WC3 RoC/TFT Classic - No Sound In-Game Until Restart

[Nappy_Boy]

Hi everyone,

I hope this is the right section of the forum for a question like this.

I've been a lurker here for a while but decided to sign up as I'm encountering a very annoying problem when trying to play classic WC3 that you guys might be able to help me with.

So I'm running Windows 10 and I've installed WC3 from my original Battle Chest discs. I've then updated to patch 1.27b. All fine so far, but whenever I create a new profile and start a campaign game I get no sound in-game. Nothing at all. Sound works in the menus and intro videos, but cuts out completely when the first tutorial mission starts.

If I exit the game then relaunch it and start the campaign from my existing profile then in-game sound magically returns!

This happens on both RoC and TFT - no matter which campaign I start. It's always the same: create new profile, start campaign > no sound - use existing profile, start game > sound!

Of course this isn't a huge problem, as it's not like I'm creating a new profile every time I start the game, but I don't know why it's happening and I just hate it when something is wrong that I can't fix.

I've searched extensively for a solution but I can't find any other reports of this happening. I don't have another PC to test on so I can't try that.

I've tried changing the sound from 'Miles Emulated 3D' to 'Dolby Surround' in the Options menu (and of course checking all the other settings in there are as they should be) but no joy. I've had a nosey through all the registry entries I can find relating to WC3 but can't se anything obvious that might be casuing this (though I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking for so may well have missed something).

Like I said the game was installed from my original CDs using my original CD Key, so shouldn't be an anti-piracy trigger or anything (if that even exists in WC3 classic).

As far as I remember the game worked fine - sound and all - last time I had it installed (which was on this same PC, though about 10 or so years ago when I was still stubbornly running Windows 7).

I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling. The game is not installed under 'Program Files' or anywhere else that requires administrator privileges.

I'm not interested in playing Reforged - I've got it, played it, disliked it. Hence why I've gone back to the 'good old days' of WC3 classic. I just want to play single player in peace lol.

I don't know if this issue existed before patching to 1.27b - I didn't think to check when re-installing and I can't really be bothered doing it again now, unless absolutely necessary. Might it be something to do with no longer needing the CD in the drive since patching? If that's the case though why would sound work when using a previously created profile?

Any ideas or suggestions? I know this isn't the end of the world, given the workaround of simply relauncing the game, but damnit it's annoying me!!

Thanks guys.

Edit: Just to add in case it's relevant, on further investigation, it's starting any campaign that causes the issue. If I create a profile but don't start a campaign before closing and relaunching the game, then there will still be no sound in-game after starting a campaign. After a campaign has been started I can close and relaunch the game and starting that same campaign again will result in working sound. Starting a new (different) campaign under the same profile, however, will result in missing sound again, until close and relaunch. I hope that makes sense!

2nd Edit (sorry - I'm just trying to add as much info as I can): Starting a campaign and then qutting it to return to the main menu, then starting the campaign again does not restore in-game sound. The whole game has to be closed down and then relaunched again for that campaign to now have in-game sound. Starting a different campaign, after in-game sound is working in a previously started campaign, still results in no sound in-game for the new campaign, but sound will remain working in the previously started campaign (if that makes any sense at all?). To simplify: any campaign under the same profile will not have in-game sound after initially being started until the whole game has been closed and relaunched.

What the hell is going on here? This is infuriating!

 

[mdl]

Hi. Have you tried reinstalling? Have you tried if the issue exists on another patch?

 

[Nappy_Boy]

Yes I've tried reinstalling - twice now, and every time in a different location (none of which require admin rights). On the last install I tried the 1.26 patch and the problem existed on that too.

 

[Ninjasr16]

I'd like to add that I've got a similar problem that I couldn't find a solution for. Although, in this case, I added a second installation for 1.29 (for custom content), keeping my previous 1.27 install backed-up in a different location.

