thanks, I'll bring some news about Win7 and Win10 experiments.
You'll have to cope with 1mSec jumps, it's not too bad, but for sure there must be a waste of CPU power somewhere in the game. I should check to see if there's some other generic possibility to optimize old programs.
It should be possible, but if there's a thing that makes me crazy is mfc windows programming. In any case, I agree it's necessary, not only to export groups of entries, but also to move / delete / kill them. I'll try, no positive result guaranteed ....
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Oh, wait a minute: how many BH2.exe files are there and placed where? I see a BH2.ews in the game install directory and a BH2.exe in the BH2Game subfolder, that sound strange. Did I make some mess? Furthermore, the original obfuscated BH2.exe is 1097Kb in size, while the clear one is only 246Kb, and that is really strange.....
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Anonymous
-
2016-06-30
There is only one file on the BH2Game folder. I wonder why the size is so small also, but maybe the unpacked file has removed unnecessary code of packing algorithm, in this case is the ActiveMARK protection.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Anonymous
-
2016-06-30
Not only the beachhead16 window fail to centered, it also "seem" to bypass Dxwnd and change my screen mode to 32bits and 60Hz. I did not notice at first because the resolution still keep at 1024x768.
Here came the .log
Oh my, the file beachhead16.exe was obfuscated on the Demo version, that could be the reason of all of shit here... I need to test the CD version.
Update
No way, even the the "no-cd" beachhead16.exe could not cure this problem. Meanwhile the BH2.exe from BH2002 still keep the screen mode. We can exclude the obfuscated case and try to look into the .log file.
Update 2
Case closed, I patched the function ChangeDisplaySettingsA on the file "bh.exe" and the child process beachhead16.exe doesn't change my screen mode anymore. This is the same problem with T-Zwei.
Report from Win10:
survivals: 1
casualties: 1
dead: 1
Very good the idea of setting the BH2002.exe window size to 1x1 pixel: this way even if it's not invisible as it should be, it doesn't bother you. The only problem is that at the startup it keeps changing the screen resolution, even with the strongest options! I need a better investigation, that should NOT happen
About BH2.ews, it is the only part that works wothout problems. You can even run it alone, though nothing starts when it terminates.
BH2.exe is a desperate case: it keeps crashing, no matter what version I place in the BH2Game folder.
update
I got it: patched exe requires its patched level files. I replaced the whole set of files and now the game works!!!
update
This is weird! if I rename BH2.ews and start BH2002.exe alone, the screen settings do not change. If I start BH2.ews alone, the screen settings do not change. If I restore BH2.ews and start start BH2002.exe, the screen resolution DOES change, but only the first time. When running the 3D engine, the resolution is recovered and at the end when BH2.ews is started again, the resolution DOES NOT change any more.
Last edit: gho 2016-06-30
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Anonymous
-
2016-06-30
you are right, the second update is just too weird for my mind to grasp. Guess I need a place to rest..
Last edit: Anonymous 2016-06-30
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Logs show that at first run BH2.ews is not hooked, while at the second activation it is.
I'll have to revise the logic in the CreateProcess hooker.
Have a good rest.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Anonymous
-
2017-07-27
Thanks to this thread I got BeachHead2000 smoothly working on Win10. Extract the files in the zip to the Beachhead 2000 folder and run the batch file (or run bh2000.exe manually after running dxwnd and keeping it open) to have a smooth full screen experience no matter your monitor's resolution.
Quick recap: the game is tough because it involves 4 executable files, each one with different purposes and needs. My suggestion is to bypass some initial menu stuff and hook directly the files beachhead16.exe or beachhead15.exe (I suppose for RGB565 and RGB555 color format) that are inside the beachhead subfolder.
Tested & working on Win7, using the fine class RIP, but probably things on Win10+ won't be so easy. My rough configurations here in attach, hopefully I'll refine them a little better.
I got the best results with the 4 executable files configured separately. You can add the 4 export in your configuration. But there are still some problems: the results are not identical on the second run (I get a black window covering the whole desktop) and, most severe, the gaming window is always at 0,0 coordinates, borderless and not moveable. There is still something to investigate.
