Complete WC GOG fixes and tweaks

Does anyone know how to get the mouse working in GOG Armada as steering input? For me it somehow doesn't work. Privateer works fine, for example.

Unfortunately, Armada does not support the mouse as a steering input. Just about all other WC games do accept it, but Armada is a little different perhaps due to its split screen multiplayer. It accepts two joysticks and even a crazy setup where two players each take half a keyboard, but the mouse is only usable in the menus and strategic mode.
 
The high-res videos in Wing Commander Prophecy play upside-down and reversed when they are loaded from within the game. Has anyone encountered this issue and/or know how to fix it?
 
Hi, I've got WC2 running with MT-32 Music and SoundBlaster speech, but the sound effects are Pc Speaker. Is there a way to have Roland music and SB sound effects? Thanks

EDIT: And nevermind, got it fixed
 
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I'm playing WC3 (from GoG) with the Win95 upgrade patch and I found that the auto-pilot cutscenes and any external camera views in the 3D part of the game were weirdly alternating between being blurry and not blurry - almost like it was changing resolution from moment to moment. I tracked this down to the DirectDraw Hack utility that was included. Using the bilinear option or any of the video options causes this issue. Clearing out the ddhack config file eliminates the problem though then I'm obviously not able to use the enhancements. Not a big deal, I'm just glad it's working as the Win95 version is a lot better due to much improved music and throttle support.
 
When I apply the instructions for the WCP enhancement on my GOG copy it asks for a CD on launch. Does anyone have this problem? I followed it step by step. Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks.
I have the same problem! SO works without problems, but WCP wants me to insert CD1?
Thanks a lot!
 
To fix that you should download the Latest WCP patch. I updated tha patches a while ago , when did you d/l it ?
DONT DONWLOAD from page 1 but from page 2 POST #37 , I cant EDIT my first post :/
I have the same problem! SO works without problems, but WCP wants me to insert CD1?
Thanks a lot!
 
I started over from scratch and tested the game with each step. It does the CD check after installing the OpenGL patch, before I copy over the WCP.zip contents. I'll keep trying.

Download the Patch from page 2 post #37 .

CIC forums , won`t let me EDIT my first post and the patches are scattered. Always looke for the latest :) Forget the 1st post
 
Hi there,

I installed first OpenGL-Patch, then WCP from post #37. All worked.
I started WCP today again & I get the Message "Insert CD1" again. I'm a bit irritated ...
 
Hi there,

I installed first OpenGL-Patch, then WCP from post #37. All worked.
I started WCP today again & I get the Message "Insert CD1" again. I'm a bit irritated ...

I cannot understand how it worked at first and now not . I would completely uninstall (registry included) WCP and then just install the #37 patch there should be 0 problems. Tested on numerous pc`s and OS
 
Hello all.

I've been away from both Wing Commander and WCNews for quite a while, but lately, I've been figuring out how to get Wing Commander games working on my system. I've only been away from WC because I don't have a computer desk that allows me to set up a flight stick, and I canNOT play Wing Commander games without a flight stick. Call me spoiled, but-... :p

Anyway, I've been testing the GOG WC games that I own on my rig, and my journey over the last day or so has led to some interesting discoveries for me, which will hopefully be useful for other people who use the GOG versions of the games. For reference, this is my current set up:
Windows 7 Home Premium x64
AMD Phenom II x6 1090T
Radeon HD 6870 x 2 (CrossfireX)
8 GB DDR3 SDRAM
Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
K-Lite Codec Pack Basic 11.1.0

Just in case it matters, these versions were downloaded via GOG Galaxy. Also, though I have a game controller connected to my computer and experience no problems with calibration, I must note that I have not tested the games with an actual flight stick on my set up because, as mentioned earlier, my current computer desk doesn't afford me the space to use one.

The first two games and their expansions run fine without any issues. Wing Commander III runs fine as well, but I noticed that the default selected digital sound card (Soundblaster Compatibles) only allowed monaural sound. By accessing the "Launch Settings" shortcut in the game's GOG directory, simply changing to another Sound Blaster option enabled stereo sound. I also configure the game for General MIDI, but that's just a personal preference.

Wing Commander IV, being based on the DVD version, was of course a more difficult affair. Even though it comes packaged with MPEG2DECFilter, AC3Filter and DXMCI, the game kept kicking me out to a Visual C++ error that I couldn't read because it was buried underneath the black game window. I tried using a command line with administrator privileges to get regsvr32 to register both of the .ax files, but the game still wouldn't work until I had used the wc4gog_1.0.2_test1.zip file. In particular, I extracted the two .cfg files and the .exe file to the game's install directory, and ran the new .exe, which got the game working. The movies were pretty quiet, so I adjusted the volume of AC3Filter via K-Lite's Win7DSTweaker tool. Just click on "DirectShow Filters", then "AC3Filter", then move the Master gain up to the desired volume. For my setup, once I had increased the gain to max volume, the sound of the movies were quite balanced with those of the gameplay sequences.

Wing Commander Prophecy works differently depending on whether or not you want to use the DVD quality movies. When using the default movies, the game works fine after installation. I should note however, that I have not tried playing the game using the OpenGL renderer with the default movie files, but I have no reason to think the game will not work properly in that case.

When using the DVD quality movies though, things change slightly. I followed the instructions in the first post and ran across a rather unique problem: I could hear the sound of the movies, but the video wouldn't appear. I enabled subtitles on the advice of the dvdcob_readme.txt file, which got many of the movies into a 'half working' state: in general, I'd end up staring at a black screen until the game began to render subtitles for the current movie. What ended up solving the problem for me was disabling subtitles, then configuring the OpenGL renderer to enable FSAA at either 2 or 4. As a note, the Glide and Direct3D renderers don't encounter any problems showing the movies.

