Thief Gold/Thief II: The Metal Age Not Working On My System

[Adamantios]

(The following was originally going to be posted on ttlg.com/forums but they've yet to activate my account so I naturally came here instead.)

Greetings,

Although I am an old-time Thief gamer (and regard the entire series -- except of course for "Thief: Deadly Shadows"* which I don't recognize as part of the series or Thief universe due to how much of a travesty it turned out to be -- as one of the best embodiments of PC gaming at its best) I am installing and trying to play the re-release versions of Thief Gold (version 1.37) and Thief II: The Metal Age (version 1.18) since I have lost my original copies of Thief: The Dark Project and Thief II: The Metal Age (i.e. the ones that came in the trapezoidal boxes). I also have the rectangular UK version of Thief II: The Metal Age but I haven't tried that one. (Since I plan to re-play the games in order, though, there's no need to test that one to see if it's working, at least for now.)

Before I explain my problem, I will note my computer specs:

Operating System: Windows XP Professional (Version 2002) with Service Pack 3; DirectX Diagnostic Tool describes it as Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (Note: I also have a copy of Windows XP Home Edition but I can't install it on this system as much of my data is not backed-up.)
Processor: Intel Core 2 x6800 2.93 Ghz
Memory: 2048 megabytes of RAM
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GX2 and, unless I am interpreting the info incorrectly, my driver version is either 6.14.0011.6921 (according to DxDiag) or 6.14.11.6921 (according to Device Manager)
Physics Card: AGEIA PhysX PCI Card
Sound card: Creative SB X-Fi Audio
DirectX version: 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)

If more information is needed (like a DirectX Diagnostic Tool log, etc.) please let me know.

Before I go any further, I want to make it clear that I have spent many hours going over numerous threads (including on other forums) and trying several fixes to get the games to work and nothing has worked so far.

The problems began as early as installation. I couldn't even install Thief Gold (though I had no problem whatsoever installing Thief II: The Metal Age) until I ran d:\setup.exe -lgntforce from the Run command as described in "How do I install Thief on Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Vista?" (http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75031#install). The games both start, the videos seem to play fine, but right when I'm about the start my first mission (whether it's the training mission or a regular mission) the game stalls and makes a "beep noise" and the screen remains completely black. In the background, the ambient sound from the previous mission or purchasing screen remains playing. If I hit any button, the game crashes to the desktop. If I don't hit a button, it remains in that state (probably indefinitely).

I know for a fact the the problem is not with the CDs because I was having no problem playing with them a few years ago on a Windows 98 system. Ironically, the only reason I upgraded from Windows 98 to Windows XP was to play "Thief: Deadly Shadows" and now, because of that decision, I can't play the REAL Thief games. Other than that, I should mention that I've tried multiple methods of disabling one of my CPUs with no perceptible change.

Please help me get these games running. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

*I know Eidos is going to get angry when they see that part but, guys, would you rather prefer I lie and say I liked the game or give you a straight answer so that you don't make the same mistakes again?

[Adamantios]

Before I explain my problem, I will note my computer specs:

[...]

Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GX2 and, unless I am interpreting the info incorrectly, my driver version is either 6.14.0011.6921 (according to DxDiag) or 6.14.11.6921 (according to Device Manager)

I went to go update my drivers and, according to NVIDIA's Driver Downloads, the "current installed driver" is 169.21. According to "How to make Thief 1 run on a modern computer" (http://forums.eidosgames.com/showthread.php?t=76532), "As of this writing, April 14, 2008, the following [drivers] are known to work: 163.71, 163.75, and 169.21 WHQL".

So, apparently, I have one of the "working" drivers but my games still don't work. I don't know if I should try an even older driver or what but perhaps that is an option. Hopefully, someone will know what I should do.

[Adamantios]

I got Thief Gold working (I haven't yet tried to get Thief II: The Metal Age working but I'm fairly certain that I'll be able to). It turns out that the blank screen meant I was having a texture error problem (http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75031#texturememory) so I had to download the Thief Gold patch (http://www.thief-thecircle.com/download.asp?fid=727) that fixes that. After that, the mission loaded and I was elated... for about 5 seconds before it froze. Apparently, both CPUs were running (http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75031#hyperthread) (something I quickly noticed) and so I took the necessary steps to disable one of them (http://www.thief-thecircle.com/guides/hyperthreading/). All of the information to make Thief work with a modern computer system is out there; it's just that this information isn't very specific and detailed and hence why people have a hard time figuring out how to make their game work. I hope my thread is (and will be) helpful to people who are having similar problems and haven't been able to find a resolution.

