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Revision as of 19:22, 24 March 2024
This page is for the original game client up to and including the v1.31.1 patch. For the v1.32.0 patch and above, see the 2020 reimagining Warcraft III: Reforged.
Developers | |
---|---|
Blizzard Entertainment | |
Publishers | |
Blizzard Entertainment | |
Europe | Vivendi Universal |
Japan | Capcom |
Release dates | |
Windows | July 3, 2002 |
Mac OS (Classic) | July 3, 2002 |
macOS (OS X) | July 3, 2002 |
Reception | |
Metacritic | 92 |
IGDB | 93 |
Taxonomy | |
Monetization | One-time game purchase, Expansion pack |
Modes | Singleplayer, Multiplayer |
Pacing | Real-time |
Perspectives | Bird's-eye view |
Controls | Multiple select, Point and select |
Genres | RTS |
Themes | Fantasy |
Series | Warcraft |
Warcraft | |
---|---|
Warcraft: Orcs & Humans | 1994 |
Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness | 1995 |
Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans | Cancelled |
Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition | 1999 |
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos | 2002 |
World of Warcraft | 2004 |
Hearthstone | 2014 |
Warcraft III: Reforged | 2020 |
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos is a fantasy RTS game developed by Blizzard Entertainment with singleplayer and multiplayer content, and is the first fully 3D game by the studio.
The game was released in July 2002, with The Frozen Throne expansion pack following in July 2003. They both use the same executable, with Reign of Chaos accessed with the -classic
command line argument. Like prior Blizzard games, both titles were supported simultaneously. The initial support cycle lasted until March 2011 with patch 1.26a, during which time the disc check was removed, basic widescreen resolution support was implemented, balancing was refined, new maps and neutral heroes were added, and The Frozen Throne's Rexxar campaign received its second and third acts. The game's support was restarted in March 2016; patch 1.27b from December 2016 is the last patch applicable to the retail version of the game, as all subsequent ones were distributed through Battle.net exclusively.
With patch 1.29.0 from April 2018, the game started using different formats than before, and more quality-of-life improvements were added (such as support for more players in skirmish and multiplayer, improved widescreen support, etc.) laying the foundation for the "classic" mode of the then-upcoming Warcraft III: Reforged. The last pre-Reforged version was 1.31.1 from June 2019. Redeeming the serial keys of the retail version on Battle.net will grant access to Reforged, but restricted to its "classic" mode.
The original version of the game is no longer available digitally nor can it access the Battle.net multiplayer service, as it was replaced entirely by Reforged. As there are significant changes between the two and valid reasons to keep using the retail version, this article retains relevant information for users of these builds. The game remains stable on modern systems after patching to version 1.27b.
General information
- Official Blizzard Store Page For Warcraft III
- Official Battle.net "Classic" Games Support
- Mojo StormStout's Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne Strategy Guide - Strategy and Game Guide by Blizzard
- maps.w3reforged.com - Warcraft III & Warcraft III: Reforged Map Database
- Epicwar - Large Warcraft III Map Database
- HIVE - A Warcraft III community site with a focus on modding, and a map database.
- WarCraft III section on Liquipedia
Availability
Source | DRM | Notes | Keys | OS |
---|---|---|---|---|
Retail | SecuROM 4 DRM on Windows; removed as of patch 1.21b, retaining only serial key requirement. Most copies pre-2007 install on all three operating systems. |
- The original version is no longer sold digitally as of November 2018 in favor of the remaster.
- If a retail copy is already owned, access to the classic version of Warcraft III: Reforged (which allows access to the original Reign of Chaos and The Frozen Throne campaign content as well as Reforged multiplayer) can be gained for free by entering the serial key here on Battle.net and then downloading the installer from here; this will install the Battle.net App in order to download the Warcraft III: Reforged client.
- Installers for non-Reforged versions are no longer available from Blizzard.
- With patch 1.21b, the game no longer requires the CD to play.
- A free demo version is available from GameFront: Windows, OS X. While its missions were added in the full version of The Frozen Throne expansion, the voiceovers were not migrated.
Version differences
- The Warcraft Battle Chest retail release includes Reign of Chaos and The Frozen Throne, and is patched to 1.21b.
