Crimson Skies bug with modern graphics card

[aaurouss]

Hi everyone,

I recently installed Crimson Skies, that I used to play with a former PC about 8 years ago. It doesn't run on my current PC. I've already read a lot of thread about the graphic problems on newer 3D cards. I did what is advised on those threads (instal the patch, the CS fix, etc.)

Ii didn't work for me, and I still have that bug, and I haven't read anyone posting about it. It's right when launching the game, the screen "freezes" on the welcome screen, the one where the music is played and on which you can see a zeppelin and "The tales of Nathan Zachary" written on the right. Once the short music ends, nothing happens, the game seeming to crash.

I'd be very grateful if someone had an idea on how to fix that.

Cheers

 

[aaurouss]

I forgot to mention my current config:

Pentium E5200 2.5GhZ, Geforce 8600 GT.

 

[Davros]

Are you sure you have the correct fix ?
do you have a readme txt in the game folder that says the following

Crimson skies fix by timeslip
http://timeslip.chorrol.com
30/5/09

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XX Installation instructions XX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Extract into your crimson skies installation directory, overwriting crimson.exe. (Make a backup first in case you want to uninstall later.)

If you want to change the default options, open csfix.ini in a text editor and modify the appropriate lines.

XXXXXXXXXXX
XX Fixes XX
XXXXXXXXXXX

= Crash on startup with a divide by zero error

This appears to be an application bug, caused by the designers assuming that processors would never exceed a certain speed. Fixed by disabling the high performance counter check, forcing crimson skies to fall back onto a counter that doesn't tick over so quickly. Running in win95 compatibility mode also fixes it, although at a performance penalty.

my csfix.ini

[Main]

;Set to 1 to use a 32 bit render target, to solve issues with broken dithering
;Corrupts the intro screen, and causes a couple of artifacts on menus
Use32BitColour=0

;Set to 1 to force a specific screen resolution
;Menu's don't look as good, but it removes screen transitions and lets you use non 4:3 resolutions
;Warning: Has a tendency to induce mild epilepsy on the briefing screens
OverrideRes=0
ScreenWidth=1280
ScreenHeight=1024

;Disable usage of the high performance counter
;Fixes the crash on startup on some newer cpu's, can also be fixed by running in win95 compatibility mode
DisablePerfCounter=1

;Force NONPOW2CONDITIONAL texture caps
;Fixes blocky text on menus, and in game crashes when text is displayed
ForceNP2=1

;Forces the use of a single processor core
;Fixes threading issues on multi-core processors
SingleCoreMode=1

 

[Grall]

Wut, Crimson Skies supported multithreading? That game is ANCIENT now...

I got quite far into it back in the day I think, but when I reached a mainland mission (over Paris, I seem to remember) I just couldn't get any further due to the framerate dropping through the floor on my quite slow PC. And years later my Microsoft Force Feedback joystick crapped itself and died so I had to junk it. Too bad, it was a pretty good joystick (although the FF mechanism used cogged gears, which tended to wear down with use.)

 

[aaurouss]

Yes I do have the correct fix, the good files in the good directory, etc. I tried every possible options in the csfix.ini file, and it still doesn't work.
It's not that I have blocky text or weird color, it's just that the game doesn't start once the music is played in the very first screen.

 

[linthat22]

Yes I do have the correct fix, the good files in the good directory, etc. I tried every possible options in the csfix.ini file, and it still doesn't work.
It's not that I have blocky text or weird color, it's just that the game doesn't start once the music is played in the very first screen.

Though it's not the same, I can send you my ailing x-box and copy of CS if you want?

 

[Davros]

Edit: just ran through a mission an I have massive graphical corruption

 

[Grall]

Something for GoG to have a look at, clean up, and re-launch I would say... Wonder if Microsoft would let them, isn't Crimson Skies available on the Xbox 360 marketplace?

Crimson Skies often comes up as one of those classics people seem to be really fond of, and remember with a lot of love.

 

[green.pixel]

While we are at the topic of Crimson Skies, Jordan Weisman is interested in resurrecting Crimson Skies:
http://www.shacknews.com/article/73305/jordan-weisman-hopes-to-resurrect-crimson-skies

Crimson Skies was first released as a board game by FASA in 1998, followed by books, a miniatures game, and two video games. It's set in an alternate-reality 1930s, where air-pirates plunder the skies over a fractured United States.

Don't get too excited just yet, though. "I don't want to bite off more than we can chew right now," Weisman explained. "First comes Shadowrun, and we want to make that great, and then we'll figure out where to go after that."