Difference between revisions of "Blade of Darkness"
From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
(A bit of rephrasing and taxonomy added. This page is a mess. Added the "cleanup" tag.) |
Icelovetizer (talk | contribs) |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| − | {{cleanup|The | + | {{cleanup}} |
| + | {{Disambig|the original Blade: The Edge of Darkness|2021's re-release|[[Blade of Darkness (2021)]]}} | ||
{{Infobox game | {{Infobox game | ||
|cover = Blade - The Edge of Darkness cover.jpg | |cover = Blade - The Edge of Darkness cover.jpg | ||
|developers = | |developers = | ||
{{Infobox game/row/developer|Rebel Act Studios}} | {{Infobox game/row/developer|Rebel Act Studios}} | ||
| − | |||
| − | |||
|publishers = | |publishers = | ||
{{Infobox game/row/publisher|Codemasters}} | {{Infobox game/row/publisher|Codemasters}} | ||
| − | |||
|engines = | |engines = | ||
{{Infobox game/row/engine|Blade}} | {{Infobox game/row/engine|Blade}} | ||
| Line 29: | Line 27: | ||
{{Infobox game/row/taxonomy/themes | Fantasy }} | {{Infobox game/row/taxonomy/themes | Fantasy }} | ||
{{Infobox game/row/taxonomy/series | }} | {{Infobox game/row/taxonomy/series | }} | ||
| − | |steam appid = | + | |steam appid = |
|gogcom id = 1207659184 | |gogcom id = 1207659184 | ||
|hltb = 11742 | |hltb = 11742 | ||
| Line 49: | Line 47: | ||
{{Availability| | {{Availability| | ||
{{Availability/row| Retail | | Disc | {{DRM|SecuROM}} | | Windows }} | {{Availability/row| Retail | | Disc | {{DRM|SecuROM}} | | Windows }} | ||
| − | {{Availability/row| GOG.com | blade_of_darkness | DRM-free | | + | {{Availability/row| GOG.com | blade_of_darkness | DRM-free | | | Windows | unavailable }} |
| − | |||
| − | |||
}} | }} | ||
| + | |||
| + | {{--}} No longer available on GOG.com due to issues with distribution rights.<ref>[https://www.gog.com/forum/blade_of_darkness/removal_of_blade_of_darkness_from_the_gogcom_catalog/page1 Removal of Blade of Darkness from the GOG.com catalog, page 1 - Forum - GOG.com]</ref> | ||
==Essential improvements== | ==Essential improvements== | ||
| − | ===Patches | + | ===Patches=== |
[https://www.patches-scrolls.de/patch/3646/7 1.001] is the only patch. It is highly recommended. Already included in the GOG version. | [https://www.patches-scrolls.de/patch/3646/7 1.001] is the only patch. It is highly recommended. Already included in the GOG version. | ||
| Line 65: | Line 63: | ||
video | video | ||
</pre> | </pre> | ||
| − | |||
}} | }} | ||
| − | ===Improve D3d and Glide (3DFX) compatibility | + | ===Improve D3d and Glide (3DFX) compatibility === |
{{Fixbox|description=The game has known issues on modern systems, such as random crashes and problems with the font, but with [[DgVoodoo 2]] most problems can be fixed and compatibility with Glide can be restored. (Using nGlide instead is less stable and might cause the game to crash)|fix= | {{Fixbox|description=The game has known issues on modern systems, such as random crashes and problems with the font, but with [[DgVoodoo 2]] most problems can be fixed and compatibility with Glide can be restored. (Using nGlide instead is less stable and might cause the game to crash)|fix= | ||
# Install the game. | # Install the game. | ||
| Line 92: | Line 89: | ||
|epic games launcher = | |epic games launcher = | ||
|epic games launcher notes = | |epic games launcher notes = | ||
| − | |gog galaxy = | + | |gog galaxy = false |
|gog galaxy notes = | |gog galaxy notes = | ||
|origin = | |origin = | ||
|origin notes = | |origin notes = | ||
| − | |steam cloud = | + | |steam cloud = |
|steam cloud notes = | |steam cloud notes = | ||
|ubisoft connect = | |ubisoft connect = | ||
| Line 111: | Line 108: | ||
|ultrawidescreen wsgf award = limited | |ultrawidescreen wsgf award = limited | ||
|4k ultra hd wsgf award = limited | |4k ultra hd wsgf award = limited | ||
| − | |widescreen resolution = | + | |widescreen resolution = hackable |
