I'm getting the idea that there are people out there that are having trouble finding a way to get rid of the rainbow colors on their screens in SCBW, so thought I'd post it again with a download link (below).
This is a surefire method that became the final solution for me. My friends have used the same method when they came over for a LAN night. We use 64-bit systems.
The only thing it did not fix for me (and probably won't for anyone else) are the icons in ICCup channel, the ones that shows the rank of the respective person in the player list.
Determine which kind of Windows 7 you are running. To do this: Click on the Windows button (Start Menu), hover your mouse over 'Computer' and right-click on it. Click Properties.
The System window should pop up, and here it should say that you are running either 32-bit or a 64-bit Windows 7.
Once you've found out which version you are running, extract the downloaded zip file, double-click the registry file that corresponds to your Windows version and hit OK when prompting.
Most of the people have that problem and plus, my comp always freezes after a certain time while in full-screen mode, blizz .reg file didn't help to solve that problem. Only effective method I found is to kill explorer.exe.
Is it the same .reg file, which was released by Blizzard a while ago?
I liked the fix where you just oppened the "screen resolution" option screen and didn't touch anything, just left it open. It magically solved my funky colors problems, real magic do exist
I've played BW on a number of W7 computers and they ALL had this problem. Keeping the screen resolution window open in the background helped for some reason but wasn't fool proof. Next time I have a LAN party, this will hopefully fix all my BW woes. TY OP!!!!
I searched everywhere on the internet for a final solution to this problem and before this I always manually kill the "explorer.exe" executable to get rid off the colour problem. Thank you.
I vote for this to be included in the ICCUP launcher or in the files download directory. Also in the Liquipedia download section.
On October 09 2012 04:04 ChinaGreenTea wrote: The only thing it did not fix for me (and probably won't for anyone else) are the icons in ICCup channel, the ones that shows the rank of the respective person in the player list.
The game list's ping bars and the player icons next to their name in the channels aren't fixed with the color fix.
You require to change the drawing mode of SCBW to fix that. But I don't know, if that is possible on ICCUP as it uses its own launcher...
For the normal BW bnet, you need to add " ddemulate" as the target of your shortcut, so you have "E:\Games\Starcraft\StarCraft.exe ddemulate" in your shortcut. Also, changing the compatibility mode and disabling visual styles in the shortcut could help with the performance, too. AfaIk that mode emulates direct draw.
But I don't know if you can do that with the ICCUP launcher.
On October 09 2012 04:04 ChinaGreenTea wrote: The only thing it did not fix for me (and probably won't for anyone else) are the icons in ICCup channel, the ones that shows the rank of the respective person in the player list.
The game list's ping bars and the player icons next to their name in the channels aren't fixed with the color fix.
You require to change the drawing mode of SCBW to fix that. But I don't know, if that is possible on ICCUP as it uses its own launcher...
For the normal BW bnet, you need to add " ddemulate" as the target of your shortcut, so you have "E:\Games\Starcraft\StarCraft.exe ddemulate" in your shortcut. Also, changing the compatibility mode and disabling visual styles in the shortcut could help with the performance, too. AfaIk that mode emulates direct draw.
But I don't know if you can do that with the ICCUP launcher.
On October 11 2012 21:43 bgx wrote: people did not know about this? It was on official support page from blizzard ^^
Apparently they didn't, that's why I decided to post it here... Blizzard fails to make these kind of fixes easy to find for people who did not follow the SCBW scene earlier, not to mention they don't even bother to sticky it on the forums.
I hope that TL will sticky this so we, and the newcomers, can still enjoy Brood War. Is still board still being moderated, anyway?
On October 11 2012 22:35 fabiano wrote: Didn't work for me. Tab in, tab out still messes up the colors.
same
Have you guys tried using both .reg files?
EDIT: Please check if your DirectDraw is enabled. Do this by going to your Start Menu, type dxdiag in the Search programs and files box and hit Enter. Does it say that DirectDraw is enabled? If it says Disabled, try to enable it.
Should look like this:
I might look for more solutions of this registry method if that's doesn't work.
Hi, my directX looks fine but the menus (in fullscreen) have wrong colors, any advice? I know it's just the menus but thinking of streaming plus some selection boxes are near invisible.. Tx
When it comes to bw crashing randomly i advise to not run your own music in backgrund, eg winamp, itunes or windows media player, this prevented crashes for me.
On December 06 2012 03:46 shubcraft wrote: When it comes to bw crashing randomly i advise to not run your own music in backgrund, eg winamp, itunes or windows media player, this prevented crashes for me.
