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Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

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Revision as of 12:06, 9 January 2020 by Mars icecream (talk | contribs) (→‎Graphical artifacts: clarification)
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone cover
Developers
KnowWonder
Mac OS (Classic) Aspyr Media
macOS (OS X) Aspyr Media
Publishers
Electronic Arts
Engines
Unreal Engine 1
Release dates
Windows November 15, 2001
Mac OS (Classic) February 28, 2002
macOS (OS X) August 15, 2005
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone guide on StrategyWiki
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone on MobyGames
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone on Wikipedia

Warnings

SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see Availability for affected versions).
The Mac OS X version of this game does not work on Mac OS X Lion (version 10.7) or later due to the removal of support for PowerPC apps.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone 2001
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets 2002
Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup 2003
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 2004
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 2005
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 2007
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 2009
Lego Harry Potter (series)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 2010
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 2011
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them VR Experience 2018
Hogwarts Legacy 2023
Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions TBA

Key points

Released as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in North America.

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
Disc check (requires the CD/DVD in the drive to play)
CD key
SafeDisc v2 DRM[Note 1]
Windows
Mac OS
SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Harry Potter\
Mac OS (Classic)
macOS (OS X)

Save game data location

System Location
Windows %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Harry Potter\Save\
Mac OS (Classic)
macOS (OS X)

Video settings

In-game options menu.
In-game options menu.

Template:Video settings

Widescreen resolution

Forcing a widescreen resolution cuts off the lower part of in-game menus, making some options inaccessible.
Set widescreen resolution[3]
  1. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  2. Open HP.ini.
  3. Change the FullscreenViewportX= and FullscreenViewportY= values to the desired resolution.

Or you can use the utility.

Widescreen menu fix download and fix for 1C SoftClub version download.

Input settings

Template:Input settings

Controller support

Triggers can't be mapped in XInput controllers.
Lack of Deadzone in Right Thumbstick, makes camera spinning. See Camera spinning with Xbox 360 Controller.

Audio settings

Template:Audio settings

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
Czech
Only available in Czech & Slovak retail release.
German
Italian
Polish
Only available in Polish retail release.
Portuguese
Russian
Only available in Russian retail release.
Swedish
Only available in Swedish retail release.

Issues unresolved

Graphical artifacts

Potentially caused at least by switching top-level windows. Restarting the game seems to fix the issue.
You can use console code flush to recache textures.
Edit configuration file
  1. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  2. Open Game.ini.
  3. Change the UsePrecache= value under [D3DDrv.D3DRenderDevice] to False.

Or use dgVoodoo2.

Issues fixed

Fails to start on Windows 8.1 and earlier

The game requires a form of DRM, known as SafeDisc implemented in secdrv.sys. Unfortunately, it is a gaping security flaw, and evidently couldn't be fixed without being removed. Microsoft disabled it in Windows 7 and removed it in Windows 10. The following has been tested in Windows 7 to work.
Temporarily start SafeDisc service[citation needed]
  1. Go to the installation folder.
  2. Create a new Windows batch file (extension .bat) and insert the following:
@echo off
sc config secdrv start= demand & sc start secdrv
start System\HP.exe
timeout /NOBREAK /T 1
sc stop secdrv & sc config secdrv start= disabled
@echo on

Notes

This effectively reopens the security hole, starts the game, and then patches the vulnerability again after 1 second. You'll likely need to run the script in Administrator mode.
You can experiment with different timings if 1 second turns out to be too short on your system.

Low frame rate on Windows 8 and later

Instructions[citation needed]
  1. Download dgVoodoo2.
  2. Copy dgVoodooSetup.exe and the contents of the MS folder into the <path-to-game>/System folder of the game
  3. Run dgVoodooSetup.exe, select DirectX, uncheck dgVoodoo Watermark (and change some settings if you want to force higher res)
  4. Run HP.exe as administrator, or apply a cracked exe if you don't have a CD drive.

Notes

If you change resolution from the game settings, dgVoodoo2 switches to windowed mode, and you have to press Alt+ Enter to get back to fullscreen. To avoid this, just force the resolution you want from dgVoodooSetup.exe. Keep in mind that the game does not like very high resolutions (>1080p) or widescreen.

Camera spinning with Xbox 360 Controller

Instructions[4]
  1. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  2. Open HP.ini.
  3. Locate [WinDrv.WindowsClient] section and change DeadZoneRUV=False to DeadZoneRUV=True.

Fix menu buttons in menu for widescreen mode

  1. Download Fix.
  2. Unpack file "HPMenu.u" into the <path-to-game>/System folder of the game.

Result: https://i.imgur.com/HEG6RgU.jpg https://i.imgur.com/jm9kijh.jpg

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 7
Software renderer
ExecutablePPC16-bit 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Mac OS (Classic)

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 95
Processor (CPU) Intel Pentium II 266 MHz
AMD K6-2 266 MHz
System memory (RAM) 32 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 500 MB
Video card (GPU) 4 MB of VRAM
DirectX 8.0 compatible
Supported chipsets: Nvidia GeForce3, Nvidia GeForce2, Nvidia GeForce 256, Nvidia Riva TNT2, Nvidia Riva TNT, 3dfx Voodoo5, ATI Radeon, ATI Rage 128 Pro, ATI Rage 128, Matrox MGA-G550, Matrox MGA-G450, Matrox MGA-G400, Matrox MGA-G200, PowerVR3 Kyro II, PowerVR3 Kyro, S3 Savage2000
Mac OS
Minimum
Operating system (OS) 8.6
Processor (CPU) PowerPC G3
System memory (RAM) 96 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)

Notes

  1. 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]

References