WC4 DVD - XP Issues

[Freddie1980]

I'm struggling to get the WC4 DVD game to work on Windows XP. I've just paid £40 for this game on Ebay and I've read through countless topics to try and resolve the problem. This is what happens.

- Complete installation of the game
- Run the game
- FDDshow box pops up saying WC4DVD has tried to run FDDshow. I choose not to run it.
- Streams in this movie are an unsupported Format
- Can't load video
- Can't find, E:\Vob\sc_001a.vob
- A purple screen opens with two dialogue options

So far I have installed
- dxmci15 (placed in the WC4 directory)
- binkw32 (placed in the WC4 directory)
- WC4DVDFix (run and patched)
- Compatibility set to Win95
- Installed ogg Direct Show 0.9.9.5 (I thought this would sort the direct show filter issue)
- mpeg2dec.dll (placed in the WC4 directory)
- Installed AC3 filter

I've read on some threads people have copied files over from the DVD. Which files are these and were do they need to go?

I've also read I might need some kind of special video/sound card from Creative to get this run. Is this still true? Is there a software work round?

My Specs:

Windows XP SP3
C2D E6400
2Gb DDR2 800Mhz
Nvidia 8800 gt

I'm pretty sure I've missed something or I'm not doing something right, so any tips you can give to help run the most expensive game in the world would be appreciated.

BTW I have a the double sided single disc version of the game.

 

[AD]

If you already have DVD Software on your computer you really shouldn't be installing a bunch of extra files and codecs into your WC4 install.

I would wipe it clean from your Harddrive and start again. At most, you need to do the following:
1/ Install the game.

2/ Install Gulikoza's dxmci patch into the WC4 directory. (note that there's various versions of the patch and some may work better than others)

3/ Possibly install mpeg2dec. Then run the register.bat file included with it. This is necessary if you are running any Cyberlink software like PowerDVD.

4/ Make sure compatability mode is set to win95 or 98.

5/ After all that, if it works but you get no sound you will need to install AC3 filter.

That's it. If it is still failing after all that, and you have Cyberlink software on your PC you might need to uninstall your Cyberlink software.

 

[Freddie1980]

If you already have DVD Software on your computer you really shouldn't be installing a bunch of extra files and codecs into your WC4 install.

I would wipe it clean from your Harddrive and start again. At most, you need to do the following:
1/ Install the game.

2/ Install Gulikoza's dxmci patch into the WC4 directory. (note that there's various versions of the patch and some may work better than others)

3/ Possibly install mpeg2dec. Then run the register.bat file included with it. This is necessary if you are running any Cyberlink software like PowerDVD.

4/ Make sure compatability mode is set to win95 or 98.

5/ After all that, if it works but you get no sound you will need to install AC3 filter.

That's it. If it is still failing after all that, and you have Cyberlink software on your PC you might need to uninstall your Cyberlink software.

I managed to get it working. I done as advised but it still failed to work, I could play the movies in VLC player but VLC is a closed media player and has it's own codecs, it then occurred to me I didn't have an proper MPEG2 codec anywhere on my computer.

So then a few choice words into google and I downloaded and installed this. The game then started playing the intro!

The only problem now that I can't seem to skip the intro, none of my keyboard input other then Ctrl+Alt+Del seems to work.

Side note, I'm running on Win98 Compatibility mode.

---------

Edit I went back to Win95 mode but I still couldn't skip the intro.


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Futher Edit:

I should point out my keyboard is a standard PS2 interface

 

[AD]

I managed to get it working. I done as advised but it still failed to work, I could play the movies in VLC player but VLC is a closed media player and has it's own codecs, it then occurred to me I didn't have an proper MPEG2 codec anywhere on my computer.

So then a few choice words into google and I downloaded and installed this. The game then started playing the intro!

The only problem now that I can't seem to skip the intro, none of my keyboard input other then Ctrl+Alt+Del seems to work.

Side note, I'm running on Win98 Compatibility mode.

---------

Edit I went back to Win95 mode but I still couldn't skip the intro.


------

Futher Edit:

I should point out my keyboard is a standard PS2 interface

What happens when the intro is done? Do you have keyboard control after that? Is there some kind of proprietary settings in the mpeg decoder you downloaded that can be adjusted to allow keyboard control? Is it possible it's overriding your keyboard while movies play?

