Install 5-20-2021 |
|
Written and Edited By: MarkEAW Related Dowloads:
CONTENTS
MODERN SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS -+- GETTING STARTED UPDATE WITH PATCH UPDATE TO v1.2
FINAL STEPS OTHER NOTES v1.28 GOG v1.2 GOG
This document was written to get EAW manually added to your system. It will guide you with 'installing' from the CD (EAWv1.0), and how to apply the official patch(s) v1.1 and/or v1.2. While showing you some support and steps to use that should be taken with any un-official version / type of the game as well. See the 'PATCHES AND MODIFICATIONS HELP DOCUMENTS' link above on the menu bar to see how to install specific versions. Problems launching or running the game? See my 'Troubleshoot Help Document' to learn more.
"EAW has captured most of the tremendous amount of action that took place in WWII!" Others and I have determined the following to be useful guidelines for system requirements on Modern Windows OS Desktop Computers. Modern Machine Requirements (NT based Windows , 1999 to Today): Running on a Windows OS version higher than WinME will work. However this is done with some sort of WinOS compatibility layers / fixes provided by the OS itself automatically or introduced by the player. (Note that, any form of software compatibility regardless how seamless it is, can cause slowdowns-lower frames per second). Wrapper programs are another software solution. Despite all this, EAW runs well on a modern Window OS, some better than others. Read my NOTES further down after you read the following:
NOTES Suggested Reading: Note: The unofficial Source Coded games with custom frontend launchers such as the CodeGroups builds, will require WinXP or later versions due to the frontends using older Visual Basic 6 runtime files. See my 'CodeGroup Patches Help Document' for install instructions for those versions.
Reality of Hardware Required: Keep in mind that EAW is a Single Threaded game; it was made before multi core CPUs. However old CPU's that support multi threading of some sort, like something called HyperThreading will work better. Multi-Core, like Quad cores still support single threading, some do it better than others. 6 Core CPUs from what I can tell have less support for single threaded games (old games).
Updated Drivers: On Modern Windows, regardless of the problem (unless the issue is extreme), I would NOT use older drivers. I've found you need the latest drivers and OS updates for the game to work properly under compatibility layers, fixes and Wrappers etc found on those systems. On this help site I have include much information on such methods to properly use compatibility etc for EAW use, to be read later in another few help documents.
Performance Consideration: However on that same hardware, Just Over Clocking the CPU slightly provided a few more frames. There was a greater increase in FPS when I continued with the OCing; So next I increased the speed in the MB and System Memory (Bus Speeds , HyperTransport Speed etc.). But, just because I OCed my older but modern system, doesn't mean you must do it yourself, OCing can be difficult if done from the motherboard bios. Also updating my old Monitor that can not Scale the Display and is stuck at a maximum of 59hz refresh rate, would only allow the average 30FPS. A new modern Monitor that has a higher 120hz refresh rate and Scaling abilities yielded actually higher 41FPS during 4:3 set aspect ratio resolution, the games native ratio. See my 'Troubleshoot Help Document' and see the section titled 'OTHER PROBLEMS RUNNING THE GAME' and read about 'Stretched Game Screens'. I checked the stock EAW v1.2 for smoothness. It rates Good (at least 30fps) On my Win10 system. I also tested the FXEXE Modification by VBH and its comparable to v1.2 as far as smoothness, (FXEXE has been optimized to support it's own new features). (Keep in mind, with the FXEXE all objects remain visible for their maximum view distance, even above the clouds. That and an extra cloudlayer and 3D clouds add significant amount of textures + polygons, all added to your views and WILL slow down the game. How much just depends on the power of the PC used.)
GOG Minimum Requirements (2021): Windows 7 / 8 / 10 Processor 1.8GHz Memory 512 MB System RAM Graphics 3D graphics Card compatible with DirectX 7 DirectX DirectX 9 Storage 590 MB Size 572 MB See the bottom of this Help document for more GOG EAW information.
