Best Patch for RoC + TFT Campaign?

[SuperMrBlob]

I'd like to replay the entire WC3 campaign. Should I play on...

• 1.26a + RenderEdge widescreen patch (the last patch for most of the game's life)
• 1.27b + RenderEdge widescreen patch (the last patch that has an installer available)
  
• 1.29.2 (the oldest patch with widescreen support)
  
• 1.30.4 (the last non-buggy? patch)
• 1.31.1 (the last patch)
• Something else?

I see people commenting that 1.31.1 is quite buggy (something about desync and save load?) and that 1.30.4 doesn't have a save load bug.

I just want a great campaign experience without random bugs - including in particular campaign-specific bugs. I don't need crazy map editing tools or MP-focused balance tweaks. I don't care about anticheat.

Thank-you!

 

[BLOKKADE]

I just played through all campaigns without any issues on 1.32.9.

 

[SuperMrBlob]

My understanding was that in 1.32+ all RoC-specific balance was deleted, and the old RoC campaigns use TFT balance. For this reason I'm trying to avoid 1.32+

 

[Tommo Chocolate]

My understanding was that in 1.32+ all RoC-specific balance was deleted, and the old RoC campaigns use TFT balance. For this reason I'm trying to avoid 1.32+

That's true false, see edit below. Looking through the patch notes, 1.29 brought in a lot of balance changes, so you might also want to avoid anything from then onwards – although I don't know if they affect the campaigns since my understanding is that some balance changes are multiplayer only.

Of course, I guess if you're a real RoC purist, then you might want 1.06, or even 1.00?

EDIT: Only the Reforged version of the RoC campaigns use TFT balance; the Classic version still uses RoC balance.

 

[SuperMrBlob]

After trying a couple of version I ended up playing on 1.30.4. The biggest factor for me was that it had support for over 60 fps - playing on a 144hz monitor makes the game much more enjoyable.

Over the first three RoC campaigns I've experienced three issues total: one annoying and persistent sound effect bug in Orc, one bug and a following crash during saving related to goblin zeppelins in undead, and one random crash during a load in an early human mission. Not great, but IMO worth it for 144hz.

Of course, I guess if you're a real RoC purist, then you might want 1.06, or even 1.00?

I don't think I'm that extreme . Just trying to avoid 1.32 as the 'balance changes' there were made without any real thought to the campaign experience. I assume (hope) any balancing before that was more thoughtful.

 

[Tommo Chocolate]

I don't think I'm that extreme . Just trying to avoid 1.32 as the 'balance changes' there were made without any real thought to the campaign experience. I assume (hope) any balancing before that was more thoughtful.

Fair enough. I haven't played the original RoC campaign for ages, but I played the 1.32 version recently and it felt like the difficulty was all over the place (on hard). I'm not sure if that's a result of the TFT balance though.

 

[Retera]

After trying a couple of version I ended up playing on 1.30.4. The biggest factor for me was that it had support for over 60 fps - playing on a 144hz monitor makes the game much more enjoyable.

Haha enjoy heroes like Tyrande having their inventory disappear on certain maps.

Are you actually a forum troll? You didn't even include 1.32 in the poll?

 

[MasterBlaster]

Haha enjoy heroes like Tyrande having their inventory disappear on certain maps.

Man... I really don't get your sense of humor.

You didn't even include 1.32 in the poll?

If you didn't like cheese and asked someone what you should have for breakfast, would you list anything with cheese as an option? Something tells me that you wouldn't, because logically it makes no sense. That's pretty much what happened here.

OP didn't ask for some general consensus about which version of W3 is the best to play the campaign on. He asked which would be the best for him (though I admit that the thread/poll title might give the wrong impression). And he's just not interested in playing on 1.32 due to a (valid) reason that he disclosed later.

I get that you like 1.32, but not everyone does - and people liking different things isn't trolling, it's just life

 

[Retera]

And he's just not interested in playing on 1.32 due to a (valid) reason that he disclosed later.

What reason? He said all RoC specific balance is deleted. I clicked play on the legacy campaign mode on 1.32 and the Peasant costs 90 gold. It uses the RoC balance.

It sounds to me like we're looking at a guy who is deciding not to play 1.32 because of forum trolling.

I believe there are two answers for what we should suggest this fellow and yet I don't see people saying them:

1. Playing the campaign on 1.26 lets you play it on the original legacy engine before the Reforged devs touched it
2. Playing the campaign on 1.32 lets you play it with the new widescreen and graphical updates but without the bugs from Reforged prepatches (1.29, 1.30, 1.31)

Seriously this guy sounds like he's going to play the campaign on 1.30 which is partial 1.32, an incomplete version of 1.32 -- 1.30 is one of the Reforged pre-patches -- instead of using something with bugs fixed. How is it anything but trolling not to get him to use either 1.26 or 1.32?

Edit: There are literally some ridiculous game-breaking campaign bugs in 1.30 like this one that are published and known and fixed on 1.32

Edit 2: Reading more that thread suggests 1.31 might have been the one that introduced the problem, but still 1.30 probably has its own similar problems.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I clicked play on the legacy campaign mode on 1.32 and the Peasant costs 90 gold. It uses the RoC balance.

Well, I stand corrected then. Still, it's far more likely that OP isn't trolling, but being misinformed.

 

[pyf]

[...] How is it anything but trolling not to get him to use either 1.26 or 1.32? [...]

