Thief II: The Metal Age DDFix -- NO graphic display whatsoever -- PLEASE HELP! - by kaekaelyn
kaekaelyn on 20/5/2009 at 19:47
Hey, first time posting here. I was hoping you could help me with a problem.
I can get Thief II: The Metal Age to run on my computer (Macbook G4, GMA950 running under a Windows emulator called Parallels Desktop). I know that isn't the ideal system to play games on, but it's what I'm stuck with via my school.
Anyway, I can play Thief II: The Metal Age, but the graphics are really bad; I can't see into any even semi-dark corners at all. The shadows are so dark as to make the game pretty much unplayable. So of course I got DDFix. I can't get the GUI version to work (the .exe won't open) so I'm using the manual version.
However, when I use the DDFix-patched .exe to use DDFix with Thief 2, I get a black screen when I open the game. I don't mean the usual black screen that people get after a certain point (i.e. viewing the objective list)...I just mean that everything is black. The sounds of the opening video are playing, and the menu is obviously open because I can hear the click-click as my invisible cursor highlights the invisible menu options, but everything is, as I said before, black. I have to use the Task Manager to close Thief 2 because Alt+F4 doesn't seem to work in Parallels and I just can't see the exit button.
Anyway, I don't know what to do. I've done everything that my various searches have suggested, but I've never seen any reports of this particular problem. I was wondering if maybe some of you tech-savvy people could lend me a hand; it'd be much appreciated.
Kaelyn
kaekaelyn on 20/5/2009 at 20:11
Just got the GUI working, but to no avail--same problem.
Fenris on 20/5/2009 at 22:38
I'm not particularly tech-savvy myself, but have you tried to remove the semicolon from the line ;safe_texture_manager in the file user.cfg which you should open with Notepad?
I've never tried MacBooks, so I don't know if there's any compatibility settings available, but if there is it might be worth a shot.
kaekaelyn on 21/5/2009 at 00:33
Hey, thanks for your reply. I'm using XP on my Mac through Parallels Desktop, so I can do all this stuff as if I were really running Windows. Yeah, I've removed the semicolon, and I've set the compatibility mode of thief2.exe to Windows 2000. I think the problem may lie with Parallels Desktop itself. If that's true, I'm pretty much SOL for the next few years.
kaekaelyn on 21/5/2009 at 00:50
Alternatively, maybe someone can tell me how to brighten the shadows in Thief 2. I already have the gamma correction all the way up as well as the brightness on my monitor. I don't have a contrast control on my monitor. Is there another way to adjust my display settings so that I don't just fumble around in the dark in Thief 2?
Fenris on 21/5/2009 at 00:53
Have you tried without using the compatibility mode? I just checked, and my T2 is running without any compatibility mode.
That's all I can think of unfortunately. Maybe others here have some better ideas.
Edit: as for adjusting the light, it depends. If your macbook uses, say, the NVIDIA graphics drivers, there should be a utility program which you can access through the control panel. In there you can adjust colors, brightness etc. I suppose other graphics drivers have the same utilities.
bikerdude on 21/5/2009 at 01:00
Quote Posted by kaekaelyn
I can get Thief II: The Metal Age to run on my computer (Macbook G4, GMA950 running under a Windows emulator called Parallels Desktop).
Wont work, your gonna have to use bootcamp I'm afraid.
kaekaelyn on 21/5/2009 at 01:19
Yeah, if I don't use compatibility mode Thief 2 crashes to the desktop when I start the first mission.
That sucks, because I have Tiger and my school won't upgrade me. So I guess my best hope is to somehow brighten the shadows in the crappy Thief 2 graphics I have right now.
