Grim Fandango

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

Grim Fandango

Developers
	LucasArts
Engines
	GrimE
Release dates
Windows	October 30, 1998
Reception
Metacritic	94
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer
Perspectives	Cinematic camera
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Adventure
Art styles	Cartoon, Pre-rendered graphics, Stylized
Series	Grim Fandango

Grim Fandango
Grim Fandango	1998
Grim Fandango Remastered	2015

Grim Fandango is a singleplayer cinematic camera adventure game in the Grim Fandango series.

General information

Hardcore Gaming 101 - comprehensive feature

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		Oversized DRM (lead-out area shortened and used for data, to prevent most contemporary CD-RW drives from copying the method). Bypassed by running the game in developer mode. Released on 2 CDs.

Demos are available from ScummVM.

Essential improvements

Patches

The latest official patch 1.01 fixes several crashing bugs, as well as a possible issue where a certain puzzle would be unsolvable on faster machines, and also adds subtitles to cutscenes. It is available here and at soggi.org.

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

Grim Fandango Patch - ScummVM instructions

Peixoto's patch

• Gets the installer running on 64-bit Windows.
• Allows nearest neighbor or xBRz scaling in software mode.
• Gets hardware mode working properly at high resolutions. Super-sampling anti-aliasing is also possible.

Installing on modern systems

Method 1: Using bgbennyboy's setup tool
Includes bgbennyboy's launcher to run and configure the game afterwards, as well as enable hidden functionality such as the developer mode.

Method 2: Manual file copying
Copy all the content from the game discs to a folder on the hard drive. Overwriting duplicate files is not necessary. Enable developer mode. Using this method may not be compatible with bgbennyboy's launcher.

Method 3: Using ResidualVM
Also fixes several original game bugs. Allows running Grim Fandango on non-Windows operating systems.

Method 4: Using DREAMM
DREAMM bypasses the installation issues and provides a stable emulated environment that allows the game to run without issues on modern Windows, macOS, and Linux systems.

Developer mode

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

Create registry key
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.

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).

Save game cloud syncing

No save game cloud syncing information; you can edit this page to add it.

Video

Options menu

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution			Hardcoded to 640x480
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
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)		Can be enforced via video driver. Needs either working OpenGL mode or ResidualVM.
High-fidelity upscaling		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
60 FPS
120+ FPS		See Frame rate capping if some game elements are too fast.
High dynamic range display (HDR)

Windowed

Run the game in developer mode[citation needed]

Run GrimFandango.EXE with the -w command-line parameter[citation needed]

Use in-game option[citation needed]
Open the in-game options menu with F1. Select "DIBSection Windowed Display" under "3D Hardware Options."

Input

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support
Controller remapping		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers

PlayStation controllers

Generic/other controllers

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Audio

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Music, sound effects, voice
Surround sound
Subtitles		Can be toggled with Ctrl+T
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French
Greek				Fan translation, download.
Hungarian				Fan translation, download.
Italian				Check XP compatibility patch for troubleshooting.
Polish				Fan translation, download.
Brazilian Portuguese				Brasoft's release.

Issues fixed

"Grim Fandango is already up to date" error

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

Check unofficial launcher version[citation needed]

Sound crashing and freezing

Force single core affinity for the game executable[citation needed]
Notes Using Task Manager to set affinity is likely to trip the sound issue. Other alternatives work properly.

Enable Windows 98 compatibility mode[citation needed]

Other information

API

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows			For 64-bit, see Installing on modern systems.

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