the Retro Computer Museum here in Leicester, he's always up for donations of anything retro..
If you end up talking to him, tell him I sent you..

[ik9000]

Would he want old cassette games from the CPC era? I recently found out my dad took my old amstrad to the tip. : Censored:

[DanceswithUnix]

When these compromised certificates are discovered, they must be blocked.

Yeah, I get that. I used to do credit card transaction pinpads and then software.

*but*, if you have a revocation system then you really need a way to update the binaries. I'm not sure what gives here in that respect, as the Steam version is clearly running so the binaries must be updated and re-signed. Perhaps the installer was similarly signed and had it run would have found some updates, but couldn't run. Dunno, life's to short to investigate further!

If you have signed binaries, I think it really needs a distribution system like Steam or the MS store to reliably work.

Funnily enough, just out of curiosity I bought it myself (also forgetting the 10% discount code!). I'm also using a 5900X, alongside a 3080Ti, and didn't experience any stuttering at all during the video cut scenes. Maybe it's a driver issue?

It did feel that way. The Nvidia TWIMTBP splash certainly played just fine, but the other video was a stuttery mess that kept stopping and re-starting again.

Hope you are enjoying the game. Got onto my carrier last night, sent out a Walrus to try and take the second island and a good way into that mission the screens go black and the GPU fans start screaming. Reset button didn't work, so had to hold the power key for 10 seconds. Figured it was time for bed at that point.

Perhaps the VR machine downstairs with a 3060ti would play better.

Still sticking with the 50p worth evaluation

[[GSV]Trig]

Would he want old cassette games from the CPC era? I recently found out my dad took my old amstrad to the tip. : Censored:

He'd be down for anything retro, the amount of stuff he has is staggering, deffo worth a visit.