Microsoft Windows Vista RC2 and how the games do on it.

[Joseph]

I updated my list of games that work/won't work on Vista RC2 with
Catalyst® Beta Display Driver for Windows Vista RTM (32 bit)Version: 8.31.100.3.2.1 -- Date: Dec. 13, 2006 (see Release Notes),
nVidia Windows Vista x86 RC2 (see Release Notes - 96.85)
Creative X-Fi Beta for Vista driver v.2.13.0001 28 Dec 06 (see Release Notes)
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy series Vista Beta driver (see Release notes).
Update: For Vista / X-Fi users: Creative ALchemy Project


Note that:

• I am only testing the Single Player functions.
• I recommend the Vista Sidebar to be (temporarily) disabled. Just close it, you can return it later by clicking on the tray icon.
• Most recent Creative X-Fi Beta for Vista and Audigy Beta for Vista drivers are only basic functional. In the games that offer 3D sound and EAX in their settings-options (and not have them greyed out automatically): don't touch those options. Leave the sound at default, be glad you have sound at all.
• After each game installation i defragment both the OS- and Games partition. Inbuilt Vista defragger is extremely slow (as on XP) so this required a reboot to XP and defrag using Diskeeper that does the job within a minute or less.
• Automatic Search for updates does not always work good. I update all my games from stored patches on my PC which were downloaded manually.
• In all the games that run, i have all graphical settings full maximum @ 1600x1200 (if that resolution is available, which isn't in some older games), on the X1900XT.
• ATI Catalyst for Vista RTM driver & Control Centre are fully functional. The nVidia Beta seems to be too, but i didn't manage to install it at all, so i'm using the generic nVidia drivers that Windows installs automatically when it detects an nVidia card.

__________________________________________________ ___________
Test-PC systems specifications
__________________________________________________ ___________
WINDOWS VISTA RC2
Core2Duo E6600 @ 3.6 Ghz
2 GB CORSAIR TwinXPC8500 DDR2 RAM in Dual Channel
ASUS P5W DH Deluxe
ATI Radeon X1900XT 512MB / ATI Catalyst for Vista RTM driver
Creative X-Fi Platinum / X-Fi Beta for Vista driver
Coolermaster Realpower 550W
2 x WD 250 GB SATA-150 / 16MB
NEC 3550A DVD-burner
Logitech G7
EIZO T965 @ 1600x1200 / 85Hz

I rebuilt my PC's recently, so i can now also test on a GF7800GT/256MB. Though only on the Vista-inbuilt nVidia drivers (96.85) because the new nVidia package refuses to install on my Vista claiming that Vista is not installed (maybe because i have Vista on K:\ and nVidia driverpackage keeps looking at C:\ where my XP is even though i keep pointing it to K:\ -even in safe mode- that's why it says "your OS is not Vista, installation will abort"? I tried various ways but nVidia 96.85 keeps refusing) but anyway.

WINDOWS VISTA RC2
Pentium 650 ~4.1 Ghz
2 GB CORSAIR Vs PC5300 DDR2 RAM in Dual Channel
ASUS P5AD2-E Premium
XFX nVidia GF 7800GT 256 MB / Generic nVidia Vista RC2 driver
Creative Audigy 2 ZS / Beta for Vista driver
Chieftech 480 W
2 x WD 250 GB SATA-150 / 8MB
NEC 3550A DVD-burner
Logitech MX-700
Iiyama Vision Master Pro 512 @ 1600x1200 / 85 Hz

The games that (due to very well OpenGL support) require an nVidia card (7800GT) in blue, matching the ATI card failures in red. So, if you find a non-working game in red, you'll find that it works in blue. The black tests were done on ATI card. When a game runs on ATI, it always also runs on an nVidia card.

The games listed in Italic were not tested by myself but by people who were so kind to add their experiences. Also in blue when they used an nVidia card (and i can't confirm those games on ATI card).


__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ _

So far i tested:
_____________________________________________
****THE GAMES THAT WORK:
_____________________________________________

Aliens versus Predator. No issues. Installs and runs fine.

American McGee's Alice on nVidia card (GF7800GT). Installs and runs fine!

Apocalyptica on nVidia card (GF7800GT). Vista refuses to install this game from the popping up "install" menu. As usual, it asks your permission, you click "Allow", but immediately you get error: "Apocalyptica has stopped working". Still, a Setup Request is still minimised on the taskbar. Maximising and again selecting "Allow" results in the same message again that "Apocalyptica has stopped working", and so on.
Instead, explore cd, double-click Setup > select "Allow" > select language and voilá the game installs. And runs fine on a nVidia GeForce card.

Battle Isle IV: Andosia War. -[On Vista RTM, nVidia, tested by AnXa -his system spec HERE ]

Bet On Soldier. Setup error: "You are currently running Windows (version inconnue). The oldest OS version supported is Windows 2000. Your OS version is no longer supported. This program will unlikely function. Do you want to continue anyway?" Clicking Yes has no result: the message stays there, and installation is blocked. And clicking No does not make the message disappear and discontinue installation; you are stuck. Clicking the exit-cross has no effect, so this is a job for Task Manager.
Open This Computer, explore CD. Right-click on Setup.exe > Properties > tab Compatibility and apply Windows XP (SP2) Compatibility mode onto it. This time, game installs. But won't run: a Star Force Copy Protection error. It says "Run as Administrator". Right-click on the game's shortcut > Run as Administrator. This causes the PC to reboot. After reboot, a Windows message appears: "This driver is blocked due to compatibility issues. Check for solutions online." Download the Vista RC2 Star Force driver update. Double-click it to install the update. Again, reboot the PC. Update: download the latest DirectX9.0c for Vista (version 10-10-2006). HERE.
Now double-click the game's icon, enter the serial. Checking disc can take abnormally long time. Then the game seems to launch. But two messages appear at the same time: "Windows Firewall has blocked some features of the program". Keep Blocking. And an error: "Kt_Game.dll failed to Initialize. Program will now exit." Click OK, no other option. Windows message: "BoS.exe has stopped working". Again, double-click game's icon on Desktop. Notice that the game intro is running already, minimized on the Taskbar. Maximize. Make your settings, and then the actual game seems to launch, but you are fooled (it freezes). Use Task Manager to exit. Message: "BoS has stopped working". Yeah, OK.
Apply Windows XP (SP2) Compatibility mode onto the game's shortcut.
Again launch the game, and now it runs excellently.

