All I can tell you is that wowexec is a normal process that seems to launch older programs under windows XP.
Download winrar and try extracting the .cab files yourself to a directory like c:\games\systemshock2
Or something like that. You may not even have to do this. I remember once I was burning a pre-patched copy of the game for ease, and if i remember correctly, the complete game is on the CD, and doesnt need installing, its just inside a folder somewhere that you can copy onto your hard drive.
Give it a try.
When I try to run it from my hard drive it says "System Shock 2 has a known compatibility issue with this version of Windows. For an update that is compatible with this version of Windows, contact Electronic Arts. To run the program, click Continue. For more information, click Details." When I click Continue wowexec.exe starts, but setup.exe doesn't. Meh... I think i'm gonna take some advice someone gave me and start beating my computer with a baseball bat until it starts to install.
I having the same problem Sandrazor was having. I tried coping the game to hard manually this seams to work fine but with no reg information I can't get the patch to install. any ideas on how to patch it?
Why is the registry information missing?
The installer won't even start. so I just copied all the file on the cd that are need to play the game into my hd, but this means that no information about the game in entered into the reg
And so will important files like shock2.cfg.
If by shock2.cfg you mean shock.cfg then it certainly copied over. the only problem with my current install method is reg info if some one is willing to post what their reg files look like then we have a effective work around for the problem which Sandrazor and I are having.
P.S. sorry about an problems with the spelling/grammar in this post i just got back from my friends 21st.
Im going to add the registry key to the OP. I don't care if it encourages piracy. If EA didn't want people to pirate the game they published, they shouldn't have made such a crappy installation program.
Time to sound stupid. OP?
I am on the sixth level. Delacrua says that i must go on to the engenearing and find her in the room A (not 2A or 1A).I have russian version. May be in english version the number is said?
PS I can`t enter the door near the main elevator and where are two security machines. It says "The system is closed.Entering is not offered".
Also i can"t find Delacrua niether in 2A nor in 1A.
1) The russian version is a pirate version, thus not supported here;
2) This is a thread about technical problems running SS2, not a hints thread, so that last post doesn't belong here.
I've never quite finished SS2. I installed it on my first Win95 machine, played up to about Level 6, then stopped for a while (and "decommmissioned" = replaced that machine). I tried installing it on several Win2K machines, finally got it to run on one, and started over. Got to Level 5 before that machine suffered a software meltdown (actually, it got "hacked", and was rebuilt as a WinXP machine).
Ever since, I've been trying (unsuccessfully) to get SS2 installed and running. Installations work fine (because I know about -lgntforce), but either (a) the game stays "black" or (b) it gets "stuck" or "stuttering" during Basic or Advanced training.
I recently decided to "Try again", and read the FAQ and this stream. I'm running on my newest machine (about 1 year old), and on WinXP SP2. Install went fine, added safe_texture_manager (not 100% sure I need this), but still would "stick". I didn't think I had dual processors, but I followed the suggestion about checking the affinity (run SShock2, go to Task Manager, look in Processes for SShock2, click Properties and look at Affinity). I saw there were two processors, turned one off, and the game ran fine!
I then downloaded ImageCfg.exe from Microsoft, copied SShock2.exe to SShock2-uni.exe, and used the -u switch to set the image to "uniprocessor".
I am now running with no other "fixes" (i.e. I have not touched the Compatibility settings at all), and am happily (again) exploring Level 2 (the starting level). Hope I can remember where all the goodies are hidden ...
Thanks for providing continuing and on-going support for this fantastic game! I'm very curious how BioShock will look when it is released.
Dr. Bob
I can install SS2 perfectly fine despite my OS being XP Professional, but I cannot start the game at all. I've unpacked the executable to avoid having the copy protection intefere, but whenever I try to load the game it simply shows a black screen for a few seconds and then gives me a critical error. As bypassing the copy protection is the only suggestion under 'illegal operation at runtime' I tried a lot of other options such as outright downloading a crack to adding the safe_texture_manager to all the cfg files, with no luck. After an hour+ of trying everything I could think of I'm ready to call it quits, but I would really like to play the game so if someone would like to give me something else to try that would be great (especially if it works).
Computer Specs:
Windows XP Professional SP2
Geforce 6600 GT
1GB Ram
2.53 GHz Pentium 4
Additonal information available if needed.
