Patch 1.31.1 Backup Files

[MasterBlaster]

Greetings,

After Warcraft III: Reforged launched, some people like myself either updated to the latest version by mistake or regretted doing so afterwards. Since Blizzard removed patch installers from Battle.Net, the option to go back to an older version was effectively lost. The purpose of this thread is to help with this problem. Below you will find a backed up version of the 1.31.1 installation. This will allow you to revert to the last patch before Reforged, but know that this is a purely singleplayer version.

THIS IS NOT A FREE OR PIRATE VERSION OF WARCRAFT III.
YOU NEED A VALID, LEGAL CD-KEY TO RUN THIS.
DO NOT DOWNLOAD OR USE THESE FILES IF YOU DON'T HAVE ONE.

Due to the above, I will not be offering any assistance in circumventing proper activation and any tips or questions about this will be immidiately reported to site moderation. If Blizzard Entertainment or Hive Workshop staff takes issue with this thread, please contact me and I'll remove all download links without delay.

--- --- ---
GAME CLIENT DOWNLOAD
--- --- ---

1. Recommended:

Game client - one file (1.89 GB): Link (MediaFire)

2. Alternative links:

Game client - older upload (1.94 GB): Link (MEGA) or Link (Hive)

Game client - split into 250 MB parts:
Part #1 - Link. Part #2 - Link. Part #3 - Link. Part #4 - Link.
Part #5 - Link. Part #6 - Link. Part #7 - Link. Part #8 - Link.

--- --- ---
ADDITIONAL FILES
--- --- ---

a) Language Fix: Link (Google Drive)
- this .reg file will fix the problem with the game using your OS language, it might also resolve stuttering problems.

b) Cleaned up files: Link (Google Drive)
- these files were removed from the older download, you most likely won't need them.

--- --- ---
HOW TO INSTALL
--- --- ---

1. It is recommended that you uninstall Warcraft III: Reforged or any other version of the game and delete the Warcraft III folder from the Program Files (x86) directory first as having both versions of the game installed might cause issues.

OPTIONAL - I've also chosen to remove all Warcraft III related registry keys. It's better to do this as the game will re-create all needed keys anyway and having leftover/shared keys with other versions might cause problems, but it's up to you whether you want to do it or not. If you do, here's how:

- Press Windows Key + R, type in "regedit" (without quotes) and press Enter to open the Registry Editor.
- In the Registry Editor, nagivate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Blizzard Entertainment.
- The folders I removed were called "Classic Launcher", "Warcraft III" and "WorldEdit".

OPTIONAL - I've also chosen to delete these folders:

Documents Folder: C:\Users\<YourWindowsProfileName>\Documents\Warcraft III
Saved Games Folder: C:\Users\<YourWindowsProfileName>\Saved Games\Warcraft III

I don't think that's necessary, but I wanted to make sure that no leftoever data from Reforged interferes with classic. It's up to you whether you want to do this or not, but if you do - be sure to back up any saves or maps.

2. Download the client from the links above, unzip it using any compression software you want (e.g. WinRar or 7zip). You will see a "Warcraft III" folder. Move it to your Program Filex (x86) folder. If you downloaded the version split into parts - make sure you have all parts in the same directory, right click on the first one and choose your desired unpacking option from the context menu.

3. Run the game and then the editor using these files:

Game: Program Files (x86)\Warcraft III\x86_64\Warcraft III.exe
Editor: Program Files (x86)\Warcraft III\x86_64\World Editor.exe

4. You should see a window asking to either enter your CD-KEY or login to Battle.Net. Choose the first option, enter your CD-KEY and confirm. The game should launch.

5. This version it doesn't need any extra patches either from Blizzard or 3rd party sites. Applying such updates might cause the it to not work.

--- --- ---
OPTIONAL INSTALLATION STEPS
--- --- ---

1. Language Fix:

- The game might launch using the language of your operating system. It worked fine for me, though other users reported stuttering.
- The reason why the language changes is due to to missing registry files. To solve that issue, download the Language Fix registry file from the link above and run it. It will ask you for confirmation. Click yes. This will automatically add the registry files and set the language of your game to English.

