Tech Support

Wing Commander 1

Instructions on how to play a DOS version of Wing Commander 1 in Windows XP with DOSBox:

• Download and install the DOSBox software. If you already have DOSBox installed, note that these instructions assume that you are beginning with the default settings for the program.
• Start the DOSBox program via the shortcut that was created. Also note the link to the DOSBox.conf file which can be used to adjust settings later.
• Type the following at the Z:\> prompt (ignore the red warning text): mount c: c:\
  • If you have the game on floppy disks and your disk drive is letter A, type the following at the Z:\> prompt (you may get an error if there is no disk in the drive): mount a: a:\ -t floppy
  • If you have the game on CD and your disk drive is letter D, type the following at the Z:\> prompt (change the second "d" to whatever your actual CD drive letter is): mount d: d:\ -t cdrom
  • These mounting commands can be added under the [autoexec] section of DOSBox.conf to avoid having to retype them each time you start up DOSBox.
• Type the following at the Z:\> prompt to select your disk/disc: a: (for floppy disks) or d: (for CD-ROM).
• Type install and press enter. If you receive an error (this will occur on CD-ROM compilations), you will need to locate the installation files. First try typing make_wc and pressing enter. If that still does not launch the installation program, type dir and press enter. Look for files ending in .exe or .bat that appear to relate to WC1 installation. If you see WC1 <DIR>, then type cd WC1 and press enter, then type install and press enter.
• You should now be at the Wing Commander Installation Menu. You have the option to install to a specific hard drive and directory. Some players choose to change C:\WING to something such as C:\WC1 or C:\WING1. More advanced users may create a folder for all of their Wing Commander games, and WC1 will install to a subdirectory in that.
• Press enter after making your selections, and the installer may ask you if you want to save time or save space. Either options is fine for most users. We recommend choosing Save Time
• Select MCGA/VGA 320x200, 256 colors for your graphics option.
• Select Creative Labs Sound Blaster for your sound option
• Select Y to indicate the current configuration is correct.
• The game will install. You will have to switch disks for floppy installations. The installer may spend several minutes unpacking graphic archives.
• The installer may exit directly to a prompt where you can type wc and start the game. In the future, you will need to mount the hard drive again (unless you include this line in DOSBox.conf) and navigate to the directory where your game is installed. Make a note of where you installed the game and type CD (directory name) to go there, and then type wc and enter.
• Most versions of Wing Commander 1 are copy protected. You will be asked to supply an answer from the game documentation.
• DOSBox 0.70 and later versions automatically guess how fast each program needs to run. Play the game with these default speed settings first. If the game runs too fast or slow, manual customization can be enabled by altering values in the dosbox.conf file. Change core=auto to core=normal or core=dynamic and cycles=auto to cycles=4000. Save and restart dosbox. Control+F11 and Control+F12 manually change cycles (speed), and Control+F7 and Control+F8 adjust frameskip. We recommend approximately 3500 cycles and 0 frameskip for Wing Commander 1.
• Hold down ALT and press enter if you would like to enlarge the playing window to full screen. If there is a problem with full screen, adjusting scaler=normal2x to scaler=normal3x in dosbox.conf will enlarge the window by 50%.

• Important Note: If you are attempting to install the game from a CD and the installation menu prompts for a floppy disk, perform a manual installation. Locate the game's folder on the CD and copy it to the desired hard drive location (including the gamedat subdirectory). Then open a new file in Notepad with the text V A904 Z written on the first line. Save this file to the hard drive folder where you copied the game as WINGCMDR.CFG Double check that the newly created file ends in .cfg and not .txt.

Wing Commander 1: The Secret Missions

Instructions on how to play a DOS version of Wing Commander 1: The Secret Missions in Windows XP with DOSBox:

• Download and install the DOSBox software. If you already have DOSBox installed, note that these instructions assume that you are beginning with the default settings for the program. The Secret Missions requires that Wing Commander 1 is already installed.
• Start the DOSBox program via the shortcut that was created. Also note the link to the DOSBox.conf file which can be used to adjust settings later.
• Type the following at the Z:\> prompt (ignore the red warning text): mount c: c:\
  • If you have the game on floppy disks and your disk drive is letter A, type the following at the Z:\> prompt (you may get an error if there is no disk in the drive): mount a: a:\ -t floppy
  • If you have the game on CD and your disk drive is letter D, type the following at the Z:\> prompt (change the second "d" to whatever your actual CD drive letter is): mount d: d:\ -t cdrom
  • These mounting commands can be added under the [autoexec] section of DOSBox.conf to avoid having to retype them each time you start up DOSBox.
• Type the following at the Z:\> prompt to select your disk/disc: a: (for floppy disks) or d: (for CD-ROM).
• Type install and press enter. If you receive an error (this will occur on CD-ROM compilations), you will need to locate the installation files. First try typing make_sm1 and pressing enter. If that still does not launch the installation program, type dir and press enter. Look for files ending in .exe or .bat that appear to relate to SM1 installation. If you see SM1 <DIR>, then type cd SM1 and press enter, then type install and press enter.
• You should now be at the Wing Commander Secret Missions Installation Menu. You must install to the same directory that Wing Commander 1 is installed to. The default is C:\WING. Some players may have installed the game to C:\WC1 or a subdirectory of a general Wing Commander directory.
• Press enter after making your selections, and the installer may ask you if you want to save time or save space. Either options is fine for most users. We recommend choosing Save Time
• Select MCGA/VGA 320x200, 256 colors for your graphics option.
• Select Creative Labs Sound Blaster for your sound option
• Select Y to indicate the current configuration is correct.
• The game will install. You will have to switch disks for floppy installations. The installer may spend several minutes unpacking graphic archives.
• The installer may exit directly to a prompt where you can type wc and start the game. In the future, you will need to mount the hard drive again (unless you include this line in DOSBox.conf) and navigate to the directory where your game is installed. Make a note of where you installed the game and type CD (directory name) to go there, and then type wc and enter.
• Most versions of Wing Commander 1: The Secret Missions are copy protected. You will be asked to supply an answer from the game documentation. With The Secret Missions installed, copy protection questions may ask about events on the SM1 reference card.
• DOSBox 0.70 and later versions automatically guess how fast each program needs to run. Play the game with these default speed settings first. If the game runs too fast or slow, manual customization can be enabled by altering values in the dosbox.conf file. Change core=auto to core=normal or core=dynamic and cycles=auto to cycles=4000. Save and restart dosbox. Control+F11 and Control+F12 manually change cycles (speed), and Control+F7 and Control+F8 adjust frameskip. We recommend approximately 3500 cycles and 0 frameskip for Wing Commander 1: The Secret Missions.
• Hold down ALT and press enter if you would like to enlarge the playing window to full screen. If there is a problem with full screen, adjusting scaler=normal2x to scaler=normal3x in dosbox.conf will enlarge the window by 50%.

• Important Note: If you use the Transfer utility, wingmen (most notably Spirit or Angel) may die mid way through the game unless you apply this patch.

