Topic: At wits end trying to get ships models to display and not be invisible on Win 10

[ThatBillmanGuy]

Greetings, everyone.

I've recently reinstalled Starfleet Command III. After hours of aggravation, I've gotten it to finally load without a blank screen by using the 534b patch. But now that I'm able to load up a mission, I have no ships. It's just an empty star field, and I can "turn" but no ship model, and the map isn't visible either.

I've narrowed it down to something called an OPEN GL HD PATCH, but I cannot find this file that seems to be working for everyone else.

I've tried everything else.

Can anyone assist me?

[TarMinyatur]

Never heard of an OpenGL patch for a game like SFC that uses DirectX.

Try the HiDef patch for SFC3. https://hotandspicyforums.com/starfleet-command-3-hd-gamespy-patch-t18931.html

[ThatBillmanGuy]

Thanks for this! But alas, same result. Though I do have the map in top corner back. Still no rendered models, though.

SFCLauncher is another thing I tried. Just crashes and won't load.

(Also, for the verification thing, what the HECK is the correct answer for the number of LETTERS from 0-10? )

[d4v1ks]

Also, for the verification thing, what the HECK is the correct answer for the number of LETTERS from 0-10?

The SFC Launcher will request you a valid serial number for SFC3, at least once, if it doesn't find the respective registry key.
If you installed the game normally this will never happen.

[AlDaja]

If you installed your game in this order, you shouldn't be having issues:

1. Check system for old SFC3 Cache files/folders that should not be and remove them.
2. Install SFC3 with CD Key.  DO NOT install Direct X8 when prompted, GameSpy is optional, but not necessary.
3. Install the All Language Taldren patch

If you have Windows 10, this is where the game can go sideways real quick depending on your system configuration. I have copied this from my SFC3 mod page with regard to Windows 10 set up issues:
 

Windows 10 compatibility and full screen correction Jan. 2020 Update:

The previous Win 10 fix no longer works with recent Windows 10 updates. Please read and follow instructions noted for Windows 10 compatibility with SFC3.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Install SFC3 onto your system. For the purpose of installing any of a&A Collaborations mods, DO NOT install GameSpy or Direct X8 when prompted. They are not required/necessary for game operation or server access. There is also no need to allow for a desktop shortcut to be created at this point, as a universal launcher is available.

Next, you will want to install the provided Taldren sfc3patch1.01beta2buildv534b patch we offer in all our mods. If no error* message pops up once completed and the patch Word Read Me file loads, install was successful. If not, remove SFC3 from your system and reinstall.

*If you get a quick three line error message that quickly disappears after the patch has installed, this is denoting an incompatibility error associated with Windows 10. It will be rectified with the dgVoodoo + reShade and SFC Launcher offered by the H&S SFC Team.

After successfully installing SFC3 and the Taldren patch, you may encounter a blackout screen and the game running in windowed mode and/or experience a resolution issue followed by an error that reads as follows: "C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository...atiumdag.dll".

This is a causality of running SFC3 on Windows 10. To avoid even having to deal with this frustration after installing SFC3 and the Taldren patch DON'T launch the game just yet. You will need to download and use the dgVoodoo and launcher to fix the issue (links provided). Before opening the dgVoodoo + reShade zip, disable your virus software as it will attempt to isolate and remove the necessary .dll files. This is especially true for Norton users. Open the dgVoodoo + reShade (Jan2020) zip and extract the entire contents to your SFC3 directory. Then download and place the SFC Launcher (August 2019) on your desktop and run the game for the first time through the launcher* (follow the first time using launch guide on the forum page or install instructions here: SFC3 Typhon Pact). The provided HD install package/launcher will auto-detect for future game play without having to manually set each time. If your game plays in windowed mode, simply click Alt+Enter and it will switch to full screen.

*Note: You may need to manually set your resolution to 1024 x 768 and set the game compatibility to Windows XP Service Pack 3 and save the settings. The SFC Launcher should detect and save this when you run the game for the first time.

Note: If your game is not seeing the SFC3 CD in your drive, close out of the game and open your SFC3 directory. Scroll down to a file that says: "sfc.ini". Open the file. scroll down to a command line that says: "MakeItSo=0". Change it to: "MakeItSo=1". The game will now play without the SFC3 CD. Note, this will be automatically done for all our mod installs.

At this time, you should be able to play the stock Mission & Singleplayer campaigns in full screen. Because of Windows administrator settings, you will need to give yourself rights to modify this directory and sub-directories (important if you installed in the Program Files(x86)). Once done, make a copy of your stock SFC3 directory and archive it as a backup. Example: "SFC3 Stock". You will be editing the other SFC3 Directory folder from this point on for a&A Collaborations mods or any mod you choose to work on/play.

Please note, some older AMD graphic cards and system setups may have a problem rendering SFC3 visuals correctly regardless of the dgVoodoo fix for Windows 10.

[ThatBillmanGuy]

Nope. I followed this to the letter. I re-read it three times. I did a fresh install of SFC3, to default location, followed by the taldren update, followed by putting the launcher on the desktop.

Now it just crashes with an "Unhandled exception!!!!" in module binkw32.dll. So I'm worse off than before. It won't even launched. I have no idea why this is so f-ing difficult to get working. It sucks. Not yelling at you, just venting frustration. Nothing works.

[TarMinyatur]

bink is an ancient video player. The introductory SFC3 video runs best at 1024x768 or something. It may crash on a 1920x1080 display. Maybe we can bypass the troublesome intro with a setting in sfc.ini.

[d4v1ks]

bink is an ancient video player. The introductory SFC3 video runs best at 1024x768 or something. It may crash on a 1920x1080 display. Maybe we can bypass the troublesome intro with a setting in sfc.ini.

You can delete the videos on "Starfleet Command 3\Assets\Cinema" and skip that part completely.

[ThatBillmanGuy]

Finally wokring.

I followed the install instructions again from a fresh install, let the launcher crash again...

Then I bypassed the launcher completely, and had to Run the SFC.EXE as Administrator after making sure it wasn't looking for the CD. Working fine, now!

[TarMinyatur]

Glad it is working. Old software is sometimes a pain in the ass.

Do you get any kind of error report or other info when the SFC Launcher crashes?

[AlDaja]

Windows 10 has been a pain-in-the-ass with SFC3 as of late.  Sometimes I find it best to launch the game directly from the Radeon game launching settings I have.  Depending on the given "update" from Windows, FYI, the warp glitch sometimes is fixed, sometimes it isn't.