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Thread: MTW in virtual machines

  1. #31

    Default Re: MTW in virtual machines

    oz_wwjd, here's a detailed video instruction you can use.

  2. #32

    Default Re: MTW in virtual machines

    Thanks for that. Turns out that I needed version 4 of VMPlayer for it to work,but once I had that,plus your Youtube Link,everything's going fine.

  3. #33

    Default Re: MTW in virtual machines

    Sadly, the virtualized Win7 (or, more precisely, VMWare SVGA II video card) is still subject to the "can't move units unless to attack" bug, and the game does happen to crash sometimes when loading the campaign map after the battle. Still, it's WAY better than any of the modern physical video cards.

  4. #34

    Default Re: MTW in virtual machines

    Hello.
    I'm rebumping this thread to ask for help.

    After hours of looking around for a way to play my old "Total War Eras" box, I found the Virtualbox method, and after some tinkering, managed to get Shogun Total War working. There is some lag in the battle maps (still bearable), but other than that, game is flowing flawlessly.

    However, when I tried to repeat the same trick with Medieval Total War, I simply couldn't do it. Game installed just fine, but when I try to load, I get a Direct3d error that says "failure to initialize".

    I am using the latest version of Oracle Virtualbox. I already checked the "Enable 3d acceleration" box, and also installed the guest additions in safe mode, so that Direct3d would be included.

    Yet, nothing changed.

    ------

    I'm at a loss here, I thought that since STW and MTW used the same engine, if I managed to get a way to play one, the other would be done as well.
    Yet, it doesn't seem to be the case...

    Please help.

  5. #35
    Needs more flowers Moderator drone's Avatar
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    Default Re: MTW in virtual machines

    The engines are close, but not exactly the same. I'm not familiar with Virtualbox, so I'm not sure how much help I can give. When exactly is the game crashing?
    The .Org's MTW Reference Guide Wiki - now taking comments, corrections, suggestions, and submissions

    If I werent playing games Id be killing small animals at a higher rate than I am now - SFTS
    Si je n'étais pas jouer à des jeux que je serais mort de petits animaux à un taux plus élevé que je suis maintenant - Louis VI The Fat

    "Why do you hate the extremely limited Spartan version of freedom?" - Lemur

  6. #36

    Default Re: MTW in virtual machines

    Quote Originally Posted by drone View Post
    The engines are close, but not exactly the same. I'm not familiar with Virtualbox, so I'm not sure how much help I can give. When exactly is the game crashing?
    Right at the beginning.
    After I put on my DVD, I double click the desktop icon of the Gold Edition, the small square appears, there is a 20 sec delay, screen goes black (as if to load the game), but there instead of the two cinematics that are supposed to play, an error sound + box appears that return me to desktop, saying something like ""An Error Has Occurred While Initializing Direct3D.".

    I've already tried both VMWare and VMWare Workstation, both run the game, but the battle lag/errors makes it impossible to play. Units and trees have notorious black boxes around them, units don't move at all when you click on the terrain, and even scrolling over the terrain with the arrow keys is unbearably slow.

    Is there any way to make MTW work on Win 8 or in Virtual Machines (won't mind downloading yet another virtualisation software)?
    Or simply put, the only way to play this game is to install Windows XP in a host country?

  7. #37

    Default Re: MTW in virtual machines

    Here is my current situation, explained in detail.
    I posted this previously in the totalwar.forums.com website see if anyone could help me there.
    I am copying it all here, so you guys can also take a look at it:

    --------------------------------------------------------

    Originally posted at: http://forums.totalwar.com/showthrea...irtualBox-etc)


    Hello there, I am currently using Windows 8 in my laptop, and I would like to play again the Total War Eras collection package I bought years ago.

    Rome Total War Gold Edition and Alexander seem to work just fine, but both Shogun Total War Gold Edition, as well as Medieval Total War Gold Edition are impossible to play. Both immediately crash after intro credits.

    I read that the graphic settings of both games are simply incompatible with Windows 8, and read in a number of websites (including this one), that using virtual machines could be a possible way to get to play them. I got a Windows XP SP3 iso image, and have been using that for my experiments.
    --

    I download Oracle Virtualbox, and after some tweaking around, I got Shogun Total War to work. Granted, there are some minor flaws:

    - Resolution for my laptop (1366 vs768) isn't available, so the best next thing I get is the old 1024x768, which leaves two black columns in both sides of my screen (not a real issue).
    - Main menu and campaign map graphics are for the most part ok, yet they feel slightly slower.
    - Battle graphics are ok for the most part, and game mechanics work just fine. Yet, scrolling around the map (whether with arrow keys or right clikc mouse), lags the game a bit. Nothing too hard to bear though.

    --------------------------------------

    HOWEVER,
    Medieval Total War Gold Edition doesn't work the same way apparently. I installed the game in guest (virtual) machine, just like I had with Shogun, and tried to open it.

    Screen goes black after a few seconds, but reverts back to desktop with an error saying that Direct3d memory or acceleration settings are wrong. It doesn matter that I had installed the direct3d package, added with the Guest Additions of VirtualBox (done in safemode). It just won't work.

    --
    After that, I downloaded VMWare player (free for non-commercial use), and installed Medieval Total War, see if I had better luck with it.

