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Wing Commander 3 issues

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First post, by Deffnator

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Dege, any ETA on when you will check the errors i mentioned on Wing Commander 3?
i think it must be related to color depth since subtitles are fine

Reply 1 of 16, by Dege

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Deffnator wrote on 2024-01-02, 20:12:

Dege, any ETA on when you will check the errors i mentioned on Wing Commander 3?
i think it must be related to color depth since subtitles are fine

Uh, I forgot about it, could you plz point me to the post where you wrote about it?

Reply 2 of 16, by Deffnator

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Dege wrote on 2024-01-10, 21:33:
Deffnator wrote on 2024-01-02, 20:12:

Dege, any ETA on when you will check the errors i mentioned on Wing Commander 3?
i think it must be related to color depth since subtitles are fine

Uh, I forgot about it, could you plz point me to the post where you wrote about it?

Re: dgVodooo 2.8.x and related WIP versions
Latest versions also messed with Msaa working on it when using reshade

Previously circa 2.74-2.79 it was ok

Reply 3 of 16, by Dege

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I installed Wing Commander 3 from the Kilrathi Saga pack:

Wing-C3-Install.png

But when I start the game by WC3W.exe (or from the launcher you linked) all I get is this (WC3 CD is in the drive, otherwise it does not even start up):

Wing-Commander-III-2024-01-12-13-27-29.png

and I cannot proceed. I guess I'm doing something wrong but I don't know what. The same is when I apply the Win2K patch to the game.

Reply 4 of 16, by Deffnator

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Dege wrote on 2024-01-12, 12:36:
I installed Wing Commander 3 from the Kilrathi Saga pack: […]
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I installed Wing Commander 3 from the Kilrathi Saga pack:

Wing-C3-Install.png

But when I start the game by WC3W.exe (or from the launcher you linked) all I get is this (WC3 CD is in the drive, otherwise it does not even start up):

Wing-Commander-III-2024-01-12-13-27-29.png

and I cannot proceed. I guess I'm doing something wrong but I don't know what. The same is when I apply the Win2K patch to the game.

Install the DOS release from GoG and use the kilrathi saga patch i gave to destro https://www.wcnews.com/chatzone/threads/wing- … d.30387/page-11
it converts the DOS release into windows

Reply 5 of 16, by Dege

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I followed the instructions here:

https://www.wcnews.com/chatzone/threads/wing- … -10#post-416550

So, installed Wing Loader 0.91, installed the GoG version of Wing Commander 3 into the root folder of WingLoader, patched it through the Wing Loader application.
But I still cannot launch the game. wC3W.exe throws an error about missing files on HDD and no cd found either.

Reply 6 of 16, by Wing_Loader

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Hey Dege.

Destro here, I made Wing Loader and heard you were having issues getting WC3 to run via my patch. I'll try to assist you but let's start with the basics. Try uninstalling Wing Commander III and delete the "Wing Loader" and "Wing Commander III" folder's completely.

Link to Wing Loader v0. 91
https://www.wcnews.com/chatzone/threads/wing- … 387/post-415220

1) Grab a fresh copy of Wingloader v0. 91 and Extract the contents of WingLoaderv0.91.zip somewhere on your computer. ex: C:\Games

2) Install "Wing Commander III" via GOG / GOG Galaxy into the Root WingLoader folder. ex: C:\Games\Wingloader so the final result will look like C:\Games\Wingloader\Wing Commander III This should run the dos version no problem.

3) Run C:\Games\Wingloader\WingLoader.exe and click the Gear icon at the lower right and select "Patch Wing Commander III".

I message box will appear and say patching complete but check the console window to see it there are any errors. If there is send them to me please. 😀

Once that's done you should have both Dos and Windows versions available that can then add dgvoodoo2 and run inside Wing Loader or not if you prefer.

My guess at what is happening is that with the gog version, most of the game files are packaged into a file called Data.Dat. Patching inside WingLoader should extract this file using a Windows console command but if for some reason it does not, you can get 7zip or something and extract it manually. Right click and Extract here.

