Why doesnt team 17 release a working Windows 7 patch? [Archive]

tribesplay

16 Apr 2010, 22:40

Half of the forums and questions about WA is how to get it to work with proper colors on Vista or Windows 7.

Why is there not a REAL FIX for this??!! (issued by Team 17)

I have tried the wkColorFix and ending explorer.exe (neither of which work for me on Windows 7 x64). I can't end csrss.exe

It is very frustating. Such a wonderful (and simple) game should readily be playable on newer versions of Windows...

Most of the forum "answers" bounce you around to other forums or offer files that were created by other users (scary thought).

I am to the point if I don't get it fixed I'm going to give up. :mad:

CyberShadow

16 Apr 2010, 22:50

Team17 hasn't been maintaining W:A for many years now. W:A is being maintained and supported by two programmers (myself being one of them) as an unpaid hobby, who unfortunately don't have much time for W:A at the moment (http://forum.team17.co.uk/showpost.php?p=716503&postcount=521) :(

wkColorFix was created (and is endorsed) by one of the maintainers, though. It usually works, but it's just a less primitive variation of terminating explorer.exe (it is instead suspended while the game is maximized).

Have you tried closing other applications? Sometimes other applications, such as the desktop gadgets (sidebar.exe) and MSN Messenger, could cause color problems.

lookias

16 Apr 2010, 23:35

...

means that 4.0 was and is nothing more than some peace of words. :)

CyberShadow

16 Apr 2010, 23:40

I expect to have more time for W:A later on.

M3ntal

17 Apr 2010, 02:36

Half of the forums and questions about WA is how to get it to work with proper colors on Vista or Windows 7.

Why is there not a REAL FIX for this??!! (issued by Team 17)
There is a real fix - install the game on the operating system it was made for. The system requirements are on the game box.

It is very frustating. Such a wonderful (and simple) game should readily be playable on newer versions of Windows...
You should take up that argument with Microsoft, they are the ones who made Vista/7 incompatible with W:A, not the other way round. While you're there you can post a thread on their forums complaining how Playstation games don't run properly on your Xbox and demanding they sort it out. Maybe also get in touch with Pioneer and whinge at them about the DVD player you bought in 2001 not reading BluRay discs.

Don't get all angry about the fact a game made in 1998 doesn't support an OS that didn't exist until 10 years after it, Team17 can't see into the future. The fact it works to any degree on any version past Windows 98 is a gift.

One thing you could do is look for a solution rather than just complaining. I'd suggest getting an old PC and installing Win 98 on it, or using some virtualisation software like VMWare to have Win 98 running in a window within Vista/7, but both require a bit of technical ability and i'm dubious as to whether someone who has trouble grasping in which direction time flows can handle it.

Explorer

17 Apr 2010, 05:16

You should take up that argument with Microsoft, they are the ones who made Vista/7 incompatible with W:A, not the other way round.
Not only is Vista incompatible with W:A, but also other paletted games (e.g. Age of Empires 2).

I'd suggest getting an old PC and installing Win 98 on it, or using some virtualisation software like VMWare to have Win 98 running in a window within Vista/7,
Wait, Mental. The latest beta (3.6.29.0) does NOT work on Windows 98/ME (http://forum.team17.co.uk/showthread.php?t=37121). Use Windows XP instead.

Wormetti

17 Apr 2010, 05:46

XP runs better than Win98 in most virtual machines.

franpa

17 Apr 2010, 07:48

Not only is Vista incompatible with W:A, but also other paletted games (e.g. Age of Empires 2).

Yes, but the games can be updated to retain the correct palettes under Vista/7, Zelda Classic will be one of few to introduce such a improvement. I believe the next version of W:A will be doing something similar as well.

DrMelon

17 Apr 2010, 12:05

Windows 7 has "Windows XP Mode" which is a virtual machine that runs XP. You can try running W:A in that, if you want.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx

Note: Project X for Wormkit has, in version 0.8.0, a Direct3D wrapper that rewrites the graphics code and works just fine in Windows 7 x64. I'm a tester for it.

franpa

17 Apr 2010, 17:56

However XP Mode is only for Windows 7 Professional and higher editions.

DrMelon

17 Apr 2010, 20:05

However XP Mode is only for Windows 7 Professional and higher editions.

