Under normal cirustances, you have to have both DoW and WA installed to play their respective races in DC multiplayer.
In actuality, all the files neccesary for doing that come with DC, so having DoW/WA installed is not strictly necessary (and a huge waste of space if you don't want to play those games anymore).
Luckily there is a (now) proven workaround!
This procedure is based on fatalerror5684's thread here: http://forums.relicnews.com/showthread.php?t=113962
If you are interested in what I did to ensure this works, keep reading. Otherwise just skip down to the instructions.
To test this out I first uninstalled EVERYTHING. I then cleaned out any files that were left, and scoured the registry for any DoW-related entries and deleted them too. Bascially I tried to start from scratch to verify that this works correctly (for instance, on a fresh install of Windows).
Along the way I made some screenshots and files to make the job easier
INSTRUCTIONS:
(All steps were done in Windows XP Pro - I don't think it would be much different for any other version of Windows)
These instructions assume you are starting from nothing, but can be modified if you already have DoW/WA installed.
Note: You must actually own DoW/WA to do this. You need legitimate DoW/WA keys for it to work.
Step 1. Install DC
Install DC. Simple as that. You can even have already installed it and been playing - I have tested that scenario as well.
Step 2. Get EXEs
Next you have to get the executables from the original games. There are two places they can be found:
1. On the original DoW/WA CDs
2. In an existing DoW/WA installation
If you are going from scratch, then Option 1 is what you will need. If you are preparing to uninstall an existing installation of DoW/WA, you can back them up using Option 2 before you do so, and save yourself some work when you want to install DC.
Option 1. Game Discs
Luckily you only have to do this once - once you have them, you can save them somewhere for future installs.
The EXEs are located in .CAB files on the DoW/WA discs. You can open .CAB files with many archivers, such as WinRAR:
http://www.download.com/WinRAR/3000-...ml?tag=lst-0-1
Original DoW:
1. Insert DoW Disc 1
2. Open "My Computer"
3. Right-click on the disk drive that DoW is in
4. Select "Open"
5. Open "Data1.cab" in your archiving application (if WinRAR, then just double-click).
6. Find "w40k.exe" and extract it (or drag it) into your DC installation folder.
It should look something like this:
Winter Assault:
1. Insert WA Disc 2
2. Open "My Computer"
3. Right-click on the disk drive that WA is in
4. Select "Open"
5. Open "WinterAssault3.cab" in your archiving application (if WinRAR, then just double-click).
6. Find "W40kWA.exe" and extract it (or drag it) into your DC installation folder.
It should look something like this:
If you want to make your job easier in the future, copy those two EXEs into a folder somewhere, put the completed .reg file from the next step in there too, and save them all for future usage! Just be careful, as that reg will have your unique keys in it.
Option 2: Existing DoW/WA installation
Navigate to your DoW/WA installation directory and find the files "w40k.exe" and "W40kWA.exe".
You can copy them somewhere for future use, or copy them directly into your DC directory before you uninstall DoW/WA.
If you ARE uninstalling DoW/WA, then do so BEFORE the next step. Uninstallation will remove the reg keys added in the next step.
Step 3. Reg Key!
Warning! Editing the registry can be dangerous if you don't know what you are doing! I have tried to make it foolproof here, but I cannot be held responsible if you mess your registry up!
In order to trick DC into thinking you have the others installed, you need to create some reg keys. You can do it manually, but it is far easier to use a script. I have a template for one created and ready to use:
http://files.filefront.com/DoWreg/;6.../fileinfo.html
Open that file up in Notepad, it should look something like this:
The places in there with X's need to be replaced with your valid DoW/WA keys.Code:Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\THQ\Dawn of War] "CDKEY"="xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx" "CDKEY_WXP"="xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx" "InstallLocation"="C:\\Program Files\\THQ\\Dawn of War - Dark Crusade\\"
CDKEY = DoW Key
CDKEY_WXP = WA Key
Capitalization does not matter.
The InstallLocation I have already filled in for the default for DC, but you can change it. Just make sure you put double backslashes ( \\ ) instead of single in the file path.
Once you have made the modifications in Notepad, save the file. Now double-click it to merge it into your registry.
When you merge it, it should look something like this:
If it works correctly, it should look like this:
Step 4. Enter Keys
Run DC. When it prompts you, enter you DoW/WA keys.
That's it. You should be able to play with all races, and not have DoW/WA actually installed and taking up space.
Obviously you won't be able to play DoW/WA, or their campaigns.
If you already have DC installed on top of DoW/WA:
If you want to save space, you can simply delete all the files in your original DoW/WA directory EXCEPT the two .EXEs described above. THIS IS ASSUMING that you installed DC somewhere different than DoW/WA. By default it is installed in a different place. Make sure you transfer any save games, badges, banners, schemes, screenshots, replays and mod-related files that you want to keep.
If you want to properly uninstall DoW/WA rather than just deleting files, you can follow the guide as it is without any problems. There is even a time-saving option for you in Step 2.
Enjoy!
