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Fredde
Guest
I sure hope so!
HCl
WC EXE archaeologist
Let's see if we can get this working for you 
There are a number of tweaks that i think *might* help... but since I can't reproduce the issue here, we won't know until you try it. Wish there was a better way.
For now, i tried adjusting the viewport a bit more. Try unzipping these files into your WC4 folder, run the game and take a screenshot. (some of the black background might turn blue, this is normal, just so i have an idea which part of the window OpenGL is clearing).
Also, if you can, please try taking a screenshot of the game at a different resolution (eg. 1600x1200) for comparison as well.
There are a number of tweaks that i think *might* help... but since I can't reproduce the issue here, we won't know until you try it. Wish there was a better way.
For now, i tried adjusting the viewport a bit more. Try unzipping these files into your WC4 folder, run the game and take a screenshot. (some of the black background might turn blue, this is normal, just so i have an idea which part of the window OpenGL is clearing).
Also, if you can, please try taking a screenshot of the game at a different resolution (eg. 1600x1200) for comparison as well.
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Fredde
Guest
I unzipped the new stuff in the WC4 folder and ran the game, but there was no difference at all from before. It still looks like the most recent screenshot I put up, the top half of the view is viewable just as far as before, the rest is covered in black (no blue). At a higher resolution it looks the same, only now the picture doesn't fit inside the borders of the screen.
AD
Finder of things, Doer of stuff
I'm definitely not as technically skilled at this as HCl and didn't notice off-hand in the reports you posted, but is your PC by any chance running some kind of crossfire or SLI setup?
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Fredde
Guest
I'm very good at tech either, but I don't think my computer's got those things, no. As far as I can tell, that's a bit too advanced for my hunk 'o junk.
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Fredde
Guest
Oh hey, after minimizing and then maximizing the WC4 application, the screen looked like this now:
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Fredde
Guest
One other bit of weirdness that might have to do with this weirdness is the fact that I can't seem to run the game in standard XP-mode. When I try to uncheck the compatibility-box, it seems to automatically revert to Win98 compatibility no matter what. The same happens if I try to put it in Win95 compatibility, but not when I choose either Win2000 or NT. So I haven't actually been able to see if the game runs in regular Windows XP, the actual operating system on my computer.
HCl
WC EXE archaeologist
Compatibility seeming to "stick" to Win98 happened to me once. Not sure about the cause, but i suspect it may have something to do with GOG's installer. I wouldn't worry about that... although if you want to try other compatibility modes, you may want to try renaming the wc4dvd exe.
Regarding the screen weirdness: since the problem, as far as I can tell, seems to be related to your OpenGL drivers, i quickly put together a couple new rendering modes which don't make use of OpenGL:
- ddraw, which uses Direct Draw for rendering. Does not support a good deal of features provided by OpenGL mode (pillarboxing and video adjusting for widescreen mode, etc), although it should still fix the palette issue in Win7 (which is not really an issue for you anyway, since you use XP).
- legacy, which forwards the game's DirectX calls to real DirectX, bypassing our DirectX wrapper completely.
Give these two modes a try and see how it goes (ddraw mode is currently set on this zip). These modes were not as thoroughly tested as opengl, so there may be a few issues to fix. However, i'd be interested to know if they improve your situation.
(note: you can choose your renderer by placing "opengl", "ddraw" or "legacy" in renderer.cfg)
Regarding the screen weirdness: since the problem, as far as I can tell, seems to be related to your OpenGL drivers, i quickly put together a couple new rendering modes which don't make use of OpenGL:
- ddraw, which uses Direct Draw for rendering. Does not support a good deal of features provided by OpenGL mode (pillarboxing and video adjusting for widescreen mode, etc), although it should still fix the palette issue in Win7 (which is not really an issue for you anyway, since you use XP).
- legacy, which forwards the game's DirectX calls to real DirectX, bypassing our DirectX wrapper completely.
Give these two modes a try and see how it goes (ddraw mode is currently set on this zip). These modes were not as thoroughly tested as opengl, so there may be a few issues to fix. However, i'd be interested to know if they improve your situation.
