Grim Fandango

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Grim Fandango

Developers
	LucasArts
Engines
	GrimE
Release dates
Windows	October 30, 1998

Grim Fandango
Grim Fandango	1998
Grim Fandango Remastered	2015

This page is for the original game. For the updated version, see Grim Fandango Remastered.

Key points

Although not completely glitch-free, ResidualVM fixes lots of other bugs

General information

bgbennyboy's unofficial installer

bgbennyboy's unofficial launcher

Hardcore Gaming 101 - Comprehensive feature

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail

Essential improvements

Patches

Patch 1.01 fixes several crashing bugs, as well as a possible issue where a certain puzzle would be unsolvable on faster machines. Add subtitles to cutscenes

Cannot be installed on 64-bit machines. Bgbennyboy's unofficial launcher should automatically circumvent the problem

Grim Fandango Patch - ResidualVM instructions

Installing the game

Using bgbennyboy's unofficial launcher

This unofficial launcher is designed to be used in lieu of the game's built-in launcher (GRIM.EXE). Though it is not necessarily required (unless you are on a 64-bit machine), it does provide easy access to many hidden or undocumented features of the game, including the ability to run the game from the hard drive without inserting the discs, the ability to run the game in a window, the option to automatically load the last saved game, and several debug keys.

If you used bgbennyboy's unofficial installer, the launcher should be installed automatically. Otherwise, download it, and extract it to your Grim Fandango install folder. Then, launch the game using Grim Fandango Launcher.EXE.

Manually copying files

Alternatively, you can copy the entire contents of both discs to a folder on your hard drive (skip any duplicate files). Then, enable developer mode (see the section below) and launch the game using GrimFandango.EXE. Note that if you do this, bgbennyboy's unofficial launcher may not function; running GrimFandango.EXE at least once may or may not resolve this. Also note that the aforementioned launcher is currently the only way to install the official 1.01 patch on 64-bit systems.

ResidualVM

Yet another alternative is ResidualVM, a spin-off of the ScummVM project. Like ScummVM, it allows you to copy the game's contents into a folder and run the game via the program's launcher. To note, the team is still working out some kinks, since this is a custom and unofficial interpreter of the game's engine, so consider it a work-in-progress. With version 0.1.1, however, they have also managed to fix 14 bugs that were in the released version of the game back in 1998. Install simply requires the ResidualVM install and the necessary files from the game (detailed here) copied to any folder. Note that you do not run the installer of the patch, but rather place the patch executable into the folder.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\grim**.gsv

You can load or save your game by pressing F1 to access the menu.

Running GrimFandango.EXE with the -s command-line parameter will automatically load the most recent saved game (the unofficial launcher includes this as an option).

Video settings

Options menu

Windowed

If you have developer mode enabled, you can run the game in windowed mode. bgbennyboy's unofficial launcher includes a button to launch the game in windowed mode. Alternatively, there are two ways to manually run the game in windowed mode: either run GrimFandango.EXE with the -w command-line parameter, or open the in-game options menu with F1 and select "DIBSection Windowed Display" under "3D Hardware Options".

Audio settings

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French
Hungarian				Fan translation.
Italian				Check XP compatibility patch if there is any issue

Issues fixed

"Grim Fandango is already up to date" error

Check unofficial launcher version[citation needed]

Delete registry key[citation needed]
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\LucasArts Entertainment Company LLC\Grim Fandango\v1.0 Delete value named "MAGIC"

Sound crashing and freezing

Force single core affinity for <path-to-game>\GRIMFANDANGO.EXE[citation needed]

Enable Windows 98 compatibility mode[citation needed]

Other information

Enabling developer mode

Allows several hidden features, such as the ability to run the game from the hard drive and/or in windowed mode.

Create registry key[citation needed]
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\LucasArts Entertainment Company LLC\Grim Fandango\v1.0 Add a new string value, with name good_times and value trUE. Notes bgbennyboy's unofficial launcher should automatically enable developer mode

Running the game without the discs

Enabling developer mode allows the game to be run without the discs inserted.

If you used bgbennyboy's unofficial installer, or installed the game by copying the contents of both discs to a folder on your hard drive, this is already set up. You can either launch the game using bgbennyboy's unofficial launcher, or manually enable developer mode and launch the game using GrimFandango.EXE.

If you installed the game using the official installer, and are using bgbennyboy's unofficial launcher, then open the launcher and click "Options" - "Run Grim from Hard Drive". This will copy the files for you. From there, you can launch the game either using the unofficial launcher or GrimFandango.EXE.

If you installed the game using the official installer, but are not using bgbennyboy's unofficial launcher, you will need to copy the entire contents of both discs to your Grim Fandango installation folder (skip any duplicate files). Then, enable developer mode and launch the game using GrimFandango.EXE.

Other information

API

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	95, 98
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium 133 MHz
System memory (RAM)	32 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	30 MB	1.2 GB (for running without discs)
Video card (GPU)	PCI or AGP graphics card 2 MB of VRAM DirectX 6 compatible	PCI or AGP 3D accelerator 4 MB of VRAM DirectX 6 compatible