There are some important issues with the Commandos series. Due to it's age most modern PCs will run the game impossibly quickly making it difficult to play, the Steam install also fails to correctly setup the game so you are unable to Load/Save.
A new fix has been released for both BTCOD and BEL, you can watch the tutorial from the link below. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e27kmguutgM
To download the files, simply download from either of the links below. Link 1: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1IQhcL6aChuU3NYS1pzZ2k1eWs/edit Link 2: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=1E5848A6FCC4AB3E%21187
Older methods to fix can be found below
Behind Enemy Lines
SAVE/LOAD ISSUE
This fix is for the Steam version and allows loading and saving.
edit Commando.cfg (Output/ folder) add below to bottom.
.SIZE [ .INITSIZE 3 ]
.PROFILE [ .USER 0 ]
.DEVELOP 1
SPEED ISSUE
There are various solutions including installing a 3rd party app specifically designed to slow down a modern PC to make the game playable.
- Google and download CPUGrab.zip (3.6Kb) and run the CPUGrab.exe (12.048Kb).
- Run Steam and launch Commandos and get to the menu screen.
- ALT + Tab to return to desktop.
- CTRL+Shift+Esc to bring up Task Manager, click Processes tab.
- Right click CPUGrab.exe and click Set Affinity, uncheck all except "CPU 0".
- Right click Commandos.exe and click Set Affinity, uncheck all except "CPU 0".
- Close task manager.
- Alter the slider of CPUGrab to 80% (this is the % you want to take away from your processor, the higher the % the slower the processor will work) and press Start.
- ALT+Tab back to the game. Note the menu selection should have slowed. Try playing a level. If it is still too fast, or too slow, ALT+TAB to desktop and move the slider in CPUGrab to a higher %, or lower if it was too slow.
You will have to tweak the speed to suit your processor. Make a text file and note the settings for future reference. I found 80% was about right for a 2.5GHz Dual Core.
WIDE SCREEN ISSUE
Users with widescreen monitors have reported problems getting the game to look correct (the menu only allows for 4:3 aspects with a max of 1024x768) there are widescreen patches and Hex editing tutorials available. The Behind Enemy Lines Resolution Fix by Stevenh appears to be one of the easiest and most complete fixes available but I have not tested it and use at your own risk.
http://modelrail.otenko.com/electronics/commandos-behind-enemy-lines-resolution-fix
Beyond the Call of Duty
SAVE/LOAD ISSUE
This fix is for the steam version that incorrectly sets the Save/Load config and stops the game from saving.
edit Commando.cfg (Output/ folder) add the below line to bottom.
.DEVELOP 1
LOCK UP ISSUE
Try setting the affinity for the game to a single processor core, I found this solved the frequent crashes during loads and saves as well as loss of audio.
Set Affinty Fix
- ALT + Tab to return to desktop.
- CTRL+Shift+Esc to bring up Task Manager, click Processes tab.
- Right click coman_mp.exe and click Set Affinity, uncheck all except "CPU 0".
BtCoD Ultimate fix
The BtCoD Ultimate fix is a pair of community made file fixes that repair problems with maps and the speed issue for some.
- rename the .EXE and .DIR files to .OEXE and .ODIR
- Copy over the replacement .exe and .dir file from BtCoD Ultimate fix.
Doesn't solve 100% but saves are more stable (Quickload on death is still crashy). If the files fail to improve thing simply delete them and rename the .oexe and .odir back to their original names.
Misc Fixes.
Some people have reported that the following also made their game more stable.
- Turn Game Speed in Preferences down to 1 point and turn off music.
- Using CTRL + S to save also appears to reduce possible crashes during saves.