MikeyPI

I believe the vehicle holds 2 Fire Fighters and standard equiptment that one might require for the job of recovering a vehicle, as far as any special person or tools of the trade, I do not believe it really does have anything totally unique to it. Unfortunately, what unique things it could hold really would not be able to do much for the game, the real things apparently carry all kinds of cutting tools and things of that nature, but for the game all you need are the jaws of life to extricate a vehicle's occupants and the saws and axes to take down doors/trees. Adding more items to do this purpose really would'nt change much, the law enforcement unfortunately tend to get all the new toys to play with.

Unfortunately, I just glanced through his DX diag, so I took stan at his word on it since I was too tired... Vista is a resource hog but it still should not take that long to load a SP game. The multiplayer games are heavilly influenced by the quality of everyone's games. in most cases you will find yoursef sitting and waiting for the computers to synchronize for a decent amount of time. Especially with the larger mods available, remember that every single file MUST be loaded, most of which are packaged (compressed) to save space in the mod installer files, which adds to the load time. Online you really can't do much about the lag since that depends on all parties playing the game together, or there could be a router setting or isp setting limiting bandwidth, etc.. I can't really say for sure... The SP game should take maybe 3 minutes maximum to load with a mod, and once loaded it should be fairly stable with your computer, there may be a setting somewhere in your nvidia CP that you can change that might help some, but I am not 100% sure, so I would check the vista information and ensure you have tried all those tips as well.

My issue isnt so easilly resolved, there is nadda I can do, I have to unfortunately use hamachi, but as I've said already you can always just disable it's "network" it creates so it is like it doesnt exist untill you need it for emergency. Since for whatever reason Emergency is the only game I can't get to go through on it's own.... Just one of those things I guess

Your Firewalls/Routers sometimes block the ability to host, so you can either try to find your information and try to get through as stan stated, or use the evil program known as hamachi (which is what some of us have had to resort to). it works for the purposes of permitting people who would not normally be able to host a game because of their networking gear. The reviews on it are mixed, but it does work and can be disabled (via the networking options in windows) if you do not wish to have the hamachi network always active.

Yes it is possible, but from my understanding there is no desire to create one for the LA Mod. That may change down the line but I would not count on seeing it anytime soon.

Ok but it is possible to have a mid mount tower ladder not tiller

This FAQ covers some of the most common skills and programs required to create modifications for Emergency 3 and Emergency 4/Deluxe/911: First Responders.

Required Skill Sets:

Photo/Image Creation or modification abilities: You have to be able to create or modify textures in order to reskin the people, buildings, maps, and vehicles. You may also alter the User-Interface as well in appearance using this ability.

3D Modeling abilities: You MUST be able to create or modify vehicle models. You MAY be permitted permission(s) by the author of other models to modify their existing models, however in most instances you will have to change detail items in order to do your modification. You may also desire to change the street signs, buildings, people, or other miscellaneous objects and in order to do this you will most likely require some modeling abilities.

Scripting abilities in C++: In order to create new missions, new features, or in some instances new animations you will be required to be able to create scripts. In some instances, you MAY be permitted permission(s) by the author of other scripts that were not in the original game for use in your mod; it is highly probable you will have to modify their script in order for it to function correctly in your modification.

The ability to use the editor provided with the original game: This is one of the features you will find yourself using far more often than most of the others, in the editor you can prepare prototypes (the game's model files are packaged as a prototype through the editor), you can alter certain attributes of your mod files here, you can create or alter the maps used in your mod here, and you can set up the lighting on your vehicle models here. The Editor and the Scripting abilities are both required in order to create a mission!

Patience and Devotion!: As you can see from the list of required skills, creating a modification is very time consuming and requires a great deal of various skill sets to successfully complete a modification. This will require you to devote long hours to your project in order to accomplish very much, if you do not have the abilities or the level of devotion to work on a modification, you should not start one.

NOTE:

You may not necessarily be required to know how to do all the above mentioned things, in some instances you will be fortunate enough to find others willing to assist you in creating your modification. There are not a great deal of people available for this task because they either have their own modifications or assist other modifications on this forum, so it is strongly recommended for a basic modification you at least be capable of creating models and skins (the texture files), as well as be competent with the editor. If you do not have the required modeling program, there are several people on this forum that have the program (Zanoza Modeler 2) and these people would probrably assist you in converting your models into the proper format.

