War2 graphics for Win Vista/7/8/8.1/10/2012 fixed

[aqrit]

Here is a "pass-thru" version for Win8 and Win10 users, who aren't happy with the full version.
http://www.bitpatch.com/downloads/war2_ddraw_minimal.zip

It should be active only in the multi-player lobby.
In-game behavior should be identical to how it would be without this dll.

The minimal version is not suitable for use on Win7 or below.

source code: https://github.com/aqrit/war2_ddraw/tree/minimal

[Delete mine too]

Yeah have some weird things happen to me. Sometime when I alt tab then go back to war2 the game will crash, also sometimes when I alt tab the game will no be in full screen it will have my normal desktop resolutions and war 2 on the left at its resolution. Nothing big though thanks for the work.

[aqrit]

Lost surfaces are not handled in the minimal version because I assumed that win8 doesn't discard video memory... I'll look into it, if that is the version your talking about ?

[Delete mine too]

I am using windows 10 currently and maybe the second fix? I will check this one out and check back up after a few days.

[iL]

aqrit, thx a lot for your research!

http://www.bitpatch.com/downloads/war2_ddraw_test4.zip
 
This *barely tested* build should have a nice speed up ( not measured ) from using a pixel shader.
It has some additional system requirements but I'm guessing everyone should still be able to run it.

Are there any performance problems with previous version in war2 or in starcraft only?

So, looks like we got several problems with version 4. but there were ok in version 3:
problem 1:

I have never ever had a problem with War2 on WinXP on this computer, but after getting the latest requested update, I do.

After having run War2 properly for the last 10 years on this machine, I can't now.  I don't know what you did but for WinXP it was bad.  Please don't do this to WinXP computers.

this problem is newly created.  It never existed previously ever

I got winxp put on this computer well after win7 was released, because I knew winxp worked best with War2.  That has now changed :X

problem 2:

then i try to click to any other application in my taskbar and it temporary switches into war2 windows, that causes turn to black screen, then back and then opens window of application i clicked to.
The situation happens only if i click to the task bar.
If i use alt-tab instead or switching cascaded windows on my desktop, it never activates war2 screen.

Checked on winxp x64.

problem 3?

Yeah have some weird things happen to me. Sometime when I alt tab then go back to war2 the game will crash, also sometimes when I alt tab the game will no be in full screen it will have my normal desktop resolutions and war 2 on the left at its resolution. Nothing big though thanks for the work.

Did that ever happen with version 3 or with version 4 only?

I'd say, let's return back to version 3 if it doesn't cause any glitches and have performance lower down for starcraft only?

The minimal version is not suitable for use on Win7 or below.

That's sad to exclude fixes for win7. Is that necessary to exclude that win7 code to improve the performance?

So I am on my new computer which has windows 10. There are major glitches in the chat channel. I am a computer scrub and find the initial instructions hard to follow. Can anyone clear up/help me fix these issues/installation procedures please!

Which version of ddraw? 3? 4? Also can you make a photo of the screen with that glitches?

[shesycompany]

the ddraw test4, sc1 plays nice! i do have a xp machine but its not on yet..maybe 2 different versions of war2ru? for xp users.

my win7 really never had prob's with war2. but sc1 did.
mainly for fixing windows 10 users.. what a pos os

if ddraw3 is the best use it!

most def test4 for sc1 way better speed.

[aqrit]

test3 has known issues...
broken screenshots,
broken bnet screens,
broken alt + enter,
poor performance,
not recommended.

That's sad to exclude fixes for win7. Is that necessary to exclude that win7 code to improve the performance?

It wasn't done for performance, it was done mostly for compatibility with mcalauncher.  All Win8 and Win10 need is the menu fix, so just a menu fix gives people less things to complain about. Also it still annoys me that I need to manually issue redraw calls when a window is destroyed... so I was playing with that.

Are there any performance problems with previous version in war2 or in starcraft only?

sc1 has faster mouse scroll which makes low fps more noticeable... but there are no sc1 only features.
Performance improvements should speed up war2 and sc1 equally. Too many GdiFlush() calls in anything before test4 may cause noticeable "shudder" while scrolling the in-game view in war2, for instance.