2. Cleaning up or restoring the older upload:

- This is only meant for people who either downloaded the older version (i.e. one that weights 1.94 GB) and would like to reduce their installation size or used the newer version (i.e. one that weights 1.89 GB) and found some issues that didn't happen in the older version.
- To restore the older version, download the cleaned up files from the link above, unpack the archive and copy the files to your Warcraft III directory.
- To clean the older version, delete all folders in your Warcraft III directory except "Data", "x86" and "x86_64" and all files except ".build.info", ".patch.result" and ".product". Your folder should look like this:

Spoiler

3. Preventing the game from being updated to 1.32+:

- The first time you launch the Battle.Net app after setting up W3, immidiately switch to W3 and check if it hasn't started updating. If it has, instantly pause it using the button to the right of the progress bar. Just to be safe, regardless whether you paused the update or not, go to Settings -> Game Install/Update -> select "Never automatically apply updates" to disable automatic updates.

--- --- ---
POTENTIAL FIXES TO PROBLEMS
--- --- ---

1. I get errors while trying to unpack the archive:

Spoiler

- If you trying unpacking directly to Program Files (x86), Windows might block the program from doing so.
- Unpack the archive in another directory (e.g. where it was saved when you downloaded it) and then move the Warcraft III folder to Program Files (x86) directory manually.
- I used 7zip to create this archives, if you experience any further issues, you might try using it for decompression as well.

2. The CD-KEY window doesn't appear or appears completely black:

Spoiler

- Try clicking a couple times in the inner left part of the window.
- Close the window and run Warcraft III.exe (in the x86_x64 folder) as admin.
- Uninstall other versions of Warcraft III and remove all Warcraft 3 and/or Blizzard registry entries.
- Rename the installation folder to something else.
- Try launching the game through the Warcraft III Launcher.exe file (in the Warcraft III folder) as admin. You will need to restore the older version (see above) to try this.

3. Graphics or performance issues (e.g. stuttering, black screen):

Spoiler

- Add -graphicsapi Direct3D9 at the end of the shortcut target, as explained by @loktar - link.
- Try downloading and applying the Language Fix file listed above. Be mindful that this will change your game language to English.
- You might also want to to check out this post by @grimgrents - link.

4. Maps/campaigns aren't visible in game:

Spoiler

- If maps or campaigns that you are using were saved in 1.32 (Reforged), they won't work.
- Make sure that your maps and campaigns are located in appropriate folders. If the folders don't exist, create them yourself, watching out for potential typos.

Folder paths and names are as follows:

Campaigns: C:\Users\<UserName>\Documents\Warcraft III\Campaigns
Maps: C:\Users\<UserName>\Documents\Warcraft III\Maps

- If you still cannot see a map or a campaign in game and neither of the above doesn't help, there's sadly no known solutions to that problem. Feel free to either post the map file in the thread or send it to me directly via a PM. I'm not promising that I will find a solution, but I can at least try.

5. World Editor is crashing/not working:

Spoiler

- Press Windows Key + R, type in "regedit" (without quotes) and press Enter to open the Registry Editor.
- In the Registry Editor, nagivate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Blizzard Entertainment.
- Delete the "WorldEdit" folder.

- If you're using both 1.31 and 1.32, this issue might reoccur and can require repeating these steps.

6. Test map is crashing:

Spoiler

- Work around to this issue is explained in this post by @grimgrents - link.

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DISCLAIMER
--- --- ---

Using the method described above allowed me to restore the original 1.31.1 Classic client, but since it's not an official installer, I cannot guarantee that it will work for you too. Also, I've only done this on a 64-bit Windows 10 system. No idea if or how it would work on other Windows versions.

