How to set 16bit color compatibility in Steam?

[DarkLustre]

My game is constantly crashing and I don't see how to set compatibility mode through Steam. Thanks.

[Raze_Larian]

That can be done in Windows. In the Steam library, right click on the game and select Properties, switch to the Local Files tab and then click on the 'Browse Local Files...' button to open a Windows Explorer window at the main install folder.
Right click the div.exe game executable, select Properties, switch to the Compatibility tab and check off the 'Reduced color mode' option and switch the dropdown box to 16 bit. You may also want to check 'Override high DPI scaling behavior' (set it to Application), run as administrator, and set a Win 7 or 8 compatibility mode, etc.

[perechon]

Hi, Raze_Larian!
I executed your advice to the letter, nevertheless the game complains about the 16bit-mode and crashes after some time. Also the fps is low, in act 1 it was acceptable, but now I´m on the battlefield in act 2, and my chars are running in snail pace. Any suggestions? Thanks!

[Raze_Larian]

Did you try different compatibility modes, etc? In the div.exe file's Compatibility tab, in Win 10 check off the 'Override high DPI scaling behavior' option (set it to Application), maybe run as administrator and disable fullscreen optimization, as well.

Are you shutting down all non-essential programs (especially anti-virus) before starting the game?

Try verifying local files: in the Steam library, right click on the game and select Properties, switch to the Local Files tab and then click on the 'Verify Integrity of Game Cache...' button.

Try the 4GB Patch[www.ntcore.com] to increase the amount of virtual memory that the game (or any 32 bit application) can access in 64 bit versions of Windows.

Primarily with the disk version, a few people had general performance problems, especially (sometime exclusively) with the steam vent effect. While not the same problem, if it is happening the same anywhere in the act 2 BF, you can try the troubleshooting suggestions and workarounds for that. See New machine...BD is in slow motion![larian.com] (the equipment slot bug mentioned is not a problem in the Steam/GOG version of the game, just the original retail release).


If you check the Event Viewer, does that give an error code or 'Faulting Module' file name that might help identify the cause of the crash?
- click Start (or WinKey-R), then type "event viewer" into the search box. in Windows 10, 'event' should bring up 'View event logs'.
- after starting the Event Viewer, expand 'Windows Logs' in the left column and select 'Application'
- in the center column, look for a recent error for the game (maybe sort by Date and Time, or search for 'div.exe')
- check the information under the 'General' tab below the list of events, starting with "Faulting application name..."

If you lower the game resolution, does that make a difference?

Do the crashes seem to be related to any in-game events (during combat, when using skills, etc)?

[DarkLustre]

Like OMG. Can't you just make a button? :(

[perechon]

Originally posted by Raze_Larian:

Did you try different compatibility modes, etc? In the div.exe file's Compatibility tab, in Win 10 check off the 'Override high DPI scaling behavior' option (set it to Application), maybe run as administrator and disable fullscreen optimization, as well.

Well. the xp-mode did the trick, but now the sound is stuttering like hell. I´ve tried Override, administrator and disable fullscreen, but for no effect.

Originally posted by Raze_Larian:

shutting down all non-essential programs.

yes, no effect

Originally posted by Raze_Larian:

verifying local files.

done, no complains

Originally posted by Raze_Larian:

4GB Patch

applied, no effect

Originally posted by Raze_Larian:

troubleshooting suggestions and workarounds

lowering the amout of available memory? Strange idea, but I cannot find this function in Windows 10, help please?

Originally posted by Raze_Larian:

Event Viewer

Yes, here you are:
Name des fehlerhaften Moduls: div.exe, Version: 1.0.0.3, Zeitstempel: 0x512c96b8
Ausnahmecode: 0xc0000417
Fehleroffset: 0x003bb2dc
ID des fehlerhaften Prozesses: 0x1650

Originally posted by Raze_Larian:

related to any in-game events

no system, that I could discern. Yesterday I was sellnig items to the merchants (no lag at this point), another day I was in mid-fight, and then I was walking to a dungeon...

Originally posted by Raze_Larian:

lower the game resolution

How? The configuration program has only two settings: 1280x720 (recommended) and 1280x768 !
And don´t forget that no matter what I do I can´t convince the program that I´ve set the 16bit mode.

