(Auto-SOLVED) Can't start Brood War Anthology on Win7

[deepstrasz]

I've downloaded the game from BlizzEnt and after it needing 6-7gb of space, it does't want to start and the error it gives me only this:

I tried repair first, it didn't work. Then I reinstalled, still didn't work.

Tried stuff from here:
https://us.battle.net/forums/en/starcraft/topic/20758246245
Nothing.

This didn't work either:
r/broodwar - Installed SCBW, unable to start. Help me out please!

 

[pyf]

Spoiler: Necrobump!

Is it still an issue?

 

[deepstrasz]

Is it still an issue?

YES! I would have mentioned otherwise.

 

[Dr Super Good]

So let me get this straight... You installed StarCraft 1 (either free or remaster) using the BattleNet application and it keeps coming up with that error?

Have you tried getting the BattleNet application to repair it? Can you use CASCView to verify that the local CASC storage is not corrupt? Maybe it is a permission problem so try changing the install directory to only need user permission (Program Files defaults to needing admin permission for writes).

Legacy versions of StarCraft 1 are no longer supported. Old CD copies are effectively worthless since StarCraft 1 was made free for everyone with a BattleNet account and only the remaster requires a licence.

 

[deepstrasz]

It's from the official site and I repaired it a couple of times, even reinstalled it and so on but nada.
I think it might just not work on Win7 anymore...

 

[Dr Super Good]

I think it might just not work on Win7 anymore...

Windows 7 64bit is still a targeted OS for all Blizzard games so it should work on Windows 7 64bit.

Looking at what other people have posted it might be due to some temporary files becoming corrupted. Delete all the Blizzard caches from AppData and then try repairing via the BattleNet application.

 

[deepstrasz]

Looking at what other people have posted it might be due to some temporary files becoming corrupted. Delete all the Blizzard caches from AppData and then try repairing via the BattleNet application.

They should have fixed it by now. Where do I find the cache?

Also, for some reason the battle.net application runs very slowly as if I'm trying to run it form a slow computer... This issue is older though.

---

EDIT: Great news! It works. I think they fixed it. I did nothing but download what was new [patch(es)] and pressed start!
The problem is that the game is not stretched to the screen and basically I have black borders on the sides...

EDIT2: now after getting out of the game, I can't start it through the .exe. It asks for WINTRUST.dll which it says it's missing... Launching it from the B.net application does the same... What's going on here...

EDIT3: OK, it's because I've tried using compatibility mode...

EDIT4: It doesn't let me start the game through the .exe for some reason. It just stops doing anything. I tried running it with 640x480, the resolution of the screen changes, the b.net application shows that the game is running but then it all resets to the default resolution and the game doesn't start thus renabling the Play button in the B.net application.
Actually it's the same whether I choose any compatibility related options or not...

 

[pyf]

I am glad this issue is finally fixed.

 

[Dr Super Good]

The problem is that the game is not stretched to the screen and basically I have black borders on the sides...

This is to be expected as the base game probably does not support wide screen, similar to Warcraft III. 4:3 was pretty much the only display resolution that matters for making games back in early 2000s and before.

I think the remaster added wide screen aspect ratio support.

EDIT3: OK, it's because I've tried using compatibility mode...

All maintained Blizzard games such as StarCraft or Warcraft III do not require any compatibility mode to run as they are targeting modern OSes like Windows 7 and newer.

EDIT4: It doesn't let me start the game through the .exe for some reason. It just stops doing anything. I tried running it with 640x480, the resolution of the screen changes, the b.net application shows that the game is running but then it all resets to the default resolution and the game doesn't start thus renabling the Play button in the B.net application.

All modern Blizzard games should be started via the BattleNet application. You do not necessarily need to login to BattleNet to start the games as there is some form of offline functionality.

 

[deepstrasz]

I think the remaster added wide screen aspect ratio support.

I know but I don't like the visual edits they did. If it were only the resolution...
Anyways, before it worked stretched but now doesn't anymore

All maintained Blizzard games such as StarCraft or Warcraft III do not require any compatibility mode to run as they are targeting modern OSes like Windows 7 and newer.

I tried that in hopes of stretching the game to fit the whole screen.

