SW KotOR on Windows 8 / 7 64 bit widescreen (1920x1200 / 1080...) NO CRACKED EXE

[TheDude]

It took me some hours to get the game finally running especially with all the mods I like to use and as for me it is running perfectly now including 8 mods I wanted to share my knowledge hoping it will help others to enjoy this really awesome game.

First of all I do not use any cracks on my swkotor.exe or any "bad" scrips what I found is a widescreen solution that really works and in addition to this I run the game in window mode maximized. Cut scenes are working, as I already mentioned all mods work perfectly and the game does not crash at any point.

What I did to make it run:

Step 1:
Right click the swkotor.exe --> properties (Standard C:\Steam\SteamApps\common\swkotor) From there enter the Compatibility tab and set the Compatibility mode on Windows XP (Service Pack 2) and below under Privilege level check the box for Run this program as an administrator.

HINT: Keep the folder open you will need it in the upcoming steps.

--EDIT--
Step 1.1:
Turning off the automatic update from Steam for the game and the Steam ingame Community In-Game.

To do so enter the Steam library, right click the game --> properties and uncheck directly in General the "Enable Steam Community In-Game" and also turn off the automatic updates, that was the first things I found helping me to finally get the game running together with the compatibility mode.

Step 2:
Run the game at least once and change the graphics in the ingame menu if you can.
In case the game crashes directly on startup use the swconfig.exe, set the graphics to whatever you prefer and make sure to deactivate the hardware cursor so uncheck the Enable Hardware Mouse option in this Configuration Utility, also uncheck V-Sync if it is active.

If the game is always crashing on the start when showing the first videos also select the option Disable Movies for now.

For now this should enable you to enter the game and also reach the game menu, if not don't worry there is still some things to do.
When I got so far I could play the game but it was impossible for me to enjoy it in a higher resolution, no mods where working and the cutscenes forced the game to crash.

Step 3:
To be really able to run the game good and stable you need to force it into window mode, I really tried everything and there is no other option to get it running if you encounter problems or if you like to play it in high res.
To achieve this, again enter the steam swkotor folder as shown in Step 1 and open the swkotor.ini with notepad. (Right click --> Edit)

In the ini scroll down a little bit until you find [Graphics Options].
There below you can see all possible options for the game, including the Width and Height but changing those will not help you and if you enter a resolution that is not directly supported it will change back to 800x600 standard.
The option we need here is FullScreen=1. Change this line to FullScreen=0 and save the file.
From now on the game will start in window mode and should run properly on windows 7/8 32/64 bit.

Step 4:
After some research I found this awesome working tool here:
http://www.flawlesswidescreen.org/index.php/Flawless_Widescreen
Simply download the program fromthe page, the version you prefer, I took the No installer version and follow the instructions on the page on how to install or use it.
Best to use the standard settings and let it install plugins automatically!

As soon as the program is running scroll down in the list until you find the entree for Star Wars KOTOR, when you click on it, it should automatically start and install the necessary components for the high resolution options.
It will directly appear under FWS Plugins and show you a nice screenshot with some options you can leave in standard settings.

IMPORTANT: The program "Flawless Widescreen" has to run when you start the game, best is to minimize it to the system tray but the patch will not work without it.

Step 5:
Your game should be running now on the resolution you have choosen in the swconfig.exe and in window mode without any problems, if it still crashes see Step 2 on how to disable the movies.
Once in the game the first thing you need to do is changing the graphic settings, you should see now all necessary resolutions installed by the Flawless Widescreen patch. Choose the one fitting to your screen resolution and accept the changes in game.

You will notice that the game automatically turns back into fullscreen at this point, that is ok and there is nothing you can do against it!

For now leave it like that and quit the game again without starting anything or changing anything else.

Step 6:
Return to the swkotor folder as explained in Step 1, open the swconfig.exe again
!!!DO NOT CHANGE THE Resolution SETTINGS!!!
Check the box for Enable Hardware Mouse. This is very important or your mouse would be stuck within a 800x600 pixel field within the game. It took me quiet a while to figure that out. -.-

You can also uncheck the Disable Movies box if you checked it before and set V-Sync or do it afterwords in game.