If windows has no problem detecting your keyboard, there's no reason that the game shouldn't be.

 

[Freddie1980]

What happens when the intro is done? Do you have keyboard control after that? Is there some kind of proprietary settings in the mpeg decoder you downloaded that can be adjusted to allow keyboard control? Is it possible it's overriding your keyboard while movies play?

If windows has no problem detecting your keyboard, there's no reason that the game shouldn't be.

Good point, it didn't occur to me it could be the codec. I'll give it a try when I get home.

 

[Freddie1980]

Ok I let the DVD play through the intro, I got to the part where the guys asks for a drink, when it freezes just as the dialogue options are meant to appear but I don't get of the options.

I could get the options when I didn't have the MEPG2 codec installed but I couldn't play the video, now I can play the video but I can't skip the intro or have any sort of interface.

I've tried using a different MPEG2 codec but I got the same result. I've tried running it in both 95 and 98/ME Compatibility as well. The MPEG2 codec doesn't come with a front end so there no option for me to tamper with.

Can someone please recommend me a MPEG2 codec that they have working with this game. Thank you.

 

[AD]

Ok I let the DVD play through the intro, I got to the part where the guys asks for a drink, when it freezes just as the dialogue options are meant to appear but I don't get of the options.

I could get the options when I didn't have the MEPG2 codec installed but I couldn't play the video, now I can play the video but I can't skip the intro or have any sort of interface.

I've tried using a different MPEG2 codec but I got the same result. I've tried running it in both 95 and 98/ME Compatibility as well. The MPEG2 codec doesn't come with a front end so there no option for me to tamper with.

Can someone please recommend me a MPEG2 codec that they have working with this game. Thank you.

Curious... It's odd that this is persisting. Now, when the video finishes playing, moving the mouse up or down doesn't give you any voice options? It kind of sounds like it may be an overlay issue. Have you tried using some of the other versions of the dxmci patch. There's a few different versions and experimenting with some of the older ones might do the trick. Plus at least one of Gulikoza's patches also has a built in compatability adjuster that lets you tweak things to attempt to resolve issues. Other options might be going into your directx hardware acceleration settings and seeing if lowering the levels helps any (possibly even turning them off).

Also, It surprises me that you need another codec at all. What kind of video hardware are you running? Might you GPU drivers have an overlay setting that could be interfering? Sometimes rolling your video card drivers back to an older version helps in some instances too.

 

[Freddie1980]

Ok I installed PowerDVD 8 Ultra (I know about issues with WC4 DVD and Power DVD but the movies play just fine) but I'm still having the interface issue.

I can play DVD movies fines and my keyboard works fine when playing movie discc.

 

[Freddie1980]

Curious... It's odd that this is persisting. Now, when the video finishes playing, moving the mouse up or down doesn't give you any voice options? It kind of sounds like it may be an overlay issue. Have you tried using some of the other versions of the dxmci patch. There's a few different versions and experimenting with some of the older ones might do the trick. Plus at least one of Gulikoza's patches also has a built in compatability adjuster that lets you tweak things to attempt to resolve issues. Other options might be going into your directx hardware acceleration settings and seeing if lowering the levels helps any (possibly even turning them off).

Also, It surprises me that you need another codec at all. What kind of video hardware are you running? Might you GPU drivers have an overlay setting that could be interfering? Sometimes rolling your video card drivers back to an older version helps in some instances too.

I tried moving the mouse but that done nothing. The only time I have had audio option is when I've uninstalled the MPEG2 codecs but then I don't gey any video, that's why I thought using a different codec might help but it hasn't (I’ve tried 3 now).

I've been through all of Gulikoza patches and applied mpeg2dec filter and run the bat file that came with it that.

I tried the hardware acceleration in the control panel, looking for overlay in Nvidia drivers.

The only other thing I could think of was my keyboard runs through a PS2 convertor, but since the game works with the keyboard without the MPEG2 codec that's also a none issue.

I can’t be the only one to have this problem with the keyboard issue.

 

[AD]

Ok I installed PowerDVD 8 Ultra (I know about issues with WC4 DVD and Power DVD but the movies play just fine) but I'm still having the interface issue.

I can play DVD movies fines and my keyboard works fine when playing movie discc.

First I'm fairly certain the issue is *not* your keyboard.

