The printable version is no longer supported and may have rendering errors. Please update your browser bookmarks and please use the default browser print function instead.
Warnings
- GameSpy online services have been shut down (see Network for solutions).
Blood II: The Chosen is a singleplayer first-person action, FPS and shooter game in the Blood series.
The game is well-known for its troubled development and subsequent stability issues in the released version. The Nightmare Levels expansion was released in August 1999, but most issues were left unresolved by the developers.
On modern systems, the game requires testing one of multiple methods to set up correctly.
General information
- Blood Wiki
- GOG.com Community Discussions for game series
- GOG.com Support Page
- Steam Community Discussions
Availability
- SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).
- A free demo version is available from Archive.org.
Monetization
DLC and expansion packs
Name |
Notes |
|
The Nightmare Levels |
|
|
Essential improvements
Patches
- Both the Steam and GOG.com versions already come pre-patched.
Skip intro videos
Delete file[citation needed]
|
- Go to the installation folder.
- Delete/rename
Monolith.smk .
|
Running Blood II on modern systems
- Note that any method will fail to result in the game launching if a wireless headset is plugged in. The USB dongle needs to be plugged out when launching the game, but can be plugged back in once the game starts. [3] [4]
Use Peixoto's patch[citation needed]
|
- Fixes bad performance and initialization problems on Windows 10.
- Forced resolution allows high resolution without shrinking the HUD\menus and SSAA.
- Gets the installer running on 64-bit Windows.
|
dgVoodoo 2 alternative[5]
|
- Download dgVoodoo 2.
- Extract
dgVoodooCpl.exe , as well as the D3DImm.dll and DDraw.dll files from the MS\x86 subfolder to <path-to-game> .
- Run
dgVoodooCpl.exe and click on DirectX tab.
- Uncheck "Disable Alt-Enter to toggle screen state".
- Uncheck "dgVoodoo Watermark".
- Set "Antialiasing (MSAA)" to the desired samples.
- Click Apply.
- To fix white textures error, in the General tab set Output API to Direct3D 11 MS WARP (software).
- If dgVoodoo 2 does not fix the game, try elishacloud's wrapper. Note that it automatically limits resolutions to prevent the high resolution crash, though this can be disabled in the settings.
- If neither method resolves the issues, this ddraw.dll will fix performance in Lithtech games under Windows 8 and newer. Place it in the game main folder.
|
Game data
Configuration file(s) location
Save game data location
Video
- The game crashes when the vertical resolution exceeds 1000 pixels, and resolutions wider than 4:3 are simply a stretched image. Fixes can be installed to correct both issues.
Fix crashes and stretching[6]
|
- Download the high resolution fix.
- Extract to the installation folder and overwrite.
- Download widescreen patch.
- Extract the
.REZ files to the Custom subfolder in <path-to-game> . If the Custom folder does not exist, create it manually.
- Run the Blood II launcher, click on "Customize", select either
WidescreenPatch.rez for Blood II or WidescreenPatchNm.rez for the Nightmare Levels and click on "Add". Whenever you enable and disable the Nightmare Levels you have to add the right patch and remove the other one. Make sure that "Always load these rez files" is checked and click "OK".
- Click on "Advanced" and paste
+ScreenWidth 1920 +ScreenHeight 1080 +FovX 100 in the Command-Line field.
- Adjust the values according to the desired resolution and horizontal FOV values (FOV parameter is optional).
- Make sure that "Always specify these command-line parameters" is checked and click "OK".
|
Force 4K resolution with dgVoodoo 2.
|
- Setup the game with dgVoodoo 2 as per Running Blood II on modern systems section.
- Run
dgVoodooCpl.exe in <path-to-game> and click on DirectX tab.
- Set
Resolution option to 3840x2160 and click OK .
- Make sure that you've chosen a resolution lower than 1080 pixels (or not higher than 1440 pixels if you are using Blood 2 - high resolution fix) in the game's launcher or the game will always crash at launch and reset display settings to software renderer and
640x480 resolution.
|
Input
In-game key map settings.
