Hi Everyone

Just swapped from Steam to GOG ( Newbie here )

With regards to Wargus / Stratagus, do these work with GOG Bnet ? Are they safe to use ? Or just use the current GOG version ?

I'd like to increase the screen size to full 1920 x 1080 :)

Anyways - Have great day peeps !

I guess better use widescreen mod from war2 ru forum.
Stratagus and Wargus never be a really good thing. Well, all that open-source remakes in first is personal experience in open-soft developing, open-source mean it always been made as much good as contributors can do good changes to project (usually bugs exist in decades).

Wargus initially created as piracy warez project. So do not expect too much from anything remakes. And one of specially do not expect too much - is Wargus.
Most features is same as Bnet. Main reason to exist such remakes - linux ports and resolution (which ones usually made as zoom-out and any else hacks without proper proportions). Wargus is same - just normal Bnet +widescreen... and minus multiplayer.

Did Wargus start to support Windows version or still support only outdated DOS variant? As i understand it support now Windows GOG version?

But why? If you have Windows GOG - you already have normally working game. Proper widescreen mod? Only if there is such ones mod. And warcraft 2 now have that proper proportioned (still zoomed out) mod:
http://forum.war2.ru/index.php?topic=6461.0

As always: the one and only proper way - play in original aspect ratio with black bars (unless you have 4:3 display, you dont have it right?). This mod is not a proper widescreen cause it is zoomed out image. No better than Stratagus+Wargus.
But this mod change only this render thing and do nothing else. Not compatible with even un-official multiplayer.
This is better than old hacks solution. Proper UI scale and good proportions\zoom level if on 720p resolution.

Wargus is not compatible with any multiplayer, except maybe 1vs1 LAN game like DOS version did (+3rd party virtual LAN network in case if it did support that) if it start to support some kind of MP.

For normal IPX-IP or Bnet (old 4 servers, new one server or warez un-official server war2 ru) you need Bnet version. You cant use Wargus to connect to war2ru or Bnet players.

this b***c named Wargus crushing every fucking time you want to play LAN game. Instead doing updates based only on fuc**ng shaders, make sure that base, simple things like playing game itself is fu***ng working, idiots

I installed Wargus yesterday and it (now) has LAN multiplayer over TCP/IP and also the dev runs a little unreliable server in place of Battle.Net - it wasn't online when I looked but (i) I only tried once (ii) I only want LAN anyway. I installed from the current GOG release and it seems to support it. LAN multiplayer isn't limited to 1vs1 - it is up to 16 players. Personally I'm not finding Wargus forms and maintains connections very well, but I've posted a detailed bug report and there are many more things to try before I will write it off. IPX shouldn't be normal. That protocol has been deprecated since Vista for Microsoft (2007) and no longer maintained since 14.04 for Ubuntu (2014-2019). The ipxconfig.exe tool doesn't work in wine (or if it does there is no readme). In the past I've been able to make ipxemu.exe (a similar tool) work with WC2 but since 2019 I'm not sure it's feasible for me to compile old IPX and Netbeui packages from pre-2014.

Wargus at least it's possible for someone to debug it. Blizzard won't be adding proper TCP/IP support even though it would only take them a few hours. And Novell won't be restoring IPX. The tools needed to emulate IPX on Windows are also voluntary/community maintained but it would be simpler for these volunteers to fix WC2 and the few remaining games (~20 in all) that rely on it, and give those games TCP/IP support, than to continue maintaining a dead networking protocol.

no its not but warcraft 2 hot HD patch

https://forum.war2.ru/index.php/topic,6461.0.html

< IPX shouldn't be normal. >

Why not? Because Ms decide something? or because of stratagus engine? ok, there is fan-made engine. But there is also DosBox VM with DOS variant of IPX. There is also IPXwrapper tool (bundled into GOG's Wc2). I have on both my Win7 notebooks IPX protocol somehow. Not sure if IPXwrapper do that to the system, more likely i found some else solution.

As result you have fully working not a big differ from TCP-ip network. As result of using Stratagus too. As one of the working variants.
As for network that one probably be best one variant. But for game in general there is never best variants for any game. Fan-made remake is always something separate differ product. Emulators always be emulators. original always be original 9with outdated QoL\controls\compatibility). Always some disadvantages.

main disadvantages of Startagus - it was made for warez reasons. And as port to Linux. Both reasons been main goals are bad goals.

Now main issue is it still miss some nowadays features. But since Bnet edition miss them too... Its up to you how to play Wc2.

Because it isn't maintained. Little if anything to do with MS. IPXWrapper was a product of Novell - they closed down and nobody else wanted to continue maintaining an old protocol - keeping it up to date with all security and technical best practices, whilst also being in competition with TCP/IP. Relatively difficult and high-stakes for volunteers to do, compared with reverse-engineering games. The bad decision though was on Blizzard's part to not patch WC2 back in the day when it became obvious IPX had lost to TCP/IP. iirc IPX wasn't seen much after 2000, but companies need to pretend their next release is exciting - and it perhaps helps if the old release has something to make it obsolete.

