Posted November 16, 2009
high rated
I had both issues (only 16bit support and major slowdowns in random areas). The solution is very simple (although i had to dig around for a while and experiment a bit to figure it out). Go to your Messiah installation directory from the command prompt, like:
cd C:\Program Files\GOG.com\Messiah
and type
MessiahD3D.exe -x
The usual resolution popup window will appear. Select one of the available resolutions (i pick 1024x768) and then press Ok. Then (when the game starts loading) a new resolution window will appear which will provide you with more options. From there leave the graphics card (first option) as is, select the Direct3D HAL (not Direct3D T&L HAL! This is what causes the slowdowns) and then from the third option scroll down to find the resolution you picked in the first popup window (don't try any widescreen modes, they won't work). Make sure it says "x 32" at the right side (which means 32bit mode), otherwise you'll get nasty banding with modern video cards which do not have dithering in 16bit modes. Press Run game and you'll be fine.
Except one detail.
The videos in 32bit mode look horizontally squashed. This happens because they expect to be played in 16bit mode instead of 32bit. Unfortunately if you want to see the videos you need to use a 16bit mode. Fortunately there are only a few videos (basically the logos, intro and ending) so just save your game before viewing them.
cd C:\Program Files\GOG.com\Messiah
and type
MessiahD3D.exe -x
The usual resolution popup window will appear. Select one of the available resolutions (i pick 1024x768) and then press Ok. Then (when the game starts loading) a new resolution window will appear which will provide you with more options. From there leave the graphics card (first option) as is, select the Direct3D HAL (not Direct3D T&L HAL! This is what causes the slowdowns) and then from the third option scroll down to find the resolution you picked in the first popup window (don't try any widescreen modes, they won't work). Make sure it says "x 32" at the right side (which means 32bit mode), otherwise you'll get nasty banding with modern video cards which do not have dithering in 16bit modes. Press Run game and you'll be fine.
Except one detail.
The videos in 32bit mode look horizontally squashed. This happens because they expect to be played in 16bit mode instead of 32bit. Unfortunately if you want to see the videos you need to use a 16bit mode. Fortunately there are only a few videos (basically the logos, intro and ending) so just save your game before viewing them.
