# Messiah doesn't want to run



## CyberDemon5150 (Mar 27, 2011)

Hi, I've been trying unsuccessfully to get Messiah (a rather obscure Shiny Entertainment game from around 1999/2000) running on my Windows 7 x64 machine.

Basically, when I try to start the game, it comes up with a window that says:
"Could not find any compatible Direct3D devices!
Possibly video card has no 3D support or Get latest video drivers from your manufacturer!
Or you must install DirectX 7."

Now, I know my card has 3D support :laugh:
Following the other suggestion, I tracked down the DirectX 7 installer and ran it, but was greeted with a message stating that it was incompatible with my version of Windows. Great.
So, after being told by a friend that installing DirectX 8 might fill in some pieces that DirectX 10 left out, I tried it, and it didn't fix anything.
Of course I've tried setting Compatibility mode to various past versions of Windows, and tried running in Administrator mode, but neither of these fixed the problem.
It's rather frustrating to find that 'upgrading' to a newer computer leaves me unable to play my old games, and I'm growing quite frustrated by this whole mess.
If there's any possible workaround anybody can think of, please help! I've heard of piping DirectX 7 games through newer versions (such as 8 and 9), but I haven't found anything beyond people talking about it, and don't even know if it can really be done. My system specs are below.

System Specs:
Video: NVidia GeForce 9800m (512mb)
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo T9300 (both cores at 2.50 Ghz)
RAM: 4Gb
Manufacturer: Dell
Model: XPS m1730

Thanks!


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

Have you tried patching the game?

See the last reply from this thread - VOGONS :: View topic - Really new here. need some basic help with Messiah


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## CyberDemon5150 (Mar 27, 2011)

Yep. I still have the disc for the one patch Shiny released (1.2) and, as with any clean install of the game, I immediately applied the patch. Still didn't help anything (Though I didn't expect it to anyway; as far as I know, the patch mostly dealt with issues like lack of sound in the intro video.)
The thread had some interesting things in it, though. I think I'll try out some of those suggestions and report back.

EDIT: I hit a dead end. I need to run this in Direct3D (it's the best I can do here. I found out that Glide3x is a total dead end with this computer.)


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## CyberDemon5150 (Mar 27, 2011)

Follow up- The issue is resolved-- sort of.

I found that the problem was caused by DirectDraw acceleration being unavailable. Why? Because I had a mirror video driver active. I removed the driver, and now it runs. The catch? The visuals are really messed up. Characters disappear, models appear mangled and deformed, and fire and other fx are scattered around in incorrect places.
Additionally, I can't run the game without it being in safe mode, even with full compatibility mode in place (that's a real bummer.)


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

If you've still got your old Windows 98 disc, you could set up a new partition for dual booting 98/7 which might allow you to play the game without any artifacts.


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## CyberDemon5150 (Mar 27, 2011)

Hey, thanks, that's a good idea! I think I'll do that.


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## CyberDemon5150 (Mar 27, 2011)

Well, I'm back. Windows 98 worked wonders; The game runs precisely as it did back in 2000.

Also, I know it may not be the most practical thing, but a techie friend of mine told me that I may be able to force this DX7 game to run through DX6 or DX8 by utilizing programs similar to 3D Analyze, but he didn't elaborate further. I'm interested in this, as it would make the game compatible with programs such as 3D Ripper DX (which support DirectX 6, 8, and 9), but as stated, he didn't go any further into detail on how to do this. Anybody know how one might go about this?


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