BW1 on Windows 7

Mary26

Mary26

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Decided to install BW1 on my computer that is running Windows 7.  At first I had a problem with the game not saving, but I uninstalled and reinstalled and that seems to be fixed.  Now I installed both Patch 1.1 and 1.2, but my game still shows V1.00 on the screen when you start the game.  Both patches report that they are already installed.  I found this guide to installing BW1 on Windows 7:

http://cowgod.net/2009/11/07/play-black-white-on-windows-7/

I haven't got that far into the game, so I will continue to note if it still works later in the game.
 
It often does that on Vista, too. The 1.20 patch is actually effective, but it just isn't displayed as such. It's a Vista and Windows 7 problem. After the patch is installed, it just doesn't place the correct number (1.2) in the registry entry.
 
That's nice to know. Thanks for posting it. :yes
 
hi, cowgod here...  i'm the one that wrote the article.  are you running the game using compatibility mode settings?  if so it will report as version 1.00, regardless of what patches you have installed.  you should not need to run the game in compatibility mode for it to work properly in windows 7.
 
cowgod said:
hi, cowgod here...  i'm the one that wrote the article.  are you running the game using compatibility mode settings?  if so it will report as version 1.00, regardless of what patches you have installed.  you should not need to run the game in compatibility mode for it to work properly in windows 7.
Click to expand...

No, I'm not running it in compatibility mode.  It works just fine, so the version thing is no biggie, just me being nitpicky.
 
that's really strange because i see the correct version number when i run black & white on windows 7.  what does it say when you launch the game as an administrator?
 
cowgod said:
  you should not need to run the game in compatibility mode for it to work properly in windows 7.
Click to expand...

A lot of people in the Lionshead forums just don't get that.  I'm glad that the folks here do!  Running as administrator seems to be the cure-all for Vista AND 7 issues.  I've run in both OS's with unpatched and patched games, and the admin. settings never fail (at least for me).
 
Tried running it as an administrator and still got V1.00.  But the game works, so that's not a problem.  Something that I noticed after arriving at Land 2: I changed my symbol to a heart, and then on Land 2, it started out as the two circles that is the default symbol.  I changed it back to a heart, but I will have to keep an eye on it and see if it does that again.
 
Windows 7 and Vista have write / read issues at certain folder paths. to ensure your game is allowed to save all its own files, install it at

C:\Users\Public\Games

Installed in Program Files, or anyware else on C: causes save issues - as do personal locations, as you need to set the permissions for those by yourself - by default, these are very restricting.
 
Well, I just found that out the hard way, starting up the game after a break, it wiped all my save games and left me at the beginning of Land 2.  :(

I will try uninstalling and reinstalling in the directory Sylcai suggested and see what that does.

EDIT: It will install there, but not in its own folder, do I need to create a folder at C:/Users/Public/Games/BW or something like that?
 
My directory for black & white is;

C:/Users/Public/Games/Black & White

the normal suggested directory is

C:/Program Files (x86)/Lionhead Studios Ltd/Black & White

So, yes, I supose your /BW is good? - Also, ensure you're installing on an admin account - the AUC sometimes interferes  :angry
 
What about my other games, like BW2 or Spore?  Do they need to be installed in the Games folder as well?
 
Prefferably, yes. - It is the best for Windows, as it will set the appropriate permissions automaticly for everything there.

Thank Activision Blizzard for that, as it are the designers of WoW that suggested it to windows ;p


Also, if you have Spore C&C there is a way to install it there aswell, to ensure it won't give a compatibility issue, but it includes some regediting, so I will only tell you how in a PM if you want :)
 
After installing in a folder I created called C:\Users\Public\Games\Black and White, and installing both patches,  my version number now shows up as V1.20, and the save game problem seems to be solved.  I should also have mentioned that I had to do a direct copy of the audio files from the CD to my hard drive, which was a problem from before.
 
Mhm, copying the audio music file from the cd to the hard drive is better for the game anyway, it reduces loading times :p
 
I've reached Land 5 and the game is working great.  Thanks to Cowgod and Sylcai for their help.
 
Great to hear that it works on Windows 7. I May going to get windows 7 soon.

Black and white will live forever! :)
 
I've no problems to install black and white on windows 7.

the solution is that the path of the game directory have no space and special symbols e.g. (&, ?, -)

wrong:

C:\Program Files\ Lionhead Studios\ Black & White

right:

C:\games\bnw

Now, the patch installer find the path to the directory.
The Installer was made for Windows 95/98.
 
There should be no issue with spaces, as infact, BW1 was designed for XP

And, XP together with all Windows' after that, have used a special registry that added compatibility for spaces in directory names.

This also included names that were to long for networks.

But I suppose if that worked for you, it would work for anybody.


I wouldn't suggest C:\Games though.. Prefferably any letter after that is a partition, or a hard-disk.. doing anything on C: that isn't created by windows on a clean install, will slow down your pc.

Infact.. anything will slow down a windows pc.. :p even just using it! xD
 
Hi guys I'm trying to play Black and White again, on Windows 7 X64.

the game seems to run fine and everything, and I followed the instructions and installed the game to C:\Users\Public\Games\Black & White\ but I can't get it to recognize my old profile that i put in the folder.

I played tis game a long time ago, and I backed up one of my profiles so that if I wanted to play again at some point, I could skip all the tutorial crap in the beginning.

So I moved my backed up profile to ".. \Black & White\Profiles\" but when I start up the game, it asks me to create a profile.

Any idea why it's not recognizing this profile? I'm 100% certain the backed up profile was made while playing with version 1.2, which is what is installed, and it says this during the loading screen.
 
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