Up to date Dark Reign Information and Instructions

Current Dark Reign Information

Last Updated: 12 March 2006 - 1:09pm GMT+12.

Great news! Dark Reign now runs on all Windows operating systems including Windows XP. People can now play together by using Kali. It's a wonder we didn't find this earlier because it works perfectly. Anyway some instructions for getting it going are here! Everyone usually co-ordinates things through Msn/Icq and we meet up in the Dark Reign chat server on Kali where we can sort things out and launch into DR. You'll need to be fully patched as well so check out the patch section while you're at it.

A few ladders have been created by EonBlade so we can now compete against each other on the ladder! :-) Make sure you sign up and start playing!
- Dark Reign Singles (Kali)
- Dark Reign Teams (Kali)

The DR servers still work and there are instructions for getting into them here but Kali should be the new meeting place as everyone can play regardless of what operating system you run.With the current DR servers and Windows XP and 2000 you can't talk to other WinXP/2000 players in the lobby and playing games with them only sometimes works.

Lots of people now meet up on Kali and play around the clock, 24/7. If you just the chat server you should be able to see who's on and be able to get a 2v2 or 3v3 going no problems. You can try and co-ordinate a few games over Msn/Icq as well.

Some definite schedules for meeting up are:
20:00hrs (8pm) Saturdays, GMT timezone
20:00hrs (8pm onwards) Wednesdays and Thursdays, GMT + 12 timezone (For Australian and NZ players).

Check to see what time that is in your timezone by going to the Date/Time properties function in your taskbar. Then add or minus a few hours accordingly.

Talisman has been found, his details are in the contact details section. Also check out his great site here. We're just waiting for some of the other great DR players to come back, so if you see them on Msn or Icq give them a good hurry up! :-) I'm looking at putting up a small archive of my maps in the future too.

Also don't forget to play the best mission for DR ever made, produced by Archimedes, Sith, Satz and myself. Find someone to play it with and you'll have a lot of fun!

Msn: powastryker@icqmail.com
Icq: 54497547
Email: powa [at] cyber-rights [dot] net

If you need instructions for installing these patches or getting Dark Reign connecting to a server go here.

Win2K/XP Patch for Dark Reign (Working mirror # 1) (Contains updated servers.dat)
Win2K/XP Patch for Dark Reign (Working mirror # 2) (Contains updated servers.dat)

// The 1.2 and Art patches are only needed if you haven't installed the expansion cd. It just upgrades the game so they can play on the internet against users with the expansion cd. If you have the expansion cd don't install these patches. //

Ok well done on deciding to install Win98. Before you begin, give your current OS a defrag so it shifts all the data to one end of the drive. Hopefully you've got your Win98 cd and your Win2k or XP cd ready. Firstly if you haven't partitioned your hard drive already you are going to need Partition Magic. You can download partition magic 8.01 from here. MSN/ICQ/Email me for the password for self extracting archive. At this point I'm assuming you know a little about computers and are allowed to stuff round on the one your about to partition. I'm not responsible if you stuff something up, you do it at your own risk.

Ok if you've downloaded PM8 open it and extract the files. Once extracted this contains two folders. Open the folders and copy the data inside them onto two separate floppy disks. Label the disks accordingly, then reboot the machine.

Load up the BIOS setup program and make sure it is set to boot up a floppy first, then CD-Rom, then HDA0. You can change it back later. Save changes and reboot. Put in PM8 bootdisk, it will load up and ask you to insert disk 2, then you're away.

Ok basically if you've got enough hard drive space, you are going to want to resize your current operating systems partition. You will need about 5Gb of free space. In Partition Magic, resize your current operating system to make 5Gb of unpartitioned space. You can do it with the menus or using the slider bar. I'm assuming you have Win2000 or XP. Now make a new Fat32 partition about 3Gb in size, this is for Win98 and DR. With the remaining space (2Gb), make another Fat32 partition - this ones for another XP/2000 partition. Now apply the changes and reboot after. If Partition Magic appears to freeze up or mouse not move during the process, DO NOT shutdown your computer or you will lose all your data. PM8 never freezes it just takes its time, sometimes up to hours for a single task. So don't reboot the computer until its finished.

Ok once partition magic has finished, reboot and put the Win98 cd in and install Windows 98 onto the 3Gb Fat32 partition. The stupid thing will probably make you reboot about 6 times, but make sure its fully installed before you continue.

Ok by now you should have noticed that you can only boot into Windows 98 and you may want to boot back into Win2000/XP one day. Reboot and throw in your Win2000/XP cd and let it boot from the Cd. If your lucky it might detect your current XP install and allow you to repair it automatically. If thats the case you don't need to go any further. If it doesn't give you an option to repair the XP install then you'll need to go ahead with a fresh install of XP so it corrects the bootloader to allow both OS's load. Generally you would install the oldest OS first so you don't run into problems like this, but too late now eh. Anyway, install a new copy of XP onto the 2Gb Fat32 partition you have spare. Make sure it has completely finished installing and you can stuff round inside XP/2000.

