Shogun Total Wartm - Collection
Lyric Maro
I'm new to using this program and i'm attempting to play Shogun Total War in windowed mode for recording purposes. When I run the game from DxWnd it'll open in fullscreen mode despite having windowed mode checked and fullscreen mode unchecked.
Curiously, the game (CD version, Warlords edition, full install) works in window without any hussle, just default settings. I hooked ShogunW.exe and just started the game.
What distribution have you installed? GOG's perhaps? Did you apply some patches?
Are you running DxWnd with admin privileges? I don't know, I'll think something ....
How would you like to get some help and help us in the meanwhile by testing this new "autolog mode" feature?
The description and files for DxWnd update are here:
If you run DxWnd in expert mode, please turn it off for a little while, the "File -> Run (autolog mode)" command is not available for expert users.
Don't be surprised if you don't see any log: my guess is that either shims or permissions are preventing DxWnd to see the game executable, so that DxWnd can't really do nothing. But you never know ...
p.s. if you have a shims problem, the easy way to fix it is to copy ShogunW.exe giving it another name (for instance, ShogunW2.exe) and then tell DxWnd to hook the copied file.
I tried renaming the .exe file and telling DxWnd to run that file while hooked and I got this message "the code execution cannot procedd because weachatr.dll was not found. Reinstalling the program may fix this problem"
Please understand, my understanding of this sort of thing is very limited so at this point it's all just clicking buttons to me. I'm doing my best to follow along while looking up shims and GOG's on wikipedia ;)
Shims are a technical trick that Microsoft uses to automatically (or manually) set some compatibility mode on executables that wouldn't run correctly on modern platforms, in the same way of what DxWnd tried to do. But it's a really complex stuff, I never got it full understanding!
GOG is a game distribution channel. Several games that were originally release on CD supports (like out case Shogun) were bought and re-distributed through internet by some platforms like Steam, GOG and some few others. So, GOG was only my guess about a possible source. If you have Steam the situation is a little more complex just because Steam doesn't make so explicit the folder where the game is actually copied.
So, back to your error message, probably you copied the ShogunW.exe file but you're not running it from the correct folder. To fix that you should set the correct path in the DxWnd "Path" folder, repeating the same folder name of the hooked game. But I'm not sure, and I can't buy a Steam copy of the game just to test the theory. Maybe when you copied the executable you moved the copy to another folder? That's not ok, the game copy must stay in the same folder of the original file, or all dll will be unreacheable. Maybe the logs will give me some idea.
Ok, you did the operation right and I got your logfile and compared it with my own.
I can see a curious thing: the beginning of the two logs is almost identical, but then your log stops before the game window registration. There's no indication of any error, and the path of the game is the original one ("c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\common\total war shogun 1 gold\shogun.exe") so I suppose this is what happens with the original configuration.
Probably there's some difference in the Steam and CD (cracked) game executable, but I can't tell more without the Steam executable. Could you upload here your ShogunW.exe file?
It doesn't work here, probably because it doesn't find a proper Steam environment. While I see if I can get more out of this, why don't you copy this file to the same folder and hook it to DxWnd? It is a copy of the cracked CD version of the game. it may work better.
Beware: be sure no to overwrite any exixting file. Also, even if it will work, there's no garantee that the savegames will be compatible with Steam ones. It may even happen that you will have to reinstall the game, but if the Steam one doesn't work, it's worth a try.
Despite the apparent success of the strategy-game genre, there has been a pronounced lack of quality games that offer more deliberate, strategic gameplay in addition to action-packed combat. Thus, the arrival of Shogun is an especially welcome addition to the genre: Not only is Shogun a challenging and engrossing 3D real-time tactical combat game, but it also features a great turn-based strategy component that complements the combat wonderfully.
The goal of Shogun is for you to unify a fractured Japan. In the Sengoku Jidai, or warring-states period of the 16th century, Japan is nominally under the rulership of an emperor who commands the entire Japanese nation. In reality, powerful warlords, or daimyo, control their own regions of a divided Japan, and each hopes to become the shogun, the ultimate warlord who would unite Japan under his military banner. Historically, the time period was one of great warfare and strife, which makes it well suited for a strategy game.