For old computers, Win95, 98 , ME. Legacy Supported: These are the Official Machine System Requirements to run the stock game properly on legacy hardware. There is no software layers or fixes used on Win9x systems. These requirements have been slightly increased with my suggestions (and notes follow) to take into consideration that the game needs to run smoothly , especially when using extra custom add-ons. The Technical Prerequisites for this Win95 stock game to work, there are a few things your computer must have. Minimum Requirements:
Recommended Machine:
NOTES
Further Requirement:
Legacy Tested Hardware: With lower-end machines (from around 1998) it runs respectably well too with detail settings lowered; A Pentium 166/ 64 MB RAM/ Voodoo system required most settings to be at minimum for smooth play. EAW runs in Direct3D runs very nicely on a VoodooII-8MB at 1024x768 (from 1999). A single 12MB Voodoo2 card will defiantly handle 800 x 600. Voodoo3 cards or Voodoo2 in SLI mode can handle much higher resolutions. A Voodoo3-2000 AGP card, at 1280 x 1024 resolution is possible. TNT and TNT2 video cards can also handle very high resolutions.
Install On Legacy OS:
This section will get you started first with some good advice, then onto copying and pasting files from your EAW CD to your hard drive. It will also show a folder list of what the CD version of v1.0 looks like once placed on your drive.
Is The Game Already Installed:
Create A Game Folder: It is important to Put your game folder on the root of drive C:\ or better yet perhaps on a second hard drive or partition, if you have one. (The default game path and folder names are shown in the table further below.)
Manually Adding EAW From The CD (v1.0):
Clean Installed Folder For v1.0 (for reference) \MicroProse Software\European Air War\ 3d.cdf 4,896,269 10/17/1998 03:50 chatline.txt 438 10/8/1998 23:03 COCKPITS.CDF 20,899,837 10/16/1998 00:28 d3d.dll 130,560 10/14/1998 20:44 DATA.CDF 1,433,420 10/18/1998 18:10 Dsetup.dll 127,488 7/29/1998 18:00 eaw.exe 1,367,040 10/18/1998 19:32 FLT.CDF 39,540 10/18/1998 18:10 FONTS.CDF 960,576 10/15/1998 02:28 GRBRIEF.CDF 9,438,292 10/15/1998 02:30 Menu_eng.cdf 37,760 10/16/1998 17:57 Movies.cdf 298,809,288 10/15/1998 02:49 Music.cdf 1,452,428 10/15/1998 02:28 PIC.CDF 26,334,148 10/15/1998 02:31 readme.rtf 27,987 10/18/1998 19:10 SMACKW32.DLL 96,256 6/9/1998 09:21 SOUND.CDF 1,203,659 10/15/1998 02:28 SOUND16.CDF 2,501,836 10/15/1998 02:33 SPEECH1.CDF 10,431,783 10/15/1998 02:51 SPEECH2.CDF 11,943,211 10/15/1998 02:33 SPEECH3.CDF 12,407,240 10/15/1998 02:29 Sprites.cdf 250,040 10/16/1998 00:25 TERRAIN.CDF 7,942,132 10/15/1998 02:30 Text_eng.cdf 168,543 10/18/1998 05:02 UKBRIEF.CDF 10,101,180 10/15/1998 02:33 USBRIEF.CDF 11,970,136 10/15/1998 02:32 WSOUND.CDF 9,310,061 10/15/1998 02:50 Wsprites.cdf 25,140,369 10/15/1998 02:50 \Music AmerProm.bgm 5,523,468 8/26/1998 21:59 BritProm.bgm 6,513,556 8/29/1998 15:10 Captured.bgm 9,071,660 8/31/1998 15:30 Drum1.bgm 1,459,968 9/30/1998 09:58 GermProm.bgm 6,513,796 8/31/1998 11:02 HallOFam.bgm 7,056,968 9/1/1998 16:47 MenuMus.bgm 7,836,020 8/14/1998 12:00 Rescued.bgm 5,082,520 9/30/1998 10:02 ViewObs.bgm 9,408,380 9/16/1998 14:05 YouDead.bgm 11,813,424 9/21/1998 15:45 -------------------------------------------------
In this section there is some information about the different Official versions that you may want to keep on your hard drive (multiple, but different 'installs' are possible). Read on. Updating the game with the official MPS patches can be done with either v1.1 or v1.2. Some players will want to keep different versions 'installed' on their hard drives in order to compare game play experience or basic comparison among the available versions. This would naturally allow you to see the changes MicroProse (or others) have made to the game, thus making the changes more prominent and notable. This is strictly an optional course of action. If you want, you can read my 'MicroProse Patches Help Document' for more specifics on those versions and their changes and fixes. Read On here.