Hence why I saw fit to post about the upcoming PX 0.8.0.

tribesplay

18 Apr 2010, 01:12

Thank you to everyone who replied!
except M3ntal, (who apparently just wants to be mean when he could "look for a solution rather than just complaining" about me bringing this up) your response wasn't helpful and your insults were not appreciated..
As an engineer I look for solutions, this forum is where I am now looking.

I have tried all of Windows 7's built in compatibility modes to no avail.
franpa had the same idea of thinking that I did
"Yes, but the games can be updated to retain the correct palettes under Vista/7,"
Perhaps the next release, if there is one, will have a built in color fix? Or an alternate version for Vista/7.

I'd like to thank CyberShadow for his work updating W:A to this point. I will keep an eye out for a new worms PC game but I doubt it will compare to the good old days. Even though Team 17 does not wish to support W:A anymore, I am willing to pay a few more dollars if it could get me playing with proper colors again.

Hopefully this thread will help to spawn a continued search for a more guaranteed solution to the color problem,

Undefined

18 Apr 2010, 11:24

Hence why I saw fit to post about the upcoming PX 0.8.0.

You can't play regular games with Project-X 0.6.5 or 0.8.0 (otherwise W:A process will crash). Then better play PX games :)

Lazure

18 Apr 2010, 16:25

I use VirtualBox (it's free) with a Windows XP guest OS. Worms:Armageddon on latest patch works excellently in there! Only problem is the menus will run in a small 800x600 window, but you can set the gameplay resolution much higher.

DrMelon

18 Apr 2010, 16:56

GreeN

18 Apr 2010, 17:11

I think he means VirtualBox runs the menus in a window because of that resolution.

i<3worms:)

19 Apr 2010, 17:40

I expect to have more time for W:A later on.

We hope that would be sooner than later :(

M3ntal

20 Apr 2010, 03:03

Thank you to everyone who replied!
except M3ntal, (who apparently just wants to be mean when he could "look for a solution rather than just complaining" about me bringing this up) your response wasn't helpful and your insults were not appreciated..
I gave you two obvious solutions to your problem.

1: Play it on a different PC, the sys requirements are low enough that if you don't have a spare one already you could pick one up that'll run W:A for next to nothing.

2: Install VMWare (the free version will do) so you can run an older version of windows within the one you have.

Also, i apologise for the tone of my last post. I misinterpreted the level of aggression in your character based on your original post and thought i was responding in kind. Your second post has proven me wrong.

Chandler

22 Apr 2010, 23:48

If i'm right the fact that we have two maintainers of this game is that Deadcode used a possibility to alter the game, reversing (it s a big word..) WA engine, and shared the possibilities with Cybershadow in the past...

Today we have Entuser who is doing today almost the same with another method with Worms PX.. but with no help from the 1st reversers...

The real problem is "Why only 2 persons are available to do updates when a lot of people could if some sources (worked/diggued since many years) were available....". Look at Worms PX and the work done by one guy...

Why not release how to improves ourselves... too many problems would come ? from Team17 hem...?

Edit 1 : Exact Facts :

Deadcode (David "Deadcode" Ellsworth) is one of the most well known programmers of Worms Armageddon. With his work on Silkworm, the biggest cheat program ever seen for Worms Armageddon he got himself noticed by Team17 and the Worms community.

Having proven himself a skillful programmer, Deadcode was offered the chance to start working on updates for Worms Armageddon. Team17 released the Worms source code to him. Soon after, updates started to show up. Deadcode fixed many bugs and added many features to Worms Armageddon. He was the only person working on the beta updates until CyberShadow joined him in September 2006.

Explorer

24 Apr 2010, 02:08

If i'm right the fact that we have two maintainers of this game is that Deadcode used a possibility to alter the game, reversing (it s a big word..) WA engine, and shared the possibilities with Cybershadow in the past...
Did Deadcode reversed the engine? I think not. He just hacked it to make it work on Windows 2000/XP, IIRC.

The real problem is "Why only 2 persons are available to do updates when a lot of people could if some sources (worked/diggued since many years) were available....".

