WC3 on WINXP SP2, 100% working solution

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Finder of things, Doer of stuff
Unregistered said:
I got it to work in dosbox, but curious as to what will happen when it becomes time to switch discs will I have to re-do everything in dosbox?
Click to expand...

You shouldn't have to as long as you mounted everything correctly. Also If you add all the mounting lines to the end of the Dosbox.conf file, it will do it automatically when you start the program so you don't have to type stuff in every time.
 
ChrisReid

ChrisReid

Super Soaker Collector / Administrator
When you have everything set up, dosbox functions just like your original dos environment would in this case. A screen pops up prompting you to switch discs, you do that and hit a key, and then the game continues.
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
Hello. I tried to get Wing Commander III run on my Computer:

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice @ 1800 MHz
Nvidia GeForce 7900 GT 256 MB
ASUS A8N-SLI Premium with Realtek (Yamaha) AC97 7.1 Sound OnBoard
2048 MB DDR-RAM 400 MHz

First off, I tried to use VDMSound. But, as many others, I get the "FILES=25" error message and to this point I don't understand why this happens. Already configured the Config.sys part of the vpl file with FILES=40 but it still won't run at all.

Due to this, I tried DosBox to get this game run after all ... at least in a poor but playable quality. Well, game install works fine, except for having input delay, thus meaning when ever I push a button DosBox won't react but seconds later.

After all I managed to get the game configured and run after all. Video is very smooth, no problems except a few small moments of skipping video and sound, but after that the video runs well, sound works properly. But after the intro video, when I try to use the mouse, the complete DosBox crashes, telling me that an error has occured and DosBox would have to be closed now. I tried again, believed my joystick to be the problem, set the game control to keyboard only and removed the joystick from my computer. This time I managed to get the talk done with Hobbes and played even a complete sim mission. When I tried to use the mouse to select another sim mission, the complete DosBox crashed again.

I have no idea, what I should do now.

DosBox Config is as follows: (DOSBOX 0.71)

[sdl]
fullscreen=false
fulldouble=true
fullresolution=1024x768
windowresolution=1024x768
output=opengl
autolock=true
sensitivity=150
waitonerror=true
priority=higher,normal
mapperfile=mapper.txt
usescancodes=true

[dosbox]
language=deutsch.lng
machine=vga
captures=capture
memsize=16

[render]
frameskip=0
aspect=false
scaler=normal2x

[cpu]
core=normal
cycles=16000
cycleup=500
cycledown=20

[mixer]
nosound=false
rate=22050
blocksize=2048
prebuffer=10

[midi]
mpu401=intelligent
device=default
config=

[sblaster]
sbtype=sb16
sbbase=220
irq=7
dma=1
hdma=5
mixer=true
oplmode=auto
oplrate=22050

[gus]
gus=true
gusrate=22050
gusbase=240
irq1=5
irq2=5
dma1=3
dma2=3
ultradir=C:\ULTRASND

[speaker]
pcspeaker=true
pcrate=22050
tandy=auto
tandyrate=22050
disney=true

[joystick]
joysticktype=auto
timed=false
autofire=false
swap34=false
buttonwrap=true

[serial]
serial1=dummy
serial2=dummy
serial3=disabled
serial4=disabled

[dos]
xms=true
ems=true
umb=true
keyboardlayout=gr

[ipx]
ipx=false

[autoexec]
mount c d:\spiele
mount d h:\ -t cdrom

c:
 
ChrisReid

ChrisReid

Super Soaker Collector / Administrator
It's possible your onboard sound card could be making this unstable. Try changing irq to 5 in the .conf file, restarting dosbox and reinstalling the game to use that IRQ. Did you upgrade the mouse sensitivity on your own? You might reset that to sensitivity=100. I would also change output=opelgl to =surface.
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
It's the unregistered guy from above again. I changed everything back to default that could cause video mode trouble or general instability. Thus meaning:

Resolution reset to 640x480
Output reset to surface
Cycles reset to 16000

OpenGL and High-Res worked with every other Wing Commander game thus far, but as these configuration changes won't affect the other games (Wing Commander 1, 2, Priv 1 and especially Armada) in a negative way, why not changing ? And indeed, now WC3 runs a lot more stable even in SVGA Modes. Only problem is the dogfight to become extremely slow when special effects like shield hit flickering occures. But this will most likely be the result of dosbox's and my computers resources / capacities.

Anyway, thank you.

Think I should register here ^_^
 
ChrisReid

ChrisReid

Super Soaker Collector / Administrator
Glad to hear it's a bit better. As DB A said, there is a new version of the program out which may improve compatibility even more. Definitely feel free to register and participate in the other discussions going on here.
 
M

mikeyc

Spaceman
Hi
I can confirm this works.
All I did was install WC3 from the saga disks and create a new shortcut to the wc3w.exe file (no additional settings).
I then installed VDMsound and right clicked the shortcut and chose run with VDMS accepted default settings and remember me.

