Getting Thief 2 to work on Windows XP

[Azrael the cat]

I've had a copy of Thief 2 and 3 packaged together sitting on my desk for a while. It's going to be a while before I play it, as I've got a playthrough of JA2 to finish, and I intend to purchase the Void after that, but I do want to play them at some stage, and with so many saying that Thief 3 is the 'crap' one, I'd rather start with Thief 2.

Trouble is, I can't get the damn thing to work on my system. It installs ok, but crashes when the first level loads up. I've got a good system, with Windows XP and a Nvidea GTX280 - does anyone know whether the system or video card causes known problems with Thief 2? Are there patches that can be downloaded to fix it? Or is it just a random 'the game hates my system' error and I'm shit out of luck?

 

[bhlaab]

google ddfix

 

[Darth Roxor]

http://www.ttlg.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=121449

Also, after you're finished with Thief 2, you should also check out 3. Many say it's 'teh dumbed downz' but I found it to be pretty solid and enjoyable.

 

[Longshanks]

Start with Thief.
Also, why you wait so long to play?

 

[MetalCraze]

Here how I play Thief 2 under WinXP:

1. Install Thief2
2. Play
3. Don't buy shitty useless new videocards

 

[Multidirectional]

Did you set affinity to a single core? Only crashes I experienced were caused by multiple CPU cores. I don't think your video card has anything to do with it.

 

[Azrael the cat]

Did you set affinity to a single core? Only crashes I experienced were caused by multiple CPU cores. I don't think your video card has anything to do with it.

Ah...that could be it - I'll give that a go.

 

[Lumpy]

Oh, for fuck's sake.
It's probably because of a dual-core CPU. You can find the permanent fix here:
http://www.thief-thecircle.com/guides/hyperthreading/

 

[Gragt]

Ddfix will also fix the multi-core problem.

 

[spekkio]

FFS ATC, maybe try this google thing next time?

PROTIP

Also:

After you're finished with Thief 2, you should also check out 3. Many say it's 'teh dumbed downz' but I found it to be pretty solid and enjoyable.

You can also try fan-made expansion to T2
T2X - Shadows of the Metal Age

If you have to play one fan-made expansion, it should be this one, great quality.

 

[Azrael the cat]

FFS ATC, maybe try this google thing next time?

PROTIP

Also:

After you're finished with Thief 2, you should also check out 3. Many say it's 'teh dumbed downz' but I found it to be pretty solid and enjoyable.

You can also try fan-made expansion to T2
T2X - Shadows of the Metal Age

If you have to play one fan-made expansion, it should be this one, great quality.

Yes yes, my apologies for not searching more thoroughly. I actually did do a search of the Codex threads, given the love that this place seems to have for the Thief series, and figured if there wasn't any threads here then there probably wasn't a 'common knowledge' website around.

 

[spekkio]

Proper self-criticism, comrade.

 

[abstract]

If all else fails, rename your thief2 executable to thief2_.exe. It's dumb but it works.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

http://www.ttlg.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=121449

Also, after you're finished with Thief 2, you should also check out 3. Many say it's 'teh dumbed downz' but I found it to be pretty solid and enjoyable.

Thief 3 being dumbed down is not the biggest problem I have with the game. I'm playing it these days, and what I'm finding is a bug-filled regression from Thief 2. Atrociously ugly females (every woman's face looks like she's Lizzie Borden in mid-chop) with transparent hair are the norm. The loading times are really beginning to annoy me, but not as much as the "free-falling" bug, where I find myself floating around instead of walking, unable to jump or use inventory objects.

And the game is pathetically easy, even on Expert.

Sure, it's worth a look, but don't expect anything that's an improvement over the first two games.

 

[Good Ol' Drog]

I liked the atmosphere of Thief 3, there was a lot of trippy shit. And the graphics were pretty good back in the day (although they ran like shit because of poor optimization).

Also, Shalebridge Cradle. You have to see this level for yourself.

 

[Jasede]

Yes, you definitely should play that level. It's the only reason I bought Thief 3. And it was worth every cent.

 

[Lothers]

I liked the atmosphere of Thief 3, there was a lot of trippy shit. And the graphics were pretty good back in the day (although they ran like shit because of poor optimization).

Also, Shalebridge Cradle. You have to see this level for yourself.

Sunken Citadel and the mission in Pagans Base are also quite good. Overall Thief 3 for me was very enjoyable.

 

[Demnogonis Saastuttaja]

These http://www.johnanthonycurran.com/gamemods.html#thief helped me make both work pretty much flawlessly on Vista64.