Wing Commander Games and Windows XP - A Summary

ChrisReid said:
Nothing's really changed. Some people get rid of it by adjusting their soundcard hardware acceleration.
Click to expand...
I see. Will have to try that. Thanks a lot :D.
 
Running WC in XP without Dosbox programs etc. Only program needed is a certain sound.

You can get any Wing Commander to run in XP and i'm talking about the regular wc1, 2, 3, etc. I have wc 3 and 4 running on XP without any other problems besides color palette switching on wc 4 (I loaded the dos to win patch). You have to configure them to run with a program called VDMS sound and running that program to configure XP's command prompt to run them. If you have any questions them please e-mail me and specify the reason in the subject please or i might delete it.
 
I'm going to contact you about this, ace. I tried all the sound acceleration settings, and none of them helped with the skipping/popping. So I'm open to suggestions :P.
 
Ace, I haven't heard back from you...

Does anyone else have info on getting WC3 to run properly using VDMS??
 
Vdms

Sorry, It might take a few days before i get any messages and respond. I do not check my e-mail daily. Usually 2-3 times a week is my max and my min well... sorry that it took so long. I e-mail you back though mentis with what i hope will help.
 
Yay, I finally registered :P.

I have gotten WC3 to run using VDMS, but not without other issues coming up now. I did a search on this forum for related thread and found that I need to...

1. Disable EMS...
2. Enable low-level CD-ROM support...

But unfortunately, though ingame sound no longer stutters, the videos play the first second or so and then stop. I can still bypass all videos and move on, I just can't view them :P. Also, the digital sound effects in cockpit don't seem to be working either. Hmm... I read somewhere about adjust the DMA buffer in VDMS, but I have not idea what numbers need to be in there. Does anyone have more info on this issue? Maybe you Ace?
 
Install Wc3 on XP Pro

Hi guys,

I need your help. I want to play WC3 once again, but I can`t install it on my computer. Everytime when I start the exe.file the dos window opens very shortly and closes again.

What do I have to do to install it? Is there something else I should keep in mind after the installation?

Thanks for help
 
Wingman, you will notice that I am trying to do the same, if you read the last few posts.

I actually had not trouble in installing and playing the game without any tweaks in XP. The only trouble was that the sound was scratchy and skipped all the time.

So I am exploring the possiblity of running WC3 using VDMS. You can google for it and it integrates itself into your windows explorer after installation. Some dos games you can run using default settings, and they work perfectly. Others, like WC3, seem to take a bit more tweaking.
 
You canNOT disable EMS or XMS emulation. ALL WC DOS games require those features. Enable VESA also (which should help fix vid problems). Enable DMPI as well. (My settings). XMS should be set to max. EMS to max as well. XMS runs EMS and u need both for WC3.
 
P.S. There will still be small sound issues with the game. Sounding artificial and some other minor problems but the sound will work and be understandable. Game will run w/o much problems. Questions just ask me.
 
I see, good to know. I had read in several thread that EMS should be disabled, but I guess that information must be dated. I'll try your suggestions and see where that takes me :D. Thanks!
 
If u try to run WC 1 or 2 in dos on a modern pc problems will occur. Those games require a program to slow down the processor and i do NOT know whether or not VDMS can do that.
I just use an old pc for wc 1&2, privateer (but not needed to), and armada.
 
Ace, I followed your suggestions of enabling EMS, Vesa, and DPMI (which was already on BTW). Unfortunately I saw no change in the playback of videos, and in game sounds (i.e. lasers) were still not audible. In other words, no change from how the game ran previously. Any other suggestions?

How about the DMA servicing? Any particular settings there that would help with the video playback issue?
 
You have to set up your the sound emulation that is with VDMS. Select your sound card and have it emulate snb16 or something that rusn well with the game and configure that if you now how to. if not just ask and i will post it.
 
I think I'm getting much closer...:D

A few different things that helped...

1. I did not need VDMS to emulate MIDI sound as XP has the MPU 401 capability already.
2. Adlib was not necessary either, and so I disabled that as well.
3. I used the normal soundblaster settings, though I will still experiment with using different outputs for it.
4. One reason that the changes were not having any effect, is because I forgot to change them in the WC3 installation setup. So now that I know, I have been able to get almost perfect sound, as well as video playback, working by running MIDI as MPU 401, and digital sound using Soundblaster/Compatible. I think I may have to write up a guide to what the settings need to be exactly when I have tested a little more. But it's very close now. I could see myself playing the game in this condition, though I will try to see if I can have it running at 100% ;).
 
WC1 KS USB Joystick

Ive installed WC1 KS on my system with XP, the game runs no problem but it wont recognise my USB joystick. Tried downloading the WC1 joystick patch from the CIC site but that just seems to be an uncracked version of the original WC1.
 
Well why was it the sole contents of the wcjyptch.zip file at the end of the WC1 joystick patch link on CIC then? Is there a real joystick patch out there? Is anyone out there playing WC1 KS with a joystick, USB or otherwise? Dont recall any problems with a non usb joystick under win95 all those years ago. And yes Ive tried cntrl-j, cntrl-C, alt-j and so on.
 
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