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Taldrenites => Dynaverse II Experiences => Dynaverse II Materials, Resources and Info => Topic started by: Pestalence_XC on May 09, 2005, 08:04:40 am

Title: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: Pestalence_XC on May 09, 2005, 08:04:40 am
This installer updates Orion Pirates DLL files in order to improve and smooth graphics, decrease multi-player game lag, improve game stability, and to reduce multi-player game drops.

These files were created by Taldren for the SFC 3 game (except for 2). These files were developed based on Orion Pirates as being the source game engine to SFC 3, and as such, the files have proven to work in Orion Pirates and have proven to decrease game load time, improve game stability, improve texturing display of ships and space background, virtually eliminate multi-player game lag, and almost kill the 6th player slot bug.

Please keep in mind that this is somewhat like a band-aid for Orion Pirates and it is not supported by Dynaverse.net or Taldren.

This update was discovered by me, Pestalence, in order to help the community to better enjoy Orion Pirates in multi-player.

Please keep in mind that it is recommended to back up your original DLL files located in your Orion Pirates game directory. In the event you have any errors with these files, you can just overwrite the updated ones with your original dll files from a backup that YOU make. This installer does not back-up the DLL files automatically.. Fair warning.

Consider this a Beta version for the next 3 weeks.. if no major issues occur, then consider it full version.

For those wanting to get the new OP Enhancement Package, these updated DLL Files are included in OP Enhancement Package.

Download Location : < 753 KB >

http://sfcx.no-ip.com/downloads/mirrors/Pestalence/OP_DLL_Updater.exe

EDIT (Bonk) - Now hosted here as well: http://www.dynaverse.net/downloads/sfc2_op/Updates_Enhancements/OP_DLL_Updater.exe

Hope that this helps.


All responses about game performance welcome.
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: FPF-Paladin on May 09, 2005, 09:28:41 am
Why are you still reading?  Download this now!!

Been playing with these dlls a few days, I just can't express the difference.

Think:

5 players, 3 fully loaded BBVs, fighters, drones, etc.   Half a second load time on my end (low end system, PIII 700 256ram w/ high speed connection) and virtually no lag whatsoever.  I understand they've done 6 players this way with the same result.

I --Highly-- recommend this download.  Go talk to some pilots in GSA who have used this (only the host needs the dlls for the others to get the lag reduced/removed, the graphical improvements which are also highly noticable are only gained by having them yourself.  There's a lot of blissful GSA'ers right now as a direct result of this.... I can only imagine the implications it might have for the Dyna.

Nothing has made as much a multiplayer game difference to me since the last big patch came out.. maybe not even that.
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: FPF-DieHard on May 09, 2005, 09:35:33 am
I've been using this for tha past couple of days as well.   Works PERFECTY.   Stable as hell, graphics look "better" to.
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: Sochin on May 09, 2005, 09:39:51 am
Well on the strength of those glowing reports will download this baby, +1 Sir.
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: Capt Jeff on May 09, 2005, 11:45:58 am
Sweet.

Maybe I will actually show Deadman as allied to me in coop missions when he drafts me.

It must be frustrating for him,  He sees me as allied, but I don't see him as allied, which means I can shoot him, but he can't  me.....  hehehehe ;)
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: Hexx on May 09, 2005, 11:48:33 am
Hmm
CAN't seem to dl it. Get to 99% then have a msg pop up saying Virus detected (downloader agent 12BF) click
on continue and geet
"can't copy OP_DLL_Updater [1] access is denied"
Make sure disk isn't full or write protected and that the file is not currently in use"


Why does nothing technical in this game like me?
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: Pestalence_XC on May 09, 2005, 11:53:45 am
Hexx.. Like the SFC patch, Turn off your Anti-Virus to download the installer..

Or get the zip package or it from :

http://sfcx.no-ip.com/downloads/mirrors/Pestalence/dll.zip


the zip package has an extra dll file for the server kit...
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: Pestalence_XC on May 09, 2005, 12:00:44 pm
Let me take a wild guess.. you use AVG.. it is giving you a Trojan alert.. that is a known issue with AVG .. it gives a false positive on Click Team Installers (Install Creator)..