Apply your changes and close the Utility.
Now enter the swkotor.ini again in edit mode as describet in Step 3 and again scroll down until the [Graphics Options].
Make sure that the line FullScreen=0 is still correct!
At the bottom you should find your new resolution next to Width and Height, if the digits are not the onse you have chosen you can simply enter now the correct ones for your screen and desire, as example:
Width=1920
Height=1200

This should do the trick so far, now start the game again, it might flickr a little bit at the beginning but after a few seconts you should see the window border coming up and the intro in the correct size and resolution running.

How to play it in high res window mode maximized:
To continue the game further on also with mods installed it is very important that you leave it in wondow mode until you are actually inside the game, I had some troubles loading games in maximized screen and that for recommend to wait with that until the game is really running and loaded.
To apply maximized mode simply move the mouse outside of the game window, carefully move it up to the top window boarder and drag it upwards until it maximizes itself, considering you did not deactivate the snapping options in windows. A double click might also do the trick but I cannot guarantee that it will work even if it should be the same thing.

For the first run and the character creation you shoule be able to directly enter maximized mode, I encountered not troubles there only later one when trying to load a saved game.
Another thing I encountered was a small issue, the game crushed for me once, it was a bad mod but it also cost me a save game, always quick save your game and make a real save in case one of them fails.

Edit / Update: One thing that came to my mind, the game crashed now twice when I maximized the window while I was in the ESC menu in-game, when I maximize it while I'm simply in game directly after the save game loaded everything goes fine. In case anyone else has those same problems.

Edit / Update: Lately I encountered some issues when starting the game using the flawelwss widescreen option. Windows starts working but nothing happenes and if I try again directly steam tells me the app is already running.
To solve this I found two ways:
One is to open the task manager, scroll down where steam is located and sometimes there is another SWKotor running, you simply kill the task and it works again, at least for me.
Option two, if there is no task I simply restart flawless widescreen and than restart the game, this also works for me mostly.

Edit / Update: IMPORTANT - DO NOT TAB OUT OF THE GAME WHEN YOU ARE IN THE IN-GAME MENU. For me it crashes every time I do that, if you tab out while you see your character, even if he starts spinning that doesn't matter but the game continues and can be entered again. At least in my experiance. ;)

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από pepoluan:

Hi, just adding some information based on the discussion in another forum.

The first time KotOR started after being monkeypatched by FWS, it will use the game's built-in graphics assets, including the HUD size & positioning.

The next time you start KotOR, FWS will resize and reposition the HUD elements, and store it in KotOR's Override folder.

Sometime FWS failed to finish all resizing and repositioning, though. In which case, save the game, exit, and restart the game.

And TBH, I did not do any editing of the "swkotor.ini" file, because I like playing fullscreen :-)

I just installed FWS, let it download KotOR's plugin, and start the game. Three times. And all HUD elements seem to have sized and positioned themselves properly.

(Do remember that FWS must be running while starting up KotOR. It's not a patcher; rather, it was an in-memory injector. Just minimize it to the tray and forget about it.)

ALSO, some tips to try, courtesy of the kind people in the other Forum:

1. Try running the "swkotor.exe" file directly and NOT via the Steam Library. For some, this helps.

2. Even if you have a 64-bit Windows, try installing the 32-bit version instead. After all, KotOR is a 32-bit game... (I don't have any problems with the 64-bit version, though. YMMV)

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από Dragon Protector:

if game crashes when trying to create new character or stuff just disable force software setting or whatever it called in advance settings in graphic in game and soft shadows then it should work

So that was it, in here are all the hints and tricks I found during the last days to get the game up and running properly with full screen and high res and all mods you desire, if you can still find some.

Hope this helps some fellow fans and enjoy the game!
The Dude ;)

[BSM]

The fact that anyone should have to do this to get 1080p is absurd. Thank you though, I'm going to give it a shot tomorrow.

[TheDude]

I know it is quiet frustrating to work through this and after every step see that there is still some problem. But well the game is old... very old actually and I'm glad that the guys from Flawless Widescreen actually took the time to prepare this tool to make it work some how.

[BiskutMentega]

Can we have this pinned?

