Patched up to version 1.2?

Tried mine. No version # that I can find (!?). Seemed to run fine, except for the silent intro. That turned out to be a rather stupid design flaw.

From a FAQ I found:

Q: I don't hear any music or sound while the Intro is playing, how can I fix this?
A: When the game loads up to the main menu (Play Game, Options, etc.), do an ALT-TAB to get to windows. Now, take out Disk One, and put in Disk Two. Hold down SHIFT while doing this so that your CD Player won't start running. Then ALT-TAB back to the game and play as normal.

Note: Shiny recommends that you do this anyway, as the second disk is the music disk.
(NOTE: On my PC, this consistently caused a crash).

The Glide version needs v3 of WinGlide, so I don't know how much hope there is for that version. The D3D version seemed fine for the first few runs, then it started dying on me before getting to the main menu.

I found these parameters while searching for an answer:
Working with sound : MessiahD3D.exe -i -o +! -p
Original Line : MessiahD3D.exe -s -i -v -o +! -p

Like the guy who came up with these, I don't know what they mean but by placing the 1st command line in a BAT file and running it, it seems to run fine now.

Thank you for your help. Yes - now it runs fine. Any idea which wrapper I could use to run this game in glide on a GeForce 3?

OpenGLide perhaps? 😉

Originally posted by Snover OpenGLide perhaps? 😉

*cough*
From my previous post:

The Glide version needs v3 of WinGlide

eVoodoo technically supports it, but I wouldn't expect much of anything from it.

Nicht Sehr Gut wrote:

I found these parameters while searching for an answer: Working with sound : MessiahD3D.exe -i -o +! -p Original Line […]
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I found these parameters while searching for an answer:
Working with sound : MessiahD3D.exe -i -o +! -p
Original Line : MessiahD3D.exe -s -i -v -o +! -p

Like the guy who came up with these, I don't know what they mean but by placing the 1st command line in a BAT file and running it, it seems to run fine now.

Common switches:

-i Skip intro logos
-s Disable sound
-o Disable Fog
-v Disable mip-mapping
+! Fixes Windows 2000 crashes on some machines
when switching from the game to the game menu.
-p Will disable any gamma control for users who
wish to use their windows gamma and not in
game gamma settings.
+T Enables verbose debug information for sound cards.

Originally posted by BVH Common switches: -i Skip intro logos -s Disable sound -o Disable Fog -v Disable mip-mapping […]
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Originally posted by BVH Common switches:

-i Skip intro logos
-s Disable sound
-o Disable Fog
-v Disable mip-mapping

Thanks for the info (wherever it came from). I do find it odd that (according to the other info) that sound and mip-mapping were disabled (especially since sound was working).

Now all I need is a way to swap out CD's without crashing.

Nicht Sehr Gut wrote:

Thanks for the info (wherever it came from). I do find it odd that (according to the other info) that sound and mip-mapping were disabled (especially since sound was working).

Now all I need is a way to swap out CD's without crashing.

Believe it or not but I found it at the bottom of the readme file 😀 it must get updated after patching.

as for cd swaping, I though you just had to have the 2nd cd (audio cd) in from the word go and all is good, the 1st disk was just the install disk, right? are you running in glide or d3d? and what kind of video card?

btw just a little bit of extra pointliss Messiah info: it seems Interplay doesn’t want to know about Messiah any more. Shiny just links to Interplay’s site- and mind you the link is dead - and I can’t find any word of it on Interplays site 🙁

Originally posted by BVH Believe it or not but I found it at the bottom of the readme file it must get updated after patching.

*heh* Apparently so. I had used the parameters with the original and they worked fine. I actually applied the patch now (couldn't find a valid download site, previously).

...as for cd swapping, I though you just had to have the 2nd cd (audio cd) in from the word go and all is good, the 1st disk was just the install disk, right?

Originally, it was demanding the first CD at startup. Now that I've patched it actually pauses and waits for me to insert CD#2. Apparently, part of the problem was "need-CD" copy-protection as the problem is gone now (as is the need for the game CD to be present).

...are you running in glide or d3d? and what kind of video card?

D3D, GeForce3. It seems to be running fine now...except for some logic bugs apparently triggered by my desire to play "differently" from what the programmers were thinking. I rather like the open-ended options you have. Occasionally they throw a brick-wall in the way to force you to follow the plot-line. I found that this happens when you grab a "Radiation Worker". Once you do, you can grab radioactive batteries and just run around everywhere. All opponents (and plenty of innocent bystanders) die with little in the way of combat and the battery explodes which destroys many physical obstacles.

I was also able to bypass the requirement of a "Commander" to open a certain door. By having my radiation worker walk in in front of the door, I was making the Chots on the other side sick (and a little angry) which caused them to open the door for me (an exploding radioactive battery will unlock the door anyway).

Apparently that triggered some kind of in-game logic bug. Whenever I approached "old town" with a radiation worker it triggered a replay of the in-game intro at the very start of the game" except of course both of the characters from the intro were long-gone and there was no way to continue the game.

it seems Interplay doesn’t want to know about Messiah any more. Shiny just links to Interplay’s site- and mind you the link is dead - and I can’t find any word of it on Interplay’s site

Well there is one page left, but unless a game is NEW or related to a NEW game, you can expect them to pretty much ignore it .

At least they're not like Origin, which completely ignores everything from Origin's past. Their motto seems to be "Would you like to play Ultima Online, Ultima Online, or Ultima Online?"

wow you found not only a Messiah page on the interplay site but a tech support page. btw if the interplay link does'nt work and if any one is looking for the patch still you can all ways get it off http://www.3dgamers.com/games/messiah/

as for your "logic bug" I never though of useing a Radiation Worker that way I'll have to give it a go and see what happens.

Originally posted by BVH ...as for your "logic bug" I never though of useing a Radiation Worker that way I'll have to give it a go and see what happens.

That's the vicious way of playing, I tried playing with a minimum of carnage, but the game discourages that (especially things like the meat grinder puzzle that requires that you throw three people into it).

I've always had a fondness for completing games in an "odd way". I still would like to see if it's possible to ride on one of those floating tripod devices.

I also found that you may need to frequently use the "Safe Mode" batch files that the patch provides. One area of the game simply would not work as long as I was playing with "normal" options (D3D Hardware T&L, 1024x768, EAX audio). Using "safe" options was the only way to proceed. Annoyingly that means fiddling with options on a regular basis. Using the safe batch files is easy, but results in low-res, silent gameplay and you still have to change options back manually after you pass the buggy game area.

Still, it is one of those games that creates distinct impressions. I'll long remember the first time I heard, "WIN! GENUINE COOKED ANIMAL MEAT!"

Hey I tried the parameters, but I get a message in XP saying 'Can't find file: minifont.bin'?????????????????????

Damn XP nothing works in it, and Copatibility mode is nothing short of a cruel joke on Microsoft's part if you ask me.

Any other ideas, and why should a game from late 2000 have such issues????? System Shock I can understand, but Messiah.

HEll this game didn't even run properly when I had my last system with Win 98. What's up with this engine, man? 😒

Soniclen wrote:

Hey I tried the parameters, but I get a message in XP saying 'Can't find file: minifont.bin'?????????????????????

This file should be in Messiah's directory on your hard drive, if it's not try reinstalling the game.