Many thanks for compiling the speed fix and any other improvements you have planned.

Likewise for any work on the equally brilliant KeeperFX.


Could the physical CD check be removed from any future installer? (as it's not GoG friendly)

GoG have included a (bin/cue) CD image in the game directory (game.gog, game.ins)

It's possible to mount this and rip the music using a tool such as dBpoweramp.

Downloading the ports files from the first post, adding the game files & the speed fix seems to be best way to get it going atm.

The files inside the installer can be extracted with 7zip and the manual installation instructions followed.

A few steps are missing i.e. info on INTRO.DAT, redundant files in SOUND directory.

I tried all kinds of tricks to make the installer work with the image - without success; Virtual SCSI drives, Virtual IDE drives in Daemon Tools etc

It may just be looking at the first CD drive - I'm not sure.

I believe the installer lets you choose the CD drive. Virtual drives are also on the list.

It is possible to skip the drive selection completely in case of GOG release, it just requires modifications to the installer.

Source script of the swars installer wasn't publish with the project, so during my work I started reverse engineering the installer. It is here:
https://github.com/mefistotelis/swars/blob/master/res/swars-setup.nsi

I made it to the point where it generates installer executable which allows to move through first few screens, but I didn't tested it completely. I don't think of any further work on it, at least not any time soon.

Any testers for a new Syndicate Wars Inno Setup installer? (158MB)
https://mega.nz/#F!6tBDHTgJ!_yK3lygjDJcKb4U79cS7xg

I've designed it to be a replacement for the one on the Vexillium website. { I've uploaded the inno script too - not needed to play the game! }

> It's able to install the game to a location of your choice using the original game files taken from either:
<> GoG install directory
<> Physical CD
<> Mounted Image

> English, Italian, French -- sadly the other three languages [German/Spanish/Swedish] crash the port.
> High quality Vorbis music is included.
> Total size after install = 300MB~

The installer only requires user-level privileges. (I can make it with admin - if preferred)
You're free to remove the GoG version after installing this.

There's a possible game crashing issue (ntdll.dll) that can occur when starting a New Mortal Game or Saving; I don't know if that's an issue with UAC, the port itself or something else. It doesn't always occur - it's very strange.

Alternatively if you don't wish to use my installer:
> Install the GoG Version

> Download the ripped music files from here:
https://mega.nz/#F!T1pBBZbS!C1JsnJgVPzcniTLgjuMc5Q

> And the speed fixed files - swars-0_3_1_13-win32-patch.zip - from here: (thanks to Tomasz)
https://github.com/mefistotelis/swars/releases

> Extract the patch files into:
C:\GOG Games\Syndicate Wars\SWARS

> And copy the music to: (create the folder)
C:\GOG Games\Syndicate Wars\SWARS\MUSIC

> Run swars.exe to launch the port

I've tried using this with my original copy. The game crashes at any instance of a save (savegame, changing controls, etc.). Any way to fix this? If it's any help, I was using the above installer.

FWIW I didn't use any kind of installer, I simply extracted the port's files in the "Syndicate Wars\SWARS" folder and ran swars.exe and everything appears to work correctly, haven't played it exhaustively but the only crash I had was when I clicked on the network option which is understandable as that part isn't implemented yet.

I will try the vorbis files though!

EDIT: For me installing the speed patch results in immediate crash upon start so perhaps that's where the issue lies.

Hello,

Thanks for the Setup & Patch. It's works great :-)

The InGame music works good, but ich can only change the Tracks in the 'Options'.

Normaly you can change the Track in the missions by pressing 'keypad 5'.

What is wrong there?

It's a real shame that almost no one took the few seconds to properly thank you for you work - your version was the only one that worked for me out of the box (I've no time to mess with scripts and cumbersome installations).

Thanks a lot for that, good job! :)

Building on some of mefistotelis' work, I've created two separate releases:

A Windows binary that includes the speed patch and fixes the crash bug when saving:
github.com/leonsodhi/swars/releases/tag/swars-0.3.1

A Windows binary that adds:
- Fullscreen borderless windowed mode
- Resolution switch for windowed mode
- Mouse lock fix to keep the mouse inside the window
- Monitor switch for multi-monitor setups

Given the number of changes, this release is experimental but has been working well for me. For the latest pre-release version, see: github.com/leonsodhi/swars/releases

Installation instructions are the same as mefistotelis' release and consist of installing the standard 0.3 release of the port, then overwriting those files with the chosen ZIP.

Hi, I'm first visit on this forum. I recalled the Syndicate Wars on my GOG list yesterday, so installed the game and Inno Setup installer for my curiosity. Installed on my win8.1 laptop without issue, starting 1st stage of the game also was no problem. One issue found was CTD when saving game.

Thus copied gtalon51's swars-0.3.3 update files into the mentioned above game folder, it seems to work well. The 1st stage, saving game were no issue. window mode 800x600 also worked.

I'm not good at game, perhaps nothing more than new player. just I wrote about my small trying and experience, and I'd like to thank you for the great works.

Edit: I've just noticed the kind of error messages shown the below attached pic during 1st mission of church of the new epoch on windowed mode(800x600). Maybe related to sounds? but no CTD and seemed no other odd issues.

Edit 2 : I think found out the reason of the error messages. Seems when a certain car sound file be used, the error messages happened repeatedly.

Thank you, this is awsome. Getting it to work without this installer is a pain. In the port you get much better preformance at the cost of some feautures (no tension music, multiplayer, and as you said when starting a new mortal game the game will most likely crash). Fair trade if your only intrested in the single player imo.

I wonder if syndicate wars was this choppy when played back in the day with real hardware? I know for a fact the menu runs too fast but the gameplay seems a tad slow.

hey guys I am bit retarded so I want to ask you how to install this patch. It asks for CD but I dont have it so what am I supposed to do?

I've tried to turn .exe file into .zip, .rar and .7z archive and then unpack it but that didnt work for me.

Has any more work been done on this?
Does anyone have a mirror or copy of the Swedish Language pack, and can it be made to work with the port?

I grew up playing this, and this was one of the few good games with a good Swedish translation + dub, and the Swedish audio just sounds better to me than the original English audio.

I want to thank you and everyone else who is making this old classic a little easier to play on a modern system. I hope that one day we get a full remaster of this game.

Hello, Is there a way to increase the resolution beyond 640x480? I know that it uses the same engine as dungeon keeper and keeperfx allows you to increase resolution, so is there a way to do the same in Syndicate Wars?

Thanks!

KeeperFX allows to change resolution because the software rendering part there is completely remade, and the new source code is written in such a way that it allows rendering of higher res, and scaling of the UI so that it's not ultra-small, and composition (adding UI to the rendered scene) is made in a smart way so that objects are placed properly.

Noone did any of this work on SW Port. Though you may look into it, the project is at github.
https://github.com/mefistotelis/swars