Secret Missions with Recent Release

Destron

Spaceman
I was thrilled to find out that Wing Commander is now freely and legally available, so I went ahead and downloaded it from your site. It's been a blast to play. However, is it possible to run Secret Missions with this version? The update text (https://www.wcnews.com/news/update/10285) suggests that it is, but whenever I try the computer tells me to insert the Kilrathi Saga CD. Any idea on how to handle this? Thank you.
 
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It may not work at all, i'll have a play tomorrow night though and see if it can be done :)

THere should be a way to manually install. I played the SM packs with the PC Gamer version back in the day... it may just need an extra file off the disk. Basically you need to know what folders to copy to the WC1 directory, which ones to overwrite and which order to do it in. Just copying everything to the same directory sort of works but it crashes when you start a campaign.
 
IGNORE THIS!
so sm1 at least I got working by installing the secret missions pack into the pcgamer folder then re-extracting the pcgamer folder over that. sm2 didnt work at all though (black screen)

what makes that a bit more bizarre is that the same number of files are present in both that folder and my kilrathi saga install folder yet the sm2 in the ksaga folder works fine (using the ksaga wc1 exe) while the sm2 in the pcgamer folder doesnt so presumably the difference is in the wc1 exe file that is cracked!

so what i'd suggest is that you make sure you dont restore the cracked wc1.exe after installing the secret missions or neither wc1 or sm1 will work - sm2 may never work.
IGNORE THE ABOVE! I'M ONLY LEAVING IT FOR POSTERITY!


RECIPE TO GET SECRET MISSIONS WORKING WITH PCGAMER KILRATHI SAGA

extract the pcgamer wc1
copy all the files from the wckssm12.zip (the kilrathi saga secret missions 1 and 2 zip file) to the wc1\gamedat folder overwriting where necessary (briefing.002, camp.002, commsm2.dat, install.dat, intro1.dat, midgame.v06, midgame.v07,midgame.v02, module.002,pcship.v05, planets1.vga, series.vga, ship.v19, shiptype.v14, talking1.vga, title1.vga, wingmen1.vga) EXCEPT:
sm1.exe, sm2.exe, transfer.exe wc1.exe wing1.exe, sm12inst.exe

now copy sm1.exe, sm2.exe transfer.exe into the wc1 folder

that should make the games work ok!
 
I tried that, but it crashes with an error report every time I try to start Secret Missions 1 or 2. Do I have to copy them in a certain order? Do I need to re-extract WC1 after using WinZip the first time? Thanks.

(Also, you wrote Midgame.v02 as one of the necessary files; there isn't one by that name. I'm guessing you meant Midgame.v08?)
 
yeah it crashes on mine too (when the intro finishes)- just enable win95 compatability :) yes i meant .v08 :)

just extract wc1, replace the files and go - the wc1.exe contains the cd protection so don't replace that.
There's also minemeats patch which removes some compatablity issues though apparently not all since i still need win9x mode on!

https://www.wcnews.com/news/update/10160

if all else fails then goto the command prompt, get to your wc1 folder and type dir /s > list.txt

and then post that here - help me check you copied everything right.
can i confirm your operating system too?
 
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It's working now, thanks!

I use Windows XP. I actually own a Mac, and am running Windows on the Boot Camp emulator.
 
Heh, thats fine, its just in 7 and possibly in vista, the ddhack is a useful fix as well but it doesnt work in xp :(

Glad I helped!
 
This has brought a tear to my eye!

As someone who actually bought the kilrathi saga then lent it to a friend and had it subsequently go missing I've been searching for a copy for years now.

Thanks for posting this up guys!

Saleem
 
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