Hello everyone, I have participated in some low level tournaments in WoL days. Now I'm kinda desperate to watch my old replays, but since 3.0 patch I can't do so. I've spend like 5 hours trying everything that i found on the web as a solution but with no success. The closest I got was when I downloaded older version of SC2 but then I recieved the message that I don't have the maps on which the games were played... Please I'm begging you, help me start them just once so I can record them. If anyone has older version, pre 3.0, mapfull, please let me download it.
I've made some decent progress, but I still need Battle.net cache folder containing following maps: Xel'Naga Caverns MLG Shattered Temple MLG Antiga Shipyard Tal'darim Altar LE GSL Terminus SE Korhal Compound LE GSL_Entombed Valley iCCup Testbug
Well the progress I've made was this: I downloaded old version of StarCraft 2 which is offline only (the worst thing is blizzard makes me do this..). Then I dug out my old computer from the closet. The original starcraft I got there has never been unnistalled and although it was patched post 3.0 its Battle.net cache folder contained most of the maps for which I have replays. So I coppied that cache to my new computer - old sc2 replay - installation and it worked. Still I lack all of the maps which I want and as of right now I'm desperetly searching the web for an active link for such old cache folder
I don't know of any way to do it from a brand new installation, but I made a copy of my HotS installation directory and the config files etc in the My Documents directory and use this to watch and record old VODs from WoL and HotS.
The trick is to use the SC2Switcher, which can be found in the StarCraft II\Support\ directory. Simply drag the replay file over the the SC2Switcher.exe or a shortcut of it and it should load - provided you A) are not logged into Battle.net and B) have Internet access (files and cache might be needed to watch said replay).
It should then download any files, then load up the replay as normal.
At any rate, this is what I currently have to do for my YouTube channel in trying to record all of the old tournies for posterity (it's taking an absolute age).
If you have a newer version, patched in late 2015 or newer then in my experience it will first automatically log into Battle.net and it will flat out refuse to play and dump you to a login screen. I have done some basic investigation into this, and perhaps it's due to the .MPQ files in the StarCraft II\Updates\base\ folder?.
Too bad I wasn't around starcraft when the patch came out, so I did not prepare. Can you please upload your bnet cache folder somewhere and send me a link? I know its annoying and for a stranger, but the folder shouldnt be too big (max I've seen is 1gb) and I'll be very gratefull if you do so. It should be located like such: On Mac it's: /Users/Shared/Blizzard/Battle.net/Cache On Windows it should be: C:\ProgramData\Blizzard Entertainment\Battle.net\Cache
On September 11 2017 06:05 ZenBeckson wrote: Too bad I wasn't around starcraft when the patch came out, so I did not prepare. Can you please upload your bnet cache folder somewhere and send me a link? I know its annoying and for a stranger, but the folder shouldnt be too big (max I've seen is 1gb) and I'll be very gratefull if you do so. It should be located like such: On Mac it's: /Users/Shared/Blizzard/Battle.net/Cache On Windows it should be: C:\ProgramData\Blizzard Entertainment\Battle.net\Cache
Anyway Thank you.
It's just over 450MB (5000+ files) and I'm happy to do so, but it'll take time to upload. I'll update this post when I've done so. I'll include the ancillary files too.
Thank you so much for spending your time helping me. Sadly that cache dont have the maps i need. Good thing is that it contains alot of maps I dont have in mine. Its so stupid blizzard didn't think of a way to solve this ****
@WeddingEpisode I'm not sure about the Map Editor. I tried to download the maps from there, but blizzard does'not support old maps in their download system... which I believe is kinda stupid. As the whole replay system to be honest. As for virtual machine, I can't think of a way it can help me.
@Seeker I've already posted in reddit, but I'll post in Blizz forums as well as u suggested.
On September 11 2017 08:34 ZenBeckson wrote: Thank you so much for spending your time helping me. Sadly that cache dont have the maps i need. Good thing is that it contains alot of maps I dont have in mine. Its so stupid blizzard didn't think of a way to solve this ****
I need way older cache
If you want, you can upload your replays to me and I will play the files, download the cache and then re-upload the folder to see if that helps?.
Or if you have a handful of replays (10 or so) I can record and upload them for you, if you want FPVODs. As my full time job is very busy at the moment I can't guarantee being able to do this right away, mind.
On September 12 2017 04:11 ZenBeckson wrote: Here are the problem replays: https://ufile.io/pgifd Thank you again for doing this. If you can update the cache folder and it works it would be great
Currently trying to play your files, but it needs to download 13GBs of files before doing so :D.
[Added]
I was able to play all replays but "Zen vs Alkazar".