Wing Commander 1: The Secret Missions 2: Crusade

Instructions on how to play a DOS version of Wing Commander 1: The Secret Missions 2: Crusade in Windows XP with DOSBox:

• Download and install the DOSBox software. If you already have DOSBox installed, note that these instructions assume that you are beginning with the default settings for the program. The Secret Missions 2 requires that Wing Commander 1 is already installed.
• Start the DOSBox program via the shortcut that was created. Also note the link to the DOSBox.conf file which can be used to adjust settings later.
• Type the following at the Z:\> prompt (ignore the red warning text): mount c: c:\
  • If you have the game on floppy disks and your disk drive is letter A, type the following at the Z:\> prompt (you may get an error if there is no disk in the drive): mount a: a:\ -t floppy
  • If you have the game on CD and your disk drive is letter D, type the following at the Z:\> prompt (change the second "d" to whatever your actual CD drive letter is): mount d: d:\ -t cdrom
  • These mounting commands can be added under the [autoexec] section of DOSBox.conf to avoid having to retype them each time you start up DOSBox.
• Type the following at the Z:\> prompt to select your disk/disc: a: (for floppy disks) or d: (for CD-ROM).
• Type install2 and press enter. If you receive an error (this will occur on CD-ROM compilations), you will need to locate the installation files. First try typing make_sm2 and pressing enter. If that still does not launch the installation program, type dir and press enter. Look for files ending in .exe or .bat that appear to relate to SM2 installation. If you see SM2 <DIR>, then type cd SM2 and press enter, then type install2 and press enter. Be sure not to forget the "2" on the end.
• You should now be at the Wing Commander Secret Missions Installation Menu. You must install to the same directory that Wing Commander 1 is installed to. The default is C:\WING. Some players may have installed the game to C:\WC1 or a subdirectory of a general Wing Commander directory.
• Press enter after making your selections, and the installer may ask you if you want to save time or save space. Either options is fine for most users. We recommend choosing Save Time
• Select MCGA/VGA 320x200, 256 colors for your graphics option.
• Select Creative Labs Sound Blaster for your sound option
• Select Y to indicate the current configuration is correct.
• The game will install. You will have to switch disks for floppy installations. The installer may spend several minutes unpacking graphic archives.
• The installer may exit directly to a prompt where you can type sm2 and start the game. In the future, you will need to mount the hard drive again (unless you include this line in DOSBox.conf) and navigate to the directory where your game is installed. Make a note of where you installed the game and type CD (directory name) to go there, and then type wc and enter.
• Most versions of Wing Commander 1: The Secret Missions 2 are copy protected. You will be asked to supply an answer from the game documentation. With The Secret Missions 2 installed, copy protection questions may ask about events on the SM2 reference card.
• DOSBox 0.70 and later versions automatically guess how fast each program needs to run. Play the game with these default speed settings first. If the game runs too fast or slow, manual customization can be enabled by altering values in the dosbox.conf file. Change core=auto to core=normal or core=dynamic and cycles=auto to cycles=4000. Save and restart dosbox. Control+F11 and Control+F12 manually change cycles (speed), and Control+F7 and Control+F8 adjust frameskip. We recommend approximately 3500 cycles and 0 frameskip for Wing Commander 1: The Secret Missions 2.
• Hold down ALT and press enter if you would like to enlarge the playing window to full screen. If there is a problem with full screen, adjusting scaler=normal2x to scaler=normal3x in dosbox.conf will enlarge the window by 50%.

Wing Commander 2

Instructions on how to play a DOS version of Wing Commander 2 in Windows XP with DOSBox:

• Download and install the DOSBox software. If you already have DOSBox installed, note that these instructions assume that you are beginning with the default settings for the program.
• Start the DOSBox program via the shortcut that was created. Also note the link to the DOSBox.conf file which can be used to adjust settings later.
• Type the following at the Z:\> prompt (ignore the red warning text): mount c: c:\
  • If you have the game on floppy disks and your disk drive is letter A, type the following at the Z:\> prompt (you may get an error if there is no disk in the drive): mount a: a:\ -t floppy
  • If you have the game on CD and your disk drive is letter D, type the following at the Z:\> prompt (change the second "d" to whatever your actual CD drive letter is): mount d: d:\ -t cdrom
  • These mounting commands can be added under the [autoexec] section of DOSBox.conf to avoid having to retype them each time you start up DOSBox.
• Type the following at the Z:\> prompt to select your disk/disc: a: (for floppy disks) or d: (for CD-ROM).
• Type install and press enter. If you receive an error (this will occur on CD-ROM compilations), you will need to locate the installation files. Type dir and press enter. Look for files ending in .exe or .bat that appear to relate to WC2 installation. If you see WING2 <DIR>, then type cd WING2 and press enter, then type install and press enter.
• You should now be at the Wing Commander 2 Installation screen. You have the option to install to a specific hard drive and directory. Some players choose to change C:\WING2 to something such as C:\WC2. More advanced users may create a folder for all of their Wing Commander games, and WC2 will install to a subdirectory in that.
• Press enter after making your selections, and the installer may ask you if you want to save time or save space. Either options is fine for most users. We recommend choosing Save Time
• Select MCGA/VGA 320x200, 256 colors for your graphics option.
• Select Creative Labs Sound Blaster for your sound option
• Select Yes for digitized speech. If you would like to see subtitles during cutscenes, you must select No
• If the installer asks about DMA selection, choose DMA 1
• On the left side of the screen, note that an "IRQ #" is specified next to Speech. DOSBox defaults to IRQ 7, but some older computers may use IRQ 5.
• Select Yes to indicate the current configuration is correct.
• The game may install now. You will have to switch disks for floppy installations. The installer may spend several minutes unpacking graphic archives.
  • If the game does not install and gives you an error (such as The following file was missing: PEOPLE.V07 or a paragraph about not having enough free space and copying files), then you will need to perform several manual operations listed below.
  • Create a folder with a name such as WC2 on the hard drive that you wish to install the game to. This can be done in Windows XP's "My Computer" File Explorer. Within the folder you create, make a subfolder called GAMEDAT
  • Navigate to the WC2 disc or disks and find where the Wing Commander 2 files are located. Copy INSTALL.EXE, INSTALL.DAT and WC2.EXE to the WC2 folder that you just created. In the GAMEDAT subdirectory on your disc, copy over all files (approximately 300) to the GAMEDAT folder that you just made.
  • Now you must create a file called WC2.CFG in the WC2 folder. You can do this by opening Notepad and saving this blank file to that location.
  • Now type c: and enter, and then cd (WC2 directory that you made) and enter, and finally install and enter. This should take you to the installer program. Follow the steps noted above and this time the installation should complete successfully.
• The installer may exit directly to a prompt where you can type wc2 and start the game. In the future, you will need to mount the hard drive again (unless you include this line in DOSBox.conf) and navigate to the directory where your game is installed. Make a note of where you installed the game and type CD (directory name) to go there, and then type wc2 and enter.
• DOSBox 0.70 and later versions automatically guess how fast each program needs to run. Play the game with these default speed settings first. If the game runs too fast or slow, manual customization can be enabled by altering values in the dosbox.conf file. Change core=auto to core=normal or core=dynamic and cycles=auto to cycles=4000. Save and restart dosbox. Control+F11 and Control+F12 manually change cycles (speed), and Control+F7 and Control+F8 adjust frameskip. We recommend approximately 4000 cycles and 0 frameskip for Wing Commander 2.
• Hold down ALT and press enter if you would like to enlarge the playing window to full screen. If there is a problem with full screen, adjusting scaler=normal2x to scaler=normal3x in dosbox.conf will enlarge the window by 50%.

• Important Note: The game may consistently freeze at certain points in the game. This can be avoided by starting the game by typing loadfix -32 wc2 Alternate values such as -1, -64, -65 or no number at all can be substituted for -32 with varying results.

