Win11 and Win 10 Fix

[Arthur Bomb]

Hi guys.

I and stahlhart find a solution for steam version of the game. We create a patch to recover the 1.43.85 version. Just grab those files in the link and change in the folder of the game. Set win7 compatibility mode and thats it.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vOiU_9txfx1KwzFw0gzARjKOntv6qz7t/view?usp=drive_link

[stahlhart]

Just tested the above patch here on Windows 10 successfully.

[stahlhart]

Also tested working for Windows 11 23H2 as well.

I will let Arthur handle the AMD side, but if you have an nVidia GPU, the dgVoodoo settings I am working with are:

General tab: Direct3D12, feature level 11.0, GPU specified under adapter to use (in my case RTX 4090), full screen, stretched, keep aspect ratio

DirectX tab: GeForce 9800GT, 1024Mb VRAM, resolution 1920x1440, vsync forced

Depending on your monitor, you might want to experiment with the resolution settings; in my case I was aiming for the best way to fill out a 4K panel while maintaining the 4:3 aspect ratio -- I don't think that there is any wide screen support for this game, so I'm keeping it old school.
.

[Arthur Bomb]

AMD i tested with RX 6600 Fullscreen, 1080p with Voodoo 2.83 (just dx8.dll file) and run good.

[stahlhart]

It might just be the menus and the videos / cutscenes that get stretched if 16:9 resolution is used...

[Prudis06]

is this for fields of glory and dunes of war?

[stahlhart]

Postat inițial de Prudis06:

is this for fields of glory and dunes of war?

Just Fields of Glory for now. Dunes of War is a different engine version... there is a small demo of the game that is version 1.44.07, and it works on all Windows versions.
Unfortunately the full version of the game (both for Steam as well as any physical media copy I've been able to find) is 1.44.12, and this one is broken for anything newer than Windows 7. We are not sure how much luck we're going to have with this one, sadly. Maybe we will get lucky and find the fix, but I would not hold my breath.

Edit: maybe it works on Windows 8, but I never ran that OS so I cannot confirm it.

[G66]

Nice patch guys. First time I've got to see the game work again since the dreaded Windows update a few years back that ruined it. Or whatever did it.

I have yet to experiment much but with your patch, AMD RX 6600, the D3D8.dll, on W10, It does finally run again. BUT, it does crash quite a lot. On the first mission (tutorial) it seems like it crashed whenever anything new would appear on screen such as when the first enemy infantry appears while driving over a hill and also when approaching the first Ammo & Health refill depots. I stopped at that point to try a few different resolutions. Currently running it in 1920x1080 when the constant crashing would happen.

I'm going to mess with it a bit to search for a remedy.

I am using the Steam version of the game but I also own the original big box version when it was named First Battalion. I also own the original big box version of First Battalion Gold Edition which includes the Dunes of War expansion. I'll be fiddling with them later if the crashing continues. I'm not quite sure what version (numbers) they are because I'd imagine I would have to install them first to find out.

Everything worked in the past, before the windows update a few years back, then nothing worked.

So, it's great to see someone making headway on these titles.

If there is anything I can assist you with since I own the original disc versions, just let me know.

Thanks again for what you are doing .

Just to add ... When I cranked everything to High in the options menu and had the resolution at 1920x1080 and crashed ... I was unable to start the game again. It was exactly the same (non) response everyone is getting before using this patch. So I reinstalled, added the patch files and the dll and it ran fine again. Until it crashed. Just weird.

[stahlhart]

Postat inițial de G66:

Nice patch guys. First time I've got to see the game work again since the dreaded Windows update a few years back that ruined it. Or whatever did it.

I have yet to experiment much but with your patch, AMD RX 6600, the D3D8.dll, on W10, It does finally run again. BUT, it does crash quite a lot. On the first mission (tutorial) it seems like it crashed whenever anything new would appear on screen such as when the first enemy infantry appears while driving over a hill and also when approaching the first Ammo & Health refill depots. I stopped at that point to try a few different resolutions. Currently running it in 1920x1080 when the constant crashing would happen.

I'm going to mess with it a bit to search for a remedy.

I am using the Steam version of the game but I also own the original big box version when it was named First Battalion. I also own the original big box version of First Battalion Gold Edition which includes the Dunes of War expansion. I'll be fiddling with them later if the crashing continues. I'm not quite sure what version (numbers) they are because I'd imagine I would have to install them first to find out.

Everything worked in the past, before the windows update a few years back, then nothing worked.

So, it's great to see someone making headway on these titles.

If there is anything I can assist you with since I own the original disc versions, just let me know.

Thanks again for what you are doing .

Just to add ... When I cranked everything to High in the options menu and had the resolution at 1920x1080 and crashed ... I was unable to start the game again. It was exactly the same (non) response everyone is getting before using this patch. So I reinstalled, added the patch files and the dll and it ran fine again. Until it crashed. Just weird.

Have you tried running it through dgVoodoo? I'm fairly sure 16:9 stretches the game horizontally; I've got it set for a 4:3 resolution closest to the native resolution of my monitor. dgVoodoo wiil maintain the aspect ratio with full screen if desired.

First Battalion and First Batallion Dunes of War are a crash fest here. They are actually versions 1.50 and 1.60 of the engine, and they both seem to want to stretch out to fill the display in full screen; this appears to be what causes the crashing here, as I never make it to the start of the game.

[G66]

Just ran through the first 2 German missions with no crashes using :

Your patch
dgVoodoo v2.83

Perfect.

Thanks !

Edit : Did NOT need any compatibility mode set. Nor did I need to make any other changes or fixes mentioned here in the forums.

[aqzz50]

Works for me - great work

Fingers crossed for Dunes of War

[Mtsrtg]

Thank You so much, great work.

[G66]

Update on experience.

I made it through the German / Russian portion of the game. I had 3 crashes. The Freeze / crash seems to happen whenever I hit a landmine and was killed. The screen fades to black & white which is normal but then just freezes there, needing the Task Manager to fully close it out. This is only happening at the players death.

Started the American campaign and crashed right away upon death. This time it was not from a landmine. To be honest, I'm not sure where it came from. But it did crash upon my death.

Gonna keep trying.

[stahlhart]

Postat inițial de G66:

Update on experience.

I made it through the German / Russian portion of the game. I had 3 crashes. The Freeze / crash seems to happen whenever I hit a landmine and was killed. The screen fades to black & white which is normal but then just freezes there, needing the Task Manager to fully close it out. This is only happening at the players death.

Started the American campaign and crashed right away upon death. This time it was not from a landmine. To be honest, I'm not sure where it came from. But it did crash upon my death.

Gonna keep trying.

I'm going to have to try the 1.43.85 installed (not patched over Steam) version on Windows 10 and Windows 7 to see if I run into the same issues. Currently rebuilding the latter build as its power supply gave up the ghost a couple of days ago (13 year old Corsair HX-750).

Something else to try might be an older version of dgVoodoo. I have read in my travels that updates to it have broken games on occasion.

[Hot Shot Ace]

Postat inițial de stahlhart:

Just tested the above patch here on Windows 10 successfully.

can you tell me step by step how to get this patch to work plz

[Arthur Bomb]

Postat inițial de Hot Shot Ace:

Postat inițial de stahlhart:

Just tested the above patch here on Windows 10 successfully.

can you tell me step by step how to get this patch to work plz

Here the Steps:

1 - Extract the folder
2 - Copy folder
3 - In library Steam search for the game and go in properties
4 - Navigate in game files
5 - Paste the copy folder
6 - Overwrite the files
7 - Run the game