Beyond Good and Evil on nVidia card (GF7800GT). Installs and runs fine!

Blade Runner. -[On Vista RTM, nVidia, tested by AnXa -his system spec HERE]

BloodRayne. Message from Program Compatibility Assistant that My Talk Fax Pro 7 has compatibility issues. Just click "Run the Program". Plays very well.

Boilingpoint - Road to Hell. Installs and runs fine.

Brothers in Arms. Immediately after installation, attempting to launch game, results in Critical Error: "Build: (null) --- OS: Windows NT 6.0 (Build: 5744) --- CPU: GenuineIntel Unknown processor @ 4077 Mhz [333028 1832448.000000 0] with 2046 MB RAM --- Video: Radeon X1900 Series (431) ---- General protection fault! ---- History: UWindowsViewportr:OpenWindow <-UGameEngine:PostInit <-InitEngine" and at the same time my extended dekstop has swapped monitors, left screen is right right screen is left. I click button 'Submit Bug Report', and that results in: "MAPISendMail() failed." and i press OK. Immediately after OK, the swapped Extended Desktop restores itself. I reboot.
Apply Windows XP (SP2) Compatibility mode. It helps, game launches! And runs very fine indeed.

Call Of Duty + United Offensive. Installs, patched. Runs fine. Impression that performance is lower (explosions effects) than on XP, not sure though.

Carmageddon TDR2000. Installs and runs excellently!

Chaser. Autorun is very slow, takes much time before Install button results in any action. Installs fine. In the Options menu > just clicking on option "SOUND", results in display freaking out completely (because of Creative beta?). Quit. Message "Graphic driver has stopped working and recovered successfully". Nevermind. Restart game. Sound is OK (i haven't touched the settings anyway). Game runs excellently.

Clive Barker's Undying. Installs fine. When launching game, Vista message pops up from taskbar "The colour scheme has been set to basic. A running program is not compatible with certain visual elements." But that is no problem. The game runs very fine.

Cold Fear. Not the slightest issue. Plays excellently!

Command and Conquer: Gold/95 (Original Edition) -[On Vista RTM, nVidia, tested by AnXa -his system spec HERE ] Setup program needs to be run on "Windows 95" compatibility mode. Needs 2000/XP-compatibility patch (ccgoldxppatch.zip) which disables network game. Runs otherwise normally. Doesn't suffer 256 colors only -mode problem like First Decade Edition.

Command and Conquer: Generals (First Decade Edition) + Expansion - [On Vista RTM, nVidia, tested by AnXa -his system spec HERE ] No issues.

Command and Conquer: Gold/95 (First Decade Edition) -[On Vista RTM, nVidia, tested by AnXa -his system spec HERE ] No issues. (Note: Your desktop will change into 256 colors only -mode for a short while.)

Command and Conquer: Renegade (Original Edition) -[On Vista RTM, nVidia, tested by AnXa -his system spec HERE ] No issues.

Command and Conquer: Renegade (First Decade Edition) -[On Vista RTM, nVidia, tested by AnXa -his system spec HERE ] No issues.

Command and Conquer: Tiberian Sun (Original Edition) -[On Vista RTM, nVidia, tested by AnXa -his system spec HERE ] No issues. Patch highly recommended.

Command and Conquer: Tiberian Sun (First Decade Edition) + Expansion -[On Vista RTM, nVidia, tested by AnXa -his system spec HERE ] Needs at least First Decade 1.02 patch in order to work.

Conflict Desert Storm. No issues. Installs and runs fine.

Constantine. No issues. Installs and runs fine.

Contract J.A.C.K. Installs fine. Then you get message Update is available, update now? You click yes results in error. I update all my games from stored patches on my PC which were downloaded manually. Besides this, no issue. Game runs excellent.

Counter Strike: Condition Zero + Deleteted Scenes on nVidia card (GF7800GT). Installs fine. After doubleclick Icon on Dektop, error: "conflict with disc emulation software, contact Securom." But open and close tray and selecting "Allow" for the autorun-menu to run, causes no problem and game launches. This is an nVidia card so we select OpenGL, and it runs superbly!

Crazy Taxi. No issue. Installs and runs excellently.

