Enhanced Secret Ops Installer Available (August 30, 2009)

KrisV

Administrator


If you're one of the many people that (re-)downloaded Secret Ops so you could check out the Standoff fan project, then you probably noticed that the setup wizard has a few problems on modern operating systems. PopsiclePete set out to just fix those issues, but he ended up creating a vastly improved package. Installing the game and the fan-made OpenGL renderer is now a breeze on XP, Vista and Windows 7. The full list of fixes and improvements:

  • Fix: Free disk space now correctly reported.
  • Fix: Shortcuts created in correct location.
  • Improvement: Windows 95 compatibility mode automatically set.
  • Improvement (optional): Skip registration procedure.
  • Improvement (optional): Install and enable OpenGL renderer.
  • Improvement (optional): Pre-install Episodes 2 through 7.

Download Pete's installer here (105 MB). You can leave feedback on the Forums.

Installing episodes 2 through 7 immediately comes at a cost -- you miss out on the splash screens between episodes. Secret Ops requires a registration key from the (now defunct) official website. A key generator is available from HCl's website, but you now have the option of skipping this step. The OpenGL renderer lets you play in higher resolutions, replaces the original starfields with fancier ones and adds graphical effects that are normally available only on 3Dfx hardware. Players would also do well to check out Shades' extensive Secret Ops Guide. It includes detailed mission walkthroughs, complete stats, game history and more!

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Original update published on August 30, 2009
 
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I installed it but the video jumps up and down giving the appearance of large chunks of offset scan lines.




EDIT: Problem solved. I ran the Open GL Setup and changed the resolution to 1280 x 800 for my 1440 x 900 monitor.
 
Hmm. Size isn't an issue for me (especially since I finished downloading the modded full install package a bit ago :D ), but I can't help but wonder if the enhancements could be applied to the "barebones" installer.

Or, more importantly, would it be worth the effort?
 
Stupid question from someone who stopped being graphics savvy after college graduation.

Is the OpenGL renderer the same thing (or an improvement on) the Glide Wrapper? I was playing Standoff and Secret Ops (a year or so ago or more) on my ancient laptop with the Glide Wrapper installed to get better graphics. Is the OpenGL renderer a cleaner version of the same thing? Or is it something completely different?

Sorry for the confusion. I'm a little lost on the newer graphics technologies.
 
Is the OpenGL renderer the same thing (or an improvement on) the Glide Wrapper? I was playing Standoff and Secret Ops (a year or so ago or more) on my ancient laptop with the Glide Wrapper installed to get better graphics. Is the OpenGL renderer a cleaner version of the same thing? Or is it something completely different?
I think you indeed confuse the Glide wrapper and OpenGL renderer.

Glide is the name of the set of video instruction used exclusively by the now obsolete 3DFx video cards. The Glide wrapper is some kind of "emulation" layer that let the game think there is a 3DFx video card installed in your computer, then translate every rendering call from Glide to DirectX so your newest card can render things on screen. You could have used a Glide wrapper to run WCP, SO and Unknown Enemy into using a fake 3DFx mode. Standoff doesn't support 3DFx, and I *think* it never did (we removed support for 3DFx pretty early in the game development, but maybe it was from Episode 2 onward).

The OpenGL renderer is a fan-made replacement dll for WCP and SO. Think of it as a replacement part for the game. There is no emulation involved here; instead of using Glide or DirectX, the game sends his polygons to be rendered to the OpenGL dll who does the data crunch and render things on screen. The OpenGL renderer was originally made for Standoff, while keeping retro-compatibility in mind so we could release a WCP/SO version later. This is the OpenGL thing now included in that new installer package: an earlier (and stable ! :p) version of the OpenGL renderer Standoff uses.


Hmm. Size isn't an issue for me (especially since I finished downloading the modded full install package a bit ago :D ), but I can't help but wonder if the enhancements could be applied to the "barebones" installer.

Or, more importantly, would it be worth the effort?
If you mean "Can we add those enhancements to the classic install ?", then answer is yes... but my aim here was to make things simpler to anyone wanting to play this great game.

Imagine the hassle someone new to WC would have to face when trying to get Secret Ops working... First, download 8 different files. Click to install the main package, and after having unzipped the whole content of it the installer claims you don't have enough disk space and deletes all the extracted files. Alright, say the player is good (and patient) enough to find the trick him[her]self or googleing for the tip. Then the installation proceeds and "ding!" error message: the installer can't find teh Glide dlls ! Of course it's no big deal and we just have to change the video setting in the launcher for DirectX, but how is the player expected to know that ? Then the player launches the game: crash ! We know it's just a matter of adding the Win95 compatibility flag on the EXE, but again the player has to know, or find. After setting the Win95 compatibility flag, start the game: registration screen. Dang. CLick on the "Register" button in the game, the registration website doesn't exist anymore. D'oh ! Again, we old timer know there is a keygen on HCl's website, but can we expect everyone to know ?

