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Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
Revision as of 20:05, 29 December 2019 by Fenque (talk | contribs) (64bit and dx11 support added in 1.31 patch)
This page may require cleanup to meet basic quality standards. The specific problem is: Some of the fixes may not be relevant anymore as of Patch v1.27a. Confirmation is needed that this is the case. You can help by modifying the article. The discussion page may contain useful suggestions.
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos cover
Developers
Blizzard Entertainment
Publishers
Blizzard Entertainment
Europe Sierra Entertainment
Japan Capcom
Release dates
Windows July 3, 2002
Mac OS (Classic) July 3, 2002
macOS (OS X) July 3, 2002
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos guide on StrategyWiki
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos on MobyGames
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos on Wikipedia
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

Key points

Official support for Windows 7, 8.1, and 10 was added with version 1.27a.
Official support for Mac 10.10 and 10.11 was added with version 1.27a.
Support for Mac 10.9 and earlier was not added with version 1.27a.

General information

Official Blizzard Warcraft III Website
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
Wowpedia - A huge wiki for everything Warcraft universe related
Epicwar - Large Warcraft III Map Database
HIVE - A Warcraft III Community Site (With a focus on modding, and a map database.)

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
Disc check (requires the CD/DVD in the drive to play)
CD key
SecuROM 4 DRM on Windows.
Most copies pre-2007 install on all three operating systems.
Icon overlay.png
Windows
Mac OS
macOS (OS X)
With patch 1.21 the game no longer requires the CD to play.
If a retail copy is already owned, digital versions can be downloaded for free by entering the serial key here on Battle.net then downloading the installer from here.
The original version is no longer sold digitally as of November 2018 in favor of the remaster.

DLC and expansion packs

Name Notes
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne Product key needed for install.
Windows
macOS (OS X)

Essential improvements

Patches

Updating to the most recent 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."

As of version 1.28, support for the Czech version of the game has been dropped.[citation needed]
As of version 1.28, new standalone patch installers are no longer provided by Blizzard.
Updating to or installing the most recent version requires the Battle.net App to be installed.

List of 1.27b Patches

The most up-to-date standalone installer version for the retail release is 1.27b.
The most up-to-date version for the Czech release is 1.27b.[citation needed]
PCGW download mirrors (Mac, Windows) for all languages.

The 1.27b patches for a given version can be downloaded below. Install the Reign of Chaos patch only if The Frozen Throne is not installed.

Windows Patches

Patch Language Reign of Chaos The Frozen Throne Expansion
Spanish Blizzard FTP Server Blizzard FTP Server
Czech Blizzard FTP Server Blizzard FTP Server
Chinese - Simplified Blizzard FTP Server Blizzard FTP Server
Chinese - Traditional Blizzard FTP Server Blizzard FTP Server
German Blizzard FTP Server Blizzard FTP Server
English Blizzard FTP Server Blizzard FTP Server
French Blizzard FTP Server Blizzard FTP Server
Italian Blizzard FTP Server Blizzard FTP Server
Japanese Blizzard FTP Server Blizzard FTP Server
Korean Blizzard FTP Server Blizzard FTP Server
Polish Blizzard FTP Server Blizzard FTP Server
Russian Blizzard FTP Server Blizzard FTP Server

Mac Patches

Patch Language Reign of Chaos The Frozen Throne Expansion
Spanish Blizzard FTP Server Blizzard FTP Server
Czech Blizzard FTP Server Blizzard FTP Server
Chinese - Simplified Blizzard FTP Server Blizzard FTP Server
Chinese - Traditional Blizzard FTP Server Blizzard FTP Server
German Blizzard FTP Server Blizzard FTP Server
English Blizzard FTP Server Blizzard FTP Server
French Blizzard FTP Server Blizzard FTP Server
Italian Blizzard FTP Server Blizzard FTP Server
Japanese Blizzard FTP Server Blizzard FTP Server
Korean Blizzard FTP Server Blizzard FTP Server
Polish Blizzard FTP Server Blizzard FTP Server
Russian Blizzard FTP Server Blizzard FTP Server

Game data

In-game general settings.
In-game general settings.