Using just the config for beachhead16, I was able to get beach head 2000 working just fine in Windows 10. I used dgvoodoo to hook the menu exe and DxWnd for beachhead16 exe. However I'm having an issue the ingame UI text.
For reference the UI should look like this:
However with the unmodified settings above my UI looks like this (see attachment)
The "Shield" text displays just fine, with no flickering. I experimented with different settings and found that forcing "Auto Primary Surface Blit" seemed to make the missing text visible perfectly but for only a few seconds until you move the turret, then there's some flicker, once you shoot the gun the text disappears and intermittently flickers. I tried different GDI modes and DirectX settings, but still no luck.
I did make an interesting observation though. The game has an internal frame limiter, which is toggled with the "L" key. Sometimes when I turned turned off the frame limiter the text flickered less and stayed on the screen longer. However, being an older game, frame rate is tied to game speed, so having it off renders the game unplayable. I tried experimenting with other monitor refresh rates, but it didn't make much of a difference and I messed around with timings settings and trying various sync settings, but they didn't seem to have an impact.
This is interesting. If DxWnd could control the frame rate, then you could press the "L" key to toggle the frame limiter without accelerating the game. Currently, no DxWnd flag seems able to do this, but I can check again.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Good news. The problem depends on the fact that the game is somehow "wrong" since it blits empty fields, but it relies on the fact that the bad updates are very fast so they won't be noticed in between of whole screen updates.
In DxWnd emulation, things go differently and these bad updated get noticed producing flickering and field invisibility.
I got very good results with frame speed control and limited flickering by making text updates bypassing the FPS delay control, but now I got a very custom DxWnd release that wouldn't be suitable for other games. So, please, have a little more patience and in a little while I will add some extra flag to control the timing of these operations.
Well, maybe I couldn't explain the concept very well, but I'm sure you'll like the final result.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Still struggling with DxWnd; however, Beach Head 2000 works fine (no UI issues) with DDrawCompat v0.4.0 alone:
* Copy the ddraw.dll and (attached) DDrawCompat.ini files to the main folder and to the beachhead subfolder
* Select "Run in 640 x 480 screen resolution" and "Reduced color mode: 16-bit (65536) color" under the Compatibility tab for BH2000.exe, then run it.
Oh, wait a minute: how many BH2.exe files are there and placed where? I see a BH2.ews in the game install directory and a BH2.exe in the BH2Game subfolder, that sound strange. Did I make some mess? Furthermore, the original obfuscated BH2.exe is 1097Kb in size, while the clear one is only 246Kb, and that is really strange.....
There is only one file on the BH2Game folder. I wonder why the size is so small also, but maybe the unpacked file has removed unnecessary code of packing algorithm, in this case is the ActiveMARK protection.
Not only the beachhead16 window fail to centered, it also "seem" to bypass Dxwnd and change my screen mode to 32bits and 60Hz. I did not notice at first because the resolution still keep at 1024x768.
Here came the .log
Oh my, the file beachhead16.exe was obfuscated on the Demo version, that could be the reason of all of shit here... I need to test the CD version.
Update
No way, even the the "no-cd" beachhead16.exe could not cure this problem. Meanwhile the BH2.exe from BH2002 still keep the screen mode. We can exclude the obfuscated case and try to look into the .log file.
Update 2
Case closed, I patched the function ChangeDisplaySettingsA on the file "bh.exe" and the child process beachhead16.exe doesn't change my screen mode anymore. This is the same problem with T-Zwei.
Last edit: Anonymous 2016-06-30
Report from Win10:
survivals: 1
casualties: 1
dead: 1
Very good the idea of setting the BH2002.exe window size to 1x1 pixel: this way even if it's not invisible as it should be, it doesn't bother you. The only problem is that at the startup it keeps changing the screen resolution, even with the strongest options! I need a better investigation, that should NOT happen
About BH2.ews, it is the only part that works wothout problems. You can even run it alone, though nothing starts when it terminates.
