Thanks very much for the welcome, fast replies, help and ideas!
Both of the computers more than meet the minimum specs as stated on
Wikipedia. processors run around 1.8 Ghz,both have lots of RAM (1Gb
and 2Gb), and both video cards have 128Mb and 512 mb RAM onboard.
They're not onboard video cards. Hard to keep up with so many new
and old hardware setups, I know. Both have the latest video
and audio drivers (they run all Battlefield games ok!) Well,
except when playing on the internet, more about that below.
I researched alot and tried a few things and after many tries and
restarts eventually got it to work! To help out other people I'll
explain and include links and information for basic users:
DELETED CONFIG FILES
Deleted the q3config.cfg but it didn't generate a new one. Still the
same, console completed, then white screan then an empty window. BTW
when it stops responding it crashes like a motorbike, big time.
Ctrl-Alt-Delete and you can't stop the process you have to restart the
whole system.
NEW BINARIES
Downloaded the new binaries but maybe I didn't install them
correctly. Ended up losing all three .cfg files and just got an empty
transparent box - no console even! BTW ?do you need to download all
the dll files contained in dll and vm folders and sdl.dll? Which
folder do you put those in? Need to know for when I try them again for
widescreen
NON-SSE CPUS
I read around many other forums including OpenArena and ioquake3
(which I think Smokin' Gun's ported on?) and found other people with
the same problem unsolved mainly in Vista. Some people put it down to
non-SSE CPUs which mine aren't.
You need SSE CPUs to run this game, most CPUS built after 2000 have SSE
OPENAL DRIVERS
On the OpenArena troubleshooting wiki it said, if it won't start at
all with no error message (for windows) install OpenAl libraries
(universal 3d audio sound drivers). I searched my computer and have
OpenAL32.dll and wrap_oal.dll installed. (you can download OpenAl at
http://connect.creativelabs.com/openal/ ... Items.aspx)
Not sure if you need OpenAl for the Smokin' Guns 1.0 but you need it
for the updated binaries (1.1 engine) as Tequila says here
viewtopic.php?t=1623&highlight=openal)
VISUAL C++
2008 SP1 RUNTIME
Searched the Smokin' Guns forums for help with the binaries and
found another gem by Sparcdr "Some users report needing "Visual C++
2008 SP1 Runtime" which is attainable from Microsoft DLCz" So I
downloaded and installed that too from http://www.microsoft.com/downloadsdetai ... laylang=en
Again, will need it for the binaries later. Didn't need it on computer two to run SG ver 1.0.
SECURITY SOFTWARE CLASH
After giving up and a sleep, I though try it with the antivirus/firewall off
(offline of course). I'm using Optus Internet Security Suite 2009,
which is a rebadge of F-Secure Internet Security 2009.
Had lots of problems with it lately as it clashes with punkbuster for some games
(Battlefield Vietnam, Battlefield 1942), causing strange faults
(general protection fault and Punkbuster update/file errors) after
handshaking with a server. It doesn't seem to allow some programs to
access the windows kernel even if you put them in quarantine and allow
access for the firewall. So I turned it off all the six F-secure processes by
going to start / run / type in "services.msc" without quotes.
What do you know?
Smokin' Guns worked. It works alot smoother than Western Quake. It was worth it!
But, if you're going to play online you'll need to use another firewall, maybe the windows one
I hope this info will help someone else who may have the same or similar problems. I'll report the problem to F-secure too and update on here any information from that.
SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS & DRIVERS LIST
Just found a great detailed system requirements and drivers list at 3/4 of the way down by sparcdr at
viewtopic.php?t=1683&highlight=visual++2008 (maybe that should be a sticky! I didn't think of looking in the coding section). Maybe there should be information on the binaries and how to install them, maybe a text file you download with them? If I can help with your forums or manuals, let me know. The forum and website is great, love how you can search the forums without being logged in, it helped alot.
Look forward to advice on how to install the binaries and trying them out. I hope someone else finds this useful and can get this great game working too. I can smell the gunsmoke calling me.