Is 1.31.1 still used or should I use the current versions?

[Cucucoco]

Just wondering if the prevalence of 1.31.1 holds integrity and if most of the content users make support such version.
My pc cant handle reforged and for personal preferences I am not very fond of it either. However, if new content in the future is not favorable to 1.31.1 then I wouldnt mind sacrificing my pc just to play the non reforged wc3 officially. I am just asking if compatible content by the community is still currently being made for 1.31.1 basically.

 

[OutsiderXE]

My campaign updates (lord of the clans, day of the dragon, the last guardian) are for 1.31.1 and will likely remain like that for the foreseeable future. Making them for 1.32 would require some work I will probably not put in until end of 2021/2022.

Edit: for the long-term future, whether or not custom campaigns will ever be officially supported, I think it will indeed be better to prepare campaigns for 1.32+. This separation of the community via versions is hurting and it must stop.

 

[Cucucoco]

My campaign updates (lord of the clans, day of the dragon, the last guardian) are for 1.31.1 and will likely remain like that for the foreseeable future. Making them for 1.32 would require some work I will probably not put in until end of 2021/2022.

Edit: for the long-term future, whether or not custom campaigns will ever be officially supported, I think it will indeed be better to prepare campaigns for 1.32+. This separation of the community via versions is hurting and it must stop.

Yeah mostly my issues are with PC specs. Id like if downloading WC3 didnt come with reforged, but I guess I shall adapt to the circumstances. Although, godspeed to the people that still make content for such old version.

I will try out your campaign in the mean time now that youve mentioned it.

 

[Tommi Gustafsson]

The problem with 1.31.1 is that save-loading is broken. Unit-specific events won't load after loading. Also, there are some problems with showing custom campaign buttons, wherefore it does not fit so well for custom campaigns. You cannot also play online games with it, since there is no longer battle.net support for it. So, what remains, is single player maps, which don't need save-loading (or which do not use unit-specific events).

1.32 does not support custom campaigns at all, though, and you cannot play any campaign maps, if the creator has used Campaign Imports or Campaign Object Data (not even by starting the maps from the editor). It supports online games, though, as there's Battle.net 2.0 support for it.

I prefer using 1.29.2 or 1.30.4 for custom campaigns, as they are mostly ok and do not have any major bugs. They just lack the new natives introduced in 1.31.

 

[pyf]

Yeah mostly my issues are with PC specs. [...]

[...] This separation of the community via versions is hurting and it must stop.

I am pointing out that the system requirements have been increasing since 2016.

v1.27a dropped support for W98SE and W2000; plus Mac 10.9 and earlier
v1.27a now targets Direct3D9 (d3d9.dll) and the VC++ 2013 Runtime
v1.29.2 is the last version compatible with Windows XP (note: the last version compatible with Vista is still unknown afaik)
v1.30.0 has higher memory requirements (presumably because of CASC)
v1.31.0 now targets Direct3D11 (note: I am unsure that its D3D9 fallback mode really uses d3d9.dll)
v1.31.0 is not compatible with 32-bit Mac anymore
v1.31.0 dropped support for software TnL

Overall, the disk footprint from 1.27a to 1.31.1 has more than doubled. Presumably, the minimum original CPU requirements from 2002 have been increased as well.

In the future, Windows 7 SP1 support will get dropped, and Blizzard will definitively remove any 32-bit OS support from all their games.

 

[Razorclaw_X]

1.32 does not support custom campaigns at all, though, and you cannot play any campaign maps, if the creator has used Campaign Imports or Campaign Object Data (not even by starting the maps from the editor). It supports online games, though, as there's Battle.net 2.0 support for it.

I've idly toyed with the idea of trying to convert the Campaign data into custom slks and just importing them into every map, but never put it into practice because just thinking about that makes my head explode.

ED: Actually, this might warrant even a new thread. I just imported all the Campaign data (all of the "war3campaign.w3*" files in the base path of the campaign file) into one map (using MPQ Editor) and the game managed to read them. So maybe we're not AS screwed as we think we are.

