# Old Game - Star Trek Armada I - Problems with Windows 7



## M2Mzero

Hello,

I am trying to run the very old but classic game Star Trek Armada on a computer running Windows 7. I had no problems installing or booting up the game (in Windows 98/ME compatibility mode), but when I actually attempt to play the game the loading screen flickers back and forth for a few second and then the game crashes. Re-installing the game has had no effect to the issue. I'm not completely computer illiterate, but I'm not very tech savvy either so I've come here for help. Any assistance or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.


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## bruiser

If it's DOS based, it probably won't run. You might try dosbox and see if that works.


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## Lord Sirian

Hi and welcome to TSF. Star Trek Armada is a very old game and I'm afraid it isn't compatible with any of the newer operating systems.

If you have a computer with Windows 98 installed on it, then you can play Armada on that. Other than that, I think you're out of luck.


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## Indoril Nerevar

You can also try using Virtual PC or VirtualBox, but there's no guarantee that they will solve the issue.

I've tried running Armada on various Windows versions, and I've found the only way to get it working 100% properly is to install it on a Windows 98 system.


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## RockmasteR

if you don't have the Windows 98 CD you won't be able to use Virtualbox,
you can try Dosbox, it's a freeware that emulates Dos into windows
download it from here:
www.dosbox.com


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## Nonsense

RockmasteR said:


> if you don't have the Windows 98 CD you won't be able to use Virtualbox,
> you can try Dosbox, it's a freeware that emulates Dos into windows
> download it from here:
> www.dosbox.com


Well. Sorry, but that's a dumb sugestion. Star Trek Armada IS a Windows Game, it even requires DirectX to run properly.

On DosBox you can only play dos-games.

So, the best option stil is Qemu, virtual PC or vmware.

But... unfortunately, there is no way to assure it will work.


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## mattym1985

Hello 
i would install VMware player and then install either win 98 or win XP then install armada on there

i have this setup at home and it works 99% of the time

from
matt


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## ktegate

Dunno if this is a dead post or not if it is i apologize in advanced. Me and a few old armada vets like 14 of us play late night on game ranger. We all use windows 7 to keep the game from going out of sync. i will try my best to give you guys a check list to see what's working correctly also if you want to come play online you can do.

Checklist:

-Install armada on windows 7
-Patch to 1.2
-go to armada Dir C:/program files/activistion/star trek - armada
-right click on armada.exe - properties (here comes the fun part)
-go to compatibility tab 
-set it for windows xp sp2
-run in 256 colors
-set to run as administrator
-Check armada CD is in the drive and gl have fun

For online play, won servers are no longer supported. So we use Game ranger which is a free small program which is able to host armada as well as other games. I'll walk you threw online.

-Downlad Game Ranger - http://www.gameranger.com - install, register.
-connect and you will shown a list of games
-click on the top bar community
-search user
-acct ID: 1221160
-That's me, and i will try help out with any other issue.

As an armada player the advice given by others is abit misleading. Not saying don't help people, but do any of you play this game or own it?. I mean no offense of course just think the poor guy whose not "tech savvy" is scratching his head.


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## Raptor12

are there any other settings that need changing for e.g. in the video driver

when I start the first mission in single player the video is very dark and nothing happens for about a minute and then the ships start appearing

Raptor12


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## ktegate

i would need to know more about what game card your using and other specs. if your gfx card is by nvidia tahts gonan bea problem as armada hates it, but i will try help out. If its ATi armada is inlove with there cards.

Sounds stupid for an old game, but i presume you updated to the latest video drivers and are running armada version 1.2? and can you give me a better description of the ships appering? from my understanding its this

video to dark?
-Have a look in your gfx card control panel you can usually edit how bright videos are maybe just a simple constrast, gamma problem. let me know
ships suddenly appering?
-This i have no clue are they just popping up one at a time with slow down?
-You have palyed this game before so you know what to expect?
-Please let me know 100% in detail, there are so many options and roads we can take it might just be a sound problem even tho it looks video related, but i really need all the information you can give me best descriptions.


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## Raptor12

Hi! Thanks For the reply.

I spent the whole day trying to sort this out and found out about the dislike of nvidia cards this game has. I have a Nvidia Geforce 9800 GX 2 and no way in hell no matter what setting I set in the Nvidia control panel or what compatability mode I choose for the exe , it just won't work. 

I found an old ATI X1600 Pro card and the game worked perfectly without any settings change in the ATI driver.

This creates a problem for me as I have games that will not play on the ATI card. 

Then I found Star Trek Armada II and updated it to 1.1 and set compatability mode to windows 2000 and reinstalled my 9800 GX 2 and I could not believe it, it works perfectly, no slowing down, no video tearing or jerkiness:grin:. I guess Star Trek Armada is just too old (released in 2000). 

Star trek Armada II is more or less the same gameplay as the original but adds species 8471 to the list. I am looking forward to playing it tomorrow, too tired now, It's been a long day of testing and troubleshooting

Regards
Raptor12


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## ktegate

don't give up so easy the first one has alot to offer . on that note i done some more research and i found one possibility that nvidia hates armada. 
They removed TnL support!