[MrMango]

Changed everything as you recommended (except the whole flawless widescreen thing, I dont mind playing in windowed mode).
But the game keeps crashing in movies and also doesnt start in windowed mode. The game just lets me to the main menu if I disable movies. :/

[TheDude]

If the game keeps starting in full screen check your swkotor.ini file if there is a second FullScreen=1 entry and if so change also the second one to FullScreen=0.
If this is not the case add the following line to the [Graphics Options] part: AllowWindowedMode=1, it doesn't matter where you write it, I put it right under the FullScreen=0.

This might help but maybe there is also a writing protection on the file, you should also check that if it just doesn't let you change it to window mode. Hope that helps.

[Nivve]

Just wanted to say I almost was desparate (didn't want to get the fix what gave steam the excuse to ban me), but this totally works:)
Just wanted to state a thank you!

My UI is still 800x600 so the icons are all in the left upper corner, but this is a minor issue. Not too far in the game so I cannot say anything about crashes (yet)

[TheDude]

Glad I could help a little and I hope you can also get that to work, the game is really worth it. :)

[TheDude]

I will try and keep my guide up to date, adding everything I encounter at the end marked as Edit / Update and also include other fixes I find or we figure out so everything is up in the main page.

[Nivve]

Just to mention that a second start of the game for some reason fixed the UI issue.

[BiskutMentega]

Right now I have no problem running it on 1024x768. Tried to follow this instruction for higher resolution but I just can't follow it right. Perhaps a simpler explaination/steps can help.

[MrMango]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από TheDude:

If the game keeps starting in full screen check your swkotor.ini file if there is a second FullScreen=1 entry and if so change also the second one to FullScreen=0.
If this is not the case add the following line to the [Graphics Options] part: AllowWindowedMode=1, it doesn't matter where you write it, I put it right under the FullScreen=0.

This might help but maybe there is also a writing protection on the file, you should also check that if it just doesn't let you change it to window mode. Hope that helps.

Works fine now, thanks!

Just wanted to ask if you have any mods that you want to recommend? I would be looking for something like an enhanced graphics mod or anything similiar.

[Nivve]

I use the KOTOR Ultimate package, but i don't know much about others

[Kingslayer]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από Nivve:

Just wanted to say I almost was desparate (didn't want to get the fix what gave steam the excuse to ban me), but this totally works:)
Just wanted to state a thank you!

My UI is still 800x600 so the icons are all in the left upper corner, but this is a minor issue. Not too far in the game so I cannot say anything about crashes (yet)

Sorry for a noob question: Will following this guide give Steam a reason to ban my account? I want to play KOTOR in widescreen (2048 x 1152 here) as much as the next guy but not enough to jeopardize my whole Steam library...

[TheDude]

Nope this guide is not based on any modifications to any exe file so don't worry. Also Steam does not lock your account even if you use a cracked exe for this or any other "legacy" game as some of them cannot run without.

So really no worries if you follow this it will be fine. :)

@ MrMango: For graphic enhancements, yes the ultimate mod, or I also loaded some from moddb.com directly, check it out they look really fine: http://www.moddb.com/games/star-wars-knights-of-the-old-republic/addons

Apart from that I use the solomon's revenge, the padawan mod with story, so you actually play the first part, bastila romance enhancer / fix so the bug / glitch doesn't appear and so on... I try around with several mods, always making a copy of my, currently working override folder until I found all mods I like. :D

Edit: "Roleplay Padawan Mod" is the correct name, I like playing the entire game and it was always frustrating to fight through taris without spending any skill points.
--SPOILER-- even if only a small one
You become a Jedi after Taris, this mod makes you a Jedi from the beginning with a fan made integreted story, very nice and highly recommended!

Here you will find tons of mods: http://knightsoftheoldrepublic.filefront.com/

[MrMango]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από TheDude:

@ MrMango: For graphic enhancements, yes the ultimate mod, or I also loaded some from moddb.com directly, check it out they look really fine: http://www.moddb.com/games/star-wars-knights-of-the-old-republic/addons

Apart from that I use the solomon's revenge, the padawan mod with story, so you actually play the first part, bastila romance enhancer / fix so the bug / glitch doesn't appear and so on... I try around with several mods, always making a copy of my, currently working override folder until I found all mods I like. :D

Here you will find tons of mods: http://knightsoftheoldrepublic.filefront.com/

I was thinking about getting the Ultimate mod, but I've read some comments about lightsabers being completly f*cked up, how bad is it?