diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 662076d9..c67c1bda 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -107,21 +107,9 @@ if(NOT (CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR STREQUAL CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR))
 	# special case: cross-compiling, here CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR should be correct, hopefully
 	# (just leave cpu at ${CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR})
 elseif(MSVC)
-	message(DEBUG "CMAKE_GENERATOR_PLATFORM: ${CMAKE_GENERATOR_PLATFORM}")
-	if(CMAKE_GENERATOR_PLATFORM STREQUAL "Win32")
-		set(cpu "i386")
-	elseif(CMAKE_GENERATOR_PLATFORM STREQUAL "x64")
-		set(cpu "x86_64")
-	elseif(CMAKE_GENERATOR_PLATFORM STREQUAL "ARM")
-		# at least on RPi 32bit, gcc -dumpmachine outputs "arm-linux-gnueabihf",
-		#  so we'll use "arm" there => use the same for 32bit ARM on MSVC
-		set(cpu "arm")
-	elseif(CMAKE_GENERATOR_PLATFORM STREQUAL "ARM64")
-		set(cpu "arm64")
-	else()
-		message(FATAL_ERROR "Unknown Target CPU/platform ${CMAKE_GENERATOR_PLATFORM}")
-	endif()
-	message(DEBUG "  => CPU architecture extracted from that: \"${cpu}\"")
+	# because all this wasn't ugly enough, it turned out that, unlike standalone CMake, Visual Studio's
+	# integrated CMake doesn't set CMAKE_GENERATOR_PLATFORM, so I gave up on guessing the CPU arch here
+	# and moved the CPU detection to MSVC-specific code in neo/sys/platform.h
 else() # not MSVC and not cross-compiling, assume GCC or clang (-compatible), seems to work for MinGW as well
 	execute_process(COMMAND ${CMAKE_C_COMPILER} "-dumpmachine"
 	                RESULT_VARIABLE cc_dumpmachine_res
@@ -159,13 +147,19 @@ elseif(cpu MATCHES "[aA][rR][mM].*") # some kind of arm..
 	endif()
 endif()
 
-set(ARCH "${cpu}")
+if(MSVC)
+	# for MSVC YQ2ARCH is set in code (in src/common/header/common.h)
+	message(STATUS "Setting YQ2OSTYPE to \"${YQ2OSTYPE}\" - NOT setting YQ2ARCH, because we're targeting MSVC (VisualC++)")
+else()
+	set(ARCH "${cpu}")
+	add_definitions(-DYQ2ARCH="${ARCH}")
+	message(STATUS "Setting YQ2OSTYPE to \"${YQ2OSTYPE}\" and YQ2ARCH to \"${ARCH}\".")
+endif()
+# make sure that ${cpu} isn't used below - if at all use ${ARCH}, but not when compiling with MSVC!
+unset(cpu)
 
 # END OF workarounds for CMake's poor choices regarding CPU architecture detection
 
-add_definitions(-DYQ2ARCH="${ARCH}")
-
-message(STATUS "Setting YQ2OSTYPE to \"${YQ2OSTYPE}\" and YQ2ARCH to \"${ARCH}\".")
 
 # Systemwide installation of game assets.
 if(${SYSTEMWIDE_SUPPORT})
@@ -269,25 +263,26 @@ endif()
 include_directories(${yquake2IncludeDirectories})
 link_directories(${yquake2LinkerDirectories})
 
-# If we're building with gcc for i386 let's define -ffloat-store.
-# This helps the old and crappy x87 FPU to produce correct values.
-# Would be nice if Clang had something comparable.
-if ("${ARCH}" STREQUAL "i386")
-	if (${CMAKE_C_COMPILER_ID} STREQUAL "GNU")
+# these settings only work for GCC and clang
+if(CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_GNUCC OR CMAKE_C_COMPILER_ID STREQUAL "Clang")
+	# If we're building with gcc for i386 let's define -ffloat-store.
+	# This helps the old and crappy x87 FPU to produce correct values.
+	# Would be nice if Clang had something comparable.
+	if ("${ARCH}" STREQUAL "i386" AND ${CMAKE_C_COMPILER_ID} STREQUAL "GNU")
 		set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS} -ffloat-store")
 	endif()
-endif()
 
-# Force SSE math on x86_64. All sane compilers should do this
-# anyway, just to protect us from broken Linux distros.
-if ("${ARCH}" STREQUAL "x86_64")
-	set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS} -mfpmath=sse")
-endif()
+	# Force SSE math on x86_64. All sane compilers should do this
+	# anyway, just to protect us from broken Linux distros.
+	if ("${ARCH}" STREQUAL "x86_64")
+		set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS} -mfpmath=sse")
+	endif()
 
-if ("${ARCH}" STREQUAL "arm")
-    if (CMAKE_SIZEOF_VOID_P EQUAL 4)
-        set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS} -march=armv6k")
-    endif()
+	if ("${ARCH}" STREQUAL "arm")
+		if (CMAKE_SIZEOF_VOID_P EQUAL 4)
+			set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS} -march=armv6k")
+		endif()
+	endif()
 endif()
 
 set(Backends-Generic-Source
diff --git a/src/common/header/common.h b/src/common/header/common.h
index 39d73458..5fdfe7b2 100644
--- a/src/common/header/common.h
+++ b/src/common/header/common.h
@@ -39,10 +39,6 @@
 #error YQ2OSTYPE should be defined by the build system
 #endif
 
-#ifndef YQ2ARCH
-#error YQ2ARCH should be defined by the build system
-#endif
-
 #ifndef BUILD_DATE
 #define BUILD_DATE __DATE__
 #endif
@@ -57,6 +53,36 @@
  #endif
 #endif
 
+#ifndef YQ2ARCH
+  #ifdef _MSC_VER
+    // Setting YQ2ARCH for VisualC++ from CMake doesn't work when using VS integrated CMake
+    // so set it in code instead
+    #ifdef YQ2ARCH
+      #undef YQ2ARCH
+    #endif
+    #ifdef _M_X64
+      // this matches AMD64 and ARM64EC (but not regular ARM64), but they're supposed to be binary-compatible somehow, so whatever
+      #define YQ2ARCH "x86_64"
+    #elif defined(_M_ARM64)
+      #define YQ2ARCH "arm64"
+    #elif defined(_M_ARM)
+      #define YQ2ARCH "arm"
+    #elif defined(_M_IX86)
+      #define YQ2ARCH "x86"
+    #else
+      // if you're not targeting one of the aforementioned architectures,
+      // check https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/preprocessor/predefined-macros
+      // to find out how to detect yours and add it here - and please send a patch :)
+      #error "Unknown CPU architecture!"
+      // (for a quick and dirty solution, comment out the previous line, but keep in mind
+      //  that savegames may not be compatible with other builds of Yamagi Quake II)
+      #define YQ2ARCH "UNKNOWN"
+    #endif // _M_X64 etc
+  #else // other compilers than MSVC
+    #error YQ2ARCH should be defined by the build system
+  #endif // _MSC_VER
+#endif // YQ2ARCH
+
 /* ================================================================== */
 
 typedef struct sizebuf_s
diff --git a/src/game/savegame/savegame.c b/src/game/savegame/savegame.c
index f5c43992..0fa059f7 100644
--- a/src/game/savegame/savegame.c
+++ b/src/game/savegame/savegame.c
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@
  * system and architecture are in the hands of the user.
  */
 
+#include "../../common/header/common.h" // YQ2ARCH
 #include "../header/local.h"
 #include "savegame.h"
 /*