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hanshot1st1138's avatar
hanshot1st1138
9 years ago
Solved

Get The First Decade to work on Windows 10.

I can get about half the games to work, but I get the dreaded black screen with Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Revenge, and some sort of error message for the Generals games. The former are my primary concern at the moment YR will load, but won't play. I get a black screen. I can actually click on things, but can't actually see them.. I have been through a half-dozen CnC forums and downloaded several patches. Tried compatibility mode with XP. I'm having no luck. Cnc and RA and TS work fine, as far as I can tell. I'll be honest, at the moment, I just want to play YR, very, very badly. I get the sense EA's official customer service wouldn't have much answer.

P.S. My name is supposed to be hanshotfirst1138. That's my name everywhere. I'm told it's taken here, and can't get more information. WTF?

  • Nyerguds's avatar
    Nyerguds
    9 years ago

    @hanshot1st1138

    @hanshot1st1138 wrote:

    I'll look into the Dune stuff. If only I could get rid of my guilt about fan-edits 🤨. I don't suppose you can help me get my old Star Trek: Armada I&II to work 😉?

    To me, this is all about fan-patching. About making old non-working things work again. The only difference between my own patch and Dune Dynasty is that EA released C&C95 as freeware for a promotion stunt.  I mean, for Doom 1, a 1993 game, the source code was released in 1997. Only four years later. It's purely a matter of company policy, and it's hardly fair that C&C is freeware but its predecessor isn't 😞

    As for Star Trek: Armada... I know nothing about the game, but if it's a DDraw malfunction there as well (as it is with a lot of these old games), then perhaps DDWrapper could work on it too. It did the job for Dungeon Keeper 1 for me, anyway (though there was still an annoying fast scroll bug on the mission selection map). It's not a patch made for RA2, after all; it's a general fix with quite some options to play around with in that config file 😉

    Though one google for star trek armada patch immediately gives me a result not unlike my own C&C95 patch:

    http://www.moddb.com/games/star-trek-armada-i/news/star-trek-armada-patch-13-project

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  • hanshot1st1138's avatar
    hanshot1st1138
    9 years ago

    @Nyerguds

    @Nyerguds wrote:

    @hanshot1st1138

    Honestly, buying the discs might get you karma points, but more often than not, especially on Win95 games, it won't get you a running game. C&C95, for example, is a 32-bit game (which runs fine on 64-bit machines) with a 16-bit CD installer (which doesn't even start on a 64-bit machine), so without some really specific tools to extract the installer archives, you won't even get to the game files..

    I don't know the specifics for Dune 2000; it's been ages since I installed it, but as far as I know, the game's what they call "true abandonware"; no longer supported, sold or cared about by the company owning the copyright. So, yeah... I linked you to Gruntmod's installer. Just use that. The fact they didn't bother with a patch version might be an indication that the CD installer might not work anymore either.

    As for Dune II... the game isn't easy to find at all. I got lucky and got a CD copy of the EU version, but the big box I got my hands on a while ago contained floppies (this is a game from 1993 after all), and hardly any PC nowadays even still has a drive for those. Also, if you go with the Dynasty way (really worth it, trust me) you so specifically need the EU version. As I said in the thread over ad fed2k, the pack's somewhere in the open directory I occasionally dare call a website. Probably under "Dune" 😛

    I shall look through your old posts then, sorry, I was so intent upon getting my stuff working that I didn't read them very thoroughly 😳. I've been lucky on RA2 and YR with your DDWrapper patch, it's mostly quite useful as long as I don't minimize; opening back up doesn't work. I've had a few freeze-up and the FMVs look rough, but the latter is probably simply because of the age of the game. I'll start looking into the multiplayer stuff on your previous posts. Maybe I'll see you there if I ever figure it out 😉.

    I'll look into the Dune stuff. If only I could get rid of my guilt about fan-edits 🤨. I don't suppose you can help me get my old Star Trek: Armada I&II to work 😉?

  • Nyerguds's avatar
    Nyerguds
    Hero+
    9 years ago

    @hanshot1st1138

    @hanshot1st1138 wrote:

    I'll look into the Dune stuff. If only I could get rid of my guilt about fan-edits 🤨. I don't suppose you can help me get my old Star Trek: Armada I&II to work 😉?