Make sure you aren't using compatibility mode, and also if your P4 has HyperThreading enabled, try to disable one core in Set Affinity of Shock2.exe.
That's all I can think of right now.
I have tried it not in any compatibility mode, and I do not believe I have hyperthreading; at least, there is no Set Affinity option when i right click processes in my task manager, only Set Priority. I also have tried that little executable that is recommended in the FAQ, the System Shock 2 Multithread/XP Fix one. Thank you for your suggestions, though.
Quick question, I don't think anyone else has had this particular problem.
Namely... All the in-game cutscenes play... Up side down. It doesn' bother me at all, as they play fine in WMP, but I'm thinking of introducing this game to a friend, and I just know that if she sees the first cutscene being played upside down, it'll turn her off to it. (Women are superficial like that, I'm afraid.)
So, any assistance would be very helpful.
Hmmmm... I'm currently running an XP system, and it works fine for me besides the upside down cutscenes. I've played up to Ops level, discovered my buld wasn't very practicle, and have since restarted.
I think I saw this problem mentioned before, but I can't remember where.
You could just tell your friend before she launches the game.
Maybe the game is doing this because of the cutscenes, try to delete/rename/move the cutscenes folder and then launch the game.Originally Posted by Guldane
Renamed the folder, did not change the error in the slightest. Moved the folder out of the Sshock2 directory to my desktop, same thing. Thank you for the suggestion, though.
I'm not that good with technical stuff, so I apologize of this is a double-post, but I have searched the thread and tried many of the solutions and they don't seem to work. I initially had trouble installing the game, but found (http://www.quandaryland.com/jsp/dispArticle.jsp?filename=/help/Steves_XP_Games_Corner.htm&articleType=Help!+Page&title=Steve's+XP+Games+Corner#SP2) that my problem was being caused by Windows XP service pack 2. I downloaded and installed a fix. I was then able to install the game. However when I try and run the game the game the load screen showing "Xerxes" and "verifying system access" appears. After about 20-30 seconds the screen dissapears and I am left with a standard Windows error message labeled "System Shock 2" stating that "System Shock 2 has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience." The lower half of the window has the standard microsoft "Send Error Report" stuff.
Any help would be greatly appreciated as I'm dying to replay the best game of all time.
Last edited by Tetsusaiga; 10th May 2006 at 18:33.
Edit June 03'06: FIXED!!!! I upgraded my video Nvidia ForceWare 84.25 drivers to 91.28 and SS2 works now! (I don't even need to have any compatibility settings checked).
================================================
Original Post:
================================================
/Sigh
I have been thinking of replaying SS2 for a while now, and today spent about 2 hours digging through old CD piles and boxes, and I found the SS2 CD!
But, like many others, I cannot seem to get it to run. (I don't remember the last time I played it, but it was probably back when I was running W98).
Here's a long rundown of notes I have typed while trying various things. If anyone has any ideas, please chime in!
================================================
The problem:
------------------
SS2 main menu window/screen appears. If I select [Options], or [New Game] and then either [Start Game] or [Options], the game crashes with the following error:
1) Sometimes the screen just goes black for a few seconds and then the game exits to Windows with no messages at all, or;
2) Usually, the game crashes with the following error:. When I click the "To see what data this error report contains, [Click here]", the "error signature" is:
AppName:
AppVer: 1.0.0.0
ModName:
Offset: 001dd771
*** NOTE: The "Offset" is always the same, on all the SS2 executables I have tried (listed below): "Offset: 001dd771"
(I don't know if that is significant but I think it might be).
-----------------
My system:
-----------------
Windows XP Pro v.2002 w SP1 (not SP2), current on all Windows Updates (except SP2).
AMD Athlon 64 3000 (1.81Ghz)(Single core)
Abit AN8 MB (11/17/2005 BIOS)
3GB RAM (2x1GB, 2x512MB Corsair RAM)
Asus GeForce 6600GT 128MB PCIEx16 (ForceWare 84.25 drivers) [Upgrading to 91.28 fixed the game. It runs now!]
Several HD's; 80GB to 160GB (not all mapped to drive letters).