Just turn it off and get the EXE or get the zip file.. either or.. just unzip the files from dll.zip and you have to move the files manually ot OP game directory.
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: Hexx on May 09, 2005, 12:05:59 pm
I just downloaded the zip thanks!

<sigh> AV seems to be causing me more issues than a virus would..
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: KBF-Netman on May 09, 2005, 01:55:22 pm
thank you Pestalence. I will give it a try..
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: KBF-Netman on May 09, 2005, 03:04:14 pm
All i can say is, it is excellent and works.. thank you
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: Julin Eurthyr on May 09, 2005, 04:48:16 pm
You know, it would be nice if we knew exactly what .dll's to back up before we ran the installer... :D

Do you mind letting us know...?
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: Pestalence_XC on May 09, 2005, 05:03:33 pm
backup all DLL files in the Orion Pireates game folder except for OSSpecific95.dll and Patch32.dll
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: KBF-Kurok on May 09, 2005, 05:23:18 pm
so is the d2 down or is my game  messed up now?
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: Pestalence_XC on May 09, 2005, 05:45:34 pm
I've logged on the D2 no problems and so have many others.. D2 may be down I don't know.... let me check.
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: Pestalence_XC on May 09, 2005, 05:48:46 pm
Dynaverse is up.. saw Echo War and Strayy's Tavern

so no problem.. you have the Directory server fix installed that was made months ago?
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: KBF-Kurok on May 09, 2005, 05:53:08 pm
yes  and i got on,just a couple of mins ago, must have  been down  for a few. Things are cool.and thanks for your continued hard work.
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: Dfly on May 09, 2005, 06:07:16 pm
Just installed it, will try it out over the next couple days.
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: Lepton on May 09, 2005, 07:11:43 pm
What is this dll for and does it really need to be replaced?

MSPDB60.dll

It shows up in a VBA6 folder.  I'd be curious to know what this has to do with SFC.
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: IndyShark on May 09, 2005, 07:41:31 pm
Way cool. Great job again Pestalence!
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: RFA-Wraith on May 10, 2005, 12:25:10 am
Works great. Excellent work Pestalence!
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: Pestalence_XC on May 10, 2005, 02:01:54 am
What is this dll for and does it really need to be replaced?

MSPDB60.dll

It shows up in a VBA6 folder. I'd be curious to know what this has to do with SFC.

MSPDB60.dll is for the server kit.. It is in the zip file for people to put in the server kit.. Ignore it for client side.. this file is not in the EXE installer.
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: Capt Jeff on May 10, 2005, 05:46:05 am
what does that file for the server kit do?

Please tell me it makes the kit more stable    ;)
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: Pestalence_XC on May 10, 2005, 07:36:45 am
Hopefully it will make the server kit more stable.. we'll find out with Mirror Mirror
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: Corbomite on May 10, 2005, 09:42:51 am
No problems here. Max and i tried it last night and it works great. Thanks Pesty.
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: GDA-S'Cipio on May 10, 2005, 02:34:06 pm


Throughout this post I will borrow a page from J'inn and use the technical term "thingy".

Let's say the server has the dll thingy installed, and my opponent also has the dll thingy installed.  Myself, being a lazy and uninformed slob, does not have the dll thingy installed.

Will I have trouble connecting with my opponent?  Will I have trouble getting missions to count on the server?

-S'Cipio
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: Pestalence_XC on May 10, 2005, 02:49:14 pm
Old DLL files work with new and vica versa.. the host of the mission is the control dll files for the match.. so if you still have the old dll files and host, then you may have more lag than running with the new dll files.. besides the new dll files is only a 753 K DL, as such, about 10 seconds..
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: GDA-S'Cipio on May 10, 2005, 02:55:11 pm
Old DLL files work with new and vica versa.. the host of the mission is the control dll files for the match.. so if you still have the old dll files, then you may have more lag than running with the new dll files.. besides the new dll files is only a 700+ K DL, as such, about 10 seconds..