The download for the cache and some extras is below. + Show Spoiler +
It worked! Thank you for helping me keep this memories! I'm so glad that this community has people like you, who will spend time and effort just to help a stranger out.
About "Zen vs Alkazar". Thats the oldest of all and its the only which isn't a part of a tournament...it was a single game razer sponsored event with prizes. Anyway all of the rest are way more imortant to me.
Can someone do a vod for me too, I have a WOL replay and can't get it to start on LOTV. Unfortunately I don't have any old versions of the game. I have the HOTS cd but won't install hots, just LOTV again.
On January 11 2018 07:43 lmicu wrote: Can someone do a vod for me too, I have a WOL replay and can't get it to start on LOTV. Unfortunately I don't have any old versions of the game. I have the HOTS cd but won't install hots, just LOTV again.
I can email the Replay its on Daedalus Point
Hey Imicu - Just saw your PM. Happy to record it if I can. I've noticed an issue with certain replays (GSL 2014 season 2 and 3 onwards) where I wasn't able to play them due to an issue on Blizzard's end so it might not be a done deal.
Could anyone help me with some old replays pretty pretty please? I had no idea they had been axed and I just recovered a few from my WoL and HotS glory days but have no way to play them. Any help or suggestions would so so soooooooo appreciated. Thanks so much!!
Only way I managed to get something done is uninstall all battle net and Starcraft from a computer, download an old version of the game that had an offline mode crack, and run the replays from the sc2switcher.exe of that version. The one that I got to work was a WoL version so I'm going to need some more work if I ever want HotS replays. I will say that it works though, when I participated in this thread I thought all hope was lost and it's not.
hey guys... I've also been searching to see old replays of sc2.. can anyone upload old files to download and see them? I've noticed that some people did manage to see WOL. I'm not sure which version I have but I have an old version of sc2 in my laptop which I havent updated so its pretty old... not exact of which version but the folder of sc2 stated last modification date was 5/22/2016. is this HOTS or LOTV? anyone can help me out? and vice versa? thanks
Your upload of the cache was unfortunately removed. Is there any chance that one of you (DSK, or ZenBeckson) could reupload it somewhere?
Kookii, I think that date would mean HOTS.
The most difficult, (well next to impossible) thing, is to find one of the 3 things that you need in order to watch old replays.
You need the replays which... we all have.
You need an old version of SC2, for example if you need to watch a WoL replay you need WoL, of the appropriate patch. A 1.3 replay needs at least a 1.3 installation. This second part is also easy, as you can find both original installation media, AND all the appropriate patches. So you can create a fresh installation that is patched to the appropriate level. For the above example, you install WoL, fresh 1.0 and you update it manually with the patch files.
The THIRD component though is the issue. You either have the maps (their versions) for the replays, or you do not. The way you would get the maps was by getting on bnet and you would automatically download them, storing them in the battlenet\cache folder inside the game's installation. Now since that is not possible though, as blizzard does not support these older versions anymore, you cannot acquire them this way. So you either have to find them on some old installation, or if you do not have one, you need to find someone who has the cache folder, and is willing to share it like DSK did.
So DSK or ZenBeckson! You are the only two guys in the entire internet landscape that I have seen even talking about having these cache files available. Please share if you can
On February 27 2022 13:28 kurios.ZeuS wrote: Your upload of the cache was unfortunately removed. Is there any chance that one of you (DSK, or ZenBeckson) could reupload it somewhere?
Kookii, I think that date would mean HOTS.
The most difficult, (well next to impossible) thing, is to find one of the 3 things that you need in order to watch old replays.
You need the replays which... we all have.
You need an old version of SC2, for example if you need to watch a WoL replay you need WoL, of the appropriate patch. A 1.3 replay needs at least a 1.3 installation. This second part is also easy, as you can find both original installation media, AND all the appropriate patches. So you can create a fresh installation that is patched to the appropriate level. For the above example, you install WoL, fresh 1.0 and you update it manually with the patch files.
The THIRD component though is the issue. You either have the maps (their versions) for the replays, or you do not. The way you would get the maps was by getting on bnet and you would automatically download them, storing them in the battlenet\cache folder inside the game's installation. Now since that is not possible though, as blizzard does not support these older versions anymore, you cannot acquire them this way. So you either have to find them on some old installation, or if you do not have one, you need to find someone who has the cache folder, and is willing to share it like DSK did.
So DSK or ZenBeckson! You are the only two guys in the entire internet landscape that I have seen even talking about having these cache files available. Please share if you can
I'll have to check my SC2 recording/rendering machine for the cache. I found one archive (of 2) but I don't know if it was from AppData or ProgramData.