Wing Commander 2: Special Operations 1

Instructions on how to play a DOS version of Wing Commander 2: Special Operations 1 in Windows XP with DOSBox:

• Download and install the DOSBox software. If you already have DOSBox installed, note that these instructions assume that you are beginning with the default settings for the program.
• Start the DOSBox program via the shortcut that was created. Also note the link to the DOSBox.conf file which can be used to adjust settings later.
• Type the following at the Z:\> prompt (ignore the red warning text): mount c: c:\
  • If you have the game on floppy disks and your disk drive is letter A, type the following at the Z:\> prompt (you may get an error if there is no disk in the drive): mount a: a:\ -t floppy
  • If you have the game on CD and your disk drive is letter D, type the following at the Z:\> prompt (change the second "d" to whatever your actual CD drive letter is): mount d: d:\ -t cdrom
  • These mounting commands can be added under the [autoexec] section of DOSBox.conf to avoid having to retype them each time you start up DOSBox.
• Type the following at the Z:\> prompt to select your disk/disc: a: (for floppy disks) or d: (for CD-ROM).
• Type install1 (with a number "1" on the end) and press enter If you receive an error (this will occur on CD-ROM compilations), you will need to locate the installation files. Type dir and press enter. Look for files ending in .exe or .bat that appear to relate to WC2 installation. If you see WING2 <DIR>, then type cd WING2 and press enter, then type install1 (with a number "1" on the end) and press enter.
• You should now be at the Special Operations I Installation screen. You must install to the same directory that Wing Commander 2 is installed to. The default is C:\WING2. Some players may have installed the game to C:\WC2 or a subdirectory of a general Wing Commander directory.
• Press enter after making your selections, and the installer may ask you if you want to save time or save space. Either options is fine for most users. We recommend choosing Save Time
• Select MCGA/VGA 320x200, 256 colors for your graphics option.
• Select Creative Labs Sound Blaster for your sound option
• Select Yes for digitized speech. If you would like to see subtitles during cutscenes, you must select No
• If the installer asks about DMA selection, choose DMA 1
• On the left side of the screen, note that an "IRQ #" is specified next to Speech. DOSBox defaults to IRQ 7, but some older computers may use IRQ 5.
• Select Yes to indicate the current configuration is correct.
• The game may install now. You will have to switch disks for floppy installations. The installer may spend several minutes unpacking graphic archives.
  • If the game does not install and gives you an error (such as The following file was missing: PEOPLE.V07 or a paragraph about not having enough free space and copying files), then you will need to perform several manual operations listed below.
  • Navigate to the SO1 disc or disks and find where the Wing Commander 2: Special Operations 1 files are located. Copy INSTALL1.EXE, INSTALL1.DAT and SO1.EXE to the WC2 folder that you just created. In the GAMEDAT subdirectory on your disc, copy over all files (you may have already done this if you followed the Wing Commander 2 instructions above) to the GAMEDAT folder that you just made.
  • Now type c: and enter, and then cd (WC2 directory that you made) and enter, and finally install1 (with a number "1" on the end) and enter. This should take you to the installer program. Follow the steps noted above and this time the installation should complete successfully.
• The installer may exit directly to a prompt where you can type so1 and start the game. In the future, you will need to mount the hard drive again (unless you include this line in DOSBox.conf) and navigate to the directory where your game is installed. Make a note of where you installed the game and type CD (directory name) to go there, and then type so1 and enter.
• DOSBox 0.70 and later versions automatically guess how fast each program needs to run. Play the game with these default speed settings first. If the game runs too fast or slow, manual customization can be enabled by altering values in the dosbox.conf file. Change core=auto to core=normal or core=dynamic and cycles=auto to cycles=4000. Save and restart dosbox. Control+F11 and Control+F12 manually change cycles (speed), and Control+F7 and Control+F8 adjust frameskip. We recommend approximately 4000 cycles and 0 frameskip for Special Operations 1.
• Hold down ALT and press enter if you would like to enlarge the playing window to full screen. If there is a problem with full screen, adjusting scaler=normal2x to scaler=normal3x in dosbox.conf will enlarge the window by 50%.

• Important Note: The game may consistently freeze at certain points in the game. This can be avoided by starting the game by typing loadfix -32 so1 Alternate values such as -1, -64, -65 or no number at all can be substituted for -32 with varying results.

Wing Commander 2: Special Operations 2

Instructions on how to play a DOS version of Wing Commander 2: Special Operations 2 in Windows XP with DOSBox:

• Download and install the DOSBox software. If you already have DOSBox installed, note that these instructions assume that you are beginning with the default settings for the program.
• Start the DOSBox program via the shortcut that was created. Also note the link to the DOSBox.conf file which can be used to adjust settings later.
• Type the following at the Z:\> prompt (ignore the red warning text): mount c: c:\
  • If you have the game on floppy disks and your disk drive is letter A, type the following at the Z:\> prompt (you may get an error if there is no disk in the drive): mount a: a:\ -t floppy
  • If you have the game on CD and your disk drive is letter D, type the following at the Z:\> prompt (change the second "d" to whatever your actual CD drive letter is): mount d: d:\ -t cdrom
  • These mounting commands can be added under the [autoexec] section of DOSBox.conf to avoid having to retype them each time you start up DOSBox.
• Type the following at the Z:\> prompt to select your disk/disc: a: (for floppy disks) or d: (for CD-ROM).
• Type install2 (with a number "2" on the end) and press enter If you receive an error (this will occur on CD-ROM compilations), you will need to locate the installation files. Type dir and press enter. Look for files ending in .exe or .bat that appear to relate to WC2 installation. If you see WING2 <DIR>, then type cd WING2 and press enter, then type install2 (with a number "2" on the end) and press enter.
• You should now be at the Special Operations II Installation screen. You must install to the same directory that Wing Commander 2 is installed to. The default is C:\WING2. Some players may have installed the game to C:\WC2 or a subdirectory of a general Wing Commander directory.
• Press enter after making your selections, and the installer may ask you if you want to save time or save space. Either options is fine for most users. We recommend choosing Save Time
• Select MCGA/VGA 320x200, 256 colors for your graphics option.
• Select Creative Labs Sound Blaster for your sound option
• Select Yes for digitized speech. If you would like to see subtitles during cutscenes, you must select No
• If the installer asks about DMA selection, choose DMA 1
• On the left side of the screen, note that an "IRQ #" is specified next to Speech. DOSBox defaults to IRQ 7, but some older computers may use IRQ 5.
• Select Yes to indicate the current configuration is correct.
• The game may install now. You will have to switch disks for floppy installations. The installer may spend several minutes unpacking graphic archives.
  • If the game does not install and gives you an error (such as The following file was missing: PEOPLE.V07 or a paragraph about not having enough free space and copying files), then you will need to perform several manual operations listed below.
  • Navigate to the SO1 disc or disks and find where the Wing Commander 2: Special Operations 2 files are located. Copy INSTALL2.EXE, INSTALL2.DAT and SO2.EXE to the WC2 folder that you just created. In the GAMEDAT subdirectory on your disc, copy over all files (you may have already done this if you followed the Wing Commander 2 instructions above) to the GAMEDAT folder that you just made.
  • Now type c: and enter, and then cd (WC2 directory that you made) and enter, and finally install2 (with a number "2" on the end) and enter. This should take you to the installer program. Follow the steps noted above and this time the installation should complete successfully.
• The installer may exit directly to a prompt where you can type so2 and start the game. In the future, you will need to mount the hard drive again (unless you include this line in DOSBox.conf) and navigate to the directory where your game is installed. Make a note of where you installed the game and type CD (directory name) to go there, and then type so2 and enter.
• DOSBox 0.70 and later versions automatically guess how fast each program needs to run. Play the game with these default speed settings first. If the game runs too fast or slow, manual customization can be enabled by altering values in the dosbox.conf file. Change core=auto to core=normal or core=dynamic and cycles=auto to cycles=4000. Save and restart dosbox. Control+F11 and Control+F12 manually change cycles (speed), and Control+F7 and Control+F8 adjust frameskip. We recommend approximately 4000 cycles and 0 frameskip for Special Operations 2.
• Hold down ALT and press enter if you would like to enlarge the playing window to full screen. If there is a problem with full screen, adjusting scaler=normal2x to scaler=normal3x in dosbox.conf will enlarge the window by 50%.