If you're going to use this - I hope it works just as fine for you as it did for me. Good luck

 

[Amigoltu]

Thank you for doing this man. When I opened my own backup of 1.30, the CD-KEY screen popped up, but was entirely blank... Like frozen or something. Only after I deleted all of Blizzard Entertainment registry, started the Launcher once, and renamed the folder, did I finally get the CD-Key window to finally work, and I could enter them.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Just a heads-up, I've tried transplanting it to my new laptop and... the game changed its language to Polish (my system language) despite my original installation being in English. I'm going to look for a fix - I think it might be related to missing registry keys, so I'm going to try importing those as well and I'll let you know if it worked.

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UPDATE: I've installed the English (US) language pack for my Windows and... after changing the system language the game converted to English. It appears that the way it works is that if there are no registy keys to set the language, the game defaults to the one used by your operating system.

 

[Amigoltu]

This might actually be a hint of how to change wc3 language for that guy, who is looking for a way to make it italian... @Jarrot

 

[deepstrasz]

might actually be a hint of how to change wc3 language for that guy, who is looking for a way to make it italian...

@Jarrot
see this

Just a heads-up, I've tried transplanting it to my new laptop and... the game changed its language to Polish (my system language) despite my original installation being in English. I'm going to look for a fix - I think it might be related to missing registry keys, so I'm going to try importing those as well and I'll let you know if it worked.

---

UPDATE: I've installed the English (US) language pack for my Windows and... after changing the system language the game converted to English. It appears that the way it works is that if there are no registy keys to set the language, the game defaults to the one used by your operating system.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Further update - I've opened the game, tried playing a campaign mission, custom campaign map, singleplayer vs AI game, saving and loading a game and running the WE. All appear to be working correctly. Gonna attempt to transplant the registry keys now (as I'd prefer to change my system language back to Polish, lol)

Once I'm done testing a couple more things, I'll let you know what I've found and provide a quick guide on how to set this up in the OP.

---

Okay, found a fix for the language issue. Gonna post it in the OP along with some tips on how to get this running in a moment.

 

[Anaxie]

Further update - I've opened the game, tried playing a campaign mission, custom campaign map, singleplayer vs AI game, saving and loading a game and running the WE. All appear to be working correctly. Gonna attempt to transplant the registry keys now (as I'd prefer to change my system language back to Polish, lol)

Once I'm done testing a couple more things, I'll let you know what I've found and provide a quick guide on how to set this up in the OP.

---

Okay, found a fix for the language issue. Gonna post it in the OP along with some tips on how to get this running in a moment.

---

UPDATE: due to apparent issues with my upload, I've decided to take it down.

There was nothing wrong just a ton of folders and old legacy stuff that a clean 1.31.1 install would have thats what i ment. it probably woudln't affect anything haha.

 

[MasterBlaster]

There was nothing wrong just a ton of folders and old legacy stuff that a clean 1.31.1 install would have thats what i ment. it probably woudln't affect anything haha.

You said it would cause "issues"... Maybe I misunderstood something, dunno.

So, should I bring the links back? Or is it better to leave it down?

 

[deepstrasz]

So, should I bring the links back? Or is it better to leave it down?

I don't see why there would be any issues really.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I don't see why there would be any issues really.

Okay, I may have seriously overreacted

The thing is, the version I uploaded comes from my old laptop and uhm... I think I've originally installed it as 1.26 and then updated it a couple of times without ever doing a clean install. This is probably why it's bloated. Anyway...

I've brought the links back up and added another disclaimer. I'm not going to tinker with it anymore, ultimately it's better than nothing and if people want to try then now at least they've been warned

 

[Anaxie]

You said it would cause "issues"... Maybe I misunderstood something, dunno.

So, should I bring the links back? Or is it better to leave it down?

id bring them back we NEED a reliable download for 1.31.1 available and i had no issues it asked me when i logged in your download if i wanted to update. with an ingame popup wtf? but it clearly works fine.

GOnna be tedious to hit that have to see that prompt everytime tho.

if the single player PTR has no issues and stays functiona l offline tho. but i don't think we have much experience using that late beta build which came just before 1.31.1 hit live and fixed the horrendous 1.31

i might compare it to the PTR and attempt to clean up all the outdated / legacy crap mass of folders from your download but im thankful you put this up.