[Peter Smith]

"it's just that this information isn't very specific and detailed"

How specific do and detailed you want? I listed all the issues and fixes that I am aware of, except for Vista, with which, thankfully, I have no experience. A certain knowledge of computers and how to find things on the internet is assumed. I don't get paid to write step-by-step user manuals, or anything else for that matter. If you can suggest specific changes to the wording that would be helpful, please feel free. You could take my thread, rewrite it, and send it to me.

[theBlackman]

Adamantios

All the issues with MULTICORE have been mentioned a number of times, as has the TEXTURE and Graphics etc.

IF, and that's the operative, if you read the entire batch of FAQs on the technical, and Deadly Shadows forums every thing you mentioned is there.

It is in plain, understandable language. Because every user has a potentially different problem it is up to you to READ the entire thread and apply the possible "fixes" that seem to fit your problem.

This is not a "We will cure all your computer and game problems" situation. As "fixes" or enhancements are discovered, we try to make them available.

But it is up to you to use or not use, and to use the symptoms your computer shows to DIAGNOSE the problem as best you can USING THE GIVEN DATA in the FAQ and SEARCH functions of the individual forums.

The information is there, but the user, in this case YOU, have to read it all, and choose the fixes that might apply.

I don't have a dual-core, I don't use Nvidia or GeForce, Ever. I have 3 systems with three operating systems, so do I organize the fix list to suit each individual system or do I generalize with "Black screen =", "Graphic distortions=" and so on.

[Umicel]

The only problem I'm having is that after the objectives/loading screen finishes, I have a black screen. Only way to close it is by rightclicking on the start menu and "Close" the game thru there. Its unpatched, since DDFix makes the game keep asking me for DirectX 7 or higher to run. Besides the DDFix, ive done everything else the forums says to do.

[Malax Crunatus]

(The following was originally going to be posted on ttlg.com/forums but they've yet to activate my account so I naturally came here instead.)

Greetings,

Although I am an old-time Thief gamer (and regard the entire series -- except of course for "Thief: Deadly Shadows"* which I don't recognize as part of the series or Thief universe due to how much of a travesty it turned out to be -- as one of the best embodiments of PC gaming at its best) I am installing and trying to play the re-release versions of Thief Gold (version 1.37) and Thief II: The Metal Age (version 1.18) since I have lost my original copies of Thief: The Dark Project and Thief II: The Metal Age (i.e. the ones that came in the trapezoidal boxes). I also have the rectangular UK version of Thief II: The Metal Age but I haven't tried that one. (Since I plan to re-play the games in order, though, there's no need to test that one to see if it's working, at least for now.)

Before I explain my problem, I will note my computer specs:

Operating System: Windows XP Professional (Version 2002) with Service Pack 3; DirectX Diagnostic Tool describes it as Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (Note: I also have a copy of Windows XP Home Edition but I can't install it on this system as much of my data is not backed-up.)
Processor: Intel Core 2 x6800 2.93 Ghz
Memory: 2048 megabytes of RAM
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GX2 and, unless I am interpreting the info incorrectly, my driver version is either 6.14.0011.6921 (according to DxDiag) or 6.14.11.6921 (according to Device Manager)
Physics Card: AGEIA PhysX PCI Card
Sound card: Creative SB X-Fi Audio
DirectX version: 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)

If more information is needed (like a DirectX Diagnostic Tool log, etc.) please let me know.

Before I go any further, I want to make it clear that I have spent many hours going over numerous threads (including on other forums) and trying several fixes to get the games to work and nothing has worked so far.

The problems began as early as installation. I couldn't even install Thief Gold (though I had no problem whatsoever installing Thief II: The Metal Age) until I ran d:\setup.exe -lgntforce from the Run command as described in "How do I install Thief on Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Vista?" (http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75031#install). The games both start, the videos seem to play fine, but right when I'm about the start my first mission (whether it's the training mission or a regular mission) the game stalls and makes a "beep noise" and the screen remains completely black. In the background, the ambient sound from the previous mission or purchasing screen remains playing. If I hit any button, the game crashes to the desktop. If I don't hit a button, it remains in that state (probably indefinitely).

I know for a fact the the problem is not with the CDs because I was having no problem playing with them a few years ago on a Windows 98 system. Ironically, the only reason I upgraded from Windows 98 to Windows XP was to play "Thief: Deadly Shadows" and now, because of that decision, I can't play the REAL Thief games. Other than that, I should mention that I've tried multiple methods of disabling one of my CPUs with no perceptible change.

Please help me get these games running. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

*I know Eidos is going to get angry when they see that part but, guys, would you rather prefer I lie and say I liked the game or give you a straight answer so that you don't make the same mistakes again?

Did you tried reinstalling indeo codecs ? patching with DDFIX ? that helped me with T2, but TGold worked fine without any fixes at all.

[Umicel]

omg, i got T2 to working!
The last thing i did was instead of making Compatibility 98/ME, i changed it to 2000, and it worked! im playing it now YAY