Using ddwrapper as suggested, walking around in-game the first core of my FX-6300 pegs at a pretty steady 90%...core 2 fluctuates between 0% & 10%...cores 3-6 inactive. (Win8.1x64)

I'm also using your first ddraw patch for the game...should I disable that one before running this version, or does this version simply override the previous patch?

*thanks for your efforts--I couldn't run PST at all if not for your ddraw patch...;)

DDwrapper worked well for me after installing all other mods. Now one of my cores goes to 40-50 % only but it`s mostly a lot lower, mostly :D Thanks Agrit :)

Curious, what's your OS?

Edit: I was encouraged by your results, so I tried it again after uninstalling Aqrit's original ddraw fix--unfortunately, the same results exactly, with only a slight difference. Core 1 was pegged at 90%, but it was core 4 that saw 10% activity this time. I also experienced artifacts that I don't see at all with the original ddraw fix for the game: I get cursor trails in all the menus (but not in-game), and in-game if I run the game with open windows on my desktop they flash though into the game screen every so many frames. None of this happens with Aqrit's standard ddrawfix and my system. Oh, well, as Aqrit says--this is beta software.

I'm running an AMD cpu (FX-6300) and I know they use different schedulers in 8.1x64 than Intel cpus use, and I also know that I'm using the latest 14.3 Catalyst betas--I have no idea what Aqrit is using, of course.

Glad it worked out for you, though...;) I'm going back to his original ddraw fix for the game, however.

I have an old E5200 2,5 Ghz dual core, 3 Gb of ram and Geforce 9500 GT.

The game still uses 1 core, and the CPU usage fluctuates between 10 % and sometimes 90 % but it never reaches 100 % (unless I do the alt-tab). Graphically everyting seems fine and the load times seem to be a little quicker with ddwrapper :)

I`m currently using both patches btw.

Are you using Win7, Win8...?

Sounds like my first run with both patches--yes, I never hit 100%, either, but that's true for me with or without the ddraw patches. Since you are also hitting 90% in some places with the patches, it doesn't sound all that different from my own experience. Yes, when I leave the in-game to drop down to the game menus (options screens) my usage drops to ~50% or so, but Aqrit was talking ~50% in-game, which is what I was hoping for. Perhaps I might see that in another portion of the game, however.

At any rate, I was never bothered by the cpu usage until I read this thread, and still it doesn't bother me all that much as many, many games--especially older games--either use only one or two cores, and I've got two games (Max Payne 1 & 2) that won't run at all in my 8.1x64 installation without me dropping the affinity down to single-core with a program like Runfirst.exe. People worrying about temps when their cpus are 20 degrees under the max ceiling for their cpus seems a bit on the obsessive-compulsive side to me...:D

I `m using Windows 7, 32 bit. My cpu usage (in gameplay) is mostly 10-30 % and it goes to 90 % very sporadically (it forms a mountain with sharp peak on the chart :P)

Upgrade your Wisdom score to give yourself extra memory to reduce load. Just kidding.

That's pretty strange. Have you tried Win 98 or Win XP compatibility mode?

Nope. For me anything lower than constant 100 % is gold ;)

I'm wondering, why gog still didn't fix it somehow.
I use cputhrottle on my macbook every time I playing games with wine, but I can't said it very convenient.