First post, by CoolGamer
Little Big Adventure 2 works great on Windows 7 via dgVoodoo2 WIP33. You can use any dgVoodoo2 settings that you want. I think the game uses DirectX 3.
Please make sure to install the game under "C:\LBA2". Some people reported errors on LBA2 fan forums when the game is installed under a different directory.
The game uses Miles Sound System (MSS). If you are having problems with sound just use one of the alternate mss32.dll files that you can download from the thread below. I used mss32.dll version 5.0p and it works perfect on my soundcard. Some LBA specific forums recommend mss32.dll v6.0m but I got glitches (clicking sounds) in audio with that file. The game's original mss32.dll is version 3.6b.
Game videos are in Smacker video format and they work without any problems. If you are having issues with videos you can try one of the alternate smackw32.dll files that are also included in the thread below. The game's original smackw32.dll is version 3.0h.
RAD Game Tools: Bink/Miles/Smacker Windows .dll's.
Unfortunately GOG version is setup to work with Dosbox only. You need the original CD with windows executable to run the game with dgVoodoo. Since dgVoodoo got affiliated with GOG, I hope they include the windows version in their release in the future. For now, you can follow the instructions near the end of this post to make the GOG installation run natively on Windows via dgVoodoo.
If you are unable to install by using your original CD, you can search for LBAHQ website and use the installers created by them. Just make sure to use the original game EXE (and not the Windows XP compliant patched exe of LBAHQ) when running the game via dgVoodoo.
If somebody can patch the game EXE to allow widescreen resolutions (with proper aspect ratio), this game will be even better.
Differences between Version 1 and Version 3 Retail CDs.
People who own the original retail CDs own either Version 1 (aka US Version) or Version 3 (aka European Version). Version number is stated in the LBA2.CFG file of the CD. LBAHQ installer used Version 1 CD. I don' think there is a Version 2 CD. Game executable name is LBA2.EXE in Version 3 CD and TWINSEN.EXE in Version 1 CD. Game executable sizes are slightly different. Version 1 CD has a TWINSEN subfolder, Version 3 CD has a LBA2 subfolder. Intro video in version 1 has a logo that says "Twinsen's Odyssey". Intro video of Version 3 has a logo that says "LBA2". Version 1 CD has English speech pack and 6 audio tracks for music. Version 3 CD has English, German and French speech packs but only has 1 audio track for music. The number of Wave files under the Music folder seem to be different on each CD, probably to make up for the different number of tracks. Gameplay and graphics are supposed to be identical based on the information shown on LBA specific websites. I did not notice any differences during gameplay.
LBAHQ edition installer of LBA2 is a special case. It is based on Version 1 CD's file structure, has Twinsen.exe executable, but it has 7 audio tracks and all 3 speech packs. I am not sure where the extra audio track came from. Maybe there is another version of LBA2 cd somewhere.
Game executables, installations, save games and CDs are interchangeable. You don't have to reinstall the game to compare a different version. Just change the CD in your drive, edit the LBA2.CFG file located in your installation folder and change the Version line to match the version of the CD in the drive (e.g. change it to "Version: 1" or "Version: 3"). If you forget to edit the version line, the game will not recognize the CD. Just to be safe, it might be a good idea to keep both TWINSEN.EXE and LBA2.EXE executables in your installation folder and use the executable that matches the CD, if you will be switching between different versions of the CDs.
Instructions for getting the LBA2 GOG Version to work natively on Windows via dgVoodoo
GOG version of LBA2 supports DOSBOX out of the box. We need to generate the original windows & dos installation CD in order to run LBA2 in Windows via dgVoodoo. Disc image files are actually included in the GOG version of LBA2. They are stored in a special way that only DOSBOX and ImgBurn support. GOG uses version 3 of the installation CD (as stated in LBA2.CFG file).
1) Install GOG version of LBA2 if you haven't already. Try to install into "C:\LBA2" if you can since some people reported issues with other locations.
2) If you already have an original retail installation CD and if the LBA2.CFG file located in the CD's LBA2 (or TWINSEN) folder has a line that says "Version: 3", you can skip to step 8. If there is a line that says "Version: 1", you can still proceed to step 8 but you also have to visit step 12 if you can not start the game.