If you haven't noticed by now, at startup it should have a menu allowing you to choose which OS you want to boot into. Ok cool not much work to do now. While in the new XP/2000 open the Disk Management system. Right click on My Computer and select manage. Now in the left tree column look for 'Disk Management' and open it up. You'll see a layout of your disk's current partition setup.

Now minimize disk management and right click on My Computer and select Properties. Click on the Advanced tab, and then under Startup and Recovery click Settings. That should bring up some options. Click on Edit which will open up a notepad window to let you edit the boot.ini file. Don't give up yet!

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Pro" /fastdetect
C:\ = "Windows"

This file tells windows what partitions holds the operating systems and is basically the bootloader.. You can find all the info you need for editing it here, or here. We're just going to run through it quickly so don't panic, its soo easy.

In the [operating systems] section of the Boot.ini file, you’ll find a somewhat cryptic line for each installed copy of Windows XP, Windows 2000, or Windows NT. This line uses Advanced RISC Computing (ARC) paths to specify the location of the boot partition. For example:

The first parameter identifies the disk controller. In the multi() form, it should always be 0. The disk() parameter is not used in the multi() form and should always be 0. The rdisk() parameter in the multi() form specifies the ordinal number on the controller (starting with 0) of the disk that contains the boot partition. Thus, if multiple hard disks are installed, the first disk is 0, the second is 1, and so on. The partition() parameter identifies the partition number of the boot partition. Partitions on a disk are numbered starting with 1.

The last part of the ARC path (usually \WINDOWS or \WINNT for Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows NT) identifies the path to the folder where that version of Windows is installed.

So check the partition number and (in your case) the path to the Windows98 system folder (e.g. it may be Win98 or something)

If we look at the text above it only allows for one XP on partition(3) and one Win98 (C:\ = "Windows"). So you need to change it a little. This is where you refer back to the disk management to see how your partitions are laid out. If you look at the picture, the partitions are numbered from the left starting at 1 onwards. You might have partition(1) as the original XP, partition(2) as Windows 98, partition(3) as the new XP.

Yours might be slightly different but generally copy the multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Pro" /fastdetect line from the boot.ini and insert it into the code.

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Pro" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Pro" /fastdetect
C:\ = "Windows"

Ok so thats not much use at the moment. You need to change one of the XP lines to partition(1) or whatever partition the original XP/2000 install was on. Rename some of the lines so you know which OS is booting. Anything inside the quote marks "" is whatever you will see on the screen when you boot up the computer. Now you should have something like:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windoze XP Pro - Older copy with all my stuff" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Windoze XP Pro - Newest copy" /fastdetect
C:\ = "Windoze 98 SE with DR!"

Alright if that looks ok, save the boot.ini file. Back in the system properties options before you started editing the boot.ini you can change which OS you want to be the default to boot up and how long the bootloader will display for before booting up the default. 15secs is good.

Ok reboot and see if you can boot into all 3 OS's. If you can't boot into one of them, boot back into XP/2000 and try again by changing partition() to the correct number.

First you need to have the game installed so follow these instructions to part (7). Check that you can load the game up. If you don't want to have the Cd in all the time, use the Cd Crack. If you have saved your Dark Reign folder all these years with all your maps saved you can probably still use it as Kali will search for the game and set it up.

Now you need to download Kali. Pick a download mirror, download the file and install the program.

Now you need to setup a trial membership and receive the registration codes through email, then you can get into the program and set up your games. If you're having trouble have a read of the Kali faq.

Alright, when Kali starts up it should start scanning for all the games in your system. Just let it finish and it should pick up Dark Reign.

By default Kali uses a port of 2213 UDP so if you have a router with Network Address Translation (NAT) you will need to forward the port to your computer's LAN IP address, e.g. 192.168.1.5. Your router might need a restart for the settings to take effect. Using DHCP is not a good idea so definitely assign your computer's IP address manually. To change the port, run Kali, go to the File menu, select Settings, click the Advanced tab and enter a value next to "Local Port". If having NAT issues have a read of this.

Once that's going we can set Dark Reign up for play. In the left hand window pane of Kali you should see a tree of everything.

In the right window pane you should see the Dark Reign chat server so double click on it to enter. Now you can chat with other DR players if there are any in there and get playing. It might take 10secs or so to show all the players in the room.

To the bottom of the Kali window you should be able to see the Dark Reign icon. Right click on it and click configure. Check the path to the dkreign.exe file is correct or change it to the cd_crack.exe if it is in the Dark Reign directory. Some people may need to tick the 'Alternate Winsock' checkbox. I personally don't need it but some people have needed it to get Dark Reign going.