In short, I just wanted to make a simple does-it-all installer that'd help more people to (re)discover Secret Ops as a great (and free !) game without any hassle. And to answer the initial question more specificly: there is no way I could just "fix" the original installer to do a good job like this.
 
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I still get a report of 15 gigs of hard drive space left, despite the fact that Standoff only takes up 921 mb. Prior to installation of Standoff I had about 25 gigs.
 
What "Fix: Free disk space now correctly reported." means is that the installer won't stop the installation because it mistakenly thinks there is not enough disk space available, not that the Add/remove program control panel reports correct disk usage... I can't fix Windows :p
 
What "Fix: Free disk space now correctly reported." means is that the installer won't stop the installation because it mistakenly thinks there is not enough disk space available, not that the Add/remove program control panel reports correct disk usage... I can't fix Windows :p

I uninstalled it, now I have 18 gigs. I will have re-install it again later.
 
Good idea to integrate all this stuff in the installer. That makes it a lot more comfortable and easier.

Install worked fine for me - thanks!
 
If you mean "Can we add those enhancements to the classic install ?", then answer is yes... but my aim here was to make things simpler to anyone wanting to play this great game.

No, I didn't mean the one broken down into 20MB chunks or whatever. There was one in 2 parts, the first being the executables, at 51MB, and the second the speech pack, 63MB.

Looking at the CIC's files section, though, it doesn't look like the 2-part one is available for download, making the question kind of moot anyway.
 
I think you indeed confuse the Glide wrapper and OpenGL renderer.

Glide is the name of the set of video instruction used exclusively by the now obsolete 3DFx video cards. The Glide wrapper is some kind of "emulation" layer that let the game think there is a 3DFx video card installed in your computer, then translate every rendering call from Glide to DirectX so your newest card can render things on screen. You could have used a Glide wrapper to run WCP, SO and Unknown Enemy into using a fake 3DFx mode. Standoff doesn't support 3DFx, and I *think* it never did (we removed support for 3DFx pretty early in the game development, but maybe it was from Episode 2 onward).

The OpenGL renderer is a fan-made replacement dll for WCP and SO. Think of it as a replacement part for the game. There is no emulation involved here; instead of using Glide or DirectX, the game sends his polygons to be rendered to the OpenGL dll who does the data crunch and render things on screen. The OpenGL renderer was originally made for Standoff, while keeping retro-compatibility in mind so we could release a WCP/SO version later. This is the OpenGL thing now included in that new installer package: an earlier (and stable ! :p) version of the OpenGL renderer Standoff uses.

Thank you so much for the detailed explanation. That clears things up for me. I may have been confused, and was only running Prophecy and Secret Ops using the Glide wrapper, not Standoff.
 
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I don't know how i missed this. Great Work PopsiclePete!

Suggestion. Can you set it so that you can add each episode separately? Also there was an Episode 1 exe that reset the game clearing out episode 2-7. That would be nice to add as well. Finally can you make the German version too?
 
Can you set it so that you can add each episode separately? Also there was an Episode 1 exe that reset the game clearing out episode 2-7.
If I understand your question correctly, yes, my installer already does what you describe. When you install the game, leave the "install ep2 to ep7" unckecked; you may install the subsequent episodes at any time through the links in the start menu. For example, clicking "Install episode 4" will install the TRE file that included episode 1 to 4.

Finally can you make the German version too?
I gues I could, but i don't speak german at all, so I can't write the appropriate text in the installer nor the OpenGL options editor.
 
Ah I didn't not notice that. That works I guess. Putting the episodes in the launcher would be nice if it could be done.

On my installation I did notice that the comparability mode was not set. Was that supposed to be set in the installer? I also noticed that the Key gen link was to HCl's old side which is now moved here. http://hcl.solsector.net/archive/wcsokg.htm Also the link to the Instruction manual wasn't working.

I gues I could, but i don't speak german at all, so I can't write the appropriate text in the installer nor the OpenGL options editor.
Maybe someone will help with the translation but if no one does it can still be made in english with the German executables.

I imagine most of it can be done with an online translation though. It should be close enough at least.

Nice job though. Thanks.

If you update it I'll happily redownload it.
 
Hummm.. I'll have to check for those compatibility issues... are you running a 64bits OS ? I think I used to have a bug in my installer for those.

I'll try to update the package in the coming weeks.
 
Ok, fixed the issues you mentioned. Should be in the next version when I release it (hopefully soon).

About a german version, you can submit be all the translated texts if you want and I'll make one.
 
I have ask a friend to translate the install info into German. Hopefully I'll have that for you by the end of the week.
 
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