Having Trouble Playing Deadlock : Planetary Conquest on Windows 10 or Windows 11? This Might Just Be The Fix!

 

    And so, here it is, the Sci-Fi/Strategy Game known as Deadlock : Planetary Conquest and Deadlock 2 : Shrine Wars.  The two games are essentially the same game, one was released in 1996 for DOS, and the other was released for Windows one year later as a remake of the first Deadlock with a different interface.  The games are a hybrid of simulation in terms of managing various resources like the Sim City or Sim Tower Games, while turn based military production and battles for conquest add in a strategy element similar to Civilization or other similar turn based strategy games.  For Windows 10 and Windows 11, the game may crash on startup or it may show a black screen, leaving you blind while the game runs.  This is what I am going to offer the fix for today.  Not only for today's windows operating systems, but also for emulation of a Windows Operating System on Codeweavers Crossover.

 

 Windows Users

    If you are a Windows 10 or Windows 11 user, you need to find the location of your malfunctioning WAIL32.DLL file.  The file should be located in the following locations depending on if you are playing the Steam or GOG.com version of the game.  

 

Steam Location

drive_c/Program Files (x86)/Steam/steamapps/common/Deadlock

 

GOG.com Location

drive_c/GOG Games/Deadlock

 

    After you delete the "WAIL32.DLL" file, the game will run!  Ambient background noises or music will not play in-game, but dialogue from advisors and enemy ambassadors, along with game cinematics for winning the game will work just great!  No black screen or crashing on startup!

 

 Mac Users

    Now, for Mac Users, you need an Application to emulate a Windows machine known as Codeweavers Crossover.  First you should install the game.  Since there is no Crosstie at the moment for Deadlock, you will need to do a custom installation, using the GOG.com Installer, or have Steam Installed within Crossover.  You can take a look down below for how this should be set up for the GOG.com version.  There is a video guide for setting up Steam for the current version of Crossover 26.  A written guide for setting up Steam on Crossover 26 is available on my blog at Radio Kaos

 

 

 

 In either case, you need to find the same file for installation,  and perform the same kind of deletion of the file entitled, "WAIL32.DLL" as a Windows user does.  So, there are two ways to fix this in Crossover, you install the game into Crossover using GOG.com or the Steam Version of the game.  Now, to access the C Drive of the emulated windows machine, you need to find the game folder within your virtual Windows Machine.  

 

 Crossover 

So, to get started, open Crossover and in the menu, select the Application "Bottle", either Deadlock if you installed the game using the GOG.com Installer or the Steam Bottle if you installed it within Steam.  I have a wonderful written guide for Installing Steam using the current Crossover version of 26 through the next version of 27.  To open the virtual C Drive, right click on the title of the Deadlock Bottle and use the drop down menu to select "Open C Drive" as shown in the picture below, for either Steam or Deadlock, depending on how you installed the game.

 

In the case of the GOG.com version, you need to install a custom Application, since installation presets are not available for Deadlock at this time.

 

 

 

 

     After you have opened the virtual C Drive, use the location in the virtual machine to find the "WAIL32.DLL file for Deadlock, the same location as for Windows users, only you have to open the virtual c drive in Crossover.  

 

 

Steam Location

drive_c/Program Files (x86)/Steam/steamapps/common/Deadlock

 

GOG.com Location

drive_c/GOG Games/Deadlock

 

    After you have located and deleted the file from the game folder, you should be good to go.  The game will run just fine minus the background music and ambient sounds.  

 

 

 

Conclusion

    With all of these steps completed, you should have a great time playing Deadlock : Planetary Conquest on Windows or on Mac OS!  In conclusion, I would like to invite you to check out the Forums on Codeweavers.  Entries for various apps have forums and Tips for getting the Applications to work!  Other Applications with guides include Assassin's Creed, Command & Conquer : Tiberian Sun, Heroes of Might & Magic III, Age of Empires II, Fallout, Escape Velocity, and Prince of Persia  If you are available to actively test and rate the compatibility of various Applications on Codeweavers Crossover, you may want to consider becoming a Bettertester!  As a Bettertester, you regularly test Apps and can be rewarded with Bettertester Points to buy merchandise or even extended subscriptions to Crossover, saving money you would need for renewing your subscription!

 

    You can follow additional guides for getting Windows applications running on Mac OS over here on my blog : Radio Kaos.  You can also follow additional instructional video guides on my YouTube Playlist, Kaos Tutorials.  Kaos Tutorials episodes are also available on the Rumble Channel of the same name.

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