Tools of the Trade (The most common tools used to modify Emergency games):

Here you will find the most common applications required for each group of skills listed above that are required in order to modify the emergency series. The programs listed are not necessarilly the only ones that you may use to do the specified task, I will only list those I know are commonly used, there are plenty of other programs out there that can do some of the tasks you'll need to do to make a modification.

Photo/Image Creation or modification - .DDS Image File Applications:

If you wish to use the default image files from the game or use another modification's image files (with permission from the author) these files will typically be in .DDS format. In order to open .DDS format you will require one of the following programs:

• Adobe Photoshop With the .DDS Plugin from Nvidia
  
• .DDS File Converter
  

Emergency-Planet's Download Center

You can find both the Nvidia Plugin for Adobe Photoshop and a .DDS file converter program in the Emergency-Planet's download center. There are several other .DDS File converters that can take a common image type and convert it to a .DDS or from a .DDS to the common image type you select. I will not be listing other ones since they vary greatly in how they function.

NOTE:

Some of the .DDS conversion applications will not save the alpha layers correctly or permit you to save your common image type as a .DDS with it's alpha layer correctly, since we do not test all of the applications that may be used for this purpose if you run into such a problem we will not be able to provide technical support regarding the issue.

Photo/Image Creation or modification - Applications for Common File Types:

• Microsoft Paint
  Ships with Microsoft© Windows
  
• Paint Shop Pro
  Corel's Website (Purchasable)
  
• Adobe Photoshop CS4
  Adobe Photoshop's Website (Purchasable)
  
• GIMP
  Gimp's Official Website (Available for Free)
  

All of these programs are acceptable for modifying or creating common file-type image files, they will not open .DDS however (with the exception of Adobe Photoshop). Adobe Photoshop is obviously prefered for the Emergency series game modifications, followed by Paint Shop Pro or GIMP (GIMP is a free Photoshop/Paint Shop Pro type of program), and lastly and least prefered is Microsoft© Paint (Paint has the least number of functions and is the least useful for creating decent graphical images). If you use any other program other than Adobe Photoshop you will have to save it as a common file type (.jpg,.png,.tga).

NOTE:

If you do not wish to use .DDS format, it is recommended you use either .BMP/.PNG/.JPG formats. Other file format types may work, but to use alpha layers you may use .PNG. Alpha Layers control the transparency of the textures in the Emergency games, so if your model uses transparency you will require an alpha channel.

3D Modeling Applications:

In order to create a model file that can be used by the Emergency games you MUST have Zanoza Modeler 2! Zmod2 is the ONLY known program currently available that has the ability to import/export the.V3O model file format. If you do not have this program, it is possible someone who does have it would be willing to assist you by converting your model files to the proper format, but it is strongly recommended you have this program so that you may do this yourself opposed to having to depend on others that may be unable to do the task for you.

• Zanoza Modeler 2
  Zanoza Modeler 2 Website (Purchasable)
  
• Zanoza Modeler 1.07
  Zanoza Modeler 1.07 Website (Available for Free)
  
• GMAX
  GMAX Webiste (Available for Free)
  
• 3D Studios Max
  3D Studios Max (Purchasable)
  

All of the above programs have file formats that can be read by Zanoza Modeler 2. Z-Modeler 2 is obviously the prefered program of the group since it is the only one with the correct plug-in to import and export the emergency series file format .V3O. Z-Modeler 1.07 Has the ability to save in both .Z3D and .3DS, Z-Modeler 1 is the first generation of Z-Modeler and is overall very similar to Z2. GMAX and 3D Studios Max are both capable of saving the file format .3DS, GMAX is a less-capable but fully version of 3D Studios Max.

Scripting Applications for C++:

You do not technically need to get another type of application for creating or modifying scripts for the Emergency games, Microsoft© Windows comes with Notepad, which is fully capable with creating or modifying scripts without concerns over the program damaging the script in the process.