• Important Note: The game may consistently freeze at certain points in the game. This can be avoided by starting the game by typing loadfix -32 so2 Alternate values such as -1, -64, -65 or no number at all can be substituted for -32 with varying results.

Wing Commander 3

Instructions on how to play the DOS version of Wing Commander 3 in Windows XP with DOSBox:

• Download and install the DOSBox software. If you already have DOSBox installed, note that these instructions assume that you are beginning with the default settings for the program.
• Start the DOSBox program via the shortcut that was created. Also note the link to the DOSBox.conf file which can be used to adjust settings later.
• Type the following at the Z:\> prompt (ignore the red warning text): mount c: c:\
• If your CD-ROM drive is letter D, type the following at the Z:\> prompt (change the second "d" to whatever your actual CD drive letter is): mount d: d:\ -t cdrom These mounting commands can be added under the [autoexec] section of DOSBox.conf to avoid having to retype them each time you start up DOSBox.
• Type d: at the Z:\> prompt to select your disc.
• Type wc3 and press enter. If you need to return to the installation program at a later time, type wc3 -i
• If you have a joystick plugged in, follow the instructions on screen to calibrate it now. If you encounter a problem, press a key on the keyboard to bypass the calibration and see the alert note below after installation is complete.
• You should now be at the Wing Commander 3 Install Machine/Video Speed Test: screen. Press any key to continue and let the test proceed.
• Adjust the gamma correction by holding down Control and the left or right arrow. When the screen is dark blue, press escape. You should be able to press escape a second time to bypass the warning note about special SVGA video. When the gray menu screen appears, press any key to select options.
• Select Setup Music Card, and choose the SoundBlaster 16 option. Try the Play Music test and exit this menu.
• Select Setup Digital FX Card, and choose the SoundBlaster 16 option. On the subsequent menus, pick Digital I/O Port 220, Digital IRQ 7, Digital DMA Lo 1 and Digital DMA Hi 5 Try the Play Sample test. If the voice starts on the left and ends on the right, select Normal Channels and exit this menu. If the voice starts on the right and ends on the left, select Reverse Channels and exit this menu.
• Select Set Save Game Directory to pick where the game is installed to. The default is C:\WC3 More advanced users may create a folder for all of their Wing Commander games, and WC3 will install to a subdirectory in that.
• Select Language and Subtitle Status as necessary. The game defaults to English language and no subtitles.
• Select the Set Control Type menu to choose what sort of input device you will use. This can be done later in the game by pressing ALT+O in flight.
• Selecting Copy Files to Hard Drive is an optional step. We recommend choosing Copy Object & Mission & Gameflow Files
• You may now scroll down and select Save Settings and Run WC3 or Save Settings and Exit.
• The installer may exit directly to a prompt where you can type wc3 and start the game. In the future, you will need to mount the hard drive and CD-ROM again (unless you include this line in DOSBox.conf) and navigate to the disc. Do this by typing d: and pressing enter, and then type wc3 and enter.
• DOSBox 0.70 and later versions automatically guess how fast each program needs to run. Play the game with these default speed settings first. If the game runs too fast or slow, manual customization can be enabled by altering values in the dosbox.conf file. Change core=auto to core=normal or core=dynamic and cycles=auto to cycles=8000. Save and restart dosbox. Control+F11 and Control+F12 manually change cycles (speed), and Control+F7 and Control+F8 adjust frameskip. We recommend approximately 35,000 cycles for Wing Commander 3 with normal core and 50,000 cycles for dynamic core.
• Hold down ALT and press enter if you would like to enlarge the playing window to full screen. If there is a problem with full screen, adjusting scaler=normal2x to scaler=normal3x in dosbox.conf will enlarge the window by 50%.

Wing Commander 4

Instructions on how to play the DOS version of Wing Commander 4 in Windows XP with DOSBox:

• Download and install the DOSBox software. If you already have DOSBox installed, note that these instructions assume that you are beginning with the default settings for the program.
• Start the DOSBox program via the shortcut that was created. Also note the link to the DOSBox.conf file which can be used to adjust settings later.
• Type the following at the Z:\> prompt (ignore the red warning text): mount c: c:\
• If your CD-ROM drive is letter D, type the following at the Z:\> prompt (change the second "d" to whatever your actual CD drive letter is): mount d: d:\ -t cdrom These mounting commands can be added under the [autoexec] section of DOSBox.conf to avoid having to retype them each time you start up DOSBox.
• Type d: at the Z:\> prompt to select your disc. Then type install and press enter.
• This should immediately take you to a colorful installation menu that will prompt you for a Save Game Directory. The default is C:\WC4 More advanced users may create a folder for all of their Wing Commander games, and WC4 will install to a subdirectory in that.
• Press enter to accept your choice and files will begin copying.
• You should now be at the Machine Speed Test screen. Click the icon on the left to continue.
• The installation program will attempt to detect your sound card next. Press the icon on the right to go directly to the main installation screen and then pick the left button to manually select your sound card. Choose Sound Blaster 16, IO Port 220, IRQ 7, DMA Low 1 and DMA High 5
• Press the botton on the lower left to select keyboard, mouse or joystick control.
• Press the button on the upper right to configure video options. Select SVGA (16 bit) for spaceflight, gameplay and movie video. You can also enable subtitles here, and these options can later be adjusted in the game.
• Press the button on the lower right to copy files to the hard drive. Check all three boxes and then push the left button to install them.
• Press one of the bottom buttons to save settings and exit or start the game.
• The installer may exit directly to a prompt where you can type wc4 and start the game. In the future, you will need to mount the hard drive and CD-ROM again (unless you include this line in DOSBox.conf) and navigate to the directory where your game is installed. Make a note of where you installed the game and type CD (directory name) to go there, and then type wc4 and enter.
• DOSBox 0.70 and later versions automatically guess how fast each program needs to run. Play the game with these default speed settings first. If the game runs too fast or slow, manual customization can be enabled by altering values in the dosbox.conf file. Change core=auto to core=normal or core=dynamic and cycles=auto to cycles=8000. Save and restart dosbox. Control+F11 and Control+F12 manually change cycles (speed), and Control+F7 and Control+F8 adjust frameskip. We recommend approximately 35,000 cycles for Wing Commander 4 with normal core and 50,000 cycles for dynamic core.
• Hold down ALT and press enter if you would like to enlarge the playing window to full screen. If there is a problem with full screen, adjusting scaler=normal2x to scaler=normal3x in dosbox.conf will enlarge the window by 50%.

• Important Note: If your joystick will not calibrate, download the Alternate Joystick Routines patch and save it to your Wing Commander 3 directory. Run wc3joy.exe and then recalibrate the joystick in the game or installer.

