Hi,

I just installed GF, and I have a very up to date computer with Windows XP and Direct X9 installed.

With 16-bit graphics mode on, 3D acceleration off, I still notice problems with the game. The intro ran fine but when you get to the office, if you press F1 for the options screen, half the time all sound and music is gone for the remainder of the time GF is open.

I did analyze the computer and there were flags all over the place and missing files. I took a suggestion to put the game in Win95 compatibility mode, and though the game now runs fine, the cutscenes are extremely choppy and thusly unwatchable.

How does Win95 compatibility mode affect the game's performance? But besides that, what can I do to play this game on XP? Please respond--i'd appreciate it. You can email me at: nvoid3@hotmail.com

I recently got a new computer w/ WinXP and haven't tried installing any older games on it yet. I'm curious to see what people have to say.

I have to disable Hyper Threading on my P4 3.0 GHz PC (1024 MB PC3200 ram, ATI Radeon 9800 Pro, Windows XP Pro) in order for Grim to work properly. With HT enabled I had the same problems that batman55 described. With HT disabled the game seems to run flawlessly (no need for compatibility mode), although I've only played through year one so far on this PC.

EDIT: Oh, I am experiencing one strange problem. Whenever I launch GF (by clicking on "Play Grim Fandango"), instead of starting at the LA intro the game starts up at the last location I visited in my previous play session, except Manny's inventory is completely empty. I can load a saved game and continue playing without any problems, but there's no way to start a new game unless I uninstall/reinstall.

weird.

have u downgraded ur Direct X9 to Direct X6.1? cos gf has problems on anything greater than 6.1

btw could you make sure you read http://www.lucasforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=29995) before you start posting about problems in the game, thanks.

Originally posted by Tall Guy
have u downgraded ur Direct X9 to Direct X6.1? cos gf has problems on anything greater than 6.1

He has Windows XP. I don't think it's possible to downgrade to DX 6.1.

How would one disable Hyper Threading? I'm pretty dumb about all the technical stuff, so a little help? thanks a lot.. i hope for a response!

actually i figured it out.. just press F2 at startup.. and the game seems to work! thanx all

Originally posted by Naughty_Sauce
He has Windows XP. I don't think it's possible to downgrade to DX 6.1.
I think there's a thread that mentions this somewhere ... but in order to downgrade you'd have to completely remove DX from your system. Not highly recommended unless you know what you're doing. Also, many games these days require a higher version of DX, so it'd be hard to to play anything new.

Argh, I'm afraid I'm having problems with GF as well...any help will be greatly appreciated.

I'm running Windows XP, and I've satisfied all the technical requirements. I've also got DirectX 9.0, which may be the problem.

I've downloaded the patch, and when I troubleshoot, I get some exclamation marks telling me files are old or missing, and to reinstall DirectX. Even when I do, the exclamation marks don't go away.

My problem is that the game will freeze up for no apparent reason, or the sound and music will disappear.

I'm not very technically literate, so I can't "downgrade" DirectX, nor do I know how to disable my computer's Hyper Threading technology.

I'll be grateful for any advice.

If your computer is decent then turn 3d Acceleration on, there's barely a computer in existence today which cannot support it and it will greatly enhance your experience.

If that doesn't solve it, I did hear there might be a problem regarding DX9 and GF. Try reading through some older posts and/or the sticky in this forum to research it.

Thanks a lot. I did turn the 3d Accelerator on, which made the game last about 5 minutes longer before freezing.

The material about uninstalling DirectX 9 doesn't seem to apply to XP, I think? And it does appear very technical...

Looks like I won't be playing GF for a while.

In order to disable Hyper-Threading you first have to make sure your processor is HT Enabled. If you have a Pentium 4C (800 MHz FSB) clocked at either 3.2, 3.0, 2.8, 2.6, or 2.4 GHz then your processor is HT Enabled.

To disable it you need to access your motherboard's BIOS. To access your motherboard's BIOS you have to hold down a key on your keyboard as the system is first booting up (it's usually the delete key, but check the motherboard's manual to be sure). Once you're in the BIOS just follow the manual's instructions to disable HT. It's usually pretty simple. In one of the option screens you should find a setting labeled "Hyper-Threading" which is set to "enabled". Just switch the setting to "disabled" and you're set.

I would keep HT enabled when not playing Grim Fandango if I were you, as it does enhance the processor's performance.

After a lot of experimenting with all suggestions, the ONLY thing that gives both smooth cut scenes and avoids the loss of the sound is to disable hyperthreading on the P4. As described above, you have to get into the bios as the machine is booting to disable it, but it is not a big deal: you can just re-enable it the same way.