• Notepad
  Ships with Microsoft© Windows
  

There are several programs out there that were created for working in C++ but you do not require them since everything that you would need to do can be successfully done in Notepad without any risk of the application damaging any of the formatting used in a script, which could cause it to no longer work properly. Primarilly you would require some general knowledge of how the scripting process works and a great deal of patience in order to ensure that your script is written correctly, if you make one simple error in your typing in the script, it typically will fail to work!

The Editor Which Comes With The Game:

The Editor program is installed in the game's Executable .EXE and comes with the emergency games for free! You do not need to install anything extra to use this application, however you will need a great deal of patience in order to figure out where everything is and how to use it properly. Very little documentation was provided with the editor tools, so a great deal of what it can do is left up to the user to figure out. Be prepared to spend a great deal of time using this tool, as it is one of the most important tools for creating a modification since there are so many things that must be done in the editor.

FINAL NOTES:

As you can see, this FAQ gives you an idea of how much effort is required to create a modification completely for the Emergency game series. This FAQ is only intended to help you prepare to get started by ensuring you have the proper tools available in order to create a complete modification for the Emergency game series, it does not and will not go into how you go about creating your mod, that is what the tutorials are for. We at Emergency-Planet.com STRONGLY suggest that those of you who wish to attempt to create a modification ensure that you have the devotion and tools necessary to create a comprehensive modifications, while there are others on the forum that may be able to assist you, most of them either are working on their own modifications or with their respective modification teams to create their own works. Unfortunately, this usually means that most of the people who are capable of doing the tasks you need to do in order to create a complete mod are busy with their own work and may not be able to assist you with anything more than suggestions and simple assistance in the form of responses to questions you may have on your way to creating a modification.

Best of luck to those of you that feel you can manage to put in the time and effort and create a modification for the game!

FAQ By: MikeyPI

© 2008 www.emergency-planet.com and related sites.

Nothing from this FAQ may be cited, reproduced or distributed in any way by other sites (except www.emergency-planet.com and related sites) without written permission of the author and www.emergency-planet.com.

I am going to try to be as patient as I can, this topic IS NOT for suggestions, there is no longer an existing suggestions topic, so please stop adding suggestions. Yes, Mid-Mounted vehicles are possible now, but the type of ladder with a trailer does not function correctly in the game period. So there would be no point in doing it, nor is there any intention to do it.

Yea they are!!, he freaking made a mid mount rescue crane

Copy the cfg file to your desktop, edit the values to 800x600, then save it. then move it back to the root directory of the game.

Next, make sure Emergency4.exe or whichever version you have has the proper permissions (make it run as an administrator).

You have vista and I am pretty sure this is probrably your problem.

Like I said the short term solution would be to get more RAM untill you can get a better machine, the other games probrably depend less on dynamic lighting for one, and as I've said many times before the emergency series has a great deal of things it has to load constantly (Buildings/Cars/People, and that's just for AI use). Also I would recommend that you do not use any submod like Tony's Lights, because that will just make your problem much worse. You really need a new computer to play this game, unfortunately the requirements for this game are pretty high.

Same I have Company of Heroes,Company of Heroes Opposing Fronts,Day of Defeat,911 First Responders,Medal of Honor and some other games and I don't have any lag but only for 911 First Responders like if im playing the light bar on any vehicles it takes 2 or 3 seconds to go to one side and they go so SLOW

I am not sure if you mean ONLINE (Multiplayer) or Singleplayer.... I read the specs of your computer and it should'nt be taking that long.

A few questions since I am honestly too tired to read your whole DX Diag, it is easier to just ask you flat you. I am sorry for that.

The long load time for the mod being loaded isnt something which there can be much done about, some mods take a while to load, it has to do with the size and whether or not the files are compressed, if they are not it typically takes less time to load.

The laggy gameplay if it is in SP is a problem indeed since your computer clearly should not be lagging like that.

Is it just emergency that runs laggy or is it other games/apps too? Is the game installed on your primary Hard Disk (not on a secondary for example)?

Did you change any of the settings on your video card and/or have you tried updating the drivers recently, sometimes it is due to bad drivers that you'll notice problems in some games but not others.