Sadly armada requires this to run and ati still support it.. OK that don't help much lol, but this will.

*3D ANALYZE V2.26 *

3D-Analyze is a tool for transform and lightning hardware emulation. So it is very useful for running TnL games on video cards that have not on board dedicated circuits for TnL calculations (like all Voodoo, Kyro, some Radeon and older). It uses power of central processing unit to do emulation.

3d analyze is a Graphics Card Emulator that can emulate all the feature of a 3d graphics card like pixelshader 1.1, 1.4, 2.0, bump maps and a lota stuff. If a game stops running on your system just because u don't have a graphics card, dont worry 3d analyze will do it for ya. run 3danalyze select the game exe, select a few options u wanna emulate and there u go the game run perfectly now.
 
I found this on my hunt! so now you can:
A) try program above
B) try see if older drivers still support TnL (doubt it)

I hope this solves the problem let me know how it turns out for you, i'm sorry you have to go to such lengths. Your not alone  my motive are not entirely pure as im trying to restore a small portion of armada online and set up my own site for trouble shooting.


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## VulpesFidelis

I think I may have found a solution (other than VirtualBox) to the >2GB RAM problem with Armada I on Vista/Windows 7. I'm posting it, because it seems like no forum that turns up on Google searches of the Armada RAM issue have this.

-----

While on XP one could use /MAXMEM in boot.ini to set the detected RAM to 2GB, this wasn't there in Vista and 7.

I decided to see if there was an equivalent; Google-fu turned up this page:
/Maxmem support in Windows Vista « Jons Techbits

So, doing this:

bcdedit /set TRUNCATEMEMORY 2139095040

In an (administrative) command prompt, should do the same thing as setting /MAXMEM in XP's boot.ini.

When you're done playing, using this in a command prompt:
bcdedit /deletevalue TRUNCATEMEMORY

To restore your full RAM amount.


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## ktegate

already got that covered, in my forums + other areas 
www.
starmada.
insert word here.
org

seems to edit out the wording between staramda. and .org dunno why so insert

free
forums.

or just google star trek armada 2011, number 1 on the list and 2 i think XD

Btw thats not spam it actually have technical information on getting armada to work.


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## phantom117

I have been thinking about playing the original Armada for a while, and read several of these posts before proceeding. I followed ktegate's post (01-06-2011, 01:06 AM), and it worked fine. The only thing I did not do was the "run in 256 colors". The "Run under WinXP SP2" in compatibility mode is the option that works. I tried using "Win98/ME", and my mouse did not function at all.

Previously, I tried installing Armada on WinXP (SP3) and while it installed ok, the game play was weird. The sound would skip or go to fast. I played Armada for a hour in Win7 (SP1), and did not have any issues. I am going to try again doing an install on my WinXP (SP3) system. 

I will also be going to Game Ranger and downloading it. There is also another piece of software that works well too: it's called Tunngle (do a search on Tunngle in Google or go here Free p2p VPN - Tunngle Home). My friend an I play Company of Heroes v1.71 in it all the time, and it works pretty good. 

Thanks to all for the help and suggestions; nothing like being able to play an old favorite again! 


System:
OS: Win7 Ultimate (SP1); WinXP (SP3); it's a dual boot
CPU: Core i7 920 @ 2.6 GHz
RAM: 6GB
GPU: nVidia GTX 285
HDD: 2TB (Win7); 1TB (WinXP)
Sound Card: Sound Blaster X-Fi Gamer
Monitor: NEC 19" CRT (that's right, a CRT; that's how I roll)


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## Warborg

Being an avid Armada player (Not to mentioned my favorite game), I'm going to throw my 2 cents in.

On my Desktop Win 7 64bit with 4gig ram:

I put it in program files(x86)(x86) and set it for XPsp2... it works fine.

My Laptop Win 7 64bit with 4 gig ram:

It didn't come with a Program files (x86)(x86) folder, so I created one and set it for XPsp2. The intro doesn't want to play but the rest of the game works ok.


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## mtu

From information in this thread and from other sources, I've managed to get Armada working on Windows 7, even with NVIDIA graphics!

