Star Trek Starfleet Command III

I believe you need both. We are entering the same problems Windows 10 users have with this game. The route I am following now is recreating this scenario. Thus a 64 bit Windows 10 system.

The problem with this game is that its old. When you install the base game on Windows 10 you will also get an exception.

I also ran the game in a 1600x900 resolution and that worked, save the message about not being able to save the model cache.

Edit
Got past the error message Unable to save model cache.

The problem was explained here:
https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=23153

Only the fix didn’t work for me. So this is the new procedure:

  • Open the file manager from Lutris and navigate to the C:\Windows\System32 directory;
  • Look up d3dxof.dll and rename it to d3dxof.dll_;
  • Mount the original CD and open the DirectX/DirectX.cab archive;
  • Extract d3dxof.dll to the game main directory;
  • Go into the Wine Configuration and set d3dxof.dll to native, builtin.

The game still crashes when I quit the game. So I’m running it in a Wine Virtual Desktop.

A little background on video
When the patches are installed you will notice that the intro videos are not showing anymore. This is because the SFC3 Upgrade Mod 3.2 Setup patch replaces these video with one of zero length.

Replacing these with the originals will crash the game. I think that is because the game wants to switch to 640x480. It works when I enable the windowed mode in sfc3.ini but as this is the cause of the black screen (also under Windows) this option is unusable. So I think the creators of the patch choose just to disable these videos.

Edit
I up scaled the videos and repacked them back to bik. When they are the exact same size as the resolution game is running under, everything works.

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@tfk Thanks! Using the info you provided, I was able to get the base game with the 534b patch installed running fullscreen at 1024x768 without encountering the runtime crash. The key was the d3dxof.dll. I found that using the d3dxof winetrick fixed the problem without having to extract the original from the CD.

I updated the install scripts I wrote (they’re awaiting moderation) to incorporate that fix as well as renaming the Cinema directory to avoid the screen resolution switching problem with the videos. There may be a fix to make them play correctly, but I haven’t found it yet.

I haven’t tried the SFC3 Upgrade Mod 3.2 or other HD mods again yet, but I will. However, first I have to get some sleep.

Good show! Good to know that the d3dxof.dll winetrick is working too. That means that this step can be automated.

I see you are using a 32 wine prefix. I got the game running in the 64bit Windows 10 scenario. I think I will add this version too. This way the users can choose the scenario which fits their purpose best.

Wow, it never occurred to me that it would run in a 64 wine prefix. I assumed it would require a 32 since it was so old. I’ll have to try that. I really just started with linux and lutris, so I’m learning by trial and error.

That’s the beauty of Linux/Wine you can run multiple variants side by side.

I got onto the path of the x64 Windows 10 scenario because of all the mods which are out there. Those people all run Windows 10 so I knew the only way I would run into the issues they where having is to mimic their situation as close as possible.

The d3dxof winetrick works on the x64 variant. Thanks for mentioning it. I was so into the technical details that I forgot to think about the obvious solution.

I’ve submitted the x64 Windows 10 installer version.

I really just started with linux and lutris, so I’m learning by trial and error.

Well, that’s the best way to go about it and you are doing a good job. For me, the learning curve is one the biggest attractions of Linux.

Hi all,

I tried to install the gog installer (before the amd update), the game is starting up but when i want to select a mission i get a error message about “Unable to save model cache”. When i click ok on that message i get another message about a error “microsoft…” (not exactly sure what it was). I tried the dll from my disk and placed it in the starfleet command 3 folder but i keep getting that error (i also renamed the one in system32 and syswow64). I tried pop os 21.04 and zorin os 16 and both are giving me the same errors back.

gog.com did update the installer for amd users, when i installed that one the main menu screen is broken and you cant enter the game when dxvk/vkv3d is enabled. It did before the update but now when i disable this option the game opens but the mouse cursor is 10cm off track.

I tried the installer in windows 10 and it is working fine there…what am i missing ???

Anyone can guide me to get this game to work in lutris ? i am using the fshack runner and i am a nvidia user.

Thanks.

When I wrote the original CDROM installers, it was for the CD version, since that’s what I own, and I don’t think the game was available from GOG at that time. It worked for me using the CD on Kubuntu at the time. I just installed it a couple of days ago on Manjaro, since I’m testing that out, and it works fine there. I’m using an Nvidia RTX 2070 Super and the runner has DXVK/VKD3D enabled using wine version lutris-fshack-6.14-4-x86_64.

