WC3 KS Version fix on XP

[Mincemeat]

I think I might have got WC3 Kilrathi Saga version running perfectly in Windows XP.

Would greatly appreciate the help of anybody who know what they are doing for further testing. So far, it runs perfectly for me.

Instructions as below:

1. Download and install the Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit at:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=4005DA79-933A-4CC8-BF86-FE2E28B792FD&displaylang=en

2. Run the Compatability Administrator program and create an application fix for WC3W.EXE with the following settings:

• EmulateCDFS
• HandleAPIExceptions
• IgnoreScheduler

On my computer it plays great, movies don't crash, and the keyboard input is not laggy. I haven't played it long enough to test out long term stability, but this seems very promising!

Screenshot of Compatibility Administrator for reference below.

 

[Tigerhawk]

Thanks, Mincemeat...I'm going to have to find my copy of KS again and reload it just to see if everything works.

Out of curiosity, do you have any problems running with any USB hardware while playing WC3 or any of the other games? I haven't tried playing it since I got my current computer, and that was well before I had any USB devices.

Thanks much!

 

[Mincemeat]

As far as I know all the joystick hardware differences are abstracted by Windows and DirectX anyway.

I have a generic USB joystick and WC3KS and WC4 windows version worked just fine . Also had an old-school Microsoft Sidewinder gameport joystick - it also worked before it died of old age

I bet most people tend to forget to calibrate their joysticks first before trying to play - that may cause problems. (Control Panel -> Game Controllers -> Properties -> Settings -> Calibrate)

Am planning to investigate compatibility settings for more WC games and make a "super patch" that would make just about every Windows Wing Commander game work "right out of the box". My problem is finding a "virgin" installation of XP to test properly.

Thanks for your help Tigerhawk...

 

[Mincemeat]

A bit of progress report:
Done some more compatibility work on other Origin games as well, as below:

Privateer 2 Windows upgrade/Deluxe version: Re-enabled the inflight MIDI music. Runs great.
Kilrathi Saga WC1 (including all add-ons): Fixed laggy keyboard response. Runs great.
Kilrathi Saga WC2 (including all add-ons): Fixed laggy keyboard response. Results not so perfect - sounds sometimes stutter, does not seem to exit gracefully.
Wing Commander IV Windows upgrade: Fixed laggy keyboard response. Same results as WC3W.

Question for readers: Can anybody please tell me the filename for the WC4 DVD version executable? Once I get that I will incorporate it into the superpatch and do a first public release.

 

[Master Katarn]

May I ask what kind of compatibility fixes you made to Privateer 2? On Windows XP, the deluxe version seems to crash frequently (but not always) when launching from a planet into space. After the systems check for the ship, just before the screen for space starts, the error displays:
Dwwin.exe Application error
The exception breakpoint
A breakpoint has been reached
(0x80000003) occured in the application at location 0x7c901230

I have to keep rebooting Privateer 2 and trying to get into space again until it eventually works (I don't know why it works sometimes and doesn't most times).

 

[ChrisReid]

Question for readers: Can anybody please tell me the filename for the WC4 DVD version executable? Once I get that I will incorporate it into the superpatch and do a first public release.

wc4dvd.exe

 

[Mincemeat]

May I ask what kind of compatibility fixes you made to Privateer 2? On Windows XP, the deluxe version seems to crash frequently (but not always) when launching from a planet into space. After the systems check for the ship, just before the screen for space starts, the error displays:
Dwwin.exe Application error
The exception breakpoint
A breakpoint has been reached
(0x80000003) occured in the application at location 0x7c901230

I have to keep rebooting Privateer 2 and trying to get into space again until it eventually works (I don't know why it works sometimes and doesn't most times).

That's a joystick calibration problem... I had that too. It can't be solved by XP compatibility fixes since it appears to be some sort of arithmetic overflow or divide-by-zero error. But by manually fiddling with the DARK.CFG file you can guesstimate some good settings that won't crash the game.

Go to the Game Controllers control panel applet and calibrate your joystick. Tick the "Read Raw Data" checkbox and note the numbers as you swing the stick around. In particular, note down the values for top-left, centered, and bottom-right.

Open the DARK.CFG file with Notepad and replace the values.
Joy cx = centered x coordinate
Joy cy = centered y coordinate
Joy lx = lowest x coordinate (left)
Joy ly = lowest y coordinate (top)
Joy rx = highest x coordinate (right)
Joy ry = highest y coordinate (bottom)

Also maybe increase the dead zone by a little (e.g. 0.15 instead of 0.1)

 

[Mincemeat]

Thanks Chris for your reply

Enclosed is a first release of the compatibility Superpatch.

