Another way to get the game to work

[wabbit]

I was having a problem getting the game to run on Win 10.

Every time I ran it, the game would kick me back to Windows. I couldn't even get through th intro video. But the game was still in the background as a tab on my taskbar. If I clicked on the tab, it would show a black screen, hang for a sec, and then minimize again back to Windows. But if I hovered over the tab, I could see the intro scene (in a paused state) on the thumbnail popup - so the game was trying to play but something about the video settings was borking up.

Anyways, I figured out how to trick the game into working.

1) In Steam, right click on Dungeon Siege -> Manage -> Browse Local Files. Run the file 'DSVideoConfig'. Change the Resolution to 640x480.

2) In Steam, right click on Dungeon Siege -> Properties. Within the Launch Options section, enter: fullscreen=false

When you now run the game, you'll get an error saying that the game cannot run in windowed mode at 640x480, so it will automatically run in fullscreen at 800x600 resolution. For some reason, this works everytime.

Thought I'd share the work around if you happen to have the same issue.

[Blue]

Now that you have got the game working you might want to try playing it in widescreen by adding 'width=1920 height=1080' to your launch option line. Remember to set shadows in DSVideoConfig to simple too.

[wabbit]

Hey Blue, thanks for the tip.

I tried it, including the simple shadows, but the game gives a critical error. Weirdly, it loads up fine to the main menu. It just can't make it past that.

Guess when it reverts from windowed mode at 640x480 and transitions to fullscreen 800x600 it melts. The error says that 1920x1080 is not supported.

Ah well, at least I can play the game. There is nothing out there, that I'm aware of, that is in the same spirit of this game. Such an awesome title.

[Blue]

I also get that critical error message where it says the resolution is not supported but I just ignore that, click on OK and the game loads ok at 1920 x 1080 res.

I run the game as admin in Windows XP (Service Pack 2 ) compatibility mode and have the 'High DPI scaling override' box ticked. Worth a try to see if it works for you too.

[wabbit]

Yeah, the weird thing is - I don't get a mouse cursor when the critical error message comes up. So I can't click 'ok'. Hitting 'enter' doesn't do anything either - it's actually a bit of a hard crash. I can't even alt-tab out or pull up the task manager, so I need to to a reboot to clear it.

I tried your suggestions. Still not working, BUT the the game minimizes to a tab when the critical error comes up now, instead of crashing. But it goes back to the original problem where if I click on the tab, it hangs and then just minimizes again. So I can't get past it it.

I'm going to keep fiddling around with the settings, and if I get anywhere I'll post it up. Thanks again for your help :)

[gatorpup26]

I am trying to run DS1 on Windows 11. I am having the "Exception Detected" behavior described above. I am looking for help. Listed below is what I have already tried.

I had the same problem on my previous (Windows 10) computer, which was fixed by a Killah patch in 2019 (described below). I copied the DS1 files from my old computer to the new computer, and was able to get DS1 working,

I recently went through a trouble shooting activity to fix video problems with Skyrim V: The Elder Scrolls running on the new computer. We (email tech support and myself) tried a bunch of things, including loading new NVIDIA drivers. (I don't recall all the things we did). In the end the one thing that fixed the problem was to change the refresh rate from 144 Hz to 60 Hz.

DS1 now has the "Exception Detected"problem again, and won't launch. Changing the resolution to 144 Hz did not correct the problem. After trying several things, I decided to start from scratch. I de-installed DS1 and deleted it from the computer. I installed fresh from Steam. The DS application is in
Windows\Program Files (x86)\Steam\Steamapps\common\Dungeon Siege 1
DSVideoConfig settings are set to:
Video Driver: Primary Display Driver - Hardware TnL
Resolution: 640x480x32
Shadows; Simple Shadows
Filtering Trilinear Filtering
Under DungeonSiege\Properties\Compatibility\ no boxes are checked
"Exception Detected"problem still exists

Under DungeonSiege\Properties\Compatibility\ checked the following boxes
Run in 640x480 screen resolution
Disable fullscreen optimizations
"Exception Detected"problem still exists

Ran compatibility troubleshooter. It recommended Windows XP (Service Pack 3). I tried
Windows XP (Service Pack 3)
Windows XP (Service Pack 2)
Windows 7
Windows 8
"Exception Detected"problem still exists in all

I tried the Dungeon Siege I (Legends of Aranna) Steam Fix by Killah:
1. Download
- Main MEGA Link: https://mega.nz/#F!j1MGnBKR!LosiVDoakaP-xCz5a7wswg
- Alternative Dropobox Link: {LINK REMOVED}http://www.mediafire.com/file/j2p9rh5s2yxrcds/Dungeon_Siege_I_Steam_Fix_by_Killah.zip/file
2. Extract File
3. Copy files to DS directory
- Windows\Program Files (x86)\Steam\Steamapps\common\Dungeon Siege 1
4. Run "RegPatch DS I" in Administrator Mode
"Exception Detected"problem still exists
Note: I tried the 2019 version and the current (2022) version. When the "RegPatch" file is run, there is a difference in the display from the two dates. The current version asks you to select between several options. The 2019 version just updated SD1 and LOA.

