I have the CD Version of SFA. In order to get it to run in the first place, I had to set compatibility mode to winnt 4 to be able to install it, but the game would run fine without compatibility mode. Another thing is that the cd version movies are definately not mpeg2, they are some weird "interplay video" standard (Mediaplayer, VLC... all failed to playback the movies, VirtualDub didn't know what to do, but finally, the ImTOO 3GP Converter figured it out (and was even able to correclty transcode some vids^^).

Given that information, I assume it really is some playback issue with the Movie format on the DVD.
You may try: Activating different compatibility modes, disabling advanced text functions, possibly disable your Mpeg2 DirectShow Filter and so on. If all fails, try to copy the movies on your hard drive (into the games Movie folder).

Edit: It may also be that you installed the game on an account without admin privileges. If that's the case, install it with admin rights.

Hope something helps...

It's definitely MPEG2, the box basically says it is, and so does Media Player. I know MVE is a proprietary Interplay video format. It sounds like for the CD version they actually used MVE and for the DVD version they kept the .mve extension and used straight up DVD video. I don't know how it's trying to play the video though.

How do I disable the Directshow filter? And why would that help?

Anyone else actually have this game?

Thanks.

Well, to disable native Mpeg2 DirectShow Filter is hardly possible... but if you have ffdshow installed, go to vfw and video decoder configfuration and set mpeg2 to disabled (it's a long shot though). If you don't have ffdshow installed, I don't believe it is related to this...

Another question: Do you have Creative DVD Encore installed?

The game might not be using directshow for mpeg2 playback but mci interface (same as wing commander 4 dvd). I have developed the patch for wc4 to use dshow...it might be possible to do the same with sfa.

You can also try the Elecard-Video-Decoder. With this program, it is possible to run some of the old DVD games which use the MCI interface.
You can download the trial version here:
http://www.elecard.com/products/products-pc/c … decoder-plugin/

cmw wrote:

Well, to disable native Mpeg2 DirectShow Filter is hardly possible... but if you have ffdshow installed, go to vfw and video decoder configfuration and set mpeg2 to disabled (it's a long shot though). If you don't have ffdshow installed, I don't believe it is related to this...

Another question: Do you have Creative DVD Encore installed?

I don't have ffdshow installed, and I don't have the Creative DVD Encore. I bet it would have a better chance of working if I did...

gulikoza wrote:

The game might not be using directshow for mpeg2 playback but mci interface (same as wing commander 4 dvd). I have developed the patch for wc4 to use dshow...it might be possible to do the same with sfa.

Hi gulikoza,

Thanks for the great patch. I actually tried this already. It seemed to have no effect. Is there any way to tell whether or not the game is trying to use MCI? Wouldn't there be some error message or something?

BTW, you should change your URL in the readme file of the patch.

There must be some way to figure out what this thing is doing...I've tried a whole bunch of stuff and have just gotten myself very frustrated...

Wintermute wrote:

You can also try the Elecard-Video-Decoder. With this program, it is possible to run some of the old DVD games which use the MCI interface.
You can download the trial version here:
http://www.elecard.com/products/products-pc/c … decoder-plugin/

This seemed to have no effect either.

The dxmci patch would most certainly have to be customized for the SFA, it cannot work the way it is now. But I don't have the game (only CD version) so I can't say how hard it is (or if it's even possible) to make it work. Microsoft Knowledge Base has SFA on the list...

yeah..I forgot to change the urls in the readme files 😁

Hmm, you could still try to copy all the movies in the movies directory on the hard drive (and maybe then apply a no-cd patch... not the nicest solution, but may work).

gulikoza wrote:

The dxmci patch would most certainly have to be customized for the SFA, it cannot work the way it is now. But I don't have the game (only CD version) so I can't say how hard it is (or if it's even possible) to make it work. Microsoft Knowledge Base has SFA on the list...

yeah..I forgot to change the urls in the readme files 😁

The DVD is almost 7 gigs, but almost all of that is the movies. Would it help if you took a look at the EXE files? There are actually 2 of them, a "regular" and a Direct3D version (for the gameplay, not the movies).

I got the executables from the 1.17 DVD patch...I'll see if the game starts with my data files from the CD version and how it openes the movies.

gulikoza wrote:

I got the executables from the 1.17 DVD patch...I'll see if the game starts with my data files from the CD version and how it openes the movies.

FYI, I think that patch is only for some particular brand of DVD drive. When I tried to install that patch, the game wouldn't run at all - I only got a black screen.

gulikoza wrote:

The dxmci patch would most certainly have to be customized for the SFA, it cannot work the way it is now. But I don't have the game (only CD version) so I can't say how hard it is (or if it's even possible) to make it work. Microsoft Knowledge Base has SFA on the list...

yeah..I forgot to change the urls in the readme files 😁

BTW, that Knowledge Base article is usually a Red Herring. Half of those titles were never even released, and the ones that were, Microsoft just totally guessed that they might use MCI without checking it all. It is a totally CYA KB article...

yeah, it does not start with 1.17. Could you attach one of your exe files then. Does your version also have mp.exe?

yeah I know about the KB article, Vulcan Fury wasn't released at all 😀. But they couldn't just totally guess...or could they 😜. Anyway, the 1.17 patch definitely uses MCI...

gulikoza wrote:

yeah, it does not start with 1.17. Could you attach one of your exe files then. Does your version also have mp.exe?

yeah I know about the KB article, Vulcan Fury wasn't released at all 😀. But they couldn't just totally guess...or could they 😜. Anyway, the 1.17 patch definitely uses MCI...

Interesting...how can you tell?

There is no mp.exe - that's probably used to play the proprietary format video for the CD version. With MPEG-2 video, it wasn't needed I assume.

Aside from the 2 exes, there are a couple of config files - no DLLs or anything else to speak of in the directory. I'm attaching the exes and one of the config files.

Thanks for all your help.

By looking at the exe with a hexeditor...these files import mciSendCommandA function from winmm.dll, my CD version does not. I assume this is used for DVD playback (the same as wc4 dvd). MP.EXE was in the 1.17 patch and that one used different MCI functions...I'll ignore that then.

I'll try to do a test version of dxmci for sfa...we'll see how it goes 😁

gulikoza wrote:

By looking at the exe with a hexeditor...these files import mciSendCommandA function from winmm.dll, my CD version does not. I assume this is used for DVD playback (the same as wc4 dvd). MP.EXE was in the 1.17 patch and that one used different MCI functions...I'll ignore that then.

I'll try to do a test version of dxmci for sfa...we'll see how it goes 😁

You are the man (whether it works or not) 😀

I was just thinking and doing some more research...maybe the 1.17 patch is designed to let the game use a software DVD decoder rather than a hardware one. Similar to the patches for Tex Murphy Overseer, which enabled the game to be played via the Mediamatics DVDExpress software.

Does anyone have the Ravisent Cineplayer/Cinematics/whatever it's called?