Starship Troopers: Terran Ascendancy

Starship Troopers: Terran Ascendancy

Developers
	Blue Tongue Entertainment
Publishers
	MicroProse
	Hasbro Interactive
Release dates
Windows	October 28, 2000
Reception
Metacritic	68
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Series	Starship Troopers

Starship Troopers
Starship Troopers: Terran Ascendancy	2000
Starship Troopers	2005
Starship Troopers: Terran Command	2022
Starship Troopers: Extermination	EA

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail

This game is not available digitally.

Demo

A demo is available here. It includes the first campaign mission.

Essential improvements

Comparison of in-game interface size at 2560x1440 set directly in game options menu(up) and 2560x1440 forced through dgVoodoo 2 with resolution in game options menu set to 1280x720(down).

Patches

Patches are available here. Developer recommends to install them only if there are issues with running the original version, since no other fixes or gameplay improvements have been made.

Nvidia users
First install the Full Patch. Then install the Nvidia Patch. Notes Intro movies may not play and text in the options menu, unit description and in the loading screen may not be visible, but everywhere else it is displayed correctly. See the Video and audio settings image below to see which setting is which and Localizations to see which soldier's attribute is which.

dgVoodoo 2

Removes DirectX 7 resolution limit, so the game can be played at resolutions higher than 2048x2048.

Using dgVoodoo 2 to force higher resolution, instead of setting it in the game options menu, makes the game render the menus and mission briefing screens at higher resolutions and can be used to increase the size of in-game interface.

Instructions

Download the latest version of dgVoodoo 2 and unpack it (verified working on version 2.54). Copy all the files from the MS folder. Paste the files into the game installation folder. Run dgVoodooCpl.exe and in the DirectX tab set the desired resolution. Start the game using <path-to-game>\setup.exe. Press Configure and select dgVoodoo DirectX Wrapper as your driver. Then press Play to launch the game. In the game options menu select a resolution that is smaller than the one set in dgVoodoo, but has the same aspect ratio. This will make the in-game interface larger; the smaller the resolution set in the options menu, the bigger will the in-game interface be rendered on screen. Notes The game must always be be started using <path-to-game>\setup.exe and steps 6 and 7 need to be repeated every time, because the game settings get reset. For playing in ultra-widescreen with larger interface, in the GPU control panel create a custom ultra-widescreen resolution that is smaller than your desired resolution, so it can be selected in the game options menu for the proper aspect ratio.

Skip intro videos

Instructions
In the game installation folder delete or rename the fmv folder.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\platoons\

Video

Video and audio settings.

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution		Menus remain 640x480 and in-game interface is not scaled and is small at high resolutions, see dgVoodoo 2.
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen		DirectX 7 has a resolution limit of 2048x2048, see dgVoodoo 2.
4K Ultra HD		DirectX 7 has a resolution limit of 2048x2048, see dgVoodoo 2.
Field of view (FOV)		Hor+. Zooming in/out is available using mouse wheel or numpad +/-.
Windowed		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		Force in the GPU control panel or dgVoodoo 2.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		Force in the GPU control panel or dgVoodoo 2.
High-fidelity upscaling		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		Force using D3DOverrider or dgVoodoo 2.
60 FPS and 120+ FPS		No frame rate cap. While fully playable at 120 FPS, it does affect the game; particle effects are running faster and at least the plasma bug projectile is falling down slower. Much higher framerates also make the whole game run noticeably faster. Limiting the game at lower framerates is recommended.
High dynamic range display (HDR)

Input

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support

Controller types

Audio

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Sound effects, music and dialogue.
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Trooper profile - attributes and stats.

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English

Issues fixed

Game exits to desktop

When launching the game or when starting a level the game exits to desktop and is minimized.

Disable desktop composition
Right click the game shortcut and select Properties. In the Compatibility tab select Disable desktop composition. Click Apply and OK.

Use dgVoodoo 2

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	7

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	FMOD

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	95, 98
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium II 233 MHz	Intel Pentium II 400 MHz
System memory (RAM)	64 MB	128 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	300 MB	800 MB
Video card (GPU)	3D Video Card (Voodoo 2) DirectX 7 compatible	16 MB of VRAM