Crossfire mod Issue on XP SP2

I found the crossfire mod on the internet and wanted to check it out, seeing as I loved playing freelancer.

The thing is, I followed all the instructions and installed everything correctly (Crossfire v1.7 mod but didnt install the 1.7a patch) and the multiplayer button was there. When I clicked on it, it went into the game and told me "invalid account......." and then exists to desktop. So what I tried was installing the game clean (without mod) and went into game so that it generates a Multiplayer ID, then exited directly after.

I installed the mod and updated using the laucher, and when i went into the game, it worked, and i could create a character and login.

The problem now is, as soon as i try to play, after while the game minimizes to the desktop and my dxdiag pops up for some reason. If i try to enter the game again, then as soon as I'm in space, it minimizes again, and launches dxdiag.

I'm not sure what to do now, cause I want to play the game online, and get our whole LAN to join in. Can anyone help me?

(sorry for long post)

I'll try to install 1.7a.

I already reinstalled the whole game + mod 4 times, with same problem.

There shouldn't be anything wrong with FLMM, got new version and installed correctly, and it "said" that it installed the mod correctly. But I'll make sure of the settings, cause it's a lot less work reinstalling FLMM than freelancer + mod.

Any idea why a clean install + mod (without 1.7a)gives the error "invalid account...." ?

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Originally posted by goodone
ok, i see i will have much work in the following days helping ppl with technical issues.

lets clear some things 1st:

1. do u have any issues in regular fl (sp) or in other games?
2. when dx dialog shows, does the client break completely, so that u have to start it again, or u can alt-tab to it?
3. it may b u r another user with unstable computer config. plz, state ur configuration.

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1. The regular Singleplayer I haven't tried yet, will do that when i get home from work.

2.The client breaks and doesnt respond, and i can't alt-tab to it because it isn't included in the available programs list. The game only crashes to the desktop when I'm logged into the game server. The game works fine while i'm still in the menu of freelancer, where it shows "options", "multiplayer" etc.

3. MY computer is recently completely upgraded, thus I had to install XP SP2 (with updates up and till Sep 2007) cleanly. I installed the drivers for card and motherboard, as well as 2 games, COD4 and Crysis, which work fine.

I'm Using FLMM 1.31 as was stated on the website. The problem is I can't keep on reinstalling the game and the mod, because of the 70MB download that happens when i first connect, which is wasting cap, as well as the time wasted waiting.

(If there is another way of getting those updated (70MB) files ONCE, so i can just overwrite those in the freelancer's folders, let me know.)

Thx for your help so far guys.

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Originally posted by goodone
that is not an option currently (maybe l8r, but if we get there, it will mean u have some serious error on ur system).

1. plz, try to run vanilla fl and report when u do. however, before that, plz try cf sp. fly at least 30min if it does work, just to b sure. if it works just fine, plz just get back here.
2. also, if u didn't yet, install dx9.0c 11.2007 version.
3. installing all microsoft xp sp2 patches is not always a clever idea, cause many of them cause compatibility issues, but lets hope that's not it (but it might just b, gooosh i hate ms).
4. plz, state ur config, anyway, at least basicly: mobo, proc, graphics, sound and specialties if u have any.

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Ok, what i did was this:

1. Uninstalled and deleted EVERYTHING.
2. Installed FLMM 1.31
3. Installed Crossfire 1.7 mod into FLMM
4. Installed Freelancer
4.1 Launched the game, clicked on multiplayer (in order to get MP-ID) then exited, leaving everything else untouched.
4.2 Doubled clicked on registry backup of my previous MP-ID (already registered account on server last time, and want to keep character)
5.activated mod in FLMM (successful)
6.Started launcher (failed because of dll)
6.1 Used regsvr32 command to fix problem
6.2 Restarted launcher (successful)
........

Here are the specs of my pc (taken from a dxdiag window):

I'm waiting at the moment for the launcher's update process (first run) to finish, then I'll try the game and let you guys know. Hope this information helps so far.

Thx guys, not sure if it was the hotfix that I installed (as all the steps that i should have followed in that thread was already done on the pc, so i must gotten the patch as part of the XP installation) or that I restarted after installing a vanilla freelancer that fixed it, but now it seems to run stable.

I had some problems with the launcher throwing E11 and E12 errors, but after a few restarts, it managed to download all files correctly.

I also found an easier way to get the game up and running, if one has friends that are either too lazy to try setting up, on not skilled at pcs at all:

1. Install a CLEAN freelancer (restart afterwards)
2. Launch game and click on multiplayer, and select create when asked for MP-ID (not entirely sure if this step is needed, but i did it anyway)
3. exit game without changing anything.
4. overwrite all your files with a friends working version of crossfire freelancer (meaning the freelancer folder under "microsoft games")
5. Run the launcher, let it update (will be almost instant as your friend should be up to date).
6. Click launch multiplayer and then on game menu click multiplayer etc......

PS: I tried this on my laptop this morning, and the game ran first time, with no updating, no hassle. We are having a small lan tomorrow (300 regular gamers), and will make this available to them, as they can use their own original games, then just overwrite with the working files. Hope this helps a few guys. Thx again for your help.

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Originally posted by goodone
hmmm, i am not sure op would like the idea of additional patches made available for so many ppl, but just don't make it public, and it might b ok.

on the other hand, u must have done something to fix ur game, cause game would not have been fixed on its own. r u sure u didn't add anything from those instructions magnet and i posted? restart could help, but it doesn't really count much, cause in the most of system configs restart would do little for fl, cf or both. well, maybe ur case was unique in that way.

I understand completely, I'm not making it public, cause it's only for people at a LAN, and given that A LOT of people play COD4, CSS, and DotA at the lan ONLY, I would be surprised if I'm able to get 20 people. The reason why I'm providing the game this way for some, is because where I'm from (South Africa) not everyone has ADSL, and those that have, have a crap connection, so won't spend time or effort trying to get the game to work.

And seeing as we pay a hell of a lot for CAP each month, there isn't even a slightest of chance than this could be provided online for download in this form, ever.

"additional patches made available for so many ppl"

not really sure what you meant, cause I'm giving them the exact same thing I got from Crossfire, just in a simplified form, hope I'm not doing something I shouldn't?

"u sure u didn't add anything from those instructions magnet and i posted?"

Well I followed the instructions of the link, but everything that I should have done according to the steps, were already done. The only thing in my case that i did differently, as opposed to the "official" crossfire instructions, was to restart pc after vanilla FL install, and go into multiplayer, to get Multiplayer-ID, exited and then continued with MOD installation.