Lastly, restart your computer and shut down all background apps except the raw essentials to run windows, everything else that is added shut down and try playing the game and see if it's still laggy (offline if you can).

I will try to read your whole DX Diag if your answers are what I expect them to be, which means somewhere there is a problem that is probrably in the DX file.

Stan Noticed your computer is a notebook, unfortunately most notebooks are not really designed for games so that may be why you are having problems. I have had two notebooks that have played emergency first responders fine on them but apparently I am the exception to the rule.

It comes down to system Ram more than anything really, if you have more system ram your video card typically can borrow from that memory to take up the slack. Like I said I get no lag in SP at all and I have less processing power than you do.

Moderation Edit: Created this topic and MOVED your post here where it belongs, tech support should be posted here. Also Deleted the first post which is identical to this one, there was no need to re-post the problem twice.

Post Your Logfile from the root directory where you installed the game to:

EX: C:\Program Files\Wizardworks\911 First Responders\Logfile.txt

Yes it probrably could be done, but I do not think it's a priority even if it is on the to-do list.

Moderation Notation: Todd This topic is not for tech support related to the mod, if you need assistance with a problem caused by the mod post it as a new topic if it is a new problem. This would be the second time I've had to move your posts so please think if the post belongs where you are putting it. There is no need to repost your problem since it was relocated to the tech support section where it should've been, please follow the rules of the TOS.

This is where your posts have been moved and where Technical Support Issues belong.

Please learn to be patient, do not post in a row like that, just because you post repeatedly in a line will not make people respond any faster, we are all on different time zones. Post one DX Diag file:Posted Today, 12:54 AM Second one:Posted Today, 01:21 AM, third one: Today, 01:58 AM. First and second one I've mentioned should have been the same post, which I will be merging momentarilly, the third one wasnt necessary, it was not even a full hour between the post. I can understand you are frustrated but please follow the TOS.

Now onto your problem:

From the DX Diag file:

Processor: AMD Athlon™ XP 2500+, MMX, 3DNow, ~1.1GHz

This is a little bit low but I had a 1.5GHz processor computer and it ran the game fine unless there were extreme particles (like fire) going on, the LA MOD forrest Fire mission is a good example of one that would lag a bit after some time.

System Memory (RAM): 1024MB RAM

This is once again realistically too low, you should have at least 2 Gigs of RAM, preferably more to play this game without excessive lagging.

Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT (256.0 MB RAM)

This is not a terrible card, but it could be better than it is.

From Developer:

System Requirements:

1.7 GHz processor

512 MB RAM

Operating system: Windows 2000/XP

DirectX 9-compatible AGP Graphic card. NVIDIA GeForce3 or equivalent chip set with 64 MB RAM

DirectX9-compatible soundcard (DirectX 9.0c is included on the CD)

CD-ROM or DVD drive (the original CD-ROM must remain in the drive at all times when playing the game)

Mouse

1 GB free hard disk space

ISDN for Multiplayer Mode

DSL for server operation in Multiplayer Mode

Recommended system configuration:

2.5 GHz processor

1024 MB RAM

Operating system: Windows 2000/XP

DirectX 9-compatible AGP Graphic card. NVIDIA GeForce 5700 or comparable chip set with 128 MB RAM

DirectX9-compatible soundcard (DirectX 9.0c is included on the CD)

CD-ROM or DVD drive (the original CD-ROM must remain in the drive at all times when playing the game)

Mouse with scroll wheel

2 GB free hard disk space

DSL for Multiplayer Mode

================================================================================

The ideal solution would be to get a new computer, but let's face it that is not practical for most people, so the most reasonable fix would be to get more system ram, if you were to bump that up to even around 3 Gigabytes you would notice a decent improvement, the video card issue might help some but in reality if it is an integrated card or has the ability to leech from your conventional ram you should be able to play it with slight lag. Unfortunately if you play online you really need more power otherwise it will be horribly unstable and laggy. The LA Mod features a great deal of relatively high polygon models in it, which on a computer that is below the minimum Requirements would definately lag, with modifications like Tony's Lights it will lag extremely bad for a computer like yours. The lights and the dynamic lighting are resource hogs, though this game may seem fairly simple it has a great deal it must load constantly so it will use a great deal of resources. Unfortunately since you are low on the processor and have a large quantity of your ram eaten by other programs/apps (including windows) you can't count on the ram to pick up the slack. To make it more playable on your computer you would have to turn off any background apps including firewalls and antivirus, as well as any other app you can shut down, along with the purchase of more RAM you should be able to play the game with less lag, but by no means anywhere near perfect.