Daikatana (on nVidia GF7800GT). Mine is the ' SoldOut' version. Install. You get message: Macromedia Shockwave Player is outdated. Click "Fix problem". Shockwave player 8.0 is installed. Installation proceeds. Next window shows: 'Click <install game> button to begin the installation...' Two messages popping up: 'Helpbox -LOADING.HTM' message is saying: "This program cannot dis" (the message does not fit in window and the window is not resizeable). the other: "Important - Windows XP users. Setup.Now has detected that you're running Windows XP! After installing the game you MUST install the patch which is located in the PATCHES directory on your CD-ROM." Click OK. And close the HelpBox.
Installation starts.
Warning Message from Compatibility Assistant about My Talk Fax Pro 7. Just click "Run program".
You hear from the spinning of cd-rom that something is happening but you don't see it. OK: it has minimized itself, click on Daikatana Setup on the taskbar. Welcome to the Daikatana setup program. Click Next, Yes, Full install, select location. I select the GAMES\Daikatana folder on the other partition. Game installs. At the end: don't view the readme file, don't play Daikatana (uncheck both). Exit SoldOut menu.
Explore CD. Navigate to folder 'Patches'.
Doubleclick "Patch Setup V1.2a.exe" will fail!!! Instead, doubleclick "data.exe".
Click button "Patch!"
-ignore the message: "An Error Ocurred - PATCH was unable to locate an exact match for the original file to be updated. However, PATCH was able to locate a file with the same name as the original file. However, the file found did not either have the same size or checksum as the actual original file that PATCH is seeking in order to perform the update." Just click OK, and EXIT.
Vista message: "Program Compatibility Assistant: This program might not have installed correctly."
Select: this program installed correctly.
Click Start > All Programs > Eidos Interactive > Daikatana to launch the game.
(many thanks to AnXa who inspired me to try again).

Dark Messiah of Might and Magic. Installs and runs excellently.
What i found strange, is that i did not need to put in the serial number, it wasn't even asked. I just bought it an hour ago and played some in the first level, then exited; game asks if i want to save? I clicked 'Save' and then the game freezed. I pressed the Esc key, the game display disappeared, leaving a message on Desktop: "Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Library - Runtime Error! - Program: Dark Messiah of Might and Magic\mm.exe - This application has requested the Runtime to terminate it in an unusual way. Please contact the application's support team for more information." Hmm... maybe it needs a patch, i'll have a search...
Other than this, the game ran excellently!
[Update December 13, 2006. I learned that this game was released unfinished and litterally overloaded with bugs. Update it via Steam. After update, start a new game rather than launching a savegame (they'll be invalid after patch). Game runs fine this way.]

Delta Force 2. Installs and runs.

Delta Force - Black Hawk Down. Patched with 1.5.0.5. Installs fine. The game makes automatically settings for the videocard. Sadly it underestimates ATI Radeon X1900XT and disables FSAA and limits resolution to 1280x1024. No keys in Registry to alter. But this is happening the same on Windows XP also. No idea why this game does not recognize the high end capacities of the X1900XT; i guess it is a limitation whithin the game itself. Besides this, the game runs excellently.

Deus Ex: Invisible War. Installs, patched. Runs excellently.

Desperados -Wanted dead or Alive. When i let it install itself in the directory it creates by default at Program Files\Infogrames\, it does not run at all and will prompt to uninstall itself. When installed in the seperate Games folder on another partition i always use, it installs and runs fine!

Devastation. No issue. Excellent.

Diablo 2. -[On Vista RTM, nVidia, tested by AnXa -his system spec HERE ]

Die Hard: Nakatomi Plaza. No issue. Excellent.

Doom3 on nVidia card (GF7800GT). Installs and runs very well!
Update: Catalyst® 7.1 Display Driver for Windows Vista (32 bit)
The good news is that DOOM3 is now running on ATI / Vista! Read more in post #260


Dungeon Siege. No issue. Excellent.

Evil Twins -Cyprien's Chronicles. No issue. Excellent.

4x4 Evo 2. Installs and runs fine.

F1 World Grand Prix. Message from Program Compatibility Assistant that My Talk Fax Pro 7 has compatibility issues. Just click "Run the Program". Then it wants to install Indeo Software needed for the ingame FMV's. Then: "Searching for copies of netscape (copies found: 0)", finally: "You already have a newer version of the Indeo video 4 Codec, existing file will not be overwritten". That is nice. Game runs fine. Only sound is bad. Quitting the game is a problem: it goes into "sleep mode" instead of really quitting. Quit with Task manager.

Far Cry. No issue. Excellent.

F.E.A.R on nVidia card (GF7800GT). It installs and runs fine.

Freedom Fighters. No issue. Excellent.

Gabriel Knight 3. -[On Vista RTM, nVidia, tested by AnXa -his system spec HERE ]

Grand Theft Auto 3. No issue. Installs and runs excellently.

Ghost Recon (+ expansion packs Island Thunder and Desert Siege). No issue. Installs and runs excellently.

Giants: Citizen Kabuto. Installs and runs fine.

Gore - Ultimate Soldier on nVidia card (GF7800GT). Installs, and runs fine!


Gothic 3 Demo. Installs fine. Tested without any patch, game runs fine! Although, on the ATI beta drivers with graphical issues (flickering transparent [dis-]appearing textures), but surely fixed in the final Catalyst drivers on the final Vista version. So the full game runs too. Of course, install all available patches.

Half-Life + Blue Shift. Install and run excellently in D3D mode.

Half-Life2 + Lost Coast. Excellent!
Update.
Hmm.. there's something not right with the uninstall shield. Uninstalling Half-Life2 results in almost all files just staying there! I had to finish the job by deleting the directory with contents of 5+ GB manually!

Halo Combat Evolved. Installs fine. When starting the game, you are informed that Halo has compatibility issues, and you are brought to Bungie.net to install patch Halo PC 1.071 (Build 614).
"The current version of Halo PC, version 1.07 (build 613) , incorrectly reports that it is not compatible with the version of DirectX included in Windows Vista. The following fix removes this check; there are no other changes".
Download patch and update manually. Game runs excellently.

Heavy Metal FAKK2. Installs fine. Patch 1.2 installed. Runs fine.

Helicops. Primitive Windows 95 game, yet installs and runs without any problem. No compatibility mode needed.

Hidden and Dangerous 2. It installed and patched. But to launch it is another case. Having the Play CD (CD1) in tray and launching the game from its shortcut on Desktop, nothing happens; CD just spins and then stops. Solution:
Open the directory where you installed the game. Right-click hd2.exe > Properties > Compatibility tab, select 'Windows XP(SP2)' Compatibility mode. Then double-click hd2.exe to launch the game.
Try to get accustomed to the game's default controls (which is not easy), because remapping them can result in being unresponsive and/or inconsistant. Nevertheless, this game runs fine on Vista.

