Fix crashes for Dark Messiah of Might & Magic

You may want to apply the following fixes to prevent Dark Messiah of Might & Magic from crashing (singleplayer only). If you have any questions, feel free to use the comment section below.

Introduction

The game Dark Messiah of Might & Magic is a 32-bit application and can therefore theoretically allocate a maximum of 4 GB of RAM. Practically, only 2 GB are allocated. The remaining 2 GB are reserved for the operating system. We can allow the game to use the full 4 GB of RAM. However, the game will still be a 32-bit application after you apply the 4 GB fix. This means that once 4 GB of RAM is exceeded, the game will crash. This can happen, for example, when using the maximum graphics settings and playing on large maps. In practice, with the following fixes you will get rid of almost all crashes and have a pleasant gaming experience.

Minimum system requirements:
- 64-bit operating system
- 6 GB RAM

How To

1. Set game launch options via Steam:
+datacachesize "128" +map_background none -novid

2. Allow the game to allocate 4 GB of RAM instead of only 2 GB

Step 1: Install a HEX-Editor
Note: I recommend to install Notepad++ and the plugin "Hex-Editor" via Plugins > Plugins Admin

Step 2: Open the file mm.exe with a HEX-Editor
Note: If you use Notepad++, open mm.exe with Notepad++ and change the view via Plugins > Hex Editor > View in Hex

Step 3: Go to Address 00000dd0

Step 4: At position 6 change the value from 0f to 2f



Step 5: Save changes

3. Don't change the advanced video settings in-game.

• The advanced video settings will be reset after restarting the game anyway
  
• You can use the resolution of your monitor as display resolution (2560x1440 worked for me. Unfortunately, I don't know how stable the game runs with higher resolutions (e.g. 4k)).

For more tips and tricks I recommend you to visit the corresponding page on PCGamingWiki or other Steam community guides.

Credits:
PCGamingWiki: https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Dark_Messiah_of_Might_and_Magic
Steam Guide: Fixes for Dark Messiah of Might & Magic by hexaae

[Pr.Jitterskull - best bug fixer]

For some reason the Application Compatibility Toolkit installed save doesn't work for me anymore. :(

[Gotachi]

If you want to search for the correct line using Notepad++ you just need to press Ctrl + F and type in the values you're looking for, that is "00 00 00 00 e0 00 0f" - worked for me, mind the spaces between every two-digit value

[Troboba]

@greasedwizard As I mentioned in the comments below, I don't know if there is a search/jump to address function in the Hex Editor plugin. I also had to scroll a bit until I found the entry.

[greasedwizard]

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I've been following the guide and can't find address 00000dd0 in the hex editor (I'm using Notepad++, have the right plugin installed). I copy pasted the Address from here directly and all, but ctrl+f shows nothing. Could some update have changed it since, or am I doing something horribly wrong? I'm not really familiar at all with hex editing.

[Troboba]

@PurSpyk!! You can try to launch the mm.exe in Windows XP (Service Pack 3) or Windows 7 compatibility mode (via right click on file > properties > compatibility). Another option is to set your display resolution in Windows to 1440p or 1080p. I'd also try to disable modern GPU features for this game in your driver settings.

I hope this helps! Sometimes it's a challenge to run old games on modern PCs

[PurSpyk!!]

1) Yes saved
2) Windows 11 Pro
3) Cant play due to game crashing, but i have 64gb RAM installed
4) I9 14900KF, 64GB ram, RTX 4090 (just purchased pc after old mb failed)
5)2K or 4k with dsr up scaling (but this game i try to run at 2k)
6) I have full admin rights

[Troboba]

@PurSpyk!! Can you provide more information about your system? The follwoing points would be helpful:
- Did you save the file mm.exe after you applied the changes in Notepad++?
- operating system (32bit/64bit)
- RAM usage while you're playing
- CPU/RAM/GPU
- display resolution
- Do you have admin privileges on your system?

[PurSpyk!!]

Game will run occasionally, then continually crash. No idea why. Followed all the steps in this guide

[Olter Jomha]

You can just apply the 4GB patch from ntcore to change the hex value

[gantdumonstre]

Only did the HEX part and it worked. Thank a lot