Fixed, by George! Here's what did it for me in Win8.1x64:
[preamble: if you have not rebooted your system after installing Syberia 1, then do so now before taking the following steps--which should take you all of about 15 seconds to complete...;)]
1) Open the folder where Syberia 1 is installed and find the Syberia.exe file.
2) Right-click it and select "properties" from the drop-down menu.
3) Select the "compatibility" tab
4) Select the "Make Changes for All Users" button at the bottom of the tab
5) select "run as admin" and click "Apply"
6)select OK and close the file --we are finished with Syberia.exe
7) next, select the "Game.exe" file, and repeat steps 2-4 above
8) Select "WindowsXP Service Pack 2" for the OS compatibility option
9) Select the "reduce color mode" option and set it to 8-bits
10)Select the "Disable high dpi settings" option
11) select "run as admin" (if it is not already checked)
12) select the "Apply" button at the bottom of the tab
13) select "OK" and close the Game.exe file as we are done with it
14) Change your desktop resolution to 800x600...! (This is very important as even with the above steps all completed, the game still would not run full screen unless I lowered my desktop resolution to 800x600--if I started from *any* resolution other than 800x600 on my desktop, the game would run in the background but would never manage to open its own screen properly.)
15) Double-click your Syberia game start-up shortcut (which targets Syberia.exe), and the game will run and away you go!
It's kind of interesting, but in the internal options settings for Syberia, the game supposedly *starts* in 16-bit mode and is changeable to an internal 32-bit mode! However, my Windows 8.1x64 installation will only run the game if the executable files have been set for 8-bits, as outlined above. Go figure! I also note that Siberia being such an old game it requires a reboot (of your computer) after setting certain options--like its internal 32-bit color mode, for instance. Don't think that because you're running the latest OS that it excuses you from rebooting this game a few times after installing and setting a few in-game options (the game will tell you when you need to reboot)--because it doesn't. The structure of the game is such that certain system reboots are required in order to take effect. After rebooting, for instance, I noticed a big difference in the 32-bit mode of the game. It's not a striking difference, but it's enough to notice--like the floorboards in Kate's hotel room shine in 32-bit mode as if waxed to a sheen, but appear dull in 16-bit mode, etc.
Anyway, I mentioned earlier that Syberia II ran immediately after installation without requiring any of these tweaks, and that's still true. These games are fantastic, I think. Highly, highly underrated!
Post edited March 31, 2014 by waltc
