Can't use MPQ Master and Jasscraft on Windows 11

[Ravager16829]

I just installed Windows 11 after my computer had a problem regarding viruses and want to mod Warcraft 3.
When I'm using Windows 10, older Warcraft 3 tools like MPQ Master and Jasscraft can be opened without problems.
With Windows 11 came, it caught this every time I start both of them. The error code is 0xc0000142.
Any Help?

 

[azgarol]

Try error checking the drive and redownloading the programs

 

[Dr Super Good]

My educated guess is the error code is related to a missing or incompatible DLL file. More specifically it looks like that error is commonly generated when a DLL's DllMain function returns FALSE/0 during initialisation. I am unsure of all possible causes so missing DLLs or DLLs with incorrect execution modes might also throw this error.

MPQMaster seems to have last been updated over 15 years ago. Rather use MPQEdit which is still maintained so much more likely to work on modern operating systems.

JASSCraft appears to be equally old, coming in at a staggering 17 years since last update. Try running it in XP compatibility mode. Otherwise chances are it is either missing a DLL file or trying to use an incompatible x86-64 DLL while running as an x86 application. If this does not help you might wish to consider more modern/supported alternatives.

I think some people are using VisualStudioCode with some third party JASS/vJASS plugins now as a third party code editor. This should also support Lua and TypeScript if you are into more modern Warcraft III map development.

 

[Ravager16829]

You are right. It turns out the tool is no longer updated anymore due to the fact it doesn't support the modern OS. I'm still using the Warcraft 3 (non-Reforged), which still has the MPQ file.

As for Jasscraft, I downloaded the updated one from WC3Edit.net, which supports latest Warcraft 3 patches (up to 1.31). Even with the compatibility mode and the existing dotnetfx (3.5.1), both tools didn't work for me on Windows 11. I think those tools are running on the DLLs that are obsolete with Windows 11.

I'll bear that in mind in case I end up using MPQ Master and Jasscraft on my laptop, which is currently using Windows 10 64-Bit. I think that OS is the last one which supports both.

For MPQ Editor, I rarely use it. Only contents from "War3.mpq" and "War3x.mpq" that were successfully extracted without problems.

 

[Dr Super Good]

As for Jasscraft, I downloaded the updated one from WC3Edit.net, which supports latest Warcraft 3 patches (up to 1.31). Even with the compatibility mode and the existing dotnetfx (3.5.1), both tools didn't work for me on Windows 11. I think those tools are running on the DLLs that are obsolete with Windows 11.

Might also be the DLLs they are are no longer signed in a recognised way. Microsoft recently had to repack D3D9X DLLs with updated signatures for continued use and deployment.

For MPQ Editor, I rarely use it. Only contents from "War3.mpq" and "War3x.mpq" that were successfully extracted without problems.

Use MPQEdit I linked above. It should work due to being much more modern. It has been my go to MPQEditor of choice for over a decade now.

 

[BogdanW3]

For JassCraft, you can try this DLL which is 64-bit, but it is not too likely to help, for all your MPQ needs, use Ladislav Zezula's MPQEditor as Dr Super Good said

 

[Dr Super Good]

For JassCraft, you can try this DLL which is 64-bit, but it is not too likely to help

Unless the application is x86-64 ("64 bit") it cannot use x86-64 DLLs. As it is likely x86, due to its age, it will need an x86 ("32 bit") DLL.

x86-64 execution mode uses a different calling convention from plain x86 and requires the processor core be put into a different execution mode. There are technical reasons why the DLLs are not compatible between modes despite the cores themselves running machine code of both modes fine.

 

[ravindkumar]

The error code you're seeing may be related to compatibility issues with the older tools and the new operating system.
Have you tried running the tools in compatibility mode? Sometimes that can help get older programs to work on newer operating systems. You might also want to check if there are any updates or patches available for the tools that might improve compatibility with Windows 11.
Another option is to try using a cheap Windows key to get a virtual machine or dual-boot system set up with Windows 10. That way, you can still use the older tools without any issues.

 

[Ravager16829]

I even used the compatibility settings to run on Windows XP SP3 like this:

No matter how the options I used, running MPQ Master and JassCraft still doesn't work.

I would also like to note that when I try to start MPQ Master or JassCraft on old laptop with Windows 7, the program exits immediately with "Stopped Working" error, followed by, you guessed it, generic Windows error codes like 0xc00000005 and 0xc00000096.

I ended up using MPQ Editor and Notepad++ (for opening the .j files) right now.

 

[waltecicalo]

I had a similar issue with some legacy software after upgrading to Windows 11. Turns out, compatibility settings did the trick for me. Have you tried running MPQ Master and Jasscraft in compatibility mode for Windows 10? That might help.

 

[Ravager16829]

I had a similar issue with some legacy software after upgrading to Windows 11. Turns out, compatibility settings did the trick for me. Have you tried running MPQ Master and Jasscraft in compatibility mode for Windows 10? That might help.

Sorry for my late posts.
I successfully reinstalled Windows 11 on my new SSD, but still there's no Windows 10 compatibility mode option in the settings.

 

[Dr Super Good]

I successfully reinstalled Windows 11 on my new SSD, but still there's no Windows 10 compatibility mode option in the settings.

Windows 11 is pretty much an updated Windows 10 so it is unlikely there needs to be a compatibility mode for it, yet.

Compatibility mode is needed where there have been breaking API changes between windows versions. For example file system calls being able to return new, previous unexpected, values, or have new more strict behaviour which some older applications run into.

For older tools, choose the OS that was standard for the time. So for these older tools from before 2010 it would either be Windows 7 or Windows XP Service Pack 3.