HOTU Shock 2 on XP SP3 - New Game/Cutscene Crash

[68115eb07da2cVertimyst]

Hi,

I'm trying to get System Shock 2 running.   I'm using the HOTU version.   The game starts fine (I can get to the menu) but if I start a new game, it crashes, same if I try to view the intro.   I have DivX 7 installed, and the videos play fine in Windows Media Player.

Here's what I did to install the game:

• Installed DivX 7 (complete install)
• Installed with HOTU Installer
• Extracted OGG files
• Ran SS2Tool, selected Patching Up -> Merge CRF Archives, Bug Fixes (all), Widescreen Mod + DDFix
• Entered 1680x1050 and 100 for Widescreen Mod settings, applied DDFix patch
• Installed SS2 Mod Manager, SHTUP, Rebirth mods, activated them

I also tried 'regsvr32 "C:\Games\sshock2\LGVID.AX"' with no success (though the file apparently registered), as well as trying the game without mods (even though I doubt they're related).

Any suggestions?

[68115eb07dd65Enchantermon]

Did you rename lgvid.ax to something else (like lgvid.ax.bak) and start the game to make sure it's a video problem?

[68115eb07de92Vertimyst]

Just tried it now, the game starts fine now, but I have no sound (wasn't sure about that before, as I couldn't get in-game beyond the menu).   I tried installing the OGG codec to see if it made any difference, didn't work.

So now it seems I have two issues: no in-game sound and no cutscenes.

[68115eb07e02eKolya]

Windows 7 or another 64Bit windows?
Try disabling "Hardware Acceleration" in the game's audio options to get sound working again. Make sure the "Positional Sound Bias" slider is somewhere in the middle there, NOT full right.
About the videos try the instructions here: SS2 Videos / Cutscenes Guide

[68115eb07e151Vertimyst]

Thanks, I had to do both.   Sound's working now.

Also, I did try those instructions (if you're referring to registering lgvid.ax).   And, I'm running WinXP SP3 as stated in the title.    32Bit.

Edit: It seems the game's not remembering my hardware acceleration settings.   I have to turn it off everytime I start the game.

[68115eb07e23eKolya]

Sorry I missed that in the title. For reference: May I ask what your soundcard and sounddriver is?

[68115eb07e333Vertimyst]

Conexant CX20551 Waikiki High Definition Audio,   That's about as specific as I can get right now.   I'm running a laptop, a Toshiba Satellite Pro P100 PSPA1C-TM30XE to be exact.

[68115eb07e44dVertimyst]

Sorry for the double-post - just want to say, I downloaded the original cutscenes and installed the Indeo codec, and they're working fine.   Having to adjust sound settings every time I start the game is annoying, but I can live with it for now.

Still, I'd like to fix that issue, and maybe get the DivX cutscenes working as well.   Are they better quality or worse than the originals?

[68115eb07e52cKolya]

Slightly worse, they were re-encoded to take up less size (100MB->22MB).