WCIV DVD Edition can't find movies?

Wingman53

Spaceman
I just got hold of a DVD edition of Wing Commander IV. Unfortunately I can't get past the first branching section of the movie. When you make a selection, I get an error: 'Missing movie' Then it lists the name of some cryptic .vob file. I checked the dvd in Win Explorer and found the .vob file it was looking for. I even played the movie in WinDVD.

Does anyone know how to fix this? I have a Afreey 12X dvd-rom drive and I have all the drivers I could find (which were limited).

Thanks,
Wingman
 
You'll need a CL Dxr2, Dxr3 or a Hollywood Plus dvd decorder card with PC-DVD. WC4 DVD was created before a standard for DVD was created. These are the only cards that will play WC4 DVD. You may find them cheap on Ebay. The Dxr3 and Hollywood Plus are the same card.
 
You sure?

Are you sure about that?

I managed to get the game to work (kind of) on my roomates gateway computer. It had a NEC DVD driver in it and no DXR3 card was present. The video had major problems though.

The video looks great on my computer, it just can't find files when the branching occurs. Seems like that would be a registry setting of some sort...

Wingman
 
This game was converted to DVD for CL to show of their DVD solution which did not become the standard that is used today. You'll need to support the MCI Extension for this game. If that gateway is over three years old and the DVD decoder at that time supported the standard that CL was using it may have work. But to this day the only way to get WC4 DVD to play is with a Dxr card.

You did state that the video had "major problems". With these cards the video plays just fine.
 
Hollywood variant...

So it doesn't matter if I go with the 'Hollywood' Variant of the Dxr3? WCIV should work with either? I'm asking because there are a lot more listings on ebay for the Hollywood card.

Thanks for all the help!
Wingman
 
The "REALmagic Hollywood Plus" card is the same card as Dxr3. Dxr3 card just has CL name on it. The Dxr3 cards maybe a little cheaper since people may be getting rid of the card to free a PCI slot in favor of a software decoder and WC4 is one of the few games that needs this card.
 
Similar problem but irregular

I'm having the same problem, but im using a software decoder, and some of the movies work beautifully while others really dont like to play. The first two movies, for instance, tend not to run, but the clip of Seether wiping out the starbase almost always plays (albeit with a runtime error). You hit a jump sequence and see one movie but error on the next. Any ideas if there is a software modification to fix this?
 
I been looking for a software solution for months but no ones found one yet. Which decoder software are you using?
 
I'm using PowerDVD 2.5 for Region 4, WinDVD for Region 1 (I can't be stuffed bringing out the region hack each time :)

Both are just as good in quality, though I find PowerDVD nicer/easier to use.
 
well, I have it working, sorta. The only problems at this point are multipart segments, where something (the start of a jump, a dialogue choice) triggers something else. I have a couple more fixes I am going to try before I can quote success or failure though.
 
Personally I can choose:
* All movies even when branching, but no sound
* Movies and sound fine, but movie not found error on branches.
That is the best I was able to get :(
 
Originally posted by Chernikov
well, I have it working, sorta. The only problems at this point are multipart segments, where something (the start of a jump, a dialogue choice) triggers something else. I have a couple more fixes I am going to try before I can quote success or failure though.
Chernikov, I would be very interested if you are able to get WC4 DVD work without the Dxr card. Good Luck.
 
To get this working.

Hello all.

step 1:

here is a list of things you need to get it to work:

- Windows 95/98
- WinDVD 2000 or version 2.3 (newer version will NOT work)

step 2:

*VERY IMPORTANT PART*

- hit START -> Run
- open the files Win.ini and System.ini
- in system.ini, make sure that you have WinDVD=ivimci.drv
under [MCI] heading.
- in win.ini, make sure you have vob=WinDVD.
- save and exit, then restart.

Tada!

Note: this version of the game will not work under windows XP or 2000.

y2k
 
Heh, I did that.

What happened is it all played fine, except that multipart videos never played properly - it would play, then end, and the game would just hang there. Hit Escape, and it'll give you the options, and play the resulting video, but then halt again.

Same decoder, WinDVD...

Damn Microsoft for changing the standards over and over again...
 
BUMP... I'm just six years late, no big deal. ;)

So a co-worker just showed up with a pair of "Wing Commander IV DVD Interactive" discs. Both of them still sealed (in their little taped-closed cardboard sleeves). I opened one up, popped it in, but after installing I instantly get the error message described above. "Missing Movie" then the location of the VOB file.

I figured this was due to Windows XP which I recall had some kind of problem with Windows XP, so I loaded up a Windows 98 Virtual Machine, but get the same error message. Do I really need a special DVD card? Or when I take this puppy home and slap it in my rig with a Radeon HD 4650 video card, I'll be away and playing with no problems... ?

NuAngel
 
Installed patch 1.2 by Gulikoza - still get "error rendering video" error message.

NStriker patch gives a "filesize mismatch" error.

The freeware mpeg decoder doesn't install under my Windows 98 VM, claiming "bad command or file name" with the batch file trying to run a "regsvr32" command.

I'm stuck, now. :(

NuAngel
 
People have successfully ran the DVD version of WC4 on XP itself, so I wouldn't recommend using a VM unless all other options fail. However, I installed and played the game on a Vista machine, so the advice I give you may or may not work if you're using XP.

All the files I needed were on Gulikoza's homepage: dxmci version 1.5 (the version the CIC hosts is out-of-date), the alternate mpeg2.dll, and mpeg2dec.zip. I don't remember if I needed either of NStriker's patches... you might want to try the game first and apply the appropriate WC4DVDFix if you run into the VirtualProtect error. In any event, the game worked perfectly.
 
Back
Top