Doesn't work. Failure initializing input devices. I'm using the original CD version. It was working before your patch, btw.

Edit: deleting dgvoodoo's dll files fixed the error message, but the videos are black even in software mode.
Now I've noticed that the original unpatched version also isn't working right in d3d mode, with or without dgvoodoo.

Edit 2: Finally tried this "upgrade" on the GOG version. It works, but the videos take AGES to load. Ironically they look worse than the CD version. The letterbox is not centered, the bars are gray instead of black, the image is less sharp and it just looks like a low-quality DVD, whereas the CD version has that proper old 256-color FMV look.

The GOG version comes with a custom ddraw.dll that enables anti-aliasing and anisotropy, so it looks pretty good without any tinkering.
Dgvoodoo works too, but the starfield leaves lines on screen above 640x480.

Save yourself the trouble, stick with GOG.

feda wrote on 2021-09-17, 21:04:

Doesn't work. Failure initializing input devices. I'm using the original CD version. It was working before your patch, btw.

Interesting, I have the CD Version (German & English) as well as the DVD Version. All three version worked with the patch on my setup.
I tested the patch on an Win10/NVidia GPU Laptop & Win10/AMD GPU PC.

Edit: deleting dgvoodoo's dll files fixed the error message, but the videos are black even in software mode.
Now I've noticed that the original unpatched version also isn't working right in d3d mode, with or without dgvoodoo.

Did you mean unpatched, as no V1.15 installed (didn´t try that). Or did you mean, without my patch/dgvoodoo. Have you tried the latest version of dgvoodoo?

Edit 2: Finally tried this "upgrade" on the GOG version. It works, but the videos take AGES to load. Ironically they look worse than the CD version. The letterbox is not centered, the bars are gray instead of black, the image is less sharp and it just looks like a low-quality DVD, whereas the CD version has that proper old 256-color FMV look.

Well, you clearly did not read my HOW TO / Readme which is included in the patch:
Configuration:

dxmci:
%WINDIR%\system32\rundll32.exe .\dxmci.dll,configure (from cmd.exe; launch from installation folder)
- VMR9 Renderer: works, but long video loading times

Leave "Use VMR9" and "Force Mpeg2Dec" unchecked!

That should fix your problems - but no guarantees here, since there are dozens of things that can go wrong.

Your problems with the DVD Version videos may be fixed too, if you configure your K-Lite and dxmci properly. They are no real 480p SD-DVD-Quality, but way better than the CD Version (objectively, not subjectively 😉, but feel free to stick to the videos from the CD version. Small hint: In the foreseeable future, there will be an HD Upgrade pack available, that will need the DVD-Version/Patch.

Dgvoodoo works too, but the starfield leaves lines on screen above 640x480.

You should be able to fix the starfields if you switch to "ATI Radeon 8500" emulation, at least that worked for me. EDIT: Does not fix the starfields, only alpha blending / transparency on nebulars.

Save yourself the trouble, stick with GOG.

Thanks for demeaning my hours of work, much apprechiated.

My Uncle Brad worked on the SNES port for Starfleet Academy. It's the worst version of the game, as it's quasi-3D graphics are pretty bad, but it has a special place in my heart.

-KRRU-Dominus wrote on 2021-10-18, 18:56:

Well, you clearly did not read my HOW TO / Readme which is included in the patch:

Your problems with the DVD Version videos may be fixed too, if you configure your K-Lite and dxmci properly. They are no real 480p SD-DVD-Quality, but way better than the CD Version (objectively, not subjectively 😉,

Actually, I followed your readme to the letter and it does not work with the CD version.

Anyhow, none of this matters.
I'm happily playing the GoG version which has OBJECTIVELY better looking videos.

RetroGamer4Ever wrote on 2021-10-18, 19:13:

My Uncle Brad worked on the SNES port for Starfleet Academy. It's the worst version of the game, as it's quasi-3D graphics are pretty bad, but it has a special place in my heart.

There was no SNES port of Starfleet Academy. What you mean is Star Trek: Starfleet Academy – Starship Bridge Simulator which came out nearly four years earlier than Starfleet Academy.

feda wrote on 2021-10-25, 17:25:

Actually, I followed your readme to the letter and it does not work with the CD version.

Anyhow, none of this matters.
I'm happily playing the GoG version which has OBJECTIVELY better looking videos.

I would have gladly tried to help / reproduce / fix your problem - there is a lot of trial & error and tweaking involved, but you are clearly not interested - but please let everyone decide for him/herself wich videos are better. Maybe the DVD Videos are looking worse on your setup, but there has to be a reason if that is the case.
What I meant by "objectively better" you can see in the attached screenshot (even though they cheated in the DVD version regarding FPS and resolution - more here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VorkPCeDVgY): The DVD Version has higher resolution, higher bitrate, better coloring.

Updated launch post:
Known Issues:
- Subtitles are no longer working after the upgrade (the DVD version does not and never did support the subtitles from the original CD .mve format that are still included)

Hi there! Just stumbled on this page and I mostly got it working. I am just trying to use the upgraded video/sound and resolution patch. Everything seems to be ok except the starfield issue, lots of graphics artifacts. I am playing 2K resolution centered full screen. Tried all sorts of options in the Voodoo config and can't get it to go away. Any suggestions?