BH2.exe is a desperate case: it keeps crashing, no matter what version I place in the BH2Game folder.
update
I got it: patched exe requires its patched level files. I replaced the whole set of files and now the game works!!!
update
This is weird! if I rename BH2.ews and start BH2002.exe alone, the screen settings do not change. If I start BH2.ews alone, the screen settings do not change. If I restore BH2.ews and start start BH2002.exe, the screen resolution DOES change, but only the first time. When running the 3D engine, the resolution is recovered and at the end when BH2.ews is started again, the resolution DOES NOT change any more.
Last edit: gho 2016-06-30
you are right, the second update is just too weird for my mind to grasp. Guess I need a place to rest..
Last edit: Anonymous 2016-06-30
Logs show that at first run BH2.ews is not hooked, while at the second activation it is.
I'll have to revise the logic in the CreateProcess hooker.
Have a good rest.
Thanks to this thread I got BeachHead2000 smoothly working on Win10. Extract the files in the zip to the Beachhead 2000 folder and run the batch file (or run bh2000.exe manually after running dxwnd and keeping it open) to have a smooth full screen experience no matter your monitor's resolution.
Last edit: Anonymous 2018-10-20
Any ideas how to run Beach Head 2000 properly with the latest DxWnd?
Quick recap: the game is tough because it involves 4 executable files, each one with different purposes and needs. My suggestion is to bypass some initial menu stuff and hook directly the files beachhead16.exe or beachhead15.exe (I suppose for RGB565 and RGB555 color format) that are inside the beachhead subfolder.
Tested & working on Win7, using the fine class RIP, but probably things on Win10+ won't be so easy. My rough configurations here in attach, hopefully I'll refine them a little better.
Last edit: gho 2022-07-07
I got the best results with the 4 executable files configured separately. You can add the 4 export in your configuration. But there are still some problems: the results are not identical on the second run (I get a black window covering the whole desktop) and, most severe, the gaming window is always at 0,0 coordinates, borderless and not moveable. There is still something to investigate.
Using just the config for beachhead16, I was able to get beach head 2000 working just fine in Windows 10. I used dgvoodoo to hook the menu exe and DxWnd for beachhead16 exe. However I'm having an issue the ingame UI text.
For reference the UI should look like this:
However with the unmodified settings above my UI looks like this (see attachment)
The "Shield" text displays just fine, with no flickering. I experimented with different settings and found that forcing "Auto Primary Surface Blit" seemed to make the missing text visible perfectly but for only a few seconds until you move the turret, then there's some flicker, once you shoot the gun the text disappears and intermittently flickers. I tried different GDI modes and DirectX settings, but still no luck.
I did make an interesting observation though. The game has an internal frame limiter, which is toggled with the "L" key. Sometimes when I turned turned off the frame limiter the text flickered less and stayed on the screen longer. However, being an older game, frame rate is tied to game speed, so having it off renders the game unplayable. I tried experimenting with other monitor refresh rates, but it didn't make much of a difference and I messed around with timings settings and trying various sync settings, but they didn't seem to have an impact.
Last edit: jas4500 2022-08-25
This is interesting. If DxWnd could control the frame rate, then you could press the "L" key to toggle the frame limiter without accelerating the game. Currently, no DxWnd flag seems able to do this, but I can check again.
Good news. The problem depends on the fact that the game is somehow "wrong" since it blits empty fields, but it relies on the fact that the bad updates are very fast so they won't be noticed in between of whole screen updates.
In DxWnd emulation, things go differently and these bad updated get noticed producing flickering and field invisibility.
I got very good results with frame speed control and limited flickering by making text updates bypassing the FPS delay control, but now I got a very custom DxWnd release that wouldn't be suitable for other games. So, please, have a little more patience and in a little while I will add some extra flag to control the timing of these operations.
Well, maybe I couldn't explain the concept very well, but I'm sure you'll like the final result.
This should do much better ...
I was able to test a little today. It was definitely much better, the text still flickers but only slightly and it never fully disappears.
Still struggling with DxWnd; however, Beach Head 2000 works fine (no UI issues) with DDrawCompat v0.4.0 alone:
* Copy the ddraw.dll and (attached) DDrawCompat.ini files to the main folder and to the beachhead subfolder
* Select "Run in 640 x 480 screen resolution" and "Reduced color mode: 16-bit (65536) color" under the Compatibility tab for BH2000.exe, then run it.