This is an attempt at a guide for getting WC4 DVD to work without having to install a hardware MPEG2 decoder board.
The WC4DVD I'm referring to is the single disc, double-sided DVD with the movies in MPEG2 format in VOB files.
Years ago, I bought this DVD and brought it home and played the entire thing through. I remember I was running Win98 and had WinDVD and some version of Ravisent Cinemaster installed. Back then, the game just worked. Just recently I felt like getting the game up and running again, but I ran into some problems such as the "Movie not found" error and the problem with WinDVD not working with branching videos. After three OS installs/reinstalls, recovering from a wiped partition, and a bunch of tinkering, I got the game working on my HTPC. Here's my solution:
You will need:
1) An older Ravisent Cinemaster decoder engine (such as ATIDVD 3.0 or 3.1)
2) DVD Genie
3) Windows 95/98 (ME?) -- no NT/2K/2K3/XP
The hardware I got the game running on:
Asus P2B
Intel Pentium 3 733MHz
256MB PC133
ATI Radeon 8500LE 64MB
SB Live! Value
The steps:
1) Install the Ravisent Cinemaster decoder engine
2) Install DVD Genie
3) Open System.ini in your Windows directory and go to the [mci] section
4) Look for an entry like something=MciCinem.drv DVD
For example, I have DvdVideo=MciCinem.drv DVD
5) Open Win.ini in your Windows directory and go to the [mci extensions] section
6) Add an entry for vob using the "something" from the entry in System.ini
For example, my "something" was DvdVideo, so I would add the entry vob=DvdVideo
7) Save and close both files
8) Open DVD Genie
9) Go to the Cinemaster (old) tab
10) Change the following settings:
Decode setting: Full Quality (CPU) OR Katmai Enhanced Full Quality (CPU)
Deinterlacing: Smart Detect
Hardware Optimization: checked
3:2 Pulldown Reconstruction: checked
11) Click on More Options, and change the following settings:
Surface Flip Mode: Soft-Deinterlace (400MHz CPU+)
Surface Flip Position: Wait full frame (ATI128/Mobility)
12) Apply the settings
13) Play the game
The critical setting here is the "Decode setting". Do not select any video card specific setting here. For instance, if I chose ATI Rage Pro for my Radeon 8500, I'd get the "Movie not found" error. If I chose the ATI Rage 128/Radeon, then the program will crash and Windows will hang.
The other settings are the values that gave me the smoothest video playback.
The result:
The videos play great. Branching videos work as well -- after the first choice (whether or not to give the guy at the bar money for a meal), the video corresponding to your choice plays to the end, and then the next video in the branch plays (bartender tries to remember where he's seen Blair before).
There is one small bug -- the text for your choices in the movies does not appear. However, you can still press up and down and hear Blair say the choices. You just won't see the text.
Hopefully this will work for everybody. If anybody has questions or needs further help getting the game running, I will be around. Though, as the topic says, YMMV (your mileage may vary) and I can't promise that the game will work for everybody. Good luck!
The WC4DVD I'm referring to is the single disc, double-sided DVD with the movies in MPEG2 format in VOB files.
Years ago, I bought this DVD and brought it home and played the entire thing through. I remember I was running Win98 and had WinDVD and some version of Ravisent Cinemaster installed. Back then, the game just worked. Just recently I felt like getting the game up and running again, but I ran into some problems such as the "Movie not found" error and the problem with WinDVD not working with branching videos. After three OS installs/reinstalls, recovering from a wiped partition, and a bunch of tinkering, I got the game working on my HTPC. Here's my solution:
You will need:
1) An older Ravisent Cinemaster decoder engine (such as ATIDVD 3.0 or 3.1)
2) DVD Genie
3) Windows 95/98 (ME?) -- no NT/2K/2K3/XP
The hardware I got the game running on:
Asus P2B
Intel Pentium 3 733MHz
256MB PC133
ATI Radeon 8500LE 64MB
SB Live! Value
The steps:
1) Install the Ravisent Cinemaster decoder engine
2) Install DVD Genie
3) Open System.ini in your Windows directory and go to the [mci] section
4) Look for an entry like something=MciCinem.drv DVD
For example, I have DvdVideo=MciCinem.drv DVD
5) Open Win.ini in your Windows directory and go to the [mci extensions] section
6) Add an entry for vob using the "something" from the entry in System.ini
For example, my "something" was DvdVideo, so I would add the entry vob=DvdVideo
7) Save and close both files
8) Open DVD Genie
9) Go to the Cinemaster (old) tab
10) Change the following settings:
Decode setting: Full Quality (CPU) OR Katmai Enhanced Full Quality (CPU)
Deinterlacing: Smart Detect
Hardware Optimization: checked
3:2 Pulldown Reconstruction: checked
11) Click on More Options, and change the following settings:
Surface Flip Mode: Soft-Deinterlace (400MHz CPU+)
Surface Flip Position: Wait full frame (ATI128/Mobility)
12) Apply the settings
13) Play the game
The critical setting here is the "Decode setting". Do not select any video card specific setting here. For instance, if I chose ATI Rage Pro for my Radeon 8500, I'd get the "Movie not found" error. If I chose the ATI Rage 128/Radeon, then the program will crash and Windows will hang.
The other settings are the values that gave me the smoothest video playback.
The result:
The videos play great. Branching videos work as well -- after the first choice (whether or not to give the guy at the bar money for a meal), the video corresponding to your choice plays to the end, and then the next video in the branch plays (bartender tries to remember where he's seen Blair before).
There is one small bug -- the text for your choices in the movies does not appear. However, you can still press up and down and hear Blair say the choices. You just won't see the text.
Hopefully this will work for everybody. If anybody has questions or needs further help getting the game running, I will be around. Though, as the topic says, YMMV (your mileage may vary) and I can't promise that the game will work for everybody. Good luck!