[Raze_Larian]

I'm not sure if lowering the amount of memory is necessary for the download version of the game, though it can't hurt to try it. The instructions in the XP vs Vista topic are still valid for Windows 10:
- in the search box type 'msconfig' and click on 'System Configuration' to start it (might need to be in an administrator account)
- in the Boot tab click on 'Advanced options...'
- at the top right of the popup, check off 'Maximum memory' and enter 3072 there
- click Ok a couple of times and reboot

Repeat the process and reboot to uncheck the memory limit option.


For the resolution, you can not scroll through the dropdown list?
The configuration program should list everything that the GPU and monitor both support.

To manually set the resolution, you can edit the config.div file in the '..\SteamApps\common\beyond_divinity' folder (in Notepad, or other text editor), and change the value in the 'width' and 'height' lines.

[perechon]

Originally posted by Raze_Larian:

lowering the amount of memory

done, crash still happens.
Event-Viewer: Name des fehlerhaften Moduls: div.exe, Version: 1.0.0.3, Zeitstempel: 0x512c96b8
Ausnahmecode: 0xc0000417
Fehleroffset: 0x003bb2dc
ID des fehlerhaften Prozesses: 0x108
I have reset the memory to 16 GB, since I also play other games.

Originally posted by Raze_Larian:

For the resolution, you can not scroll through the dropdown list?

Oh, I didn´t realize, that I can do that, because the visible dropdown list is so small. Silly me.
Ok, I´ve set it to 800x600, the lag at the main battlefield is nearly gone. The crash still happens.
I think, the crash is related to the 16bit mode, since even the game claims at every loading screen that not setting it makes the game unstable. Any suggestionss additional to the ones in previous posts?

By the way, 800x600 is not satisfying. I quote another player:

Originally posted by krashd:

That's not a solution, that's a work around. That's like walking to work when your car breaks down, it's a temporary fix but will result in blisters on your feet and being found dead under a snow drift.

Any additional solutions to this theme will be welcome...

[perechon]

Hello? I still have problems! Please don´t forget me!

[DarkLustre]

So do I but I can't follow all this. It seems extremely complicated, and even the people that know what they are doing are still having problems.

[Raze_Larian]

Unfortunately if the Event Viewer isn't listing a faulting module name, that doesn't help determining the cause of the crashes.

How is the performance in the main game? The battlefield quests/dungeons are optional, so if other locations are ok you could just visit for the merchants.

I'm not sure why the game would continue giving an error about 16 bit colour mode if you have that set in the compatibility options.
Try temporarily switching your system to 16 bit (high colour), rather than 32 bit (true colour) in the display settings.

Try doing a clean boot and then test the game, by starting it directly from the '..\SteamApps\common\beyond_divinity\div.exe' executable, by right clicking and running as administrator.
Click Start, or hit WinKey-R, type in msconfig and hit enter; in the General tab, click Selective Startup, uncheck Load startup items (if required) and leave Load system services and Use original boot configuration options checked. Next, click on the Services tab, check the box to Hide all Microsoft services, then click the Disable All button (maybe make a note of which are currently enabled/disabled), then click OK and reboot the computer.
Run msconfig again to switch back to the normal boot configuration.

Try creating a new Windows administrator user account, switch to that account and try starting the game from there, directly from the executable.

Make sure the Virtual Memory setting in Windows is set to automatic / system managed, rather than being disabled or set to a fixed size. To check or change virtual memory settings in Win 10:
http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2864547/manage-virtual-memory-pagefile-windows.html


This shouldn't really be necessary with Beyond Divinity, but one person with performance issues in D:OS EE on an i7 CPU fixed it by setting the game not to use the first 2 CPU cores, since Windows was running everything else on them, as well. Another was getting stuttering, and fixed it by switching the game to use only one core, applying, then switching it back to all 4 cores. Actually, BD should be fine just running on one core (the easiest way to do that would be to set it to run in a compatibility mode for Win 95 / 98 / ME).
To try this, start the game, then start the Task Manager (Ctrl-Shift-Esc or right click an open area of the Task Bar), switch to the Processes tab, right click on div.exe and select 'Set Affinity...'. After that, try unselecting Core 0 and 1, apply and test the game, or unselect most of the cores, apply and select all of them again, etc.

Also in the Task Manager Processes tab, try right clicking div.exe and under Set Priority, select High or Realtime.


You could try playing the game in a virtual machine; the extra overhead shouldn't be a problem given the game requirements, and you may be able to use an XP system with a 16 bit colour depth.

https://www.howtogeek.com/196060/beginner-geek-how-to-create-and-use-virtual-machines

https://www.extremetech.com/computing/198427-how-to-install-windows-10-in-a-virtual-machine