Currently performing a full System Restore and ...

[Spock 271]

... eventually I will have to reinstall Sacred 2. When that time comes around, I'm hoping that I will find a few helpful posts in here linking me to useful information such as:

1. What patch(es) do I need for a new, virgin install?
2. With whom do I now register my newly installed Sacred 2?
3. I really enjoyed Ice & Blood during the Beta but only have the US retail version of the game. Is I&B still only available for the UK version?

Probably I will have more questions after I have finished stabilizing my "new" Windows XP system. Of course since Windows is inherently unstable ...

Edited May 25, 2013 by Spock

[Zodiac-Mindwarp 24]

Sacred 2 Gold is availible on Steam for $19.99

 

A great price, and a great time to grab it if you are doing a reinstall anyway.

 

Enjoy!

 

P.S. Just took a quick look at Amazon, and the downloadable version of Sacred 2 Gold is only $4.99!

Edited May 25, 2013 by Zodiac-Mindwarp

[wolfie2kX 528]

I'm gonna go along with Zodiac on this - for $4.99 you can get the downloadable version that's a.) DRM free (YAY!! NO DRM BS!) and b.) comes fully patched to 2.65.2...

 

Go directly to Amazon, Do not pass Go, Do not collect $200 (Wait.. Sorry. Wrong game..)

 

That way the only thing you would need to get it the CM Patch.

[Omnicide 26]

... eventually I will have to reinstall Sacred 2. When that time comes around, I'm hoping that I will find a few helpful posts in here linking me to useful information such as:

1. What patch(es) do I need for a new, virgin install?
2. With whom do I now register my newly installed Sacred 2?
3. I really enjoyed Ice & Blood during the Beta but only have the US retail version of the game. Is Ice and Blood still only available for the UK version?

Probably I will have more questions after I have finished stabilizing my "new" Windows XP system. Of course since Windows is inherently unstable ...

Last I checked, Ice and Blood are only available for the UK version, however, I found this (after reading #1, skip ahead to #20):

 

http://forum.sacred2.com/showthread.php?t=67312

 

Although I loved Sacred 2, I didn't feel like going through all the hassle to get the expansion for my retail US copy of Fallen Angel.

[wolfie2kX 528]

Deep Silver got smart and basically eliminated the US version. The one available on Steam and Amazon is the UK version. I'm sure CDV isn't too thrilled by that but oh well.. Not much they can do.

[belgarathmth 21]

@Spock, hi, and welcome to the forums. The other posters seem to have already answered your first questions, but I wanted to ask you, are you the same Spock who moderates the Fate forums? If so, I'd like to thank you for having done such a good job over there for all these years. You always had the answers to questions I would ask about Fate.

[Spock 271]

@Spock, hi, and welcome to the forums. ...

Thank you ... I think (just checked and it's since 13 May 2008). I've been a member here for at least several weeks now though. You probably haven't noticed me as I've been away for a while and lurking quite a bit after. The dissolution of Ascaron effected me quite a bit and it took me a long time to even install the free copy I was given for helping to Beta test the game.

 

.

are you the same Spock who moderates the Fate forums? ...

Yes, guilty as charged. I even use the same avatar. I think staff likes to keep me around mainly as a Spam trap. It seems the spammers only attack when I'm online ... or maybe I'm the only one who keeps track in the Admin forum ...

 

Anyway, I have grandchildren who I want to be able to use the forum freely, so I have a vested interest in keeping it as friendly and spam free as possible. Glad I was able to help you, even if only a little.

 

As for Steam, I despise it but the latest version of Skyrim I bought was for my PC and I didn't realize until I tried to install the game that it was in fact nothing but a Steam installer. Since I now have to have steam on my computer, it might be worth it to get a $4.99 copy of Sacred 2 w/I&B. Will let you all know when/if I finally get my system back up and running.

 

Just finished the 4th install of WinXP Home and it still won't upgrade to WinXP Pro even though I reset the clock to 2001!

 

The only reason I feel I have to upgrade is because I only have a single desktop XP system now and I've never installed the upgrade since I bought it.

Edited May 27, 2013 by Spock

[wolfie2kX 528]

Um..It's Amazon who has it for $4.99. Steam wants $19.99 for it.

[Spock 271]

Um..It's Amazon who has it for $4.99. ...