Let me know if this helps or if you get an error message in the console.

Cheers.

Reply 7 of 16, by Dege

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Hi!

Thanks for your help! Meanwhile I figured it out though. I did the mistake that I installed the GOG version into the root folder of WingLoader.
But WingLoader copies the patch files into the root\Wing Commander III.
So, I installed the GOG version into there as well and now it works.

I've just fixed the bug.

Reply 9 of 16, by Deffnator

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Dege wrote on 2024-01-25, 17:49:

@Deffnator

Could you plz test it with the latest WIP, just to make sure all thing is fixed?
Re: dgVodooo 2.8.x and related WIP versions

Videos shows no Artifacts at all, not even a single flickering problem
The only issue is just the black screens when you need to chose a dialogue option during cutscenes

besides that, everything is running smooth

Edit: is it possible for you to check the old 2.50 source code?
for some reason, the space color under SGVA Triple Buffer mode in those versions delivers a proper black color under Alt+4 instead of the old Blueish color like the DOS release.

i think it would be worthy to check it out

Reply 10 of 16, by Dege

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Thanks!

What is the easiest way to get into a dialogue chosing situation?
As for the src: I think I don't have the source of 2.50. The oldest one I remember archiving is 2.52 but I'm afraid I couldn't compile it because it needs old an compiler version.

Reply 11 of 16, by Deffnator

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Dege wrote on 2024-01-26, 12:39:

Thanks!

What is the easiest way to get into a dialogue chosing situation?
As for the src: I think I don't have the source of 2.50. The oldest one I remember archiving is 2.52 but I'm afraid I couldn't compile it because it needs old an compiler version.

on the first screen you meet hobbes click on the lower left of your screen, there you will go to the lift and speak with another guy, that is the first the many dialogue choices you will have, the screen goes black and it flickers the moment your mouse is on top of the choice, which when you will hear mark hammil speak.

Also, 2.52 also had this oddity too, i remember it lasted all the way til 2.70.

Edit: i ran the game without interlacing using the command line -no_interlace, and did the first mission under this config and the cutscenes had flickering problems
https://pastebin.com/cdMB4BAE
i am also using reshade to take screenshots

Reply 12 of 16, by Wing_Loader

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Dege wrote on 2024-01-25, 16:50:
Hi! […]
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Hi!

Thanks for your help! Meanwhile I figured it out though. I did the mistake that I installed the GOG version into the root folder of WingLoader.
But WingLoader copies the patch files into the root\Wing Commander III.
So, I installed the GOG version into there as well and now it works.

I've just fixed the bug.

Glad to hear it's working now. I've updated the install instructions to clarify the folder structure a bit better to avoid future confusion. 😀

Reply 13 of 16, by Dege

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Wing_Loader wrote on 2024-01-26, 15:23:
Dege wrote on 2024-01-25, 16:50:
Hi! […]
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Hi!

Thanks for your help! Meanwhile I figured it out though. I did the mistake that I installed the GOG version into the root folder of WingLoader.
But WingLoader copies the patch files into the root\Wing Commander III.
So, I installed the GOG version into there as well and now it works.

I've just fixed the bug.

Glad to hear it's working now. I've updated the install instructions to clarify the folder structure a bit better to avoid future confusion. 😀

Thanks!

Reply 14 of 16, by Dege

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Deffnator wrote on 2024-01-26, 13:53:
on the first screen you meet hobbes click on the lower left of your screen, there you will go to the lift and speak with another […]
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Dege wrote on 2024-01-26, 12:39:

Thanks!

What is the easiest way to get into a dialogue chosing situation?
As for the src: I think I don't have the source of 2.50. The oldest one I remember archiving is 2.52 but I'm afraid I couldn't compile it because it needs old an compiler version.

on the first screen you meet hobbes click on the lower left of your screen, there you will go to the lift and speak with another guy, that is the first the many dialogue choices you will have, the screen goes black and it flickers the moment your mouse is on top of the choice, which when you will hear mark hammil speak.

Also, 2.52 also had this oddity too, i remember it lasted all the way til 2.70.