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Blizzard Entertainment\Warcraft III\
Mac OS (Classic)
macOS (OS X)

Save game data location

System Location
Windows %USERPROFILE%\Saved Games\Warcraft III\
Mac OS (Classic)
macOS (OS X)

Saved games were migrated from <path-to-game>\Save in patch 1.28.[1]

Video settings

In-game graphics settings.
In-game graphics settings.

Template:Video settings

Input settings

Template:Input settings

Audio settings

In-game audio settings.
In-game audio settings.

Template:Audio settings

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
American English and British English available.
Czech
Retail only up to 1.27b; 1.28 and higher not supported.[citation needed]
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
French
German
Italian
Korean
Polish
Russian
Spanish

VR support

3D modes State Notes
vorpX
G3D
User created game profile, (DGVoodoo2) see requirements in the vorpx forum profile introduction.

Network

Multiplayer types

Type Native Players Notes
LAN play
12
Online play
24

Ports

Protocol Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP 6112, 6113-6119
Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

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 now be installed natively on Intel Macs without requiring PowerPC application support.

Windows NT Is Not Supported

Install the latest patch (v1.27a or above)

Windows Vista, 7, 8.1, and 10 Compatibility

Official support for Windows 7, 8.1, and 10 was added in Patch v1.27a.
It has not been confirmed if the following issue(s) are still present.

If you can't connect to Battle.net, make sure that you have configured your firewall to allow Warcraft III access to the necessary ports. Windows Vista and above have security features in the Windows Firewall that block certain types of network connectivity by default. After starting the game, press Alt+Tab to switch to your desktop and acknowledge any Firewall popups. Depending on your router configuration, you may also need to set up port forwarding and/or UPnP with your router.

Black screen with audio for in-game cinematics

This problem is easily fixed on Windows 10, tested on 1.29. The problem is that blizzards video codec does not get properly registered during install, you can just register it yourself and it works fine. There is no need to download codec packs etc. like other fixes suggest. Simply type open cmd as administrator and type the following in, change the directory if you installed it somewhere other than the default location or it won't work!

regsvr32 "C:\Program Files (x86)\Warcraft III\blizzard.ax"[citation needed]

Alternative fix -

Download and install the LAVFilters[2]
Disable blizzard codec : regsvr32 /u "C:\Program Files (x86)\Warcraft III\blizzard.ax"[citation needed]

Low performance in Wine

Force the game to run with OpenGL rendering[citation needed]
  • See the API table for details.
Run the game in Windowed mode[citation needed]

Notes

This fix has reportedly worked well on older Intel integrated GPUs.[citation needed]

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]
  1. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Blizzard Entertainment\Warcraft III\Video.
  2. Double-click on refreshrate and select Decimal.
  3. Change 60 to the screen refresh rate and click OK.
Set screen refresh rate with Special K[3]
  1. Install Special K by following the Special K Unofficial Guide. Manual local installation may work better.
  2. Start the game once and close it to allow the configuration file of Special K to be created.
  3. Open <path-to-game>\d3d9.ini or %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Mods\SpecialK\Profiles\Warcraft III.exe\SpecialK.ini depending on the installation method you used.
  4. Change RefreshRate=-1 to RefreshRate=0 under [Render.FrameRate].

Microstutter on modern machines

Use RivaTuner to limit the FPS to 64[4]

Enabling Vsync For Exclusive Full-screen Mode

Change The Vsync Registry Key
  1. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Blizzard Entertainment\Warcraft III\Video.
  2. Double-click on vsync and select Decimal.
  3. Change the value to 1 and click OK.
  4. Run the game with the -nativefullscr parameter.

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 9, 11
OpenGL 2 Use the -opengl or -graphicsapi OpenGL2 command line argument to force OpenGL rendering in Windows.
Shader Model support 2
ExecutablePPC16-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 Miles Sound System before patch 1.28.
Multiplayer Battle.net Classic

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 98
Processor (CPU) Intel Pentium II 400 MHz
System memory (RAM) 128 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
macOS (OS X)
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 10.3.9 to 10.6.8
Processor (CPU) PowerPC G3 400 MHz
System memory (RAM) 128 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 700 MB
Video card (GPU) 16 MB of VRAM

References