Monetization
Type | Notes |
---|---|
Expansion pack | The expansion pack includes new campaigns, maps, units, and mechanics. |
One-time game purchase | The game requires an upfront purchase to access. |
DLC and expansion packs
Name | Notes | |
---|---|---|
The Frozen Throne |
Essential improvements
Patches
List of 1.27b patches
- Version 1.27b is the most up-to-date standalone installer version for the retail release, as well as the the Czech release.[citation needed].
- Official support for Windows 7, 8.1, and 10 as well as Mac 10.10 and 10.11 was added with version 1.27a, though Mac 10.9 remains unsupported.
- The 1.27b patches for a specific language can be downloaded from Blizzard's FTP server using the links below, or from the PCGW download mirrors (Windows, Mac).
- Install the Reign of Chaos patch only if The Frozen Throne is not installed.
Patch Language Reign of Chaos The Frozen Throne English Windows, Mac Windows, Mac Simplified Chinese Windows, Mac Windows, Mac Traditional Chinese Windows, Mac Windows, Mac Czech Windows, Mac Windows, Mac French Windows, Mac Windows, Mac German Windows, Mac Windows, Mac Italian Windows, Mac Windows, Mac Japanese Windows, Mac Windows, Mac Korean Windows, Mac Windows, Mac Polish Windows, Mac Windows, Mac Russian Windows, Mac Windows, Mac Spanish Windows, Mac Windows, Mac
Conversion to Reforged build
Updating to the latest version requires the use of the "Warcraft III Launcher" program. Clicking on "Battle.net" in the main menu will automatically attempt to patch the game to the latest version, and will download and run the "Warcraft III Launcher."
- This requires the Battle.net App to be installed.
- Versions above 1.28 will automatically update to Warcraft III: Reforged "classic" the next time the game is launched. Versions at or below 1.28 will automatically update the next time Battle.net is chosen from the main menu. "Reforged" visuals will only be available if the user's account has that version of the game purchased.
- As of version 1.28, support for the Czech version of the game has been dropped,[citation needed] and new standalone patch installers are no longer provided by Blizzard.
Game data
Configuration file(s) location
System | Location |
---|---|
Windows | HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Blizzard Entertainment\Warcraft III\ |
Mac OS (Classic) | |
macOS (OS X) | $HOME/Library/Preferences/com.blizzard.Warcraft III.plist $HOME/Library/Preferences/com.blizzard.WarcraftIII.plist |
Save game data location
System | Location |
---|---|
Windows | %USERPROFILE%\Saved Games\Warcraft III\ |
Mac OS (Classic) | |
macOS (OS X) | $HOME/Library/Application Support/Blizzard/Warcraft III/Save/ |
- Saved games were migrated from
<path-to-game>\Save
in patch 1.28.[1]
Video
Graphics feature | State | WSGF | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Widescreen resolution | Widescreen option added in patch 1.25b, however it would still display at 4:3 aspect ratio, resulting in a stretched image.[2] Native widescreen support only available starting from patch 1.29. | ||
Multi-monitor | Native support added in patch 1.29. | ||
Ultra-widescreen | Native support added in patch 1.29. | ||
4K Ultra HD | Native support added in patch 1.29. | ||
Field of view (FOV) | Defaults to 70°. | ||
Windowed | Toggle with Alt+↵ Enter or use the -windowed parameter. |
||
Borderless fullscreen windowed | Enabled by default since patch 1.28. Use the -nativefullscr parameter for exclusive fullscreen. |
||
Anisotropic filtering (AF) | See the glossary page for potential workarounds. | ||
Anti-aliasing (AA) | See the glossary page for potential workarounds. | ||
Vertical sync (Vsync) | Can be enabled by modifying a registry key. Only works in exclusive fullscreen using the -nativefullscr parameter until version 1.29.2. See Enabling Vsync for exclusive fullscreen mode. |
||
60 FPS | Capped near screen refresh rate when in borderless windowed or windowed mode. Capped at 64 FPS prior to patch 1.30. | ||
120+ FPS | Uncapped when running in exclusive fullscreen using the -nativefullscr parameter. |
||
High dynamic range display (HDR) | See the glossary page for potential alternatives. | ||
Ray tracing (RT) |
Run the game at screen refresh rate
- Fullscreen mode defaults to 60 Hz, even if the screen refresh rate is set higher than that.