The “CDROM x64 Windows 10 version” installer was written by tfk. As I recall, he found that the game was abandonware, so I believe it uses that downloadable version. I wasn’t able to use that installer since the mod it includes requires a resolution my monitor doesn’t provide.

To my knowledge, none of the installers were written/tested with the GOG version.

Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful. Maybe tfk will have some ideas.

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I’ve had some free time on my hands and looked this one up. There is a GOG version now and it works.

I did install this mod:

Installing this mod can be done via the Run EXE in wine prefix menu option.

The mod adds features and enables higher resolutions. I haven’t tested this thoroughly yet. The dxcfg.exe utility lets you choose different resolutions and scaling options.

Did you ever find a solution to the mouse being off track?

I currently have the game somewhat running. Without the All in One mod, I can get the mouse on target but some of the mission maps cause Unhandled Exceptions.

With the mod installed, I can access all the mission maps, but the mouse is about a cm or 2 above each of the buttons.

In either case, I can’t get the game to exceed 1024x768 without losing much of the screen to black boxes.

Btw, thank you @tfk for the model cache fix. This forum and the lutris script is basically the only searchable mention of this issue on the internet.

Cheers!

No problem! These issues are always nice to tackle. The issues are also issues Windows users encounter as it is an old game. You know it runs on Linux when you hit that state.

As for the mouse being above the buttons issue. Maybe I’ve seen that long ago but that was, wel, long ago. :thinking:

I ran the GOG version with the mod applied and did not see this happening. What I did see is weird resolution issues when trying resolutions other than the default 1024x768.

Thank you for the input. I believe it is some kind of scaling issue. One difference I noticed between the 1024x768 resolution on the vanilla and modded version is that the vanilla version displays from the top of the screen to the bottom while the modded version is slightly squashed. This explains the mouse offset. Just a matter of playing around with it to get it displaying properly.

Are we talking about the same gog version ? Because it does not work for me out of the box.

Yes, dont use the updated gog file and use the launch version.

Tested it on my laptop this time.

Only things I had to do is set the executable path and the path to the WINE prefix. As for some reason these weren’t set.

Specific to my system: I set System / Enable NVIDIA Prime Render offload to true as I have a laptop with an AMD 5800H APU (Desktop) and a NVIDIA 3050 GPU. This option sets the __NV_PRIME_RENDER_OFFLOAD=1 and __GLX_VENDOR_LIBRARY_NAME=nvidia environment variables to instruct the system to use the NVIDIA GPU.

Installing…

Installed…

Running…

The mouse is still offset to the left. Hovering the cursor left of the buttons lets me click them.

lutiris script or just installed in wine

Lutris script installed via Lutris.

i only install games in wine myself i have my own Gog, Steam, epic, Uplay folder. i do everything Manuel for 2 reasons 1. learning (the best way of learning is by doing it yourself) 2. Control (i control the environment and know how it set up)

i have the game on gog so i can give a crack at it.

They released a update yesterday, going to try it one more time. I still get the same errors as i got before, Unable to save model cache issue still present + i don’t even see the mouse at all. I wonder what i am doing wrong.

  1. Installed the gog installer using wine
  2. After installation i open Lutris and select select the sfc3.exe
  3. These are my settings

After i press oke i get another error

Edit 2: I get the same errors when i add this game as custom game in steam using proton. When i fire up the game using steam proton it skips the videos, skips the menu and it enters the lan lobby, when i hit back the game crashes. This is the only game i did not get to work under linux and it gives headache. If there is no solution i trash this game for good.

Got somewhat further. I got the Cache error again and found that installing the d3dxof winetrick still works. I’ll make a change to the GOG installer to include it.

The mouse issue persisted until I rebooted my system and ran the game again. Then the mouse suddenly was centered.

All Lutris settings are default except for my NVIDIA setting which is specific to my system.

I also left the dxcfg.exe / dxcfg.ini settings default.

I noticed there are two versions of this game on Lutris. I’m focussing on the one with the slug star-trek-starfleet-command-iii.

This one didn’t have a dedicated GOG installer. I’ve added it as a installer which installs the GOG version as it is. Thus without any 3rd party stuff.

The game is running quite nicely over here!

Can you share that file ?

No sharing necessary.

  • Click on the little arrow button next to the WINE icon to show the WINE related options.
  • Then choose Winetricks.
  • Then the Winetricks widget will show. Choose default WINE prefix.
  • Then choose install Windows DLL or component
  • Scroll down until you find d3dxof, check it and click OK.

After it installs keep clicking cancel until the tool exits.

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