Both installers now install a warzone2100.exe in the bin folder.
If using the portable version, you'll want to open the bin folder and double-click on the warzone2100 executable to start. (We'll add a text file in the root folder with these instructions.)
If using the full installer, there should be a Start Menu shortcut to launch it.
that's a bit counter intuitive isn't it ? for every other portable app I've ever used the executable is in the main directory and then the rest of the program files is in the bin folder
As for the installer download error you are encountering: that's because you're using Windows XP, which doesn't support connecting to the HTTPS download server.
You can manually download and install the latest Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2017 from here:
https://aka.ms/vs/15/release/vc_redist.x86.exe
Finally, the latest development builds do not support Windows XP. The vcpkg pull request that's needed to enable Windows XP-compatible builds unfortunately appears to be languishing - it hasn't had any updates in a while, and requires substantial work still. Until / unless that's resolved, we can't make XP-compatible builds.
I see i had hoped the vcpkg thing had been sorted out by now oh well guess not, in that case i guess there isn't much point in downloading and installing the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2017 as things still wouldn't work anyway pity.
RE: Forum issues - what web browser (and version) are you running? I'm pretty sure the major web browsers dropped Windows XP support a while ago, so it wouldn't surprise me that an older browser version is hitting layout / display issues with the updated forum software.
Firefox 52.9.0 that last version that had XP support as far as I'm aware.
Not to sound like a broken record, but Windows XP isn't safe to run - period. You'd be better off running a Linux variant and WINE (to run older Windows software - it's continued to improve dramatically, and is very likely to run Windows XP-era software). Ubuntu (or similar) will probably run on your machine.
i already tried various Linux distro's and i didn't like any of them.
As for windows 10 i tried that to and went back to XP because Windows 10 sucks balls and i can't stand it, to may things about windows 10 that irritate the crap out of like for example no ability to turn auto update to inform me when updates are available but let me decide when to install, which is annoying as hell especially when you are trying to get shut down or booted up and suddenly windows decides it want to install a bunch of updates.
Windows 10 takes forever to boot up as well my xp machine will go from a cold start to being fully ready to use in 30 seconds but it can take upwards of 2 minutes just for windows 10 to load the user profile and that's not to mention loading all your applications like the virus scanner fire wall etc.
then you have the horrendous amounts of extraneous garbage that i don't want don't need and cant get rid of which make the OS run with all the speed of a glacier my xp machine runs circles around windows 10 and is faster and more responsive in every way possible all be it a little less advanced but of course since i mostly just used this computer for playing games i don't really need any of there so called "advancements" this computer does everything i need it to do, it does it in a timely manor, it doesn't usurp and override my control, and it doesn't spy on me.
What can i say i take a very dim view of programmes that try to phone home without my permission i don't care what data Microsoft is trying to collect or for what reason phoning home without my permission is forbidden and any programme that does so is swiftly removed from my computer.
Ultimately that stuff is just the tip of the iceburg i have a much longer and more extensive list of complaints, about windows 10, I'd love to have a more modern system trouble is there isn't one that i can afford, actually use and like, i have been watching React OS for a little while now but its still in alpha and not ready for general use yet.
i though about trying to get a copy of Windows 7 but there is little point since that is about to be discontinued as well and as for Windows 8 well that is a pile of garbage that is intended for mobile computers with touch screens not desktop computers
Windows 7, service pack 1
End of mainstream support - January 13, 2015
End of extended support - January 14, 2020
Windows 8.1
End of mainstream support - January 9, 2018
End of extended support - January 10, 2023
While I know its not generally a good idea to use an outdated systems I'm not a total idiot i have my files backed up on a second hard drive so even if i get a virus or windows gets corrupted I just reformat and reinstall from my clean true image back up which is also stored on the other hard drive, plus i have a third party virus scanner and firewall, and spybot and i keep there definitions updated and i scan me computer periodically, and you know in all the years i have been using computer i have rarely had a problem caused by malware, because the virus scanner and spybot catch most of it.