TwoRails
07-05-2006, 10:14 PM
I don’t have a big game budget so I rarely get a new release. Instead, most of my game buying is done from the “bargain bin.” Recently I found The Suffering, Ties That Bind at the store for $9.95 and it looked interesting. I also figured I’d have no problems running the game since the minimum requirements were a PIII and Win 98.2.
Installation of the 3 CDs went along without a hitch. The Readme file indicated the game would work with vid cards as old as an ATI 7000, so I figured my trusty old X800 would do just fine and set the initial screen display to 1600x1200.
On attempts to actually play the game, however, it would continually blowup and send me to a totally blue screen with a high pitched, looping, ear piercing sound. It required a reboot each time as the system was locked.
I tried setting down the resolution, on the pre-game settings screen, figuring that was the problem. I got a little further this time, but every time I changed a setting inside the game, the blue screen and sound would reoccur, causing a lot of rebooting.
Still thinking it was a settings problem, I tried going straight to the New Game selection. It actually started. After the usual beginning movies the game finally started, but the mouse is inverted by default. Once again, when attempting to correct this, I get the same lockup.
I then searched for game patches and found only one. It’s install “Failed.” So, I tried the game once more, figuring I’d like to at least see what the game was about, but planned on not changing any settings.
Then I noticed what a slow loader it is, taking almost a full Five minutes to load. The game started and was very, very choppy. I figured I need to lower the resolution some more, but couldn’t get past the setting options. I went to Midway’s site and found a FAQ describing similar problems. It stated that updating the “StarForce” drivers would fix the problem.
So, I downloaded and installed the drivers. I was kinda surprised that the game, and the setting options seemed to work. I kept jacking down the res but the game stayed choppy even at 1024x768. That didn’t seem right to me, but I continued lowering specs by removing shadows and even dropping down to trilinear filtering. No matter what settings I picked, the game stayed very choppy.
I also noticed other strange behavior. One new “problem” was that I couldn’t boot with a CD in the drive, getting a secondary master IDE drive error. Also, boot times grew by minutes. That’s when I researched “StarForce” right here in our Forums. It’s a “special” copy protection devise that installs special drivers, at a minimum.
After that discovery, I uninstalled StarForce, went to a Restore Point prior to the install, uninstalled the game, and also went to a Restore Point before the game install That should remove StarForce in case their uninstaller didn’t really do as advertised.
In the hours of attempting to play the game, I have maybe ½ hour in doing so. The game itself seems like it would be fun, but with the intrusive Sony-type protection scheme, ridiculously long load times, and overall poor performance, I can not recommend this game.
Hopefuly, this saves someone else some pain...
TwoRails
Installation of the 3 CDs went along without a hitch. The Readme file indicated the game would work with vid cards as old as an ATI 7000, so I figured my trusty old X800 would do just fine and set the initial screen display to 1600x1200.
On attempts to actually play the game, however, it would continually blowup and send me to a totally blue screen with a high pitched, looping, ear piercing sound. It required a reboot each time as the system was locked.
I tried setting down the resolution, on the pre-game settings screen, figuring that was the problem. I got a little further this time, but every time I changed a setting inside the game, the blue screen and sound would reoccur, causing a lot of rebooting.
Still thinking it was a settings problem, I tried going straight to the New Game selection. It actually started. After the usual beginning movies the game finally started, but the mouse is inverted by default. Once again, when attempting to correct this, I get the same lockup.
I then searched for game patches and found only one. It’s install “Failed.” So, I tried the game once more, figuring I’d like to at least see what the game was about, but planned on not changing any settings.
Then I noticed what a slow loader it is, taking almost a full Five minutes to load. The game started and was very, very choppy. I figured I need to lower the resolution some more, but couldn’t get past the setting options. I went to Midway’s site and found a FAQ describing similar problems. It stated that updating the “StarForce” drivers would fix the problem.
So, I downloaded and installed the drivers. I was kinda surprised that the game, and the setting options seemed to work. I kept jacking down the res but the game stayed choppy even at 1024x768. That didn’t seem right to me, but I continued lowering specs by removing shadows and even dropping down to trilinear filtering. No matter what settings I picked, the game stayed very choppy.
I also noticed other strange behavior. One new “problem” was that I couldn’t boot with a CD in the drive, getting a secondary master IDE drive error. Also, boot times grew by minutes. That’s when I researched “StarForce” right here in our Forums. It’s a “special” copy protection devise that installs special drivers, at a minimum.
After that discovery, I uninstalled StarForce, went to a Restore Point prior to the install, uninstalled the game, and also went to a Restore Point before the game install That should remove StarForce in case their uninstaller didn’t really do as advertised.
In the hours of attempting to play the game, I have maybe ½ hour in doing so. The game itself seems like it would be fun, but with the intrusive Sony-type protection scheme, ridiculously long load times, and overall poor performance, I can not recommend this game.
Hopefuly, this saves someone else some pain...
TwoRails