Update broke my game, unable to load any custom maps, Empty Error

So i recently came back to the game after May and was looking forward to enjoy some of my favorite custom maps only to find disappointment after updating to the latest patch which broke the game for me.

Now im only able to load maps made by blizzard and any custom map ends up with a error. This particular error is unique because it just shows you the error template with no text added to it. (Shows up the normal error window with the red mark and just a black background)

When i succeded trying to get the strings to work once it told me that the game could not load the map tiles/files (can’t remember which may be even both)

It wont let me join others games as they download the map and once it tries to load it, it brings you back to the lobby, same goes for hosting it.

When i go Lan thats when i get the error template and string to show up.

I have tried,

  • Reinstalling
  • Porting
  • using a old client after updating the game
  • Hosting on lan & Multiplayer
  • Disabling Antivirus & Firewall
  • Changing map locations from Maps\Download to Maps\ and other folders
  • Full permission of hard drive and the folders, have the right to freely move
  • Launched the game in Administrator
  • Launched the game with compatibility for Windows 7

Any help is very appreciated and welcome!

Edit - Solution **

The issue was resolved by deleting the Wc3 path in the registry & Uninstalling the game. Then you move the new install location to the main Hard drive where windows is installed, I.e “C:\Program Files\Warcraft III”

Now you launch the game from the new install location, and your custom maps are placed in the old location “Documents” like before.

How do i delete Warcraft 3 from my registry?

  • Open the registry editor
  • Start> Run > type regedit> Ok
  • Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Blizzard Entertainment\Warcraft III

Then you delete the “Warcraft 3” folder.

I wonder if these are separate issues that appear similar. For example, people I talked to said that instant disconnect is very frequent on battlenet with provate games. I was told it happens when the client joins the host game before the host computer finishes uploading the map file to Blizzard servers. (This is different from historic behavior that created a direction connection between the host and the client, rather than now going through Blizzard as a sort of “proxy” to allow users to host who don’t understand the Port Forwarding problem).

Maybe on LAN you tested with map files that are no longer supported, such as those which use virus technology (arbitrary administrator level code execution) to modify the game state?

These are with all maps even maps downloaded from Bnet that people are constantly playing today. The only difference between lan and battlenet is that it tells me that something is wrong while on bnet just returns you to the lobby

I usually associated the error popup that shows white ! in a red hexagon with no text as meaning a map script error occurred. It happened to me yesterday on a busted custom map I was making. But it’s very odd to have it happen on all maps.

Here are some ideas to test:
Try launching both versions of World Editor.exe (the x86_64 version and x86 version). In both cases, try to save a blank map. Does it warn you about any script errors in the blank map, or does it save with no warnings?

You may also want to check the Windows Registry for the “Allow Local Files” key. If it exists, delete it. That will help to make your game installation only load the intended game files.

These are problems I had in the past when I heavily modded my game. If you have only one copy of the game and never touched any game files outside of the game, it is indeed possible that these fixes would not apply to you.

Edit: If that’s the case, try backing up all Warcraft III registry entries and then nuking them in the Registry Editor. One time I ran a modded game client that messed up the registry so that all versions of Warcraft III and all reinstallations wouldn’t start because of this one bad setting in the registry. It affected everything from Reign of Chaos Patch 1.00 installed from the disk up to The Frozen Throne 1.29 or 1.30.

it is related to specific types of custom maps that use hacky solutions. my maps have no issues because i keep to the official stuff.

Already fixed it, and as i mentioned it was any map that blizzard didnt make

no, not mine. there is no trouble with my maps.

Hi,

Thank you for experiencing & investigating & sharing the solution.

I really really hate when people break perfectly working games and present them with new problems that users have to find out the solutions for, and nobody seems to care about these problems. I am often the only person that seem having the issue, and nobody plays custom games or anything like that.

Thank you so much again.

Please don’t come after me saying I’m raising a dead thread etc nonsense or wrong thread stupid useless comment like that.