Star Wolves is a unique game and absolutely worth playing, but the first and second Star Wolves don't tend to run very well out of the box on modern hardware. That is where this guide comes in. I've painstakingly scoured various threads and wikis for every available fix to run Star Wolves and more importantly, run it well. I'm based on Windows 10, but these fixes should still work for Windows 11 and past versions of Windows.

Continue with this guide and please rate up/favorite so that others can see it as well!

Safe flying captain!

First things first. You might have noticed that Star Wolves is a rather old game and doesn't have support for many monitor resolution types. Namely 1920x1080. This is an easy fix though!

Step 1: Go to where you installed Star Wolves. Usually this is:
c:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Star Wolves

Step 2: Open the file that says default.cfg (you might not see the .cfg part, if you don't have file extensions turned on, so just open the file that says "default").

Step 3: Find where it says: gr_init_resolution

Step 4: Enter the custom height and width of your monitor as well as the bit. I have a 1920x1080 monitor so for me its:
gr_init_resolution "1920" "1080" "32" "TRUE"

Step 5: Save and close

Next we will increase the draw distance. This way you can reduce pop-in from starships and space stations and such.

Step 1: In the same area where you found the default.cfg. Look for the file that says Main.ini (or just Main) and open it.

Step 2: Scroll down to the [Graph] section and find the file that says ZFarPlane =. Change this to ZFarPlane = 10000.0f

Step 3: Save and close

Source: PC Gaming Wiki

This is probably the most important fix for Star Wolves and Star Wolves 2. Both games require a very old version of DirectX 10 or you will get very laggy and sluggish gameplay. For whatever reason, Steam will sometimes overwrite this DirectX install when you install newer games with a newer DirectX and break Star Wolves.

Step 1: Click this link: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=8109

Step 2: Select Download and wait for it to finish.

Step 3: Go to where you downloaded it and extract the files to an easy to find location (usually I just choose the downloads folder). Now where you extracted it, open it and you will see a ton of files that say stuff like "Apr2005_d3dx9_25_x64". Scroll all the way down until you see the file that says DXSetup and click it. Install it like you would any other file.

Step 4: RESTART YOUR PC!!! I can't stress this step enough. I was stuck for at least an hour trying to figure out why the fix wouldn't work until I realized that I needed to restart my computer for the DirectX to apply.

Step 5: Test Star Wolves. Now when you open the game, the main menu and gameplay should be buttery smooth! If you are still having issues with things, like the mouse cursor, proceed onto the next part of the guide.

Once you've finished, Star Wolves should look like this:

If you're having issues with your mouse cursor flying/stuttering/lagging around, then this section is for you. If you aren't having issues then just ignore this section.

Okay, so the mouse issue is caused by having too high of a polling rate/response time on your mouse. This isn't related to DPI, it's specifically polling/mouse response time. Average day gaming mice often have a rate of 1000hz by default. Unfortunately, Star Wolves was made back when a polling rate of 1000hz wasn't common for a mouse. Star Wolves requires a polling rate of 500hz or 200hz, otherwise, you get the jumpy mouse issue. Since each mouse is different, you will need to determine the respective app that may be tied to your mouse. Through the app's control panel, you can lower your mouse polling rate to 500hz or 200hz. I prefer 500hz.

Just remember that your DPI can be whatever you want, but the polling rate needs to be 500hz or lower for Star Wolves.

The last fix for Star Wolves are the invulnerable enemies or more specifically the issue involving your weapons not doing damage. If you aren't having this issue, then you can ignore this section.

This is another one of those weird issues, that really doesn't have an explanation. But basically, the issue seems to be with Window's compatibility settings. Fixing this is pretty easy though.

Step 1: Go to where you installed Star Wolves. Usually:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Star Wolves

Step 2: Find the StarWolves.exe, right click it and select properties.

Step 3: Click the compatibility tab at the top of the properties window and select the compatibility mode dropdown for Windows 98/Windows ME. Feel free to try other compatibility settings, but this is the one that worked for me. Unfortunately, you lose the Steam overlay, but I think that's worth it to be able to actually shoot stuff and do damage to enemies.



With these fixes, Star Wolves (and Star Wolves 2) should run perfectly for you! See you in space, captain!