Set screen refresh rate in registry[3] |
---|
|
Set screen refresh rate with Special K[3] |
---|
|
Enabling V-sync for exclusive fullscreen mode
Change the v-sync registry key |
---|
|
- As of version 1.29.2, V-sync seems to be active by default, also setting
vsync=0
does not disable vsync, which implies the switch has been deprecated altogether. This solution is meant for fully updated retail versions.
Input
Keyboard and mouse | State | Notes |
---|---|---|
Remapping | Details can be found in the CustomKeyInfo.txt file in the installation folder. |
|
Mouse acceleration | ||
Mouse sensitivity | Scroll speed only. | |
Mouse input in menus | ||
Mouse Y-axis inversion | ||
Controller | ||
Controller support |
Controller types |
---|
Audio
Audio feature | State | Notes |
---|---|---|
Separate volume controls | ||
Surround sound | ||
Subtitles | ||
Closed captions | ||
Mute on focus lost | ||
EAX support | EAX 2, Support removed with 1.30 update and replaced with software. | |
Royalty free audio |
Localizations
Language | UI | Audio | Sub | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
English | American English and British English available. | |||
Simplified Chinese | Audio dub from Warcraft 3 Reforged. Can be used on the classic client | |||
Traditional Chinese | Audio dub from Warcraft 3 Reforged. Can be used on the classic client | |||
Czech | Retail only up to 1.27b; 1.28 and higher not supported.[citation needed] | |||
French | ||||
German | ||||
Hungarian | Fan-made localization, supports 1.27b; download. | |||
Italian | ||||
Japanese | ||||
Korean | Audio dub from Warcraft 3 Reforged. Can be used on the classic client | |||
Polish | ||||
Brazilian Portuguese | Fan translation – download. | |||
Russian | ||||
Spanish | ||||
Turkish | Supports versions 1.26, 1.27b and 1.29.2. Link to the creator's topic. |
Network
Multiplayer types
Type | Native | Players | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Local play | 12 | Up to patch 1.29, use Nucleus Co-op. | ||
LAN play | 12 | 1.28 and later requires Bonjour service to run. | ||
Online play | 24 | The official Battle.net servers were shut down on January 28, 2020[4]; use Warcraft 3 Loader to play in unofficial servers.[5] |
Connection types
Type | Native | Notes |
---|---|---|
Matchmaking | Was shut down along with the official servers. | |
Peer-to-peer | ||
Dedicated | ||
Self-hosting | ||
Direct IP | Use LanCraft. |
Ports
Protocol | Port(s) and/or port range(s) |
---|---|
TCP | 6112, 6113-6119 |
UDP | 6112 |
- Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.
VR support
3D modes | State | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|
vorpX | G3D User created game profile, (DGVoodoo2) see requirements in the vorpx forum profile introduction. |
Issues fixed
Running the game on Intel-based Macs
- Even with the patch, the map editor will not be compatible with Intel Macs
As of patch v1.27a, the game can be installed natively on Intel Macs without requiring PowerPC application support.
"Windows NT is not supported"
- Only early builds of Reign of Chaos did not officially support the NT line of Windows operating systems.
- The related warning when running the installer from pre-2007 discs can be ignored.
Install the latest retail patch |
---|
Windows Vista, 7, 8.1, and 10 compatibility
- Official support for Windows 7, 8.1, and 10 was added in patch v1.27a.
Install the latest retail patch |
---|
The Frozen Throne installer does not recognize a Reign of Chaos installation
This may occur if the Reign of Chaos installer fails to deploy its uninstaller in %WINDIR%
, which is the case with the 2007 BestSeller Series re-release, which has an altered setup. The Frozen Throne checks for Reign of Chaos by querying the existence of the uninstaller file and will refuse to proceed until those files are present.
Place dummy files in the Windows directory[6] |
---|
|
The Frozen Throne installer stuck on "Waiting for files to close"
- This may occur if Reign of Chaos was installed and opened just prior, as the executable will still be active in the background even after exiting the game.
Open the task manager and end the war3.exe process
|
---|
Black screen with audio for in-game cinematics
Blizzard's video codec does not get properly registered during installation on newer operating systems.
