Dark Messiah of Might and Magic

Dark Messiah of Might and Magic

Developers
Singleplayer	Arkane Studios
Singleplayer	Floodgate Entertainment
Multiplayer	Kuju Entertainment
Publishers
	Ubisoft
Engines
	Source
Release dates
Windows	October 24, 2006
Reception
Metacritic	72
IGDB	77

General information

Official game series site

Steam Community Discussions

Dark Messiah on Nexus mods

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SecuROM 7 DRM. Multiplayer requires Steam.
Green Man Gaming
Humble Store
Steam

All versions require Steam DRM for multiplayer.

Some retail versions allow playing single player without Steam.

Demo

English demo is available here.

Essential improvements

Patches

The latest retail patch is v1.02 (you must install v1.01 first). The German version has a separate patch (this includes v1.01).

Skip intro videos

Use -novid command line argument

Large Address Aware

Significantly improves stability on 64 bit systems with at least 3GB RAM by allowing the application to use more than 2GB RAM. Resolves the "Out of Memory" errors.

Use autoexec.cfg

To use any console tweaks in the game, some of which are described on this site, you have to launch the game with the autoexec.cfg.

Autoexec.cfg is located in the configuration file location, e.g. Steam\steamapps\common\Dark Messiah Might and Magic Single Player\mm\cfg If it doesn't exist, create it there. To launch the game on Steam with the Autoexec, right-click on the game in Steam -> Properties -> Starting options. Add +exec autoexec.cfg On retail editions, the same is done by creating a shortcut to the mm.exe and adding the options behind the target, e.g. "...\mm.exe" -exec autoexec.cfg Now you can add custom console options in the file and they will be included automatically when the game starts. You can also name the file anything else, e.g. myset.cfg or myoptions.cfg.

Game data

In-game general settings.

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\mm\cfg\config.cfg
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/2100/pfx/

Video settings are stored in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Valve\Source\mm\Settings

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\mm\SAVE\
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/2100/pfx/

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Steam Cloud

Video

In-game general video settings.

In-game advanced video settings.

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor			Issues with HUD positioning.
Ultra-widescreen			Stamina bar is slightly cut off
4K Ultra HD			HUD does not scale well at resolutions beyond 1080p
Field of view (FOV)		Set via console. Must enable cheats (SV_Cheats 1, Fov XX)
Windowed		See Windowed.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See Windowed.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		Up to 16x
Anti-aliasing (AA)		Up to 4x MSAA
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS and 120+ FPS		No frame rate cap.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		Rendered image uses SDR color space. In-game HDR option refers only to HDR Rendering.

Windowed

Run the game in windowed mode using the console

If you use windowed/borderless windowed mode in Windows 10, the game window might stay in front of others, making alt-tabbing difficult. Start the game and open the console (~ key). You can enable the console by going to Settings > Keyboard tab > Advanced... Enter the command mat_setvideomode width height 1. As an example, for 1280x720, type mat_setvideomode 1280 720 1. Notes For borderless windowed mode, try mat_setvideomode width height 2. If that doesn't work, try the tools mentioned in Glossary:Borderless fullscreen windowed. To go back to fullscreen mode, use mat_setvideomode width height 0.

Adjust/disable camera tilting when strafing

Adjust/disable camera tilting when strafing[citation needed]

Note: though this is a different effect from head-bobbing, head-bobbing needs to be disabled for the following fix to work. You can easily disable it by going to Settings > Gameplay. Start the game and open the console (~ key). You can enable the console by going to Settings > Keyboard tab > Advanced... Enter the command sv_rollangle 0 to disable tilting completely. A different number can be used to change the tilting strength (default is 3). Once you're satisfied with the selected value, create autoexec.cfg in your configuration file path and put the command into it. Set autoexec.cfg to automatically execute. The value will now be automatically applied on every game start-up.

Toggle HUD

In the autoexec.cfg, insert the following to set a key (in this example "x") that can turn the HUD on and off:

bind x ToggleHUD
alias ToggleHUD "HUDOff"
alias HUDOff "cl_drawhud 0; alias ToggleHUD HUDOn"
alias HUDOn "cl_drawhud 1; alias ToggleHUD HUDOff"

Input

In-game key map settings.

In-game mouse settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration		Settings for both smoothing and acceleration can be found in the mouse & keyboard section
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support

Controller types

Toogle crouch and walk

In the autoexec.cfg, insert:

//Key Bindings - Change these to whatever you wish
bind alt ToggleWalk
bind c ToggleCrouch

//Walk Toggle Button
alias ToggleWalk "WalkOn"
alias WalkOn "+speed; alias ToggleWalk WalkOff"
alias WalkOff "-speed; alias ToggleWalk WalkOn"

//Crouch Toggle Button
alias ToggleCrouch "CrouchOn"
alias CrouchOn "+duck; alias ToggleCrouch CrouchOff"
alias CrouchOff "-duck; alias ToggleCrouch CrouchOn"

Audio

In-game audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound		Set +snd_digital_surround 1 as launch command to avoid muted/muffled sound like voices (vista/7/8/10 only) from rear / side speakers.
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French
German				The German retail version is censored, e.g. no dismemberment and less blood. The German version on Steam, however, is completely uncut and identical to the international version.
Hungarian				Local retail only. Official language files available here.
Italian
Polish				Local retail version only. Official language files available here
Russian				Official localization by «Buka» and «Reanimedia» (Audio). A mistake in the SteamPipe update causes Xana to speak German. See Xana speaks German in a Russian version of the game for a fix.
Russian				Fan translation by «SyS-team», «Spirit Team», «ENPY Studio»
Spanish

Network

Servers can optionally use Valve Anti-Cheat (VAC) protection.

