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Thief: The Dark Project working only in Software Mode

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First post, by ChromeX

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Greetings everyone,

I am currently having a problem with running Thief on my vintage set, which ended up getting cleaned, had a new OS installed and got all mess removed from it.
Original build wasn't that efficient for gaming, so I decided to grab a new video card. I installed it yesterday, got new drivers, upgraded DirectX and faced the same problem like with the older card.
It still suffers from a bad frame rate (I do not expect wonders, but a constant 30-40 FPS would be nice) and cannot run in Hardware mode, while in-game I receive a message which say that the selected video mode could not have been set.

Right now, I have no idea what else could I do to fix this issue. Note that I want to avoid installing unofficial patches like TFix or Tafferpatcher, as it will remove the vintage feeling from the game!
Have you got any idea what could've possibly gone wrong and how could I fix it? Cheers!

My specs:
CPU: Intel Pentium II 350Mhz
RAM: 128 MB
GPU: nVidia RIVA TNT2 M64

Previous GPU: nVidia RIVA 128

Reply 3 of 7, by Jorpho

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So, are you running Windows 98, or what?

ChromeX wrote on 2020-06-25, 09:50:

Note that I want to avoid installing unofficial patches like TFix or Tafferpatcher, as it will remove the vintage feeling from the game!

That vintage "not working" feeling, you mean?

Reply 4 of 7, by ChromeX

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So, are you running Windows 98, or what?

Indeed, Windows 98 SE to be precise.

That vintage "not working" feeling, you mean?

I doubt people back then thought at first about an unofficial mod to have their game fixed with lots of unnecessary addons, so please, keep the sarcasm for yourself.

Reply 5 of 7, by DosFreak

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Verify DX version
Try 3.68 drivers
Set desktop to 16bit.
Try lower 640x480 first
Play with acceleration slider

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Reply 6 of 7, by auron

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fwiw, a very similar issue has been reported here, but without final conclusion: https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80969

an issue with newer drivers seems quite possible. also updating directx was no necessity here as 98se is newer than the game and comes with directx 6.1, which should run this game fine.

Reply 7 of 7, by Garrett W

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It's probably the newer drivers, try something more period correct like DosFreak suggested, that should get you Hardware Acceleration in the game. The TNT2 M64 is essentially like a plain old TNT 1 when it comes to lower resolutions such as 640x480 and 800x600, it should provide a very smooth experience at the former resolution, however your CPU will be holding performance back by quite a bit. Seeing as you're not aiming for 60 FPS, you should be good to go. Performance on your card really drops off the hill once you go at 1024x768 AFAIR, as it becomes completely starved for memory bandwidth, although I would not recommend this resolution on the original TNT either.
The Dark Engine which was used in the Thief games and System Shock 2 used to be somewhat tough to get running on contemporary PCs from the mid to late 00's. It's only in fairly recent years that we are able to play them fine with the fan patches. This is the case with many games from that era, newer video drivers and operating systems would break compatibility constantly.

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