I've collected instructions and links to useful sources in a blogpost for everyone's benefit. Check it out here:
*Star Trek Armada on Windows 7 (32 and 64 bit) « Gebloggendings*


> My gaming laptop is running Windows 7 Service Pack 1 64 bit. Everything described here should work the same on 32 bit. It has 3 GB of memory installed. Although there are some reports of trouble running ST:Armada with more than 2 GB of memory, I am not seeing those problems. For a proposed solution, see here.
> 
> The laptop has an NVIDIA GeForce 9500M GS graphics adapter. Many reports (like this one) say that ATI cards are not causing any trouble, whereas NVIDIA cards have lots of problems. This seems to have changed only recently. I can confirm that NVIDIA’s driver software version 180 did not work with ST:Armada, whereas with 281, it works!
> 
> When installing the game on Windows 7, no special action is needed. Just run the installer as you normally would. Unless you game version already includes the patch to version 1.2 (like mine does), you must patch the game (you can get the installer *here*). There is also an unofficial ‘version 1.3’ patch from the Star Trek Armada II: Fleet Operations team developing the eponymous fan-driven mod. You can get the installer *here*. It promises to fix some bugs on newer systems and introduces additional screen resolutions. I am running this version with great success.
> 
> When the game is installed and patched, you need to make some settings. Set the compatibility level for Armada.exe to Windows XP (SP2) (for detailed instructions, see *here*). Also, the game must be run with Administrator privileges (don’t ask me why).
> 
> In-game, I had to enable the “Use alternate font” options for the fonts to look decent. More importantly, you should not try to Ctrl-Tab out of the game, as you will probably not be able to enter the game again, thus losing any unsaved progress.
> 
> This is how I got Star Trek: Armada running! The decisive change over the previous years definitely lies in NVIDIA’s new drivers.
> 
> Additional option: If new NVIDIA drivers are not an option for you, there is a tool called 3D-Analyze. It can emulate some graphics functions that are missing from many recent drivers, and thus enable older games to run (albeit with slower software emulation of said functions). For a description of how 3D-Analyze can help with ST:Armada, *see here*. The tool’s official homepage seems to be *this one*. When I tried it, it didn’t help me run the game, but I managed to at least get it running as intended by a) ensuring write access to the Armada game data directory (which 3d-Analyze writes data to) and b) setting the compatibility for 3D-Analyze to Windows XP (SP2).
> 
> Additional resources for help and hints: One of the single most informative forum threads on the topic is this one on techsupportforum.com (which I have linked above a couple of times). It is, however, not very active anymore. But fret not! There is an active community of players working to get ST:Armada back into action on modern systems, and even in online gameplay! Their forums community is called *Star Trek Armada 2011*. The forum requires registration, but it is worth it. There is even *a dedicated subforum for installing and running the game in Windows 7*. As a starting point, see this post for installation and configuring instructions (many of which I have already covered above).
> 
> Gimmicks: You can find the official manual to ST:Aramda on the game’s page at *TrekCore*. They also have cheats, strategy guides, historical information and a lot of other neat stuff revolving around the game.
> 
> So, with all this information, I hope you are well eqiupped to enjoy Star Trek: Armada like we did more than a decade ago (yeah, you heard me—more than a decade ago! :smile: )


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## JoeGuy00

Sorry for late and long reply, I recently found out how to play Star Trek Armada 2 after much searching and thought I'd tell people encase they were finding it difficult. 

[First] download the iso here: http://isohunt.com/torrent_details/112873445/Star+Trek+Armada?tab=summary or have the original disk. 

[Secondly] After download is completed mount the disk to a virtual drive, or burn the disk and place in tray. 

[Thirdly] Download Star Trek Armada 2: Fleet Operations and install, found here: Star Trek Armada II: Fleet Operations - Welcome to Fleet Operations! 

[Fourthly] Patch Fleet Operations to version 3.2.6 with both updates... version 3.2.3 first. These are found here: Star Trek Armada II: Fleet Operations - Fleet Operations 3.0 

[Fiftly] Download the mod called 'A2 Classic' found here: A2 Classic download - Star Trek: Armada II Game - Mod DB and unpack the rar into the directory of Fleet Operations in the file that says mods. 
---This is done by right clicking the desktop icon, click 'Open file location' or finding it in programs, now once open, double click the 'Data' file and the mod file will be contained inside. Unpack the zip file inside. 

[Lastly] Launch Fleet Operations and go to options in main menu, you will see mods as an option, click and you can launch Star trek Armada 2. 

This now allows you to play the original game on the Fleet Operations tweaked engine and is compatible with all newer operating systems. I rally hope this was helpful. thanks.


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## Warborg

JoeGuy00 said:


> Sorry for late and long reply, I recently found out how to play Star Trek Armada 2 after much searching and thought I'd tell people encase they were finding it difficult.
> 
> [First] download the iso here: *......* or have the original disk.


We don't approve of torrents here.

Please Mods...Don't lock this thread... only delete this guy's post.


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## JoeGuy00

I do apologize if you don't approve of torrents, I only included it as an option as the game isn't made anymore and can take weeks to find. i've had to buy it twice myself and it was a pain. Activision will lose no money over this as it's 10 years old and only circles on ebay or thrift stores.


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## leshark007

Hey, 

I installed the game, changed the compatibility to win xp Service pack 2

changed the colours and then ran the program as admin. 

it worked fine first, I managed to play a game on instant action yesterday and today I played the first level of the single player game. 

But, at the end of round one it kicked me out, I opened it again and the icon to click into round two was there but when I click in and click start it boots me out again. And now it wont launch the instant action section.

Any help guys???? I'm a novice and could do with some help as I really want to keep on playing this game.


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