That error (C000001D) is probably related to the processor lacking SSE2 instructions.
I confirmed on a different, newer computer (that also runs XP SP3) that installing BWAPI 4.4.0 actually sets the speed to Fastest automatically.
I wish I could recompile BWAPI but unfortunately I'm not familiar with the process at all.
It's such a pity! I'd be very grateful if someone familiar with it could do it and make the binaries available for everybody, or if it's not super complex, I'd be happy to do it myself if someone can provide the step by step instructions.
Hi, thank you for taking the time to answer @rtyrt7. I'm starting to get familiar with all the launchers and plugins and the whole ecosystem surrounding BW v1.16.1. Lots of things are buried under dead links, unfortunately. Turns out that mca64launcher automatically changes the speed to fastest! That was the first solution I found to this problem and the one I suggest for the time being.
I will definitely check out Cheat Engine and LUA scripts and learn more about them. I'd like to point out that newer Cheat Engine versions include undesired software with sneaky opt-outs that some people may overlook. I downloaded this archived older version that works on XP. http://web.archive.org/web/20211225142624/https://cheatengine.org/download/CheatEngine62.exe
I got it working using Cheat Engine (version 7.5 - latest at the moment) and LUA, where what I ended up doing was getting an exe that launches Starcraft with a speed of x10. Here's a video guide (based on this thread):
To view the guide at full size, check this out:
Once you download the .gif drag Starcraft.Extra.Fast.Speed.Demo.gif into your browser to make it play at full size. Or instead of this, you can simply zoom in into the page.
You need to change this: shellExecute("C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Starcraft_1161\\StarCraft.exe") to the path where your "StarCraft.exe" is located at.
speedhack_setSpeed(10) sets the game speed to 10, so you can change that value to whatever you want. It supports decimals, for example speedhack_setSpeed(0.5) .
Don't try to run it into a virtual machine as it may not work, at least that's what I experienced with VMWare.
You can use Unchecky to automatically uncheck opt-outs, but I can't really tell for what programs it will work.
Edit 1: In case you're getting errors running Cheat Engine 7.5 on Windows 7 you have to delete dbghelp.dll from the win32 and win64 subfolders in Cheat Engine's installation folder, according to this post.
About the C000001D error, ChatGPT says it's definitely not the problem with the SSE2 instruction missing. It says it may be a problem with the GPU driver, and it suggests running Starcraft using OpenGL renderer instead. Here's exactly what it said:
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Running Starcraft 1.16.1 using OpenGL can be a bit tricky, as the game was primarily designed to use DirectDraw. However, you can use a third-party tool called ddraw.dll replacement, which forces the game to use OpenGL or other rendering methods. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to do this:
Steps to Run Starcraft 1.16.1 Using OpenGL Download a ddraw.dll Wrapper:
Download a ddraw.dll wrapper that supports OpenGL, such as ddraw.dll from the CNC-DDraw project or DDrawCompat. These projects aim to improve compatibility and performance for older games. Extract and Place the DLL:
Extract the downloaded ddraw.dll file. Copy the ddraw.dll file to your Starcraft installation directory (the folder where Starcraft.exe is located). Configure the Wrapper (if needed):
Some wrappers come with configuration files (ddraw.ini or similar) that allow you to tweak settings. Open this file with a text editor (such as Notepad) to enable OpenGL rendering if it is not already enabled by default. For CNC-DDraw, you might find settings like this in ddraw.ini:
[ddraw] renderer=opengl
Ensure that renderer is set to opengl.
Run Starcraft:
Launch Starcraft as you normally would. The game should now use OpenGL for rendering. Additional Tips Compatibility Mode:
Even with the ddraw.dll wrapper, you might still need to run the game in compatibility mode. Right-click on Starcraft.exe, go to Properties, then the Compatibility tab, and set it to run in compatibility mode for Windows XP (Service Pack 2 or 3). Administrator Mode:
Ensure that the game runs with administrative privileges by checking "Run this program as an administrator" in the Compatibility tab. Disable Scaling:
In the Compatibility tab, also check "Disable fullscreen optimizations" and "Override high DPI scaling behavior" to ensure better compatibility and performance. Update Graphics Drivers:
Make sure your graphics drivers are up to date to avoid any potential issues with OpenGL rendering. By following these steps, you should be able to force Starcraft 1.16.1 to run using OpenGL, which can help improve compatibility and performance on modern systems. If you encounter any issues, checking the documentation for the ddraw.dll wrapper you chose can provide additional configuration options and troubleshooting tips.
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I have no idea if this will work, but you can have a go.
The cheat engine script is definitely very interesting and I'll be experimenting with it. Thank you!
As I said mca64launcher works fine too, does it automatically and it's much easier for any regular user. And as tankgirl said, BWAPI also removes transitions and can speed up the game noticeably.
About the error I mentioned, you shouldn't trust GPT... The graphical problem with BW 1.16 is a completely different issue. It affects Windows 7 and up and can be fixed with cnc-ddraw.dll. Although Windows XP is leaner and meaner and I prefer it.