| − | |widescreen resolution notes= | + | |widescreen resolution notes= {{term|Stretched}}. See the [https://www.wsgf.org/dr/severance-blade-darkness/en WSGF report] for a solution. |
|multimonitor = hackable | |multimonitor = hackable | ||
|multimonitor notes = See the [https://www.wsgf.org/dr/severance-blade-darkness/en WSGF report] for a solution. | |multimonitor notes = See the [https://www.wsgf.org/dr/severance-blade-darkness/en WSGF report] for a solution. | ||
|ultrawidescreen = hackable | |ultrawidescreen = hackable | ||
|ultrawidescreen notes = See the [https://www.wsgf.org/dr/severance-blade-darkness/en WSGF report] for a solution. | |ultrawidescreen notes = See the [https://www.wsgf.org/dr/severance-blade-darkness/en WSGF report] for a solution. | ||
| − | |4k ultra hd = | + | |4k ultra hd = false |
| − | |4k ultra hd notes = | + | |4k ultra hd notes = 2048x1536 is the highest supported resolution |
|fov = true | |fov = true | ||
|fov notes = Camera can be zoomed in/out in 3 presets. | |fov notes = Camera can be zoomed in/out in 3 presets. | ||
| Line 127: | Line 124: | ||
|anisotropic = false | |anisotropic = false | ||
|anisotropic notes = | |anisotropic notes = | ||
| − | |antialiasing = | + | |antialiasing = false |
| − | |antialiasing notes = | + | |antialiasing notes = |
|vsync = true | |vsync = true | ||
| − | |vsync notes = | + | |vsync notes = |
|60 fps = true | |60 fps = true | ||
| − | |60 fps notes = | + | |60 fps notes = Enable by default in D3D Mode |
|120 fps = limited | |120 fps = limited | ||
|120 fps notes = See [[#Mouse_behaves_erratically_or_Camera.2Fview_moves_choppily_and_unpredictably_and_Cutscenes_get_out_of_sync.|Mouse behaves erratically or Camera/view moves choppily and unpredictably and Cutscenes get out of sync.]] | |120 fps notes = See [[#Mouse_behaves_erratically_or_Camera.2Fview_moves_choppily_and_unpredictably_and_Cutscenes_get_out_of_sync.|Mouse behaves erratically or Camera/view moves choppily and unpredictably and Cutscenes get out of sync.]] | ||
| Line 261: | Line 258: | ||
|language = Russian | |language = Russian | ||
|interface = true | |interface = true | ||
| − | |audio = | + | |audio = true |
|subtitles = true | |subtitles = true | ||
|notes = | |notes = | ||
| Line 279: | Line 276: | ||
==Issues fixed == | ==Issues fixed == | ||
| − | |||
{{ii}} Note that this game uses very problematic rendering methods. | {{ii}} Note that this game uses very problematic rendering methods. | ||
| Line 396: | Line 392: | ||
===API=== | ===API=== | ||
{{API | {{API | ||
| − | |direct3d versions = 8 | + | |direct3d versions = 8 |
| − | |direct3d notes = | + | |direct3d notes = |
|directdraw versions = | |directdraw versions = | ||
|directdraw notes = | |directdraw notes = | ||
| Line 417: | Line 413: | ||
|shader model notes = | |shader model notes = | ||
|windows 32-bit exe = true | |windows 32-bit exe = true | ||
| − | |windows 64-bit exe = | + | |windows 64-bit exe = false |
| − | |windows exe notes = | + | |windows exe notes = |
|macos intel 32-bit app = | |macos intel 32-bit app = | ||
|macos intel 64-bit app = | |macos intel 64-bit app = | ||
| Line 431: | Line 427: | ||
|physics = | |physics = | ||
|physics notes = | |physics notes = | ||
| − | |audio = Miles Sound System | + | |audio = Miles Sound System |
|audio notes = 6.0i<ref>{{Refcheck|user=Nessy|date=2020-06-19|comment=Version number found in Mss32.dll in the game installation folder.}}</ref> | |audio notes = 6.0i<ref>{{Refcheck|user=Nessy|date=2020-06-19|comment=Version number found in Mss32.dll in the game installation folder.}}</ref> | ||
|interface = | |interface = | ||
| Line 445: | Line 441: | ||
}} | }} | ||
| − | ==System requirements | + | ==System requirements== |
{{System requirements | {{System requirements | ||
|OSfamily = Windows | |OSfamily = Windows | ||
| Line 464: | Line 460: | ||
|notes = | |notes = | ||
| − | + | == Troubleshooting == | |
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | == Troubleshooting | ||
