I've been trying to work out how to solve a series of problems with SC:BW lately as I wanna play with a friend who's PC can't run SC2. So as I managed to solve everything up to now and started being able to run the game smoothly I thought I'd compile it all in a guide for any who might need to access. The 2 major problems are these: 1) Funky Colours: Windows 7 is not supported and the're some issue with the direct draw. I've no idea about the technical sides of it as I'm a computers noob, but anyway it's solvable by downloading a .dll file and putting it in your starcraft folder. So to fix the graphics issue: i)Visit http://sol.gfxile.net/ddhack/ and download "ddhack10.zip"(I'll attach it to my post too) ii) Unzip and copy the .dll and .cfg items in your starcraft folder iii) Play Be sure to read the documentation. You can edit the .cfg file to modify some parameters to solve specific issues that might arise. It's possible that the second major issue can be solved from there, but I don't know how and didn't bother to try, but you can. This will fix your graphics problems 2nd Major Issue: The Mouse Cursor gets stuck at some point in the screen or just follows annoying behaviour{auto-drags etc}. There is a post in TeamLiquid about how to play SC:BW in windowed mode. This solves said problem, and possibly it could be enough to solve the colours issue by itself, but I had already installed the .dll file above and didn't bother check without it. Anyway, go to: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=72621 And follow the instructions there. They'll ask you to download a zip which I'll try to upload if the size is allowed. Then run the programm on the window select the options decribed in the post above. There's an option that locks your mouse inside the window and it'll just be like playing on a 15" monitor. I added both files needed, after recompressing the Chaoslauncher to a better ratio to be uploadable(limit was 1.9 MB and it took 2.1 in the original version). So basicly, to sum it up: 1)Download ddhack10.zip and Chaoslauncher.zip (or chaoslauncher1161 from my attachments it's the same folder I just renamed my zip as I changed the compression). 2)Unzip both 3)Dump the files from the ddhack folder into your starcraft install folder(where the starcraft.exe is located 4)Open the Chaoslauncher folder, right click on chaoslauncher.exe, click properties and from the compatibility tab set "run as administrator" 5)Run the chaoslauncher exe and on the plugins tab select these: -Chaosplugin for 1.16.1 -W-mode 1.02(this is what fixes the cursor problem by running the game in windowed) - You can add the latency fix too, it helped me. Click "Start" on the bottom of the program and have fun! PS: There could be settings you can tweak around and other, better ways around these 2 problems, but I haven't found any and I'm no pc-expert to know how and with what to experiment. This is a way I found to counter both the problems I had and run the game smoothly for multiplayer play with some friends. Hope it helps any of you that might wish to play SC:BW on windows 7. Cheers and hf! Edit: Don't forget to run Chaoslauncher as Administrator as it might cause runtime errors otherwise.
I am extremely hesitant to allow anything with the word 'hack' in the name. For the colours, this fixes the problem with no risk of bannage.
The item with the word "hack" in it was linked to me by an official blizzard employee after contacting them via the webform. I don't think there should be an issue if I copied the response here, so quoting: Edited out the names of the tech support person and myself, as well as the previous mail that went through trying different solutions that didn't work. As for the fix you linked, I read about it but was a little hesitant on shutting down my desktop to play starcraft. The thing I did works quite smoothly anyway, although it's in windowed mode. Whenever I try it on full screen(by disabling the w-mode addon on chaoslauncher) I get the cursor bug again. Btw, shutting down the explorer, doesn't also shut down other stuff like skype/firefox/winamp etc or can you still use them?
I have an update on this: 2 new ways to play it on fullscreen this time! EDIT: IMPORTANT WARNING: The first solution might be considered a Hack, I'm not at all sure about it! I read about such a possibility after making this post. Will have to verify this, for now, consider (1) only for single player, though I'd deffinitely suggest not using it at all, since (2) is deffinitely working AND not using any 3rd party programms appart from emulating a PC to run windows XP. 1) The Starcraft Resolution Hack is a program that alters the game resolution and makes it work for widescreens too. It crashed for me but most people agree that it's working for them. I'm doing it the other way already so I didn't give this a second chance. Youtube video on how this looks like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPGBr9Pw7xQ 2) What I did: Download Virtual Box(It's a sun microsystems program) and use it to emulate a PC with windows XP instead of 7. You're gonna need a windows XP install CD, so you'll have to unearth your old ones for that. Then just install SC into this virtual PC and run it in fullscreen. Manual with detailed instructions included on the above site.
I just used a fix I found on Youtube, makes it shut down explorer.exe when I open Starcraft.bat and yeah, fixes any colour issues (I'm running Win7). @Stirlitz about running Skype etc without explorer.exe, they still run. You just can't open any folders (so say, your music or pictures folder). But any other program (browsers, media players or IM for example) will work fine.