Wing Commander Academy

Instructions on how to play a DOS version of Wing Commander Academy in Windows XP with DOSBox:

• Download and install the DOSBox software. If you already have DOSBox installed, note that these instructions assume that you are beginning with the default settings for the program.
• Start the DOSBox program via the shortcut that was created. Also note the link to the DOSBox.conf file which can be used to adjust settings later.
• Type the following at the Z:\> prompt (ignore the red warning text): mount c: c:\
  • If you have the game on floppy disks and your disk drive is letter A, type the following at the Z:\> prompt (you may get an error if there is no disk in the drive): mount a: a:\ -t floppy
  • If you have the game on CD and your disk drive is letter D, type the following at the Z:\> prompt (change the second "d" to whatever your actual CD drive letter is): mount d: d:\ -t cdrom
  • These mounting commands can be added under the [autoexec] section of DOSBox.conf to avoid having to retype them each time you start up DOSBox.
• Type the following at the Z:\> prompt to select your disk/disc: a: (for floppy disks) or d: (for CD-ROM).
• If you have a floppy disk version, type install and press enter. If you have the game on CD-ROM, type wcainst and press enter. If you receive an error (this may occur on alternate CD releases), you will need to locate the installation files. Type dir and press enter. Look for files ending in .exe or .bat that appear to relate to WCA installation. If you see WCA <DIR>, then type cd WCA and press enter, then type install or wcainst and press enter.
• Bypass any introductory screens by pressing a key if asked. You should now be at the Wing Commander Academy Installation screen. You should not have to worry about the Check Hardware option.
• Select Install Wing Commander Academy and choose Soundblaster Pro as your sound card. Choose IRQ 7 unless you have changed this default in DOSBox.conf. Also select DMA 1 and Sound I/O Port 220
• You have the option to install to a specific hard drive and directory. Select the C: drive by pressing enter. Some versions of Academy default to C:\EA\WCA. You may choose to change this to something such as C:\WCA. More advanced users may create a folder for all of their Wing Commander games, and WCA will install to a subdirectory in that.
• The game may install now. You will have to switch disks for floppy installations. The installer may spend several minutes unpacking graphic archives.
• The game may ask you about changing the autoexec.bat and config.sys files. Select Bypass these changes
• The installer may exit directly to a prompt where you can type wca and start the game. In the future, you will need to mount the hard drive again (unless you include this line in DOSBox.conf) and navigate to the directory where your game is installed. Make a note of where you installed the game and type CD (directory name) to go there, and then type wca and enter.
• DOSBox 0.70 and later versions automatically guess how fast each program needs to run. Play the game with these default speed settings first. If the game runs too fast or slow, manual customization can be enabled by altering values in the dosbox.conf file. Change core=auto to core=normal or core=dynamic and cycles=auto to cycles=4000. Save and restart dosbox. Control+F11 and Control+F12 manually change cycles (speed), and Control+F7 and Control+F8 adjust frameskip. We recommend approximately 4000 cycles and 0 frameskip for Wing Commander Academy.
• Hold down ALT and press enter if you would like to enlarge the playing window to full screen. If there is a problem with full screen, adjusting scaler=normal2x to scaler=normal3x in dosbox.conf will enlarge the window by 50%.

Wing Commander Armada

Instructions on how to play a DOS version of Wing Commander Armada in Windows XP with DOSBox:

• Download and install the DOSBox software. If you already have DOSBox installed, note that these instructions assume that you are beginning with the default settings for the program.
• Start the DOSBox program via the shortcut that was created. Also note the link to the DOSBox.conf file which can be used to adjust settings later.
• Type the following at the Z:\> prompt (ignore the red warning text): mount c: c:\
  • If you have the game on floppy disks and your disk drive is letter A, type the following at the Z:\> prompt (you may get an error if there is no disk in the drive): mount a: a:\ -t floppy
  • If you have the game on CD and your disk drive is letter D, type the following at the Z:\> prompt (change the second "d" to whatever your actual CD drive letter is): mount d: d:\ -t cdrom
  • These mounting commands can be added under the [autoexec] section of DOSBox.conf to avoid having to retype them each time you start up DOSBox.
• Type the following at the Z:\> prompt to select your disk/disc: a: (for floppy disks) or d: (for CD-ROM).
• Type install and press enter. If you receive an error (this may occur on alternate CD releases), you will need to locate the installation files. Type dir and press enter. Look for files ending in .exe or .bat that appear to relate to Armada installation.
• You should now be at the Wing Commander Armada Installation screen.
• Choose Select music card and pick the Soundblaster 16 option.
• Choose Select speech card and pick the Soundblaster 16 option. Select Available Ports 220, Available IRQs 7 and Available DMA Channels 1 Note that if you select a speech card, subtitles will not display during scenes with speech. You must install the separate speech pack or be using the CD version of Privateer to hear spoken voices beyond the introduction sequence.
• Choose Select Install Type and pick the Play from Hard Drive option.
• You have the option to install to a specific directory. Armada defaults to C:\ARMADA or C:\ARMADACD More advanced users may create a folder for all of their Wing Commander games, and Armada will install to a subdirectory in that.
• Select Install With These Options. You will have to switch disks for floppy installations. The installer may spend several minutes processing.
• If the game asks if you have a Thrustmaster joystick attached, select NO
• The installer may exit directly to a prompt where you can type armada and start the game. In the future, you will need to mount the hard drive again (unless you include this line in DOSBox.conf) and navigate to the directory where your game is installed. Make a note of where you installed the game and type CD (directory name) to go there, and then type armada and enter.
• DOSBox 0.70 and later versions automatically guess how fast each program needs to run. Play the game with these default speed settings first. If the game runs too fast or slow, manual customization can be enabled by altering values in the dosbox.conf file. Change core=auto to core=normal or core=dynamic and cycles=auto to cycles=4000. Save and restart dosbox. Control+F11 and Control+F12 manually change cycles (speed), and Control+F7 and Control+F8 adjust frameskip. We recommend approximately 6500 cycles and 0 frameskip for Wing Commander Armada.
• Hold down ALT and press enter if you would like to enlarge the playing window to full screen. If there is a problem with full screen, adjusting scaler=normal2x to scaler=normal3x in dosbox.conf will enlarge the window by 50%.

• Important Note: If your joystick will not calibrate, download the Armada Joystick/IPX Patch patch and unzip it to your Armada directory. Start the game by typing armadadb and attempt to recalibrate your joystick.

Wing Commander Privateer

Instructions on how to play a DOS version of Wing Commander Privateer in Windows XP with DOSBox:

• Download and install the DOSBox software. If you already have DOSBox installed, note that these instructions assume that you are beginning with the default settings for the program.
• Start the DOSBox program via the shortcut that was created. Also note the link to the DOSBox.conf file which can be used to adjust settings later.
• Type the following at the Z:\> prompt (ignore the red warning text): mount c: c:\
  • If you have the game on floppy disks and your disk drive is letter A, type the following at the Z:\> prompt (you may get an error if there is no disk in the drive): mount a: a:\ -t floppy
  • If you have the game on CD and your disk drive is letter D, type the following at the Z:\> prompt (change the second "d" to whatever your actual CD drive letter is): mount d: d:\ -t cdrom
  • These mounting commands can be added under the [autoexec] section of DOSBox.conf to avoid having to retype them each time you start up DOSBox.
• Type the following at the Z:\> prompt to select your disk/disc: a: (for floppy disks) or d: (for CD-ROM).
• At the a:\ or d:\ prompt, type install and press enter. If you receive an error (this may occur on CD compilations), you will need to locate the installation files. Type dir and press enter. Look for files ending in .exe or .bat that appear to relate to Privateer installation. If you see PRIV <DIR>, then type cd PRIV and press enter, then type install and press enter.
• You should now be at the Privateer Installation screen.
• Choose Select music card and pick the Soundblaster PRO/16 option. Choose IRQ 7 unless you have changed this default in DOSBox.conf.
• Choose Select speech card and pick the Soundblaster 16 option. Select Available Ports 220, Available IRQs 7 and Available DMA Channels 1 Note that if you select a speech card, subtitles will not display during scenes with speech. You must install the separate speech pack or be using the CD version of Privateer to hear spoken voices beyond the introduction sequence.
• You have the option to install to a directory of your choice. Privateer defaults to C:\PRIVATER. More advanced users may create a folder for all of their Wing Commander games, and WCA will install to a subdirectory in that.
• Select Install With These Options. You will have to switch disks for floppy installations (including the 6th disk second to verify spanned unzipping, follow instructions on screen). The installer may spend several minutes unzipping files.
• The installer may exit directly to a prompt where you can type priv and start the game. In the future, you will need to mount the hard drive again (unless you include this line in DOSBox.conf) and navigate to the directory where your game is installed. Make a note of where you installed the game and type CD (directory name) to go there, and then type priv and enter.
• Note that Privateer CD versions that include Righteous Fire will also install that game simultaneously. You can start that game by typing rf
• DOSBox 0.70 and later versions automatically guess how fast each program needs to run. Play the game with these default speed settings first. If the game runs too fast or slow, manual customization can be enabled by altering values in the dosbox.conf file. Change core=auto to core=normal or core=dynamic and cycles=auto to cycles=4000. Save and restart dosbox. Control+F11 and Control+F12 manually change cycles (speed), and Control+F7 and Control+F8 adjust frameskip. We recommend approximately 6500 cycles and 0 frameskip for Wing Commander Privateer.
• Hold down ALT and press enter if you would like to enlarge the playing window to full screen. If there is a problem with full screen, adjusting scaler=normal2x to scaler=normal3x in dosbox.conf will enlarge the window by 50%.
  • For users with the CD version of Privateer or Righteous Fire, we also recommend configuring the game to work without the disc in the drive.
  • In Windows, find the files PRIV.TRE and RF.TRE on the disc and copy them to the folder that you installed the game.
  • Now open the PRIV.CFG file and change D: to the location of your Privateer directory. For example, if you installed the game to C:\PRIVATER, then the line in priv.cfg should read =C:\PRIVATER\PRIV.TRE
  • Repeat this procedure for Righteous Fire. Open the RF.CFG file and change D: to the location of your Privateer directory. For example, if you installed the game to C:\PRIVATER, then the line in priv.cfg should read =C:\PRIVATER\RF.TRE