Enermax 550W PS
SyncMaster 204f LCD monitor (1600x1200 native res)
DX 9.0c (DXDIAG "No problems found")
------------------------
What I have tried:
------------------------
Note: Thief Gold and Thief 2 both run great (along with DarkLoader and all the fan missions, and GarretLoader).
Installed to a short path on a FAT32 drive (f:\g\ss2) (All my games are under f:\g)
Installed to C:\SS2
Installed both with and without "-Lgntforce" on the setup.exe (uninstalled between attempts)(Note: SS2 appears to install successfully for me both with and without "-Lgntforce")
Patched to the multi-player 2.3
Installed the IV5PLAY.EXE codecs package (but first tried everything prior to installing it)
Tried the following executables (tried no compatibility and all the compatibility settings on each one; tried "Disable Visual Themes" on and off):
--------------------------------------------
SHOCK2.EXE (Original exe after 2.3 patch applied)
SS2_Bobruck_fixedShock2exe
Shock2.No-CD for 2.3.exe
shock2_xp_2000_fix.exe
--------------------------------------------
In DXDIAG I have changed Hardware Sound Acceleration level to every setting (No accel to full accel).
Tried VSYNC on and off in the display driver settings.
Created a shortcut ("ss2") and added the -Lgntforce to the Target, eg.:
F:\g\SS2\SHOCK2.EXE -Lgntforce
cam.cfg:
Changed "game_hardware" between both 0 & 1
Added safe_texture_manager
Changed game_screen_size 640 480 to game_screen_size 1024 768 (and my desktop from 1600x1200 to 1024x768)
shock.cfg
Added safe_texture_manager
Changed between "hardware 0" and "hardware 1" (edited in sync with cam.cfg game_hardware setting)
Changed screen_size 640,480 to screen_size 1024,768 (and my desktop from 1600x1200 to 1024x768; also tried 800x600 in all locations)
Deleted all the "+" references to my CD path:
Eg.; Was: movie_path f:\g\ss2\cutscenes+H:\shock\cutscenes
Now: movie_path f:\g\ss2\cutscenes
Moved all the files out of "cutscenes" (leaving an empty dir)
Deleted the empty "cutscenes" directory
user.cfg (created by me)
Added safe_texture_manager
[end]
Last edited by Martek; 3rd Jun 2006 at 10:23.
You seem to have tried pretty much everything.
All I had to do to get it to run without issues was to apply the affinity fix (the Dark engine hates dual-core/hyper-threading) and applying a no CD patch to make sure the copy protection wouldn't be problematic.
If you are forcing AA or AF in the nVidia control panel, try making those application controlled. Or try older driver versions, 84.21 is what I'm using.
I'm happy you didn't have much trouble getting it running.I'd really like to as well, so I can play the fan missions. I've never played an SS2 FM yet.
I ran the affinity patch also (may have forgotten to mention it above). Even though I have a single core, I noted a few replies where it helped to run it even on a single core, so I did that too. Didn't help though.
I checked, and I already had AA set to app control. I forced it off and tried again; no change.If you are forcing AA or AF in the nVidia control panel, try making those application controlled. Or try older driver versions, 84.21 is what I'm using.Not sure what AF is...
I will consider stepping up or down on my video drivers. I notice there is a 84.43'ish driver out now. I really don't want to step down, as I upgraded to 84.25 to be able to run Oblivion properly. But I may try it out of desperation.
Thanks for the assist.
Martek
AF is Anastropic Filtering, it sharpens textures.
But I'm sorry that I can't help you further, this is above my knowledge I'm afraid. Your best bet would be using an older computer if you have access to one and use that to play the game.
I really don't want to have to look through the entire thread to find my problem; I found this thread through Google anyway and it couldn't help me. Here's the problem: Everytime I try to run System Shock 2, it will say something like "You have 5M of free disc space. Shock 2 requires 35. Shock 2 cannot run". First thing I tried was changing the compatibillity, and the game would run, but when the intro started and hit the loading screen, the game would go to a black screen. Somehow last night, after searching through some stuff and not to my awareness doing anything, I changed the compatibillity back to XP, and the game ran this time and got past the intro. This morning, I tried playing again, but I got the same error message. Once again I tried changing the compatibillity, but then I couldn't load a game and it went to a black screen. Does anyone know how to fix this?
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthrea...5031#diskspace
Just add the line skip_starting_checks to your user.cfg file. This works on Shock, too.
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