WC 4 and WC 5 on Steam Deck

K

Knobi Wan Penobi

Petty Officer
Was someone ever be able to get WC IV running on the steam deck.
I managed to get it installed via lutris. It more or less works on Desktopmode.
As @LividLiquid statet in another thread, I had to disable window manager controlling windows in the wine config. Pretty every version of proton runs the game (by now I use GE-Proton 8-23). The game starts plays the movies and I played the first mission.
I installed the HD movie pack and the game runs (the aspect ratio seems to be messed up - but hey...)
I even managed to change the inflight language by installing the dos version and copy the files from this installation to the dvd installation.

Two questions someone of you may be able to answer.

  1. I cannot get it running in gamemode. When starting the game from gamemode, I can hear the sound of the game (the introvideo .vob is played) but the valve logo circles and I can only press steam menu or "B" to leave. The game (.vob file) is running in the background. Is there some setting I miss. The problem with Desktopmode is, that my controller scheme includes some radial- and touchmenus on the right stick and the left pad and these menus work, but were not visualized. Both is really needed to play WC games without a keyboard.
  2. I was able to install the DOS Version too. This plays quite fine in Gamemode (with low-res video - but in the end better than nothing). Problem is, that - as soon as I am ingame - the game won't recognize the joystick. Even it recognizes it well as long as it is in "dosmode" (before the game starts it asks you to calibrate the joystick and there I can see, that moving the stick is recognized). This may be a question for dosbox...but maybe someone of you has encountered such a problem and can help.

If I enable "disable window manager controlling windows" the game runs even in gamemode. But unfortunately then the game is displayed only in the lower half of the screen, so that you can only see the upper half of the game picture and even if it works well it is unplayable.


Is there someone out there who can help. I play WC 1, 2 and 3 on the deck. And it is absolute fantastic (I use xreal air and have such a huge screen).

EDIT:
I can play WC III; WC IV and WC V on Steam Deck now in May 2025.

I installed all three games from GOG via lutris and let lutris create steam shortcuts.

Then you got to do something. But it's quite easy.


WC III:

This runs already anyway. But it is now possible to use HD Movies and 16:9 space view in the missions.

Use WC III enhancement Pack.

Go here:

github.com

GitHub - mattwells77/Wing_Commander_III_Enhancement_Patch

Contribute to mattwells77/Wing_Commander_III_Enhancement_Patch development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com github.com

follow the installation steps exactly - do not forget to grab the hd movie pack linked in the install instructions

After installing in lutris go to wine configuration -> libraries and make a new override for ddraw.dll

In the game directory edit wc3w_en.ini and set ENABLE_CONTROLLER_ENHANCEMENTS=0

Else you cannot use the steamdeck inputs and community-layouts


WC IV:

It is pretty the same like WC III

Install GOG version via lutris

Use the Windows 95 upgrade from here

Windows 95 Upgrade - Wing Commander Encyclopedia

www.wcnews.com www.wcnews.com

You only need to copy the wc4w.exe from the zi file

Then follow the instructions for the wc IV enhancement pack

github.com

GitHub - mattwells77/Wing_Commander_IV_Enhancement_Patch

Contribute to mattwells77/Wing_Commander_IV_Enhancement_Patch development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com github.com

do not forget to grab the hd movie pack linked in the install instructions

Then do the dll override for the ddraw.dll in lutris and you should be good to go

In the game directory edit wc4w_en.ini and set ENABLE_CONTROLLER_ENHANCEMENTS=0

Else you cannot use the steamdeck inputs and community-layouts

If you need to switch your Install to German - you can use this instructions - the "-l1" has to be set in lutris under configuration (right click on the game) -> gamesetup (? second tab) arguments without the quotes

Your executable in lutris under configuration (right click on the game) -> gamesetup (? second tab) should point to WC4W.EXE


WC Prophecy:

This was a little more tricky

Install GOG Version via lutris

Then you need:

DVD Movie Upgrade Patch

Enhancement Pack

OpenGL Patch

and I recommend:

Model Upgrade Pack

Prophecy HD Video Pack - you can find the german hd movies linked on this page too

1. extract the HCl's WCP Enhancement Package straight into the WCP folder. Make sure you DON'T overwrite Prophecy.exe or WCPHR.DLL files.
- else the game will ask you to insert cd 1
2. extract DVD Movie upgrade patch into the WCP folder and overwrite all files if it asks you for
3. install open gl patch and MUP
For installing the open gl patch and the MUP you have to extract the respective *.exe into your WCP folder and point the executable in lutris to the respective *.exe

then start the game in lutris and let the first patch install. thend point lutris to the second executable from the second patch and run it. Whenever you be asked to configure the open gl setup make sure that you keep FSAA at "0" else you will only get a black screen.

After that you could point lutris to launcher exe and run it just to check if there is a open gl setup und FSAA is fr sure at "0".

Then you should point lutris to prophecy.exe again

Don't forget to copy the hd movies to the movie directory

So that's it.

