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Xenkan

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About Xenkan

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    http://www.voidshard.net/Xenkan/CNC3Patch/
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  1. Hi all, Just wanted to spread the word that I've updated my Windows 2000 patch to work with Command & Conquer 3 Kane's Wrath 1.0 as well as Tiberium Wars 1.0 - 1.9 You can download my patch at these sites: http://www.cnc-source.com/forums/index.php...mp;showfile=220 http://www.voidshard.net/Xenkan/CNC3Patch/ I've tested the patch on my own Windows 2000 PC and it certainly works for me, but if it doesn't work for you, please let me know. Of course, I'd also like to hear from the people who are helped by this patch :) Enjoy! Techy stuff: In previous Xenkan patches, I had directly removed from CNC3.exe the Win XP/Vista version checks and the function calls which were not available on Windows 2000. However, with more recent versions of CNC3, EA has added a call to GetModuleHandleExA within the encrypted program cnc3game.dat Because the function call was behind the encrypted copy protection (ugh...) I had to find an alternate technique for patching. This new technique used by my patch is to create a custom kernel32.dll inside the CNC3 directory. Because the custom kernel32.dll is inside CNC3's local directory, it is used only by CNC3. The custom kernel32.dll is then able to intercept all Windows kernel function calls, either choosing to forward them along to the real kernel32.dll, or to override them with custom code. Functions which do not exist in Windows 2000 kernel can be intercepted and handled by the custom kernel32.dll rather than causing a fatal error. In this way, I have created a compatibility layer between CNC3.exe/cnc3game.dat and the real Windows 2000 kernel. I've made the source code to my patch and custom kernel32.dll openly available for download, feel free to take a look at how they work. I've found this technique to be incredibly useful, and hope someone else can also benefit from this information :)
  2. Xenkan

    Windows 2000 Patch (full)

    Hi Xilosciente, I've updated my Windows 2000 patch for versions 1.04+ http://www.voidshard.net/Xenkan/CNC3Patch I changed how this patch is programmed so that it searches for the incompatibilities, and patches them wherever they appear in the .exe This means that, unless EA makes drastic changes, this patch should work with all past, present, and future versions of CNC3 Also, the source code for the patch is now available to anyone who is interested Have fun!
  3. Xenkan

    Windows 2000 Patch (full)

    Oh, hey, there's a 1.04 patch! *stops skirmishing in order to work on patch* Thanks for the head's up Xilosciente! :P
  4. Xenkan

    Windows 2000 Patch (full)

    Windows 2000 patch updated for CNC3 v1.02 http://www.voidshard.net/Xenkan/CNC3Patch/ Have fun! B) EDIT: Updated for CNC3 v1.03
  5. Xenkan

    Windows 2000 Patch (full)

    Hey dbqjp! I'm working on it right now :) Slightly off topic: I wish they'd make up their mind whether they wanted to label the patches v1.2 or v1.02 There's a discrepancy of eighteen hundredths of a version!!
  6. Xenkan

    Windows 2000 Patch (full)

    Great news guys, thanks for letting me know! ^_^
  7. Xenkan

    Windows 2000 Patch (full)

    Hmm, I don't know if this makes a difference, but what edition and language do you have? For example, I have Kane Edition - English I uninstalled and reinstalled several times and it worked for me, although it is 3:00AM here... :P FYI, the folks on EA's forum seem to be suggesting that you delete your CNC3 folder should you have to completely reinstall: http://forums.ea.com/mboards/thread.jspa?t...start=0&start=0 EDIT: Lazzak, also make sure you don't have the Compatibility Mode option turned on. I don't think this is enabled by default, but maybe you tried it earlier as a possible fix? Right click on CNC3 shortcut -> Properties -> Compatibility -> Uncheck "Run in compatibility mode"
  8. Xenkan