================================================================================

Here are examples of the computers I've played the game on for comparison's sake:

Older Computer:

Processor: Pentium Core 2 Duo 1.5GHz

Video Card: Mobile Intel GM965 Express (not great at all, I believe it had 256 RAM)

System Memory (RAM): 1 Gigabyte

Operating System: Windows Vista (Home Premium 32 Bit)

In order to tolerate the computer due to the excessive memory used by Vista I had to use the Readyboost feature to use a USB device to add fake RAM that helped make it somewhat faster. This computer could play Emergency 3/911:FR on low graphics settings to medium, however there was lag if too many vehicles or massive fires were going on, but it was tolerable.

Newer Computer:

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.10 GHz

Video Card: Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT (512 Ram)

System Memory (RAM): 4 Gigabytes

Operating System: Windows Vista (Home Premium 64 Bit)

This computer runs Emergency 3/911:FR perfectly fine on the highest graphics settings possible in the game without any lag.

NOTE: Both examples of my machines are Notebooks, so the game can run on Notebooks. Online play has more to do with the everyone's connection speeds as well as their computers, even if you have a great computer but someone else in the lot has a weak computer your game will lag thanks to the slower machine.

Ok guys calm down and get back on topic.

bennie900/jacob1029/eyespy900 I do not know or care who started it but this should not be going on in public, if you two have a dispute take it elsewhere like PM rather than putting it all out there for the world to see, you three can act mature here, you know these posts are totally inappropriate. Eyespy900 I know you will say you are defending yourself, which I understand but you should have just contacted a moderator/admin about this rather than getting into it on the forums, I have to take my time to clean up these posts.

If you are using Vista you have a tool called the "snipping tool" in accessories, it works very well at clipping a picture from a windowed app like Zmod fairly fast. See my attatchment for an example, I will remove it once you see it since my car example is not really in your mod.

**Picture Removed**

It is just a recovery crane, even if we wanted to do a tow truck that had the ability to drag a vehicle it would have to be done on a mission-only since otherwise you'd be towing a covered vehicle that does not match. Not to mention I doubt it's entirely possible in the first place to do it right in the first place. Aside from that, from the pictures I've seen of the vehicle in real life it does not look like they really use it to tow, it looks like it's been reconfigured as a retrieval device rather than a towing vehicle. I am not 100% sure on that one though. I'd rather have a Pickup-truck based tow truck personally but unfortunately due to the fact that the vehicle prototype from the accident is not loaded into a virtual object on the bed of the tow truck but rather a generic covered vehicle it would just look stupid to me.

See Stan Below, he usually is right, I just guess.

Where did you buy the CD?

Just make sure whichever you get has a really nice Video Accelerator Card (NVIDIA for example) 3-4 Gigs of ram and at least 2.0Ghz, preferably more. You can pick up a computer like that for slightly over 1,000 US. Obviously you want a decent sized Harddrive, and the rest of the things come down to what types of purposes you intend to use it for. I use a notebook for gaming and I have yet to find a game which it won't play, and no, it is not a gaming-specific computer.

Moved your topic, Online play topics belong in the Multiplayer-Online Section, Just title it as LA MOD.

Welcome to the forums

I am not sure if the game came with a manual anyway, most games especially the lower-cost ones have digital manuals (a PDF Manual) on the DVD/CD to save a buck on the printing costs involved in making the book manual, regardless of how much some of us would rather have a legit book instead of a print-out copy.... Such is the tightening of the gaming communities wallets even though profits are still high :1046275873_shakehead:

What is your connection speed/method of connection as well as your Operating system?

Vista for example if you have an unstable connection or are doing too much will say a file download was completed occasionally when it is nowhere close.

Obviously the file is corrupted in this case, but you recieve a message that states it completed sucessfully. DO NOT use a download accelerator or manager to get the file, just download it as normal through IE/Firefox whatever you use.