Why not release how to improves ourselves... too many problems would come ? from Team17 hem...?
I asked that already
http://forum.team17.co.uk/showthread.php?p=717032#post717032

CyberShadow

24 Apr 2010, 02:44

If i'm right the fact that we have two maintainers of this game is that Deadcode used a possibility to alter the game, reversing (it s a big word..) WA engine, and shared the possibilities with Cybershadow in the past...Deadcode and myself reverse-engineered the game engine, separately. Proof of that is Deadcode's Silkworm and my wkMagic module (the first module of its kind, which was the basis of wkRubberWorm). Team17 granted us access to the source code (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source_code) in response to a display of skill and dedication. (You understand the difference between Beta updates, created by working with the game's source code, and Silkworm etc., created through reverse-engineering, right?)Today we have Entuser who is doing today almost the same with another method with Worms PX.. but with no help from the 1st reversers...And how do you know that? Anyway, we are forbidden from releasing any part of the source code. Silkworm, wkMagic, wkRubberWorm and Project-X were all created purely from reverse-engineering the game's binary.Why not release how to improves ourselves... too many problems would come ? from Team17 hem...?This has been discussed many times before, please search the forums. The gist is that it is not possible due to legal reasons.

LegionLion

25 Apr 2010, 00:41

on Vista its working 100 %:
just close sidebar and explorer.exe and other gadgets and start manually from Taskmanager->Run Task...

on Windows 7:
same as on Vista and additionaly turn of Aero and put Classic Design

im running Vista and have no more happy-color bug in W:A,
in the game Diablo II i had same color bug and solved it on Vista by turning of Aero for the while im playing...

Metacooler

3 May 2010, 13:34

Thank you to everyone who replied!
except M3ntal, (who apparently just wants to be mean when he could "look for a solution rather than just complaining" about me bringing this up) your response wasn't helpful and your insults were not appreciated..

To be honest, I appreciated them. =D

Today we have Entuser who is doing today almost the same with another method with Worms PX.. but with no help from the 1st reversers...

Wrong; without CyberShadow, I wouldn't even be able to play PX.

d3rd3vil

3 May 2010, 21:38

Explorer

4 May 2010, 11:35

Mostly I don't have any colorproblems because of some explorer.exe termination batch :)

But I can't watch recored Worms matches, because then the batch is useless! Damn it, how to watch those vids under Windows 7?

@derdevil:
Will you please find out yourself in your Windows Registry before asking? (if you can, of course)

Here's the answer:
taskkill /F /IM explorer.exe
WA.exe /play something.wagame
Start explorer.exe

d3rd3vil

5 May 2010, 14:58

Oh well, thank you very much :)

Ombodi77

5 May 2010, 17:01

I believe that Worms Armageddon could be profitable again for Team17.
Anybody heard about Quake III? Yea' it was published in same year with Worms Armageddon in 1999 and both became a historycal game.

Id Software refreshed the game in last year, 10 years after they published.
These games have very low system requirements so everybody can play these nowadays.
They made a browser(!) game from Q3!
It's name is Quake Live.
Players can search a lot of statistics on website, we can collect a lot of awards, QL site handle the clan's, league servers with password, we can choose of a lot of servers around the world. They usually publish a new update in every 2 weeks and the best thing for us: QL is absolutely free for everyone!
Id trying to sell advertisement places so it will be gainful again for them... a ten years old game. While they didn't find firms who buy the advert places at least they can advertise their own games...
In QuakeLive.Com more than 1,5 Million players registered and tried out the game since 2009 February.

I believe with a medium sized effort Team 17 could do a profitable game of Worms Armageddon with some updates and online assistance.
Another same old game and it's develepors did it. Maybe it will be easier than in a chase of first person shooter game.

Explorer

6 May 2010, 15:31

Anybody heard about Quake III? Yea' it was published in same year with Worms Armageddon in 1999 and both became a historycal game.

Id Software refreshed the game in last year, 10 years after they published.
It's name is Quake Live.

Team17 has been making Worms Reloaded (or Worms 2: Armageddon for Steam) as a companion of Worms Armageddon.

d3rd3vil

7 May 2010, 20:16

@derdevil:
Will you please find out yourself in your Windows Registry before asking? (if you can, of course)

Here's the answer:
taskkill /F /IM explorer.exe
WA.exe /play something.wagame
Start explorer.exe

Doesn't work! It just says: "Cannot play ***.wagame file"! Anything else to notice?

Explorer

8 May 2010, 01:05

Doesn't work! It just says: "Cannot play ***.wagame file"! Anything else to notice?