You should use a steam controller layout. As far as I can see there is only the one I use.
I found this as a community layout years ago. It was made by someone and then changed by me.

on my deck it is called:

Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger: WC 3 deu

KnobiWanPenobi is shown as user

You can use it for all three games if you are able to find it. I don't know what I should do, so that you can find the layout.
I once wrote with a guy on reddit here and in the end they found the layout. Be sure to read the whole thread.


Have a lot of fun!
 
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Hi @Knobi Wan Penobi, Ihave managed to get WC3, WC4, Privateer and Privateer 2 working great. All DOS versions. I enjoy the OG FMV with interlacing etc. Using the dosbox staging flatpak with full joystick and MIDI support. It is a dream. Cant speak for the Win95 versions of WC4 and Darkening but would assume they will run great on PCEm using a Win98 ISO/ROM. This is first peace of hardware since my OG PC from the 90s that I have been able to really enjoy these titles. Even the non DarkFix version of Privateer 2 runs at 60 FPS with no slow down at planets and big ships. In gaming heaven at the moment. Shout if you need to see the config files or Terminal scripts to get them running as non steam games in Game Mode.
 
Wotcha chaps. I have recently procured a steam deck and have tried a couple of WC games via my GOG account using heroic launcher. Not that interested in faffing around too much and have not had a huge amount of success. WC1 will launch but hangs fairly quickly. I couldn't get privateer to run at all but maybe I just need to use a different proton version.
 
boatgeek said:
Wotcha chaps. I have recently procured a steam deck and have tried a couple of WC games via my GOG account using heroic launcher. Not that interested in faffing around too much and have not had a huge amount of success. WC1 will launch but hangs fairly quickly. I couldn't get privateer to run at all but maybe I just need to use a different proton version.
Click to expand...
Hi boatgeek. The problem more or less is that Heroic launcher will try to launch the windows version of dosbox that comes with the game through wine or proton. So an emulation in a wrapper. That is bound to cause issues.

My solution is to set up emudeck (I use that anyways since I run some switch games on my steam deck as well as amiga stuff). All the dos games run quite well through retroarch's dosbox-pure core, which comes with an added bonus of being able to run games from zip files, which in turn makes inclusion into gameing mode via Steam ROM Manager just working.

Got Wing Commander 1, 2 and 3 set up and running. Gonna try to tackle Wing Commander 4 next weekend in the Dos Version.

For Wing Commander 4 Windows Version and Wing Commander Prophecy my idea is to try and setup a windows95 install in dosbax and run the games through that.

Admittedly this is quite involved and not an out of the box solution. But for me all this try and error is half the fund of getting retro games to run.
 
Chrithu said:
Hi boatgeek. The problem more or less is that Heroic launcher will try to launch the windows version of dosbox that comes with the game through wine or proton. So an emulation in a wrapper. That is bound to cause issues.

My solution is to set up emudeck (I use that anyways since I run some switch games on my steam deck as well as amiga stuff). All the dos games run quite well through retroarch's dosbox-pure core, which comes with an added bonus of being able to run games from zip files, which in turn makes inclusion into gameing mode via Steam ROM Manager just working.

Got Wing Commander 1, 2 and 3 set up and running. Gonna try to tackle Wing Commander 4 next weekend in the Dos Version.

For Wing Commander 4 Windows Version and Wing Commander Prophecy my idea is to try and setup a windows95 install in dosbax and run the games through that.

Admittedly this is quite involved and not an out of the box solution. But for me all this try and error is half the fund of getting retro games to run.
Click to expand...
Thank you so very much for this! It took me a couple hours, but i was able to get WC1 and WC2 running really well on the deck via emudeck via dosbox-pure from my gog downloaded source files! I was able to get 3 and four more or less running as well. Any ideas(or links to tutorials?) on how to get high rez files working wc3 or 4 with dosbox pure and steam deck? thanks again for your mentioning dosbox pure, i had never heard of it and never thought of trying that!
 
Hello all, I've been fighting with this for some time now. I've got WC4 more or less running using an app i found on discover called Port Proton. Video, and sound, and flight is working. Only problem is this...

If I could figure out how to get the screen aligned right, I'll be in business.
 

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I just wanted to post that I got WC5 working on the steam deck. Seems to work well so far. Sound and cut scenes working as expected. It's a bit involved, but if there's interest, I'll write up some instructions. The flight pic is a bit out of aspect since I was testing in desktop mode.
edit: for some reason the pics won't upload.
 
MattM1121 said:
I just wanted to post that I got WC5 working on the steam deck. Seems to work well so far. Sound and cut scenes working as expected. It's a bit involved, but if there's interest, I'll write up some instructions. The flight pic is a bit out of aspect since I was testing in desktop mode.
edit: for some reason the pics won't upload.
Click to expand...
Please do. I've been trying to get all the Wing Commanders working on mine and have gotten at least the first 3 running and would love to continue with IV and Prophecy, although I'm not sure how close IV Remastered is to getting released.
 
Phane said:
Please do. I've been trying to get all the Wing Commanders working on mine and have gotten at least the first 3 running and would love to continue with IV and Prophecy, although I'm not sure how close IV Remastered is to getting released.
Click to expand...
I edited my initial post. I am able to play all WC games on my deck by now.
 
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