# [SOLVED] broken sword angel of death



## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

Hi folks, yes i know the game is old and has been having problems for ages but i think ive found on here the cause,just need to know how to do it..
Seems a lot of us have problems with people being blacked out but the background is fine, well thats me too.
Someone said that they went in to BIOS and disabled hyperthreading and it worked fine. Can someone tell me how to do this please?
Is it going to bugger up my brand new computer?
I wouldve thought with computers being upgraded all the time, this game would be a walk in the park nowadays. Ive just purchased a brand new computer with more than enough stuff to play this game but heard that this hyperthreading, once disabled works fine.

A step by step guide would be great thankyou :1angel:


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## -WOLF- (Jan 17, 2009)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

*Hello and welcome to TSF!*

Disabling Hyperthreading won't solve the problem, I imagine. All Hypertheading does is make the computer think it has two cores, when really it's just one core and one thread, making it a pseudo-dual-core CPU. Keep in mind *Hyperthreading is only available on Intel CPUs
*
Your problem more likely lies with Windows 7. Try running the game in Comparability Mode for Windows XP Sp2 or an older OS. Run the game as administrator (right click the .exe to find this option) and make sure your anti-virus is not inhibiting the game in any way.

Don't forget to update all drivers, and make sure you have the latest version of DirectX.


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

Hi, thanks for the reply.
As far as I can tell, I have the latest direct x (11) which the comp says czant be upgraded anymore, same goes for all my drivers which I got windows to upgrade. Some did install upgrades but to no avail.
Being an old game and my comp brand new and supposedly a singing and dancing one, im surprised its struggling with it.
I'll try disabling the virus software, maybe that'll do it.
Thanks for your reply


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

Hi again,
Ive just tried what you suggested and I thought 'yeah' its worked as at the beginning of the game, the door kept on flickering showing the bad guys on the other side and after applying the admin and disabling virus software, it stopped flickering.
However, it started flickering again and when i get to the point in the game where george has to bolt the door and kick it down to let maria over, it freezes and stops.
Funny thing is, i have got past this point before but since uploading several drivers which windows did, i cant get past it. The background, speech and general graphics are still good, all apart from the characters being completely black and flickering doors.
At the beginning of the game, george and annes faces appear for a nano second before they go black all over.
I could put up with that to be honest if i can find a way to play it without it freezing at this same point.Thanks in advance for any advice
Nick


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## -WOLF- (Jan 17, 2009)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

Download ATITool and click the 3D view and click Scan For Artifacts. Let it run for 20-30 minutes, if nothing appears then do the same but with the game running (Make sure you find the glitchy stuff first) then let it run for the same time.

Also download SpeedFan and post the temps at the time of occurance.


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

Just found something out.... The game asks for a Nvidia geforce 6200 or 1228 shader model 1.1 compatible video card.
I have ATI Radeon HD 5400 series video card. Even with the updates downloaded for it its struggling so Im guessing I need to upgrade it to Nvidia?
Ive only had this comp 3 days and the guy told me computers nowadays piss all over games like broken sword so I didnt even think about it.
If this is the reason, i'll take it back and get refunded,as I specifically told him I wanted something that would handle this game as ive had it ages and never been able to play it!

Thanks for any advice in advance
Nick


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

It really isn't an "upgrade" to nVidia... The companies are competitors, and they actually are very close and switch spots for the lead. Your video card should have no problem with an older game.

I don't know any thing about the game though, so I would need to do a little research before I can even begin to help you, since -WOLF- is offline.


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## -WOLF- (Jan 17, 2009)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

If you want to understand why your videocard is better, see this thread.
Otherwise per your problem, have you seen if there are any recent patches or updates?

I'd also like to point in your direction Virtual PC which you can emulate an Windows XP environment. Download this and try running XP and the game.


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

Can You Run It?

Just gone on here which scans your pc to see if you can play a particular game and as you will see, its passed on everything so im guessing its not the pc.
Ill try some patches as you have suggested and see if that does the trick.
Only thing it does say is, windows 7 wasnt around when the game came out as its built around xp


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

Running software patches is always a good idea, especially when trying to get an older game to run on a newer system.

Listen to -WOLF-, he helped me get a 10 year old game running in Windows 7 x64..


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## -WOLF- (Jan 17, 2009)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

Can You Run It isn't very reliable, it only looks at numbers (For example, it won't tell the difference between mobile chips and dedicated graphics) as well as it will not tell you if your OS is compatible with the game. Game-O-Meter is considered better]. However, if you cannot find any new updates using an auto-updater and there are nothing to be found on the internet (check the developer or the publisher's website, or if they no longer exist try a site like FIlefront) then try the Virtual PC that I suggested.


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

Thanks again.
I downloaded the atitool and it found nothing with game off and game on at the glitchy part.

How and where do i use an autoupdater to find any updates/patches for the game?
Before I go searching on the net for a patch or game upgrade, id like to be certain im downloading something worth downloading and safely.


