Saw on replaying.de there's a patch, but it didn't help me in any way. Attaching just in case it helps: https://replaying.de/superbike-2001/superbike … 2001-downloads/

TBH I just installed the original ISO, applied a no-cd patch, set Win98 compatibility mode and... almost worked.

I had to remove the installed Aureal 3D dll's (c:\windows\syswow64\a3d.dll and c:\windows\syswow64\a3dapi.dll) because it always caused hangup in the sound code (it was problem for me with other games too).
Now it worked but the ingame framerate was horrbile because the windows 8/16 bit ddraw surface compatibility DWM-hook (apphelp.dll) got installed, and it's not only completely needless with dgVoodoo but cannot be disabled either (AFAIK).

So, to outsmart that hook, I renamed string DDRAW.DLL to BDRAW.DLL in shiba.dll of the game with a hex editor and also renamed dgV's ddraw to bdraw.
And now it finally ran, at ~30 FPS ingame. Fast video memory access did not work here.
Setting the ingame resolution to 640x480 and leave the upscale to dgV gave me ~50-60FPS

Maybe if there is a patch or sg that enables the game to run in WinXP compat mode, then a much better performance could be achieved.

Dege wrote on 2023-11-16, 16:51:

TBH I just installed the original ISO, applied a no-cd patch, set Win98 compatibility mode and... almost worked. […]
Show full quote

TBH I just installed the original ISO, applied a no-cd patch, set Win98 compatibility mode and... almost worked.

I had to remove the installed Aureal 3D dll's (c:\windows\syswow64\a3d.dll and c:\windows\syswow64\a3dapi.dll) because it always caused hangup in the sound code (it was problem for me with other games too).
Now it worked but the ingame framerate was horrbile because the windows 8/16 bit ddraw surface compatibility DWM-hook (apphelp.dll) got installed, and it's not only completely needless with dgVoodoo but cannot be disabled either (AFAIK).

So, to outsmart that hook, I renamed string DDRAW.DLL to BDRAW.DLL in shiba.dll of the game with a hex editor and also renamed dgV's ddraw to bdraw.
And now it finally ran, at ~30 FPS ingame. Fast video memory access did not work here.
Setting the ingame resolution to 640x480 and leave the upscale to dgV gave me ~50-60FPS

Maybe if there is a patch or sg that enables the game to run in WinXP compat mode, then a much better performance could be achieved.

Your details were tremendously useful. I would've replied earlier but I was frustrated because...

• I did the shiba.dll change initially to avoid it from causing havoc later...
• The removal of a3d dlls was something no one else I asked had to, and that opened my way until...
• You said to apply Win98 compat mode, that probably did nothing to me. I saw the EA video and the game crashes. (Fault module Mixer.dll)
• I applied FaultTolerantHeap and now the game worked until the race. There it by hung and crashed due to a fault in mss32.m3d.

Now I am confused as why that crash occurs. Developer of DDrawCompat had the same issue as me; developer of DxWnd didn't even need to add any wrapper or anything other than running it through a debugger. Could you just let me know 2 things - are you using Windows 10/Windows 11 21H2 and if you remove Win98 compat mode, does the game crash after EA logo? That'll somewhat end the mystery.

Windows 11 22H2 and later create havoc with the EmulateHeap shim (enabled from ACT or Win9x compat) and thus it MIGHT be the reason the game crashes for me while for yours it doesn't. I am not even sure what the crash is about - Win11 23H2 seemingly decreased the no of crash conditions; but someone better than me would be able to generalise what is happening to it (DEP or such?).

Thanks for your detective work, Dege! This is great.

I too had the a3d.dlls installed, and the freezing is solved once those are removed.
The hex edit and bdraw trick worked. Performance is playable, but not great.

Then I tried narzoul's ddrawcompat 0.5.0 instead and was very surprised!
First of all, it doesn't require the hex edit trick; it works with the default shiba.dll (win98 compat mode on the exe is still needed however).
Second, it runs very well, like 4x faster. I'm getting 120 fps at 1080p even with a full roster of opponents, maxed out settings and with 4xmsaa.
There seems to be no obvious difference in image quality compared to dgv (aside from lack of smoothing in the menus).

I don't know what ddrawcompat does differently from dgv, but maybe you can ask narzoul or check out his code on github.

BEEN, I finished writing this right before you posted your results. This is really interesting.
I'm almost certain it's W11 and EmulateHeap causing problems for you again.
I have W10 Pro 22H2 with the latest cumulative update that went out a few days ago.
When 98 mode is off, I get the mixer.dll crash.

