MikeyPI

Hello, in order to see this mod get assistance from the people who are around on this forum and have the ability to do some of the things you want to do, I suggest that you pick up a modeling program, in the FAQ I list a few that are free if you are a little tight on money or just do not know if you can develop the skills to model yourself. Modeling is relatively easy to do with a good bit of patience and practice, I hope that you will take the time to try out one or more of the programs and try to start your own mod off yourself. If you can manage to at least start to build your mod, I am sure you will probrably get more offers of assistance from some of the other mod makers here. We all have our own projects and usually help one another out, so we can't all afford to run around trying to help everyone that is out there that wants assistance. Which is why I suggest to anyone that wants to make a mod to try to start off on their own, if you can manage to get at least a good start going you will be supprised how much enthusiasm in the community your mod can create. Goodluck to you, Mike Link to tools and skills required to build a mod FAQ

This game was really meant for people to play online through their networking card hooked to DSL/Cable from what I understand of it, so it is not so friendly to those of us running routers.... Basically you have to use Direct-IP in order for online play to work, some people can host a game on the web and it works perfectly fine, but looking through the lists of online games occasionally I notice there are rarely any games listed. Router info site If you still have the documentation, I believe it is your router's ip addy you have to give to them in order for them to connect to you to play, alternatively, get someone else to host the game that has a way around the problem with routers.

A Simple solutions for those who are not good with computers or unfamiliar with their router is a program called hamachi, there is a free version of the program available which you can use to play emergency 4/FR without changing anything. Basically it creates a fake network, hamachi turns ya'll in to a semi-local network permitting you to do direct-ip type of games, someone enters the IP assigned to the hamachi program and you all can play the game without much effort required. The only draw back is that it creates a new network adapter with hamachi but it can be disabled fairly easilly. That is what I do all the time, I only activate that network device that is setup with hamachi when I intend to use the program, otherwise it is completely shut down.

I would guess just by the design of the car that it is probrably a 1991-1994ish era vehicle by the headlights and what not. Slightly rounded lights grew popularity in the mid 90's. Unfortunately I do not have the spare time to do much of anything at the moment, I've already been loaned out all over the place and have to work down my backlog. Seems like every time I start making a dent it gets larger, such is life.

The simple odds of you needing the heavy rescue make it impractical to keep on the map, it is not too inconvenient to call in, especially with the revamped entry points found in 1.7, in the real world you don't see many cranes sitting around in fire stations waiting to head out. Since most the time you do not need the vehicle, I personally see no need to keep it on the map in a station, if someone wanted to have it parked during their game, they just need to find an open space in town and stuff the chubby truck into it... Just make sure you can get it back out of wherever you park it, i've lost ambulances to getting them stuck.

Yeah you found the ones I've seen in the past that I was wondering if you were putting in, the new ones look alot more like their lexus counterparts than they did in the past:) Either way they're both fairly consistant vehicles so you'll be going newer I am sure. Just a shame since the older ones are more appealing to me, but since they are not around anymore it is kind of like the LTD's of america. While I love them I can't justify building one Goodluck with the swooping thing on the hood, that will be fun to try to texture smoothly

Yes, it is a fire department vehicle, so chances are it will carry the tools needed to recover a vehicle, possibly tree cutting tools and the jaws, but you'll have to wait and see:)

The toyotas those older looking boxy types that are commonplace in asia? or are they newer rounder cars?

As I've said eventually a new suggestions thread may be opened with the most common ideas and their responses to prevent double posting for issues that have already been discussed, that is why the old one was closed down. Too much time was spent responding to the same suggestions over and over again, so for now there are no more suggestions for this mod.

Actually, you only have a Gig to start with, remember XP will eat away at that some (much less than vista, but it still is probrably down about 120 mb of ram from windows doing it's thing plus all your other apps). That would be why your game lags, you have too little processor and ram for emergency 4 with mods in particular.

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.

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.

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.

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**