    Windows 2000 Demo Patch

    Hi Xilosciente, It seems EA's official patch will overwrite my patch, which is good, because that means you don't need to uninstall for EA's auto update to work I just finished the full game patch B) , and posted a new topic here: http://www.derelictstudios.net/forums/inde...showtopic=15126
  9. For the people using Windows 2000, I've created a patch which fixes the Windows 2000 incompatibilities in Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars. This patch should work with ALL versions of CNC3, and allow you to play if you receive any of the following errors: - The procedure entry point GetVolumePathNamesForVolumeNameW could not be located in the dynamic link library KERNEL32.dll - ***FATAL*** String Manager failed to initialized properly - The dynamic link library gdiplus.dll could not be found in the specified path You can download the patch at any of these sites: http://www.cnc-source.com/forums/index.php...oads&showfile=2 http://www.cnc3files.com/file/9 http://www.voidshard.net/Xenkan/CNC3Patch If you want to be completely up to date, I recommend the following steps: 1) Install CNC3 from Game Disc (if you haven't already) You probably receive an error when you insert your DVD. You need to run setup.exe directly. 2) Install Xenkan patch This will allow you to... 3) Run Command & Conquer 3 4) From the Main Menu, choose Multiplayer -> Online CNC3 will automatically patch to the latest version. Alternatively, you can download the latest offical patch here: ftp://ftp.ea.com/pub/eapacific/cnc3/ EA's patches are cumulative. You don't need to install them all one by one, just install the latest. 5) Install Xenkan patch again 6) Have fun! Many thanks go to Mighty BOB! and mastermind for offering to mirror this patch ^_^
  10. Xenkan

    Windows 2000 Demo Patch

    Microsoft says GDI+ and DirectX are "redistributable" http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...&displaylang=en http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...&DisplayLang=en *shrug* Good enough for me ^_^ Hi dbqjp & Lazzak, I'm working on a patch for the full version right now, and it's coming along nicely. Keep checking back, I'll post when it's done :)
  11. Xenkan

    Windows 2000 Demo Patch

    Assuming any of these statistics are accurate: http://marketshare.hitslink.com/report.aspx?qprid=2 http://www.thecounter.com/stats/2007/March/os.php Windows 2000 is the second most common operating system currently in use. There's more people using Windows 2000 right now than using Windows Vista, yet C&C3 officially supports Vista. There's only four relatively minor incompatibilies preventing the C&C3 demo from running on Windows 2000, and two of them are missing DLL files. Why not make the game available to the second most common OS market? Windows 2000 was released in 2000, and Windows XP was released in 2001. Internally, Windows 2000 is "Windows NT version 5.0" and Windows XP is "Windows NT version 5.1" Arguing about Windows 2000 versus Windows XP is like arguing about Microsoft Office XP versus Microsoft Office 2003. Does it really make your letters and spreadsheets that much better? Please don't take this response as sounding hostile, that's not my intention :unsure: Just trying to say the differences in Windows 2000 and Windows XP are relatively trivial, IMO
  12. Xenkan

    What Are You Currently Listening To

    You guys have a Lordi emoticon, that's awesome! I'm listening to Therion - Wine of Aluqah Saw some Therion discussion back on page 13, that's awesome!! B)
  13. Xenkan

    Windows 2000 Demo Patch

    That's good to know. I didn't need to modify DemoGame.dat for Windows 2000 compatibility, only CNC3Demo.exe It would seem DemoGame.dat is already 100% Windows 2000 compatible If the .dat is the game's executable and the .exe is just the SafeDisk loader, it would seem SafeDisk is to blame for the Windows 2000 incompatibilities
  14. Xenkan

    Windows 2000 Demo Patch

    That's encouraging, Zero Hour doesn't seem to mind if I change (non-critical) bytes in its generals.exe. Guess it doesn't do an .exe checksum and is only concerned with verifying the CD, which is fine. Although, the official patches will probably do an .exe checksum, so an uninstall option for my unofficial patch might be prudent? Thanks jonwil! I would like that, Thanks Mighty BOB! :)
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