The following games are affected:

• Wing Commander (Kilrathi Saga), including SM1 and SM2
  Keyboard lag fixed, added recognition for SM1 and SM2
• Wing Commander II (Kilrathi Saga), including SO1 and SO2
  WC2, SO1 and SO2 now runs - barely...
• Wing Commander III (Kilrathi Saga)
  No longer freezes at the intro movie, keyboard lag fixed
• Wing Commander IV Windows version (including DVD edition)
  Keyboard lag fixed, now recognises the DVD edition
• Privateer II Deluxe version / Windows upgrade
  Resurrected the inflight MIDI music
• Prophecy 3DFX test & demo
  These games are now automatically recognised
• Secret Ops (including fan-made mods Unknown Enemy and Standoff)
  These games are now automatically recognised

Please save the attachment and rename to .ZIP
Then extract the contents to a folder and proceed. Please be sure to read the README file first.

Tell me what you think...

Admin edit: direct download at http://download.wcnews.com/files/other/mincemeat_wc_superpatch.zip

 

[Master Katarn]

I've tried to do what you said for Privateer 2--unfortunately I see no "Read Raw Data" in the game controller applet in the control panel. I can swing the joystick around, but pushing it to its limits only gets stuff like (100%, 100%) when I move the mouse over the test screen. I am using a Logitech Wingman Rumblepad. I'll keep trying to see what I can do to get those raw data numbers.

 

[Mincemeat]

Raw data for joystick calibration

As per attachment

 

[NuAngel]

What problems were you experiencing without the patch? I'm stuck on one level that seems to crash out of the game EVERY time, be it right before I come back to the victory or

I'm too tired to remember where I'm at, exactly, but it's the first mission where you go to talk to rachel on the flight deck and she's pissed because "all you fighter jocks wanted recon missions so bad, so now us grunts gotta bust our asses for you."

I just keep crashing out, with the microsoft error report window coming up. No real details of the crash, though.

Nu

 

[NuAngel]

Applied your patch. Same problem, and now my videos don't play (black screen, though I can hear what's going on).

I hope the uninstall works! ~~~

Nu

 

[Master Katarn]

As seen in my attachment, the game controller properties window on my system is very different, with no raw data checkbox to be found (the settings button seen here doesn't lead to one either).

 

[Mincemeat]

What problems were you experiencing without the patch? I'm stuck on one level that seems to crash out of the game EVERY time, be it right before I come back to the victory or

I'm too tired to remember where I'm at, exactly, but it's the first mission where you go to talk to rachel on the flight deck and she's pissed because "all you fighter jocks wanted recon missions so bad, so now us grunts gotta bust our asses for you."

I just keep crashing out, with the microsoft error report window coming up. No real details of the crash, though.

Nu

Before using the patch the movies would crash right at the intro. Couldn't even get into the game...

Also if the game inexplicably crashes somewhere in the middle it might be worth checking and cleaning the CD.

If you choose to try this Compatability fix then ensure any prior compatability settings are removed. Otherwise they will conflict.

 

[Master Katarn]

In any case, I reinstalled Privateer 2 with just a mouse configuration (no joystick) and I am still coming up with the same crashes when I launch.

 

[Mincemeat]

For mouse-only the DARK.CFG file should have the following lines:

JoyOn 0
ThrottleOn 0

Also try unplug the joystick to see if it helps.

Please note that this patch doesn't deal with that breakpoint problem as I explained before.

 

[Master Katarn]

Privateer 2 still crashes during ship launches even with dark.cfg on a mouse-only configuration and the joystick unplugged. I'm thinking this breakpoint problem might not have anything to do with the joystick at all, but may be a conflict with Windows XP.

 

[Mincemeat]

Interesting theory...

I only get that error when I try to calibrate the joystick inside the game. Mouse-only works perfectly here.

Maybe have a go at trying to make your own fix? For example there is no telling what these old games might do with a hyperthreaded or dual core system.

 

[Mordrid]

This is fantastic, keep up the great work!!

-Dj

 

[KrisV]

For example there is no telling what these old games might do with a hyperthreaded or dual core system.

The number of processor cores and simultaneous multi-threading capability has zero effect unless the software was written to take advantage of these. These won't be a factor in getting Privateer 2 to run.