Windows 8 compatibility

Has anyone managed to get the game to run on windows 8, it appears you cant disable direct 3D acceleration etc....maybe because they have made it so that entire operating system uses it to function

I can log in but the perma lag makes the game unplayable. I've done the usual compatibility changes, screen resolution changes etc but its no use.

I do not have access to a Windows 8 machine. I have Vista and Windows 7. I also run the game on virtual PCs with XP that work fine. I would need to buy myself a new box to try Windows 8 to test the game.

I'm determined to find a solution, then I will post it

Does windows 8 have xp mode like 7 pro did? I'm not talking the compatibility part. But the real xp mode, where it would run a type of VM of XP to run the app. If so I'd say that would be your best bet. Other than that maybe just get virtual box with a vm of ubuntu and run it in wine. I only play this game on nix machines under wine, runs way better than it does on windows.

lurker wrote:

Does windows 8 have xp mode like 7 pro did? I'm not talking the compatibility part. But the real xp mode, where it would run a type of VM of XP to run the app. If so I'd say that would be your best bet. Other than that maybe just get virtual box with a vm of ubuntu and run it in wine. :PI only play this game on nix machines under wine, runs way better than it does on windows.

Windows 8 does not have Windows XP mode.

However if you have Windows 8 Pro or above then you can install Hyper-V if your hardware is able to run Intel-VT or AMD-V (You will most likely have to enable it manually in the BIOS.)

Unfortunately you will have to make your own Windows XP installation but its fairly easy.

If you run the home version of Windows 8 then you are locked to run some 3rd party virtualization like VM-Ware or Sun virtual box. (Not that these are bad i just dont know anything about them.)

has anyone figured it out on windows 8 yet? ive tried to set up a VM but i cant seem to figure it out.

Theres a rather extensive guide on how to install Hyper-V and check for HW-Support here.

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/window-on-windows/get-started-with-windows-8-client-hyper-v-the-right-way/7893

And here is a guide about installing Windows XP

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/window-on-windows/install-windows-xp-in-windows-8-client-hyper-v/6732?tag=content;siu-container

I must be computer stupid cause i followed every step on that tutorial and my computer didn't have Hyper-v so i couldn't finish. I guess I was never ment to play astonia again lol, stupid windows 8 ruining my life.

i don't know a ton about computers either, but i've had success playing aranock on windows 8 using vmware. there's a free version called vmware player you can download from their site and use.

1) install vmware

2) go through their setup to create a virtual machine

3) install XP on the virtual machine
-->this part requires you have an install CD or image of XP (or whatever OS you want to install)

once you get xp working in the virtual machine then it's just like having a second computer running in a window, and you can just through all the usual steps of setting up aranock

Figure it out Yugi!

a virtual machine is literally the only way of doing it, sad news for those who dont want to partitian their HD's

so i would have to buy a CD of windows XP for this to work?

Actually I believe win7 you can get a free copy of XP for virtualBoxing.. not sure about 8. Its probably on their website now.

Virtual Mode WinXP

yeah you'd need either a hard CD or image file (.iso) of xp with a working license key or some kind of activation bypass..........

but if you don't have a valid license or are against pirating, you can try installing a linux distribution like ubuntu (free) on your virtual machine, and then installing wine which is a linux software that allows you to run windows software on linux

with this setup you'd have astonia > wine > ubuntu vm > windows 8

^a complicated workaround imo...it'd be much simpler to just get a copy of xp

I second the linux / wine solution. It takes up more HD space, but it is effective. And as long as you dont use something like TrueCrypt to protect your entire HD, you can even dual boot both OS.

Im installing Ubuntu on to Oracle VirtualBox right now. Once installed all i have to do is download Wine and install and then wam bam aranock is up and running or do I have to download windows XP onto the Wine program?

do these on your ubuntu VM
1) download & install wine
2) download aranock
3) move the aranock install .exe to "/.wine/c/program files" or something like that -- the .wine directory might be hidden in your user directory so you can use ctrl+h i think to reveal hidden folders
4) install and run aranock like usual -- you might have to right-click the aranock client and select to run it under wine (or it might do so automatically, i'm not sure)

How to install Wine

You can probably copy/paste a lot, however as a very low level programmer and hacker I recommend you always type everything out from scratch, just like your english teacher makes you hand write vocabulary. Helps you remember things and gives you more time to really think about it and any deeper connections it might have. Seems like a waste up front, but it pays off later, especially if you decide to stick with learning Linux/Ubuntu.

I did some googling and it appears that windows 8 stopped the use of directdraw progams In all cases.

Aranock is built around using directdraw. Unless that changed or you ran it in a VM. It is highly unlikely that it will work on windows 8.

Fazza wrote:

I did some googling and it appears that windows 8 stopped the use of directdraw progams In all cases.

Aranock is built around using directdraw.  Unless that changed or you ran it in a VM.  It is highly unlikely that it will work on windows 8.

It seems that someone used som DDraw.dll hacking to get wing commander to Work in Windows 7.

Heres the site
http://sol.gfxile.net/ddhack/index.html

The problem in Windows 8 as far as i can tell is that it only supports true colour (24bit). As far as i know Aranock uses 256.

Im currently at Work and can't test it but i may just give it a swing during the weekend. Im also considering downloading the MS compatibility database Tool and trying a fix thourgh that to trigger the app with a few changes. But im not an Expert in that.

install xp in a vm... easy peasy lemon breezy. You can buy xp or follow the lifehacker link above to get it free. Tinyxp is a great option too.

Urdadi wrote:

install xp in a vm... easy peasy lemon breezy. You can buy xp or follow the lifehacker link above to get it free. Tinyxp is a great option too.

But it doesnt solve the problem.

I tried so many times to get stupid VM to work with no luck, I must be computertarded or something. Plus I dont really feel like paying 40 dollars to buy XP to play a free game lol.

Dont need to pay $40. And with teamViewer and the internet it wouldnt be hard for one of us more savy people to help set it up and see what went wrong. Why isnt it working now?