Edit: i ran the game without interlacing using the command line -no_interlace, and did the first mission under this config and the cutscenes had flickering problems
https://pastebin.com/cdMB4BAE
i am also using reshade to take screenshots

Hm... I tried it with your config but had no problems. When the dialogue screen is entered, the mouse cursor gets invisible and I can choose between the 2 answers placed on the top/bottom side of the screen by moving the mouse (the text highlight changes).
But no black screen/flickering at all.

Wing-Commander-III-2024-01-26-16-44-57.png

Reply 15 of 16, by Deffnator

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Dege wrote on 2024-01-26, 15:49:
Hm... I tried it with your config but had no problems. When the dialogue screen is entered, the mouse cursor gets invisible and […]
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Deffnator wrote on 2024-01-26, 13:53:
on the first screen you meet hobbes click on the lower left of your screen, there you will go to the lift and speak with another […]
Show full quote
Dege wrote on 2024-01-26, 12:39:

Thanks!

What is the easiest way to get into a dialogue chosing situation?
As for the src: I think I don't have the source of 2.50. The oldest one I remember archiving is 2.52 but I'm afraid I couldn't compile it because it needs old an compiler version.

on the first screen you meet hobbes click on the lower left of your screen, there you will go to the lift and speak with another guy, that is the first the many dialogue choices you will have, the screen goes black and it flickers the moment your mouse is on top of the choice, which when you will hear mark hammil speak.

Also, 2.52 also had this oddity too, i remember it lasted all the way til 2.70.

Edit: i ran the game without interlacing using the command line -no_interlace, and did the first mission under this config and the cutscenes had flickering problems
https://pastebin.com/cdMB4BAE
i am also using reshade to take screenshots

Hm... I tried it with your config but had no problems. When the dialogue screen is entered, the mouse cursor gets invisible and I can choose between the 2 answers placed on the top/bottom side of the screen by moving the mouse (the text highlight changes).
But no black screen/flickering at all.

Wing-Commander-III-2024-01-26-16-44-57.png

strange because i had this issue while also using reshade's dxgi.
i will test again later on without it, with reshade 6.0 the addon version became necessary for single player games due to depth buffer access.

Reply 16 of 16, by Deffnator

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From Destro's thread at wcnews, which i may ask if its possible to also check WC4 later, since that game is another can of worms due to having a Dos to Win patch as the DVD re-release thus making 2 separate releases

Hey @Bitterman I've done some testing with the latest dgvoodoo2 build. It works great. I had some small issues with getting it p […]
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Hey @Bitterman I've done some testing with the latest dgvoodoo2 build. It works great. I had some small issues with getting it play nicely with Wing Loader and the HD videos but I found switching the resolution under the DirectX setting to "Desktop" and insuring that "Application controlled Fullscreen" is selected allowed the videos to work. There were only a few small things I noticed.

1) After an HD video plays it would not return focus to the game. I made some code in Wing Loader to force a re-focus to WC3 and this seemed to do the trick. Shouldn't be an issue in real world applications aside from Wing Loader.

2) It does show the main desktop window for a frame before playing the videos which is not present using DDraw. I believe this is due to it using true fullscreen. (I'm assuming) It shows the desktop first when a new window is created. I didn't see a borderless fullscreen option to test and Window->Streched was worse and with Windows Scaling caused scaling issues. But when does Windows Scaling ever work properly, right? 🤣 Again, only really Wing Loader specific.

Other than that the game ran buttery smooth for me and I didn't see any black screen issues or anything major.

On an unrelated note. I fixed the memory leek that causes memory bloat when reloading scripts. Pointer returns through functions were the culprit. Also, I was finally able to get .MP4's to play inside Wing Loader with audio! It needs some optimization and videos will not close by itself when they are complete, but I'm finally not relying on .OGV converts of ODVS videos. Got tired of fighting deprecation with ffmpeg and started using libVLC. So yay!

Also i did more tests, and yes its seems to be related to reshade's own dxgi giving black screens onto the dialogue selections.