    To me, this is all about fan-patching. About making old non-working things work again. The only difference between my own patch and Dune Dynasty is that EA released C&C95 as freeware for a promotion stunt.  I mean, for Doom 1, a 1993 game, the source code was released in 1997. Only four years later. It's purely a matter of company policy, and it's hardly fair that C&C is freeware but its predecessor isn't 😞

    As for Star Trek: Armada... I know nothing about the game, but if it's a DDraw malfunction there as well (as it is with a lot of these old games), then perhaps DDWrapper could work on it too. It did the job for Dungeon Keeper 1 for me, anyway (though there was still an annoying fast scroll bug on the mission selection map). It's not a patch made for RA2, after all; it's a general fix with quite some options to play around with in that config file 😉

    Though one google for star trek armada patch immediately gives me a result not unlike my own C&C95 patch:

    http://www.moddb.com/games/star-trek-armada-i/news/star-trek-armada-patch-13-project

  • hanshot1st1138's avatar
    hanshot1st1138
    9 years ago
    @Nyerguds wrote:

    @hanshot1st1138

    @hanshot1st1138 wrote:

    I'll look into the Dune stuff. If only I could get rid of my guilt about fan-edits 🤨. I don't suppose you can help me get my old Star Trek: Armada I&II to work 😉?

    To me, this is all about fan-patching. About making old non-working things work again. The only difference between my own patch and Dune Dynasty is that EA released C&C95 as freeware for a promotion stunt.  I mean, for Doom 1, a 1993 game, the source code was released in 1997. Only four years later. It's purely a matter of company policy, and it's hardly fair that C&C is freeware but its predecessor isn't 😞

    As for Star Trek: Armada... I know nothing about the game, but if it's a DDraw malfunction there as well (as it is with a lot of these old games), then perhaps DDWrapper could work on it too. It did the job for Dungeon Keeper 1 for me, anyway (though there was still an annoying fast scroll bug on the mission selection map). It's not a patch made for RA2, after all; it's a general fix with quite some options to play around with in that config file 😉

    Though one google for Star Trek armada patch immediately gives me a result not unlike my own C&C95 patch:

    http://www.moddb.com/games/star-trek-armada-i/news/star-trek-armada-patch-13-project

    Just an update and another thanks for your help! The DDWrapper patch is very wonky on Red Alert 2 proper; I had to save the game pretty frequently, as it froze up, but it was damn-near flawless on Yuri's Revenge, it runs as smoothly as silk most of the time, except for the occasional lag. I'm talking about fan edits like the Star Wars Despecialized Edition rather than game. I'll look into the Armada patch, the Dune downloads, and the online play, so I thank you again. Fans sure are resourceful 😇.

  • Nyerguds's avatar
    Nyerguds
    Hero+
    9 years ago

    @hanshot1st1138

    hanshot1st1138 wrote:

    Fans sure are resourceful 😇.

    Ahh. You are a breath of fresh air after dealing with people like this one 🤒

    "Only a fool would use unofficial patches." - steveash442 😕

  • TheSi1entSloth's avatar
    TheSi1entSloth
    7 years ago
    Hello everyone,
    I apologize in advance, but I have never posted anything online when it comes to gaming or computer problems. If I have put this post in the wrong place or do not necessarily know how things work, please know it is due to my in-experience.
     
    I am running boot camp with my MacBook Pro (Apple haters please hold you remarks), and running windows 10 but cannot get TFD running 100% on my computer. All the drivers are up to date to the best of my knowledge, and it is essentially like I am running windows 10 from a windows PC.
     
    I have tried numerous attempts to get it working by un-installing and re-installing, then applying "this" patch and "that" patch. I have switched the order of when patches are applied. I have tried just installing a couple games, and then running patches. I have gone into configuration files and tried changing things up. I have run everything (including the setup at the beginning) as administrator. The list of variations I have tried is quite long and have exhausted my basic knowledge of getting things to work and am tired of trying.
     
    I am hoping someone could help me install TFD to the point of being able to do the campaigns, and skirmishes. I could go without CnCNet, but getting that working would be a bonus. I do not mind trying things and providing you feedback to help you troubleshoot the issue.
     
    With that giant intro, here is what I have done (tried) from a top level summary:
     
    C&C gold: Regardless of whether I run the tfd-103-rev4, cc95v106c_r3_u4, or neither of them, I cannot get this game to work properly. The closest I have gotten is doing the cc95v106c_r3_u4 patch (doesn't matter if I do the tfd-103-rev4 patch or not for this case) and open the configuration tool pop up thing. Once there, if I have the CnCdraw (or something like that) box in the top left checked, it crashes and does not work. But if it is unchecked then the advanced options go away and the game runs but only in a mega big screen zoomed into the top left corner of game play. I can change the resolution to my screen (2880x1800) but then things get all messed up.
     