(note: you can choose your renderer by placing "opengl", "ddraw" or "legacy" in renderer.cfg)
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Fredde
Guest
Hooray! Now I can see the whole screen perfectly, the videos still run smoothly and the gameplay as well. I flew the first mission without problem and could see the video after it, and can walk around the base, save and load the game, etc. without any apparent trouble. The only thing I noticed was a slightly longer loadtime before the intro movie began when I started a new game, but that might just be my imagination. Thanks a lot!
I tried the two different modes you suggested, and there seems to be no difference between them, they seem to work equally well. As I noted before, I'm not a very "techy" person, so I'm wondering which one of the two you would recommend that I use? Does one use up more computer resources than the other? Are there graphical differences?
Again, thanks a lot for taking the time to fix my problem, I really appreciate it! Hopefully the patch you cooked up might help someone else in the future.
I tried the two different modes you suggested, and there seems to be no difference between them, they seem to work equally well. As I noted before, I'm not a very "techy" person, so I'm wondering which one of the two you would recommend that I use? Does one use up more computer resources than the other? Are there graphical differences?
Again, thanks a lot for taking the time to fix my problem, I really appreciate it! Hopefully the patch you cooked up might help someone else in the future.
HCl
WC EXE archaeologist
Great! Very glad to know this solved the problem for you!
Between the ddraw and legacy renderer modes, I would suggest using ddraw, as it solves a few issues with the original game (no more palette errors on Win7, doesn't switch the display to 256 color mode, etc). Legacy mode is intended mostly as a safety net, in case some system has problems handling both ddraw and opengl modes.
Very glad to know this solved the problem for you!Between the ddraw and legacy renderer modes, I would suggest using ddraw, as it solves a few issues with the original game (no more palette errors on Win7, doesn't switch the display to 256 color mode, etc). Legacy mode is intended mostly as a safety net, in case some system has problems handling both ddraw and opengl modes.
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Fredde
Guest
Right-o, then I'll use that. I'll report back here if I run into anymore trouble. Thanks again!
A
Adam
Guest
This helped running WC4 on my 64bit Win7 too. Thanks very much for making this patch!
F
Fredde
Guest
Just wanted to pop by again and say that I've now managed to play through the whole game without any notable trouble, in case you were wondering. I know I've thanked you before, but again, thanks!
Fredde
1st Lieutenant
(Might as well register since I'm hanging around here a lot)
This was the first time I've played WC4, though I have played WC1, 2 and 3 (I can't bear the thought of playing a game in a series without having played the previous games first, thank god for GOG!). I found WC4 to be entertaining, and the cinematics felt much more interesting when there were actual physical props, unlike WC3. I did miss the cockpit pictures from the earlier games, though. Just having a HUD made the game feel a tiny bit less immersive. Other than that, it felt pretty much like the same game as WC3, only with slightly snazzier graphics and a somewhat more complex story. And a whole lot more of The Maniac, which is always a plus!
This was the first time I've played WC4, though I have played WC1, 2 and 3 (I can't bear the thought of playing a game in a series without having played the previous games first, thank god for GOG!). I found WC4 to be entertaining, and the cinematics felt much more interesting when there were actual physical props, unlike WC3. I did miss the cockpit pictures from the earlier games, though. Just having a HUD made the game feel a tiny bit less immersive. Other than that, it felt pretty much like the same game as WC3, only with slightly snazzier graphics and a somewhat more complex story. And a whole lot more of The Maniac, which is always a plus!
HCl
WC EXE archaeologist
I went through your log, but i cannot see an obvious cause for what is going on. I'll probably post a new DLL tomorrow with a few extra messages, so we can get some more information. Could you attach your dxdiag info file? It could provide some important clues as well.
In the meantime, you could try changing the desktop color depth to 16-bit. Also, if you have any external monitor / TV connected, try disconnecting it to see if it helps.
In the meantime, you could try changing the desktop color depth to 16-bit. Also, if you have any external monitor / TV connected, try disconnecting it to see if it helps.