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## -WOLF- (Jan 17, 2009)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

Every link we give you is 100% guaranteed to work safely, as it is almost always tested at least once. Your game may not have an auto-updater installed so you need to look for it manually.


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

Yes, sorry wolf, didnt mean to offend anyone there.

Ive found a site with a patch which solves my graphics card problem, but, there are several depending where you live.
My problem is, i bought the game in the uk years ago, and have since emigrated to new zealand,so do i download the europe one or the australasia one as I only bought this computer 3 days ago?


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## -WOLF- (Jan 17, 2009)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

Get the patch according to where you bought the game as it is likely to be PAL-friendly.


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

sorry for being a dumbass here but after ive downloaded the patch, do i just open it and let it run or does it have to download 'in the game' or having the game open?
In other words, if i just open it and let it load itself on my computer, how does it know to help my game play better?
Hope that makes sense


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

The first part of the question is, that depends on if it is an executable or a file... If it is an executable, it will install itself. If it is a file or group of files, there should be a read me file to tell you where to extract them to.

You won't know if the patch will work until you apply it. If it is an official patch, then there will be no harm in installing it. If it is an unofficial patch, then you should create a restore point prior to applying the patch. This will give you a fall-back if the patch breaks the program.

Also, forgive me if I missed it, but are you running 7 x86 or 7 x64?


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

Im using windows 7 x64.
The file ive downloaded is a zip file so im guessing its executable?
I'll try it after you've replied to this if that has told you if its executable


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

No, but the files inside will be... The extension of the executable will be .exe

Can you provide a link of where you got the patch from?


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

Patches and Fixes: Broken Sword: The Angel of Death v1.1 Patch - Demo Movie Patch Download Section - GamersHell.com

Theres the link


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

I am downloading the patch right now... I will let you know in a couple minutes.


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

It is an executable file... Unzip the contents to your desktop, create a restore point and then run the executable as administrator (right click, run as admin)


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

hey, thanks a lot for your input, ive tried everything but i either have black characters or when i get to the part where george has to bolt the door and kick it down so anna can cross, george gets stuck trying to walk through the door!
Ive given up, nothings worth this amount of time and effort on it!


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

Don't give up yet.

Did you check to make sure your game has the latest official patches?

Also, just for giggles, I would like you to try something.
Start the game.
Use teh WinKey to exit to the desktop (without closing the game)
Open Task Manager.
Find the games process.
Right click on the process and select "Set Affinity"
Uncheck all but Core 0
Run the game, see if it behaves the same.

This probably won't affect it much, as the game was released in 07, well after multi-cored CPU's.

I am still doing a little research. Will let you know if I find anything.


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

Hi, ive downladed one patch, bs4 1.1 thats the only one ive come across and it made no difference.
I still think my graphics card is whats going wrong even though its been said they are more or less as good as each other nowadays. Thats the only thing it can be as my comp has more than enough omph so to speak.
Will try your suggestion and let you know.
Thanks for your perserverence! lol


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

Just tried what you said about task manager but it said access denied


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

Sorry, you have to run it as admin. When in the processes screen, select Show Processes from all users... 

It will switch you to administrator access.


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

yesterday i downloaded a load of updates from ati which did nothing so i uninstalled them, ive just ran the scan for updates in device manager for ati and it says no updates are available so im guessing the updates i installed then uninstalled from ati website are already installed in the package given to me when i bought the computer?

I'll try the above again now too
Thanks


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

nope, still black people and still get stuck trying to shut the door. do i have to re-check the ones i unchecked now?

from what ive read, as dual processors werent around at the time the game was made, its this thats doing it, not my grahics card which is more than capable of playing this. It has to be something other than graphics cards.


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

As I said, didn't think it would help... I am looking for a copy of the game locally...

I have a feeling the issue may have to do with 64 bit... 

I want to install it and see if the problems are the same for me.


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

when i look at the back of the box, it says nvidia whereas when i look at the back of the box for myst iv it says nvidia OR ati radeon and works perfectly. so whatever i try, the game simply wont work properly from what ive done so far


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

As I said before, don't give up yet. There has to be a solution somewhere, it just has to be found.

Also, the more I read, it seems the game doesn't like multi-core cpus and doesn't like HT, like you suggested in your first post.

What Motherboard are you using? Brand/Model/Revision


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

lol you'll have to help me out here. where do i find info for that?


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

Are you using a brand name computer?


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

its an acer and the rest of the techno is on my profile


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

What model is it? Your profile says AMD, HT is Intel...


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

tell me how to find out. its an acer aspire thats all i know without going somewhere on my computer to find out


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

There should be a sticker with the model information on it somewhere, most likely the back.


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

acer aspire m3400 is the model


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

im just downloading some drivers from the acer website...you never know!


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

You don't have to worry about Hyper Threading... You are running a AMD processor...

Just run it with affinity when you test.


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

yes i worked that one out, plus I wasnt about to mess with that especially having only just got the damn thing


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

also, could you answer my previous question please before i download anything, when i ran an automatic updater for ati, it said i have the latest stuff on it. so there would be no point me going to its website to download a load of patches i take it?