• Important Note: Privateer will experience sound corruption on systems with 32 megabytes or more of memory. Reset the RAM amount in dosbox.conf to memsize=16 if it has been changed and there are sound problems.

Wing Commander Privateer: Righteous Fire

Instructions on how to play a DOS version of Wing Commander Privateer: Righteous Fire in Windows XP with DOSBox:

• Note that if you already installed a version of Privateer CD with Righteous Fire, it probably already installed RF for you.
• Download and install the DOSBox software. If you already have DOSBox installed, note that these instructions assume that you are beginning with the default settings for the program.
• Start the DOSBox program via the shortcut that was created. Also note the link to the DOSBox.conf file which can be used to adjust settings later.
• Type the following at the Z:\> prompt (ignore the red warning text): mount c: c:\
  • If you have the game on floppy disks and your disk drive is letter A, type the following at the Z:\> prompt (you may get an error if there is no disk in the drive): mount a: a:\ -t floppy
  • If you have the game on CD and your disk drive is letter D, type the following at the Z:\> prompt (change the second "d" to whatever your actual CD drive letter is): mount d: d:\ -t cdrom
  • These mounting commands can be added under the [autoexec] section of DOSBox.conf to avoid having to retype them each time you start up DOSBox.
• Type the following at the Z:\> prompt to select your disk/disc: a: (for floppy disks) or d: (for CD-ROM).
• At the a:\ or d:\ prompt, type install and press enter. If you receive an error (this may occur on CD compilations), you will need to locate the installation files. Type dir and press enter. Look for files ending in .exe or .bat that appear to relate to Righteous Fire installation.
• You should now be at the Privateer Installation screen.
• Choose Select music card and pick the Soundblaster PRO/16 option. Choose IRQ 7 unless you have changed this default in DOSBox.conf.
• Choose Select speech card and pick the Soundblaster 16 option. Select Available Ports 220, Available IRQs 7 and Available DMA Channels 1 Note that if you select a speech card, subtitles will not display during scenes with speech. You must install the separate speech pack or be using the CD version of Privateer to hear spoken voices beyond the introduction sequence.
• You have the option to install to a directory of your choice. Privateer defaults to C:\PRIVATER. More advanced users may create a folder for all of their Wing Commander games, and WCA will install to a subdirectory in that.
• Select Install With These Options. You will have to switch disks for floppy installations (including the 6th disk second to verify spanned unzipping, follow instructions on screen). The installer may spend several minutes unzipping files.
• The installer may exit directly to a prompt where you can type rf and start the game. In the future, you will need to mount the hard drive again (unless you include this line in DOSBox.conf) and navigate to the directory where your game is installed. Make a note of where you installed the game and type CD (directory name) to go there, and then type rf and enter.
• DOSBox 0.70 and later versions automatically guess how fast each program needs to run. Play the game with these default speed settings first. If the game runs too fast or slow, manual customization can be enabled by altering values in the dosbox.conf file. Change core=auto to core=normal or core=dynamic and cycles=auto to cycles=4000. Save and restart dosbox. Control+F11 and Control+F12 manually change cycles (speed), and Control+F7 and Control+F8 adjust frameskip. We recommend approximately 6500 cycles and 0 frameskip for Righteous Fire.
• Hold down ALT and press enter if you would like to enlarge the playing window to full screen. If there is a problem with full screen, adjusting scaler=normal2x to scaler=normal3x in dosbox.conf will enlarge the window by 50%.
  • For users with the CD version of Privateer or Righteous Fire, we recommend configuring the game to work without the disc in the drive.
  • In Windows, find the files PRIV.TRE and RF.TRE on the disc and copy them to the folder that you installed the game.
  • Now open the PRIV.CFG file and change D: to the location of your Privateer directory. For example, if you installed the game to C:\PRIVATER, then the line in priv.cfg should read =C:\PRIVATER\PRIV.TRE
  • Repeat this procedure for Righteous Fire. Open the RF.CFG file and change D: to the location of your Privateer directory. For example, if you installed the game to C:\PRIVATER, then the line in priv.cfg should read =C:\PRIVATER\RF.TRE

• Important Note: Privateer will experience sound corruption on systems with 32 megabytes or more of memory. Reset the RAM amount in dosbox.conf to memsize=16 if it has been changed and there are sound problems.

Wing Commander Privateer 2: The Darkening

Instructions on how to play a DOS version of Wing Commander Privateer 2: The Darkening in Windows XP with DOSBox:

• Download and install the DOSBox software. If you already have DOSBox installed, note that these instructions assume that you are beginning with the default settings for the program.
• Start the DOSBox program via the shortcut that was created. Also note the link to the DOSBox.conf file which can be used to adjust settings later.
• Type the following at the Z:\> prompt (ignore the red warning text): mount c: c:\
• If your CD-ROM drive is letter D, type the following at the Z:\> prompt (change the second "d" to whatever your actual CD drive letter is): mount d: d:\ -t cdrom Mounting commands can be added under the [autoexec] section of DOSBox.conf to avoid having to retype them each time you start up DOSBox. Privateer 2 will also probably require the additional -ioctl switch when mounting the CD-ROM. See the Important Note below for more information.
• Type d: at the Z:\> prompt to select your disc.
• Type install and press enter.
• You should now be at the PAD Download Status installation screen.
• Click on the arrow next to Sound Card and pick the Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16 or AWE32 option by pressing the red arrow below the yellow arrow. Then click on the ball next to Okay Selecting Autodetect should configure the sound card. Press the balls to conduct a test and continue. If you selected Manual, input IO Value 220 and press enter.
• Click on the arrow next to Music Card and pick the Generall MIDI (Roland MPU-401 Interface or 100% Compatible) option by pressing the ball next to Okay Selecting Autodetect should configure the sound card. Press the balls to conduct a test and continue. If you selected Manual, input IO Value 330 and press enter.
• You have the option to install to a directory of your choice. Privateer 2 defaults to C:\DARK.
  • If you receive an error about lack of disk space, you can avoid this error message by creating the installation directory on your own.
  • Exit the installer, type MD DARK and press enter (this creates C:\DARK on your hard drive). You can replace DARK with any directory name that you want.
  • Now go back to the earlier steps above and attempt to install the game normally.
  • The installation program does not allow you to install to subdirectories (such as C:\WC\DARK). After installation, you can move the directory that the game is installed in to a subdirectory of your choice. If you do this, also be sure to open up DARK.CFG in a text editor such as Notepad and change the second line to match the game's new location on your hard drive.
• Select Control and pick Mouse, Joystick or Joystick/Throttle. Note that Privateer 2 does not support flight using just a keyboard.
• Select Install and a brief history screen with play as files are copied off the first disc.
• The installer may exit directly to a prompt where you can type dark and start the game. In the future, you will need to mount the hard drive again (unless you include this line in DOSBox.conf) and navigate to the directory where your game is installed. Make a note of where you installed the game and type CD (directory name) to go there, and then type dark and enter.
• DOSBox 0.70 and later versions automatically guess how fast each program needs to run. Play the game with these default speed settings first. If the game runs too fast or slow, manual customization can be enabled by altering values in the dosbox.conf file. Change core=auto to core=normal or core=dynamic and cycles=auto to cycles=8000. Save and restart dosbox. Control+F11 and Control+F12 manually change cycles (speed), and Control+F7 and Control+F8 adjust frameskip. We recommend approximately 12,500 cycles and 0 frameskip for Privateer 2. You may want to turn up the cycle rate when near large ships or planets.
• Hold down ALT and press enter if you would like to enlarge the playing window to full screen. If there is a problem with full screen, adjusting scaler=normal2x to scaler=normal3x in dosbox.conf will enlarge the window by 50%.

• Important Note: It is highly recommended that you install the Privateer 2 Patch. This fixes a critical flaw in the gameflow of the UK release and fixes numerous other glitches such as Privateer 2 Fatal Error - setstreamspeed messages that appear when trying to load the game. Save the file to your Privateer 2 directory. Running it will create four new files. Run patch.bat in the game directory to upgrade P2. This will upgrade the game to Version 17.0e (Buffalo Wings) Jan 31 1997

• Important Note: If you encounter the Privateer 2 Fatal Error - cdromread - Read Status Error=ffff8000 message, this can be fixed by performing a special CD-ROM mount. Set up your drive with mount d: d:\ -t cdrom -ioctl instead of the regular mounting command. The -ioctl switch does the trick. This may also alleviate setstream and other errors that the P2 Patch does not resolve.

• Important Note: Some freezing errors during movie or gameflow sequences can be resolved by choosing Soundblaster Pro/16 instead of General MIDI for music output. This is most common with laptops or motherboards with built-in sound that have a hardware conflict with Privateer 2.

General Tips for Windows

Getting Wing Commander games to work on modern Windows systems can be trickier than running older DOS games. While DOSBox provides a stable and consistent environment, the huge variety of hardware and software configurations in Windows makes troubleshooting more difficult. Provided they have sufficiently fast CPUs, virtually all players have the same experience with DOSBox. On the other hand, some obscure or motherboard based sound and video adapters conflict with certain WC games in Windows. Specific issues with known work-arounds are provided in the Windows tutorials below. There are also a handful of tweaks that can help with all Wing Commander games depending on the setup each person has. Some of these are described here.

• Compatibility Mode is critical to running many Windows 95/98 games in Windows XP/Vista. This mode is set by right-clicking on the program's main executable file and selecting Properties. Click the Compatibility tab and examine the different options. Depending on each system, different combinations of settings enabled on this tab will produce different results. The most important thing to do is to check the Compatibility Mode box and try Windows 95 or 98 mode. If this does not solve the problem, experiment with different settings on this tab. It's important to make sure that these settings are being applied to the actual executable file for a game and not just shortcuts, batch files or launchers.
• Audio & Video Acceleration adjustment can help resolve a variety of sound and video issues. To adjust audio acceleration, open the Control Panel and select Sounds and Audio Devices. Under the Audio tab, press Advanced. Under the Performance tab, there should be sliders for hardware acceleration and sample rate conversion quality. To adjust video acceleration, open up the Run box, type dxdiag and press enter. Under the Display (1) tab, there should be buttons to enable or disable DirectDraw, Direct3D and AGP Texture acceleration. Sound can also be tweaked from this interface. A variety of video card-specific settings can also be found under Display Properties in the control panel, under the Settings tab after pressing Advanced.

Wing Commander: The Kilrathi Saga: Wing Commander 1

Instructions on how to play Wing Commander 1 from Wing Commander: The Kilrathi Saga in Windows XP:

• Insert Kilrathi Saga disc 1. An introductory video may automatically play. After the scene is complete, a prompt will ask if you would like to install the game to C:\Program Files\Kilrathi Saga If no windows automatically pop up, navigate to the CD and run KSINIT.EXE
• Click Yes to proceed or No to input a custom installation directory. The main Kilrathi Saga menu will then appear with prompts to install Wing Commanders 1, 2 & 3.
• Click Install Wing 1 and the game will create a wc1 subdirectory under C:\Program Files\Kilrathi Saga with the necessary installation files. The installation button will change to Play Wing 1 and the Uninstall Wing 1 button will appear.
• Click Play Wing 1 to start the game! On many systems, the game will automatically begin and run smoothly without additional tweaks. See notes below if you encounter difficulties.

• Important Note: If the game does not run properly, the first thing to try is enabling Compatibility Mode (see General Windows tips) on WC1.EXE located in C:\Program Files\Kilrathi Saga\wc1 by default.
• Important Note: If sound or video acceleration has been turned down to fix issues with other games, it may need to be turned back up to correctly play The Kilrathi Saga.

Wing Commander: The Kilrathi Saga: Wing Commander 2

Instructions on how to play Wing Commander 2 from Wing Commander: The Kilrathi Saga in Windows XP:

• Insert Kilrathi Saga disc 1. An introductory video may automatically play. After the scene is complete, a prompt will ask if you would like to install the game to C:\Program Files\Kilrathi Saga If no windows automatically pop up, navigate to the CD and run KSINIT.EXE
• Click Yes to proceed or No to input a custom installation directory. The main Kilrathi Saga menu will then appear with prompts to install Wing Commanders 1, 2 & 3.
• Click Install Wing 2 and the game will create a wc2 subdirectory under C:\Program Files\Kilrathi Saga with the necessary installation files. The installation button will change to Play Wing 2 and the Uninstall Wing 2 button will appear.
• Click Play Wing 2 to start the game! On many systems, the game will automatically begin and run smoothly without additional tweaks. See notes below if you encounter difficulties.

• Important Note: If the game does not run properly, the first thing to try is enabling Compatibility Mode (see General Windows tips) on WC2.EXE located in C:\Program Files\Kilrathi Saga\wc2 by default.
• Important Note: If sound or video acceleration has been turned down to fix issues with other games, it may need to be turned back up to correctly play The Kilrathi Saga.

Wing Commander: The Kilrathi Saga: Wing Commander 3

Instructions on how to play Wing Commander 3 from Wing Commander: The Kilrathi Saga in Windows XP:

• Insert Kilrathi Saga disc 1. An introductory video may automatically play. After the scene is complete, a prompt will ask if you would like to install the game to C:\Program Files\Kilrathi Saga If no windows automatically pop up, navigate to the CD and run KSINIT.EXE
• Click Yes to proceed or No to input a custom installation directory. The main Kilrathi Saga menu will then appear with prompts to install Wing Commanders 1, 2 & 3.
• Click Install Wing 3 and a prompt will appear with three installation options. With the speed and hard drive capacity of modern systems, the differences between each option are negligible. We recommend Best Performance / 41 MB
• The game will then create a wc3 subdirectory under C:\Program Files\Kilrathi Saga with the necessary installation files. The installation button will change to Play Wing 3 and the Uninstall Wing 3 button will appear.
• Switch to Kilrathi Saga disc 2 and click Play Wing 3 to start the game! On many systems, the game will automatically begin and run smoothly without additional tweaks. See notes below if you encounter difficulties.