The issue with powerDVD isn't playing the movies independantly of the game. What happens is that the game itself will freeze after the first video plays( AKA right at the first choice). Theoretically any kind of cyberling DVD related software might do this.

Have you tried running register.bat that comes with mpeg2dec? (download and unzip into your WC4 directory. then run register from there.)

Edit: saw your second post after posting. If you had any kind of Cyberlink software installed that could very well be the issue. In which case any generic MPEG2 codec *should* work. I'm going to have to think about this for a moment and get back to you. But really, what video card drivers are you using?

 

[Freddie1980]

First I'm fairly certain the issue is *not* your keyboard.

The issue with powerDVD isn't playing the movies independantly of the game. What happens is that the game itself will freeze after the first video plays( AKA right at the first choice). Theoretically any kind of cyberling DVD related software might do this.

Have you tried running register.bat that comes with mpeg2dec? (download and unzip into your WC4 directory. then run register from there.)

Edit: saw your second post after posting. If you had any kind of Cyberlink software installed that could very well be the issue. In which case any generic MPEG2 codec *should* work. I'm going to have to think about this for a moment and get back to you. But really, what video card drivers are you using?

I'm using drivers 177.83.

 

[LarkInFlight]

Hi,

If you solve this problem, please write how you did it.. I'm having the same problems with my Wing4 DVD (that's why I didn't finish replay of all Wing Commanders). I even tried to play it under the old Win'98.. didn't help. But I'm sure we can figure something out together..

 

[Freddie1980]

Hi,

If you solve this problem, please write how you did it.. I'm having the same problems with my Wing4 DVD (that's why I didn't finish replay of all Wing Commanders). I even tried to play it under the old Win'98.. didn't help. But I'm sure we can figure something out together..

What setup are you using?
------------

I have another XP machine here, it's older one

AMD Duron 900 (I think)
1Gb of ram
Nvidia 5600 Video card
XP SP2

It hasn't been updated for ages, so who knows.

I've also been made aware that there are two differant versions of the WC4 DVD. I don't know which one I have, it's a single disc burn over two sides.

 

[Freddie1980]

Ok I tired it on my other machine but I got the same problems, the only difference was that rather then the game going straight to the intro it went to the load/save game screen.

I did actually run the game without the MPEG2 codec, I didn’t see any of the cut scenes no hear the dialogue but I could flick between the dialogue options with my keyboard and the game as in the actually gameplay did work fine. However if I want to just play the game I would have brought the regular CD version, I brought this to enjoy the high quality cut scenes.

Running it on a older computer

XP SP2
AMD Duron 1.3Ghz
256MB SDRAM
GeForce 5600 (some really old driver, years old)

Playing on this has eliminated the possibility of the problem being a problem with video card drivers, multithreaded CPU’s and DDR style ram.

The one think that could be is my keboard connection, I don’t have a proper PS2 keyboard to try out, my one is a USB to PS2 convertor.

A keyboard issue would be far fetched (I never come across this before in any other game) so I tend to think this is an issue with the actual game or the version of the game I own. I know there are two versions of the WC4 DVD, and as I’ve previously mentioned I don’t know what one I have (the WC4 DVD Alt patch doesn’t work if that helps).

My camera is broken so I would normally post a picture; the game came in a card board black and red case. It says Wing Commander IV and underneath it says DVD Interactive.

 

[AD]

Ok I tired it on my other machine but I got the same problems, the only difference was that rather then the game going straight to the intro it went to the load/save game screen.

I did actually run the game without the MPEG2 codec, I didn’t see any of the cut scenes no hear the dialogue but I could flick between the dialogue options with my keyboard and the game as in the actually gameplay did work fine. However if I want to just play the game I would have brought the regular CD version, I brought this to enjoy the high quality cut scenes.

Running it on a older computer

XP SP2
AMD Duron 1.3Ghz
256MB SDRAM
GeForce 5600 (some really old driver, years old)

Playing on this has eliminated the possibility of the problem being a problem with video card drivers, multithreaded CPU’s and DDR style ram.

The one think that could be is my keboard connection, I don’t have a proper PS2 keyboard to try out, my one is a USB to PS2 convertor.