It still locks very occasionally when switching to video - so I've turned off transitions - it usually affects me when blair goes down the stairs to fly a mission so I try and Escape past that - but very good solutin with sound and joystick support with no messing about.

I've contributed to sourcefore for that fantastic bit of code!!
 
G

GrayFox

Spaceman
This is not suprising at all, since the KS Version already runs well without ANY patches available on my computer under XP. When using the KS Version of WCIII, you won't even need the VDMSound Software for that.
 
G

gr1mre4per

Rear Admiral
VDM sound is amazing. Unless you have an ATI card when your svga graphics colours screwup. Have to play in VGA mode. However,fortunately my ATI card screwed up so I had a reason to buy an nvidia which playes everything better, even those games "Designed for ATI" and problem solved.

Think I had the Files problem, but its configurable in the shortcut properties if i remember correctly. Just wish this would work for P2
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
The Sound driver cannot be reached

Angelli said:
Sorry for new thread, but this is important.

I found out the best solution for WC3 full sound and speed playing:

1. Download VDMsound's latest beta from http://vogons.zetafleet.com/ndldownload.php?filename=VDMSound2.1.0.exe and install it.

2. Copy WC3.EXE from your cd to c:\WC3\

3. In this very same dir make file called WC3.vlp than edit it and paste:
Code: 
[program]
workdir=d:\
params=
executable=C:\WC3\WC3.EXE
[vdms.sb.dsp]
IRQ=5
[winnt.storage]
useCDROM=yes

where d:\ is your cd-rom letter

4. Save this file and run it (and use it for running WC3 ever after).

5. In music setup choose MPU-401 General MIDI

6. In sound setup choose sb16 220 irq=5 dma low=1 dma hi=5

7. Save, run and enjoy (and use DOX-BOX only for 2D games :))!!!
Click to expand...

The link to get the file is no longer any good. Can you repost it so I can Get it?
 
R

Rigit

Swabbie
Banned
Angelli said:
Sorry for new thread, but this is important.

I found out the best solution for WC3 full sound and speed playing:

1. Download VDMsound's latest beta from http://vogons.zetafleet.com/ndldownload.php?filename=VDMSound2.1.0.exe and install it.

2. Copy WC3.EXE from your cd to c:\WC3\

3. In this very same dir make file called WC3.vlp than edit it and paste:
Code: 
[program]
workdir=d:\
params=
executable=C:\WC3\WC3.EXE
[vdms.sb.dsp]
IRQ=5
[winnt.storage]
useCDROM=yes

where d:\ is your cd-rom letter

4. Save this file and run it (and use it for running WC3 ever after).

5. In music setup choose MPU-401 General MIDI

6. In sound setup choose sb16 220 irq=5 dma low=1 dma hi=5

7. Save, run and enjoy (and use DOX-BOX only for 2D games :))!!!
Click to expand...

I don't get those options when installing the game. No music setup and the only sound card setup is selecting a sound card. I chose sound blaster because most cards are compatible. How do I get to the midi thing and the rest of it?
 
R

Raptor48

Spaceman
On DOSbox, the game seems to work fine, except the sound is choppy every 1-2 seconds.

I was told there was a patch for windows XP, but the one link I could find was down.

I also tried the VDMsound approach, but I'm not sure how to open the vlp (which didn't automatically convert from the text document.)
 
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Finder of things, Doer of stuff
Raptor48 said:
On DOSbox, the game seems to work fine, except the sound is choppy every 1-2 seconds.

I was told there was a patch for windows XP, but the one link I could find was down.

I also tried the VDMsound approach, but I'm not sure how to open the vlp (which didn't automatically convert from the text document.)
Click to expand...

Sound skipping in dosbox should be fixed by increasing the cycles rate.
 
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Finder of things, Doer of stuff
nectech said:
Yes VDMSound does work. But the USB joystick won't work.
Any fix or workaround for this problem?
Click to expand...

VDM does emulate support for USB sticks. The old games won't recognize them and don't use directx function calls to tell it you have a game controler. You either need specific dos drivers or playing the game or emulation. You probably need to enable it with VDM though.

When you rightclick the exe and choose to run with VDM, choose a custom or advanced set up instead of a pre existing confic and then check the Joystick tab to make sure the emulation is enabled.

Dosbox does this as well. For setup instructions check the techsupport link on the CIC main page.
 
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Finder of things, Doer of stuff
Raptor48 said:
Okay, thanks.

Is there still a patch for WC3 so that I won't have to be confined to the small window of DOSbox?
Click to expand...

There should be a fullscreen mode that you can enable in dosbox as well. Look for 'fullscreen=false' in the dosbox.conf file. There are also various scalers and stuff that can be used to smooth out the graphics with varying degrees of success.
 
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