Question about the relationship btwn Vista, ddfix, widescreen, darkloader, and... - by Cliftor
Cliftor on 24/2/2009 at 12:13
...cracking the .exe
I wanted to get that out first because if that's a nono here (never seen it so don't know), I want to be thoroughly chastised first. It's just that timeslip says it's needed, the widescreen thread over at SS2 said it's needed, and I'm honestly having a headache getting all this to work. One problem is the faqs I've been using rush over some areas ambiguously.
This is Thief2 on Vista64 using a Geforce 8800 series, so that ddfix is needed I guess.
My question is: DO I need a cracked exe? How does using it affect the order in which I should install ddfix, widescreen, and darkloader?
Again, if this taboo (and I would understand if it is), go ahead and lock this down and give me a firm thrashing.
Although I suppose it goes without saying that I actually own the game, if that matters.
Herbrand on 24/2/2009 at 12:17
I was unable to patch the "normal" .exe (which FYI comes from a copy of Thief II of the "Sold Out" series, purchased for less than 3£), so I ended up getting a modifed (but not cracked) exe somewhere else that still requires CD.
With this .exe I managed to have all the patches working, except DDFix - I had to ask him to remove the patch, then apply it again (perhaps the .exe I was using was alredy patched? That's entirely possible).
If you want I will find for you where I got that .exe, should be around on those forums though.
Cliftor on 24/2/2009 at 13:04
Thanks, but if possible please don't link to anything till this gets a nod from a mod.
And I have no idea what print of Thief 2 I have. I got it way back when as one of those free gifts with the purchase of a new vid card. It's fully 1.18 off the disk.
Herbrand on 24/2/2009 at 13:23
Sorry, was not aware of that - just wanted to be informative. Link removed.
Bouregard on 24/2/2009 at 13:37
I managed to start it with the original .exe only thing running is a garrettloader who optimised the .exe and timeslips ddfix.dll. Runs fine for me. Only problem was before I set garrettlloader and thief.exe to run in Administrator mode. Try this if you encounter problems.
(Vista64, Quadcore P5e, Nvidia)
Cliftor on 24/2/2009 at 14:05
Wait, after all's said and done, thief.exe needs admin privs? Wow, this is the second time this week (last time was nwnmain.exe, the first game I ever had to run with admin privs in Vista). Curious: what on earth are these game engines doing that require admin? This isn't installation we're talking about here, this is the normal course of operation.
Wouldn't it be sexy if they released the source to the Dark Engine?
Nameless Voice on 24/2/2009 at 14:57
Thief 2 has its main exe 'wrapped' SafeDisc protection, and it's not possible to make changes to that exe without 'unwrapping' it. Since DDFix and the widescreen mod both need to make changes to the game exe, they need unwrapped versions (with SafeDisc removed) in order to function.
The same is true for System Shock 2, but not for Thief 1 / Gold because they don't use SafeDisc.
Herbrand on 24/2/2009 at 15:03
Quote Posted by Nameless Voice
Thief 2 has its main exe 'wrapped' SafeDisc protection, and it's not possible to make changes to that exe without 'unwrapping' it. Since DDFix and the widescreen mod both need to make changes to the game exe, they need unwrapped versions (with SafeDisc removed) in order to function.
So I guess the version I downloaded is not protected, even if it asks me for Thief CD? And this is the reason why DDFix doesn't work on the original copy I purchased?
Cliftor on 24/2/2009 at 15:33
Ok, so that explains why ddfix didn't work. Why wasn't timeslip more explicit? He merely says one "may" need such a fixed exe.
Ok, so I guess that leads me to the question... how does one get or make such a file? Am I even allowed to ask?
It's been so long since I played Thief, it would just be so great if I got this working. I also never played any FMs outside of T2X, so there's that too.
Nameless Voice on 24/2/2009 at 16:27
Quote Posted by Cliftor
Ok, so that explains why ddfix didn't work. Why wasn't timeslip more explicit? He merely says one "may" need such a fixed exe.
Presumably because he assumed almost everyone would be using one already, since no one wants to need to wear out their disc every time they want to play.
Quote Posted by Cliftor
Ok, so I guess that leads me to the question... how does one get or make such a file? Am I even allowed to ask?
No, we can't discuss that here because it's against the forum rules.
Just get one of the pre-patched DDFix .exes linked in the DDFix thread, they already have DDFix applied to them so you don't need to make your own unwrapped .exe to use them.