My sc used to randomly crash when i had skype(and only skype) open, no idea why, but then i just re-install it and it went fine afterward (w7)
The BW crashing thing is mostly on W7 64-bit, old version. If you install some newer version/build it won't crash anymore. At least that's what worked for me. (I read somewhere that they added more support for programs like StarCraft later.)
not related but anyone know how to fix this problem I am having where, if I have skype open, the game of BW ends it crashes? (I believe it's from trying to re-size from BW to skype program)
On December 06 2012 09:20 dRaW wrote: not related but anyone know how to fix this problem I am having where, if I have skype open, the game of BW ends it crashes? (I believe it's from trying to re-size from BW to skype program)
On December 06 2012 09:20 dRaW wrote: not related but anyone know how to fix this problem I am having where, if I have skype open, the game of BW ends it crashes? (I believe it's from trying to re-size from BW to skype program)
Set skype to dnd mode
thanks, tried and still crashed. Didn't used to happen T_T maybe it was a skype update...
On December 06 2012 16:19 Gendo wrote: Nice, used to work decently in full screen (4:3) now it goes only widescreen (good colors) but unplayable..what did i do?
Choose fixed aspect ration in your graphics driver software.
On December 06 2012 11:59 GGzerG wrote: Does this work on windows 8?
I think I read somewhere that W8 has support for old programs like StarCraft. Try going to properties and compatibility mode and search for color palette support or something like that.
On December 06 2012 09:20 dRaW wrote: not related but anyone know how to fix this problem I am having where, if I have skype open, the game of BW ends it crashes? (I believe it's from trying to re-size from BW to skype program)
Set skype to dnd mode
thanks, tried and still crashed. Didn't used to happen T_T maybe it was a skype update...
uninstall that piece of shit software = no more crashes.
Maybe this isn't the best place for this question as it is probably unrelated, but it did seem to first show up after using the color fix.
Has anyone else had Starcraft open a lot slower recently? Like a full minute or more after double clicking on the icon, it'll readjust the display ratio, but then nothing else will happen for at least a minute if not more. I actually think it's taking longer and longer these days. Everything else works with the game. It goes perfectly fast and shutsdown properly. And switching back and forth with alt-tab and the like works fine. But the intial opening has gotten super slow.
On December 10 2012 05:04 Falling wrote: Maybe this isn't the best place for this question as it is probably unrelated, but it did seem to first show up after using the color fix.
Has anyone else had Starcraft open a lot slower recently? Like a full minute or more after double clicking on the icon, it'll readjust the display ratio, but then nothing else will happen for at least a minute if not more. I actually think it's taking longer and longer these days. Everything else works with the game. It goes perfectly fast and shutsdown properly. And switching back and forth with alt-tab and the like works fine. But the intial opening has gotten super slow.
I have. The only way I solved it was reinstalling Windows 7, don't know what causes it... Maybe it has to do with SCBW being old software and Win7 doesn't like old games.
On December 10 2012 05:04 Falling wrote: Maybe this isn't the best place for this question as it is probably unrelated, but it did seem to first show up after using the color fix.
Has anyone else had Starcraft open a lot slower recently? Like a full minute or more after double clicking on the icon, it'll readjust the display ratio, but then nothing else will happen for at least a minute if not more. I actually think it's taking longer and longer these days. Everything else works with the game. It goes perfectly fast and shutsdown properly. And switching back and forth with alt-tab and the like works fine. But the intial opening has gotten super slow.
On December 10 2012 05:04 Falling wrote: Maybe this isn't the best place for this question as it is probably unrelated, but it did seem to first show up after using the color fix.
Has anyone else had Starcraft open a lot slower recently? Like a full minute or more after double clicking on the icon, it'll readjust the display ratio, but then nothing else will happen for at least a minute if not more. I actually think it's taking longer and longer these days. Everything else works with the game. It goes perfectly fast and shutsdown properly. And switching back and forth with alt-tab and the like works fine. But the intial opening has gotten super slow.
Do you use a CD to play Starcraft? The data might be a little corrupted if that is the case. I used to play with a CD and it showed similar symptoms (which of course is caused by use).
It's a legit version but I have the no cd patch. I actually bought another version because I wanted to create a no cd version that still had the music, but when I installed that one it just crashed lots so I went back to the one that worked.