 

[MasterBlaster]

id bring them back we NEED a reliable download for 1.31.1 available and i had no issues it asked me when i logged in your download if i wanted to update. NOT clicking Bnet But a ingame popup wtf? but it clearly works fine.

I think this is an intended feature - I got asked too, luckily you can just click "no" and it goes away.

 

[Jimpanse1]

The regfile did the job. Thanks for posting a solution to the World Editor problem! It feels really weird, having the World Editor not set to english...

 

[pyf]

*Note: I'm not sure if it's just me, but my TFT key didn't work, but the RoC one did and despite using a non-expansion key, I'm still able to access TFT. That said, I'd suggest trying with a TFT key first and if it doesn't work, doing the same with your RoC key. Just to be safe.

With v1.31.0 onwards, one only needs the RoC CD-key to run RoC and TFT. Unfortunately, Battle.net support for vanilla RoC was also dropped in the process. To quote the developers:

We’ve been encountering non-trivial issues connecting players over Battle.net 155 as we unify the game client - a prime example being disconnects caused by erroneous matches between Chaos and Throne. Custom maps created with RoC data are still playable, this affects melee only. A major benefit to this change is players who owned Reign of Chaos only now have The Frozen Throne.

 

[Razorclaw_X]

As I'm already running a copy of 1.26a on my computer I didn't need to do anything fancy to get this version running (no CD check or anything). So if you're already running an older version there's a good chance everything will "just work."

 

[Madlax]

How can I play custom campaigns though? The W3 folder does not contain a Campaigns folder. Even if I create one and paste a custom campaign file, it does not show the campaign when I enter the game.

 

[MasterBlaster]

The W3 folder does not contain a Campaigns folder.

It should be here: C:\Users\<YourWindowsProfileName>\Documents\Warcraft III and if it doesn't appear after running the game, create it.

 

[berato]

thanks for sharing

 

[Quichybo]

This is fabulous news!
I was running classic on an old laptop that could not handle the giant patch. The new install directory measured about 30 GB opposed to the former 3 GB, so I deinstalled and warned all my friends and wife to NOT click on battlenet or update in any way. I am furious, all I wanted was the AI-controlled heroes to be able to select skills on level up, which they did not in 1.13.1.

My question: Are your files just a copy from your install folder?
In that case I could just take the clean install of 1.31.1 (or whatever version she has) from my wife, so I would have the same version she has and we would be able to play custom maps in LAN games... but where would I type in my key? In regedit?
If that fails we could both install it from my CDs, use each our own keys and look for the latest patches that are independent from logging into battle.net, should be around 1.27...

Isn't it a shame that one is forced to do such things although we all bought a once fantastic game (that ran flawless on older machines)?

 

[MasterBlaster]

Are your files just a copy from your install folder?

Yes.

In that case I could just take the clean install of 1.31.1 (or whatever version she has) from my wife, so I would have the same version she has and we would be able to play custom maps in LAN games... but where would I type in my key? In regedit?

Once you try to start the game, you will see a window asking for either a CD-KEY or authentication via Battle.Net.

 

[Quichybo]

I am so sorry, I just read you already wrote that about the cd key...
I was just so excited about the fact that I probably won't have to wait with Warcraft 3 until I own a better computer so I didn't read further.
Thanks again, mate! Fantastic news...

 

[Zeraln]

I purchased the Reforged (after release). I still need a CD-key to make this process? I trying login with Battle.NET account, but fails. Only works with pre-purchase?
BTW, have anyway to put the new colors health bars system in previous versions?

 

[DrTema]

Warcraft III was unable to initialize. Error 3. - do you know what's the problem?

 

[MasterBlaster]

I purchased the Reforged (after release). I still need a CD-key to make this process? I trying login with Battle.NET account, but fails. Only works with pre-purchase?

Wrong thread mate This download is for a pre-Reforged version, if you want to install Reforged you should download it via the Battle.Net app. If for some reason that doesn't work for you, either provide some more details or try contacting Blizzard support.