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		32
Online play		32

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting		For dedicated hosting, install Dedicated Server under Tools in the Steam client.
Direct IP		Open the console (~) and use connect followed by the IP and port.

Ports

Protocol	Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP	27014-27050
UDP	4380, 27000-27030

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

VR support

3D modes	State	GG3D	Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision			Use Helix Mod for better 3D support.
vorpX		G3D, DirectVR Officially supported game, see official vorpx game list.

Issues fixed

TweakGuides has created a comprehensive guide for fixing issues in this game. It can be found here.

Game fails to start

Disable anti-virus[citation needed]
Disabling your antivirus may fix this issue.

Uninstall Lavasoft Web Companion

Black screen on start-up (Steam)

Because the SteamPipe update converted the game to a new format, certain glitches may appear - most common of which is black screen on start-up.

Verify game cache (Steam)
In your Steam library, right click on Dark Messiah Might and Magic Single Player Click on Properties Go to Local Files tab Click on Verify Integrity of Game Files... and wait for the verification to finish.

Fault Module Name: ntdll.dll

A few issues can cause this error.

Upgrade your drivers
Updating your hardware drivers (including non-graphics drivers) may solve this issue.

Use automatic settings
Use the command line parameter -autoconfig. In Steam: In your Steam library, right click on Dark Messiah of Might and Magic Singleplayer Choose Properties In the General tab, click on Set launch options... In the text box that follows, type -autoconfig Click OK Notes If this fails, see next method.

Start the game in a custom resolution
Use the command line parameter -w [desired resolution width] -h [desired resolution height]. As an example, for 1440x900: -w 1440 -h 900 Make sure -autoconfig is not present in your command line parameters. In Steam: Enter the game's launch options window. See previous method, steps 1-3. Type -w [desired resolution width] -h [desired resolution height]. Click OK

Crash when exiting the game

Enable Heap emulation for mm.exe
Download this compatibility fix and extract it. Launch PatchInstall.bat to add a fix to compatibility database.

Crash when changing level

If this bug appears, it usually happens when loading chapter 4.

Disable High Dynamic Range (HDR) or set graphics to low
Disable HDR to resolve issues with the game crashing when loading a new level. When the level is loaded the setting can be re-enabled. If disabling HDR does not work, set all graphics settings to low, load the new level and then restore the graphics settings to the previous values.

Xana speaks German in a Russian version of the game

Download proper Russian voice lines
Download the proper Russian voice lines and extract them. Copy the newly extracted folders (mm and custom_russian) to <path-to-game>, overriding files if needed.

Game installs AZERTY (French) keyboard layout

Steam and retail versions of the game install the "AZERTY (French)" keyboard layout, which can't be deleted with normal means because it doesn't show in Language options.

Manually add and then delete "AZERTY (French)" layout[citation needed]
In Windows: Go to Control Panel, find Language options Add new input language French (France), choose the French keyboard layout for it Delete the input language that you have just added

Changing language doesn't take effect (Steam version)

Since the game is using an obsolete version of the Source engine, the only way to set its language is by changing the language of Steam itself.

Change language of Steam client
In Steam, open Steam client settings Click on Interface Select the interface language you're also using for the game Steam will restart

Performance Problems

large-address aware
Make the game Large Address Aware.

GFX-detail
While you can have all other graphic options at maximum, try setting GFX-detail to medium only.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	8, 8.1, 9	Only 8-9 are supported after the Steampipe update.
Shader Model support	1.1, 1.3, 1.4, 2.0

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Mods

Unlimited Edition mod

Mod features:

• Limited Edition weapons can be found and equipped in the game
• New Game+ mode
• Extra inventory for the New Game+ mode
• Endurance difficulty for the New Game+ mode
• Restored unused NPCs voices and audio interactions
• Fixes for missing sound effects
• Mini-Mods support

Only the Steam version is currently supported.

Higher corpse limit

The number of corpses per level is limited to 2-4, so if you kill new enemies the old bodies fade away. To increase this number, follow this guide.

Only works for the Steam version.

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	Havok	Heavily modified variant.
Audio	Miles Sound System	Single-Player: 7.0L Mutli-Player: 6.6a
Cutscenes	Bink Video	1.8J

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	XP
Processor (CPU)	2.4 GHz	3.0 GHz
System memory (RAM)	512 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	7 GB
Video card (GPU)	128 MB of VRAM	256 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible