Editing Openai/693b0e5f-820c-8001-b8cd-3988407a5c0b


{{DISPLAYTITLE:Fix black screen WBC3}}

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== gpt-5-1 ==
=== User: I'm trying to play warlords battlecry 3 on Linux bazzite, but when i try t o play it using heroic, in game the screen i… ===
I'm trying to play warlords battlecry 3 on Linux bazzite, but when i try t o play it using heroic, in game the screen is black

=== Assistant: A black-screen in Warlords Battlecry 3 on Linux Bazzite using Heroic + Wine/Proton is a known issue. ===
A black-screen in Warlords Battlecry 3 on Linux Bazzite (using Heroic + Wine/Proton) is a known issue. It’s usually caused by one of these:

===== In Heroic: =====
# Heroic → Settings → Wine Manager
# Install Proton-GE (e.g., GE-Proton 9 or whatever is newest)
# Go to the game → Settings → choose the Proton-GE version you installed
# Launch again.

WBC3 often works better with custom Proton builds.

===== Some people get a black screen because DXVK struggles with this old DirectDraw/DirectX 8 title. =====

In Heroic, under the game’s settings:
* Scroll to Environment Variables
* Add:

<syntaxhighlight>DXVK_DISABLE_D3D10=1

</syntaxhighlight>

Or completely disable DXVK:
* Toggle "Disable DXVK" (if available)
* Or add:

<syntaxhighlight>PROTON_USE_WINED3D=1

</syntaxhighlight>

===== Through Winetricks (Heroic → Wine Tools → Winetricks): =====

Install:
* d3dx9
* vcrun6
* directplay (sometimes required for old games)

===== Sometimes it boots black in fullscreen. =====

Try editing the game’s config:
# Go to the game's install folder
# Edit Battlecry.ini
# Find or add:

<syntaxhighlight>Windowed=1

</syntaxhighlight>

Or launch with the argument:
-w

===== Bazzite uses Wayland by default; some older games work better under X11. =====

Try launching Heroic with XWayland:
# In Heroic game settings, add environment variable:

<syntaxhighlight>WINEDLLOVERRIDES="ddraw=n,b"

</syntaxhighlight>

This forces a better fallback for DirectDraw.

===== ✔ which Proton/Wine version you're using =====
✔ logs (Heroic → Show Logs)
✔ game settings or config file

Just tell me what you’re using and I’ll guide you step-by-step.

=== User: wheres the 4th option ===
wheres the 4th option

=== Assistant: If you're trying to find Option 4: “Force windowed mode” — it’s not in Heroic. ===
If you're trying to find Option 4: “Force windowed mode” — it’s not in Heroic.
It’s something you must do inside the game’s folder, because Warlords Battlecry 3 uses an old INI file for its settings.

Here is exactly where to find the file:

==== ### ====

(or wherever you installed it)

Full path will look something like:

<syntaxhighlight>~/.var/app/com.heroicgameslauncher.hgl/config/heroic/tools/wine/prefixes/(yourprefix)/drive_c/GOG Games/Warlords Battlecry 3/Battlecry.ini

</syntaxhighlight>

Or on non-Flatpak Bazzite (if not using the Flatpak Heroic):

<syntaxhighlight>~/.config/heroic/tools/wine/prefixes/(yourprefix)/drive_c/GOG Games/Warlords Battlecry 3/Battlecry.ini

</syntaxhighlight>

==== 1. Right-click → Open with text editor ====
# Find the line:

<syntaxhighlight>Windowed=

</syntaxhighlight>
# Change it to:

<syntaxhighlight>Windowed=1

</syntaxhighlight>
# Save the file
# Launch the game again

==== Tell me: ====
* Are you using Heroic Flatpak or native Heroic?
* Is your copy GOG, Steam, or other?

I can then give you the exact path for your setup.

=== User: doesnt work ===
doesnt work

=== Assistant: No worries — we can still fix this, but at this point I need real info from your system, because WBC3 usually does run … ===
No worries — we can still fix this, but at this point I need real info from your system, because WBC3 usually does run under Wine once DirectDraw is handled correctly.

Please do one thing so I can actually see what your Wine prefix is doing:

=== ✅ STEP 1 — Send me the game log ===

In Heroic:

Select the game → on the right: “Logs” → “Game Log” → copy the last 40–60 lines and paste them here.

This will tell me exactly why the screen is black (DXVK crash, ddraw failure, resolution switch, or intro video issue).

Without this, we're guessing.

=== If you cannot find the logs, do this: ===

Open a terminal and run:

<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">find ~/.var/app/com.heroicgameslauncher.hgl -type f -iname "*.log" | grep -i battlecry | head

</syntaxhighlight>

If you get a path, run:

<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">tail -n 60 <path-you-found>

</syntaxhighlight>

Paste that output here.

=== ❗ Before logs, try one more known working fix (internal ddraw wrapper) ===

Warlords Battlecry 3 is infamous for DirectDraw issues. This fix often works when everything else fails:

===== 1. Download this DirectDraw wrapper DLL (ddwrapper) =====

(dgVoodoo sometimes works, but ddwrapper is safer for WBC3)

→ https://www.bitpatch.com/ddwrapper.html
Download: '''ddwrapper.zip'''

If you can’t download it, tell me — I can give you a step-by-step through your browser.