All modern Blizzard games should be started via the BattleNet application. You do not necessarily need to login to BattleNet to start the games as there is some form of offline functionality.

I'm telling you that even if Battle.net is on with my account logged in, the game won't start through the .exe (including the launcher). This did not happen with StarCraft II for example.

 

[Dr Super Good]

I know but I don't like the visual edits they did. If it were only the resolution...

You can apparently turn them off? They went to say as much as you could press a button mid game to toggle them. Not sure if this is true though as I do not own it.

Anyways, before it worked stretched but now doesn't anymore

You can force stretch by running the game in a 4:3 aspect ratio resolution and then in your GPU drivers setting the scaling mode to stretch to full screen. Since StarCraft is sprite based one does not lose image quality doing this. That said the image will still look ugly due to stretch.

I tried that in hopes of stretching the game to fit the whole screen.

Do not mess around with compatibility settings unless you really have to.

I'm telling you that even if Battle.net is on with my account logged in, the game won't start through the .exe (including the launcher). This did not happen with StarCraft II for example.

You need to start the BattleNet application then from the game list select StarCraft and then launch from there.

 

[deepstrasz]

You can apparently turn them off? They went to say as much as you could press a button mid game to toggle them. Not sure if this is true though as I do not own it.

I know you can revert back to the old look but I don't think that keeps the widescreen and higher resolution on.

You need to start the BattleNet application then from the game list select StarCraft and then launch from there.

That's how it works... but I wanted to use compatibility options...

You can force stretch by running the game in a 4:3 aspect ratio resolution and then in your GPU drivers setting the scaling mode to stretch to full screen. Since StarCraft is sprite based one does not lose image quality doing this. That said the image will still look ugly due to stretch.

Can I do that only for StarCraft or is it something general?

 

[Dr Super Good]

I know you can revert back to the old look but I don't think that keeps the widescreen and higher resolution on.

Obviously the resolution is lowered because these are ancient raster graphics. They also cannot show you more of the play field by making the graphics smaller as that would give you an unfair advantage.

That said it does appear it also reverts it back to 4:3 when using old graphics for some reason. There also seems to be a lot of people complaining that they cannot play old graphics in wide screen...

That's how it works... but I wanted to use compatibility options...

Compatibility options will not work on modern games, like StarCraft remaster, since it is already compatible with Windows 7, 8 and 10. applying them will certainly cause it to not function correctly.

Can I do that only for StarCraft or is it something general?

You can do it in general for all 4:3 games.

The only drawback with this approach is that it does not sample more pixels horizontally, only stretching the existing samples across many pixels. As such using this approach on rendered/sampled graphic games like Warcraft III to get old version style distorted wide screen will result in a horizontally less sharp (blurred) image over what old versions Warcraft III used to produce despite the UI and screen layout being identical. That said this is not a problem for raster games like StarCraft since they lack any sort of sampling to generate more pixels with anyway.

 

[deepstrasz]

They also cannot show you more of the play field by making the graphics smaller as that would give you an unfair advantage.

I'll just have to use a third party tool then. I don't play ladder or melee anymore. I mean, the StarEdit has a bigger resolution, always had. I don't understand why didn't they implement that to the game too...

 

[Dr Super Good]

I don't understand why didn't they implement that to the game too...

Due to these two cases...

• Person wants to play competitive. As such they buy themselves a big 4K screen. They can basically see the entire map at any given time, no need to ever pan the camera.
• Rich person owns a high density display. He cannot play the game at all because his units are nothing more than specks too small to resolve on his display.

The remastered graphics are intended to provide a compromise that takes advantage of high resolutions without everything becoming too small or giving people an unfair advantage.

 

[pyf]

I'll just have to use a third party tool then.

@deepstrasz: Only two such tools exist afaik. But they are for version 1.16.1, and are suitable only for watching replays imho.

 

[deepstrasz]

Due to these two cases...

Nah, again, I'm not talking about competitiveness. I'm referring to singleplayer, mostly. It's my decision whether I want units to be small like in the editor or not. They can just force-block the option for ladder, big deal.

Only two such tools exist afaik. But they are for version 1.16.1, and are suitable only for watching replays imho.

That sucks.