Hitman: Codename 47. Installs and runs excellently.

Hitman 2: Silent Assassin. Initially nothing happens. Then starts installing very slowly and suddenly speeds up. Game runs fine.

IGI (Project: IGI). Installs and runs fine.

IGI 2: Covert Strike. Installs and runs excellently.

Impossible Creatures. Installs and runs excellently.

Jane´s Attack Squadron. Installs and runs excellently.

Kingpin -Life of Crime. Installs, then attempt to launch game freezes the PC. Hard reboot needed. In the end, game runs excellently.

Live For Speed. [tested by Agent 47]on-line racing game runs fine, players will need to install the LFS S2 5U30 patch though (basically replace the exe).
it's a recent released patch to enable the game to run on Vista with no problems regardless of what graphics card you may currently have.

Lord Of The Rings - The Return Of The King. Installs and runs excellently.

Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter. Installs fine. When starting the game, first a message: "Unable to detect video card memory. If your graphic card has 32 MB or less, ... etc." Following a test, which runs fine. And the actual game indeed runs fine as well.

Manhunt. Installs and runs excellently.

Max Payne. Patched to 1.5.Installs and runs excellently, except there is no sound in the FMV's. When actual game starts, sound is restored.

Max Payne 2. Updated with patch. Error message that DirectX9 is not found. Solution: apply 'Windows XP (SP2) compatibility mode'. Game runs excellently.

Mech Warrior 4 - Vengeance. Installs and runs excellently.

Medal Of Honour: Pacific Assault. Installs fine, applied patch 1_2. Plays excellently.

Medal of Honour Allied Assault (+ expansion packs). Excellent.

Men of Valor. Installs and runs fine.

Mega Race 3. "My Talk Fax Pro 7 has compatibility issues" message. Just click "Run the Program". Installs and runs fine.

Messiah. Installs fine, patched. Select 'Play Messiah D3D', right-click on it, compatibility tab, set Windows 98/ME compatibility mode. Runs fine.
On my other PC with nVidia 7800GT and Audigy 2 ZS, "the sound cannot be read from the CD" -it's a silent game...

Morrowind The Elder Scrolls lll -GOTY. Excellent.

Moto GP 2. Excellent.

Need For Speed Hot Persuit 2. Installs and runs excellently.

Need For Speed Most Wanted. Installs and runs excellently.

Need For Speed Porsche 2000. Installs and runs great!

Need For Speed Underground. Installs and runs excellently.

Need For Speed Underground 2. Installs and runs excellently.

No One Lives Forever. Runs excellently.

No One Lives Forever 2. Updated with the patch. Runs excellently.

Operation Flashpoint. Installs and runs excellently.

Painkiller + BOOH. Excellent!

Peter Jackson's King Kong. After installation, it says my graphic card drivers are outdated (?) and it presets the lowest resolution (640) with the highest refresh rate (100Hz). Change to 1600x1200/85Hz. Reboot required, so i reboot. (You can get message that the Starforce Protection is not compatible, Update it, reboot required). Launch game...first message again "drivers are out of date", press 'run anyway'... insert the game's serial (but that's printed on the CD, so i take it out and type it in, get message Error: no CD found, so i put it back, next time write the serial on the booklet ok), game launches! At the highest resolution despite the warnings. First scene "I'm here Jack, look at me!" keeps repeating just like on XP untill mouse is configured to revert yes or no, once you have confirmed what you want (in 'Options') the game can actually launch. End of story. All is OK.

Prey. It installs fine. Do not install the patch immediately after installing the game, but first reboot. Game runs fine.
Update: Catalyst® 7.1 Display Driver for Windows Vista (32 bit)
OpenGL games now running on ATI / Vista! Read more in post #260


Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. Fine, no problem. Runs excellently.

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within. Fine, no problem. Runs excellently.

Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones. At install you get error: "Cannot Create Label from Raw String" which is nothing else than that a downloadlink for Adobe Reader cannot be displayed in the Installation menu ( i guess due to the safety protection blockade), just click OK. Installs fine.
You will be prompted to reboot.
Error message: The Starforce Protection driver for the game's CD has compatibility issues with Vista. Microsoft directs you to Starforce supportpage to download the updated version of the copyprotection driver (also read Starforce's honest and open protection policy, and if you like download the removal tool as well).
So, update StarForce and then POP:TTT installs and runs excellently.

Project Eden - Max Load: 4. Message from Program Compatibility Assistant that My Talk Fax Pro 7 has compatibility issues. Just click "Run the Program". Installs and runs excellently.

Project Snowblind. No issue. Excellent.

Quake. You need to patch it with at least 1.01 patch and Winquake/GlQuake extender patch. -[On Vista RTM, nVidia, tested by AnXa -his system spec HERE ]

Quake 2. -[On Vista RTM, nVidia, tested by AnXa -his system spec HERE ]

Quake3 Arena. Like many other older games, this has My Talk Fax Pro 7 on it, which causes Vista warning "This Program has known compatibility issues". Well, you don't care, you just want the game installed. Press "Run Program" to proceed. Installs fine. Reboot required. Launch game. Windows Firewall wants to block program that wants to access network. I chose "Keep blocking". Game plays excellently.

Quake4. Installs, and runs excellently. Update: Catalyst® 7.1 Display Driver for Windows Vista (32 bit)
OpenGL games now running on ATI / Vista. Read more in post #260

Rage Rally. Installs and runs excellently.

Resident Evil 3 Nemesis. Installs and runs.