Funnily, running it through the iCCup launcher, it will crash the first time and then start up immediately the second time (new problem). My huge delay in starting is when I use the regular Starcraft.exe. I ran this exact no cd patch version on Windows 7 for a couple years on a laptop with no such problems, but with odd workaround solutions for the colour problem. It's only recently that I've noticed this issue on my desktop (which has also worked fine for a whole year until now.)
I'll try defragging, but it says there is 0% that needs it.
On December 10 2012 13:41 Falling wrote: It's a legit version but I have the no cd patch. I actually bought another version because I wanted to create a no cd version that still had the music, but when I installed that one it just crashed lots so I went back to the one that worked.
Funnily, running it through the iCCup launcher, it will crash the first time and then start up immediately the second time (new problem). My huge delay in starting is when I use the regular Starcraft.exe. I ran this exact no cd patch version on Windows 7 for a couple years on a laptop with no such problems, but with odd workaround solutions for the colour problem. It's only recently that I've noticed this issue on my desktop (which has also worked fine for a whole year until now.)
I'll try defragging, but it says there is 0% that needs it.
No Cd patch ? I thought you could play without the CD from version 1.08 or something ? No ? Also you should use a image CD because no cd patch have sometimes problems with launcher (had troubles with Chaos launcher long time ago).
But i really think multiplayer doesn't require a CD anymore.
Also the best way to play BW on a PC is to do a Dual boot with winXP with something like 2gb on that part (aka windows XP + Bw with a little space for stuff)
This fixed the rainbow color issue but is anyone getting an issue where their black text boxes are turning white? It makes it impossible to see any text cuz all the text is in white unless it's in a whisper form
Er. By cd patch I mean copying the mpq file over and renaming it or whatever. But yeah I haven't used a proper cd for years. I don't have windows xp anymore although I might still have the old OS cd's somewhere for my first XP laptop.
This is the single greatest thread on Team Liquid! Does anybody know if this works on Windows 8 as well? I haven't reinstalled Brood War since I last updated, but I think I will now.
On December 12 2012 10:25 Falling wrote: Er. By cd patch I mean copying the mpq file over and renaming it or whatever. But yeah I haven't used a proper cd for years. I don't have windows xp anymore although I might still have the old OS cd's somewhere for my first XP laptop.
Oh yeah i forgot that it was the mpq file. I'm sure i've done it but it would be a WHIIIIIIILLLLe ago.
But really it's a pain in the ass to play on anything but XP (for BW i mean).
If you have another computer, use it or if you don't have one, Dual boot. I'm sure you can find help on TL with that. (But i remember the color bug acting sometimes in XP when you did ALT TAB).
You could try to do a "image cd" file and delete the mpq too. Have you tried that ? (but you will need to find the CD :p).
On December 10 2012 20:11 TaShadan wrote: works fine thx is there something like that for other old games too?
I think it has to be made from case-by-case basis, since I think the reg file maps the palette to windows colors or something, and each game has it's own palette. Not 100% sure.
So I got the registry file to fix the color issue, but when I alt-tab out of game and then get back in, it happens again. Do I need to fix something with the resolution or what? I have two monitors, if that changes anything.
I've been unable to get any of these windows 7 fixes to work for windows 8 as some have said it does, I guess I have to downgrade to windows 7 to enjoy BW. :-P
Right click on the .exe and click properties, look for some sort of compatibility option. Mess with the options and check to see if it works. Post back on your settings if it works so that other people can use the same settings.
On December 24 2012 03:51 Gendo wrote: goddamit! installed again and had fine colors and aspect ratio, didn't touch it for a week and now it's full screen again, any idea?
Any external programs that you're using for color management, power management etc.? It's software related I'm pretty sure of it, you should look into that.
On December 24 2012 03:51 Gendo wrote: goddamit! installed again and had fine colors and aspect ratio, didn't touch it for a week and now it's full screen again, any idea?
Any external programs that you're using for color management, power management etc.? It's software related I'm pretty sure of it, you should look into that.
Thanks for the reply, not really, only nvidia drivers i guess could affect that but no changes have been made to the system since it was working the 1st time. 1st time it went full screen i had already open Xsplit with Uscreencapture, uninstalled both with no luck, and because i'm on a laptop i can't force the original res.. Last time it happened i reinstalled the whole system but not looking forward to doing it again
hi guys im having a problem i dont see the starcraft broodwar at my full screen... i see it in a 800x600 screen when im at full window mode... im using W7 Ultimate 64 bits help pls
On December 26 2012 13:42 dM-White wrote: hi guys im having a problem i dont see the starcraft broodwar at my full screen... i see it in a 800x600 screen when im at full window mode... im using W7 Ultimate 64 bits help pls
Download the client from Battle.net, it is a built in sc + bw ( if you registered your codes ), runs without CD and i have no problem at all with it on W7
Ok, i finally have a fix for those stuck with a laptop and no way do force a 4:3 aspect ratio.