Edit: forgot to add that I turned off Real Shadows because they look horrific.

feda wrote on 2023-11-17, 04:11:

Thanks for your detective work, Dege! This is great. […]
Show full quote

Thanks for your detective work, Dege! This is great.

I too had the a3d.dlls installed, and the freezing is solved once those are removed.
The hex edit and bdraw trick worked. Performance is playable, but not great.

Then I tried narzoul's ddrawcompat 0.5.0 instead and was very surprised!
First of all, it doesn't require the hex edit trick; it works with the default shiba.dll (win98 compat mode on the exe is still needed however).
Second, it runs very well, like 4x faster. I'm getting 120 fps at 1080p even with a full roster of opponents, maxed out settings and with 4xmsaa.
There seems to be no obvious difference in image quality compared to dgv (aside from lack of smoothing in the menus).

I don't know what ddrawcompat does differently from dgv, but maybe you can ask narzoul or check out his code on github.

BEEN, I finished writing this right before you posted your results. This is really interesting.
I'm almost certain it's W11 and EmulateHeap causing problems for you again.
I have W10 Pro 22H2 with the latest cumulative update that went out a few days ago.
When 98 mode is off, I get the mixer.dll crash.

Edit: forgot to add that I turned off Real Shadows because they look horrific.

Thanks for this update. I will give an attempt on a Win7-10 VM with dgV2 and hope it works 😀

feda wrote on 2023-11-17, 04:11:

BEEN, I finished writing this right before you posted your results. This is really interesting. I'm almost certain it's W11 and […]
Show full quote

BEEN, I finished writing this right before you posted your results. This is really interesting.
I'm almost certain it's W11 and EmulateHeap causing problems for you again.
I have W10 Pro 22H2 with the latest cumulative update that went out a few days ago.
When 98 mode is off, I get the mixer.dll crash.

Edit: forgot to add that I turned off Real Shadows because they look horrific.

Yup, it is EmulateHeap yet again 😀

On Windows 10, the ACT was a little deceptive as it executed programs even based on last good SDB configuration... after fiddling around, the game decided to run natively with DxWnd (dgV2 gave a black screen here, as its a VM + DxWnd interference).

Now I decided to add JUST EmulateHeap on Win11 and the game crashes even before it starts... as always with a crash module - MMDevApi.dll (only thing I am confused on how gho got the game to run without EmulateHeap on Win11, with a debugger while mine couldn't)

Hello,

Can the steps taken to make this work, from start to finish, please be shared here? Thank you.

gweeneth wrote on 2024-03-03, 01:29:

Hello,

Can the steps taken to make this work, from start to finish, please be shared here? Thank you.

The steps are explained in this thread, read it from start to finish.
BTW you will need W10 apparently, because W11 has a broken compatibility shim that this game requires.

One answer: DDrawCompat required for the game doesn't work on VMs. Maybe dgVoodoo2 can work in VMs instead

BEEN_Nath_58 wrote on 2024-03-04, 04:41:

DDrawCompat required for the game doesn't work on VMs.

It actually does. Used it in a VMware W10 system a while ago on a different game.

feda wrote on 2024-03-04, 09:53:

BEEN_Nath_58 wrote on 2024-03-04, 04:41:

DDrawCompat required for the game doesn't work on VMs.

It actually does. Used it in a VMware W10 system a while ago on a different game.

Okay probably 0.5.1 changed something. I tested back in 0.4.0

feda wrote on 2024-03-03, 01:49:

gweeneth wrote on 2024-03-03, 01:29:

Hello,

Can the steps taken to make this work, from start to finish, please be shared here? Thank you.

The steps are explained in this thread, read it from start to finish.
BTW you will need W10 apparently, because W11 has a broken compatibility shim that this game requires.

Hello, I did read and followed step by step to try and replicate it. I even attempted the hex editing that was mentioned (and changing just one or all ddraw references in shiba), but since nothing worked and the way some messages were structured, it looked like Virtual Machines were possibly being used. I attempted dgvoodoo2 2.52, 2.73, and the latest build. I also attempted it with DDrawCompat build .51.

I saw from another topic that another possible path existed and being able to have the steps consolidated in one post, especially with detailed call outs, would be extremely helpful. I'd share it along with the GP Bikes and another racing community. I've already made copies of my discs for preservation/access, and being able to not only revisit the games myself but help others experience them would be fantastic. Cheers.

gweeneth wrote on 2024-03-05, 18:57:

feda wrote on 2024-03-03, 01:49:

gweeneth wrote on 2024-03-03, 01:29:

Hello,

Can the steps taken to make this work, from start to finish, please be shared here? Thank you.