Return to Castle Wolfenstein. No issue. Installs and runs excellently.

Sacrifice. No issue. Installs and runs fine.

Schizm. No issue. Installs and runs fine.

Severance - Blade of Darkness. Except from an unreadable options menu with the tiniest letters that do not contrast with background (i solved that by editing ther menu-background bitmap to almost white), and the words are not highlighted by your selections so you must guess what you selected (by counting the staccato sound on each selection) and the EXIT button does not work so i have to exit the hard mode via Taskmanager), no problem running the game on Vista.

Shadow Ops - Red Mercury. Runs excellently.

Shellshock Nam '67. Installs fine, though the popping up menu to start game as well as Desktop shortcut "cannot find path". Opening game's directory and double-click shellshock.exe launches the game nicely. Path in shortcut properties lacked the "exe" extension. Restored manually. Game runs excellently, but without sound. I take it is a Creative X-Fi Beta drivers fault...

Silent Hill 4: The Room. Installs and runs excellently.

Sin 1. Installs and runs excellently.

Sin Episodes - Emergence. Installs and runs excellently.

Sniper. First refuses to install. Explore CD > apply XP (SP2) Compatibility mode on Setup.exe, then run as adimistrator. Message from Program Compatibility Assistant that My Talk Fax Pro 7 has compatibility issues. Just click "Run the Program". Main menu freezes after hitting "Quit", you need the Windows Task Manager.

Splinter Cell. Installs when applied XP-Compatibility mode on the autorun.exe. Game runs fine.

Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. Installs fine, a CRC-error conscerning sound half-way installation may be due to the beta Creative drivers, just 'Ignore' and continue. Then install patch 1.05. Highest graphical settings applied. Game runs excellently!

Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow. Installs fine. Besides a bit choppy main and options menu (so hard to grab the word "Quit" with the cursor) but that is the same in XP. Anyway, the game runs excellently.

Starsiege: Tribes 2. -[On Vista RTM, nVidia, tested by AnXa -his system spec HERE]

Starsiege: Tribes 3 - Vengeance. -[On Vista RTM, nVidia, tested by AnXa -his system spec HERE]

State of Emergency. Installs and runs fine. Except there is no shortcut created in the Start menu, so create it manually from the game's exe. Also, there is no uninstall option and it is not in the Software list in Control Panel. Just delete the directory if you want to uninstall.

Swat3 - Close Quarters Battle. Installs and runs fine.

Syberia. Installs. Then message: "DirectX8.0a Object Error: Unknown error." Then: Insert first CD-rom, then reboot PC. No problem: in the end, this game runs fine.

Tactical Ops. No issue. Installs and runs excellently (in D3D mode).

The Great Escape. No issue. Installs and runs excellently.

The Thing. Installs and runs excellently.

Thief: Deadly Shadows. Freezes after installation. Reboot. Again freezing. Seems to be sounddriver related? Sound sticks, but finally game runs fine. But strange: it refuses to uninstall. I had to do the hard way: remove from Registry, and delete the game's directory.

Tomb Raider 2, 3, 4, 5 all work, of course with our updaters that are Vista-proof.

Tomb Raider: Level Editor installs and runs excellently!

Tomb Raider demos install and run excellently!

Tomb Raider: Angel Of Darkness. Excellent!

Tomb Raider: Legend. Excellently. Except that the ATI CatalystBeta for Vista is based on their August release which is 6.8 (?) which means the ugly shader and shadow corruption. For WindowsXP, this is solved in the latest Catalyst 6.11 , so we may hopefully expect the final Vista Catalyst incorporates that fix as well.

Tron 2.0. Installs fine. Setup goes fine, but initially game does not run. After 2 reboots finally it runs, and very fine.

Ubersoldier. It installs. Then you attempt to launch the game. It refuses. Error message: The Starforce Protection driver for the game's CD has compatibility issues with Vista. Microsoft directs you to Starforce supportpage to download the updated version of the copyprotection driver. It works. Game runs excellently.

Unreal ll - The Awakening. Installs and runs excellently.

Unreal Tournament 2003. No problem! Installs and runs excellently.

Unreal Tournament 2004. Patched to 3369. Excellent!

URU - Ages Beyond Myst. Immediately after installation Vista error message: "Colour Scheme has been changed to Windows Vista Basic. A certain program is not compatible." Flickering Uru menu. Wait till button to Update appears. After update, menu looks normal and you can proceed. Game did not launch untill 'Windows XP (SP2) compatibility mode' applied to Play shortcut. Runs excellent.

Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines. Patched to version 1.2.Installs and runs fine.

Vampire: the Masquerade - Redemption. Installs and runs fine.

Vietcong. -[On Vista RTM, nVidia, tested by AnXa -his system spec HERE ]

Vietcong 2: Installs and runs, but not so good. Buggy performance (many sudden freeze and dropouts) but that happens the same on XP. This game has serious problems running! After playing for 5 minutes, game freezes and sound sticks repeating, then error message (in Vista simply: "Vietcong 2 has stopped working", in XP: Fail to write to memory"). The 1.1 patch released only fixes a "serial number error (which i haven't) and adds a X-Fi splash screen to the game launch menu, nothing else so pretty useless. This seems a serious coding problem of the game. It can crash at any moment, no matter the video- and sound settings (of course within the limits of your hardware, but i can run it at all maximum settings and also tested at lowest settings no difference to the crashing). The crashes are ofter in the first 2 levels, after that they become rarer. Quicksaving often seems to help.
Because this is not a specific Vista problem, i keep it here in the list of games that run.

Warcraft 3. -[On Vista RTM, nVidia, tested by AnXa -his system spec HERE]

Wetrix. -[On Vista RTM, nVidia, tested by AnXa -his system spec HERE ]

Xlll. No issue. Installs and runs excellently.