Now once someone has decided to make a game in the chat you can launch the game. Double click on the DR icon from inside Kali and it should close down the chat and launch you to the main menu of DR. Now click on Multi Player and go into Local Area Network [IPX]. Here you should be able to see any games that have been created or in progress. Wait 20secs or so to see if anything comes up. Once you see the game, join it and your back to playing DR, the game that never dies!

If you are having troubles with the game not loading when you double click on the DR icon in Kali, or not seeing any games in the lobby we have found the solution. In your main DR folder you must set the compatibility of dkreign.exe, anetdrop.exe and Cd_Crack.exe to Compatibility for Windows 95. The default options for Kali must remain the same. I found the CD Crack works better than having the CD in. Some other methods involve ticking the Alternate Winsock option. If that doesn't work you can try changing the path in Kali to the original dkreign.exe and playing with the Cd in. Another option might be to install IPX/SPX for the LAN connection in the Network Connections under Control Panel. Plenty of details for doing this off Google, but normally it isn't necessary.

Otherwise you might need some personal help so talk to some people in the chat lobby and/or contact Shade on Msn: shade_96@hotmail.com or Icq: 7832793.

Changing your colour: Right click your name in the chat, select 'Edit player settings' then you can change the name of your colour and text.
Setting yourself to away: Type /away message in the chat to set yourself to away. E.g /away I'm busy. To signal that you are back and ready for play just type /away.

Kali Registration expires:
Open the registry (Start - Run - Type in regedit and press OK), then navigate to:

Then delete the entries for Serial, Skey and Tkey. Now re-register for a trial with a new set of keys. Preferably use a different email address than last time if you can and you should be done!

Getting Dark Reign connected to a server and working in XP and Windows 2000

If using Kali follow steps (1) through (7). The servers still work, but Kali works better!
If wanting to use the DR servers and you are running Windows 9x/ME you don't have to follow all this. Skip to part (7) and follow onwards.

3) In the DR folder on your hard drive (C:\Program Files\Activision\Dark Reign), right click on the dkreign.exe file and select properties. Click the compatibilty tab and set the compatibilty to Windows95 and apply. Do this on all the main .exe files on the expansion cd too. You'll need to do each file separately. Windows2000 doesn't have compatibilty management so don't worry about it.

4) Install Dark Reign Expansion - Rise of the Shadowhand (red cd). It should install fine now seeing it has been made compatible.

6) With the expansion cd installed you are now at version 1.2. Install the 1.4 patch to get up to date.

* Download the unofficial Win2000/XP patch and extract the files to the desktop.
* Open the folder "Win2K_XP".
* (For windows XP or 2000) Copy everything *Inside it* to your Dark Reign folder (C:\Program Files\Activision\Dark Reign\). Overwrite all files when prompted.
* If you are running 95/98/ME only copy the servers.dat file into the Dark Reign directory and overwrite.

* Go to your Dark Reign directory and look for a file called "TACTICS.CFG".
* Open it with notepad.
* Scroll down to where it has:

If you still can't get into the lobby and you are using Win9x/ME try copying files from the win2k patch and see if you can get it going. Otherwise you may need a new servers.dat but that ones pretty recent. You could try disabling some firewalls or put your computer in a DMZ if you use a poor quality router.

// The 1.2 and Art patches are only needed if you haven't installed the expansion cd. It just upgrades the game so they can play on the internet against users with the expansion cd. If you have the expansion cd don't install these patches. //

Install the Blue cd (Dark Reign - The Future of War), then install the 1.2 patch, then the Art patch, then the 1.4 Patch. Use that exact order or it won't work.

Download "Xp_Crack_Install.exe". Extract the Xp_Crack.exe file and put that inside your Dark Reign directory and run it. That will hopefully let you play as Shadowhand and Xenite in Instant Action and Multiplayer. Normally you would need the expansion cd to play as those two teams.

If you don't want to have to play Dark Reign with the cd in all the time, or you want to listen to your own cd music when playing: Put the "Cd_Crack.exe" file in your Dark Reign directory. Make a shortcut to it on your desktop and run that everytime you play. Make sure your Dark Reign is fully updated to version 1.4 first.

If you want to be added to the list please send me a message with your details in the same format as seen here. That will help me build the list quicker. :-)

Powa:
Msn: powastryker@icqmail.com (preferred)
Email: powa [at] cyber-rights [dot] net
Icq: 54497547

Crilman:
Msn: crilman@hotmail.com
Email: crilman [at] paradise [dot] net [dot] nz

MattMaN:
Msn: mattmanz19@hotmail.com
Icq: 26607311
Email: mattman [at] intense [dot] net

Elmo/Daboomf/WildWeasel/Katana/101st Airborne:
Msn: newbaumturk@hotmail.com
Icq: 8362018

SnowCones:
Icq: 9086505 (Unknown if current)
Msn: mr_penetration@hotmail.com

If you want to be added to the list please send me a message with your details in the same format as seen here. That will help me build the list quicker. :-)

Disclaimer: I'm not responsible if you stuff up your system by following any instructions on this site. You do this at your own risk.