Wing Commander Games and Windows XP - A Summary

hey, im a newb, really want to play WC3-4. Would it be easier for me to bypass all the dos/patch hassle and just by a playstation and get the games for it? do ther games differ at all between PC and Playstation? I know WC4 rocked on PS...

Thanks in advance
 
They do differ. I think WC4 for the Playstation is better than WC3. WC3 for the 3DO, on the other hand, is really good. I'd recommend the PC ones though. KS WC3 and WC4 DVD (or WC4 with the Windows 95 patch) are probably ideal.
 
i have a good pc, but i dont want to hassle with anything complex as far having to download this or that to play the games. i just dont want to spend hours tweaking different things if i can buy a PS1 for 30 bucks and play the games that route.

i would much rather play the games on PC, but after reading this thread ive come to the conclusion that i dont want to be worrying about anything called dosbox or the such :-)

again though, are there any glaring differences between the PC and PS versions of WC4? The PS version i played as a youngin was amazing from what i remember with the cutscenes and movie-like atmosphere... so im sure the PC verion couldnt be too much different...maybe im wrong.
 
Unregistered said:
i have a good pc, but i dont want to hassle with anything complex as far having to download this or that to play the games. i just dont want to spend hours tweaking different things if i can buy a PS1 for 30 bucks and play the games that route.

i would much rather play the games on PC, but after reading this thread ive come to the conclusion that i dont want to be worrying about anything called dosbox or the such
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That's a really sad reason cause it really isnt all that hard... especially if you already have them for PC, or because you can probably get dos versions of WC3 , 4 - heck even wc4-DVD - for a combined total including shipping for less than your 30 dollars for a PS1 after which you still need to buy the PS versions.

again though, are there any glaring differences between the PC and PS versions of WC4? The PS version i played as a youngin was amazing from what i remember with the cutscenes and movie-like atmosphere... so im sure the PC verion couldnt be too much different...maybe im wrong.
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WC3 for playstation is a quite similar experience to the PC version. The largest difference is the controls (no analog support) which can be complicated trying to remember all the combinations and such but the learning curve isn't terribly long. You can get a joystick for a ps1 though. The graphics arent quite as good as pc but the video is cleaner looking (uses better compression). Some hardware limitations with the ps1 means there arent any ground missions and have some different space missions instead. Therefore there are some interesting FMV sequences instead of ground missions. A plus for the PS1 version is the TCN reports and hobbes betrayal message to blair video that are missing in the PC version.

WC4 for psx is kinda like an abridged version. It moves along at a breakneck pace but is cut in various places. Some mission sequences and videos are missing all together, the video isnt as good looking as on pc (CD or DVD). However the controls are more simplified over the wc3-ps1 and with analog support you get to use the stick and get some rumble effects. In all, it actually translates, like chris said, into a better experience than wc3 PSX.
 
It seems like they put more thought into "Playstation-izing" Wing Commander 4 than Wing Commander 3. Where as Wing Commander 3 is almost a straight port from the PC with new material in place of the ground missions, that doesn't exactly work very well on the Playstation hardware as the graphics could've been cleaned better up in their dumbed down state a little better and framerate suffers pretty badly in the more intense battles. The controls are also pretty terrible, but not impossible, since they try to cram every action from the PC into the Playstation controller. Navigating the Victory is also a chore because of the load times. One of the plusses though is the slightly improved movie quality. The experience is still there it just feels more unpolished and slower paced.

Wing Commander 4 on the other hand seems to know what it's working with and it looks better, runs faster, and has much improved and simplified controls. Using the map menu to get around your carrier also saves you some pain with the load times since you can go exactly where you need to go instead of wasting time getting their manually and going through empty rooms. It sacrifices a few things to achieve its playability but this is acceptable because the gameplay experience is much better and more fine-tuned to the Playstation console than its predecessor. Think of it as the summarized casual gamer version that's accessible to even non-WC fans but doesn't leave out anything essential.

I think both are worth having especially if you're having trouble with them on the PC but the PC versions are far superior which is understandable since its the platform they were originally intended for and ports are almost always less than perfect. If you're more worried about the movies than the gameplay then the WC3 Playstation version is definately worth it because of its added footage (Some non-essential movies such as the moving around the ship transitions have been cut but they always annoyed me anyway) and slightly clearer video. I suggest battling the PC versions to get them to work instead if you're not like me and a few other WingNuts here who have both versions anyway.

Now if only they would've redone all the old Wing Commanders on Gameboy Advance like Prophecy... a man can dream can't he?
 
Just for the record: i solved my "Files=25"-problem. I had to set this line in the config.nt of Windows. Now my old WC3 works with small sound-problems. It's not perfect, but it's playable. :)
 
Mentis if u need any help with the VDMS guide then email me and id be glad to help however i rarely check these forums recently. If anyone needs help then u can contact me or mentis. VDMS is a program primarily for sound however it HELPS to setup the game for running WC 3&4 in command prompt of win 95-XP. I have gotten them both to run in XP for myself and as far as i know was the first to use VDMS. By now tho i am rust (I shake off the dust on my shoulders) with the program but it will come back fast enough if questions fly. It is relatively simple to use VDMS and i figured it all out by just tweaking the settings until it ran for me.
 