I'm not sure it's useful to think of a program written in C++ and Lua as ported to Linux - especially when Stratagus originated in Linux (in 1998, not that long after Warcraft). When something is programmed for a specific console, with lots of required or licensed standards and tools, that's when (imo) we speak of porting because of the shortcuts to make it as if an open programming language was used in the first place.

And "warez" doesn't seem to apply either. Cloning a game (developing something from scratch that does the same things when it's finished) might involve technical infringements of an IP - but this is an accidental/secondary quality of it. Warez otoh is primarily about ripping CDs and overcoming copy protection. The difference with Wargus is possibly subtle - Wargus as a sub-program of Stratagus reads all the videos, unit sprites, maps and AI scripts (etc) from Blizzard's cd and loads them into a completely different engine. "Warez" I think would be the right term if the files were hidden and Stratagus was decrypting the CD first. The argument goes that Stratagus is a mod that lets legitimate owners of WC2 replace - not the graphics and maps - but the whole game engine.

@Swagiermc, I'm using Wargus with current GOG version*. It won't connect to Battle.net but this doesn't bother me I only want LAN Multiplayer personally. They have a multiplayer server of their own which is online and my local players can create accounts, log in, and chat on it but it would need port forwarding which is a headache on my setup.

* Once Wargus gained the ability to extract the assets from a single-exe setup file, the version probably won't matter much going forward as GOG's updates won't be updating the 25-years-old assets.

==

I can see two other types of IP claim:- (i) that Wargus/Stratagus facilitates copyright theft by making it as easy to pull all the artwork and assets from an -illegal- copy as an original cd and then play a game that is fundamentally similar to Warcraft2, or (ii) that Wargus/Stratagus uses Warcraft2 IP in a way that is janky and inferior and could bring Blizzard into disrepute.

Regarding both of these (without presenting it in any way as formal legal advice) I expect the horse has bolted. Stratagus did apparently have a cease and desist letter early in their history but since Stratagus' devs brought their project into compliance with that, Blizzard have left them to continue on their merry way for (iirc) 20+ years. And it's not Stratagus' fault there are cd-rips and working keys all over the internet.

'Best' is enemy of 'good'. Sometimes apps should be 'finished', and not 'maintained'.
If it is working - do not touch it. Golden rule of IT and programming.

If IPX working on your system, with this game - for example by IPXwrapper bundled with GOG version - do not touch it if you not have a reason for that.

First off what Stratagus initially bring - only disadvantages. Oh yeah and Linux support. That what is always happend, and always be like that. But sometimes it more than 'normal level'. Stratagus+Wargus initially made on more older DOS version and not have features from Sega Saturn or WIN\Mac Bnet ports. Authors decide to make it disadvantages first, by purpose. Its not like usual fanmade remakes.

For copyrights issue. First it be Wargus. Only then it split to open source engine Stratagus and open-source remake Wargus (lets say Wargus 2.0). First release come with copyrighted files from original game and not require it.
This is another reason why Wargus come - not only Linux port, but also warez goals. Just like initial idea of russian War2Combat. Repack first, server service second.

Nowadays Wargus, and Wargus after Stratagus engine - is not same what be initially. But for long time it require DOS, work only with DOS, and based only on DOS version, with many features of later versions not present there. Cant say how it for now, probably GOG release bring new life to Wargus as well.
At same time it can be better in some ways. that it based on DOS. But there is a differences even in DOS BOTDP version. Changed video sequences of King of Lordaeron killing after EXP installation and\or similar updates.

If current status of Stratagus+Wargus is 'well, it bring TCP-IP instead of IPX-IP' and that all it do after all that years (which one initially was not of the features, last time i check it, Stratagus-Wargus not support same MP modes as Bnet edition) - that mean it stuck with it initial goals to make some half-joke engine, just some programming experience, not serious work.
It is good addition. but not the main feature.

Well I don't know them or speak for them and due to bugs they haven't met my need for TCP-IP, but there might be two other goals of their project:-

- mod management
Their game menu adds a button for this and they seem to be reverse-engineering all the AI scripts into Lua, so that in future it's not just 'painting' units into the Map Editor but the ability to increase the challenge from the original AI (which is rock-stupid) and let people script more complex scenarios. I think that's a worthy goal - whether they're on the right track to achieve it is an open question. They are apparently having to get down to the level of which map squares multiple-selected units will walk onto - and like why orc #4 in the box-selected formation arrives a square to the left compared to the OG.

- making the engine open-source
The arguments for free-and-open-source-software are well-worn and don't need me to rehearse them. In the case of Stratagus there might be some aspiration for Wargus to become like the proof-of-concept or exemplar (along with Stargus and War1Gus), and for the engine itself to become like an RPGMaker for RTSs.

Like with much of this, Blizzard could easily have used the popularity of WC2's Map Editor to launch an "RTSMaker" product 25 years ago (when more people would have wanted it). The fact they didn't is a missed opportunity for them, and a market failure for us. Now a few volunteers are having to "reinvent the wheel" of a whole software house.
I expect they'll have mixed success - but until I "step up to the plate" and do a better job myself, I can only commend their efforts.