Hassle-free way to get Blood Omen?

[Forest Dweller]

I've been wanting to play Blood Omen for a while, but I get easily discouraged when I encounter problems. I did a torrent a while back, but there were issues (can't remember what exactly but there were definitely issues). Then I read someone suggesting just getting the PS1 version and a PS1 emulator, but that also seems more complicated than it sounds. Yeah I know, dumb noob and all that. Come on, be a BRO and help another bro out. Is there not a freeware version?

 

[SCO]

http://home.comcast.net/~heavyweights/g ... /index.htm

You should learn to search for unofficial patches for all old games you get by now.

 

[commie]

Damn SCO, you beat me to it. That's what I used, works like a charm.

 

[Forest Dweller]

So I guess you're saying try that torrent again and then install the patch?

 

[SCO]

I'm not sure if you prefer to play on a gamepad or if the psx resolution is better or worse than the pc (or if shaders make it look better than pc). I'm just saying how i did it.

 

[TsongaKralj]

So I guess you're saying try that torrent again and then install the patch?

That should do the trick,atleast for PC version.I never played it on PS or via emulator so I can't help you there.

But if you need further help,here's a good site where you can find out how to step by step make SR1 and BO1 work on XP/Vista:

http://www.thelostworlds.net/HowTo/Runn ... Vista.html

There's also a bunch of other stuff on that site,mostly focused on content that was intended to be in the game(s) but didn't make the cut.

 

[spekkio]

Then I read someone suggesting just getting the PS1 version and a PS1 emulator, but that also seems more complicated than it sounds.

od Dicksmoker.

I would recommend PSX version - no combatibility problems so you won't end up stuck 90% into the game. Plus I remember raging a bit about sloppy PC port back in the day (1997?).

[/oldfag]

 

[Twinkle]

Played PC ver with unofficial patch 2 years ago, works ok, no crashes, no hangups, no nothing.

 

[Lightknight]

I would recommend PSX version - no combatibility problems so you won't end up stuck 90% into the game.

Total bullshit, unless you play on the actual PS. There is a critical bug concerning the disguise thingie you are supposed to do to enter some castle or something, i dont remember. Its about 2/3rds in. Then the emulator slows to a crawl. I managed to get past that somehow, so its finishable, but "no compatibility problems" it aint.

 

[spekkio]

And this problem happens on all PSX emulators? Which one are you talking about?

Still, thanks for the info, guys.

 

[denizsi]

Save state ability of PS emulators might ruin some of the game for a first timer.

 

[Forest Dweller]

In the end I went for the consoletard option of buying it on Playstation Network for $5.99.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Man, I wish they'd make an HD sprite version of the game.

 

[Great Deceiver]

So I've been replaying Blood Omen 1 (I like the game a lot), and it looks brilliant in Retroarch/Mednafen with CRT-Royale. However the PS1 version has those awful loadtimes that are even more awful 20 years later.

I had never played the PC version, so I got a pack with fanpatches previously installed - https://www.systemshock.org/index.php?topic=6170.0. It gets rid of the loading (which is great!), but on the other hand, it is locked to the zoomed-out view (albeit the resolution is double that of the PS version - 640x480). The gameplay is also visibly slower (takes longer to swing the sword) and the scrolling isn't as smooth as the PS1 version. Also, there's no proper gamepad support. I tried http://autohotkey.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9341 but the patch crashes and doesn't work.

I wonder if there's any way to speed up the animations to PS1 level? Or to apply some sort of post filter to the video? I tried a couple of sweetFX profiles and they didn't work. I guess the hookup for DirectX is old or something. Ideally, I'd want some scanlines.

Has anyone replayed this recently? How did you go about it?

 

[Beastro]

If you go emulator, go with EPSXE. Played it a couple years ago with that and went really well.

Emuparadise has all the DLs or links that you need.

 

[Baron Dupek]

I wonder if there's any way to speed up the animations to PS1 level?

Maybe try speedhacks in CheatEngine? I use this for games that need a lot of walking, maybe it help.
And thanks for portable link, since they removed their main title (SystemShock Portable) they need something else to offer it seems...

 

[Astral Rag]

http://www.theisozone.com/downloads/pc/windows-games/blood-omen-legacy-of-kain-2/

Since this game was originally supposed to run on Windows 95/98, included with the cd iso are the fan-made installer patch to run on Windows XP/Vista/7 users, a special video coverter so the fmvs will run on Win 7, and a CPU Grabber for slowing down the PC enough to run this game on Windows XP/Vista/7. A readme file with instructions on how to make this work with Windows 7 in included as well.

 

[Great Deceiver]

If you go emulator, go with EPSXE. Played it a couple years ago with that and went really well.

Emuparadise has all the DLs or links that you need.

Epsxe is very outdated and full of hacks. The Beetle/Mednafen core for Retroarch is a much better solution (I can't go back to any other emulator after retroarch's timing optimizations - there's very little input lag compared to everything else I've played, and I've been using emulators for 18 years), the excellent CRT shaders are just the icing on the cake.

The problems with the PSX version of Blood Omen are inherent to the platform - namely, the excruciatingly frequent load times.

edit: here's the conundrum. This is how brilliant it looks running under Mednafen PSX/Retroarch (using the CRT-Royale shader and 3840x2160 resolution - make sure to click to see the full version):

It looks much better in person because JPG compression sucks, but you get the idea. Gameplay is also faster than the PC version. I couldn't manage to take screenshots of the PC version for some reason (tried FRAPS and screengrabbing with prntscrn, neither worked), but it looks a lot worse and the scrolling isn't smooth, plus as I said the game itself runs at a slower framerate.

Here's a screencap of the PC version (not mine), representative of how it looks.

It should be an easy choice, but the load times really make the PSX version very difficult to play.

 

[oddech_wymarlych_swiatow]

There was a very promising Russian remake called Blood Omnicide but dunno if it's ready to use.

 

[Beastro]

If you go emulator, go with EPSXE. Played it a couple years ago with that and went really well.

Emuparadise has all the DLs or links that you need.

Epsxe is very outdated and full of hacks. The Beetle/Mednafen core for Retroarch is a much better solution (I can't go back to any other emulator after retroarch's timing optimizations - there's very little input lag compared to everything else I've played, and I've been using emulators for 18 years), the excellent CRT shaders are just the icing on the cake.

The problems with the PSX version of Blood Omen are inherent to the platform - namely, the excruciatingly frequent load times.

edit: here's the conundrum. This is how brilliant it looks running under Mednafen PSX/Retroarch (using the CRT-Royale shader and 3840x2160 resolution - make sure to click to see the full version):

It looks much better in person because JPG compression sucks, but you get the idea. Gameplay is also faster than the PC version. I couldn't manage to take screenshots of the PC version for some reason (tried FRAPS and screengrabbing with prntscrn, neither worked), but it looks a lot worse and the scrolling isn't smooth, plus as I said the game itself runs at a slower framerate.

Here's a screencap of the PC version (not mine), representative of how it looks.

It should be an easy choice, but the load times really make the PSX version very difficult to play.

Good infos sire.

I got side tracked from PSX emulators a good decade ago, and when I came back recently I just went with what I knew, which seemed to work well with Blood Omen. The only games I've had problems with on EPSXE were the Command and Conquers and Soul Reaver.

Oddly enough for me the load times weren't an issue for me like they used to. They gave me a bit of time to take a breather and a sip of whatever I was drinking that played into the relaxing nostalgia trip, but I'm a unusually patient person when it comes to such things from what I've seen.