The steps are explained in this thread, read it from start to finish.
BTW you will need W10 apparently, because W11 has a broken compatibility shim that this game requires.

Hello, I did read and followed step by step to try and replicate it. I even attempted the hex editing that was mentioned (and changing just one or all ddraw references in shiba), but since nothing worked and the way some messages were structured, it looked like Virtual Machines were possibly being used. I attempted dgvoodoo2 2.52, 2.73, and the latest build. I also attempted it with DDrawCompat build .51.

I saw from another topic that another possible path existed and being able to have the steps consolidated in one post, especially with detailed call outs, would be extremely helpful. I'd share it along with the GP Bikes and another racing community. I've already made copies of my discs for preservation/access, and being able to not only revisit the games myself but help others experience them would be fantastic. Cheers.

The only thing my final test setup needed was:
Game installation
No-CD
Windows 98 compatibility mode
DDrawCompat

I didn't need any hex edit or any other steps, just the 4.

gweeneth, you did not say which step failed for you, nor your OS. Did you get error messages? What happens when you run the game?
I did what BEEN described, natively in Windows 10, except I didn't apply any no-cd cracks, I just mounted the image.

feda wrote on 2024-03-06, 17:02:

gweeneth, you did not say which step failed for you, nor your OS. Did you get error messages? What happens when you run the game?
I did what BEEN described, natively in Windows 10, except I didn't apply any no-cd cracks, I just mounted the image.

Sorry for the delay in responding. So I have tried the method recommended on PC Gaming Wiki (XP Patch, compatibility mode), I attempted installing it on a Win XP virtual machine with VM Ware, and the steps here including different versions of dgvoodoo 2 (2.52, 2.73, and the latest). Going off memory, the only time I got an error message instead of CTD has been a message about D3D or DDraw.

I have attempted this on a 64bit Windows 10 machine with 16gb of RAM and an nvidia 1080, and on a relative's Windows 11 laptop with 32gb of RAM and mobile 4090 GPU. I have successfully run it in Software mode in an older laptop but I was hoping to run it with graphical acceleration.

gweeneth wrote on 2024-03-16, 13:05:

I have attempted this on a 64bit Windows 10 machine with 16gb of RAM and an nvidia 1080

I dunno what to tell you. I have a very similar setup but with a 1060 card.
Do you have your image mounted or a disc in the drive? Did you apply win98 compatibility mode to the executable?

gweeneth wrote on 2024-03-16, 13:05:

feda wrote on 2024-03-06, 17:02:

gweeneth, you did not say which step failed for you, nor your OS. Did you get error messages? What happens when you run the game?
I did what BEEN described, natively in Windows 10, except I didn't apply any no-cd cracks, I just mounted the image.

Sorry for the delay in responding. So I have tried the method recommended on PC Gaming Wiki (XP Patch, compatibility mode), I attempted installing it on a Win XP virtual machine with VM Ware, and the steps here including different versions of dgvoodoo 2 (2.52, 2.73, and the latest). Going off memory, the only time I got an error message instead of CTD has been a message about D3D or DDraw.

I have attempted this on a 64bit Windows 10 machine with 16gb of RAM and an nvidia 1080, and on a relative's Windows 11 laptop with 32gb of RAM and mobile 4090 GPU. I have successfully run it in Software mode in an older laptop but I was hoping to run it with graphical acceleration.

Although people recommend PCGW, I follow it at the last since its often I get into a new problem and I go around finding how I applied the PCGW instruction in the wrong manner.

I don't know if any XP Patch or such. On my VMware with Windows 10, only Win98 compatibility mode with DDrawCompat was enough. I use 1050Ti so its result should be quite similar to yours

Surprise, SBK2K01 on Windows 11

feda wrote on 2024-03-18, 05:57:

gweeneth wrote on 2024-03-16, 13:05:

I have attempted this on a 64bit Windows 10 machine with 16gb of RAM and an nvidia 1080

I dunno what to tell you. I have a very similar setup but with a 1060 card.
Do you have your image mounted or a disc in the drive? Did you apply win98 compatibility mode to the executable?

I burned my own disc image (it's been shared on archive.org too) and tried to run the game with it mounted as well as a NoCD patch. I did set the .exe to Win98 compatibility and different variations/combinations, which included XP, Admin Rights, and 16-bit display.