JudasTheSlick on 24/12/2008 at 23:08
Hello people of the shadow,
I was hoping someone more tech savy could help me with a tricky situation. I got a new laptop not long ago and as happy I am with my purchace, it has one major flaw. As much as I tried I cannot seem to start and run thief normally on it.
I'm currently running Vista SP1 32bit on the following hardware:
C2D mobile T8300
3GB ram
Ati mobility 3650 (using modded 8.12 drivers)
some onboard Conexant SB
I have the Sold out version of T2 and tried using both the GUI and manual DDfix patches with a combination of different compability modes with no luck whatsoever. The game just fails to start. I can't even see the intro movies. Just a blank screen and then the annoying "thief2.exe has stopped responding bla bla" vista error message.
I also tried running the game under linux. Installed Ubuntu 8.10+latest wine and even tho the game started after some tinkering, it looks like something from the wrong end of a cow and lags like hell. No idea how to add DDfix under linux.
I'm to the point where I'll just go and ask my mother to give me my old lappy back just to get some of that good old Thief goodness, maybe bargain it for one of those fancy netbooks.
P.S I also have a copy of TDP but it's scratched like hell and for me lacks T2's good looks. Haven't tried running that.
Orfeus21 on 25/12/2008 at 00:17
deactivate the user account control and get the indeo codecs that worked for me for the movies
but i still cant play the game! :bored:
JudasTheSlick on 25/12/2008 at 00:43
Turning off the UAC was the first thing i did in Vista and I did check the indeo codecs in the K-lite mega codec pac and thevideos seem to work now under windows. I'm gonna try older drivers tomorow, hopefully that will help.
JudasTheSlick on 25/12/2008 at 11:00
No luck with 8.11 drivers either. Any idea how much i should try going back in drivers?
JudasTheSlick on 25/12/2008 at 15:04
I didn't install any patches coz it says v1.18 on the autorun when i put the CD in. Well nothing seems to budge in Vista, so i tried tinkering with the game under ubuntu a bit more. What I've gotten so far:
Adding DDfix 1.3.11(not sure about the version, it's the latest) fixes the ugly graphics but still runs the game incredibly slow.
Reverting back to an older version of DDfix fixes the slow gameplay issues but introduces a new problem: it's like garret has x-ray vision and you can see objects and NPCs through walls when you get closer to them. Also the cut-scenes and the menus lag a bit.
P.S. Ok i made a bit of progress in vista. I copied the cam.cfg from ubuntu to the thief folder in vista and now i can see the menu, however when i start a mission, when the movie is suposed to play, I just see a black screen. I have a faint feeling that the movies are the culprit here. I have the indeo codecs installed and i can see the movies under windows. Tried the regsvr32.exe movie fix with no luck.
clearing on 27/12/2008 at 05:29
Quote Posted by JudasTheSlick
it's like garret has x-ray vision and you can see objects and NPCs through walls when you get closer to them.
Through walls? :weird: Screenshots?
sNeaksieGarrett on 28/12/2008 at 03:57
Hmm... The game actually shouldn't lag with ddfix (though it does have a "vsync" feature), so there's something going on there it seems.
Quote Posted by JudasTheSlick
it's like garret has x-ray vision and you can see objects and NPCs through walls when you get closer to them. Also the cut-scenes and the menus lag a bit.
I assume you are using ddfix 1.1.1, as you said you reverted back? If that is the case, the menu lagging/cut scenes are normal problems (well known) associated with it . (You can hit scroll lock on your keyboard to temporarily increase the speed of a video, and then hit it again once you are in-game. Note that this is for ddfix 1.1.1) The bit about x-ray vision.. now that I have never heard of before.:o
Quote Posted by JudasTheSlick
P.S. Ok i made a bit of progress in vista. I copied the cam.cfg from ubuntu to the thief folder in vista and now i can see the menu, however when i start a mission, when the movie is suposed to play, I just see a black screen. I have a faint feeling that the movies are the culprit here. I have the indeo codecs installed and i can see the movies under windows. Tried the regsvr32.exe movie fix with no luck.
Sounds like a dual-core problem. DDfix has a built in dual core fix, but I don't know if it is on by default depending on which version of ddfix you are using. If you have a ddfix.ini file in your thief directory, open that with notepad and make sure
multicorefix=1By the way, I don't mean to sound rude, but you shouldn't expect thief to run right (at least not without going through some steps to make it work) on a new computer. Sadly, vista has a lot of issues with thief, but equally the issue is that of newer CPUs/graphics cards. If it weren't for ddfix though, a lot of taffers would probably be SOL. Oh, and (
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75031#movies) check all these solutions in the FAQ about movies, if you haven't already.
JudasTheSlick on 31/12/2008 at 11:52
Hehe don't worry I am in no way expecting miracles here.
Bit of update, been kinda busy lately with the holidays and all.
Well I kept trying different stuff with the movies with no luck, so finally I just sent them to the recycle bin and woudn't you know it, everything started normally. The game plays just like I remember it under Vista with the latest ddfix. Will try the wide screen patch later. Also i read about a solution where someone re-encoded the videos, will try using that as well.
P.S. does anyone know how to make screenshots under ubuntu?
P.P.S. Widescreen patch works and the game plays great under 1280x800.
I tried deathshadow's solution to the movies found here (
here) http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122477 with no luck