A keyboard issue would be far fetched (I never come across this before in any other game) so I tend to think this is an issue with the actual game or the version of the game I own. I know there are two versions of the WC4 DVD, and as I’ve previously mentioned I don’t know what one I have (the WC4 DVD Alt patch doesn’t work if that helps).

My camera is broken so I would normally post a picture; the game came in a card board black and red case. It says Wing Commander IV and underneath it says DVD Interactive.

The game will go to the "load" menu if you have put it in on the B side, or if there are any saved games present.

If it is your keyboard you should be able to tell by unplugging your keyboard. You should be able to rund the game from the shortcut and chose the options by moving the mouse or joystick up or down.

This might do the trick though: Extract this zip into your WC4 directory as well as dxmci and mpeg2dec. and see what hapens: http://www.si-gamer.net/gulikoza/bin/mpeg2.zip Make sure you choose to overwrite the existing files.

"If your wc4dvd.exe is dated 25.9.1997 (size: 773.120 bytes), download the alternate mpeg2.dll and overwrite the file that is in dxmci download archive."


If you still have problems, download version 1.3 of the dxmci patch. This version has different compatability settings that on the highest level reset the Dshow filter parameters between every clip.

dxmci 1.3: http://www.si-gamer.net/gulikoza/bin/dxmci13.zip

Newest version dxmci 1.5: http://www.si-gamer.net/gulikoza/bin/dxmci15.zip

 

[Freddie1980]

I'M THE MAN!

I've finally cracked it!

It was the AC3 filiter I had installed! I remember from my testing last night that when the AC3 filiter wasn't installed the game was somwhat differant, so I thought I would try uninstalling it and see what happened, I had nothing to lose. And it works!

So AD if you get anyone else with this sort of problem tell them to uninstall any software that may contain the AC3 codec, thanks for your input anyway. God I'm so happy at this point.

 

[AD]

I've finally cracked it!

It was the AC3 filiter I had installed! I remember from my testing last night that when the AC3 filiter wasn't installed the game was somwhat differant, so I thought I would try uninstalling it and see what happened, I had nothing to lose. And it works!

So AD if you get anyone else with this sort of problem tell them to uninstall any software that may contain the AC3 codec, thanks for your input anyway. God I'm so happy at this point.

Yeah, unless you get the videos with no sound you should not install AC3filter. Thanks for replying with what fixed it for you.

 

[Freddie1980]

Yeah, unless you get the videos with no sound you should not install AC3filter. Thanks for replying with what fixed it for you.

Well I've got the game running but my joystick (USB) isn't working in the game. I can calibrate it in windows, I've enabled it in the option (in game) and tried differant windows compatability settings. I'm going to tamper with that file for the DVD playback (that comes with a slider) and see if that helps. If not I'll reinstall or try plugging the joystick into my computer rather then my monitor hub.

 

[AD]

Well I've got the game running but my joystick (USB) isn't working in the game. I can calibrate it in windows, I've enabled it in the option (in game) and tried differant windows compatability settings. I'm going to tamper with that file for the DVD playback (that comes with a slider) and see if that helps. If not I'll reinstall or try plugging the joystick into my computer rather then my monitor hub.

This happens sometimes if you have more than one controller (such as a gamepad and even an old gameport joystick) plugged in at a time. It's actually a glitch with XP and can affect other older games too. Try unplugging any controlers (other than your mouse, keyboard, and the controler you want to use) that you are not using and see if works after that.

 

[Freddie1980]

This happens sometimes if you have more than one controller (such as a gamepad and even an old gameport joystick) plugged in at a time. It's actually a glitch with XP and can affect other older games too. Try unplugging any controlers (other than your mouse, keyboard, and the controler you want to use) that you are not using and see if works after that.

Thanks for that I have a Xbox 360 controller plugged in at the moment.


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Edit:

Joystick issue fixed

I unplugged my 360 controller and the joystick still didn't work. I went back into the control panel>Game Controllers>Advanced>Preferred Device>(select your joystick mine being a Saitek ST330 Rumble Stick). Before it was set at none.

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Now everything is working I have to say the cut scenes look amazing compared to the grainy images of WC3, and the £40 I paid for it despite the issues I've had to get this to work is worth the money. Thank you for your help AD. If you keep notes on technical issues feel free to add the sloutions to the list, hopefully it will save someone the frustration I've had.

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I might as well write out my own Read Me file for future referance, there's no way I going to remember all this in years to come.