Secret Ops works fine when the game and the OpenGL renderer are installed.

Wing Commander Privateer works fine out of the box, I just personally take the time with this game to configure the music for General MIDI. As a quick reference for those who prefer this, go into the game's DOSBOX directory, then run DOSBOX. Use the following commands:
* mount c ".."
* c:
* install
From there, configure the game to your preference.

TL;DR version from my own "GettingTrickyGamesToWork.txt" file:
WING COMMANDER IV
- Run the following commands from a command line with administrative privileges:
* cd "\<GAME PATH>" (eg. Program Files (x86)\Games\GOG\Wing Commander IV)
* regsvr32 Mpeg2DecFilter.ax
* cd AC3Filter
* regsvr32 ac3filter.ax
- The movies may be very quiet. Using K-Lite's Win7DSFilterTweaker tool, access AC3Filter's volume control and push the gain up to increase the volume of the movies.
- From wc4gog_1.0.2_test1.zip, extract the two .cfg files and the .exe file to the game's base directory. Run the extracted .exe and the game should run. Lastly, create a shortcut to the patched .exe.
- When installed via GOG Galaxy, the game must be launched from a custom desktop shortcut that points to the Win2k patched .exe, as the game requires admin privileges.

WING COMMANDER PROPHECY (Using the DVD patch/ movies)
- When installed via GOG Galaxy, the game must be launched from a shortcut, as it requires admin privileges.
- In addition to the instructions in the original post, run the OpenGL renderer config tool, and make sure FSAA is enabled so the movies will render correctly.

WING COMMANDER SECRET OPS
- When installed via GOG Galaxy, the game must be launched from a shortcut, as it requires admin privileges.
- Installing the OpenGL renderer for Prophecy will also install it for Secret Ops.

Hope those help. I will endeavor to be around the community more often and get (re-)acquainted with everyone. Also, I will be upgrading my computer in late summer/ early fall, so I will see what happens with the new hardware and Windows 10, and hopefully have something helpful to come back with for others who experience problems. Be well, all.
 
Awesome! Thanks for all the hard work of putting together this writeup. I'm certain this will be useful for many more wingnuts trying out the GOG versions for the first time.
 
You're welcome! Uh... weeks later.

And now that I have a desk that allows me to play Wing Commander games, I'll be able to enjoy the games a lot more. Yay!

Anyway, I came across a little thing with GOG Wing Commander II.

Whenever the game played speech files (the intro, etc.), the game would hang, but not full on crash. The music would continue playing, but the game would just stop. After some playing about with settings, this is the solution I found:

In the game's install directory, open dosboxWC2.conf and look for the [sblaster] section. If the IRQ setting reads 5, set it to 7. Save the file, then launch the game either via GOG Galaxy, or through the "Launch Wing Commander II" shortcut provided in the game's install directory. Of course, it might be helpful to copy this shortcut to your desktop if you don't use GOG Galaxy.

Oh! And one thing I forgot to mention about Wing Commander Prophecy before. If my instructions work for you, you might find that the DVD quality movies play in the top left corner of your screen, rather than in fullscreen. To fix this, remove the compatibility settings from the launch shortcut/ binary executable completely.
 
Unfortunately Windows 10 seems to have introduced additional issues with the DVD patch - I've followed the guide (and additional posts) and while the OpenGL patch itself works fine, the game's behavior regarding video playback is highly erratic.

For a start, the movies seem to be played in an overlay window that Windows seems to switch to and doesn't automatically "switch back" to the game. Sometimes the game is "stuck" at a black screen, as it can't switch to the new movie overlay and so on. Gameplay and video playback themselves are fine, but this "context switch" is broken.
 
Came to try out Privateer 2 using the DarkFix on Windows 10. I get as far as it asking for Disk 1. I made sure the darkfix_utility had disk 1 selected.
 
Someone clue me in and how to adjust the new sound fonts? They work ok but I now have no sound effects and the cannons don't sound so cool as jingle bells. :D
 
Came to try out Privateer 2 using the DarkFix on Windows 10. I get as far as it asking for Disk 1. I made sure the darkfix_utility had disk 1 selected.

I'm having the same issue. Is there a work around or fix for this?
I think the Gog version is the Dos version but I think I read somewhere that the patch makes it into the Windows version. Is this true?
 
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Someone clue me in and how to adjust the new sound fonts? They work ok but I now have no sound effects and the cannons don't sound so cool as jingle bells. :D

Sound fonts are an inappropriate tool for Wing Commander 1,2 and Acadamy as they do not support General Midi. These games only support Adlib/Soundblaster, which is what most people used in the day, and Roland MT-32 which is its own midi standard. Obtaining an MT-32 device for these games is expensive, but there is an mt-32 emulator called munt which is linked to in the first post of this thread.
 
Hello all, old "SUPER WING COMMANDER" vet here. I'm trying to get the win95 patch for gog wing commander III working, and am getting a virus warning. Has anyone else gotten that?

Wc3 noscanlines.exe shows a https://www.symantec.com/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2016-121208-2853-99 virus. I'm guessing its generic heuristic crap, but wanted to check.

Side Note:
May want to add a note about for the fix in WC1+2 for the roland emulator, changing the dosboxWC.ini or dosboxWC2.ini file's midiconfig flag to be equal to the munt emulator device number found by opening dosbox and mixer /listmidi
 
Yes, I'd say it's a false alarm. As the name suggests, with that exe-file you can watch the cutscenes without any scanlines as opposed to the standard WC3Win95-exe.
 
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