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

What automatic updater? Windows Updates? ATI CCC updater?


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

went onto device manager, right clicked ati and then update driver


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

What is the date of the files from the Acer site?

Your best bet would be to get the latest drivers from the AMD site.

ATI Radeon


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

may 2010 is the date. im halfway through the downloads now aso i'll give it a shot.
Ive already downloaded all those updates and it came to nothing from ati so i rolled back to previous win 7 as it wasnt any better


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

Having the latest drivers is always a good thing. The drivers are released with bug fixes and extra features.


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

reagrding the ati updates, dont know if you've looked at it but it has individual downloads and package downloads. I was just downloading the packaged as surely the individual ones would be included?


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

The Catalyst package contains all of the necessary updates.


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

ATI Radeon.

so, just the first download from this page and not the other 3?


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

The first download is the full suite. It contains the latest drivers and Catalyst Control software.


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

ok, thanks very much, i'll download that plus drivers from acer and let you know how it turns out.


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

You don't need the Acer video drivers if you download the AMD suite.


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

what do you think would happen if i downloaded them anyway?
also, in that case the game still doesnt work. ive downloaded the suite and the game didnt improve.


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

Downloading them will do nothing except take up space on the HDD.

If the game doesn't improve with the latest Drivers, then the older Acer drivers won't make a difference.

Dumb question, did you try compatibility mode yet?


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

lol not a dumb question at all. how do you do that?

And your sure those acer drivers updates are older than the ones ive got installed at present?

Service & Support

This is where im downloading them


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

Right click the executable (game icon) and select troubleshoot compatibility. Follow the instructions in the wizard.


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

I dont have that option, just the usual run as admin, open, pin to taskbar etc etc


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

Right click on the shortcut and choose properties. Select "Find Target".

This will open up an explorer window with the target executable highlighted.

Right click on the executable file itself and select "Troubleshoot Compatibility".


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

ive done it but to no avail. it tried using winxp sp2 but still nothing has changed


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

also just noticed that the amd catalyst im downloading seems to be only a preview from the description


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

Preview just means it was released before it's official release date.

I am sorry compatibility mode didn't work. 

I am off to bed for the day. If I think of anything else I will post back. 

If you don't hear from me for a while, just reply to the thread or send me a PM and I will come back. Please keep us posted of any progress you make on your own.

GZ


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

hey, thanks very much for your help. I will keep you posted but to be honest you know way more than I do!

Thanks again and good night


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## dm01 (Oct 10, 2006)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

I've had quite a few older games do this on my newer systems. The problem is multi-core processors, oddly enough. This is why disabling hyper-threading for that user worked. So far I have not found a simple and permanent solution other than emulation. I have not (yet) found an emulator that I can guarantee will work with Broken Sword: Angel. You could try DOSBox, but without a copy of the game to work with I can't make a profile for it, or even know if DOSBox will work for this game.

There is a way to "knock out" the extra cores, but it requires registry edits, so I am hesitant to give it out. It is permanent until you undo it, which you will want to do because overall system performance is seriously adversely affected.


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

DONE IT!!! 
Problem was dual processors so did a bit of research on here and someone posted this:

Click Start
search box type msconfig <enter>
click on 'boot' tab then advanced
tick box next to number of processors and select one only
close and reboot
to return to normal, de-select tick and restart.

However, my system was already on 1 so I clicked on 3 to see what would happen and nothing changed, so I changed it to 2 and bingo, ive got coloured people faces and all and so far all is good.

Hope this helps everyone else too


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

*Re: broken sword angel of death*

Good job, and thank you for posting your solution!

Hope you enjoy the game!!

BTW, when you aren't playing the game, you may want to set your computer to boot normal to take advantage of the x3 CPU.


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

Yes, I was going to do that, however, I am wondering, as it was on 1 and now its on 2, is that an improvement or am I doing something that the computer doesnt like, even though everythings running as per normal?


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

Everything should run fine. There should be no issues. Windows just isn't using all the cores.


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## sixstringpluker (Jan 11, 2011)

But as mine was already on one and to play the game i had to switch to 2 , I must now be using 2 cores instead of one which is what it was set at when i bought it? So is that better for it or should it be set back to its original one core setting?


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

You should run with all cores enabled


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## spqrblair (Jan 31, 2011)

They can't make a patch for this apparently as it would involve rewriting the code of the game entirely which is unfortunate. Perhaps in the future there will be a cost effective way of them re-releasing a working version of this game. Almost every computer nowadays is a multi core cpu. It makes playing this game impossible. ITs like releasing something only on VHS when DVD has been around for a decade.

For Bootcamp on a MacBP it is unplayable.


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## spqrblair (Jan 31, 2011)

spqrblair said:


> For Bootcamp on a MacBP it is unplayable.


Actually I used the [msconfig] fix mentioned here in Boot camp and it worked like a charm... Great!

Much easier than the DOS or BIOS routes.


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