The application PowerDVD 6 'has known compatibility issues' and 'No solution available form Microsoft' according to Vista message after it installed. However it runs normally, sofar (only tested playing dvd's).


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****THE GAMES THAT DON'T WORK (or not well):
__________________________________________________ __________________________________

American McGee's Alice on ATI card (X1900XT). Installs and runs, except that it has very disturbing flickering environments textures.

Apocalyptica on ATI card (X1900XT). Graphics are a mess, completely unplayable (but this happens on XP/ATI as well).

Area-51. Refuses to install. No reason given, description: "setup was finished before install could be completed". Trying with 'Windows XP compatibility mode' did not help.

Beyond Good and Evil on ATI card (X1900XT). Does not recognize Catalyst Beta for Vista as the latest and recent; says they're too old. High resolution is accepted, but many graphical settings are greyed out. Game starts and you can play, but it doesn't look too good and after 3 minutes artifacts appear.

Black & White + Creature Isle. After installation (which seems to go fine), attempt to launch game results in "Game has stopped working". Compatibility mode does not help.

Carmageddon 2. Does not run, and compatibility mode doesn't help.

Chronicles Of Riddick. at start of installation, you get warning that this game has known incompatibility with Vista. Abort.

Colin McRae Rally 2005. Does not even install. After inserting disc, it gives the option "Play" but it's not even installed yet. Of course it won't play. Nor install. Exit. This happens both on the ATI and on the nVidia system.

Command & Conquer: Renegade. Patched 1037. Installs fine, but does not run. "Renegade has stopped working. A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available." This happens both on nVidia (with Vista generic drivers) and on ATI card (Catalyst for RTM). [Reported working on Vista RTM with nVidia WHQL drivers, tested by AnXa, see above].

Counter Strike: Condition Zero + Deleteted Scenes on ATI card (X1900XT). Installs fine. After doubleclick Icon on Dektop, error: "conflict with disc emulation software, contact Securom." But open and close tray and selecting "Allow" for the autorun-menu to run, causes no problem and game launches. Options > VIDEO: D3D results in "display option not supported. Game will run in Software mode". OpenGL results in the same for the known bad support for it by ATI. Only software mode available. No, thanks. Quit. Pity.

Daikatana on ATI card (X1900XT). I must redo this test, since this game works on GF7800GT.

Duke Nukem Manhattan Project. Does not even install.

Dukes of Hazzard. Installs fine. After the intro, you want to manage settings. Program immediately stops. Windows message: "Frontend has stopped working".

F.E.A.R. on ATI card (X1900XT). It installs fine, and plays at disappointingly low performance. See below. Also, its icon is not displayed on desktop, instead a default windows-folder icon. And you must skip the intro's by Esc key otherwise you get stuck in a black screen and nothing happening. Skipping via Esc brings you on the F.E.A.R. main menu screen.

Fighting Force. Needed "a Macromedia Shockwave player in order to run this installation." OK, done. Installed. Rebooted. Setup done. Attempting to launch game immediately results in message "fforce has stopped working". Compatibility modes don't help.

Gore - Ultimate Soldier on ATI card (X1900XT). Installs. When launching, error message: "Could not construct Open GL display: Unable to retrieve procedure address for glActive TextureARB". So, doesn't run.

Kreed. Refuses to install, but freezes the system.. Task Manager will not even open to stop it. "Windows Explorer is not responding". Reboot needed. Tried 4 times with the same result, 4 times reboot to get windows working again. XP Compatibility mode does not help.

Legacy Of Kain: Defiance. After installation, and trying to launch Setup: "Conflict with Disc Emulator Software detected". I don't have any installed. Removed Starforce Protection update i had to install for another game to run at all, tried compatibility mode. But sadly no way this game will launch.

Mafia. Installs fine, but at the end you get Message from Program Compatibility Assistant that My Talk Fax Pro 7 has compatibility issues. Just click "Run the Program". Then apply the patch. Installs fine, but at the end you again get Message from Program Compatibility Assistant that My Talk Fax Pro 7 has compatibility issues. Just click "Run the Program". Then try to apply the Indeo codec....finally: no, it is written for XP, and not compatible with Vista. Hm. And after all this, the game does not play.

Mech Warrior 2 - Mercenaries. DirectX3 version. In order to install it, explore CD and set Windows 95 compatibility mode onto the setup.exe. Installs, but it sadly refuses to run. Compatibility mode does not help.

Myst lV - Revelation. Installs fine. After install it gives system info and a conclusion that my system does not fit the minimum requirements for the game ( ) because it does not recognise Vista. Anyway, game runs, but not so good, very slow response.

Obscure. Installs. Game requires reboot. Error: "This application can be launched with Windows 95/98/ME/NT 4.0/2000/XP/Server 2003 only". Windows XP (SP2) compatibility mode does not help.

Oni. Message from Program Compatibility Assistant that My Talk Fax Pro 7 has compatibility issues. Just click "Run the Program". Installs fine. But the Options menu is extremely sluggish and the game runs awfully, at 1 fps! Back on Desktop, Vista message that colour scheme has been set to basic because a program tries to run that is not compatible.

Plane Crazy. Does not even install. Compatibility mode does not help.

Rally Championship 2002. No autorun-menu appears, there is none. Explore CD and double-click Setup.exe. Installs fine and quickly. Setup menu works well and swiftly. Start. One 10th of a second you see your car at the starting spot ready to take off, and wAtZs! ---> white message on a black background: "Rally.exe has stopped working". The "Close Program" button you can't even click because the mouse is dead, the Enter key is dead, complete freeze. Job for Task Manager, and there is the mouse again.

Real MYST -realtime 3D version. Installs fine but refuses to play. Compatibility modes don't help.