    RA1: Works perfectly after running RA1 Installer patch found here: https://funkyfr3sh.cnc-comm.com/
    Didn't matter if I ran the tfd-103-rev4 patch.
     
    RA2: I run the tfd-103-rev4 to get the "no disc" working but then I get the black screen of death (as I have read elsewhere) and have tried ddwrapper, but can't get it to work. The closest I have gotten, and I do not remember what I did, I got the screen to show up but could not hit any of the buttons.
     
    YR: Same as RA2
     
    Renegade: Works perfectly if I install it separately from most of the games and run this patch: http://www.tiberiantechnologies.org/downloads
    Renegade couldn't be installed when I ran the tfd-103-v4 patch otherwise it didn't work. So I installed the other games, ran the tfd-103-rev4 patch, then installed renegade and ran the patch. I got the idea from here: https://cncnz.com/features/technical-support-help-guides/fully-updating-the-first-decade/
     
    Tiberian Sun: Cannot get it to work. I have tried running the TSpatch by itself and also after the tfd-103-rev4. The closest I got, I had the mega screen zoomed into the top left corner and again if I changed the resolution, it jacked everything up.
     
    Generals: Works perfectly after running the tfd-103-rev4 patch to get the "no disc" working, I just went into "C:\Users\(computer name)\Documents\Command and Conquer Generals Data" and pasted the options.ini file into that folder found here: https://forums.cncnz.com/topic/12319-how-to-play-generals-zero-hour-in-windows-7-x64/
     
    Generals Zero: Works perfectly after: Running the tfd-103-rev4 patch to get the "no disc" working. Running the game once, so that it crashes, then a folder called "C:\Users\(computer name)\Documents\Command and Conquer Generals Zero Hour Data" shows up and paste the options.ini file into that folder found here: https://forums.cncnz.com/topic/12319-how-to-play-generals-zero-hour-in-windows-7-x64/
     
    Again, my apologies if this is not in the right spot or if I am doing things wrong. I really just want my games to work and this is my last resort.
     
     
  • Nyerguds's avatar
    Nyerguds
    Hero+
    7 years ago

    @TheSi1entSloth

    Well, usually I'd advise putting it in a separate thread, since that gets people's attention more easily (I am subscribed to the forum, but not to all the threads in it), but since I noticed it now, and it's clearly a discussion about exactly the same topic, I guess there's no harm in leaving it here.

    Command & Conquer Gold:

    • The CnC-DDraw dll is a replacement for the Windows DDraw system responsible for putting graphics on the screen. This means cnc-ddraw acts as an extra layer that intercepts the graphics handling of the game and does its own thing with it. That's the reason it offers a load of extra options. There's actually a newer version of the dll released, but I never had the time to incorporate it into my patch. I suggest you try it out and see if it helps you out.
    • There is also an issue with the config tool of my patch that makes it re-enable Win95 compatibility mode whenever you save in the tool, though, and apparently Win95 mode doesn't work well for Windows 10. I don't know exactly how this boot camp stuff works, but if it uses these exe compatibility settings, make sure to change them. Last I heard XP SP3 mode worked well, but overall, compatibility modes are something you just need to juggle around a bit until something works. In fact, it might just work if you disable it completely.

    Red Alert 2:

    • DDWrapper has a settings file with a bunch of options in it. You might want to tweak them a bit and see if anything works...

    Tiberian Sun:

    • Well, the forum thread does come with the big warning "Do not apply TSpatch and the The unofficial The First Decade Patch to the same game folder!", so I assume that's never a good idea. Last I checked, TS-DDraw (the TS equivalent of cnc-ddraw) doesn't have any options to tweak, though, so I'm not sure what you could do there.

    As you might have noticed, the CnCNet community is dedicated to keeping these old games working. I'm the guy who made the C&C95 patch, but for the others, it might be useful to post on the CnCNet forum itself, to reach the people working on it. If you reply to me here, please mention me using "@", like I did with you at the start of this post; it gives me a specific email notification about your reply.

    Note that C&C1, RA1 and Tiberian Sun are all freeware, so you might just want to try their stand-alone installers anyway.

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