How to Run System Shock 1 on Windows 2000/XP FAQ v 1.0

heinz_3 on 5/8/2004 at 09:11

Hi

Thanks to the great tutorial from XenivouS I con now play SS1 on XP :thumb: .

But I have sometimes the "black screen problem".

Solution: Restart the computer. Mostly it takes 1-3 restarts until it works. I dont know why. But hey it works ;)

The mouse is a bit slow (the mouse2k parameters only work in the main menu, ingame they have no effect) but now I´m on Deck 6 and I got used to it.

Btw you can use the options menu without the mouse. Esc (opts) V (Video) etc. The different mode can be selected by "1" "2" etc.

roburky on 14/8/2004 at 12:23

I've been looking for the original System Shock for ages, and had given up until somebody pointed out it was available on abandonware site the-underdogs.

It works mostly fine with the XP patch from sshock2.com, but at higher resolutions the mouse cursor moves very slowly (It's an Intellimouse Explorer, if that's relevant).
This FAQ's not much help, unfortunately, as it doesn't excplain what these various patches and programs are for, so I don't know if I need any of them.

Can anyone help?

TheDorkProject on 17/8/2004 at 01:48

Thanks for helping me out here... I tried to get SS1 working in 2000 a long time back, and couldn't... I came here to see if people had improved upon what was known when last I tried, and boy have they!

It's running pretty well for me now...

I'm just using the .exe whoever made... the patch thing... the method detailed in this FAQ ended up with really screwy audio, and slow performance for me...

Just flat out using the .exe patch works pretty well.

There are a couple things I'd like to fix though... maybe you all can help?

1.) When I start the game, it says "CDSHOCK.EXE - The system cannot open COM2 port requested by the application." I'm then given the option to close or ignore. If I ignore, and then click the cdshock.exe thing down in my taskbar... I can proceed to play the game. Naturally I'd like to eliminate this step. I don't know what is making it request anything about com2... any ideas how I can get it to stop requesting it?

2.) The music... I believe right now I'm getting midi. Is there also a CD audio format I could be using? if so, what's the easiest way for me to switch to it? What options other than midi are there for the music?

3.) Controls - Is there anyway whatsoever to modify the controls? even just a little bit? I'd love to use keypad 5 as moveback rather than keypad 2. I'd also *love* to strafe rather than turn... anything like that. I mean I guess without mouselook I need to keep it as turn... I don't suppose there's anyway to mouselook?

4.) Speaking of the mouse... it could do to be a bit more sensative. Any way to do that?

5.) Is there any way to make the game run at something like 1600x1200? Or to run at higher color bits?

soulspit on 18/8/2004 at 08:12

hey, i tried following the FAQ and got as far as trying to install it, running INST\initial.exe using VDMSound, and i got a bunch of error messages, like the following:

The NTVDM CPU has encountered an illegal instruction.
CS:1004 IP:037f OP:63 75 6d 65 6e Choose 'Close' to terminate the application.

or i can ignore, and then a bunch of similar errors come up (same but different IP and OP, whatever they are) until it just quits.

my only guess as to why this happens is that i accidentally installed the newest VDMSound (2.1.0, because it was the first one on the website) and then later did the 2.0.4, and the update, on top of it. might that be it? or is something else wrong?

also... there might be something wrong with the files i have (i downloaded System.Shock.1.CD.ace off eMule) because my INST\initial.exe was weird and wrong and i had to re-download that individual file from the underdogs. but i matched briefly all the files i have to the ones on the zip on the underdogs and it seems like i've got everything.... blah.

thanks for any help i can get :erm:

turricaned on 18/8/2004 at 08:43

Quote Posted by TheDorkProject

There are a couple things I'd like to fix though... maybe you all can help?

1.) When I start the game, it says "CDSHOCK.EXE - The system cannot open COM2 port requested by the application." I'm then given the option to close or ignore. If I ignore, and then click the cdshock.exe thing down in my taskbar... I can proceed to play the game. Naturally I'd like to eliminate this step. I don't know what is making it request anything about com2... any ideas how I can get it to stop requesting it?

Unfortunately, not that I know of. Shock 1 was a DOS game and back in those days, programs interfaced directly with the mouse port. XP does not allow this, but does emulate the behavour in DOS windows.

Quote:

2.) The music... I believe right now I'm getting midi. Is there also a CD audio format I could be using? if so, what's the easiest way for me to switch to it? What options other than midi are there for the music?

In short, MIDI is the only music you'll get out of Shock 1 - they filled the CD with the (rather excellent) voice acting instead. This isn't unusual - most games of this vintage (Doom II, Sam 'n' Max, Descent) only had MIDI music. Personally I think the realism factor is upped substantially by turning the music off, but that's just me.