My issue is that dialogue, some music and other sounds (not exactly sure what is/isn't affected) doesn't play, but in-game sound effects and music do work. This only happened after 1.29 was installed and it's affected both versions. My only clue is a ‘Unable to initialize 3D sound provider. 3D sound is disabled.’ error on 1.29, but I haven't found a solution for that either.
Prior to installing 1.29, my sound worked perfectly.
As I'm not sure what the problem is, I don't even know how to go about trying to fix it and I'm treating a re-install as a last resort.

This thread seems the most recent and the issue at least looks related, which is why I'm commenting here.

 

[Ravager16829]

My issue is that dialogue, some music and other sounds (not exactly sure what is/isn't affected) doesn't play, but in-game sound effects and music do work. This only happened after 1.29 was installed and it's affected both versions. My only clue is a ‘Unable to initialize 3D sound provider. 3D sound is disabled.’ error on 1.29, but I haven't found a solution for that either.

The only thing that Blizzard broke with 1.27-1.29 was the ambient sounds. This has to be done due to the issues relating to the compatibilities with Mac users.

Starting with 1.30, Blizzard implemented the new sound provider system (FMOD) which brought back the original ambient sounds, but it apparently caused certain sound files to be broken, especially the single player campaign's voice lines (like Maiev's line in NightElfX04 when the runner gets attacked).

As you may know on, versions between 1.27 and 1.31 were actually created to build a foundation for Reforged. I think, starting with 1.29 (which is the patch that I'm currently using since 2019) and up to 1.31, Blizzard won't probably fix the huge list of bugs that began to stack up since they were rushing to get the "actual" Reforged release (aka 1.32+). The last patch made by the original Blizzard team was actually 1.26, which was about 13 years ago, and people decided to stay on 1.26 due to the known bugs and issues on later patches, though this patch was also notable for such problems relating to the computer hacking/ACE.

 

[Ninjasr16]

The only thing that Blizzard broke with 1.27-1.29 was the ambient sounds. This has to be done due to the issues relating to the compatibilities with Mac users.

Well, I've heard that a lot, but it doesn't really help my issue when you present me with a separate one that I'm not experiencing. To be fair, I assume my problem is a super-rare one.

I have found at least two other people online had this issue, but no fix: Here and here. One of them was Reforged though and the other isn't mentioned.

I am aware of some of the technical stuff, since I've been lurking on and off of this forum since 2012-2013 or earlier (can’t remember).

 

[Ninjasr16]

I'm not interested in playing Reforged - I've got it, played it, disliked it. Hence why I've gone back to the 'good old days' of WC3 classic. I just want to play single player in peace lol.

I had a thought. Did you have Reforged installed on the same PC you're currently trying to play Classic on? If yes, it's possible that you need to go into the registry, as installing Reforged messes with that which can cause issues for WC3. I've had that issue with the World Editor refusing to launch, until I changed something in the registry.
When you uninstall the game, are there still registry entries for it?

Note that I don't know what entries specifically could be/are causing your problem, but you might find something.

 

[Ravager16829]

Note that I don't know what entries specifically could be/are causing your problem, but you might find something.

Deleting the registry entries related to Warcraft III isn't actually recommended, unless you are using the multiple versions of the game, which can break the registries from the older versions, and only upon changing things from inside newer ones.

In case anyone is wondering, the specific registry keys that are causing a troubles with the older Warcraft III are:
-The "Tool Window" inside the "WorldEdit" key, which makes pre-1.32 World Editor unusable.
-The "User Game Save Folder" inside the "Warcraft III" key. 1.28 installation creates an outdated format for the user data directory, which resulted in the game asking for a new profile everytime when it loads.
-The "Video" folder inside the "Warcraft III" key. If you are using both 1.26 (or older) and the recent one, but you still get the DirectX error on 1.26 even after deleting this folder, you have to set the "Adapter" DWORD key to 0.