Ah, for some reason I misread your initial mca64launcher post, thinking you couldn't make it work either. I guess I was tired. True, BWAPI does that, and I recall doing that with it. Aside from removing transitions, it has a couple more optimizations for speeding up the game as a whole.
I do not trust ChatGPT, but I had some experience with a physically partly broken GPU, where switching the renderer from DX11 to DX9 or OpenGL fixed the crashing issue for SC:R and for this scenario, the suggestion it made sounded to make sense.
I get why you're going for XP, I had a game that ran better on a very old PC, with XP on it, compared to running it on a modern PC at the time, having Windows 7 on it. I even recall watching a video on YouTube explaining why this happens.
By the way, do you have a trusted source for downloading mca64launcher, as the download link for it is broken, and since web.archive.org doesn't seem to be keeping any of its exes?
Never mind, I found out that the mediafire link still works from this tl thread.
Edit 1:
According to cnc-ddraw, it also supports Windows XP, where Starcraft Brood War is part of the supported games list.
On May 19 2024 16:55 rtyrt7 wrote: Never mind, I found out that the mediafire link still works from this tl thread.
That's exactly the link I used. It seems mca64launcher had newer releases but they've been lost in the internet ether. Probably the latest was v2.0.0.640. Source
There's a neat feature mca64launcher has that I haven't seen replicated in a Chaoslauncher plugin. You can fix the missed keyboard input by checking 'Fix "lost" keyboard input'.
I recall reading about this plugin in the past, but I completely forgot about it.
One plugin that really stood out with me, for Chaoslauncher and Starcraft 1.16.1, was aiscript debug, or its later form, teippi, by Neiv, as it helped me save time by a lot when I was learning the inner workings of maps when it came down to devising a strategy for beating insane AIs. It also helped me out to learn how Starcraft works as a whole.
As it has a lot of features, the features I used the most were seeing range, collision boxes, and AI's pathing, all of these live in the game.
This is the exact teippi version that I used, and these are the commands for using it.
These images were taken from Visible Orders for Starcraft mod, by UndeadStar, which look like what the plugin does (although I'm not sure if the plugin was used for this mod):
I'm going to drop as a spoiler all the links I used to make it work, for anyone who's interested, as it was a bit tricky. + Show Spoiler +
You won't believe me but I was in the process of trying the older version of this plugin to remove the sprite and unit limits. http://www.staredit.net/topic/16823/
I wasn't aware that there was a newer version with all these features. Thank you very much for sharing rtyrt7!
Can you give me a practical example of how you used this plugin to improve your strategies to play against AIs (BWAPI AIs I presume)?
On May 21 2024 08:24 tauro wrote: You won't believe me but I was in the process of trying the older version of this plugin to remove the sprite and unit limits. http://www.staredit.net/topic/16823/
That's funny because just few days another person had a similar coincidence to a different thing I said:
On May 17 2024 18:52 tankgirl wrote: wow i was just about to do this....freaky coincidence haha
A practical example, since some maps were locked or some were EUD, and I couldn't have access to the map editor (aka ScmDraft2) to check out where I could perfectly place units/buildings given their size, I'd use teippi to see the units/buildings collision boxes to set up a simcity, and also, as said above, for setting up defensive buildings and mostly tanks placement, using sight range feature, to intercept the AI's army before they'd get to our bases.
One thing with EUD maps, to be able to play them on Starcraft 1.16.1, you'd have to use EUD Enable, by O)FaRTy1billion[MM]. One radical example of a EUD map is Mario Exodus. Here you can see Flash playing it:
If you are curious to find out more about EUD, you can read this pdf presentation written by Elias Bachaalany, and here you can see his video covering this presentation:
If I'm not wrong he's the guy responsible for anti-cheat and the EUD emulator for Starcraft Remastered (someone corrects me if I'm wrong).
Since I've done this a long time ago, I can't recall exactly if all EUD maps made for SC:R are not compatible with SC 1.16.1, and vice versa. But what I know for sure is that maps that use custom graphics, as you see in the case of Mario Exodus, won't work in SC:R anymore, as they imposed some limits through the EUD emulator, as there were some security risks.
One other really helpful tool is Unit Viewer, by jjf28, which helped me to see HP of units that goes over 9999 HP (Starcraft maximum displayed HP), because otherwise, I'd have to manually look for the values using Cheat Engine, and it's a tedious work. I also strongly recommend checking out SC1 Mapping Tools section of staredit.net, as it has a lot of awesome tools.
I recall teippi not being compatible with BWAPI, but what are you exactly looking for? Do you wish to play against an AI and use teippi's features, or do you wish AIs to play against each other, and use teippi?
Indeed, it would've been nice to see it integrated with BWAPI.
Oh, right, download is not working anymore. I have it saved somewhere, but I don't know exactly where since it's not on my current drive. I'll try to look for it in the upcoming days. In the meantime, upon further research, it seems UndeadStar has used GPTP-For-VS2008 (staredit thread) with Visible Orders for Starcraft, according to his introduction. But I see there's a newer version of GPTP (staredit thread), maybe you can use this one instead.