In-game joystick settings.
Audio
Localizations
Language |
UI |
Audio |
Sub |
Notes |
English |
|
|
|
|
Network
Multiplayer types
Connection types
Issues unresolved
Crashes on focus lost
- When using Alt+Tab ↹, the game crashes with the error message: "Client MFC Application has stopped working".
Issues fixed
Poor performance on modern systems
Broken mouselook behavior when mouse polling rate exceeds 125Hz
Crashes on certain resolutions
- Crashes with 1000+ pixel height resolutions by default.
"ERROR - Unable to set the video mode. (6929314)" error
Music doesn't play in game
Cutscenes play too fast
- The game logic is tied to the framerate. At framerates over 60 FPS, the mouse is jerky and cutscenes are too fast, cutting off characters' voice lines. At extremely high frame rates, game runs inhumanly fast.
Always starts on second monitor
Set display manually[citation needed]
|
- Go to the installation folder and edit
autoexec.cfg .
- Locate line
"CardDesc" "\\.\DISPLAY2"
- Replace with
"CardDesc" "\\.\DISPLAY1"
Notes
- If the line does not already exist, add it manually.
- Can be set in the launcher, but may revert back to default.
|
Window positioned off-screen
- Occurs with dgVoodoo's windowed mode.
Software workaround[citation needed]
|
- Install and run Borderless Gaming.
- Press ⊞ Win+F6 to set game window to top left corner.
|
Error 0xc0000022 on launch
Starts in a small black window when using dgVoodoo 2 (GOG.com version)
Uninstall compatibility setting[11][12]
|
- Go to Control Panel.
- Go to Uninstall programs.
- Uninstall the entry that says GOG.com Blood 2, the game should run in fullscreen and fully visible with dgVoodoo 2.
|
Other information
API
Technical specs |
Supported |
Notes |
Direct3D |
6 |
|
Software renderer |
|
|
Executable |
32-bit |
64-bit |
Notes |
Windows |
|
|
|
Middleware
|
Middleware |
Notes |
Audio |
Miles Sound System |
Version 5.0f, only in The Nightmare Levels expansion. |
Cutscenes |
Smacker |
Version 3.0j, used for intro videos. |
Multiplayer |
GameSpy |
|
Running without the launcher
Start with batch file[13]
|
- Open a text editor and add the following.
@echo off
cd "path-to-game"
start /affinity 1 client.exe -rez BLOOD2.REZ -rez SOUND.REZ -rez Custom/WidescreenPatch.REZ exit
@echo off
cd "path-to-game"
start /affinity 1 client.exe -rez BLOOD2.REZ -rez BLOOD2NM.REZ -rez SOUND.REZ -rez Custom/WidescreenPatchNM.REZ exit
- Replace
path-to-game with the actual installation folder for the game. Any additional command-line arguments you wish to use can be added before the word exit .
- Save as a new file with the .bat file extension.
- Start the game by double-clicking the .bat file you created.
|
Mods
- Blood II: The Chosen Upscale Pack - AI upscaled textures; requires Music Patch, high resolution fix and widescreen patch to work
- REDUX CRUO - overhauls the gameplay entirerly
- Blood 2 - Extra Crispy - alternative gameplay overhaul mod
- FX Enhancer Mod - alternate version of the Extra Crispy mod
System requirements
Windows |
|
Minimum |
Recommended |
Operating system (OS) |
95 |
98 |
Processor (CPU) |
Intel Pentium 166 MHz
| Intel Pentium II |
System memory (RAM) |
64 MB | |
Hard disk drive (HDD) |
175 MB |
450 MB |
Video card (GPU) |
4 MB of VRAM DirectX 6 compatible | |
Other |
4X CD-ROM drive | |
- An Intel Pentium II 233 MHz or equivalent is required for software rendering
Notes
- ↑ SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows 10[1] or Windows 11 and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.[2]
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 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%\VirtualStore
on Windows Vista and later (more details).
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in
~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/299050/
in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (299050) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.
References