I looked through your log and what I am guessing here (merely a guess) is that chances are your computer is interfering with the installation of the game it's self. From what I read in your posts you could get the game to load up, do whatever you wanted to do, which I guess is freeplay and when you click on a unit it crashes? All of the UI Texture files are claiming to not be found in the log file so chances are something is preventing them from installing properly.

IF this is the case that you can load the game and load a varient of the game options and it only crashes after you try to click on a unit, here would be my suggestion.

What I would like for you to do is the following items step-by-step:

1).UNINSTALL THE GAME

2).Go into the default install location (IE C:\Program Files\Wizardworks\Emergency 911\) and remove all reminants of it's existance (IE from wizardworks on needs to be deleted manually from what the game de-install missed).

3).Temporarilly SUSPEND your ANTI-VIRUS, it is rare in the current day, but occasionally an antivirus will prevent a program from installing/functioning correctly, the very same issue happened to me just the other day with an older application I had to install on my computer.

4).Now, Run the installation as an ADMINISTRATOR, hopefully you know how to do this since apparently we all have diff software sources for the game.

5).Once it is installed, before you do anything else go into the shortcut properties and give it administrative rights.

6).Try to run the game now with the Anti-Virus STILL suspended, if the game functions fine, go ahead and close the game and RESUME your anti-virus software and reboot the game to see if it still works fine.

NOTE:

Your AV/Firewall should NOT stop you from playing the game under normal conditions unless you have the SS(Nazi) version of such software. The only thing your firewall should try to do is prevent the game from going online, which unfortunately most of our routers/networking gear does anyway, so I give the odds that your AV/Firewall is the cause of the problem is fairly low. Just in case Temporarilly Suspend the Anti-Virus during the Installation and the first loading of the game this time. The Administrative Rights Should be left on for the game permanently unfortunately.

If this does not work I suggest since you neglected to mention how you recieved your copy of the game that you reaquire the software copy if it was a digital download (which is what most of us deal with). It is possible that the download either did not complete correctly or was otherwise damaged, occasionally a file will claim that it has successfully downloaded completely when in fact it is not completed. Typically they will NOT work, but occasionally especially with older Install applications they will still try to install regardless to the fact that the file size does not match. Remember IF you purchased a Digital Download version of Emergency: 911 First Responders it comes Pre-Patched, so do not install any patches to the original game. For EM4/Deluxue I am not sure how they ship today.

Hope this helps you to repair your game so you can enjoy it, if not please be a bit more specific with what you are trying to do when it crashes as well as what version of the game you have because the log file is saying the UI files are missing.

Emergency 4

Emergency 4 Deluxue

Emergency: 911 First Responders

Ask for permission but as a general rule:

Script permissions will most often be approved.

Buildings are lower odds but you can try.

Vehicles usually will require you to put forth some effort on a model of your own.

Persons models should be permitted as well more often than not.

Always ask for permission and remember these general rules and you'll probrably get permission for a reasonable request of usage.

Note to users requesting script usage:

If you have recieved permission for usage of a script that has associated scripts required to work, you also recieve permission to use those directly associated scripts.

(EX: Firestation script would automatically be assumed to include the "gotofirestation" script)

I am not too sure here but from what I remember of SIS chips they were fairly inadequate for gaming with high end games, this game probrably would not work with that card.

Aside from that I have never heard of 1.37 GB of ram, how in the world did you manage to get that exact number of ram, most people have twin chips in their computers (ex. 512x2 1gigx2 etc.)

Someone else will have to tell you about the rest but I believe your SiS Display is the problem.

Also IF you have a logfile in the root directory of the game (ex C:\Program Files\WizardWorks\911 - First Responders\logfile.txt) attatch that so we can review that if you want an exact reason, right now the best we can do is guess.

HP PC

AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3300+

1.81 GHz {Speed 2.4 GHz}

1.37 GB of RAM {128 MB shared with video}

Windows XP SP-2

SiS 760 display chip.

Moderator Related task:

Please do not post repeatedly in a row, if someone has a solution they will reply, posting just for the sake of it will not increase the desire of others to attempt to fix your problem.