===== 2. Extract these files: =====
* ddraw.dll
* aqrit.cfg

===== 3. Put them into the game folder: =====

For Heroic Flatpak GOG install, the path is typically:

<syntaxhighlight>~/.var/app/com.heroicgameslauncher.hgl/data/heroic/games/GOG/war-lords-battlecry-3/

</syntaxhighlight>

Or find it with:

<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">find ~/.var/app/com.heroicgameslauncher.hgl -type d -iname "Warlords Battlecry 3"

</syntaxhighlight>

===== 4. Edit aqrit.cfg =====

Open it and set:

<syntaxhighlight>ForceDirectDrawEmulation = 1
DDrawCompat = 1

</syntaxhighlight>

===== 5. In Heroic → Game settings → Environment, add: =====

<syntaxhighlight>WINEDLLOVERRIDES=ddraw=n,b

</syntaxhighlight>

Then launch.

=== 🔥 This method has fixed black screens for nearly everyone using Wine. ===

But I need your log if this still fails — then I can pinpoint the exact cause (video codec failure, intro video, renderer, or DirectDraw crash).

👉 Please paste the last 40–60 lines of your Heroic game log here.

== gpt-5-t-mini ==
=== User: it doesnt work, I'm using Heroic flatpak a copy on GOG ===
it doesnt work, I'm using Heroic flatpak a copy on GOG

=== Assistant: Thanks — let’s run through a short, concrete checklist exact steps you can try right now to force windowed mode and fix… ===
Thanks — let’s run through a short, concrete checklist (exact steps you can try right now) to force windowed mode and fix the black screen in your Heroic Flatpak + GOG install.

I’ll give GUI steps first, then exact file paths and terminal commands you can copy-paste.

=== Quick GUI steps (easiest) ===
# Open Heroic → select the Warlords Battlecry 3 game.
# Click Settings (the gear) for the game.
# In Launch options (or Command line / Arguments) add: ``<code> -w </code>`` Save and try launch.
# In the same Settings page find Environment variables (or “Advanced → Environment”): - Add PROTON_USE_WINED3D = 1 - Add WINEDLLOVERRIDES = ddraw=n,b Save and try launch.
# If that fails, in Heroic → Wine Manager install a Proton-GE build (latest GE) and set the game to use that Proton-GE build. Then try launching again.
# If Heroic has a Manage → Open prefix or Open game folder button, click that and go to the next section; otherwise use the file path below.

=== Exact file locations for Heroic Flatpak (where to find Battlecry.ini) ===

Heroic Flatpak stores prefixes and game files here. try these paths:
* Game prefix path root:

<syntaxhighlight>~/.var/app/com.heroicgameslauncher.hgl/data/heroic/tools/wine/prefixes/

</syntaxhighlight>
* Full typical path to the INI (adjust (yourprefix) — it’s the folder named after your prefix):

<syntaxhighlight>~/.var/app/com.heroicgameslauncher.hgl/data/heroic/tools/wine/prefixes/(yourprefix)/drive_c/GOG Games/Warlords Battlecry 3/Battlecry.ini

</syntaxhighlight>

If you can’t find it, run this in a terminal to locate the file:

<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">find ~/.var/app/com.heroicgameslauncher.hgl -type f -iname "Battlecry.ini" 2>/dev/null

</syntaxhighlight>

=== Edit the INI file (what to change) ===

Open Battlecry.ini with a text editor and set these values (create them if missing):

<syntaxhighlight>Windowed=1
Fullscreen=0

</syntaxhighlight>

Save and launch the game.

=== If editing the INI doesn’t take effect — use these environment variables (add them in Heroic → Game Settings → Environment) ===

<syntaxhighlight>PROTON_USE_WINED3D=1
WINEDLLOVERRIDES=ddraw=n,b

</syntaxhighlight>

(If Heroic wants them split, add two entries: PROTON_USE_WINED3D -> 1 and WINEDLLOVERRIDES -> ddraw=n,b)

Also try disabling DXVK (Heroic usually has a toggle) or set:

<syntaxhighlight>DXVK_DISABLE_D3D10=1

</syntaxhighlight>

=== Try running Heroic under X11 (Wayland can break old DirectDraw games) ===

If your session is Wayland, try an X11 session instead. Or launch Heroic Flatpak forcing X11 with this command:

<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">XDG_SESSION_TYPE=x11 flatpak run com.heroicgameslauncher.hgl

</syntaxhighlight>

(If that command fails on your distro, switch to an X11 session from the login screen temporarily and test.)

=== Check logs (to see what’s happening) ===

Heroic → Show Logs (for the game).
Or look in the logs folder:

<syntaxhighlight>~/.var/app/com.heroicgameslauncher.hgl/data/heroic/logs/

</syntaxhighlight>

If you want, copy the last 50 lines of the game log here and I’ll read them for errors.

=== Summary of the order to try (fastest → more intrusive) ===
# Add -w in Launch options and try.
# Edit Battlecry.ini → set Windowed=1 and Fullscreen=0.
# Add env vars: PROTON_USE_WINED3D=1 and WINEDLLOVERRIDES=ddraw=n,b.
# Disable DXVK / set DXVK_DISABLE_D3D10=1.
# Switch Proton/Wine to Proton-GE in Wine Manager.
# Run under X11.

Tell me which steps you already tried (you mentioned the INI earlier — which path did you edit?), and if you want I can walk you through the exact commands to run (for finding the prefix, opening the file, or grabbing the log). If you paste the last 20–50 lines of the Heroic game log I’ll parse them and point to the exact error.

== References ==
<references />


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