Disclaimer: I am not affiliated in any way with QQP or American Laser Games. Although I have taken care to ensure the accuracy of the information on this page, neither I nor the aforementioned companies nor anyone else shall be held responsible for any damages that may result from the use of the information contained herein.
My Windows XP (2000, or NT) machine does not have DOS drivers available for the sound card, what can I do?
Using VDMSound you can emulate a DOS sound driver for a SoundBlaster card under Windows XP (2000, or NT). You'll find the VDMSound program version 2.0.4 available on this link. After you've downloaded and opened the zip file, double click VDMSound, and the installation wizard will begin.
After you have installed VDMSound you will need to run PGSETUP and configure the sound driver. To do this, RIGHT CLICK the PGSETUP icon (or filename - depending on what sort of view you have set) and choose "RUN WITH VDMS". This will fire up the VDMSound dll file and then start the program. I will assume you are familiar with the questions PGSETUP will query you about your; video choice, unit icons, animations, CD-ROM drive letter, etc, etc... One member of our community had to choose "MPU401-General MIDI synth" as the MIDI driver, you'll know you've got the right one when the music test runs. For the sound driver, choose "Soundblaster Clone". Again, a sound test will run and you will find out if it works or not.
So you did all this and you still don't have sound? That's because you didn't RIGHT CLICK the TPG2 icon (or filename - depending on your configured file view) and choose "RUN WITH VDMS".
My thanks to Bob Dodson for answering this FAQ. - Scot
I just got a new computer loaded with Windows XP (or any other version of a Microsoft operating system) and it has a GeForce/NVidia video card. The game's setup utility say's that the GeForce/NVidia card is not VESA 2.0 compliant. What can I do?
Download this zip file, and extract it to your TPG2 folder, where ever it might exist on your computer. Instead of double clicking the TPG2.EXE file to start the game, double click the TPG2.BAT file that is included in the download.
This batch file gives you the option of playing the game, running the scenario editor or the game's setup utility. TPG2.BAT also automatically runs the ADDGAME.BAT file installing any new scenarios you may have added since the last time you played the game.
This fix also works with the previous answer to an FAQ, on getting the sound to work. Just remember to RIGHT CLICK the TPG2.BAT file and choose RUN WITH VDMS.
My thanks to Gary Chappell for his help with this FAQ. - Scot
Can I download this game for free off the internet? And if so where?
If you've got a CD-RW drive you can download a copy of the game right here that you can make you own CD out of (its a 56meg download). You will need a program like WinZIP to extract the archive. Be sure to keep the directory structure intact and label the CD "TPG2GAME" leaving out the parentheses.
Need some additional instructions?
- Download the zip file.
- Extract the zip file to a temporary folder on your hard drive.
- Burn a CD from the files in that temporary folder, labeling the CD TPG2GAME.
- Run INSTALL.EXE on the CD you just made, installing to C:\TPG2 on your hard drive.
- Download the TPG2BAT.ZIP file and extract it to C:\TPG2. TPG2BAT.ZIP is the video fix.
- Run the TPG2.BAT file and the setup utility with in it. If you are using VDMSound, remember to RIGHT click TPG2.BAT, and choose "Run with VMDS" from the menu. I will assume you are familiar with the questions the setup utility will ask you about your; video choice, unit icons, animations, CD-ROM drive letter, etc, etc...
- Roll some tanks and post an after action report in the War Room.
If you're looking for the scenario editor you can download it here, it's a 2.2meg file. You will need a program like WinZIP to extract the archive. You will then need access to a CD-RW drive to burn your own CD, making sure that you; a) keep the directory structure of the archive intact and b) label the CD "TPG2SCEN1" minus the parentheses.
Are there any special instructions for submitting scenarios?
There are a few things that you can do to make my life a little less complicated. Using a program like WinZIP, zip up the .rcn .scn and .txt files of your scenario. Attach the .zip file to an email, in the body of that email please include the scenario's title, category and a sentence or two about the scenario. It is sometimes difficult, if not impossible, to locate a new scenario in the game when I don't know what category it's in. I've actually had generals send me scenarios without the title, let alone the category! Trying to find the new one when you have 300+ scenarios in the game is certainly a challenge when you don't even know what the title is! Using the long file name option of Win9x and later operating systems has been known to cause these .zip files to be received as an unrecognized file format. So please, use the 8.3 file name rule when submitting scenarios.
Are there any conventions in use by the other players as to the "Rule Options"?
Yes there are! After you have chosen what game you are going to play you get a screen that allows you to decide if you are going to play Defender or Attacker, but there are a lot of other choices there as well. What follows is the list of the conventions in use by the community;
Kill Style: Partial Kill
Hit Style: Random
Sighting Style: Limit to LOS
Mines Are: Hidden Until Found
Environment Affects Are: Variable
Units in Cities Are: Repaired
AI Level: 5You can also save these settings on this same screen.
I'm looking for the TPG2 Update. Where can I find it?
You can find it either on the Scenario Editor CD or you can download the update from my web site (it's a 995k file).
Where can I get the ADDGAME.BAT
file?
1) The file is included with the purchase of the TPG2 Scenario Editor.
2) Some of the scenarios posted here contain the ADDGAME.BAT file within the zip file.
3) Or you can download the zipped version right here; ADDGAME.BAT. Unzip your downloaded file to the TPG2 folder and then run the addgame.bat file. What this file does is delete the scenario.idx and campaign.idx files from the TPG2/SCEN folder. The game engine rebuilds these files at the start of the game including any new scenarios that you may have added.
Does the AI cheat?
ALG's answer of "no" has been overwhelmingly rejected by the members of the TPG2 community. In light of insurmountable evidence, the answer is obviously yes. In this case the AI's cheating is necessary, as it makes up for its lack of "I".