Spien, AD.... thanks for the replies

allright. i have a P4 3ghx, 500DDR-Ram, 120gb, XP setup

is there an overly simply way for me to play WC3-4 without having to patch this, dosbox that etc... can i play both of these games perfectly with one simple download? ive ran MAME, is there some sort of emulator to play the games? basically, can someone give me the skinny as a complete newb. im also not that familiar with DOS... this is why ive considered just going the Playstation route. I dont neccesarily want to go that route, but i really dont want much of a hassle trying to get the games to run perfectly...
 
Well DOSBox actually is a DOS emulator of sorts, but don't worry about that because KDMSound is the application that you need for WC3 though and it's a bit easier than DOSBox and it's also a Windows interface so you don't have to mess around with a DOS prompt. Like DOSBox, KDMSound basically emulates a DOS atmosphere.
 
i have a problem with Secret Ops and the High Res Patch, Ive managed to get Unkown Enemy and Prophecy to work perfectly with the Glide Wrapper and high res patch. However, in secret ops, although it does actualy run at 1024x768, I am unable to get the HUD to match, so for example the on carrier scenes are all rendered in the top left corner at 640x480, as is the actual hud in flight (although the 3D canopy graphic is 1024x768) - is there a .cfg option I should change to fix this?

any help is much appreciated
 
Spien said:
Well DOSBox actually is a DOS emulator of sorts, but don't worry about that because KDMSound is the application that you need for WC3 though and it's a bit easier than DOSBox and it's also a Windows interface so you don't have to mess around with a DOS prompt. Like DOSBox, KDMSound basically emulates a DOS atmosphere.
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so if i download KDMSound, i can play WC3-4 perfectly, without too much hassle?
 
Ravenous said:
Ive installed WC1 KS on my system with XP, the game runs no problem but it wont recognise my USB joystick. Tried downloading the WC1 joystick patch from the CIC site but that just seems to be an uncracked version of the original WC1.
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You can find the game controller options from My Computer. Make sure your USB joystick is checked as the preferred controller or something like that, I'm using a Finnish Win XP so I'm not entirely sure what the English equivalent is.

- Lassi
 
Okay, everyone says to install the Win95 patch for WC4 and I plan on that, but I can't get through the game install. When I finish the going through the system tests, sound tests, etc. and go to actually install the files it crashes and tells me "Not enough space on drive for Swapfile. There must be 15 Mb free on this drive."

I will note that I'm running in DosBox because when I try to install in WinXP Home I get a message saying "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\AUTOEXEC.NT. The system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows applications."

I can get through the setup process in DosBox but I get kicked out of the install after that, before any files are written to the drive. Am I missing something here? Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I need help!
 
Alright, well, WC4 works perfectly in XP for me. The KS versions of 1 and 2 work reasonably well.

The big problem now is WC3.

I have installed it, used the 2000 patch, and set for compatability. I heard the game can be played by bypassing the movies.... but I want the full Wing Commander 3 experience.
 
I am trying to install WC4 from DosBox, because in XP Home, I get a garbled screen, and then it exits on it's own. In DoxBox, I only get a message saying, "EMS Driver is not VCPI compliant." Can anyone help me get around this?
 
You need to setup the Win XP command prompt to run properly in a more DOS-like environment for the game installation. To stop hte screen closing on its own you need to go into properties setting for the installation execute file and uncheck the box that says something like auto-close or close. You also MUST RUN the command prompt in fullscreen mode on XP for it to work otherwise i cannot help.

YOur problem with Dosbox is that the emulator is not setting up your sound settings correctly with the game. YOU MUST RUN THE INSTALLATION PROGRAM IN THE COMMAND PROMPT OR DOS PROMPT OR DOSBOX IN WINDOWS.
 
baphomet_irl said:
i have a problem with Secret Ops and the High Res Patch, Ive managed to get Unkown Enemy and Prophecy to work perfectly with the Glide Wrapper and high res patch. However, in secret ops, although it does actualy run at 1024x768, I am unable to get the HUD to match, so for example the on carrier scenes are all rendered in the top left corner at 640x480, as is the actual hud in flight (although the 3D canopy graphic is 1024x768) - is there a .cfg option I should change to fix this?

any help is much appreciated
Click to expand...

no help with that one then? :(
 
mentis said:
In which case, once more, you need to be using VDMS to run WC3. It won't be perfect, but you can get it close.
Click to expand...

Ah, I mean the KS version of WC3... I have installed the Win2k Patch for it, put it to Win2K compatability...

I heard you have to skip the movies.... but I want a pure WC3 experience, movies and all.
 
Some more news... I uninstalled and reinstalled WC3KS, didn't install the 2K patch, put the compatability to 95 mode....

And got past the first Origin movie, into the intro WC3 movie....

And that's about as far as I got....

Alright, I feel I'm VERY close to getting a fully playable WC3 here people.... and I know someone else did these things, and I need to know what works....
 
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