I'll try and see if I can find them in the next few days.
Also, though not WoL and HotS stuff related, I can play replays from 2017-2022 as of the last LotV update - which is absolutely awesome!. Also, there is a cache downloader app (in the StarCraft II directory) that downloads a ton of files that may or may not help with playing WoL/HotS replays - I was able to play WCS Austin 2017 replays and WCS 2018 Global Finals replays as an example. Login normally via Battle.net or via the Battle.net login on SC2switcher.exe, and make sure you place the old LotV replays into the replay folder, then navigate to the directory in the Replay section and after downloading cache it should play. I've not touched LotV since 2019 so I may be late on this :/
Not sure if people know that it's possible. I'd urge people to back up a copy of your StarCraft II directory and my documents StarCraft folder, just in case something changes in the future.
Unfortunately though this did not work. It could be that the cache is too new and it does not contain map info from 2010 for example. I could not load any replay from version 1.1.2.16755. Examples of maps are Lost Temple, Xel'Naga Caverns, Metalopolis, Delta Quadrant, Steppes of War. From the above examples, I can load Steppes of War, Lost Temple and Metalopolis replays, from version before 1.1(because they use the cache that comes with the installation of WoL), but I lack the subsequent versions of the maps, and thus the replays of those subsequent versions fail to load.
I do not seem to be able to even find the maps themselves for download (not the cache) which could be of help. I am assuming that if you open the correct map version in the map editor, it would populate the cache with the information after you hit "test map" and after that could probably use it for watching a replay. However I am not sure if this is so, since as I said, I am unable to locate any official map packs from that time.
I find it strange though that your cache would not contain map info for LT or SoW or Metalopolis if you were playing Wings of Liberty. As I said it could be that the cache you uploaded is much too new.
In any case, again, thank you soooo much for your help!
On March 02 2022 17:32 kurios.ZeuS wrote: First of all T H A N K YOU!!
Unfortunately though this did not work. It could be that the cache is too new and it does not contain map info from 2010 for example. I could not load any replay from version 1.1.2.16755. Examples of maps are Lost Temple, Xel'Naga Caverns, Metalopolis, Delta Quadrant, Steppes of War. From the above examples, I can load Steppes of War, Lost Temple and Metalopolis replays, from version before 1.1(because they use the cache that comes with the installation of WoL), but I lack the subsequent versions of the maps, and thus the replays of those subsequent versions fail to load.
I do not seem to be able to even find the maps themselves for download (not the cache) which could be of help. I am assuming that if you open the correct map version in the map editor, it would populate the cache with the information after you hit "test map" and after that could probably use it for watching a replay. However I am not sure if this is so, since as I said, I am unable to locate any official map packs from that time.
I find it strange though that your cache would not contain map info for LT or SoW or Metalopolis if you were playing Wings of Liberty. As I said it could be that the cache you uploaded is much too new.
In any case, again, thank you soooo much for your help!
I believe in a previous post I mentioned I can't play anything from WoL 2010 any more. In my experience, I can play most things from WoL May/June 2011 up until WCS/GSL Season 3 2014, where I can't play much besides GSL Ro16. Your mileage may vary (I have a bunch of 2012 stuff yet to record).
I assure you that the cache should have Lost Temple, Xel'Naga Caverns (I'm playing and recording a match of Tan vs Kas on it right now, from EG Masters Cup Series VI 2011), etc, but to be fair that's on another PC. I checked the cache folders and there are a lot more folders than the one from my other machine, so I will add those in and reupload and PM you the link (as you will probably not see this message) and add the link here for others to have a go.
[Added]
It's well over a gigs worth of cache, so I'll have to do it overnight as Winrar says it will take 2 hours to pack and compress!.
Just an update: The new cache definitely enabled some replays! That allowed me to make a humorous video for my friends sharing 2010 memories. Watching WoL replays on 4k is quite the experience.
Thank you again!
However I realize now that the issue is more complex than I initially thought. Maps were changed at arbitrary dates, even though the game version remained the same. As a result one could notice that while they can watch a replay on version X, on date D, of map M... they may be unable to watch a replay on the same version X on the same map M, on day D+1, because the map changed on that day on an map pool update not tied to a game version change.
The patch days are documented and can be found here: Patches
However the map changes are not. As an example, I can watch reps of version 1.1.3.16939 on XelNaga Caverns, that were played on, say, 10 Jan 2011, but not ones that were played on the 11th. That can only be explained by a change in the map that was not captured in the cache.
So at this point I can play some replays but not others from 2010 and 2011 depending on the date (regardless of the version) because the cache uploaded does not contain the maps as they were versioned on certain dates.