Thanks

I also just noticed if I do a custom mission, I get the "insert CD1" and can't get past it. Any fix for that?

nickp85 wrote on 2022-04-13, 03:31:

I also just noticed if I do a custom mission, I get the "insert CD1" and can't get past it. Any fix for that?

Sorry, I can´t reproduce. I am aware of the issue when pressing "View Intro" but not when trying to start a custom mission.
Which version are you using? Are you starting the game with sfad3d.exe from the patch?

nickp85 wrote on 2022-04-13, 02:51:

Hi there! Just stumbled on this page and I mostly got it working. I am just trying to use the upgraded video/sound and resolution patch. Everything seems to be ok except the starfield issue, lots of graphics artifacts. I am playing 2K resolution centered full screen. Tried all sorts of options in the Voodoo config and can't get it to go away. Any suggestions?

Thanks

I have small starfield issues in fullscreen mode (pointy lines while moving the ship), but it´s nothing that kept me from playing and finishing the game twice.
I got the best results with those settings:
download/file.php?id=121949&mode=view

I did notice the issue is worse on NVidia cards (AMD seems to be better). Don´t remember if I ever tested on Intel IGP.
Maybe Dege (creator of dgVoodoo2) could look into the issue. I will contact him.

EDIT: Here is the answer and more info on the issue: Graphic Issues in Starfleet Academy

-KRRU-Dominus wrote on 2021-06-17, 11:14:

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy - Chekov´s Lost Missions (Addon) --- Compatibility patch for Starfleet Academy (DVD-Edition)

...

1) You have the GOG or original CD-Version (Steam release was not testet, but should also work)

I decided to give installing SFA with the DVD patch and expansion pack a shot today. I had some difficulty, but got it more-or-less working (I decided my joystick inexplicably inverting the horizontal axis halfway through the first mission could be a problem for another day). I do have a couple things to report.

First, "Chekov's Lost Missions" doesn't work with the Steam release. Whatever the CD installer for the expansion pack uses to check if SFA has been installed, the Steam installation of the game must not do it, so when I tried to run "setup.exe" off the CD, I got an error saying that the expansion pack requires Starfleet Academy version 1.00 or later to be installed. I tried buying the game from GOG and used the stand-alone installer, and then "setup.exe" opened immediately with no complaints. (Don't worry, I was well within the window for a Steam refund, all's well that ends well).

Second, the videos from the expansion pack aren't letterboxed like the ones in the main game. I suspect when the videos were converted from the CD format to the DVD format, the letterboxing was automatically cropped out (I know Handbrake does it by default, for instance), but that means that if you're playing in 16x9, the splash screen and cutscenes for the expansion look fine, but the interface and the main game cutscenes are stretched, and if you play in 4x3, the interface and main game videos look right, but the splash screen and the expansion videos are squished and too tall. EDIT: I just checked the videos in the original CD, and they also aren't letterboxed. I'd have to experiment further to figure out where exactly the problem is and the best way to fix it. The way I see it, either the letterboxing is exclusive to the version of the movies on the DVD, and the CD videos of the base game were never letterboxed same as the expansion pack videos, or the CD videos of the base game were letterboxed, and the expansion pack update allowed the game to play videos that were at any size. Either way, I think the solution would be to add letterboxes to the expansion pack videos and then resave them in the DVD-version's format.

Finally, doing the optional step of updating to the latest version of dgVoodoo2 gave me a ton of trouble. The interface was totally whited out, and once I fixed that, all the videos played in a tiny corner of the screen, plus I couldn't turn off the watermarks. Using the version and support files that came with the patch worked fine.

(I also got the "Insert Disc 1" bug when trying to create a skirmish mission; I hoped that might be another Steam/GoG issue, but it didn't seem to be.)

Thanks for doing this, I'm a Mac user from way back (give or take some light Bootcamping for gaming), so this will be my first chance to see the improved video quality and the expansion pack I missed out on as a kid.

First, "Chekov's Lost Missions" doesn't work with the Steam release. Whatever the CD installer for the expansion pack uses to check if SFA has been installed, the Steam installation of the game must not do it, so when I tried to run "setup.exe" off the CD, I got an error saying that the expansion pack requires Starfleet Academy version 1.00 or later to be installed. I tried buying the game from GOG and used the stand-alone installer, and then "setup.exe" opened immediately with no complaints. (Don't worry, I was well within the window for a Steam refund, all's well that ends well).

I have updated the first post.

Either way, I think the solution would be to add letterboxes to the expansion pack videos and then resave them in the DVD-version's format.

There is HD-Upgrade video pack ready to be released, thanks to the magnificent work by Owen Davis (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mI1djIE55E) who is responsible for the Wing Commander IV remastered videos as well (https://wcrespace.com/).
We worked together on an HD-upgrade pack for several month, and I will release it in the next few months. Just waiting for a trailer to be finished.
The HD-upgrade pack will fix the videos from the addon. Here is a first look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VorkPCeDVgY

Thanks for the feedback, very much appreciated.