The main component of Shogun: Total War is the campaign mode, which simulates the course of the Sengoku Jidai period. There is also a historical battle mode, which lets you replay five historical battles from the 16th century; as well as a custom battle mode, where you can cull your own armies and game-world variables to create a battle to your liking.
In the campaign mode, you begin as the leader of one of seven rival clans of Japan. Each clan has its own strengths and weaknesses, and each starts out in a different area of the map. All of the seven clans have unique benefits and geographic advantages or disadvantages, which lend the game greater replay value. Regardless of which clan you choose, war is the focus of Shogun. The game's research model is very simple, and there is a paltry diplomacy model and limited espionage options. There isn't a bewildering array of choices to confuse or distract you. Some players might be put off by this simplicity, but it's actually liberating. The strategy portion of Shogun is very much like an enhanced version of Risk, as it distills the basic fun elements of strategy gaming without offering too many choices, much like the classic board game.
The campaign mode begins with an overhead view of Japan, which is portrayed as an unfurled map of the country spread out across a table in your throne room. Each province is visible, along with pieces that designate your generals and special units, such as ninja and emissaries. The strategy portion of the gameplay involves moving your pieces around the map to gain intelligence (using shinobi, your spies), offer alliances (with your emissaries), assassinate other leaders (with your ninja), or conquer other provinces (with your generals and their armies). All the while, you're trying to generate money from your provinces to fuel your war machine with unit-producing or unit-enhancing buildings and castles, as well as with troops.
Each province you hold generates koku, or bushels of rice. This is the game's resource unit, which you use to buy troops and buildings. You collect the koku tax every four seasons, or turns. You will never have enough koku to buy all the troops you want and to construct buildings in all the provinces; instead, the game always forces you to make difficult strategic choices about what to build and when. Luckily, there are several things you can do to enhance your influx of koku. You can set higher tax rates each year for your people, at the cost of their loyalty; build improvements to your farmland; or conquer other provinces for their yearly income.
One problem with the annual tax collection is that the tax report indicates yearly unit and building costs but provides no detailed breakdown of this cost. For instance, it would be helpful to know the yearly upkeep cost of a common spearman compared with that of a more costly samurai, or the upkeep cost of a particular building.
Diplomacy in Shogun is also pretty flimsy. All you're doing is effectively buying yourself time until you betray your neighbor or your neighbor betrays you. The only diplomatic option you have is to offer alliance treaties. You can't coordinate joint attacks on neighbors, ask for loans, demand tribute, or conduct any other such negotiations - all options you'd expect from an epic strategy game like Shogun. More extensive diplomacy options would have been welcome.
The game's espionage aspect is less anemic. You can hire shinobi to spy on your enemies, incite revolt in enemy provinces, or stabilize loyalty in your own provinces. The process isn't as glamorous or involving as it sounds - you just move your shinobi into a province, and the results supposedly happen. You can also recruit ninja, who can assassinate game pieces - such as generals, emissaries, and even daimyo - on the map. Unfortunately, it's very hard to ever get a ninja to complete an assassination successfully. Ninja need experience to stand a good chance of accomplishing their missions, but until they complete several missions in the first place, they'll never get that experience.
Shogun's technology tree is fairly simple. You need to build a castle to operate the basic military structures. Upgrading your castle opens up options for better military buildings, such as the famous archery dojo and Buddhist temple. Some of the late-game upgrades actually require special conditions, such as the arrival of Dutch traders or the rising of a legendary swordsman in your military ranks. Although you'll want to start conquering territories early, you'll need to carefully balance your desire to throw money into producing the basic units with the necessity to build toward better troops and upgrades. As the game is geared toward offense, there are no defensive structures for you to spend money on.
The strategic portion of Shogun's gameplay has a few interface problems. Using the strategic units, such as emissaries and ninja, is initially cumbersome. You have to drag and drop the unit directly over the opposing unit you want to interact with. Providing these options in the bottom toolbar or employing a right-click menu to conduct a mission would have been easier. Also, the delineation of the discreet provinces is too subtle - you can tell who rules a province only by the faint-colored border or by holding your mouse over the province for a few seconds. It would have been better if each province was lightly shaded according to its owner's color, or perhaps even if the lord's clan name appeared under each province. There's also no easy way to tell what each province is building and what units it's training. When you're managing more than a handful of provinces, it gets annoying to have to click on each province to find out what it's doing.
c80f0f1006