Please check if you have the latest beta of WA, and if you have the corrupt replay file.

AFAIK, the batch file works for me.

Also, if you see an error message, please post the entire message rather than truncate it yourself.

d3rd3vil

8 May 2010, 11:35

Latest update is installed of course, 3.6.29.0!

Error message is just a little bit longer :rolleyes:

"File Error: Cannot play game file "****.wagame"!

That's all, doesn't work :( A windows 7 patch would still be appreciated!

Explorer

8 May 2010, 12:28

Latest update is installed of course, 3.6.29.0!

Error message is just a little bit longer :rolleyes:
"File Error: Cannot play game file "****.wagame"!

Does double-clicking the replay file work?

d3rd3vil

8 May 2010, 12:47

Yeah well I can play those files when opening them with wa.exe! But then of course I get the colour problems...

CyberShadow

8 May 2010, 12:53

The error is probably because you didn't include the full path to the file.

d3rd3vil

8 May 2010, 13:59

Yeah well how to do it?

Should it look like that?

taskkill /F /IM explorer.exe
WA.exe /play E:\Spiele\Worms Armageddon\User\Games\tit.wagame
Start explorer.exe

Explorer

8 May 2010, 14:25

Yeah well how to do it?

Should it look like that?

taskkill /F /IM explorer.exe
WA.exe /play E:\Spiele\Worms Armageddon\User\Games\tit.wagame
Start explorer.exe

No, it should look like this:

taskkill /F /IM explorer.exe
WA.exe /play "E:\Spiele\Worms Armageddon\User\Games\tit.wagame"
Start explorer.exe

You must add quotation marks at both ends of a string, or else the parser will treat them as two parameters. ("E:\Spiele\Worms" and "Armageddon\User\Games\tit.wagame")

CyberShadow

8 May 2010, 14:59

The easier solution is to drag-and-drop replays on WormKit's icon, or associate replay files with WormKit. It won't allow you to perform any actions other than "Play", though.

d3rd3vil

8 May 2010, 15:13

Well I'd like to read the chat and a fast forward option is important ^^ Maybe I'll try a virtual Windows XP!

Explorer

9 May 2010, 11:32

The easier solution is to drag-and-drop replays on WormKit's icon, or associate replay files with WormKit. It won't allow you to perform any actions other than "Play", though.

Does this mean that we can throw away that "/play" switch?
(like this: WA.exe "blah blah blah.wagame")

@ d3rd3vil:
Using wkColorFix is really much easier than making a batch to play replay files, but if you still like batches, I can give you another.

Save the following code to a .bat file, adjust the W:A path if needed:taskkill /F /IM explorer.exe
C:
CD "C:\Team17\Worms Armageddon\"
IF EXIST WormKit.exe (
Start /wait WormKit.exe WA.exe /play %1
) ELSE (
WA.exe /play %1
)
Start explorer.exe
Then drag-and-drop the replay file to the batch to play it.

CyberShadow

9 May 2010, 11:37

Does this mean that we can throw away that "/play" switch?
(like this: WA.exe "blah blah blah.wagame")Yes, /play is optional in recent Betas, however only if the replay file has a .WAgame extension.

d3rd3vil

10 May 2010, 15:23

No, it should look like this:

taskkill /F /IM explorer.exe
WA.exe /play "E:\Spiele\Worms Armageddon\User\Games\tit.wagame"
Start explorer.exe

You must add quotation marks at both ends of a string, or else the parser will treat them as two parameters. ("E:\Spiele\Worms" and "Armageddon\User\Games\tit.wagame")

Ah damn it, thank you very much :) Now it works like a charm!

Edit: Thanks for the other option too :)

franpa

12 May 2010, 02:55

I believe this will let you drag&drop files onto the BAT file.

taskkill /F /IM explorer.exe
WA.exe /play %1
Start explorer.exe

Extremist2

12 May 2010, 09:38

on Windows 7:
same as on Vista and additionaly turn of Aero and put Classic Design

One time, when I installed the game and added wormkit +colorfix, the game would start, but all the menu options would be frozen, meaning I couldn't do anything. Doing the above (switching from an Aero theme to a basic theme) fixed this.

I did a re-install lately, and I no longer have to do this to play the game. It's possible that a driver or Windows update fixed it.