Manually registering the codecs[7] |
---|
|
Alternative solution: download and install the LAVFilters[8] |
---|
Low performance in Wine
Force the game to run with OpenGL rendering[citation needed] |
---|
|
Run the game in Windowed mode[citation needed] |
---|
Notes
|
Microstutter on modern machines
Use RivaTuner to limit the FPS to 64[9] |
---|
Prevent front buffer locking |
---|
Notes
|
Other information
API
Technical specs | Supported | Notes |
---|---|---|
Direct3D | 8, 9, 11 | Version 1.26a and older use Direct3D 8 |
OpenGL | 2 | Use the -opengl or -graphicsapi OpenGL2 command line argument to force OpenGL rendering in Windows. |
Shader Model support | 2 |
Executable | PPC | 16-bit | 32-bit | 64-bit | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Windows | Support for later versions of Windows after XP was added in 2007. | ||||
macOS (OS X) | Initially PowerPC-only until patch 1.21, which converted the game to a universal binary, but dropped Classic support in the process. Later on in patch 1.27a, the game's app was made 64-bit to support 10.10+. |
||||
Mac OS (Classic) |
Middleware
Middleware | Notes | |
---|---|---|
Audio | FMOD | Dolby Surround, Miles Emulated 3D and Creative Labs EAX2before patch 1.30. |
Multiplayer | Battle.net Classic | Official servers were shut down in 28 January 2020. Since 1 June 2021 update from retail version WC3 classic to Reforged don't work anymore. Use Warcraft 3 Loader to play in unofficial servers. |
Command line arguments
Command[10] | Description |
---|---|
-window | Runs the game in windowed mode |
-fullscreen | Runs the game in borderless windowed mode |
-nativefullscr | Runs the game in fullscreen mode |
-nowfpause | Prevents the game from pausing upon losing focus |
-d3d | Runs the game using Direct3D (obsolete as of 1.29) |
-opengl | Runs the game using OpenGL (obsolete as of 1.29) |
-swtnl | Runs the game using Software T&L (obsolete as of 1.29) |
-graphicsapi [option] | Runs the game using selected graphics API (as of 1.29): OpenGL2 , Direct3D9 . Using other options is reported to crash the game.
|
-classic | Runs the base game (Reign of Chaos) instead of The Frozen Throne. |
-loadfile [filename] | Immediately runs the game from the specified save file. When applied to the map editor executable, it applies the same functionality to the specified map file |
-datadir [path] | Forces the game to load all files from the specified folder (useful for mods) |
-crash | Intentionally crashes the game to test the crash log output |
-locale [locale] | Switches the game's language |
System requirements
Windows | ||
---|---|---|
Minimum | Recommended | |
Operating system (OS) | 98 | 2000, ME, XP |
Processor (CPU) | Intel Pentium II 400 MHz | 600 MHz |
System memory (RAM) | 128 MB | 256 MB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) | 700 MB | |
Video card (GPU) | Nvidia RIVA TNT 3dfx Voodoo 3 Intel i810 ATI Rage 128 8 MB of VRAM DirectX 8.1 compatible | 32 MB of VRAM |
Sound (audio device) | 16-bit sound card | |
Other | 4X CD-ROM |
macOS (OS X) | ||
---|---|---|
Minimum | Recommended | |
Operating system (OS) | 10.3.9 to 10.6.8 | |
Processor (CPU) | PowerPC G3 400 MHz | 600 MHz |
System memory (RAM) | 128 MB | 256 MB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) | 700 MB | |
Video card (GPU) | 16 MB of VRAM | 32 MB of VRAM |
References
- ↑ Warcraft III/Patch 1.28 - Wowpedia - Your wiki guide to the World of Warcraft - last accessed on 2023-01-06
- ↑ Verified by User:KyoriAsh on 2023-01-03
- 1280 x 960 vs 1600 x 900 running on Simplified Chinese version of 1.27.1.7085
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Verified by User:Keith on 2017-09-19
- ↑ Warcraft III: Reforged Missing and Removed Features - last accessed on 2023-06-08
- ↑ Warcraft 3 Loader for PvPGN - last accessed on 2023-06-08
- ↑ [SOLVED] Warcraft 3 The Frozen Throne : WC3 Required to Install - last accessed on 9 June 2023
- ↑ Verified by User:Plok on 2022-02-09
- ↑ Battle.net Forums - Warcraft 3: Cinematics are black - last accessed on May 2023
- ↑ Verified by User:Flang on 2018-09-06
- ↑ Complete Command-Line Arguments Guide | HIVE