Sold! The only problem is that it's almost 14GB. That was a real pain to download new versions when we were testing. It's going to be an even bigger pain to write it to DVDs in such a way as to create my own backup install disks ...

[wolfie2kX 528]

When I grabbed my copy from DLGamer oh so many moons ago, it came in multiple files that were 475 MB each... The Ice and Blood expansion came with 2 files - one was 713 MB and the other one was 551 MB.

 

I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that since Deep Silver redid everything to make it one fully patched installation, they will have taken that sort of problem into account and reduced the bulk of the install to 1 installer file and several CABs of one variety or other. For them to have done it so it's one big file is just plain nuts.

[Spock 271]

... For them to have done it so it's one big file is just plain nuts.

But not beyond the realm of possibilities. I still don't have my WinXP system up and running, so it will be a while before I can find out.

 

I suppose I could download to my iMac and then transfer later but I need something to use while I'm waiting for the WinBlows system to update.

[Spock 271]

Just a general warning ...

 

I finally got my WinXP Home up and running and decided to purchase the Sacred 2 Gold download from Amazon. So far I have not gotten it to run at all. I have downloaded the file 4 times now, the last time after deleting everything that had been on my system. Each time it apparently downloaded properly and seemed to install properly but, once installed, refused to run.

 

I am now waiting for my blood pressure to lower enough that I can be civil to whomever I talk to at Amazon Customer Support. Will report back more when this is finally resolved, one way or the other.

 

I REALLY WANT THIS TO WORK!!!

[DaveO 88]

I can't rule out XP Home being a possible cause of the problems. If Amazon can't resolve the problem, I'd be willing to offer Remote Assistance help. We'd have to continue the conversation in PM.

 

EDIT - XP is listed as a supported OS, so that could rule out XP Home.

Edited May 29, 2013 by DaveO

[wolfie2kX 528]

Nah.. Can't be XP at fault. XP was the defacto standard OS when Sacred 2 was released.

 

The big question - IS there an error message that pops up when you try to run the program?

 

Lesser question - how far into the loading sequence do you get before it blows up?

[belgarathmth 21]

What graphics card do you have? The number one cause of Sacred 2 failing to work is an inadequate graphics card. A weaker processor or less than 4 RAM would also cause problems.

My old xp machine never would run Sacred 2 out of the box, when it was first realeased, despite several hours spent going back and forth with moderators in the technical forum. I couldn't play it until a couple of years later when I got my current Windows 7 machine with a top of the line HD graphics card.

 

Sacred 2 is notoriously finicky about running on older or less-than-top-of-the-line machines. You have to have specs significantly higher than the officially listed minimums.

[Spock 271]

I have a Dual Core 3.2GHz Pentium D. It only has 2GB RAM because I couldn't see wasting 1GB just to get 3.

I have an overclocked Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS with (I think) 512MB onboard Video RAM and an extra fan near it because it tends to run hot.

The HD the game is installed on is a 2TB SATA drive partitioned to make 4 roughly equal drives, so a nominal 500GB.

The Audio is onboard RealTec 5.1 surround sound with the apropriate speakers installed.

Anything else should I specify?

Edited May 29, 2013 by Spock

[wolfie2kX 528]

If you've got 4 RAM sockets on your motherboard, 3 GB is an easy trick - 2 x 1 GB sticks plus 2 x 512 MB sticks. Works just fine actually. I was of a similar school of thought for a while.

 

On the other hand, having a full 4 GB in my system turned out to be a blessing when my 1 GB video card took a dive and the onboard video started using physical RAM instead of it's own pool of memory.

 

Assuming you're chip is dual core - That does make a big difference. With my old single core chip, the game would run - like a slide show.

 

Were/are there any error messages that pop up when you try to run the game?

[Spock 271]

... Were/are there any error messages that pop up when you try to run the game?

I don't remember but I don't think so, it just didn't do anything. I have yet to contact their Customer Support because I've been working on getting Skyrim up and running which is actually something I have been able to do. I just need to pare the Mods down so I have an acceptable framerate.

 

[Added]

The specs on my motherboard

What they think I have

 

My actual system is a little different as I upgraded my second HD from the 400GB they had installed to a 2TB SATA. I also upgraded the Light Scribe CD burner to a DVD multi-recorder. Now I can have the original in the lower DVD player and make a copy in the upper DVD writer. Quite useful for making data backups and duplicating some of my projects.