About v1.0:
About v1.1:
Clean Installed Folder For v1.1 (for reference) \MicroProse Software\European Air War\ 3D.CDF 4,895,593 12/15/1998 14:27 chatline.txt 438 10/8/1998 23:03 COCKPITS.CDF 20,899,837 10/16/1998 00:28 d3d.dll 130,560 12/17/1998 14:30 DATA.CDF 1,433,420 12/21/1998 11:29 Dsetup.dll 127,488 7/29/1998 18:00 eaw.exe 1,411,072 1/11/1999 18:43 FLT.CDF 39,540 12/31/1998 15:59 FONTS.CDF 1,067,664 12/16/1998 13:01 grb_031.snd 105,644 12/15/1998 11:36 GRBRIEF.CDF 9,438,292 10/15/1998 02:30 Menu_eng.cdf 37,876 12/22/1998 19:55 Movies.cdf 298,809,288 10/15/1998 02:49 Music.cdf 1,452,428 10/15/1998 02:28 PIC.CDF 26,334,148 10/15/1998 02:31 readme.rtf 35,003 1/8/1999 00:18 SMACKW32.DLL 96,256 6/9/1998 09:21 SOUND.CDF 1,203,659 10/15/1998 02:28 SOUND16.CDF 2,501,836 10/15/1998 02:33 SPEECH1.CDF 10,431,783 10/15/1998 02:51 SPEECH2.CDF 11,943,211 10/15/1998 02:33 SPEECH3.CDF 12,407,240 10/15/1998 02:29 Sprites.cdf 250,040 10/16/1998 00:25 TERRAIN.CDF 7,942,132 10/15/1998 02:30 TEXT_ENG.CDF 168,738 1/11/1999 09:58 UKBRIEF.CDF 10,101,180 10/15/1998 02:33 USBRIEF.CDF 11,970,136 10/15/1998 02:32 V1.1 Details.rtf 16,801 1/10/1999 21:35 WSOUND.CDF 9,310,061 10/15/1998 02:50 Wsprites.cdf 25,140,369 10/15/1998 02:50 \Music AmerProm.bgm 5,523,468 8/26/1998 21:59 BritProm.bgm 6,513,556 8/29/1998 15:10 Captured.bgm 9,071,660 8/31/1998 15:30 Drum1.bgm 1,459,968 9/30/1998 09:58 GermProm.bgm 6,513,796 8/31/1998 11:02 HallOFam.bgm 7,056,968 9/1/1998 16:47 MenuMus.bgm 7,836,020 8/14/1998 12:00 Rescued.bgm 5,082,520 9/30/1998 10:02 ViewObs.bgm 9,408,380 9/16/1998 14:05 YouDead.bgm 11,813,424 9/21/1998 15:45 -------------------------------------------------
Now that you have V1.0 manually added to your hard drive, you may proceed to update to v1.2 with the official MPS patcher. This is an upgrade to the out-of-the-box game which you should install since v1.2 includes the most recent official multiplayer fixes and is generally an overall good idea to use that version. (However at this point you may want to update only to v1.1 for your own reasons, such as testing or examining the older versions game play. Just substitute the v1.2 text as shown below with v1.1).
