[Windows 10] Compatibility Notes

Ask here if you experience technical problems with X³: Reunion, X²: The Threat, X-Tension or X-Beyond The Frontier

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X2-Illuminatus
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Re: [Windows 10] Compatibility Notes

Post by X2-Illuminatus » Thu, 13. Jun 19, 21:30

The DRM software used by X3R is StarForce. To prevent its installation, update to version 2.5 using the complete patch directly after the installation of the game and before starting X3R for the very first time.
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Re: [Windows 10] Compatibility Notes

Post by AelonKiru » Thu, 29. Oct 20, 20:49

"XBTF, XT, X2 - Windows 10_compat.zip" fix not working :(

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Re: [Windows 10] Compatibility Notes

Post by Alan Phipps » Thu, 29. Oct 20, 21:25

Not working in what way? The files download and extract correctly for me.

Have you followed the instructions in the opening post for removing unwanted title bar and borders and have you changed the Windows directory path if necessary?

"Running the game (XBTF, XT, X2) in Fullscreen mode, the title bar and windows border are displayed.
To fix this, please do as follows:
1. Download the "XBTF, XT, X2 - Windows 10_compat.zip" file from the download link below and extract it to an empty folder.
2. Copy the three *.sdb files from that folder to C:\Windows\AppPatch\Custom\
3. Double click the .reg file (which adds registry keys referencing these 3 files).

Note: This assumes Windows is installed on C:\windows (if not, you need to edit the .reg file and change the paths to your dedicated Windows directory).
Please note: This fix is not required for the GOG version of those games, where these registry settings are set by default."
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Re: [Windows 10] Compatibility Notes

Post by AelonKiru » Thu, 29. Oct 20, 21:34

Alan Phipps wrote:
Thu, 29. Oct 20, 21:25
Not working in what way? The files download and extract correctly for me.

Have you followed the instructions in the opening post for removing unwanted title bar and borders and have you changed the Windows directory path if necessary?
Yes, I followed the instructions. No, I don't need to change the path to the Windows directory. I'm sure I did everything right. In a few posts above, people have also reported that it doesn't work for them. Some have found a solution to the problem for themselves, but my knowledge is not enough to repeat their actions without detailed instructions. P.S. sorry for google translator.

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Re: [Windows 10] Compatibility Notes

Post by Alan Phipps » Thu, 29. Oct 20, 21:41

Thanks. I'll try to get you some more detailed advice.
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Re: [Windows 10] Compatibility Notes

Post by X2-Illuminatus » Sat, 31. Oct 20, 12:06

I can confirm that the fix for the display of the title bar and windows border doesn't work anymore. I haven't really figured out why, but here's at least a temporary workaround:
  1. Download the tool "WinExplorer" from here (download link at the bottom of the page) and extract the .zip file (with winexp.exe inside) anywhere you like.
  2. Start the game (XBTF, XT or X2) through Steam.
  3. Press alt+tab to switch from the game to your desktop.
  4. Run winexp.exe.
  5. In the top part of the WinExplorer window you see all the windows you have currently opened. Scroll down to find the icon of the game you're playing: "X [X]" (for XBTF), "X-Tension [X]" (for X-Tension) or "X2 [X]" (for X2: The Threat) and select the icon by clicking on it. (If it isn't listed there, click on the refresh button on the right side of the window, and look again.)
  6. In the bottom part of the WinExplorer window you see several tabs. Click on the "Style" tab. Here you see different Windows styles. Deselect the checkbox infront of "WS_DLGFRAME" and "WS_BORDER" at the bottom left side.
  7. You may close the WinExplorer now.
  8. Press alt+tab again to switch to the game again
  9. The titel and windows border should be gone now.

Unfortunately, you have to do this again every time you start the game.

Please Note: You may have to run winexp.exe with administrator rights (right click on winexp.exe and select "Run as administrator") in order to deselect the mentioned windows styles.
Nun verfügbar! X3: Farnham's Legacy - Ein neues Kapitel für einen alten Favoriten

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Neuauflage der fünf X-Romane als Taschenbuch

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Re: [Windows 10] Compatibility Notes

Post by AelonKiru » Sat, 31. Oct 20, 13:26

Thanks for the answer. Yes, it works. But while I was waiting I found Borderless Gaming. It is very easy to use and saves the settings + can be useful for other games. You just need to run it before the game, or even add it to autorun.

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Re: [Windows 10] Compatibility Notes

Post by X2-Illuminatus » Sat, 31. Oct 20, 20:31

AelonKiru wrote:
Sat, 31. Oct 20, 13:26
But while I was waiting I found Borderless Gaming.
This one is indeed better. Thank you for the feedback.
Nun verfügbar! X3: Farnham's Legacy - Ein neues Kapitel für einen alten Favoriten

Die komplette X-Roman-Reihe jetzt als Kindle E-Books! (Farnhams Legende, Nopileos, X3: Yoshiko, X3: Hüter der Tore, X3: Wächter der Erde)

Neuauflage der fünf X-Romane als Taschenbuch

The official X-novels Farnham's Legend, Nopileos, X3: Yoshiko as Kindle e-books!

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Re: [Windows 10] Compatibility Notes

Post by obbrz » Fri, 9. Apr 21, 14:34

I also tried the fix for window borders and it didn't work. I looked into the sdbinst method someone suggested and it's pretty easy.

0. If you already did the install as suggested in the first post you need to remove the files in the apppatch folder and the registry keys (you can see where in the .reg file; right click and select edit) using regedit
1. Run cmd as Admin
2. Use cd to navigate to the folder where the downloaded .sdb files are
3. Use command "sdbinst" followed by a space and the full file name of the corresponding .sdb file for the game you want to run (you can see which one is which in the .reg file; right click and select edit)

After that I finally ran the game without borders.

For 4:3 resolutions using the native vertical resolution of your monitor, you can set a custom resolution with 4:3 ratio in the NVIDIA/AMD control panel. To calculate the horizontal resolution, take the vertical resolution of your monitor, multiply by 4 and divide by 3.
For example: For 1920*1080 it will be 1080x4/3=1440. So the 4:3 resolution for a 1080p monitor is 1440x1080. This way the image will be crisp with black a pillarbox.

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Re: [Windows 10] Compatibility Notes

Post by Scoob » Fri, 7. Oct 22, 22:09

Hi,

I have the original game on CD - the EUR/AUS version - and the installer fails with the message:

The wizard was interrupted before X2 - The Threat could be completely installed.

I've tried copying the files from the first CD and running setup.exe in various compatibility modes, but no luck. Any ideas?

Going to try copying everything from scratch again, in case I screwed something up...

... that did the trick, I must have done something wrong. To summarise, I ended up copying the various files from CD to the game folder I created. I then applied the updates in order, along with the AL update.

I notice that during the intro, whenever a character speaks, I get an FPS drop - quite a bad one - to an otherwise perfectly fluid scene. Music does not impact things, only the voice it seems. Perhaps tinkering is needed.

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