So, in short, you'll have to always reset the registry first when switching between versions, especially if you're using the World Editor.
You can find "Warcraft III" registry branches in:
"HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Blizzard Entertainment\"
"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Wow6432Node\Blizzard Entertainment\"
And if you delete both of them, the game will automatically recreate any required registry keys during the startup.

 

[Nappy_Boy]

I had a thought. Did you have Reforged installed on the same PC you're currently trying to play Classic on? If yes, it's possible that you need to go into the registry, as installing Reforged messes with that which can cause issues for WC3. I've had that issue with the World Editor refusing to launch, until I changed something in the registry.
When you uninstall the game, are there still registry entries for it?

Note that I don't know what entries specifically could be/are causing your problem, but you might find something.

No, I had that installed on my main gaming rig, which is unfortunately currently dead as the proverbial Dodo. I've got this classic version installed on a different, older, PC that has never had Reforged installed on it so that probably won't be the problem. Good suggestion though and it may well end up helping someone else so thanks for raising it.

After extensive searching I can't find any other mention of this specific problem. I can find mention of plenty of other similar issues with sound such as the one you mentioned above, but nothing that matches the problem I'm having (sound is working fine - but only after a game restart once a campaign has been launched initiailly). I wonder if many of these problems are related somehow? Perhaps it's just a specific issue with my hardware config. I'm pretty sure sound used to work without this issue last time I had classic installed on this PC - but it was a very long time ago and I was on a different OS so who knows (I've tried updating drivers etc.). If I get chance to test the game on another PC I'll report back here.

 

[Luashine]

Oh I think I had encountered this issue and it matches the description somewhat. When manually running scripts to play sounds, v1.29 would not play a sound the first time at all. It would only work on a second try. 1.32.x fixed this.
I don't remember if Preload (force-cache) had helped there or not. I have not written it down, but I'm sure you would find more results for "sound doesn't play".

Until I can get my hands on it and test it again (ping me if this hadn't happened after a week/year/my retirement), try to force the entire game folder into OS cache. For example, I used WC3 folder -> Right-click -> 7z hash (choose any single one). When a program reads a file, it remains cached in RAM by OS and if you have enough free RAM, it will stay there even while you play the game. If my hypothesis is correct, all sounds will play on first game start if served from cache.

 

[Nappy_Boy]

Well, I found the problem! Thanks Luashine - it was your suggestion that helped, albeit indirectly.

You see, the game is running on my old laptop which, since the demise of my Desktop, is now my main PC. As such I always have it plugged into a laptop dock connected to my main monitor and keyboard etc. I almost never use it as a portable device. Except this morning I decided for reasons of a change of scenery and a bad back to work from the couch instead of my desk. And it just so happens that I decided to check this thread on my break, saw your response and thought I'd give it a try. Before I did I wanted to make sure I could replicate the problem so before I undertook your suggestion I launched the game, created a new profile and started a campaign... and the sound worked properly straight away!!!!

I deleted the profile, plugged the laptop back into the dock, created a new profile and started a campaign... and no sound!

Turns out it's a specific issue with my hardware setup after all. I didn't even think the dock could be interfering with it as I'm not experiencing any sound issue on any other games or applications, and as it's nearly always plugged in I forgot the dock was even there to be honest, but there you have it. When I'm not plugged into the dock it works as it should every time. When I'm plugged in it doesn't. It's still a really weird problem, and one I'd love to get to the bottom of, but not an issue with the game per se - just my specific setup.

Thanks to everyone who has responded with suggestions and information on this, I really do appreciate it. Sorry for the false alarm!!

 

[Luashine]

Great find!
But this is in no way a false alarm. You found something that breaks. To give a list of what a dock potentially brings with it:

• another display output (toggle the display in settings?)
• if you have a dedicated GPU, it may force rendering and graphics to use the dedicated GPU thanks to the external display connected. Before it might have used the iGPU.
• another audio output. Switch the "Default Audio output device" between them? Disable one or the other in Audio settings or device manager?

Counter-intuitive? It sure is. This thread tied it all together, the last 3 posts: Special effects at a point do not work