Note Infogrames CD Patch:
Patching Steps:
Safe Keeping!:
No CD In Drive!!: (Optional)
Game Shortcut:
Compatibility Mode / Tab Settings Warning:
Clean Installed Folder For v1.2 (for reference) \MicroProse Software\European Air War\ 3D.CDF 4,895,593 12/15/1998 14:27 chatline.txt 438 10/8/1998 19:03 COCKPITS.CDF 20,899,837 10/15/1998 20:28 d3d.dll 130,560 12/17/1998 14:30 DATA.CDF 1,433,420 12/21/1998 11:29 Dsetup.dll 127,488 7/29/1998 14:00 eaw.exe 1,430,016 7/29/1999 15:24 EXTRA.SPT 3,924 4/13/1999 17:54 FLT.CDF 39,540 12/31/1998 15:59 FONTS.CDF 1,067,664 12/16/1998 13:01 grb_031.snd 105,644 12/15/1998 11:36 GRBRIEF.CDF 9,438,292 10/14/1998 22:30 Menu_eng.cdf 37,876 12/22/1998 19:55 Movies.cdf 298,809,288 10/14/1998 22:49 Music.cdf 1,452,428 10/14/1998 22:28 PIC.CDF 26,334,148 10/14/1998 22:31 readme.rtf 44,954 7/26/1999 10:38 SMACKW32.DLL 96,256 6/9/1998 05:21 SOUND.CDF 1,203,659 10/14/1998 22:28 SOUND16.CDF 2,501,836 10/14/1998 22:33 SPEECH1.CDF 10,431,783 10/14/1998 22:51 SPEECH2.CDF 11,943,211 10/14/1998 22:33 SPEECH3.CDF 12,407,240 10/14/1998 22:29 Sprites.cdf 250,040 10/15/1998 20:25 TERRAIN.CDF 7,942,132 10/14/1998 22:30 TEXT_ENG.CDF 168,743 1/8/1999 11:13 UKBRIEF.CDF 10,101,180 10/14/1998 22:33 USBRIEF.CDF 11,970,136 10/14/1998 22:32 V1.1 Details.rtf16,801 1/10/1999 21:35 WSOUND.CDF 9,310,061 10/14/1998 22:50 Wsprites.cdf 25,140,369 10/14/1998 22:50 \Music\ AmerProm.bgm 5,523,468 8/26/1998 17:59 BritProm.bgm 6,513,556 8/29/1998 11:10 Captured.bgm 9,071,660 8/31/1998 11:30 Drum1.bgm 1,459,968 9/30/1998 05:58 GermProm.bgm 6,513,796 8/31/1998 07:02 HallOFam.bgm 7,056,968 9/1/1998 12:47 MenuMus.bgm 7,836,020 8/14/1998 08:00 Rescued.bgm 5,082,520 9/30/1998 06:02 ViewObs.bgm 9,408,380 9/16/1998 10:05 YouDead.bgm 11,813,424 9/21/1998 11:45 ------------------------------------------------
There is a final step to take BEFORE running the game and then there are other Help Documents you'll want to read and the order in which to do so to be sure the game runs correctly.
An Empty Movies.CDF: Even though the movies (including in game movies) are nice to have, they are not necessary for you to play the game. I suggest you download what is called an 'empty' 1kb MOVIES.CDF file that replaces the in game movies to get around these kind of crashes to desktop problems, it also saves 284mb of space on your hard drive. The empty .CDF file goes in the games main folder, over write the file that's in there already. If you forgotten to replace the file, try using the ESC key to move the game along to the menu screens so you can exit it normally.
Note: You may want to read my 'Troubleshoot Help Document' to know more about the crashing of the game since the CTD problems are listed on that help document.
Run The Game:
Can You See The Menu Screens Properly?: If your getting menu screens with problems, such as garbled/tearing or color issues, exit the game (Its possible to use the ESC Key and Y key to exit the game). Or if the game won't run to even get you to the Menus, then read my 'Troubleshoot Help Document', section titled 'PROBLEMS RUNNING THE GAME', this all depends on which Windows OS version your using. Then come back here and read on.
Configuring:
Controls:
Video:
Running and Flight Screen:
Other helpful notes appear here.
Do Not Move Note:
See Troubleshoot Help Document:
Saving Some HD Space: (Optional)
Some brief notes about the GOG Automated Installed EAWv1.28-GOG Game, re-released 2-12-2021. The game is based on the Code-Group source modified un-official game version 1.28. The game exe was also modified by Retroism / GoG afterwards. It includes MicroProses' official v1.2 CDF files, some where modified by the Code Group and over write some of the 1.2 CDFs. (Read my 'CodeGroup Patches Help Document' under 128 for greater details). EAWv1.28-GoG is no longer available since the roll-back to EAWv1.2-GoG on 3-27-2021. The GoG installer installs the EAW game files, and all the Wrappers and finally DirectX 9.0c on your system. Normally you wouldn't need to have 9.0c installed unless a file was missing, however the game may now need it.