Edited May 29, 2013 by Spock

[wolfie2kX 528]

It looks like it should work. It's a bit on the older side, My old motherboard was similar - except that it was an AMD based board. It should run the game well enough as long as you keep the graphics options to a bare minimum. Of course, that would imply that you can get the game started long enough to set those options.

[Spock 271]

My daughter keeps telling me I should upgrade to Win7. Trouble is:

1. I don't want to line Brother Bill's pockets any more, and
2. I have quite a few DOS games I still like to play. They run just fine under WinXP ...

[DaveO 88]

 

My daughter keeps telling me I should upgrade to Win7. Trouble is:

1. I don't want to line Brother Bill's pockets any more, and
2. I have quite a few DOS games I still like to play. They run just fine under WinXP ...

 

Compatibility is pretty important to me too. I never could get Sacred 2 to work well on Windows 7 or Windows 8. It's works without in-game crashes in XP(although it also crashes when exiting, so still not a totally stable game installation). Perhaps I'll give Windows 8 a try again, but I've gone thru three activations already and I don't want to run afoul of too many registrations in such a short time(limit is four activations every few months IIRC).

[Spock 271]

... It should run the game well enough ...

I should have responded to this earlier.

 

My computer worked well enough to be able to help with the Beta. Are you saying that the retail version is more resource intensive?

[wolfie2kX 528]

I wouldn't know - I wasn't around for the Beta. But I doubt it...

 

Beta code is generally considered to be "nearly" ready for release. The purpose is to catch and exterminate the last of whatever bugs remain in the software and make sure the experience with the game is fun not frustration.

 

Ergo, if it worked then, it should work now.

[Thorin Oakshield 260]

 

... It should run the game well enough ...

I should have responded to this earlier.

 

My computer worked well enough to be able to help with the Beta. Are you saying that the retail version is more resource intensive?

Yup, that could be it.

However, not because of what you think, but because of what's added in the retail-version of Ice and Blood. Which is the graphic enhanced beautification you got at a special disc in the boxed version.

It's very possible this is added to the download version, without making it an optional download / install. And if it is added, it's very likely your system is unable to cope with it, as it's sophisticated enough to even cause problems at Windows Vista and Win7 systems.

 

It's been a while since I used XP - though I still got a 256Mhz PII lacking a keyboard and mouse stored somewhere - but wasn't it possible to set .exe files to run as administrator just like Windows Vista has:) You might give that option to run a try.

 

Another option is to look for the settings file, where you can lower some specs of the game, making it easier to launch.

 

And one question:

How do you install the entire game?

Do you have to install Sacred 2 and it's patches first, followed by Ice and Blood and its patches, or is the entire game one continuous installation:)

I'm asking because I discovered that installing Sacred 2, Patching, installing I&B, patching worked best at my Win7 system.

 

 

 

 

Thorin

 

PS: During the Beta-test of Sacred 2, the main OS was Windows Vista. At the end of the Beta, Windows7 got into its Beta as well, already giving us Beta-testers an idea about the load of crap to come. If not mistaken, Dobster was one of the persons testing both. I know, I was there too.

[wolfie2kX 528]

I believe you're referring to the "Elite Graphics" pack and I'm not so sure it would have been included in the installation they're providing now - given the problems that it caused many people who installed it. As you said, it was enough to bring an otherwise powerful machine to it's knees. By not making the Elite Graphics thing an option, it would undoubtedly cause LOTS of unnecessary grief and much gnashing of teeth by people who's systems aren't able to display them but could otherwise run the plain vanilla Ice and Blood game.

 

The size of the download also indicates that it's likely the default installation of everything up to Ice and Blood 2.65.2...

 

The reason you don't find the "Run as Admin" thing on XP is most likely because you're likely already running as Admin. That is one of the flaws of XP - by default, your initial user IS the admin. So having the Run as Admin option would be MOST redundant. Vista and beyond try to get you to run as a standard - non admin user. And even if you ARE the Admin on a Vista or later system, the system still protects you by making some applications ask for permission to run as Admin (U.A.C.)

 

From what I understand about the new installation - it's one EXE installer and a bunch of small CAB files. The game comes pre-patched as well so you don't have to spend another couple of hours locating and downloading the patches.