Running Classic Games on New OSes

The classic Star Wars games can encounter problems when they meet the latest operating systems. These guides are intended to help solve issues with the X-Wing series and Windows XP and 2000.

Guides

X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter (Windows 2000)

by General Javin "Entropy" Ke'ylle

Windows 2000 works great, but unfortunately a lot of people install XvT and/or BoP and guess what? It doesn't work. The usual problem that is experienced is quite confusing, actually. After everything is installed, the person loads up the XvT launcher. As soon as they click the "Play XvT" or "Play BoP" button, what happens? They get this really odd screen that says that DirectX isn't installed, would you like to install it now? Click "Yes", it says it's done installing. Reboot. Load the XvT launcher and try to play. Same screen. Really annoying, isn't it? Especially when you know for sure that the latest version of DirectX is already installed on your system. Makes you want to take your computer and use it to test the law of gravity, huh? Unfortunately, the law of gravity appears to be pretty constant, so your computer would end up in pieces on the street.

Well, if you've seen this problem, take heart! If this isn't the exact problem you're experiencing, try this solution anyway. You never know, maybe this will solve that problem too.

Despite my personal assumption that LucasArts wouldn't support a 5 year old game in connection with an OS it wasn't designed to run on, I sent an email to LA tech support. Surprisingly, a few days later I got a reply. In the first paragraph, the tech made clear that Win2K isn't supported by XvT. He also made it abundantly clear that any solutions given by tech support were unsupported and not guaranteed to work and that LA was in no way responsible for any damage caused by unsupported solutions. Then he got to the good stuff: the solution. This is the solution he gave me, paraphrased and placed in a nice numbered layout. Make sure you pick the correct option below depending on whether you are installing the Balance of Power expansion pack or not.

X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter	Balance of Power
Install XvT as normal. This usually involves waiting for the Autorun to load the installer and then hitting the Next button an extraordinarily large number of times. If you can't do this, I suggest you return your computer and buy a typewriter instead. Get the patch from the LucasArts web site or the Rebel Squadrons mirror. Install the patch. This would involve running the executable you just got and hitting the Next button a lot again. Make sure your XvT disk is in the CD drive. The next step is kind of difficult without it being there. Browse the contents of your CD using Windows Explorer. In the DirectX directory on the CD is a file named DDHelp.exe. Copy that file into your Win2K 32-bit system directory. This directory is usually located at C:\WinNT\system32, but I know we have some weird people in this group who like to play with the default settings, so adjust that path as necessary. Play XvT.	Install XvT as normal. This usually involves waiting for the Autorun to load the installer and then hitting the Next button an extraordinarily large number of times. If you can't do this, I suggest you return your computer and buy a typewriter instead. Install BoP as normal. Another intensely difficult process with Autorun and Next buttons. Make sure your BoP disk is in the CD drive. The next step is kind of difficult without it being there. Browse the contents of your CD using Windows Explorer. In the DirectX directory on the CD is a file named DDHelp.exe. Copy that file into your Win2K 32-bit system directory. This directory is usually located at C:\WinNT\system32, but I know we have some weird people in this group who like to play with the default settings, so adjust that path as necessary. Play XvT. Or BoP.

X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter

Balance of Power

Install XvT as normal. This usually involves waiting for the Autorun to load the installer and then hitting the Next button an extraordinarily large number of times. If you can't do this, I suggest you return your computer and buy a typewriter instead.
Get the patch from the LucasArts web site or the Rebel Squadrons mirror.
Install the patch. This would involve running the executable you just got and hitting the Next button a lot again.
Make sure your XvT disk is in the CD drive. The next step is kind of difficult without it being there.
Browse the contents of your CD using Windows Explorer. In the DirectX directory on the CD is a file named DDHelp.exe. Copy that file into your Win2K 32-bit system directory. This directory is usually located at C:\WinNT\system32, but I know we have some weird people in this group who like to play with the default settings, so adjust that path as necessary.
Play XvT.

Install XvT as normal. This usually involves waiting for the Autorun to load the installer and then hitting the Next button an extraordinarily large number of times. If you can't do this, I suggest you return your computer and buy a typewriter instead.
Install BoP as normal. Another intensely difficult process with Autorun and Next buttons.
Make sure your BoP disk is in the CD drive. The next step is kind of difficult without it being there.
Browse the contents of your CD using Windows Explorer. In the DirectX directory on the CD is a file named DDHelp.exe. Copy that file into your Win2K 32-bit system directory. This directory is usually located at C:\WinNT\system32, but I know we have some weird people in this group who like to play with the default settings, so adjust that path as necessary.
Play XvT. Or BoP.

There it is. Your five- or six-step procedure to make XvT and BoP work in Win2K. I have noticed a tendency for the game to check your disks more frequently and at different places than it originally did in Win95/98. Annoying sometimes, but it works. Also, make sure your drive is completely spun up before you hit the OK button when it is checking your disk. It seems to be a bit finicky and likes to give you that stupid "CD not in drive" message. It that happens, wait a few seconds, then retry.

X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter (Windows 2000/XP)

LucasFiles has released a patch for X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter on Windows 2000 and XP that works wonderfully.

DOS users should try DOSBox. If that doesn't work, try VDMSound [download here] for sound support, and Abandon Loader as an emulator.

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