=== Performance issues === | === Performance issues === | ||
If you are experiencing low frame rates, then we suggest that you change the resolution in the setup to 640x480x16, texture detail should then be set to LOW and the then the mip-mapping can be turned off. If you are still experiencing low frame rates, shadows and gore can be turned off from the in-game options menu. Turning the sound device to Miles fast 2D positional audio in setup and the sound quality to low in-game will also improve frame rate by about 10%.<br>If you encounter any problems, please ensure that you have the latest drivers installed for your card. These should be obtained from the card or chipset manufacturer.<br>If you increase the settings of your display options and experience decreased performance and have the latest drivers, we recommend setting your Display options back to their defaults. | If you are experiencing low frame rates, then we suggest that you change the resolution in the setup to 640x480x16, texture detail should then be set to LOW and the then the mip-mapping can be turned off. If you are still experiencing low frame rates, shadows and gore can be turned off from the in-game options menu. Turning the sound device to Miles fast 2D positional audio in setup and the sound quality to low in-game will also improve frame rate by about 10%.<br>If you encounter any problems, please ensure that you have the latest drivers installed for your card. These should be obtained from the card or chipset manufacturer.<br>If you increase the settings of your display options and experience decreased performance and have the latest drivers, we recommend setting your Display options back to their defaults. | ||
| Line 495: | Line 473: | ||
If you are experiencing problems then it is recommended that the ViperII-win9x-95103 drivers be used. Resolutions above 1152x864 should not be used. | If you are experiencing problems then it is recommended that the ViperII-win9x-95103 drivers be used. Resolutions above 1152x864 should not be used. | ||
=== Please note === | === Please note === | ||
| − | + | Windows 2000's control panel uninstaller should not be used as this will leave game save files on the hard disk. | |
=== Swap file === | === Swap file === | ||
We recommend that the user has at least 250mb free hard disk space after installation. Severance should perform fine with less than 250mb free, in order to gain maximum performance from this product a larger swap file will be beneficial. Close down any applications before running. | We recommend that the user has at least 250mb free hard disk space after installation. Severance should perform fine with less than 250mb free, in order to gain maximum performance from this product a larger swap file will be beneficial. Close down any applications before running. | ||
Revision as of 18:21, 24 November 2021
This page may require cleanup to meet basic quality standards. You can help by modifying
the article. The discussion page may contain useful suggestions.
This page is for the original Blade: The Edge of Darkness. For 2021's re-release, see Blade of Darkness (2021).
 |
|
| Developers | |
|---|---|
| Rebel Act Studios | |
| Publishers | |
| Codemasters | |
| Engines | |
| Blade | |
| Release dates | |
| Windows | February 21, 2001 |
| Reception | |
| Metacritic | 75 |
| Taxonomy | |
| Modes | Singleplayer, Multiplayer |
| Pacing | Real-time |
| Perspectives | Third-person |
| Controls | Direct control |
| Genres | Action, Hack and slash |
| Themes | Fantasy |
 |
|
Key points
- Released as Blade: The Edge of Darkness in Spain, Severance: Blade of Darkness in Europe and as Blade of Darkness in North America.
General information
Availability
- No longer available on GOG.com due to issues with distribution rights.[1]
Essential improvements
Patches
1.001 is the only patch. It is highly recommended. Already included in the GOG version.
