Command And Conquer Gold LAN Play \ VOGONS

Command And Conquer Gold LAN Play

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First post, by MrRatt

Posted on 2002-12-05, 22:14

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Motherboard : Asus A7V8X
Processor: AMD Athlon XP 2000+ (1667MHz)
RAM: 256 Megs 2100 DDR (i think its 2100...)
Video: ATI Radeon 7500 - 64mb DDR
Sound: VIA AC'97 (Onboard)
OS: Windows XP Pro + SP1

Game: Command And Conquer Gold

Ok so heres the issue. In order to run Command And Conquer Gold on XP machines, you must replace a .dll with one that Westwood offers on thier site. Unfortunatly this disables any hopes of LAN play (the LAN button is no longer selectable!).

So, to avoid a dual boot situation just to play this game networked, I tried Virtual PC v5.0 and installed Windows 98. After some meddling with network options, i rigged it so that through IPX/SPX it could see any machine on my network.

So i went ahead and installed Command And Conquer Gold and that went without a hitch, until i hit the intro movie. The movie's audio was fine, but the video was skipping 99.9999% of the frames. No big deal for me, I never liked those videos...

So i get to the main menu only to find that the Virtual PC doesnt update the screen until an option is selected.

For those of you not familiar with Command And Conquer Gold, the buttons are green, and the text lights up a bit when your mouse is over them. Well, with this setup I couldn't move the mouse pointer.

The keys also used to navigate the menu, so i tried that but discovered that while i could choose any option, if it led to another menu (i.e. Multiplayer), it wouldnt update to the new menu.

So... Anyone have any ideas on this? I'm thiking about giving Windows 95 as a Virtual PC a shot, but do not really think that would change anything...

--MrRatt

Reply 1 of 12, by Nicht Sehr Gut

Posted on 2002-12-06, 16:18

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Virtual PC is not good in general for games.

The original C&C Gold runs best in it's original environment. Right now, the best bet is a dual-boot with Win9x. You could possibly pester Westwood (now EA Pacific, I believe), but I wouldn't hold out much hope for that.

Reply 2 of 12, by DosFreak

Posted on 2002-12-06, 16:53

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Did you install the additions?

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Reply 3 of 12, by Stiletto

Posted on 2002-12-06, 18:26

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DosFreak wrote:

Did you install the additions?

Eh?

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do the Fandango!" - Queen

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Reply 4 of 12, by MrRatt

Posted on 2002-12-06, 18:28

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So theres no way to play using XP? Anyone know if this works in Windows 2000? I might have to downgrade...

I dont really want to dual boot as I have alot of things that I do not want to cancel everytime I want to play C&C...

If Virtual PC isnt good for gaming, is there any similar program that is? I know of VMWare Workstation, but i cant even get C&C Gold running in that at all... Or are all the 'emulators' bad news for games?

Ive read some posts on the newsgroups that people have gotten it working perfectly using a MAC and Virtual PC, so I dont know... Maybe i have to force a lower version of DirectX? (C&C Gold came with DX3!)

Anyways, I'll probably give it a shot using Win95 this Saturday when i dont have to worry about school for the day. I'll let you all know!

And no, I didnt install the Covert Ops addition. It doesnt patch the game in any way other then installing another button to the menu to my knowledge... But I shall try that as well.

Reply 5 of 12, by Stiletto

Posted on 2002-12-06, 18:36

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... if you feel like going oldskool, you might be able to get C&C: Red Alert or Tiberian Dawn working with network support:
showthread.php?s=&threadid=729

"I see a little silhouette-o of a man, Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you
do the Fandango!" - Queen

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Reply 6 of 12, by DosFreak

Posted on 2002-12-06, 19:15

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Stiletto wrote:

Eh?

The Virtual PC additions? He mentioned problems with the mouse pointer which I've seen issues with in DX games in VPC with/without the VPC additions installed/not installed.

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Reply 7 of 12, by MrRatt

Posted on 2002-12-06, 21:27

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OH those addons, yeah i had them installed... I wonder if that really would fix the problem... hmm...

Im fairly certain that Command And Conquer Tiberian Dawn original only had modem support... Where you had to dial each other with the game to play...

I could be wrong...?

Anyways i have to get ready for work and stuff, so... I'll mess with it some tonight or Saturday and get back to you.

Thanks for your quick replies though 😉

MrRatt

Reply 8 of 12, by Nicht Sehr Gut

Posted on 2002-12-06, 22:19

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MrRatt wrote:

If Virtual PC isnt good for gaming, is there any similar program that is?

[/B] The closest thing right now is DosBox, but that's a long way from what you're trying to run (for unprotected 386 or less games).

Ive read some posts on the newsgroups that people have gotten it working perfectly using a MAC and Virtual PC, so I dont know...

Hrrmm. I've yet to see a game that runs "perfectly" in VPC (other than the "minesweeper" type), so I'd take that with "a grain of salt".

I think the problem is the way networking works in Win9x versus the way it works in XP. That's part of why I was suggesting a Dual-Boot.

Maybe i have to force a lower version of DirectX? (C&C Gold came with DX3!)

Not unless you enjoy reinstalling an OS.

Reply 9 of 12, by MrRatt

Posted on 2002-12-07, 19:45

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So... Without the VPC addons, I cant goto 256 colors, and Command And Conquer Gold needs it to run...

My friend apparently tried installing Command And Conquer DOS version on the VPC earlier today when i took off for work, but i have to wait to ask him about it cuz hes on the phone and just yelled at me for asking about it! So...

I tried installing Command And Conquer DOS on WinXP and thats definatly no-go... Unless I'm just doing something wrong? Without the compat layer it says I need to be running windows, and with the compat layer it just hangs, opening a dos prompt and getting through dos4gw only.

Ratt

Reply 10 of 12, by DosFreak

Posted on 2002-12-07, 19:50

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The video card in VPC is an S3, Windows has included S3 drivers since 95a. Use those. The VPC additions just included updated drivers that offer 4mb more of memory and with it higher resolutions....which C&C cannot take advantage of.

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Reply 11 of 12, by MrRatt

Posted on 2002-12-07, 22:54

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Good news--I reinstalled C&C Gold and reinstalled the S3 Vid Card Drivers and I can now play C&C Gold perfectly (quite fast too... only problem is sometimes the audio is a bit choppy in the mission breifings...) - and i can see the menus I'm clicking.

The mouse problems were indeed fixed by removing the VPC Additions, and reinstalling the Vid Card Drivers...

So it looks like I'm all set to play mutliplayer over LAN once i get Win98 emulated on this machine! Thank you everyone, for all your help. 😀

Problem status: RESOLVED

Reply 12 of 12, by Snover

Posted on 2002-12-09, 01:47

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Good deal. Closing thread: RESOLVED.

Yes, it’s my fault.

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