Warcraft III was unable to initialize. Error 3. - do you know what's the problem?

Not really, but this might be able to help you: Warcraft III was unable to initialize. Error 3

The download is working for me and a couple of other people, so I'm going to assume that it's not broken, thus there might be something wrong with your CD-keys. If you have LEGAL (non-pirate) keys that worked fine before, then I have no idea.

 

[DrTema]

I found. I just needed to launch from x86_64 folder, not from root folder as usual.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I found. I just needed to launch from x86_64 folder, not from root folder as usual.

Well, it was in my little "how to install" guide

Anyway, glad it works now

 

[Zeraln]

Wrong thread mate This download is for a pre-Reforged version, if you want to install Reforged you should download it via the Battle.Net app. If for some reason that doesn't work for you, either provide some more details or try contacting Blizzard support.

Thanks for the reply!
No, i want the previous version to play custom campaigns. When i try the method, has 2 options: Insert CD-key or Log-in in Battle.NET to link account. The second shows a error message.
So, only works with classic CD-keys?

 

[MasterBlaster]

So, only works with classic CD-keys?

Oh, okay - I think I get it. You want to use the Classic version that was added to your Reforged purchase? I don't know how that worked, but you can try checking your Battle.Net account page for CD-keys, if they are somewhere to be found then they might be in the bottom of "Games & Subscription" menu in your Bnet profile.

 

[Tasyen]

How one stops the "there is an update" - Popup when one launches 1.31.1?

 

[deepstrasz]

How one stops the "there is an update" - Popup when one launches 1.31.1?

No idea. Maybe the game files or registries could be "hacked" somehow.

 

[pyf]

By using a hosts file which would block any attempt to connect to any of their WC3 update servers?

Not updating your Battle.net client to any version higher than 1.18.1.11740 might also help, but I would not recommend that.

 

[Tasyen]

Hosts file sounds good.

 

[Zim78]

Hello,
I don't know how tu use my saves from the last version 1.27 i used to play. When i copy the "Save" file to the new emplacement it doesn't work. Any idea?

 

[deepstrasz]

Hello,
I don't know how tu use my saves from the last version 1.27 i used to play. When i copy the "Save" file to the new emplacement it doesn't work. Any idea?

I do not think 1.27 saves would work on 1.31.1 for compatibility reasons.
Also, now saves are under C:\users\username\saved games\Warcraft III\profile\

 

[Strydhaizer]

Modifying hosts file is much more complicated process - you will have to track from what address is the update coming from (I think), it is easier to just use Firewall and register Warcraft III.exe and Warcraft III Launcher.exe in Outbound Rules, that will prevent the update prompt from popping up in the main menu, and (if in case you accidentally opened the launcher) the firewall will also prevent patch downloads in the launcher.

 

[pyf]

@Strydhaizer: Admittedly, I already have a hosts files manager (HostsMan) installed, as well as a copy of the Nirsoft Package, plus Npcap installed in WinPcap compatibility mode. That's why my suggestion felt the most obvious to me.

 

[Alexen]

Truly great and very helpful!

 

[pyf]

Thanks. As a side note, I must point out that HostsMan is a bit old and needs an update.

For the record, _exaggeratedly_ big blocking hosts lists may lead to a CPU 'endless loop' because an insane number of entries in the host file may exceed the cache limits of the DNS Client service. Therefore, the service will constantly try to reload that mammoth of a hosts file again and again, endlessly. And because said service can not be disabled anymore on the latest versions of Windows 10 *and* the old tricks to disable it will not work anymore, this will lead to the CPU constantly being busy, and to you the user being hopelessly stuck with this issue. The solution here is to restore a backup copy of the original hosts file from the command line, when Windows itself is running in a minimal/recovery environment. And then to use a blocking hosts file with less entries, ofc. As of this writing, mine has 92,402 ones.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Truly great and very helpful!