I have a Dell with Nvidia Optimus - just go to the settings of the integrated card (intel hd3000), - click "options and support" on the left, - you'll see a "Enable/Disable Panel Fitting" remember or customize that hotkey, - run BW and press that hotkey few times until you have the desired aspect ratio, - when exiting the game you'll have a crazy 8-bit 640x480 easiest solution to revert right click on desktop, change to original resolution and OK..
Since Nvidia mobility doesn't have that option, you need to run the integrated card (more than enough for BW).
Hey I hope it's ok if I bump this thread. I think this might be a hot topic again since many will use the days before hots release to play the sc1 and wol campaign.
So I bought the SC 1 Anthology (vanilla + broodwar) and downloaded and installed the latest version from battle.net.
Now I unfortunately after a few minutes I will get rainbow colors and the registry patch from this thread did not fix it . I use windows 7 pro 64bit service pack 1. The rainbow colors are gone when I tab out and back in once, but after a minute or so they are back again. So I'd appreciate any tips and suggestions what I can try, since I really want to enjoy the sc1 story before hots release .
On March 02 2013 22:28 Musicus wrote: Hey I hope it's ok if I bump this thread. I think this might be a hot topic again since many will use the days before hots release to play the sc1 and wol campaign.
So I bought the SC 1 Anthology (vanilla + broodwar) and downloaded and installed the latest version from battle.net.
Now I unfortunately after a few minutes I will get rainbow colors and the registry patch from this thread did not fix it . I use windows 7 pro 64bit service pack 1. The rainbow colors are gone when I tab out and back in once, but after a minute or so they are back again. So I'd appreciate any tips and suggestions what I can try, since I really want to enjoy the sc1 story before hots release .
go to desktop, (i.e have nothign on your screen) right click on the background, click the tab where you can change your resolution, than start the game or altab back in.
Even with the colorfix, sometimes, when you're in the channel, the colors will go wild, but it should work well in game etc. When colors go wild I just alt tab out and then back into the game and the colors are fixed.
Hm thanks for the help, sadly none of it works, I can fix it by alt tabbing out and back in, but after 30 secs the colors are messed up again.
Edit: Haha I can't believe but it works now. I just used the windows problem solver and it suggested starting the game with XP SP2 mode, now it works. So simple lol.
On March 14 2013 16:44 Gendo wrote: Hey, got it working at the time but now i have a system with GMA945 chipset, does anyone knows how to force 4:3 aspect ratio?
no idea, but try searching your monitor settings (the buttons on the physical monitor), a lot of the newer monitors have that.
sorry if im late, but i applied the fix in the first post and its giving me some problems, would any of you be so kind and tell me how i can reverse it?
Would it be possible to sticky this post, or at least have a stickied thread with a link to the registry files? I have to use this registry fix whenever I install Brood War on a new computer, and it would be convenient to have the links in an easy-to-find place.
Here's a guy in youtube with his fix for rainbow color problems. It worked for me! You can save the file into your starcraft folder if you want.
If you like having shortcuts like me, just create a shortcut of the bat file and rename it StarCraft - Brood War then change the icon with the one that came with the game. Just click properties on your shortcut file and change icon. Browse for your Brood War .exe file and just copy that file's icon.
Here's a guy in youtube with his fix for rainbow color problems. It worked for me! You can save the file into your starcraft folder if you want.
If you like having shortcuts like me, just create a shortcut of the bat file and rename it StarCraft - Brood War then change the icon with the one that came with the game. Just click properties on your shortcut file and change icon. Browse for your Brood War .exe file and just copy that file's icon.
He poorly assumes that you didn't change your directory for StarCraft nor tried this color fix in the reg file.
Pardon me for bumping this, but I'm having trouble with having this installed and playing on the ICCup server.
It doesn't do this on West/East server, but when I'm on ICCup server I get this "white screen" pretty frequently. + Show Spoiler +
The only way to get this to go away is to join/create a game and leave. Or alt-tab back in and out of StarCraft.
Anyone know how to fix this? Or perhaps find the "registry" file that I downloaded from this thread on my computer and remove it? I want to see if this is the problem. Thanks in advance, fellas.
On August 07 2013 00:21 ODieN wrote: Pardon me for bumping this, but I'm having trouble with having this installed and playing on the ICCup server.
