Universe at War: Earth Assault

How to Play

The game with patches and NoDVD has been tested on Windows 7 64-bit and Windows 10, works fine. The game supports widescreen. You may experience some small troubles when you play the game on modern systems, check our Guide and Notes for details

Install & play guide:

• Mount the disc image. You will need the utility for mounting disc image files, like WinCDEmu, UltraISO, Alcohol 52%/Alcohol 120% or Daemon Tools Lite
• Install the game (if autorun doesn't work - simply launch the installation from Setup.exe inside the disc)
• Also it is recommended to install DirectX 9 (if you're using Windows 10 - enable DirectPlay, read this or this guide how to do it)
• Once you installed the game - install all three patches
• After that install NoDVD (simply copy LaunchUAW.exe from the archive and put it into directory with installed game, agree to replace original file)
• Then use Xliveless to disable GFWL in the game (simply copy files from the archive and put it into directory with installed game)
• Open the directory with the game and find LaunchUAW.exe. Right click on LaunchUAW.exe - Properties - Compatibility - Set "Run this app in compatibility mode with Windows Vista" and "Run as administrator"
• Launch the game and play. If the game doesn't work in compatibility mode with Windows Vista - try to launch it in compatibility mode with Windows XP Service Pack 3

Notes:

• If the installation doesn't start - try to launch Setup.exe in compatibility mode with old version of Windows (98, 2000 or XP)
• If the installer cannot recognize the serial key - just enter random letters, like AAAAA-AAAAA-AAAA-AAAAA, it should work
• NoDVD is required for the launch because the game is using SafeDisc DRM protection, which doesn't work correctly on modern systems. That NoDVD "breaks" DRM protection and allows the game to work on modern systems
• The game was working on Games for Windows LIVE service, so the game will be asking for GFWL on every launch. To skip that annoying process use Xliveless to disable GFWL: simply copy files from the archive and put it into directory with installed game. After that you can delete Games for Windows LIVE, since it is not required for the launch anymore
• The game has localization on 12 languages: full English version with English audios & videos, and text translations on French, German, Spanish, Italian, Czech, Polish, Russian, Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Thai. By default, the game uses the same language that is installed on your system. If you want to change the in-game text (all videos in all versions are on English with subtitles), then go to the Universe at War Earth Assault/Data/Text directory and delete all language files, except for the language that you need. Check this thread for details
• It is recommended to install all versions of Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for the correct work of the game
• Also it is recommended to install RAD Video Tools and K-Lite Codec Pack for the correct work of the game
• The game works on DirectX 9 and 10, so if you're using Windows 8, 8.1, 10 or 11 - you need to enable DirectPlay: Go to Control Panel, and select 'Programs'. Select 'Turn Windows features on and off', click on 'Legacy Components' and check the box 'DirectPlay'. Select OK, once the installation is done, restart your computer
• The game uses DirectX 10 by default, if you have lags or glitches - disable DirectX 10 in Settings, the game will switch on DirectX 9. The game supposed to work more stable on DirectX 9
• The game was using GFWL servers for the multiplayer, but since GFWL is closed for years, the only way to play the multiplayer now is to emulate LAN game, with utilities like Hamachi or Tunngle. If you want to find multiplayer game - join Universe at War - Earth Survivors Discord server
• Official Mappack adds 3 new maps that you can play in multiplayer or with bots. To install it put the files from the archive in Universe at War Earth Assault/Data/CustomMaps directory (if there's no such folder - just create it)
• For users of Windows 64-bit systems: if the game doesn't work after you launched it - open Task Manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del by default) and check for processes LaunchUAW.exe and rundll32.exe. Close LaunchUAW.exe but don't touch rundll32.exe (it's a Windows app for running old apps from 32-bit operational systems, most old games running through rundll32.exe). Now try to launch the game again, it must work. Don't forget to close rundll32.exe process in Task Manager after finishing playing
• Don't forget to check PCGamingWiki page if you have troubles