3) Install ImgBurn version 2.5.8. Download it from MajorGeeks mirror because MajorGeeks host an installer that does not include OpenCandy (adware). Just to be safe, temporarily turn off your internet connection when you are installing ImgBurn. ImgBurn itself does not contain adware but some installers have adware that shows ads during installation. I am adding these warnings in case MajorGeeks change the installer they host between the time of this writing and the time that you read it.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/imgburn.html
4)Install Ogg vorbis directshow filters from the link below. These are required for ImgBurn to process the external OGG file of the LBA2 disc image.
https://www.xiph.org/dshow/
5) Go to your LBA2 GOG installation directory and change the name of the file "LBA2.DAT" to "LBA2.CUE". This is a very smal 1kb file.
6) Start ImgBurn, select "Write Image File To Disc", Open "LBA2.CUE" file in your LBA2 GOG directory as the source file, choose your CD/DVD burner as the destination, insert a blank CD into your burner, press the "Write" button. Wait until the burn process is complete.
7) Congratulations, you now have an original LBA2 Windows and Dos installation CD. You can close ImgBurn. Rename "LBA2.CUE" back to "LBA2.DAT".
8 ) Go to your CD's LBA2 folder and copy the files smackw32.dll, mss32.dll and the folder VOX to the GOG LBA2 installation folder.
9) Copy all dgVoodoo files into the GOG LBA2 installation folder.
10) Edit the following line in your LBA2.CFG file. If you don't change this line, music will pause during speeches. Keeping it ON improves performance in DOSBOX as well.
FlagKeepVoice: ON
11) Double click LBA2.EXE to start the windows version of the game. If you are having issues with sound or videos (or experiencing crashes), please see my recommendations that are located in the beginning of this post regarding alternative versions of mss32.dll and smackw32.dll .
12) If the game does not start, and if you have a Version 1 CD, edit LBA2.CFG that is located in your installation directory and change the version line to "Version: 1". You will have to change this line back to "Version: 3" if you want to switch back to the DosBOX version. If you can't get it to work, just create a Version 3 cd by following my instructions in steps 3 to 7.
You now have a GOG installation that fully supports the Dos Version of the game via DosBox and the Windows version of the game via dgVoodoo. As a bonus, you can use the CD that you generated to install LBA2 on a retro PC with real Dos and Windows 95 Operating systems.
Instructions for getting the Original Retail LBA2 CD Version to work natively on Windows via dgVoodoo.
If you are unable to run the original installer on your Windows system, just follow the instructions below. They work with both Version 1 and Version 3 CDs.
1) Copy the contents of the LBA2 folder (or TWINSEN folder) of your CD to "C:\LBA2" folder. Name of the folder on the CD depends on the version of the CD.
2) Go to your "C:\LBA2" folder and erase the sub folders named "DIRECTX", "MUSIC" and "VIDEO".
3) Edit the following three lines in your LBA2.CFG file. The rest of the lines in LBA2.CFG will be automatically populated/fixed when you run the game for the first time.
Language: English
LanguageCD: English
FlagKeepVoice: ON
4) Copy all dgVoodoo files into the LBA2 installation folder.
5) Run LBA2.EXE or TWINSEN.EXE to start the game. Name of the executable depends on the version of the CD you are using. If you are having issues with sound or videos (or experiencing crashes), please see my recommendations that are located in the beginning of this post regarding alternative versions of mss32.dll and smackw32.dll .
Instructions for getting the Original Retail LBA2 CD Version to work natively on Windows via Peixoto's Patch.
Vogons community member Peixoto recently added full support for "LBA2 European version" to his launcher/patcher tool. It also includes an installer for 64bit systems. Just insert the CD and install it using Peixoto's tool. Peixoto found a way to make the game look less blurry by removing texture filtering and fixed audio bugs. He also added xbox controller support to the game. You can download Peixoto's tool from the official thread linked below. If you have any questions regarding Peixoto's tool please ask it on its official thread. It is possible to chain Peixoto's tool with dgVoodoo for this game but this is not required.