KOTOR 1/2 Steam not working on Windows 10

[ZimmMaster 7]

Hello all,

 

After a extended *cough* incredibly long *cough* absence I have been seized by the desire to once again play the games. Unfortunately I have run into a problem. On May 4th, SW games were on sale for ridiculously low prices so I picked up all the ones I currently own on disc because I'm soon to be without a cd drive as my new case will not include a 5.25 bay and I really don't want to get an external drive just for some old games. I haven't tested them all, but the two most important ones, KOTOR 1 and 2 unfortunately do not start. I click play and a process shows up in the background, note I said background and not main, processes in the task manager with no memory being used, it just sits there doing absolutely nothing. I've tried reinstalling, applying compatibility, etc.

 

Now here is the kicker: I eventually got around to removing the steam versions and reinstalling my retail disc versions and voila, they work with no issues. Now I'm pretty stumped. I figure that ok I might be able to work with this by making iso files from the discs and mount them to a pseudo drive. Haven't fully tested it yet but I think it might work. But I ran into another problem, primarily with TSL. No widescreen support in the patched version, unlike KOTOR 1 with uniws. Now those of you with long memories will recall a thread I made back on lucasforums that explained a workaround using the Squizzy Resolution Patcher and a certain altered exe file that shall remain unexplained to get widescreen to work in patched TSL. Now hypothetically applying this fix has resulted in similar issues cropping up as with the steam version. E.g. not running except for background process. On a lark, again hypothetically, I wondered if the same thing would happen again if I used a similarly altered exe file on KOTOR 1 and lo and behold, the same thing happens. Not running, background process, etc.

 

Now understand I am in no way at all asking about how to resolve this issue with the unmentionable executable files, that again will remain unexplained, I am asking how to fix the Steam versions. Its just I find it curious that I can create the same issue I am having with the Steam versions, using the altered files and I wonder if this and my issues with the Steam versions are linked. I once again state, that I am asking for help with the Steam versions and any hypothetical use of the unmentionable files were purely for troubleshooting purposes. With all that explained I ask do any of you have any ideas to solve my issue?

 

Thanks,

ZimmMaster

 

EDIT: My Specs (all that I can think of)

 

OS: Windows 10 Home x64 (fully updated with both major updates)

Mobo: MSI Enthusiast Z270 Gaming M7

Processor: Intel i7-7700k

Memory: G.skill Ripjaws 16GB ddr4 Memory

Graphics Card(s): 2x MSI GTX 970 Gaming 4G (SLI)

Storage: Samsung SSD 850 EVO 500GB, ST200DM001-1CH164 1TB HDD

Display: (Primary) ASUS VG248QE 24" @ 1920x1080 144Hz, (Secondary and Tertiary) Dell 1708FP @ 1280x1024 60Hz

[Kexikus 995]

Some information on your system would be good. Maybe we can find the issue there.

 

Also, have you tried starting them as administrator, in compability mode, etc.?

[ZimmMaster 7]

Some information on your system would be good. Maybe we can find the issue there.

 

Also, have you tried starting them as administrator, in compability mode, etc.?

I really should have remembered to post those. Sorry about that. See the edited first post. Also, yes I've tried running it in compatibility mode as well as run as an administrator.

[Kexikus 995]

Try lowering the refresh rate of your monitor in Windows. According to this post, KotOR can't handle refresh rates higher than 85Hz for some reason.

[ZimmMaster 7]

Try lowering the refresh rate of your monitor in Windows. According to this post, KotOR can't handle refresh rates higher than 85Hz for some reason.

Tried that with no luck. Same thing still happens. Also on a lark, tried uninstalling it and reinstalling it on my C: drive, but nothing changed there. Also tried disabling my secondary and tertiary displays, but that didn't work either.

[Markus Ramikin 107]

Don't buy old games from Steam. GOG is for that. Steam versions of old games tend to be poorly packaged, unpatched, and generally I trust them not at all. I'm not the first to observe this, either - it was quite gratifying to run into a vid by TotalBiscuit (which I cba to find right now) talking at length about the poor quality control for old games on Steam.

 

Hell, Planescape Torment recently got released with a modern Enhanced Edition on both Steam and GOG at the same time - you'd think it'd be an equally good deal? Nope, the GOG version included other downloads - most importantly, the classic version (the one that community mods work with), Steam's did not.

 

At this point I just don't buy games from Steam unless it's a heavy discount or I need it to connect in multiplayer.

[ZimmMaster 7]

Don't buy old games from Steam. GOG is for that. Steam versions of old games tend to be poorly packaged, unpatched, and generally I trust them not at all. I'm not the first to observe this, either - it was quite gratifying to run into a vid by TotalBiscuit (which I cba to find right now) talking at length about the poor quality control for old games on Steam.

 

Hell, Planescape Torment recently got released with a modern Enhanced Edition on both Steam and GOG at the same time - you'd think it'd be an equally good deal? Nope, the GOG version included other downloads - most importantly, the classic version (the one that community mods work with), Steam's did not.

 

At this point I just don't buy games from Steam unless it's a heavy discount or I need it to connect in multiplayer.

I did what you said and bought the GOG version of KOTOR 2 after I got the Steam games refunded. However the same thing happens when I open it. Background process opens, but nothing happens.

[Markus Ramikin 107]

Hm, that's unfortunate.

 

Tried this? "Locate the atigktxx.dll and atioglxx.dll file, change their names, move them to a different directory or delete them. Now check if the issue persists. If you are able to open the main menu, but the game crashed when you press Play. Please go to the options menu in the Graphics options go to Advanced and turn off Frame Buffer Effects."

[ZimmMaster 7]

Hm, that's unfortunate.

 

Tried this? "Locate the atigktxx.dll and atioglxx.dll file, change their names, move them to a different directory or delete them. Now check if the issue persists. If you are able to open the main menu, but the game crashed when you press Play. Please go to the options menu in the Graphics options go to Advanced and turn off Frame Buffer Effects."

That is not applicable to me as I have nVidia GPUs not AMD.

[Markus Ramikin 107]

I know you do. Wouldn't stop me from trying it anyway, since "mysterious are the ways of the Machine".

[ZimmMaster 7]

I know you do. Wouldn't stop me from trying it anyway, since "mysterious are the ways of the Machine".

lol good point, but nevertheless I don't have those files in my game directory. So it still doesn't help unfortunately.

[Starkiller 0]

In kotor and kotor 2 you have to go into graphic settings and disable frame buffers and v sync ... so the games work perfectly on window 10/8/7

[ZimmMaster 7]

OK update time everyone. Just in case anyone is curious, I am NOT able to play the retail version of the game of burned .ISO copies of the discs, it fails the authentication. Install took all of a minute in a half but playing the game is a no go. Now me and my fool self remembered the flawless widescreen program, which never worked for me before by the way, and figured why not so I tried it and voila it works perfectly. So I have widescreen KOTOR 1 and 2 now on the retail discs. Which means if I want to keep playing, I'm gonna have to buy a external drive. Slightly disappointing but not terribly surprising. Most new hardware, comes with stuff needed on a disc anyway so its not like it will be entirely unused beyond games. I want to thank everyone for their help and even though my original issue was unsolvable, I'll just shell out a little money to get another solution.

[Fair Strides 509]

Is it at all possible that the Flawless Widescreen was all that was needed for the Steam or GoG version? The GoG version should have been exactly like the old 4CD.

[Sith Holocron 2,478]

Glad it worked out generally well.