Well, we are STILL screwed media-wise, but it seems like the data can be accessed.


I only got this idea while searching for an Object Merger tool and someone off-handily mentioned that doing that worked, so I had to try. The game seems to still look for the Campaign object data even if it has otherwise no way to access it.

 

[Ravager16829]

The problem with 1.31.1 is that save-loading is broken. Unit-specific events won't load after loading. Also, there are some problems with showing custom campaign buttons, wherefore it does not fit so well for custom campaigns. You cannot also play online games with it, since there is no longer battle.net support for it. So, what remains, is single player maps, which don't need save-loading (or which do not use unit-specific events).

Well, it turns out that the official thread for 1.31.1 has been updated several moments ago.
Patch 1.31.1 Backup Files
Aside from the infamous bugs you mentioned (like unit triggers broken when you load your saved games and custom campaign button not appearing), I found out that 1.31.1. caused the entire game to be completely frozen after leaving the game. This can be either by clicking OK when the score screen appears OR even when you close the game using F10 -> "Quit Game". I heard that this bug is due to the memory leaks:

7. Freeze / black screen when exiting the score screen:

This is most likely caused by the map containing a lot of leaks. Sadly, there's no known solution to that problem other than opening maps and fixing memory leaks, so I'd generally recommend using another version (e.g. 1.30.4 or 1.29.2 - LINK) if possible.

If you're forced to use 1.31.1, because the map requires it, your options are:

a) Force-exit the game (what worked best for me was quickly clicking inside the game window once it freezes so Windows displays the "the application is not responding pop-up, giving you an option to close the game, but you can also try using the Task Manager [CTRL+ALT+DELETE] to terminate the process, logging out of your Windows account or even restarting the PC). If you're worried about losing campaign progress - it shouldn't happen.

b) Ask the map maker to fix their map / campaign or you can attempt to do this yourself, given you have pretty basic modding knowledge - read this thread to find out more about leaks (LINK) then edit map(s) to remove them, looking especially for triggers with periodic (i.e. every x.x seconds) events.

Together with the two bugs you mentioned on custom campaigns, as well as the absence of Hero Level Up system for melee AI, I decided to avoid using 1.31.1 and staying on 1.29.2 (or maybe 1.30.4 for future) for single player games.

I prefer using 1.29.2 or 1.30.4 for custom campaigns, as they are mostly ok and do not have any major bugs. They just lack the new natives introduced in 1.31.

Yes, they are the most stable versions without bugs if you want Widescreen Support. I tested both and worked fine for single player maps, along with the Hero Level Up system for melee AI.
You can only use 1.31.1 if all campaigns and maps require it (like Malfurion's Quest or all campaigns made by OutsiderXE).

 

[MasterBlaster]

that the official thread for 1.31.1

I'm not sure calling it "official" is a good move. It might create an impression that it has something to do with Blizzard, when I'm not (and never had) worked with or for them, nor did I upload the backup files on their behalf. I'm also not affiliated with Hive or... well, anyone, really

I'm just a normal user who made a thread to upload old game files in case anyone needs them and then trying to help people using them however I can, despite my lack of technical knowledge That's all. Nothing really "official" about it

Just to be clear, it's not that it bothers me in any way - I just don't want people to get the wrong idea and think that there's some "official" word on 1.31.1.

 

[Ravager16829]

Uhm, please don't put it like that - "official" creates an impression that it has something to do with Blizzard, which it doesn't: I'm not working for Blizzard (and never had), nor did I upload the backup files on their behalf. I'm also not affiliated with Hive or... well, anyone, really

I'm just a normal user making a thread to upload old game files in case anyone needs them and then trying to help people using them however I can, despite my lack of technical knowledge That's all. Nothing "official" about it

Yep, sorry for the mistakes. I think the thread you made is just a normal thread and NOT the official one by Blizzard.
Anyways, I really don't suggest 1.31.1 cause of those bugs, including the black screen ones. Just use 1.30.4 and 1.29.2.

 

[OutsiderXE]

On the upside, the black screen problem forced me to eliminate leaks which lead to improved performance.