If you have a card that has both high-quality wavetable General MIDI, and SB16 DOS emulation, then you can up the quality of the music substantially by using that rather than VDMSound, but I don't know what the stability would be like on your machine.

Quote:

3.) Controls - Is there anyway whatsoever to modify the controls? even just a little bit? I'd love to use keypad 5 as moveback rather than keypad 2. I'd also *love* to strafe rather than turn... anything like that. I mean I guess without mouselook I need to keep it as turn... I don't suppose there's anyway to mouselook?

Inability to remap the controls is one of the most common bugbears about the game. Remember that it has a different heritage than most First-Person games (it uses a control system based on Ultima Underworld rather than id's Wolfenstein 3D), so strafing is (as far as I know) out.

You may be a ble to find a program on the 'net that remaps keys, but again, I don't know what that would do to the stability.

As for mouselook, remember this game was based on an engine that predated Doom - in fact in its original incarnation it predated Wolfenstein! There wasn't an accepted way of doing keymappings and movement back then. If you're trying to avoid getting shot while taking a pop at a bad guy, try hiding behind a wall and leaning out - personally I find this a far cooler way of getting hits in than strafing (Neither Shock is a straight-ahead FPS!).

Quote:

4.) Speaking of the mouse... it could do to be a bit more sensative. Any way to do that?

That's what the "E:\Games\sshock\MOUSE2KV.EXE 640 480 8 8" line in the startup sequence (CDSHOCK.BAT batch file) on the first page of this thread is for - Mouse2KV is a program that essentially tricks the mouse routine into thinking it's running in VESA 640x480.

Quote:

5.) Is there any way to make the game run at something like 1600x1200? Or to run at higher color bits?

As I said before, it's a *VERY* old game (1994) - those graphics modes didn't exist outside Silicon Graphics workstations backl in those days!

So basically no.

Hope this helps though.

Tc.

bassloud on 19/8/2004 at 11:00

Hello there,

first id like to say: very nice manual, it helped me to play SS on Windows XP. The only thing id like to have is 640x480. It works fine and fast, but only a few seconds (longest 20s), then the whole computer freezes and i have to reset it (turn off turn on). 320x240 works very stable.

My System:
IBM Thinkpad R51
Intel Centrino 1500
1024 MB RAM
ATI RADEON Mobility 7500 (newest drivers from IBM)
Windows XP Pro SP1
Newest VDMSound

plow on 21/8/2004 at 03:27

edited

TheNightTerror on 22/8/2004 at 11:41

Quote Posted by TheDorkProject

First off, I'm so tired I'm having trouble focusing on the monitor, so I might not be very clear in what I'm saying. Second, I think I know how to get different music. It's not hard at all, assuming you're using the VDMS shortcut to run the game, all you need to do is this:

-right click on shortcut, open up the properties
-check under the VDMS sound tab, it should've opened automatically. For me, there's a section which reads 'MIDI Emulation,' right below it I have 2 options, General MIDI, or Roland MT-32, LAPC-1, or CM-64. Switch it to the second option, if you have one, and load the game. Right away when the main menu plays, you should hear the difference.

Some of the music's better, for example, the Reactor level music has enough bass to endanger a little subwoofer, but some of it is much, much worse, like the elevator music, or the cyberspace music. They absolutely killed my precious elevator music and all the cyberspace music. I switch between the different types of music depending on where I am in the game, I can't stand what they did to my precious Deck 6 cyberspace music. :( But the extra bass in the Reactor level almost makes up for it. Almost.

SaL on 28/8/2004 at 21:13

kann mir das mal eienr auf deutsch und einfach erklären was ich machen muss um ss1 unter win2k zocken zu können?

Terralthra on 29/8/2004 at 13:00

First of all, thanks to all the people who have contributed to getting this awesome game working under windows 2000. The FAQ (and the replies to the thread) have resolved several issues I was having getting it to run.

Now, however, the problem is one I have seen others post with, but no one has replied with any sort of fix or advice (that I've seen).

I have the mouse2kv, the NOLFB, and VDMS all installed and working, the game runs, goes through the intro, but as soon as it gets to the main menu, the slightest quiver of the mouse sends it crashing to the desktop.

I have to turn my mouse upside-down to even attempt to play, and quickly realized that without a mouse, the game loses part of its flair. The part of its flair that is its playability, that is.

Anyways, I'd just like to know if anyone has any suggestions...I've tweaked with a couple things, nothing seems to help. It is an optical USB mouse, as if that makes any difference.

My system:
Athlon XP 2400+
1 GB DDR RAM
Asus A7N8X-X
multiple hard drives
NVidia GeForceFX 5200
etc etc etc.

-Terralthra