Universe Software and Vista

[Hemdian]

Verily, I reply, have patience. For the task at hand is momentous: a full rewrite of the code, each feature revisited and redesigned. But it shall come to pass in time. I have dedicated myself to answering your entreaties ... lo, a glimpse of the future: build 2885

Okay, that was a screenshot of a crude test and most of the data hasn't been loaded yet. But as you can see U2 is running on Vista without any compatability problems (actually, Vista is the main development platform). I hope to begin beta testing around Christmas this year, but it is a lot of work: I estimate 2 man-years of effort in total but a lot of it is done already.

 

[Kilgs]

Verily, I will PAY! You can have...

-My cat (Bengal, really cuddly, thinks biting is cuddling)
-My car (runs, has horrible mpg, small bit of puke on seat)
-My Xbox360 (plays Fallout3, does not work with Universe v.1)
-My dice (prone to ‘snake eyes’ but probability states they work just fine!)
-My apartment (very spacious, great view, smells bad)
-My lizard (very low maintenance, never needs to be fed)(Edit-Just checked, he’s dead. Smell removed from apartment!)
-My fian… (never mind, too high maintenance)

Or I could just send money.

Looks beautiful and I can wait. Well, I can’t but I will. Never mind, I won’t… I’m on my way over... but I'm bringing beer.

 

[Andrew Boulton]

Nice wallpaper, BTW

 

[E.D.Quibell]

Nice wallpaper, BTW

I noticed that one too.

 

[Hemdian]

LOL! Bear is good. So are you going to have your lizard stuffed? Perhaps mounted in a Traveller diorama?

 

[Hemdian]

Nice wallpaper, BTW

Of course, what else would any self-respecting Traveller fan be using. I would say it's perfect but I could do with a hi def version. Better yet would be a hi def version of the Bard Refuge.

 

[Andrew Boulton]

Of course, what else would any self-respecting Traveller fan be using. I would say it's perfect but I could do with a hi def version. Better yet would be a hi def version of the Bard Refuge.

This big enough?

http://www.traveller3d.com/pics/ahl-03-big.jpg

 

[Hemdian]

http://www.traveller3d.com/pics/ahl-03-big.jpg

That's awesome, thank you! And that image is now set as my wallpaper. It seems a little ingracious to complain but the panels on the far side of the launch tubes appear to be too dark ... they've vanished.

 

[Andrew Boulton]

That's just a trick of the lighting (ie a shadow).

 

[forthekill]

Has anyone tried installing Universe on Windows 7?

I am interested in purchasing Universe, but want to know if I'll need a VM of XP to run it.

I can't get Heaven & Earth to run on Windows 7.

 

[Kilgs]

The issue is Interbase. Go back to the earlier posts in this thread and you can see the name of the program. Then you just need to check whether Windows 7 supports that program/code.

 

[Hemdian]

Just a quick note: Someone has successfully installed and run Universe on Windows 7 (64-bit) using Windows XP Virtualisation. It wasn't easy, and much of it required doing the install steps manually, but it can be done.

 

[FreeTrav]

That's going to let out any Vista users and Windows-7-less-than-Professional users, as Vista didn't have XP Mode at all, and Windows 7 only has it in Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise.

My experience so far with Windows 7 and older software has been that if it writes strictly to the Win32 spec, it'll work on Win 7/x64 with no problem other than being a little slow. If it relies on 32-bit device drivers, there's no hope of running on x64, but running on x86 (32-bit) should be OK.

The EXE installers that are out there for free appear to actually be 16-bit executables, which won't run AT ALL on Vista x64 or Seven x64. But if the application is actually bundled as a .MSI file, the standard Windows installer on x64 will work, and will somehow recognize that it's a 32-bit application and install it appropriately.

I have not tried Universe yet. It's on my list of things to look at, but I have too much hands on my time...

 

[forthekill]

Has anyone gotten the install to work on Windows 7? I tried but the XTG driver fails to install. I have Win7 x64 so perhaps that is the issue? Is there another Interbase driver I can use?

I have it running under a WinXP VMWare Workstation image, but it's a bit slow so I'd love to get it to work under Win7 if possible.

As a side note Universe is a damn good program, despite some clunkiness (mostly minor, some due to the age of the software I think), and I can't wait for U2!

 

[Kilgs]

Well, my work laptop has been replaced with Windows 7... so now I have no Universe capabilities anymore unless someone knows how to get it to work on 7?

 

[BigBadRon]

I recently had to do a fresh install of my OS (Windows 7 Ultimate) and was, naturally, forced to reinstall TU.

Everything seemed to go fine with the installation, right up to the end, when it told me it couldn't install the populated test database.

Following instructions given much further up this thread, I managed to beat Interbase into cooperating, and got it up and running again, with the necessary databases in place. Set compatibility to XP SP2 and there don't seem to be any further problems there.

My problem comes when I try to run TU itself - it gives me a warning about a "license error" and refuses to go any further.

I seem to recall having a similar issue once before, under XP, but can't remember how to fix it.

Any ideas?

 

[Hemdian]

The licence error message basically tells you the installation didn't complete. It could have stopped anywhere but most commonly it's InterBase not starting (knocking out the steps that rely on it).

Go to the support pages and check out common problems. This will give you the fix for the licence error itself and talk you through the other steps.

If you are still stuck then email me.

 

[BigBadRon]

Success!

Everything is working now. Thank you.

Oh, and since it seems to be traditional around here: Any word on Universe 2?

 

[david.wendelken]

I downloaded the Heaven and Earth version 1.0.4 and it's pretty nice, but it has some quirks.

I thought I would try the Universe program but I can't find anywhere on the web to buy or download it. It seems to have died off back in 2008.

Any other similar products that are available nowadays, particularly on more up-to-date operating systems? Preferably with source code?

Thanks!

 

[Hemdian]

I thought I would try the Universe program but I can't find anywhere on the web to buy or download it. It seems to have died off back in 2008.

Not quite, but almost. Traveller Universe is now only available as a purchased download.

Please note that due to its age there are some issues running on newer versions of Windows. Specifically you may have problems on Windows Vista and Windows 7. For further details see here.