ColbyWolf on 30/3/2006 at 07:28

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Alright.. I glanced over the rest of the forums carefully, googled around the net and havn't found anythign to help me out...
And yes, I looked in the stickied post up top and there's nothing that precisely addresses my issue, near as I can tell. And I would rather not install things randomly because they sound CLOSE to my issue.

So.. I happily installed thief gold today, having a vague memory of the game from years ago. I installed it without a hitch (go google!)...

I clicked the icon and started it up. I clicked through the into video. then turned around and watched it again from the main screen. Then tweaked my graphic settings (res and char detail, I think) up. then the game crashed, I belive, as soon as I hit 'start training'. Windows popped up it's "this program has performed an error and needs to close' box.

Boo, says I. And restarted the game. I check my graphic settings to find that they had tweaked themselves back down... and I leave them here.. then head on in. I start a new game, and hit start training. I watch the movie and slowly sink myself into the mind set of a young thief stealing to survive, the rough streets providing no quarter or friends... The training video completes and I have control of myself for the first time. YAY!
I listen to The Voice for a few moments while I move the mouse around and use the arrow keys to move around in that first little room.. I reach over to the asd, etc keys to see if they have any strafe implimentations, and, after a few moments of playing around, decide to proceed with the tutorial. I walk to the newly opened door way and... whoa. I'm not moving.

I try to back out of the hall.. nope.. mouse doens't move the camera anymore... controlsl are locked. I listen: Yes, I can still hear the music... I alt tab, intendign to close the game out. Alt-tab brigns up the alt-tab screen... but it doen'st switch windows. crtl-alt-del refuses to come to the foreground either... ...? weird. Okay. I reach down and hold down the power button my my PC reluctantly... I let it cool down a second... then boot it back up.

Thief: take 3. Load up the game, skipping all the videos.. I walk down the hallway.. I sneak through the shadows and tweak my gamma bit while doing so.. It's.. oh, shortly after I look at my map.. as I'm heading to the cortyard.. that the graphics suddenly halt again. I still hear sounds... I poke buttons.. I alt tab around.. I hear windows pinging randomly as I push invalid buttons... but I end up holding down power button again.

playing with windows 98 compatibility mode has greeted me with no into movie.. though the training video still plays.. though I click thoruhg it.. I accept the mission.. then my screen sits at BLACK.. until I alt tab and kill the unresponsive program... ... OOOOOOR after removing compatibility modes ENTIERLY.. It's still doing the same thing. time for another reboot, I guess.

After rebooting, the into movie doens't play automatically.. .Maybe it shuts off after you start up so many times...? will still play from the menu, though... I start the training again.. and have an error I'd forgotten about before. I accept the mission.. and I lead into the game.. I hear sounds, but the graphics IMMEDIATLY lock up. In these situatiosn I can ctrl-alt-del, or alt tab to get access to the task bar and right-click close the useless theif game...

I went with the other thought to enter my mind and by passed the training. I watched the first mission's video.. accepted the mission, dealt with my dear.. and got into the level. I look around.. and jsut as I prepare to start trying to figure out the keysettigns, I lock of graphically again. Hello Mr. Power button.

I'm giving up until I get some suggestions. I hate havign to cold restart my baby like this, time and time again...

To sum:
I either lock up as soon as I enter a level--at which point I can alt tab and kill the program
Or I crash after having the game for an uncertain period of time. ... I don't know if it's consistant, or random... I would TIME it, but I don't know where my watch is, and it's a bit more frustration then I'm willign to deal with at the moment.

anyone have any ideas or help? I really want to play this game... I've heard such great things about it...

here's my system:

Win XP Pro (SP2, I do belive)
3ghz, 1GB DDR RAM
GeForce FX 5700LE (256 MB) drivers are the newest and greatest.. as far as I know.. I jsut updated them the other dayso I could play Dungeons and Dragons Online and Dark Age of Camelot without any issues..

Did I miss anything?

David on 30/3/2006 at 08:54

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Sounds like:
(http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75031#hyperthread) Game freezes within a minute / Running Thief on a Dual-Processor System or Got a Pentium 4 with Hyperthreading? from the red FAQ thread.

ColbyWolf on 30/3/2006 at 09:08

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normally about 3--45 seconds.. though after reading your post I got m'self stuck again.. so.. got up, went to the bathroom, got a drink, straightened up the kitchen a bit... nope. no good. Still locked up. Still have ambient sounds playing.. but not hte voice that was suposed to kick in.

Latest patch...? what version is that?

I'm going to go ahead and be more honest then I probably should be: I'm using a pirated version of the game. I don't like doing this... but with older games like this, I'd rather spend a few hours downloading and messing with the game (even missing important details like videos or sounds) and discover that it does, indeed, work with my PC, then spent 20$ and discover I can't use it at all. Especially since no one will let you return opened software etc.. and since Edios (sp) is offering a DOWNLOAD.. the chances of me getting my money back are laughable. However, everyone else using the same sourced download as I did has been able to run the game no problems.. so it must be my PC in some respect. *shakes her head*

Anyway... my copy says that it is--straight from the ISO's I've mounted on my hard drive-- 1.37. The only patch I see anywhere is for 1.33 ... I was under the impression that these were staight disk images, nothing more... is 1.33 the latest version, or is 1.37?

Compatibility modes didn't seem to work so well, but I may give them a shot again in a second...

However, I jsut uninstalled and reinstalled again.. let's see if this works...

Thanks much for your help, Soul Shaker :) every little bit is appreciated :)

and I really hope people don't look badly on my for using a, er.. less then legal copy of the game.. I DO intend to buy it.... The price is very responable.. but I don't have the money to randomly toss 20$ away on a product that won't work. I fully support game creators and software writers.. and as of this moment, I think the only 'illegal' software I'm using on my computer is a copy of photo shop 7 (650$ is too much for a program I use once every few months especially one one works at minimum wage..) and a ROM of a SNES game that's selling for about 30$ on ebay... I own the game.. but it's a few states away as I left it there in hopes that my little brother would pull out of Grand theft auto and appreciate one of the finer SNES RPGS in existance...

Hmm.. I'd be tempted to try this on my legacy gaming PC... but I think thief is too new and high tech for it.. I bought that computer so my boyfriend could play his games of Civ and Railroad tycoon without having to argue with 12 different dos emulation programs for windows that still wouldn't do the job right...

*sighs and goes to crash her PC again*

ColbyWolf on 30/3/2006 at 09:26

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I feel really sheepish now.
Thank you. I had no idea that my processor was HT'd..

now if I was smart I'd go back and delete taht other post about pirating, but oh well. I"m loving what I"ve seen of the game so far now that it isn't crashing :) I'll own a 'real' copy soon :) ..wonder if I can find one in a box, rather then the digital download.. having the box is so much more satisfying....

Thank you very much again *bow* sorry for my stupidity.

ColbyWolf on 30/3/2006 at 10:46

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I could.. but then, if anyone read the other post, before I fixed it, they'd think I was trying to hide it. *shakes head* I"m not a ..er.. well, I was goign to say theif, but.. :P
and I feel I have legitimate reasons for pre-testing before I buy. ;)
I know it's at least slightly immoral, but I'm not, say, pirating a copy of Oblivion.. with no intention to pay for it. ever. If i want Oblivion, I'll go to my buddy's house, play a bit, then buy. :) I keep my pirating limited to things that are OMGWTF expensive.. like photoshop :P (that and I don't thikn I coudl get PS7 anymore... I haven't liked any of the other versions I've tried. )

and I I have vague hope I might inspire some kid out there with a hax0r'd copy to go legit, but.. :P