For those still having problems, try the theme switch trick and/or driver/Windows updates. :)

d3rd3vil

16 May 2010, 22:42

I believe this will let you drag&drop files onto the BAT file.

taskkill /F /IM explorer.exe
WA.exe /play %1
Start explorer.exe

Well it would be extremely great, but that "%1" version doesn't work :( It just closes the explorer and starts it again, nothing more!

franpa

17 May 2010, 06:06

drag a replay file onto the BAT file and it would play the replay file or should.

balver

17 May 2010, 08:07

Shouldn't it be like below? (with quotes)taskkill /F /IM explorer.exe
WA.exe /play "%1"
start explorer.exe

d3rd3vil

17 May 2010, 08:45

Yeah well it doesn't work, not even with quotes!

franpa

17 May 2010, 12:40

Where did you put the BAT file? If you put it in your replay (games) folder then you will need...

taskkill /F /IM explorer.exe
cd..
cd..
WA.exe /play %1
Start explorer.exe

I do not have the %1 in quotes and it works fine for me.

DrMelon

17 May 2010, 12:51

Well I'd like to read the chat and a fast forward option is important ^^ Maybe I'll try a virtual Windows XP!

You'll be able to do that, that's the "Play" option. What he means is that with drag+drop you can't extract the map file, or play at a specific point like you can with the context menu.

Explorer

17 May 2010, 13:27

I do not have the %1 in quotes and it works fine for me.

I can explain whether you need quotes in %1 or not.

First, just open your command prompt (Start menu -> Run -> cmd.exe), and then drag and drop a file to it. Normally, you'll see the file path in quotes, unless the path of which you drag contains no spaces.

"C:\Program Files\MyApp\Myapp.exe" - The path has a space, so it's "quoted"
C:\Windows\Explorer.exe - No spaces, no quotes

And so, if you drag-and-drop a file to the BAT, the "quotes" will be passed with the %1 parameter.

UNFORTUNATELY, the shell command of Windows Explorer doesn't pass quotes. That is, if you want to use the BAT in file associations (shell open commands or such), "%1" should be quoted there.

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Team17.WAgame\shell\a.play\comma nd]
@="\"C:\\Your Path\\YourBat.bat\" \"%1\" "

Hope this helps.

franpa

17 May 2010, 13:33

Ah k, I don't think W:A generates replay files with names that contain spaces though.

If I add quote marks then I get this

---------------------------
Warning
---------------------------
Ignoring unrecognised command-line parameter ("Armageddon\2008-12-06")
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------
---------------------------
Warning
---------------------------
Ignoring unrecognised command-line parameter ("11.14.37")
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------
---------------------------
Warning
---------------------------
Ignoring unrecognised command-line parameter ("[Offline]")
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------
---------------------------
Warning
---------------------------
Ignoring unrecognised command-line parameter ("I")
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------
---------------------------
Warning
---------------------------
Ignoring unrecognised command-line parameter ("be")
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------
---------------------------
Warning
---------------------------
Ignoring unrecognised command-line parameter ("yellow_")
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------
---------------------------
Warning
---------------------------
Ignoring unrecognised command-line parameter ("_),")
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------
---------------------------
Warning
---------------------------
Ignoring unrecognised command-line parameter ("Chegwin,")
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------
---------------------------
Worms Armageddon - Playback Error
---------------------------
File Error: Cannot play game file "Name.WAgame"
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------

where as without quote marks I get...

---------------------------
Worms Armageddon - Playback Error
---------------------------
Format Error: Cannot play game file "E:\Worms Armageddon\2008-12-06 11.14.37 [Offline] I be yellow_ _), Chegwin, Name.WAgame"
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------
I'm not sure why the replay doesn't work to begin with, as others work but that is irrelevant.

Gnork

17 May 2010, 16:24

While you're there you can post a thread on their forums complaining how Playstation games don't run properly on your Xbox and demanding they sort it out. Maybe also get in touch with Pioneer and whinge at them about the DVD player you bought in 2001 not reading BluRay discs.

That was ace. I laughed my titties off, even while I don't have them. Perhaps being on it, also write a letter to Technics and whine about your precious turntable not being able to play those BluRay discs neither. oh. And don't forget to bugger Samsung about your '98 450W microwave which doesn't seem to have a proper firmware update on the internet to be able to handle current food preparation indications on microwave dishes, like 'warm up for 3 minutes @ 900W'.