His question is a bit complicated, because he says he just wants a great campaign experience without random bugs, nor crazy map editing tools. The problem is, I can not guarantee that my suggestions are bug-free. Plus, he will have to do a bit of handiwork himself. But imho it is worth the (small) effort and "risks".

To answer the base question: use v1.26a.

---

To update the video rendering:
- crosire/d3d8to9 (mandatory for reshade - minor framerate drop)
- crosire/reshade

To update the audio rendering (note: useless for WC3 as of this writing)
- IndirectSound - 3D Audio in Older Games

To play updated Blizzard campaigns:
- Warcraft III: All In One
- The Scourge of Lordaeron (loktar's edit) (untested with 1.26a)
- Path of the Damned (loktar's edit) (untested with 1.26a)

To play an updated version of the demo version of the game:
- Exodus of the Horde (Original Voice Over)
- Exodus of the Horde (loktar's edit) (untested with 1.26a)

For Widescreen and *lots* more:
- WFE - Warcraft Feature Extender
(makes RenderEdge Widescreen Patch obsolete, as well as ManaBars.mixtape, Camera Hack.mixtape, and GameDll_fix_mapsize_limit.mix (v6))
After a FMV has been played the screen will go black. Exit and restart the game to McGyver this.
Use v2.19 if you want to remove (parts of) the interface. And believe me, you want to try this out despite it being experimental and making the portraits of the cinematics glitchy, because it is imho a major new way to play the game.

With WC3 versions <=1.28.5, widescreen is stretched. But fortunately, tweaking some mdx files alone can already fix (or significantly improve) the cursors, the logos, the loading screens, the endscreen, the loadbar, the multiplayer screens, the scorescreens. Extra fixes / improvements can very certainly be achieved by editing the fdf files, but in that case one must run the game with an executable that allows to load more modified files than allowlocalfiles does. This is (for example) how the subtitles of the FMVs can be fixed.

The FMV can be made to be true widescreen by editing the registry, and imho can be greatly improved on modern OSes by bypassing blizzard.ax entirely, thanks to the K-Lite codec Pack Mega (by using the LAV splitter along with FFDShow for the video rendering)

I still recommend using the animated trees from this thread:
- Warcraft 3 HQ
(do not forget to allow local files)

There exist several HD mods on ModDB, but I am not using any of them.
The best thing would imho be to tear apart all of them, and then cherrypick what you like best, to create your own version of the game. Likewise, I would suggest tearing apart more recent versions of WC3, and see if some assets are worth including in your own private modded version of the game.

 

[Tommo Chocolate]

Well, I stand corrected then. Still, it's far more likely that OP isn't trolling, but being misinformed.

Whoops, I was misinformed too. I've corrected my original post.

My understanding is that balance changes are usually made around multiplayer – based on the comments in the patch notes, this is true of the Reforged patches – so earlier patches might actually have better campaign balance? (Although that said, perhaps balance changes don't always affect the campaigns – does anyone know?)

 

[pyf]

I would like to point out that versions 1.27a up to and including 1.29.2 do not have any ambient sounds. This was by design. One can easily tell the difference, by loading TFT's Mission Rise of the Naga (from the Sentinels Campaign). After the cinematic, stay before the entrance and hear the deafening silence with any of these versions.

The ambient sounds are the midi files + their corresponding digitized audio samples in DLS format, in the MPQ files. One can use the Miles Sound Tools to listen to any of them without having to launch the game (extract the files from the MPQ first, ofc)

 

[Retera]

My understanding is that balance changes are usually made around multiplayer – based on the comments in the patch notes, this is true of the Reforged patches – so earlier patches might actually have better campaign balance? (Although that said, perhaps balance changes don't always affect the campaigns – does anyone know?)

Since 2003 all the game versions, including Reforged, have 4 copies of game unit stats and balance.
(1) Reign of Chaos Patch 1.01
(2) Reign of Chaos melee latest
(3) Frozen Throne 1.07
(4) Frozen Throne melee latest

I might have those 1.01/1.07 version numbers incorrect that I'm listing from memory, but the point is that I would assume since Reforged has the historic " first release" game unit stat balance, it probably uses that version in the campaign. I didn't double check that the RoC campaign was using the historic version rather than melee latest, but I assume it is. The different data versions are absolutely present. It is imperative that they remain in the game to support custom maps, which need for their custom unit stats NOT to change in each melee balance patch. And so I assume that same support extends to the campaign.

 

[pyf]

In the changelog of WC3: All in One, the author is mentioning he has restored the RoC tech tree (among several other things) in the Reign of Chaos maps.

 

[Tommo Chocolate]

Since 2003 all the game versions, including Reforged, have 4 copies of game unit stats and balance.
(1) Reign of Chaos Patch 1.01
(2) Reign of Chaos melee latest
(3) Frozen Throne 1.07
(4) Frozen Throne melee latest

I might have those 1.01/1.07 version numbers incorrect that I'm listing from memory, but the point is that I would assume since Reforged has the historic " first release" game unit stat balance, it probably uses that version in the campaign. I didn't double check that the RoC campaign was using the historic version rather than melee latest, but I assume it is. The different data versions are absolutely present. It is imperative that they remain in the game to support custom maps, which need for their custom unit stats NOT to change in each melee balance patch. And so I assume that same support extends to the campaign.

Cool thanks. On the one hand that makes perfect sense, and on the other hand... wow, what a mess. I guess I've got used to Age of Empires II, where balance patches affect everything...

I've just played the first few missions of the RoC campaign and it doesn't have the magic and hero damage types, so it must be using a version from before they came in (1.06, I think), so presumably just uses the balance from the original release.