Happy to help

 

[Razorclaw_X]

I'm not entirely sure what's causing this (it could simply be Windows Update from back in Feb), but World Editor no longer functions for any older versions for me. In the case of the 1.31 Editor it at least provides an 'out of memory' error (which isn't entirely helpful), so if anyone has any suggestions I'm willing to listen (within reason, I am not switching OSs)

Current Patch World Editor works as do all the versions of Warcraft 3 otherwise. It almost feels as if some kind of system file old World Edit relied on changed.

 

[deepstrasz]

I'm not entirely sure what's causing this (it could simply be Windows Update from back in Feb), but World Editor no longer functions for any older versions for me. In the case of the 1.31 Editor it at least provides an 'out of memory' error (which isn't entirely helpful), so if anyone has any suggestions I'm willing to listen (within reason, I am not switching OSs)

Current Patch World Editor works as do all the versions of Warcraft 3 otherwise.

Reforged - Reforged screwed me over again! *Solved*

 

[Razorclaw_X]

For the record none of your solutions worked.

What did work was deleting the RegEdit keys for World Editor, and THAT worked.

If you mean to actually be more helpful than drive-by posting links so I can find a solution out of all of that you need work on that.

 

[deepstrasz]

If you mean to actually be more helpful than drive-by posting links so I can find a solution out of all of that you need work on that.

I haven't tested it myself so they're not my solutions. Those people wrote what worked for them and I assumed it might come in handy.
I'm sorry you are still unhappy even after finding a solution.
Next time I'll make sure not to even try.

 

[Razorclaw_X]

In any case it's not even a solution. If you so much as open the Current Editor the same issue happens again.

TLDR: You either pick one editor or the other; it doesn't like both anymore.

Next time I'll make sure not to even try.

You didn't even try the first time.

 

[deepstrasz]

You didn't even try the first time.

Are you having some spare time for cheap fun?
I did not encounter the issue, hence why I did not even need to try.
Again and for the last time. I assumed those things might help you since people encountered similar issues with older editor versions not running anymore after installing Reforged or 1.32+.

Thank you, good night.

 

[pyf]

[...] World Editor no longer functions for any older versions for me. In the case of the 1.31 Editor it at least provides an 'out of memory' error (which isn't entirely helpful) [...]

Current Patch World Editor works as do all the versions of Warcraft 3 otherwise. It almost feels as if some kind of system file old World Edit relied on changed.

You didn't even try the first time.

Wow, rude.

@Razorclaw_X:
Fyi this issue has already been discussed (and solved) on the Reforged Battle.net forums. Obviously, you didn't even try to also look for a solution there.

[...] TLDR: You either pick one editor or the other; it doesn't like both anymore.

Having multiple versions of the game installed is not officially supported, except when one is using the latest official release of WC3 along with the PTR version.

[...] if anyone has any suggestions I'm willing to listen (within reason, I am not switching OSs)

You may not switch OSes, but you can run them in any number of Virtual Machines you need, as guests. Surely I could post a link to get you started, but I am ultimately refraining from it, because of what you have written here:

[...] If you mean to actually be more helpful than drive-by posting links so I can find a solution out of all of that you need work on that.

---

Good luck with your projects.

 

[hexhound]

Tried this on Win7 and can't get the window to input my CDkey to show up as anything but gray with no input fields. Any ideas?

 

[Amigoltu]

Tried this on Win7 and can't get the window to input my CDkey to show up as anything but gray with no input fields. Any ideas?

This is what I did, as pointed out before:

When I opened my own backup of 1.30, the CD-KEY screen popped up, but was entirely blank... Like frozen or something. Only after I deleted all of Blizzard Entertainment registry, started the Launcher once, and renamed the folder, did I finally get the CD-Key window to finally work, and I could enter them.

 

[Regedit]

I think version 1.31 is the most stable (with native widescreen resolution) but also the one with the most bugs ...
The most annoying is the lack of inventory for tyrande (campagnia degli elfi n.2) and grom (orchi campaign n.7)
Has anyone managed to solve without upgrading to reforged?

 

[Strydhaizer]

I think version 1.31 is the most stable (with native widescreen resolution) but also the one with the most bugs

Then it is not the most stable, you just contradicted what you said.