I read the FAQ, Bunch of weird SS2 issues. Mainly I can't play it.

warped655 on 1/6/2010 at 06:57

As the topic title states, I've read FAQ for System Shock 2. This is ALL of the information that I have, I will provide all the details I can muster. There may be a lot of extraneous stuff, so I will bold what is probably important.

I am running Windows 7 professional, 64bit

My computer specs:
2.4Ghz quad core
9800GTX Nvidia
4Gigs of RAM

The game has been successfully installed. I selected the "full Install" option when I installed it.
It is installed in "D:\Program Files (x86)\System Shock 2" D: is not the HD that Windows 7 is installed on.

I also successfully installed that thing that I think installs all of the patches needed. My version of System Shock 2 is 2.3. On the screen that requires me to select what I want to install, I selected all of them, The patches, Bug Fixes, and the Widescreen fix and DDfix.

On the Widesceen CMD window that poped up, I chose my screen's native resolution, 1680x1050 and set FOV to 100.

I also have the SS2 mod manager successfully installed. Using it, I installed and activated 2 Mods:
-Rebirth Beta 01 - complemented Version
-SHTUP Beta 6
NOTE: Activating or deactivating either mods does not seem to have any effect on my issues.

Now for my actual issues:
I am able to start of the mod manager, and through the mod manager and through running it with out the mod manager, I am only able to successfully start the game in compatibility modes Windows 98/Windows ME or Windows 95.

I'm able to access the initial cut scenes with the developer's and publisher's logos. Then I can access the main menu and as far as I can tell all of the sub menus. However, despite all of this for some reason the game is running in windowed mode. Here's a screen shot:

Inline Image:

http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/1544/screenshotss2menuwindow.png

Then when I click start game, the starting cut scene plays out (still in windowed mode)
When the cutscene ends or if I skip it the game almost seems to try to go full screen. but my task bar is still visible and the game goes all black. Screenshot:

(http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/3641/screenshotss2noingame.png)

At this point the task manager reports that it the game's EXE is "not responding". That it is using 24-25% of my CPU (all of 1 core) and is using 31,008 KB memory.

So obviously my main issue is just getting the in-game part to work so I can play. Secondary (but still very important) is the fact that it's seemingly stuck in windowed mode and that I'd like it to be in full screen.

Also, I decided I'd provide some of the Config files:

--- DDfix configuration file: --- (I have not changed any of it from my original install)
[Main]
;Screen resolution
;Must be 800x600 or greater
gWidth=1680
gHeight=1050

;Refresh rate. 0 is default, anything else to override.
RefreshRate=0

;Set to 1 to fix the duel core related crash
MultiCoreFix=1

;Set to 1 to automatically register lgvid.ax each time thief is started up
VideoFix=1

;This can be set to zero to get a more accurate z-buffer
;Doesn't usually make a noticable difference to picture quality
UseCompatibleZBuffer=1

;Turns on the 32 bit texture loader and adds support for some unsupported screen resolutions
;Will cause a crash if used with an unsupported exe
; 0 - Disable
; 1 - Determine exe automatically
; 2 - Thief 2 v1.18
Thief2Extensions=1

;Set to 1 to disable the windows keys while thief is running
DisableWindowsKey=0

;Set to 1 to enable anisotropic filtering
AnisotropicFiltering=1

;If you want to share overriden textures between thief installations, uncomment the next line
;It should contain the absolute path to the equivilent of \res\ddfix, including the trailing \
;TexturePath=C:\Games\Thief2\res\ddfix\

;XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
;XX Compatibility settings XX
;XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

;Changes the way direct writes to the frontbuffer are handled
;SS2 players should set these options to '2' and '0xf81f' respectively
;Thief 2 players with corrupted in game text should use '2' and '0x0000'
;Players who experience slowdown with UseSysMemOverlay=2 should set both options to 0
UseSysMemOverlay=2
OverlayColourKey=0xf81f

---CAM Configuration file--- (I have not changed any of it from my original install)

; $Header: r:/prj/cam/src/RCS/cam.cfg 1.17 1999/06/28 14:38:52 mwhite Exp $

; hey, which game is this
game shock

; general configs
include_user_cfg user.cfg
editor_include_dromed_cfg dromed.cfg

; game specific paths/configs
dark_include_install_cfg darkinst.cfg
shock_include_install_cfg install.cfg

; set trait cache to include concretes
trait_cache_flags 2

sfx_vol_music -474
safe_texture_manager
skip_starting_checks
sfx_vol_2d 0
sfx_channels 16
game_screen_size 1680 1050
skip_intro
sfx_device 1
game_screen_depth 16
gamma 1.
game_hardware 0
game_screen_flags 9
game_full_screen 1
master_volume -59
sfx_vol_3d -59

Nameless Voice on 1/6/2010 at 11:19

Don't install games to Program Files. Not only is it messy, it causes serious issues in Windows 7 because those folders are protected by the OS.
Reinstall to another folder, e.g. C:\Games\
Edit: You mention that D:\Program Files (x86) does not belong to the current install of Windows. Windows 7 also likes to totally restrict access to folders that belong to other OS installations (since they belong to a user in that OS, and not to your user now.) Again, same advice applies.

And don't run in compatibility mode - it shouldn't be necessary.

Also, you don't really need to use the installer. The FAQ suggests a manual install:
(http://www.strangebedfellows.de/index.php/topic,106.0.html)

warped655 on 2/6/2010 at 05:29

Ok, I apparently missed the part in that FAQ where I'm supposed to just copy the Shock folder over. So I reinstalled it. This time put it in c:SS2/shock/SHOCK2.EXE did the SS2Tools and Mod manager.

Attempting to run it either from the mod manager or directly (in both cases I have "run as admin" check box selected and the compatibility setting are off) has my screen flashs black a few times with relatively rapid succession (with my Taskbar still there sometimes, for a split second its just totally black) in any case, after this it gives me the ol' generic "System Shock 2 has stopped working" to show you exactly what I mean:

Inline Image:

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/6382/error1a.png
Checks for about a second or two. Then:

Inline Image:

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/6562/error2vz.png

warped655 on 2/6/2010 at 10:59

Nevermind! you can close this post! My problem has been resolved here:
(http://www.strangebedfellows.de/index.php?topic=2023.new#new)

catbarf on 3/6/2010 at 02:43

Quote Posted by Nameless Voice

Don't install games to Program Files.

I know a lot of older games have problems when installed to Program Files or anything under a user account (like the desktop), but do you mean that as a general rule? Why does it cause problems with newer software, and why does every program default to it?

Enchantermon on 3/6/2010 at 05:09

In Vista and 7, Program Files is write-protected, so if you plan on installing anything that you later plan on manipulating the files of (like SS2), it needs to not be inside of a write-protected folder.