It doesn't do this on West/East server, but when I'm on ICCup server I get this "white screen" pretty frequently. + Show Spoiler +
The only way to get this to go away is to join/create a game and leave. Or alt-tab back in and out of StarCraft.
Anyone know how to fix this? Or perhaps find the "registry" file that I downloaded from this thread on my computer and remove it? I want to see if this is the problem. Thanks in advance, fellas.
I have the exact same problem. It only does that when I have Firefox open. When I use internet explorer it's fine. Really weird.
On August 07 2013 00:21 ODieN wrote: Pardon me for bumping this, but I'm having trouble with having this installed and playing on the ICCup server.
It doesn't do this on West/East server, but when I'm on ICCup server I get this "white screen" pretty frequently. + Show Spoiler +
The only way to get this to go away is to join/create a game and leave. Or alt-tab back in and out of StarCraft.
Anyone know how to fix this? Or perhaps find the "registry" file that I downloaded from this thread on my computer and remove it? I want to see if this is the problem. Thanks in advance, fellas.
I have the exact same problem. It only does that when I have Firefox open. When I use internet explorer it's fine. Really weird.
plugin-container.exe from Firefox causes this problem
I have the latest AMD drivers and got it working by setting the compatibility to WIN 95 and leaving screen resolution options window on in the background.
I did a rollback to 13.3 and I had to go back to previous restore point since when I couldn't get my pc to start normally after installing that and taking off the newer drivers I had trying to fix the color issue. Anyways after that I downloaded 13.1 and tried that and it did the exact same thing with a blue screen message not letting me get past on restart from installing the old driver.
I'm back on the newest stable amd driver and the registry fix and all other things mentioned here aren't working for me, still getting color problem as soon as I start the game in fullscreen. Has anyone had a similar experience rolling back drivers to 13.1 or 13.3 beta amd drivers? Really hate computers sometimes, wanted to toss the thing out the window earlier.
which is exactly the file where i should put it? atm i would put it direct into "computer - c - windows", but i think its wonrg, anyone who can help me?
plz help me "which is exactly the file where i should put it? atm i would put it direct into "computer - c - windows", but i think its wonrg, anyone who can help me?"
so i got a new R9 270X, updated my drivers to 13.10 and now i have ingame overdose-acid colors and cant play bw.
i thought that after launchers included color fixes, this was a thing of the past. also all color trouble i experienced so far was only b-net related. so it was never mission critical.
i tried to usual color fix solutions:
* disabled aero * activated all the compatibilities and set to run as WinXP/Win95/98, in starcraft.exe * tried colorfix in mca64 * killing explorer.exe
So the only solution is to downgrade my drivers? What is the last version that works?
On November 08 2013 10:47 intothewhite wrote: Playing in Windowed mode fixed all my AMD driver issues by its self.
As much as i like the sharpness of the game in window mode. its not really playable for me due to mouse laggyness. or is there something one can do about it?
On November 08 2013 10:47 intothewhite wrote: Playing in Windowed mode fixed all my AMD driver issues by its self.
As much as i like the sharpness of the game in window mode. its not really playable for me due to mouse laggyness. or is there something one can do about it?
Do you mean windows power settings? I tried running on high performance and also running starcraft.exe in higher priority. My mouse still fells sluggish. It does not effect my play too much, I can still select units and give commands accurately, but it feels and also looks like my mouse movement is behind.
On December 15 2013 22:22 neustadt wrote: Do you mean windows power settings? I tried running on high performance and also running starcraft.exe in higher priority. My mouse still fells sluggish. It does not effect my play too much, I can still select units and give commands accurately, but it feels and also looks like my mouse movement is behind.
I just tried the latest beta driver 13.11_Beta-9.5 and colors are fine again!
Confirmed for 13.12, not sure if it still requires the registry fix since I already had it applied, but no other external tools are required to run the game in full screen with proper colors.
I used the the sc1 colorfix_64.reg that the guy out worked for me for like 3 hours. I exited the game & now it keeps telling me the I'm trying to do an illegal instruction. I want to know how I can remove the sc1 colorfix_64.reg from my pc.
The registry file fix download seems to be "banned" by Mediafire. Is it possible to reupload it somewhere else, or make it obtainable on the TeamLiquid Site? I can't play BW with NyanCat graphics. :/
I can't get this working on my machine - I've tried all the suggestions and always get messed up colours (predominantly blue - not like I've seen before when the screen resolution trick worked).
EPT
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