So, looks like we got several problems with version 4. but there were ok in version 3

It is not clear what version (if any) are being used by Blid, tupac, or MaStA{hR}.
Which leaves alt+tab on XP as the only confirmed bug, currently.

[Delete mine too]

I was using the 2nd fix since it's release. And the newest combat so unless an update replaced the .dll I'm number 2. I use window 10.

Ohhh let me hint you this I discovered this only happends to me when warcraft is in game lobby not Chat channels.

Edit: I'm seeing if 4 will fix it since it only doing its magic when only in chat now? Testing now brb

Edit2: Looks like there was an update to my "ddraw.dll". It was last modified 12/27/2015 maybe he deployed version 3 on us? I just replaced it with fix 4.

Edit3: Alt tab problems are still here BTW just happened Game lobby alt tab only though keep altab it will break eventually sometimes crash, or just retrying alttab would fix it.

Fix4: now has all the chat, icon, buttons, boxes are black when you connect to server, click join, flashes back temporarily then correct its self. Either the font is ugly as shit or it changed the color of the text and looks less quality now.


iL what version did you push with the client update if you did? 3? I'd stick with that one for now. 

[aqrit]

the font is provably identical across test2,3,4 for me on win8.
looks like I need to get win10 sometime?
please check ddraw.dll's properties to see if the file version is 0.0.0.4 or blank
also a ss both with and without would be appreciated.

[iL]

test3 has known issues...
broken screenshots,
broken bnet screens,
broken alt + enter,
poor performance,
not recommended.

Ah, i see, missed your post about crashing alt+enter, i didn't check it, my fault, sorry then...

It wasn't done for performance, it was done mostly for compatibility with mcalauncher.  All Win8 and Win10 need is the menu fix, so just a menu fix gives people less things to complain about. Also it still annoys me that I need to manually issue redraw calls when a window is destroyed... so I was playing with that.

i see, testing for starcraft is also important thing for the project.
That's really annoying that here's no easy solution to make it work perfectly on every single computer and every single point requires such dirty hack like checking if prtscr is pressed...

iL what version did you push with the client update if you did?

I still didn't

report from russian tester tolsty: http://www.war2.ru/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?forum=1&topic_id=2183&sortname=&sortorder=&sortdays=&viewmode=flat&order=0&start=10
tested version 4:
win7, alt-tab doesn't work. If he press ctrl-alt-del it works and the game mininizes. After that he switches into war2 and alt-tab works sometimes and sometimes not.
Sometimes after alt-tab war2 can't be restored by clicking the taskbar.

Anyway, aqrit, great job with your project! I hope you will find the best way to handle all the bugs and make it work perfectly!
That would be great to make one version for both war2 and starcraft working on every OS since XP to 10/2012 and videocard, but i can also put different versions for each OS into installer and select proper version during installation.

I also think that's a good idea to make the same version for both war2 and starcraft to get more testers.

[shesycompany]

win7 home premium sp1(english),nvidia gt520
war2combat
alt+tab =works no errors at all
alt+enter=works no error at all
randomly click channels made game/exit etc trying to make color distort as it used to do=no errors at all
im not finding anything wrong with build 4

"Either the font is ugly as shit or it changed the color of the text and looks less quality now."
less sharpness, i kinda like it

[xboi209]

It wasn't done for performance, it was done mostly for compatibility with mcalauncher.

Surely it can't be the launcher itself causing a problem, it's probably one of its options.

[aqrit]

I have not ever used mca64launcher, nor delved too deep into its source code. 

The war2_ddraw_minimal version just reduces the surface area for issues:
bad fonts... can't be a thing with the minimal version
bad window placement... can't be a thing with the minimal version
bad fps... can't be a thing with the minimal version
bad alt+tab... (hopefully) can't be a thing with the minimal version
etc.

also things like:

feature from mca64launcher ... to chat while being alt+tabbed out of starcraft

are more likely to work.

[aqrit]

a new minimal version for Win8/10 was uploaded (same url) on the 20th

I plan on re-writing the main version again...
goals:
1. remove redraw kludge
2. real full-screen mode
3. switch to D3D9Ex or D3D11 for triple buffering with vsync

The "vista platform update for SP2" back ported DX11 but it isn't clear to me if the Win7 DX9Ex FLIPEX stuff was also back ported at the same time.

[Delete mine too]

Ill try the newest fix and see if it still happends