Riven - The Sequel to Myst. Installs fine. But it does not manage to install Quicktime, and fails to recognize the installation of a newer version of Quicktime. It refuses to run.

Shadow Man. Message from Program Compatibility Assistant that My Talk Fax Pro 7 has compatibility issues. Just click "Run the Program". Installs fine. Applied setup, click Play. But the game does not run at all, whatever i try: nothing happens. After 10 minutes, attempt to uninstall gives message that "unInstall Shield has detected that Shadow Man is in use, please close the application". Haha. Fine job for Task Manager. You think. The game is not listed, NO application whatsoever is listed in Task Manager. Reboot then, and then unistall.

Soldier of Fortune 2: Double Helix. Installs extremely slowly. Refuses to launch: "Error during initialization. SYSTEM ERROR. Could not load default cfg." Compatibility mode does not help. This happens both on nVidia and ATI card.

Supreme Snowboarding. Installing: nothing happens for minutes, so be patient. Finally comes life. After installing, apply Windows 98/ME compatibility mode onto Properties of the Play shortcut on desktop.
Make sure you do the graphics configuration first before playing, to avoid black screens and artifacts. Be prepared for game freezes, just use Task Manager to escape. But for gaming this is no reliable performance. Happens the same both on ATI and nVidia system.

The Ship. It installs and updates from Steam. Then when you attempt to launch it, you get error message that "failed to detect the directX april 2006 update. Click OK to begin installing the update." You click OK. Error message: "Current logon user doesn't have the Administrator privilege. Please logon again as an Administrator or contact your PC Administator." You click OK. Error message: "The april 2006 DirectX update has failed and The Ship cannot continue." Maybe because i'm running the October 2006 DirectX9.0c? You click OK. End of story. (For this, you have run the Steam updater for an hour, because "at this moment our server is very busy. Try again after a few moments.")

The Suffering. Patched to 1.1. Installs, but refuses to run. Error: "must be run with administrator privileges. So you right-click > run as administrator. Game requires reboot. Error: "This application can be launched with Windows 95/98/ME/NT 4.0/2000/XP/Server 2003 only". Windows XP (SP2) compatibility mode does not help. Button 'Information' just launches a report being created.
Anyway, game doesn't run.

Thief: The Dark Project. Install the game, Finish, Quit. Then open and close tray with the CD in it to again launch Autorun. This time, install the Patch 1.33 from the menu. Wait untill it has finished installing all patch files, which takes about as long as it was installing the game. When finished, launch game. Game runs a bit choppy, then freezes quickly. Only way to end is via Task Manager. This happens both on ATI and nVidia system.

Tomb Raider 1. Does not run at all. The problem is that ntvdm.exe in Vista has changed since Windows XP. Maybe 16-bit applications are not supported anymore; fact is that VDMSound 2.10 installs well, Advanced Installer installs TR1 with DgVoodoo, but the game refuses to run: with a "NTVDM.EXE: Hard Error" message.

Tropico. Installs fine. After finishing installing, right on to play. But it gives an error: "Missing CD-Rom. This program will not run without the CD-ROM in the drive. Err.1001" -while it IS still in the tray. Uninstall Tropico.

True Crime - Streets of LA. Installs fine. Does not run. The game has stopped working. Run as administrator or XP Compatibility mode does not help. Uninstalling takes very looong, "Validating install"...finally done.

XPAND Rally. Installs. But when trying to launch the game you get an Error: "must be run with administrator privileges. So you right-click > run as administrator. Game requires reboot. Error: "This application can be launched with Windows 95/98/ME/NT 4.0/2000/XP/Server 2003 only". Windows XP (SP2) compatibility mode does not help. Button 'Information' just launches a report being created.
Anyway, game doesn't run.

X2 - The Threat. Installs fine. Refuses to run. Error: "This application can be launched with Windows 95/98/ME/NT 4.0/2000/XP/Server 2003 only". Windows XP (SP2) compatibility mode does not help. Button 'Information' just launches a report being created.
Anyway, game doesn't run.

__________________________________________________ ________________________________________________
PERFORMANCE SECTION
__________________________________________________ ________________________________________________

F.E.A.R. (On ATI card (X1900XT)). It installs fine, and plays. But there is something wrong with the compatibility: disappointing low performance compared to what it does on XP.
In Vista, Printscreen of the testresult gives an empty black screen so i have to type it out.

PC (previous, this is a testresult before i rebuilt my PC's):
Pentium 650 @ 4.1 Ghz
2 GB PC 5300 DDR2 RAM in Dual Channel
ASUS P5AD2-E Premium
ATI Radeon X1900XT 512 MB / Catalyst Beta for Vista RC1 driver
Creative X-Fi Platinum / X-Fi Beta for Vista driver

All maximum settings. Resolution 1600 x 1200.
The testresult on Vista RC2:

FPS:
Minimum: 9
Average: 12
Maximum: 15

FPS Distribution:
100% below 25 FPS
0% between 25 and 40 FPS
0% above 40 FPS

Strange thing is that at 1024 x 768 i get about the same result.
And it is completely unplayable: stutterings, and when you click to shoot, the response from mousebutton to the gun is a second later.
Also, because the Creative X-Fi drivers for Vista offer only the basic sound, soundeffects are almost none.