    I sort of did. After installing the game, it opened just fine, and though a bit laggy, the main menu seemed to work fine, and even the campaign tutorial and campaign map are for the most part functional as well (though noticeably more laggy compared to Shogun on VirtualBox). I then proceeded to test the battle map settings and there it was hell.

    Trees, units and practically any element designed on top of the map has a noticeable black box around it. Likewise, scrolling around the map is incredibly laggy (much more than STW on Virtualbox). Yet, none of this is as bad as the complete impossibility to interact with your units and order them around. While you can select them, you simply can't get them to move or change formations. SUffice is to say, battles are off the question here.

    I was wondering if it was an MTW problem exclusively, and thus decided to install STW in the VMWare Player guest machine. Exact same results: Menu and map are for the most part alright, but battle graphics are broken in the exact same way (black boxes around units, trees and some parts of terrain; terrible scroll lag; no interaction with troops).

    I concluded it was then a VMWare Player problem.

    --------

    After that, I decided to try the "upgraded" and professional version of VMWare: VMWare Workstation (version 10 and latest one).

    I downloaded it from their website, and got a 25 number key to activate it.

    Repeated the same process of creating a Windows XP SP3 machine (looks quick in the description, but you guys can't imagine how tedious it is to reinstall Windows over and over again), and added the VMWare Tools latest version.

    After fixing some other issues with the machine (apparently there is a sound problem when your host OS is Win 7/ Win 8 and your guest is Win XP; which required me to install an audio fix from lilchips.com); I decided to experiment once again.

    Results were ironically worse than what I had gotten with the free to use VMWare Player: After installing both STW and MTW, both games do open correctly and I can get to their main menu. Yet, the differences start to appear even there:

    - Screen flickering (colours changing) can happen occasionally, unlike the stability I had had with both VirtualBoX (Shogun only) and VMWare Player.

    - Battle map graphics are just as bad as VMWare Player: Black boxes around elements (troops, trees, occasionally castle walls); scroll lag is unbearably heavy; troops do not respond to any command.

    - Unlike VMWare Player, campaign/strategic map is also broke. While you can access it, the moment it loads, screen and colour flickering go crazy. Even your mouse pointer starts to present issues as it starts to leave a graphic trail when you move it (dozens of mouse pointers at times). Getting out requires you to hit ESC and exit the game.


    -----------------------------------------------

    Current Results:

    Oracle Virtualbox:

    STW: Bar some minor problems (ressolution, a slight increase in lag), Shogun Total War Gold Edition can be played here. Main menu, campaign map and battle maps are all functional.

    MTW: In spite of installing the Direct3d component given in the Guest Additions, Medieval Total War Gold Edition won't even load the intro credits (even worse than my host Windows 8 OS). Direct3d errors as given as explanation.

    VMWare Player:

    STW: Main menu and campaign map work correctly, although lag is slightly worse than in VirtualBox. Battle map has a number of problems that make fighting real time battles impossible.

    MTW: Exact same situation as the aforementioned.

    VMWare Workstation 10:

    STW: Main menu works correctly, although colour flickering occurs occasionally. Both campaign map and battle map graphics have severe problems that make playing the game impossible. Campaign map's colour are so heavily distorted, hardly anything is visible. Battle maps present black boxes around units, terrible scrolling lag, and units aren't responsive to commands.

    MTW: Same situation as the above.



    --------------------------------------


    Having described at length my findings. I come to you for aid and a number of questions.

    1. Seeing as Oracle VirtualBox seems to have better responsiveness to the STW engine, is there anything I can do to get over the Direct3d problem that won't allow me to open MTW?

    2. Is there any fix for the battle map severe issues presented in VMWare player? Similar question for WMWare Workstation 10?

    3. If none of the virtualisation software programs I've tried can be used to properly play Medieval Total War GOld Edition; is there any other alternative or option I could look into?

    4. Could the fact I'm using Windows XP SP3 be anyhow part of the problem? Should I try older virtualizations (Windows 98/ME/2000) ?

    5. If virtual machines are simply not capable of playing Medieval Total War Gold Edition, what alternatives do I have? Is there any chance of finding a patch/configuration change/graphic card tweaking, that could allow me to open the game correctly in my host OS?

  8. #38
    Needs more flowers Moderator drone's Avatar
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    Default Re: MTW in virtual machines

    While XP or 98 are the best OS's to run MTW on, it will work with Vista or 7 with tweaking (assuming your graphics adapter is not Intel). I don't think anyone has gotten MTW running natively on 8.

    On virtual machines, I don't know what to tell you, I don't know enough about how to tweak their settings and how they interact with the host machine. MTW was behind the time graphically when it was released, and I imagine there were shortcuts and liberties made with the DirectDraw/Direct3D libraries. Even the WINE folks have had no luck with the game.
    The .Org's MTW Reference Guide Wiki - now taking comments, corrections, suggestions, and submissions

    If I werent playing games Id be killing small animals at a higher rate than I am now - SFTS
    Si je n'étais pas jouer à des jeux que je serais mort de petits animaux à un taux plus élevé que je suis maintenant - Louis VI The Fat

    "Why do you hate the extremely limited Spartan version of freedom?" - Lemur

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