Darkstone

General information

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SafeDisc DRM^{[Note 1]}.^[3]
GOG.com		Uses GOG's custom DirectDraw wrapper.
Steam

SafeDisc DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected releases).

A free demo version is available from Archive.org.

Monetization

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Journey in Uma	Released for free. Included in digital releases.

Essential improvements

Patches

The latest patch is v1.05b. Some previous patches are required. The GOG.com version is already fully patched.

Framerate fix

For Windows 8 and later, use the low frame rate fix.

Peixoto's patch

Peixoto's patch allows high resolution, super-sampling anti-aliasing and gets the installer working on 64-bit systems.

Skip intro videos

Run the game with the `-nointro` command line argument.^{[citation needed]}

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\config\*.txt^{[Note 2]}
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/320320/pfx/^{[Note 3]}

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\save^{[Note 2]}
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/320320/pfx/^{[Note 3]}

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud

Video

General settings.

Graphics feature	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution		See the WSGF entry.
Multi-monitor		See the WSGF entry.
Ultra-widescreen		See the WSGF entry.
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed	See Windowed.
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	For Windows 8 and later, use the low frame rate fix.
120+ FPS	Capped at 60 FPS.^[4]
Color blind mode	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

Windowed

Use the `-32bit -window` command line arguments.^[5]

The 32-bit parameter must be present or the interface will be broken.^[5]

Input

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		Set in `<path-to-game>\config\keyboard.txt`.
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Keyboard and mouse prompts
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support

Audio

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		SFX, Music, Voices
Surround sound
Subtitles		Disabled by default.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French
German
Italian
Spanish
Swedish

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Players	Notes
Local play	Not supported (Steam store page is incorrect).^[6]
LAN play	2	Co-op
Online play

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

Issues fixed

Broken graphics on AMD graphics cards

Characters and buildings display incorrectly on recent AMD drivers.

3D elements are broken on AMD drivers newer than Catalyst 13.1.^[7]^[8] The -sortbyz command line argument will fix some issues but others remain.^[9]

Use dgVoodoo 2^{[citation needed]}
Download dgVoodoo 2. Extract `dgVoodooCpl.exe` along with the `DDraw.dll` and `D3Dlmm.dll` from the `MS\x86` subfolder to `<path-to-game>`.

Broken interface in windowed mode

Setting 32-bit color mode fixes the windowed mode interface.^[5]

Use the `-32bit` command line argument^[5]

Low frame rate in fullscreen mode

This game has frame rate issues on Windows 8 and later when running in fullscreen mode.

Apply necessary fixes^{[citation needed]}
Install the Darkstone low frame rate fix. Use the `-32bit` command line argument to avoid flickering/invisible graphics.

Issues unresolved

Music stuttering

The in-game music will frequently skip and stutter on modern hardware. There is no known fix.^[10]

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	6

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	Xaudio MPEG Audio Engine
Cutscenes	Windows Media Foundation

Quest Editor

The Darkstone Quest Editor supports adding or editing monsters, NPCs, buildings and quests.

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	95	98
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium 233 MHz MMX (or AMD equivalent)	Intel Pentium II 350 MHz MMX (or AMD equivalent)
System memory (RAM)	32 MB	64 MB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	170 MB	380 MB
Video card (GPU)	4 MB of VRAM DirectX 6.1 compatible	4 MB of VRAM

Notes

↑ This version of SafeDisc 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
Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
- File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
- Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
- The app ID (320320) may differ in some cases.
- Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
- See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

References

↑ Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16
↑ Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16
↑ Talk:Darkstone — StrategyWiki, the video game walkthrough and strategy guide wiki
↑ Verified by User:Expack3 on 2019-03-16
Tested by using my monitor's 48 Hz refresh mode, disabling vsync, and simply running the game normally.
↑ ^5.0 ^5.1 ^5.2 ^5.3 A way to run this in windowed mode?, page 1 - Forum - GOG.com
↑ Local coop :: Darkstone General Discussions
↑ Game does not work, Cannot send support ticket either...., page 1 - Forum - GOG.com
↑ Latest ATI drivers have broken some GOG games on Win7 (info inside), page 1 - Forum - GOG.com
↑ Exhaustive List of Command Line Parameters, page 1 - Forum - GOG.com
↑ Music skipping, page 1 - Forum - GOG.com

[3] This version of SafeDisc 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]

[gamedir-5] 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).

[Proton_path_note-6] 3.0 ^3.1 Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
The app ID (320320) may differ in some cases.
Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

[4] File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.

[5] Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.

[6] The app ID (320320) may differ in some cases.

[7] Treat backslashes as forward slashes.

[8] See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

[1] Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16

[2] Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16

[4] Talk:Darkstone — StrategyWiki, the video game walkthrough and strategy guide wiki

[7] Verified by User:Expack3 on 2019-03-16
Tested by using my monitor's 48 Hz refresh mode, disabling vsync, and simply running the game normally.

[windowed-8] 5.0 ^5.1 ^5.2 ^5.3 A way to run this in windowed mode?, page 1 - Forum - GOG.com

[9] Local coop :: Darkstone General Discussions

[10] Game does not work, Cannot send support ticket either...., page 1 - Forum - GOG.com

[11] Latest ATI drivers have broken some GOG games on Win7 (info inside), page 1 - Forum - GOG.com

[12] Exhaustive List of Command Line Parameters, page 1 - Forum - GOG.com

[13] Music skipping, page 1 - Forum - GOG.com

[Note 1]

[3]

[Note 2]

[Note 3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[1]

[2]

Developers

	Delphine Software International
Publishers
Retail	Gathering of Developers
GOG.com	VectorCell
Steam	Anuman Interactive
Release dates
Windows	July 27, 1999
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Bird's-eye view
Controls	Point and select
Genres	RPG
Themes	Fantasy