Technical FAQ

Fleet Operations System Requirements

1.4 GB available hard drive space
Operating system: Windows XP or newer (32-bit or 64-bit)

Minimum Requirements

Pentium 4 2.8 Ghz (~Athlon XP 3200) or better
1.0 GB RAM or more
Nvidia GeForce 7200 (~ ATI Radeon 9100) or better

Recommended Requirements

Core 2 2.0 Ghz or better
2.0 GB RAM or more
Nvidia GeForce 8400 (ATI Radeon 9600 Pro) or better

Note: if you have NVidia GeForce GTX 400 or 500 series, see Fleet Ops Does Not Work and You Have NVIDIA GTX 400/500 Series

Example System 1

Operating system: Windows XP
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (single core) @ 2.0Ghz
System memory: 512 MB RAM
Graphics card: ATI Radeon x550 256 MB

Comments: Runs on full graphics, 4x AA. Few seconds of lag when changing position via the minimap. Should not run other programs at the same time.

Example System 2

Operating system: Windows XP
Processor: Pentium 4 (single core) @ 2.6 Ghz
System memory: 3 GB RAM
Graphics card: Intel Integrated Graphics Chipset

Comments: Runs on full graphics with no anti-aliasing

Example System 3

Operating system: Windows7 32-bit
Processor: Intel Core2 Duo (dual core) CPU T6600 @ 2.20Ghz
System memory : 4 GB RAM
Graphics card: Nvidia GeForce 8200m G series

Windows Experience Index: 4.2 overall.

Processor: 5.6
RAM: 5.6
Graphics: 4.2
Gaming Graphics: 4.9
Primary hard disk: 5.3

Comments: Runs on full graphics, 4x AA. Mouse has slight lagging issues when run on "Quality" setting rather than "Performance".

RAM Usage on an Example System

Operating system: Windows7 64-bit
Processor: Core i7QM (quad core) @ 2.20Ghz
System memory: 6 GM RAM
Graphics card: Nvidia GeForce GT 540M 2.0 GB
Screen resolution: 1920x1080 RGB LED

~0.10 GB used to start up Fleet Operations 3.2.5 with maximum settings (may not be optimized as is a 64-bit OS with a 32-bit game).
Additional ~0.30 GB used upon game start with 7 Merciless AI's, fastest speed, 2x resources, 1x human observor, no fog or shroud.
Additional ~0.70 GB used when each AI's fleet reaches sizes of several dozen.
Total of ~1.10 GB used

Installing and setting up Fleet Operations

Do I have to uninstall Armada II before installing Fleet Operations?

No, you can set up an Armada II installation parallel to Fleet Operations. You can even install Armada II after Fleet Operations or not at all!

Do I have to install the official Armada II 1.1 Patch after installing Fleet Operations?

Nope, you don't: all required files are included in the Fleet Operations’ setup package - you don’t even need a preinstalled Armada II. Setup will copy all required files from your Armada II CD. 

Do I need to have Armada II preinstalled in order to install Fleet Operations?

No, you do not need to preinstall Armada II. Fleet Operations can be installed on a PC that has never seen Armada 2 installed before. Fleet Operations Setup copies the required files from your Armada II CD (or from the Armada II directory if you so choose and the game was already installed), so be sure you have your CD at hand when installing Fleet Operations.

Fleet Operations has been flagged as virus-laden!

Some virus scanners may identify the Armada2.exe loader as a potential threat due to the techniques used in modifying the stock Armada 2 executable. So if you run into problems during installation it is recommended to temporarily disable your anti-virus scanner and whitelist the armada2.exe afterwards. Please consider reporting the Armada2.exe as a "false positive" to the developers of your anti-virus software. That usually includes sending the file to the anti-virus developer, where it will then be analyzed. This can often be done through your anti-virus software when the file gets quarantined and it may have different names, like 'send in for analysis'.

Still, if you happen to want to not use the loader for whatever reason (let it be technical problems), just delete the Armada2.exe and rename the Armada2.LDL file to "Armada2.exe". Using the loader is fully optional. Your only disadvantage will be the 2GB ram limit and some nice icons.

Are there any "nocd-patches" available if I don't want to play with the disc?

DOCa Cola submitted one some time ago, which you can find in GameCopyWorld.

Note: For patch 3.1.4 and on you will notice that the Armada2.exe file is not the one from a stock installation. The actual Armada2 executable has been just renamed to "Armada2.LDL". 3.1.4 uses a non intrusive loader that allows breaking the 2GB ram limit of 32bit applications, which enables Armada 2 to use up to 3GB of ram. Using a loader here is the only possibility of doing that without "hard-"modifying the actual executable which we like to avoid. If you happen to want to replace the Armada2 executable for whatever reason (in 99% of cases that'll be a no-cd patch) please make sure you replace the Armada2.LDL file instead of the Armada2.exe file.

Inquiries about game development and stability

The Armada II engine absolutely stinks! Why haven't the Fleet Ops' developers designed their own?

As the question of whether or not the Fleet Operations Team will branch away from Armada II and create their own game engine seems to be asked and answered so many times in general, it is probably important to have this topic addressed definitively. The truth is that the Developer Team has never written an engine from scratch and doesn't plan to because it is an unbelievable amount of work, even with a team of people. A new engine would not just be about the graphics engine of course, but also the AI, network, weapon and damage logic, a modding interface and so on. It is work that you easily can invest years into. You also have to carefully plan how you code, as it will be really hard to integrate a working multiplayer for instance if you don't plan your code to later integrate one--syncing a strategy game over multiplayer can be a real pain in the ass. You need a lot of experience if you really want to program a game from scratch, which none of the team has. Writing real-time applications (or even normal applications) always shows you limits. Dealing with limits is the stuff you spent the most time on while coding, but that is not a problem. Moving to a new engine would have limits of its own. For example, a year or two without any updates while we migrate content. Remember Duke Nukem? They switched engines several times during development. Obviously given this situation it is best to stick with the current Armada engine which can be quite easily modified. Even though the source code is not available, it is not that bad in reality. The developers will advance the Armada Engine in the future to feature new effects, and they are positive that they can do everything they want to with the engine. Most importantly, the developer team likes working with it.

Fleet Operations crashed, and now what do I do?

The errors causing crashes can only be fixed if someone reports them--so if you encounter a error be sure to save the error message to your desktop and attach it to a message to bugs@fleetops.net

Here are the guidelines for reporting; try to answer as many as possible if possible so as to make bug fixing easier and faster:

• What did you do the moment before it crashed?
• Which vessels were involved?
• Which map did the game take place on?
• Which factions were in the game?
• Was it instant action or multiplayer?
• Please send in error reports via the reporting function when a crash occurs

When is the next patch going to be out and what will be in it?

What is this talk about RELEASE? Klingons DO NOT release software. Klingon software escapes leaving a bloody trail from quality assurance people and beta testers in its wake! In all seriousness though, ask around--you may be surprised what some people know about what will be included in the latest release. However, in the interests of keeping the Fleet Operations site devoid of clutter, please sort out these questions via email or the private message system. Most of the time you can find the latest information in the recent news bar at Fleet Operations Home Page as well as Zeich's blog (now abandoned in lieu of news briefs), which also includes an in depth explanation of the vessels he is modeling for Fleet Operations at http://www.nathanzeichner.com/blog/

I've posted requests on the official Fleet Operations' forums and gotten no response - why?!

As Optec has said, “just because we don't fulfill all wishes of our members immediately does not mean that we ignore someone. As I already stated back in the past when voices rose for more canon ships: we have plans for them, but the "standard" unit collection is based of the time line and the story of the Fleet Operations universe, and that’s not TNG or DS9.

You can’t make it right for everybody, and I think we never forced anybody to play Fleet Operations... well except for Detektor for testing reasons”. Furthermore, just because you have not gotten a response from the developer team does not mean that they haven't read the proposal. Who knows, perhaps you will be pleasantly surprised when your idea (or a variation upon it) is included in a future patch.

I've noticed that explosions cause significant lag.

The Fleet Ops team is working on the engine - as you might have noticed by looking at the screenshots - and they are on their way to increase performance along with adding new effects. The explosion-lag-issue is sadly not that easy to fix, so it will take more time. Armada has some performance issues, and especially the Borg explosions cause a little lagging at the moment. The developers are working hard on it, but it will take a bit more time for that to be accomplished.

Help! I lost control of all my ships and can’t select anything!

You’ve experienced the notorious and aptly named “can’t select anything bug”. First do not panic. This bug always occurs due to rapid clicking of the refit buttons on vessels, or when you upgrade offense/defense on the Tavara and starbases too quickly, causing the controls to lock up. If you simply hit one of the numbers (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0) on your keyboard (not the numpad) it will unlock selection (just don't use one of your existing fleet hotkeys). Good luck, and hopefully this does not occur for you.

Fleet Operations Won't Load / Crashes and You Have WindowBlinds

Usually the user will receive an error message similar to the following:

Problem signature:
  Problem Event Name:   APPCRASH
  Application Name:   Armada2.exe
  Application Version:   3.2.0.0
  Application Timestamp:   3c4c76bd
  Fault Module Name:   StackHash_4edd
  Fault Module Version:   0.0.0.0
  Fault Module Timestamp:   00000000
  Exception Code:   c000041d
  Exception Offset:   75364b02
  OS Version:   6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.1
  Locale ID:   1033
  Additional Information 1:   4edd
  Additional Information 2:   4edd9a8557487549227ee4f05cd03b2e
  Additional Information 3:   883c
  Additional Information 4:   883c1db7e8dea98011e49433f1e9b06c

Setting an exception for the armada2.exe (in the Fleet Ops data directory) in the WindowBlinds options is enough to fix this issue. As a consequence, WindowBlinds won't try to theme Fleet Operations. You don't have to disable WindowBlinds entirely.

Fleet Ops Does Not Work and You Have NVIDIA GTX 400/500 Series

Update to the newest 280 or higher drivers. If on the off chance that this does not work...

A solution, although an unsupported one, is to go to the following:

C:\Users\name\AppData\Roaming\Star Trek Armada II Fleet Operations\fodata.ini

change
D3D9=false
to
D3D9=true

Setting this option enables an experimental directx9 mode instead of using Armada's default direct3d8 graphics. It is not recommended to use this option. Some features like screenshots, cursors etc may not work correctly with it. Please do not expect support when using this option. Just to be clear before this evolves into a forum-wide secret directx9 'hack', using this option as of now gives zero advantages over the stock directx8 engine. In actuality you are likely to get lower frames per second with it enabled.