Planet Map Bug - Begging for help here as last resort

[____________Augusten]

When I click the ? button on the planet map nothing happens, I don't get the option to change maps.

Yesterday I purchased Shadowlands, reactivated my account, downloaded the installation files from www.anarchyonline.com, and installed the game. Since then I have reinstalled the game 3 times, redownloaded the installation files 2 times and reinstalled my OS 1 time. None of this has fixed the bug. After installing the game I leave ALL settings at default. I do NOT install any custom maps. I simply login and click the ? button on the planet map window, but nothing appears. My character is in Rubi-Ka, not Shadowlands, in Old Athens to be specific, although I have tried zoning to see if that would help. I have been told that a window should open to allow me to select an alternate map, such as Dovves which comes preinstalled with the game.

I have /petitioned this bug 3 times. The first time a guide appeared and for 10 minutes insisted I must have installed a custom map without unzipping it. I had to repeat over and over I had installed no custom maps. Finally, the guide said that if I had installed no custom maps then the ? button won't do anything. I explained that the Dovves map comes preinstalled with the game and the guide said that is not true and refused to help any further.

I have now spent over 10 hours trying to fix one bug. Any suggestions/advice would be very much appreciated.

[Chimihou]

As a test, try switching to direct3d HAL (dont worry, it still uses your video hardware to render AO) instead of T&L in your AO video settings.

If it helps, then this issues has already been brought up and it is a little strange. Try a previous video driver version, maybe 2 or 3 times older than the latest.

Secondly, did you completely delete the folders which were left over from uninstalling BEFORE reinstalling? If you did, then we could count out the possibility of a bad install due to complications caused by old files being present. Reinstalling OVER an existing installation may not help.

Thirdly, even if it doesn't help when you switch to direct3d HAL, try a previous video driver anyway (2 or 3 times older than latest).

[____________Augusten]

As a test, try switching to direct3d HAL (dont worry, it still uses your video hardware to render AO) instead of T&L in your AO video settings.

Thank you very much for the response. I will do this as soon as I get home.

Secondly, did you completely delete the folders which were left over from uninstalling BEFORE reinstalling? If you did, then we could count out the possibility of a bad install due to complications caused by old files being present. Reinstalling OVER an existing installation may not help.

I completely deleted all folders which were left over after uninstalling AO. I also checked the registry for left over AO registry keys.

[Bekrowe]

Also to be more helpful what operating system are you using?

If you have Windows XP or 2000 goto C:\Program Files\Funcom\Anarchy Online\cd_image\textures\PlanetMap

Right click on the directory select properties. Under the Attributes area select advanced.

Ensure that there is a check mark for For Faster Searching, Allow Indexing Service to index this folder. This should allow you to use the ? again. I am Sorry that you have spent a lot of time on this matter.

[____________Augusten]

Originally posted by Chimihou
As a test, try switching to direct3d HAL (dont worry, it still uses your video hardware to render AO) instead of T&L in your AO video settings.

Switching to "Hardware acceleration through Direct3D HAL" did not help. Regardless of whether I used "Direct3D HAL" or "T&L" the ? button did not respond. However, the problem is resolved, please see below.

Originally posted by Bekrowe
Ensure that there is a check mark for For Faster Searching, Allow Indexing Service to index this folder. This should allow you to use the ? again. I am Sorry that you have spent a lot of time on this matter.

I have Window XP Professional. I turned on "Allow Indexing Service to index this folder" as you recommended for the \textures\PlanetMap folder. This fixed the problem.

I am quite surprised this setting would make such a huge difference, the game must have a very short timeout for finding the files. I keep my system defragged. My computer is older, but with significant upgrades. It's has an Athon Thunderbird 1200Mhz CPU, 512MB RAM, ATA 100 Harddisk attached to an ATA 100 controller, and as mentioned before, Nvidia GeForce4 Ti4400. I do not run anything in the background. I know that is hard to believe given crap some people have running in the background without knowing it, but I am a software developer and like to keep my computer clear of memory resident programs.

Thanks to everyone who helped me with this problem. It's pretty amazing how quickly I received help in this forum, AO has a great community.

[Bekrowe]

I'm glad that fixed your problem. I am not really sure why it solves the problem I just ran into it myself when I moved to a New System with XP and finally I found that to be the trouble.

[Chimihou]

Thanks! Going to link this to common issues thread.