While I used my lazy self as an example, what I was really thinking of was the server I want to run this summer.  I'd really like to use your new dll's so that people have a better multiplayer experience.  What I really wanted to know, in my roundabout question, was whether or not casual players with the old dlls would have any trouble logging onto my server.

From your response, I'm guessing they will be OK?

-S'Cipio
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: KAT J'inn on May 10, 2005, 03:02:49 pm
Hopefully it will make the server kit more stable.. we'll find out with Mirror Mirror


Important Tech questions to be addressed on a server being run by Hexx . . . .


 :popcorn:


Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: Pestalence_XC on May 10, 2005, 03:04:20 pm
Players using the old DLL's would not have any trouble logging on.. for your server, I would use the zip package and not the exe.. the zip pack has all the one's for the server as well as 1 extra for the game side...

Also, if you are going to run a modded server, you can always include the dll files as part of the server installer.. with old one's backed up of course, and restored on the server pack uninstall.. Mirror Mirror is going to try this to see if stability on the Dyna is going to improve for players.
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: LordSaxon on May 11, 2005, 09:38:34 am
downloading to try it out, thanks!
LordSaxon
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: benbean on May 11, 2005, 12:57:26 pm
+1 Sir.
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: RFA-Wraith on May 11, 2005, 06:08:26 pm
Pesty,

Been using it on GSA. Noticeable improvement in loadup speed and game flow.

Great work!!!!  :thumbsup:

Have also changed to isdn connection so no more d/up!!!! Looking forward to some serious PvP now.
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: FPF-Bach on May 11, 2005, 09:27:34 pm
Can you tell what folder the dll files are in so I can back them up?
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: Pestalence_XC on May 11, 2005, 09:33:48 pm
The main Orion Pirates directory..

Typically, if installed to default CD location, this is

C:\Program Files\Taldren Software Inc\Starfleet Command Orion Pirates

In this folder are the DLL files that you need to back up.
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: GDA-S'Cipio on May 30, 2005, 10:12:53 pm

Bump, since I had to hunt it down tonight.

This thread probably ought to be stickied somewhere.

-S'Cipio
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: Bonk on August 15, 2005, 08:42:05 am
I moved it to the enhancements sub-forum a while back so its handy.

And a bump for good measure!

P.S. Pestalence, when I speak of the smartheap dll I'm talking about SHW32.DLL the memory manager from MicroQuill (http://www.microquill.com/). (and the version used with SFC3 still has some bugs if I recall correctly) Looks like it would cost us around $1000-2000 to upgrade to version 7. (OP was using v6.0.0.3 and SFC3 is using v6.0.2.58 and the debug version 6.0.2.29 SHW32d.DLL)

Quote
SmartHeap 7 further improves memory management performance for multithreaded apps and uses a more efficient heap design. It adds support for Intel hyperthreading technology and full support for debugging unmanaged C/C++ code built with .NET technology (SmartHeap 6 has partial debug support for .NET).

http://www.microquill.com/smartheap/index.html

I think version 7 might help the serverkit as it is a mutlthreaded app.
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: Bonk on April 06, 2006, 09:45:57 am
Pestalence, You might want to give the latest MSS32.dll a try too:
http://www.radgametools.com/down/MilesSndSys/MilesT32.exe

Re this comment:
http://www.dynaverse.net/forum/index.php/topic,163347456.msg1122458207.html#msg1122458207

And this experience:
http://www.dynaverse.net/forum/index.php/topic,163365200.msg1122690099.html#msg1122690099
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: SideSwipe9th on August 12, 2006, 10:09:28 am
Well the reports of this things usage look good, I'm not realy having much problems playing OP at the moment. I can force the maximum supported AA and AF from ATI Tray Tools for my graphics card. Will this affect my ability to play any of the mods online like SG6?
Title: Re: Orion Pirates Stability Updater
Post by: Bonk on August 12, 2006, 10:25:02 am
This will not affect mods. Though I reccomend backing up the contents of the root folder of your OP install just in case the stability updater does cause issues for you, then you can easily restore the original dlls.