Clean Installed Folder For v1.28-GOG (for reference) This is a folder without any specific GOG files present (other than eaw.exe); Stripped down to EAW only. \EAW128GOG\ 3D.CDF 8,409,536 chatline.txt 438 Cockpits.CDF 33,473,605 d3d.dll 86,016 DATA.CDF 1,437,809 Dsetup.dll 127,488 eaw.exe 1,310,720 eaw.ini 5,385 FLT.CDF 39,540 FONTS.CDF 1,067,664 GRBRIEF.CDF 9,352,358 hof.dat 1,096 Menu_eng.cdf 38,308 Movies.cdf 298,809,288 Music.cdf 1,452,428 PIC.CDF 28,294,463 readme.rtf 25,526 SMACKW32.DLL 96,256 SOUND.CDF 1,203,659 SOUND16.CDF 10,014,146 SPEECH1.CDF 10,431,783 SPEECH2.CDF 11,943,211 SPEECH3.CDF 12,407,240 SPRITES.CDF 254,038 TERRAIN.CDF 7,942,132 TEXT_ENG.CDF 178,120 UKBRIEF.CDF 10,101,180 USBRIEF.CDF 11,970,136 V1.1 Details.rtf 16,801 V1.28 Details.rtf 17,721 WSOUND.CDF 9,310,061 Wsprites.cdf 25,140,369 \Savedata\ MissAlli.mpf 115 MissAxe.mpf 116
Other Installed Files by GOG (for reference) You'll find these files in your EAW GOG Install as well. Separated here for reference.
GOG DirectX 1-7 Wrapper (by GOG)
(eaw.exe requires gogs or another directx wrapper to function corectly).
Glide Wrapper (Portable/Local nGlide by Zeus)
Direct Input Wrapper (?) This wrapper allows more modern Control Pads to be used with EAW, and perhaps improves modern Joystick support at the same time (more devices?). (However, If your device doesn't work, try removing this dll to see if that helps EAW to detect your Joystick properly).
IPX Wrapper (by Solemn) IPXWrapper allows using software that needs IPX/SPX support on recent versions of Windows which no longer support it. Software that uses WinSock 1.x and/or DirectPlay (before version 8) is supported.
Other GOG Files (by GOG)* *There are many more files (not listed) that make up approximately 15megs (w/ the above Wrapper files included) that are placed in the Main EAW Game folder. Some are from the GoG Setup Installer; which would include Uninstaller program and configuration files. There are also GOG Server used files. All those types of files not listed are not at all necessary for the EAWv1.28-GOG version to run properly. If you wish to make a portable version of the game; you should first make a copy of the game directory and then place it somewhere else. Then uninstall the EAWv1.28-GOG version using the included GOG uninstaller. (You will loose saved game GOG cloud usage if you do this). Then use such a program like CCleaner to remove un-wanted and un-needed registry entries pertaining only to the EAW install. Clean out your copy of the EAW128-GOG game directory by leaving out all the files I listed above. Then follow some aspects of my Install instructions as presented above in this Help Document to complete your portable game install.
Features in EAW restored by Retroism/GoG (The publisher/provider of the re-release) It has been suspected that Retroism used some powerful tools to hack the eaw.exe, primarily to update the DirectX version to 7. The 'new' improved game exe is byte sized the same as the old Code Groups 128 game exe, however CRC values say they are different (21,417 byte difference in the exes. The d3d.dll files are identical). They have not shared the improvements with the community, but I thank them for providing the game to add new potential players. See my 'First Use Help Document' for more specifics on the GoG version type.
Some brief notes about the GOG Automated Installed EAWv1.2-GOG Game, re-re-released 3-27-2021. The game is based on the MicroProses official v1.2 patched game. The game exe was also modified by Retroism / GoG afterwards. It includes all MicroProses' official v1.2 CDFs and other files.
Clean Installed Folder For v1.2-GOG (for reference) This is only showing the only changed file, the game exe. The rest of the files are the same as the official MPS install. \EAW12GOG\
Other Installed Files by GOG (for reference) These are the same as in the EAWv1.28-GoG release as shown in the previous section, above.
Features in EAW restored by Retroism/GoG (The publisher/provider of the re-release)
Remaining Issues (related to hardware and modern Windows):
NoCD:
It has been suspected that Retroism used some powerful tools to hack the eaw.exe, primarily to update the DirectX version to 7. The 'new' improved super game exe is slightly larger than the official game exe from MPS. (The d3d.dll files are identical). They have not shared the improvements with the community, but I thank them for providing the game to add new potential players.
See my 'First Use Help Document' for more specifics on the GoG version type.
[END] |