A different but somewhat similar issue exists for legacy of the void as well. 4.12.0.79998 is a lost cause. There is no way to play replays of that version. The reason is that Blizzard did not provide a version for 4.12.0.79998 as that version is identical to 4.12.80188 that followed about a week later and fixed some bugs. The replays could in theory play just fine on 80188 but since they are tagged as 79998 are unplayable. I am not sure whether it is possibly to edit the version of a replay so that the client can run them.
What a quagmire Blizzard created Obviously that would be no problem if they were to maintain a cache server for all the possibilities but as they did not, and after they made the perplexing decision to simply abandon all previous versions of the game we have to rely on finding working cache from other users online.
After I figure out which maps work and on which dates with more certainty I will attempt to find a place to upload the cache for other people to use. Maybe on moddb.
On March 02 2022 17:32 kurios.ZeuS wrote: First of all T H A N K YOU!!
Unfortunately though this did not work. It could be that the cache is too new and it does not contain map info from 2010 for example. I could not load any replay from version 1.1.2.16755. Examples of maps are Lost Temple, Xel'Naga Caverns, Metalopolis, Delta Quadrant, Steppes of War. From the above examples, I can load Steppes of War, Lost Temple and Metalopolis replays, from version before 1.1(because they use the cache that comes with the installation of WoL), but I lack the subsequent versions of the maps, and thus the replays of those subsequent versions fail to load.
I do not seem to be able to even find the maps themselves for download (not the cache) which could be of help. I am assuming that if you open the correct map version in the map editor, it would populate the cache with the information after you hit "test map" and after that could probably use it for watching a replay. However I am not sure if this is so, since as I said, I am unable to locate any official map packs from that time.
I find it strange though that your cache would not contain map info for LT or SoW or Metalopolis if you were playing Wings of Liberty. As I said it could be that the cache you uploaded is much too new.
In any case, again, thank you soooo much for your help!
I believe in a previous post I mentioned I can't play anything from WoL 2010 any more. In my experience, I can play most things from WoL May/June 2011 up until WCS/GSL Season 3 2014, where I can't play much besides GSL Ro16. Your mileage may vary (I have a bunch of 2012 stuff yet to record).
I assure you that the cache should have Lost Temple, Xel'Naga Caverns (I'm playing and recording a match of Tan vs Kas on it right now, from EG Masters Cup Series VI 2011), etc, but to be fair that's on another PC. I checked the cache folders and there are a lot more folders than the one from my other machine, so I will add those in and reupload and PM you the link (as you will probably not see this message) and add the link here for others to have a go.
[Added]
It's well over a gigs worth of cache, so I'll have to do it overnight as Winrar says it will take 2 hours to pack and compress!.
On March 02 2022 17:32 kurios.ZeuS wrote: First of all T H A N K YOU!!
Unfortunately though this did not work. It could be that the cache is too new and it does not contain map info from 2010 for example. I could not load any replay from version 1.1.2.16755. Examples of maps are Lost Temple, Xel'Naga Caverns, Metalopolis, Delta Quadrant, Steppes of War. From the above examples, I can load Steppes of War, Lost Temple and Metalopolis replays, from version before 1.1(because they use the cache that comes with the installation of WoL), but I lack the subsequent versions of the maps, and thus the replays of those subsequent versions fail to load.
I do not seem to be able to even find the maps themselves for download (not the cache) which could be of help. I am assuming that if you open the correct map version in the map editor, it would populate the cache with the information after you hit "test map" and after that could probably use it for watching a replay. However I am not sure if this is so, since as I said, I am unable to locate any official map packs from that time.
I find it strange though that your cache would not contain map info for LT or SoW or Metalopolis if you were playing Wings of Liberty. As I said it could be that the cache you uploaded is much too new.
In any case, again, thank you soooo much for your help!
I believe in a previous post I mentioned I can't play anything from WoL 2010 any more. In my experience, I can play most things from WoL May/June 2011 up until WCS/GSL Season 3 2014, where I can't play much besides GSL Ro16. Your mileage may vary (I have a bunch of 2012 stuff yet to record).
I assure you that the cache should have Lost Temple, Xel'Naga Caverns (I'm playing and recording a match of Tan vs Kas on it right now, from EG Masters Cup Series VI 2011), etc, but to be fair that's on another PC. I checked the cache folders and there are a lot more folders than the one from my other machine, so I will add those in and reupload and PM you the link (as you will probably not see this message) and add the link here for others to have a go.
[Added]
It's well over a gigs worth of cache, so I'll have to do it overnight as Winrar says it will take 2 hours to pack and compress!.
EPT
It worked like a charm.
Patches