• Important Note: If the game does not run properly, the first thing to try is enabling Compatibility Mode (see General Windows tips) on WC3W.EXE located in C:\Program Files\Kilrathi Saga\wc3 by default.
• Important Note: If sound or video acceleration has been turned down to fix issues with other games, it may need to be turned back up to correctly play The Kilrathi Saga.
• Important Note: If Kilrathi Saga discs 2, 3, 4 or 5 become lost or damaged, discs from the DOS version of Wing Commander 3 can be substituted. The game will lack music and exhibit other minor abnormalities, but it will be otherwise playable. Note that Kilrathi Saga disc 2 corresponds with DOS WC3 disc 1 and so on.

Wing Commander 4: Windows 95 Version

Instructions on how to play the Windows 95 version of Wing Commander 4 in Windows XP:

• Insert WC4 disc 1 and the installation menu should automatically appear. If no window pops up, navigate to the disc and double-click on the SETUP.EXE file. After the initial prompt appears, click Next.
• Choose an installation directory for the game. C:\WC4 is the default. Click Next until the game begins to copy files.
• After files have been copied and with the Run Game Now box checked, click Finish to proceed to the speed test and options setup.
• Click Run Speed Test and select options. Spaceflight, Gameflow and Movie video should all run in SVGA mode on modern computers. Check the Subtitles box as desired. Click Main Install Menu to continue.
• The game's hard drive directory, sound card and video options should be displayed. Click Select Control Type to choose between keyboard, mouse and joystick control.
• Click Copy Files to Hard Drive and check which files you would like to copy. With the speed and hard drive capacity of modern systems, the differences between each option are negligible. We recommend checking all three boxes and clicking Install game files Click Main Install Menu to continue.
• Click Save Settings and Exit or Save Settings and Run WC4 to continue.

• Important Note: If the game does not run properly, the first thing to try is enabling Compatibility Mode (see General Windows tips) on WC4W.EXE located in C:\wc4 by default.

Wing Commander 4: Windows 95 Upgrade

Instructions on how to upgrade the DOS version of WC4 to the Windows 95 version in Windows XP:

• Install the DOS version of WC4 per the tech support instructions and note where the game is installed.
• Download the Windows 95 upgrade patch and unzip WC4W.EXE, XANLIB.DLL and README95.TXT to the folder that WC4 is installed to.
• Navigate to the installation directory for WC4 and use WC4W.EXE to run the game. Follow the WC4 Windows installation instructions if an installation menu appears.

Wing Commander 4: DVD Version

Instructions on how to play the DVD version of Wing Commander 4 in Windows XP:

• If the game is on a single-sided DVD, use the regular WC4 Windows installation instructions.

Wing Commander Prophecy

Instructions on how to play Wing Commander Prophecy (including Gold Edition) in Windows XP:

• Insert Prophecy disc 1. An installation screem should appear with system information. Click Continue and then Install on the second screen.
• If an "Exception Processing Message" appears, click cancel and proceed to the Install Game screen. It should appear with three installation options. With the speed and hard drive capacity of modern systems, the differences between each option are negligible. We recommend Full Installation (406 MB) if hard drive space is not an issue.
• The default installation directory is C:\Program Files\Origin Systems\Wing Commander Prophecy\ This can be adjusted via the Change Directory button. Click Install to continue. If the game asks to create the installation folder, clicks Yes
• Insert additional discs and click OK as requested (depends on the size of the installation chosen). It may take several minutes to copy files and swap the necessary discs.
• When installation is complete, Play and Uninstall will appear on the Prophecy Launcher menu.
• Picking the right video card is important. Click Select Video Card to reveal the three options. All systems should be able to select Software or Direct3D. The Direct3D option provides better graphics.
• Prophecy was designed specifically for 3dfx Glide video cards, which are not common today. In order to see the best graphics, many users will have to use a Glide Wrapper or other workaround.

• Important Note: If the game does not run properly, the first thing to try is enabling Compatibility Mode (see General Windows tips) on prophecy.exe located in C:\Program Files\Origin Systems\Wing Commander Prophecy\ by default.
• Important Note: Many sound and video problems can be fixed by adjusting the audio and video acceleration (see General Windows tips).
• Important Note: If a "ship has been destroyed" error prevents launching into a mission, play Simulator mission 7 to reset the Midway's hangar bays. Deleting autosave.gsw and reloading a savegame should also fix this.
• Important Note: High quality videos, high resolution gameplay, multiplayer and more has been added to Prophecy via the enhancement pack.

Wing Commander Secret Ops

Instructions on how to play Wing Commander Secret Ops in Windows XP:

• For the downloadable Secret Ops: Obtain the Secret Ops Starter Pack and run the file. It will automatically unzip and bring you to the installer launcher. Click Install and skip the next step.
• For Secret Ops included with Prophecy Gold: Insert the Secret Ops disc. An installation screem should appear with system information. Click Continue and then Install on the second screen.
• If an "Exception Processing Message" appears, click cancel and proceed to the Install Game screen.
• The default installation directory is C:\Program Files\Origin Systems\Secret Ops\ This can be adjusted via the Change Directory button. Click Install to continue. If the game asks to create the installation folder, clicks Yes It may take a couple minutes to copy files.
• When installation is complete, Play and Uninstall will appear on the Prophecy Launcher menu.
• Picking the right video card is important. Click Select Video Card to reveal the three options. All systems should be able to select Software or Direct3D. The Direct3D option provides better graphics.
• Secret Ops was designed specifically for 3dfx Glide video cards, which are not common today. In order to see the best graphics, many users will have to use a Glide Wrapper or other workaround.
• The game will probably not play without compatibility mode enabled. Turn this on for SecretOps.exe located in C:\Program Files\Origin Systems\Secret Ops\ by default. See General Windows tips for specifics on enabling compatibility mode.
• For the downloadable Secret Ops: A registration serial key is required prior to playing the game for the first time. Obtain a key here. Input the same callsign and key number into the initial screen when prompted.

• Important Note: Much of Secret Ops's story was told through a series of online fiction files. These can be found here.

Wing Commander Privateer 2: The Darkening: Deluxe Edition

Instructions on how to play Wing Commander Privateer 2: The Darkening: Deluxe Edition in Windows XP:

• Create a hard drive directory for the game prior to inserting the first disc. C:\Dark is the default. An Error! message will display with a message about insufficient disk space if this folder has not been made.
• Insert P2 Deluxe disc 1 and the installer should automatically appear. If no window pops up, navigate to the disc and double-click on the install.exe file.
• Once the installer is running, the installation directory or input method can be changed. P2 only supports keyboards, joysticks or joystick/throttle combos. Click Install to proceed. All options are selected by clicking the round balls next to the descriptive text.
• The game will probably not allow you to fly into space without compatibility mode enabled. Turn this on for DARK.EXE located in C:\Dark\ by default. See General Windows tips for specifics on enabling compatibility mode.
• The game will probably run too fast without the speed patch. Download the patch here and unzip it in the P2 directory. Run patch.exe to fix the game.

• Important Note: To save the game and find a variety of other optins, press P to bring up the PAD and click on the triangle computer icon at the bottom.