Skip intro videos
| Instructions[2] |
|---|
video |
Improve D3d and Glide (3DFX) compatibility
| The game has known issues on modern systems, such as random crashes and problems with the font, but with DgVoodoo 2 most problems can be fixed and compatibility with Glide can be restored. (Using nGlide instead is less stable and might cause the game to crash) |
|---|
|
Game data
Configuration file(s) location
| System | Location |
|---|---|
| Windows | <path-to-game>\Config[Note 1] |
Save game data location
| System | Location |
|---|---|
| Windows | <path-to-game>\Save[Note 1] |
Save game cloud syncing
| System | Native | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| GOG Galaxy |
Video
| Graphics feature | State | WSGF | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Widescreen resolution | Stretched. See the WSGF report for a solution. | ||
| Multi-monitor | See the WSGF report for a solution. | ||
| Ultra-widescreen | See the WSGF report for a solution. | ||
| 4K Ultra HD | 2048x1536 is the highest supported resolution | ||
| Field of view (FOV) | Camera can be zoomed in/out in 3 presets. | ||
| Windowed | Available only for some renderers. | ||
| Borderless fullscreen windowed | See the glossary page for potential workarounds. | ||
| Anisotropic filtering (AF) | See the glossary page for potential workarounds. | ||
| Anti-aliasing (AA) | See the glossary page for potential workarounds. | ||
| Vertical sync (Vsync) | |||
| 60 FPS | Enable by default in D3D Mode | ||
| 120+ FPS | See Mouse behaves erratically or Camera/view moves choppily and unpredictably and Cutscenes get out of sync. | ||
| High dynamic range display (HDR) | See the glossary page for potential alternatives. | ||
Input
| Keyboard and mouse | State | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Remapping | Up to 3 possible binds per action | |
| Mouse acceleration | No mouse acceleration present | |
| Mouse sensitivity | ||
| Mouse input in menus | ||
| Mouse Y-axis inversion | ||
| Controller | ||
| Controller support |
| Controller types |
|---|
Audio
| Audio feature | State | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Separate volume controls | Music and sound effects | |
| Surround sound | Up to 7.0 with Creative ALchemy. Up to 7.1 in 2021 rerelease. | |
| Subtitles | ||
| Closed captions | ||
| Mute on focus lost | ||
| EAX support | A3D 1.0[3] and EAX 2[4] |
Localizations
| Language | UI | Audio | Sub | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | ||||
| French | ||||
| German | ||||
| Italian | ||||
| Russian | ||||
| Spanish |
Issues fixed
- Note that this game uses very problematic rendering methods.
- To bypass most common issues it is highly advised to use dgVoodoo 2.
| Instructions |
|---|
|
Cursor is missing/Black text
- Generally caused by using Direct3D for output with modern graphics hardware.
| Use dgVoodoo 2. |
|---|
| Alternatively use rOpenGL or 3dfx for video output. |
|---|
Crash on launch
- This is usually caused by video codec issues such as installed third party codec packs and the error for this is often MEM_RESIZE_FAILED.
| Prevent the intro from playing. See Skip Intro Movies. |
|---|
| Alternatively convert the .mpg videos in the "video" directory and subdirectories to raw .avi while retaining the name to retain playback capability.[citation needed] |
|---|
Crash after introduction video
- The game doesn't properly handle failure states for when DirectPlay is not installed. Not having DirectPlay also significantly slows down the opening of the initial game launcher as well.
| Install DirectPlay[citation needed] |
|---|
Blank screen when using rOpenGL for video output
| Alt-Tab out of the application then go back to it[citation needed] |
|---|
Mouse behaves erratically or Camera/view moves choppily and unpredictably and Cutscenes get out of sync.
- This generally happens using rOpenGL for video output.
- The mouse-camera control granularity is linked somehow to the framerate. Higher framerates lead to smoother and slower mouse-camera control. Lower framerates lead to choppy control that is "quantized", too fast and jumpy. I've encountered such problems on both old and new hardware. Besides framerate, part of the problem seems to be related to the audio renderer, of all things.