[Blue]

Hi Wabbit, I have found and tested a way to prevent that critical error message about unsupported resolution being issued when the game is launched so that it doesn't come up on the screen.

What I don't know is by removing that critical error message if it will allow your game to launch ok in 1920 x 1080 resolution because I never had the same problem with my mouse pointer freezing or the game minimizing to a tab when the message is issued but it could be worth a try anyway.

All you do to stop the critical error message being issued is
1. Find the file 'system_detail.gas' in the main folder of DS1.
2. Open it with notepad
3. Wherever you see either of the lines below add a duplicate line underneath it but just change the 1024x768 to 1920x1080

[1024x768] { max_back_buffers = 1; }
[1024x768] { max_back_buffers = 2; }

4. Save the file

There were 8 instances in my file that I had to add duplicate lines to.

[wabbit]

Thanks Blue,

But no go :(

Though the critical error message went away.

However, I'm back to that issue with the game continuing to minimize to a tab, but this time, it behaves a bit differently.

When I click on the tab, it opens and stays open - but it shows the game inside a 1920x1080 window. However, though the video appears to be rendering at 1920x1080, because the window is only taking up a portion of my screen - I only see a portion of the game. Most of it is cut off because of the window boundaries.

And.. when I click anywhere on the screen, everything minimizes to a tab again :)

I tried removing the fullscreen=false tag from the launch properties, but I think that is a key element to get things working on my rig - with that launch option out, I can't even get past the intro vid.

I also tried changing the resolution within the game, from the options setting. Now that I entered the 1920x1080 lines in the system_detail.gas file, that resolution is now on the in-game list of options to choose from. But.. when I click on it, or even 1024X768 - I get the minimize to tab issue again. But weirdly, 640x480 works, as does 800x600..

I'll continue to muck around and will post anything up. Ironically, the 800x600 has a bit of a nostalgic feel to it, so it aint all bad :)

Thanks again for your help!

[wabbit]

Originally posted by gatorpup26:

I am trying to run DS1 on Windows 11. I am having the "Exception Detected" behavior described above.

Hey gatorpup26,

Looks like you have done a full array of trouble shooting.

You said you "Disable fullscreen optimizations" - but not sure how you did that. My silver bullet to getting things to work was putting in fullscreen=false in the Steam launch options and changing the startup resolution within DSVideoConfig to 640x480, and then launching the game from Steam (otherwise the launch properties won't work) - that got me in.

[gatorpup26]

I installed the game on my local computer. When I right click on DS in the steam library, the Launch Options section is greyed out. when I right click on the DS app on my local computer (path shown above), select compatibility tab, I get the option to "disable fullscreen optimizations".

[Genesis]

"fullscreen optimizations" is a win10+ feature to make a borderless fullscreen windowed game run like an exclusive fullscreen one. I'd say it's unlikely to cause any issue (or solve any) in this case.

[wabbit]

Originally posted by gatorpup26:

I installed the game on my local computer. When I right click on DS in the steam library, the Launch Options section is greyed out.

Weird how your launch settings are greyed out. It is a grey bar, but you should be able to type stuff in there?

[Madvessel]

Originally posted by wabbit:

Hey Blue, thanks for the tip.

I tried it, including the simple shadows, but the game gives a critical error. Weirdly, it loads up fine to the main menu. It just can't make it past that.

Guess when it reverts from windowed mode at 640x480 and transitions to fullscreen 800x600 it melts. The error says that 1920x1080 is not supported.

Ah well, at least I can play the game. There is nothing out there, that I'm aware of, that is in the same spirit of this game. Such an awesome title.

Darkstone is the only other game I can think of even remotely similar

[[x] }|{0n0P@3PblB@Te/\b]

WORKED FOR ME ON BASE GAME, NO EXTERNAL PATCHES.
Latest Win11 Pro

Originally posted by Blue:

Hi Wabbit, I have found and tested a way to prevent that critical error message about unsupported resolution being issued when the game is launched so that it doesn't come up on the screen.

What I don't know is by removing that critical error message if it will allow your game to launch ok in 1920 x 1080 resolution because I never had the same problem with my mouse pointer freezing or the game minimizing to a tab when the message is issued but it could be worth a try anyway.

All you do to stop the critical error message being issued is
1. Find the file 'system_detail.gas' in the main folder of DS1.
2. Open it with notepad
3. Wherever you see either of the lines below add a duplicate line underneath it but just change the 1024x768 to 1920x1080

[1024x768] { max_back_buffers = 1; }
[1024x768] { max_back_buffers = 2; }

4. Save the file

There were 8 instances in my file that I had to add duplicate lines to.

[Dudalf]

for me in "Dungeon Siege Video Configuration" it says Hardware detected Unknown Video Hardware
is that why it doesn't run?

[Blue]

No, it won't be for that reason. I had the same 'unknown video hardware' message in the DSVideoConfig file when it detected my GPU but the game still ran ok.