In XP (with Catalyst 6.3) i did the same test.
All maximum settings. Resolution 1600 x 1200.
Test result:

FPS:
Minimum: 20
Average: 41
Maximum: 91

FPS Distribution:
7% below 25 FPS
43% between 25 and 40 FPS
50% above 40 FPS

__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ______
Core2Duo is a considerably more efficient processor than the latest Pentium series. I am very happy with it. Now the same test with my new PC.
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ______

PC (current):
Core2Duo E6600 @ 3.6 Ghz
2 GB PC8500 DDR2 RAM in Dual Channel
ASUS P5W DH Deluxe
ATI Radeon X1900XT 512MB / ATI Catalyst for Vista RTM driver
Creative X-Fi Platinum / X-Fi Beta for Vista driver

All maximum settings. Resolution 1600 x 1200.
The testresult on Vista RC2:

FPS:
Minimum: 13
Average: 14
Maximum: 16

FPS Distribution:
100% below 25 FPS
0% between 25 and 40 FPS
0% above 40 FPS

In XP (and now with the latest Catalyst 6.11) i did the same test.
All maximum settings. Resolution 1600 x 1200.
Test result:

FPS:
Minimum: 26
Average: 55
Maximum: 130

FPS Distribution:
0% below 25 FPS
38% between 25 and 40 FPS
62% above 40 FPS
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ________
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Half-Life2 Lost Coast.

Although veryvery good on Vista, Half-Life2 Lost Coast performs better on XP. A difference of more than 10 frames per second average.

The "Stresstest" result. Both on Vista as XP the same maximum settings @ 1600x1200.

PC (previous, this is a testresult before i rebuilt my PC's):
Pentium 650 @ 4.1 Ghz
2 GB PC 5300 DDR2 RAM in Dual Channel
ASUS P5AD2-E Premium
ATI Radeon X1900XT 512MB / Previous ATI Catalyst for Vista RTM driver
Creative X-Fi Platinum / X-Fi Beta for Vista driver

PC (current):
Core2Duo E6600 @ 3.6 Ghz
2 GB PC8500 DDR2 RAM in Dual Channel
ASUS P5W DH Deluxe
ATI Radeon X1900XT 512MB / Previous ATI Catalyst for Vista RTM driver
Creative X-Fi Platinum / X-Fi Beta for Vista driver

Both PC's gave the same result on Vista, as they also do on XP.

On Vista RC2, 71.71 fps:

On XP (SP2), with ATI Catalyst 6.3 / 6.11, .....82.22 fps:

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UPDATE!! ATI released new Catalyst® Beta Display Driver for Windows Vista RTM (32 bit) [Version:8.31.100.3.2.1 -- Date: Dec. 13, 2006]
Updated with that and the latest DirectX9.0c for Vista (Date Published:12/13/2006). HERE.

See the result: ALMOST 30 frames per second increase!!!

Interesting new info!

Look what dxdiagnose says about my graphic card.
In XP:

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: Radeon X1900 Series
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
Chip type: Radeon X1900 Series (0x7249)
DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_7249&SUBSYS_0B121002&REV_00
Display Memory: 512.0 MB
Current Mode: 1600 x 1200 (32 bit) (85Hz)
Monitor: Plug en Play-monitor
Monitor Max Res: 1600,1200
Driver Name: ati2dvag.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.6652 (English)
DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 11/22/2006 04:25:23, 261120 bytes

Ok, so far normal, that's my card.

Now look at the result in Vista (posted here):

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: Radeon X1900 Series
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
Chip type: Radeon X1900 Series (0x7249)
DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_7249&SUBSYS_0B121002&REV_00
Display Memory: 1276 MB
Dedicated Memory: 509 MB
Shared Memory: 767 MB
Current Mode: 1600 x 1200 (32 bit) (85Hz)
Monitor: Generic PnP Monitor
Driver Name: atiumdag.dll,atiumdva.dat,atitmmxx.dll
Driver Version: 7.14.0010.0449 (English)
DDI Version: 9Ex
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 12/5/2006 22:53:12, 2494464 bytes

A smarter use of the available system memory!

__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ _______
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Futuremark 3DMark 2006. There you go.


On Vista it is 500 marks lower than on XP!

PC (current):
Core2Duo E6600 @ 3.6 Ghz
2 GB PC8500 DDR2 RAM in Dual Channel
ASUS P5W DH Deluxe
ATI Radeon X1900XT 512MB / Previous ATI Catalyst for Vista RTM driver
Creative X-Fi Platinum / X-Fi Beta for Vista driver


On Vista RC2:

On XP (SP2):

Hmpf. That is a lower score on both sections: graphics card and CPU.

With the recent released new ATI Catalyst, it is no better:

But i see an improvement on XP (SP2) --tested 28 Dec 06:

I realise it is early, and this is RC2 i am using not the Vista to be released, with ATI's (and nVidia's) beta drivers. I would like to see that in the end DirectX9.0c runs at least as efficient on Vista as on XP.
And ATI need to update their OpenGL support!

[Lord Icon]

Excellent guide (in progress), Joseph. I still think that for hard-core gamers dual boot is a must.

[Joseph]

Thanks Lord Icon.

I still think that for hard-core gamers dual boot is a must.

Absolutely!

[abraham]

wooow how many games thanks

[EscondeR]

Thanx for info Joseph
I see I'm right preferring XP for gaming & working / 2003S for working for now at least...

[raiderfun]

Oh wow joseph , don't tell that you've tried all those games !!!

But the strange thing is that Prey and Doo3 aren't working

[Zebius]

Nice and rapidly growing list, Joseph!
Though on my Vista Chronicles Of Riddick works, but I have NVidia card and polish version of that game. AFAIK NVidia always had better support for OpenGL games. If I have time I'll try Doom 3 in the evening.

And below - surprise Very early version of program enabling running TR1 on Vista made by Glidos' creator - Paul. So far no sound support, no fullscreen, no hardware acceleration. I hope he'll develope it further.

[Cochrane]

Nvidia has OpenGL support at all. ATI cards can only use the default OpenGL emulation layer, which directs OpenGL through DirectX and lacks any advanced features.

[raiderfun]

Is that the DOS screen zebius ! ?

[Joseph]

Wow Zebius!!!