- At high FPS some cutscenes may not play properly, which can be a problem if they are ones that cannot be skipped.
| Use D3D or Glide (3DFX)and set refresh rate on 60hz.See Improve D3d and Glide(3DFX) compatibility.[citation needed] |
|---|
Game runs too fast
- This typically happens in videos modes other than 3dfx and is due to the game not handling multiple processors properly.
| Lock the game to a single processor[citation needed] |
|---|
|
A popular way to automate this process is to create a .bat file, go to the game app's directory (using the cd command), then use either StartAffinity Blade.exe 0 or psexec -a 0 Blade.exe |
Saving Game Causes CTD (Crash to Desktop)
- Upon selecting "yes" to save a game the screenshot is taken for the load/save menu and the game can crash. Loading the game again loads an old game that was saved in that slot previously, not the new save.
| When saving wait about 10 seconds before hitting the final "yes" to confirm. (allow the reverberating menu selection sound to stop playing completely). Alternatively use Quicksave mod |
|---|
Fog is too dense using rOpenGL
| Use modified OpenGL raster. |
|---|
Game doesn't lauch on modern systems
| Run in compatibility mode for Windows Vista (no Service Pack) |
|---|
Game crashes during level loading screens (3DFX)
- This typically happens with 3dfx video renderer and user Nglide wrapper.
| Use Dgvoodoo2.[citation needed] |
|---|
VR support
| 3D modes | State | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| vorpX | Z3D User created profile, requires DGVoodoo2 v 2.6, see profile introdution. Note: Profile may not work with the latest wrapper, in case of issues please report to the vorpx forum. |
||
Other information
API
| Technical specs | Supported | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Direct3D | 8 | |
| OpenGL |
| Executable | 32-bit | 64-bit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows |
Middleware
| Middleware | Notes | |
|---|---|---|
| Audio | Miles Sound System | 6.0i[5] |
System requirements
| Windows | ||
|---|---|---|
| Minimum | Recommended | |
| Operating system (OS) | 95 OSR2 | 98, ME, 2000 |
| Processor (CPU) | Intel Pentium II 400 MHz | Intel Pentium III 500 MHz |
| System memory (RAM) | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Hard disk drive (HDD) | 750 MB | |
| Video card (GPU) | 8 MB of VRAM DirectX 8.0 compatible | 32 MB of VRAM DirectX 8.0 compatible |
Troubleshooting
Performance issues
If you are experiencing low frame rates, then we suggest that you change the resolution in the setup to 640x480x16, texture detail should then be set to LOW and the then the mip-mapping can be turned off. If you are still experiencing low frame rates, shadows and gore can be turned off from the in-game options menu. Turning the sound device to Miles fast 2D positional audio in setup and the sound quality to low in-game will also improve frame rate by about 10%.
If you encounter any problems, please ensure that you have the latest drivers installed for your card. These should be obtained from the card or chipset manufacturer.
If you increase the settings of your display options and experience decreased performance and have the latest drivers, we recommend setting your Display options back to their defaults.
Supported 3D chipsets
3dfx Voodoo 2, Voodoo Banshee, Voodoo3, Voodoo4, Voodoo5
3D labs Permedia 3
ATI Rage 128, Radeon
Matrox G200, G400
Intel i740
Nvidia Riva TNT, Riva TNT2, GeForce 256, GeForce 2
S3 Savage3D, Savage 4, Savage2000
Card issues
3DFX Voodoo Banshee and Voodoo 3
The 3DFX Banshee and VooDoo 3 have problems displaying partical effects. This is noticeable in game when water effects are on screen.
All Matrox cards
If you are experiencing problems with the game e.g. random crashes or textural errors then it is advisable to use the 5.52 drivers from the matrox site.
S3 Savage 2000
If you are experiencing problems then it is recommended that the ViperII-win9x-95103 drivers be used. Resolutions above 1152x864 should not be used.
Please note
Windows 2000's control panel uninstaller should not be used as this will leave game save files on the hard disk.
Swap file
We recommend that the user has at least 250mb free hard disk space after installation. Severance should perform fine with less than 250mb free, in order to gain maximum performance from this product a larger swap file will be beneficial. Close down any applications before running.
Direct X
If you try to run the game without DirectX8 installed, Severance may not run correctly.Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below
%PROGRAMFILES%,%PROGRAMDATA%, or%WINDIR%might be redirected to%LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStoreon Windows Vista and later (more details).
References
- ↑ Removal of Blade of Darkness from the GOG.com catalog, page 1 - Forum - GOG.com
- ↑ Verified by User:Drat on 2019-09-05
- ↑ Hot New Gremlin Games to Support Aureal A3D - Aureal.com (retrieved)
- ↑ Severance: The Blade of Darkness Preview - ActionTrip.com
- ↑ Verified by User:Nessy on 2020-06-19
- Version number found in Mss32.dll in the game installation folder.