System Shock 2 Message Board  

Has anyone got this to work on Vista ?

I think this game is old...Have you tried to run it under Win98 or 2000 compatibility, if that possible? Maybe it works.

Yes I’ve tried the compatibility route thanks Vegetta & it is a fairly old (but good) game, it’s just a shame it has to stay in the CD case.
But thanks for your suggestions

Make sure that both the game and the trainer are running in administrator mode.

1. Right Click both the game exe file
2. Go to compatibility tab
3. Check "Run as Administrator"
4. Click apply. Do steps 1-4 with the trainer file.
5. Run both game and trainer.


You may want to disable your anti-malware software (anti-virus first then firewall). If this workaround method does not solve the problem please re-enable the software again.

The game runs perfect on Vista if you patch it with the SS2 tools available here:

www.strangebedfellows.de/index.php/topic,392

Make sure to check the DDFIX option during install otherwise the game will almost instantly freeze on dual and quad core configs -- which is a well documented issue of the Dark Engine, the engine powering the game.

And no, despite its age, this game is not dead... People still develop missions for it. have a look at the missions archive on Strangebedfellows.de or on SS2shock.com (both sites are in English)


[Edited by Sringo, 8/20/2009 9:48:47 AM]

[Edited by Sringo, 8/20/2009 9:49:31 AM]

This game is old so it leads to hyperthreading problems dual core CPU's.

Use a tool called imagecfg to get rid of this problem. Just google for the download link.

Another way to get rid of the milti core problem

Alt Tab to desktop once game is running,
Open Task Manager and right click on System shock 2 in Apps list,
Choose goto process,
Right click the process - choose "Set Affinity"
Uncheck all boxes except Cpu0

Click OK

re alt-tab into game.