Posted August 24, 2024
A quick guide to getting the GOG version of this game working under Linux/Wine. I played the game from start to finish with these patches/settings, so I know they work and address most of the issues (crashing, missing audio) others have experienced.
Most of the tips here would also apply to getting this working under Windows, but as I didn't test there, your mileage may vary.
1. Apply the official "messiah02" patch. The GOG version has parts of this already, but not everything. (Also would apply to Windows users)
2. Download and extractthe most recent fixed/updated winmm build in the game directory, overwriting the version in the game directory GOG already shipped. This is important to fix missing cutscene audio and other things. The GOG version ships an older version of winmm to emulate the CD audio with a bug that sometimes will play the wrong track, or no track. The version here will fix that. (Also would apply to Windows users)
3. Download the Lutris packaged version (2.8.2) of dgVoodoo2 and extract that to the game directory. This will replace GOG's nGlide wrapper, which is slow and buggy. If you are on Windows, you should probably use the most recent build of dgVoodoo2, but on Linux/Wine this is the newest one that works. (Also would apply to Windows users). You should not need to change any settings in the dgVoodoo.cfg file, other than removing the watermarks if you wish.
4. Download the Messiah Widescreen hack from WSGW, and copy the "MessiahD3D.exe" from the folder corresponding to your native display resolution into the game directory, overwriting the existing file. (Also would apply to Windows users)
5. In "wineconfig", ensure the following DLLs are using "native" overrides (see attached image for example):
- d3dimm
- ddraw
- dxgi
- winmm
6. Launch `MessiahD3D.exe` with the following arguments (without the backticks):
- `-x -i +!`
(Also would apply to Windows users).
7. When the game comes up, it should ask you what resolution to use - pick yours, and the game should run. I used D3D T&L, worked fine for me.
8. Go into the game settings on the main menu, go into Video Settings, and make sure the "pre-caching" option near the bottom is disabled. (Also would apply to Windows users)
You will notice that the intro movie plays in a very small box in a corner of the screen. I haven't figured out a way to make this look nicer, but at least it works.
With the above I played the entire game to completion.
Most of the tips here would also apply to getting this working under Windows, but as I didn't test there, your mileage may vary.
1. Apply the official "messiah02" patch. The GOG version has parts of this already, but not everything. (Also would apply to Windows users)
2. Download and extractthe most recent fixed/updated winmm build in the game directory, overwriting the version in the game directory GOG already shipped. This is important to fix missing cutscene audio and other things. The GOG version ships an older version of winmm to emulate the CD audio with a bug that sometimes will play the wrong track, or no track. The version here will fix that. (Also would apply to Windows users)
3. Download the Lutris packaged version (2.8.2) of dgVoodoo2 and extract that to the game directory. This will replace GOG's nGlide wrapper, which is slow and buggy. If you are on Windows, you should probably use the most recent build of dgVoodoo2, but on Linux/Wine this is the newest one that works. (Also would apply to Windows users). You should not need to change any settings in the dgVoodoo.cfg file, other than removing the watermarks if you wish.
4. Download the Messiah Widescreen hack from WSGW, and copy the "MessiahD3D.exe" from the folder corresponding to your native display resolution into the game directory, overwriting the existing file. (Also would apply to Windows users)
5. In "wineconfig", ensure the following DLLs are using "native" overrides (see attached image for example):
- d3dimm
- ddraw
- dxgi
- winmm
6. Launch `MessiahD3D.exe` with the following arguments (without the backticks):
- `-x -i +!`
(Also would apply to Windows users).
7. When the game comes up, it should ask you what resolution to use - pick yours, and the game should run. I used D3D T&L, worked fine for me.
8. Go into the game settings on the main menu, go into Video Settings, and make sure the "pre-caching" option near the bottom is disabled. (Also would apply to Windows users)
You will notice that the intro movie plays in a very small box in a corner of the screen. I haven't figured out a way to make this look nicer, but at least it works.
With the above I played the entire game to completion.
Post edited August 24, 2024 by phanboy4
