Win 8.1 no video issue

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Im trying to get the game to run on win 8.1 but there is no video what so ever. It looks like Im just on my desktop. I still have audio and I can hear that Im skipping the cut scene when I press escape, I just cant see anything. This is my fourth reinstall I think. First time it was supper laggy and a weird graphics error on the main menu, second time it wouldnt read the disk and keep saying to play from the same drive that I installed it from, third time I got the initializing directinput error, and this time no video. If anyone has gotten this game to work on win 8.1 or knows where I can find out or get some answers I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

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So I just restarted my pc and now itll run but its really laggy.

 

People still use Windows 8? Are you using the original release? Have you tried compatibility mode? Where is your game installed?

 

Ive tried all the compatibility modes and its installed in my c drive. I got it to run, its just super laggy now, the cut scenes are smooth its just playing the game is laggy.

 

Have you installed DirectX 9.0c? Even though Windows 7 and later comes with later versions of DirectX, installing 9.0C can fix many issues with legacy games.
I haven't tried PoR2 with anything more modern than my dual-boot Windows 98SE/XP Dell Optiplex GX110, which is old enough to vote.

 

I just tried to install it but it wouldnt let me since I dont have 98, xp and whatnot. Ill install stalker to see if I can get it through that.

 

If it's installed in Program Files, then install it somewhere else.

Have you tried this download for DirectX: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=8109

If none of that works, then the best I can recommend is that you run XP virtually and install it there.

 

Yeah, I think Im gonna have to to a vm. How would one go about that?

 

Grab an image of Windows XP from the internet (if you don't have one), download VirtualBox, create a new virtual drive using the wizard, mount the image, install the OS on the drive as normal, then simply use the virtual machine like you would an actual computer. You might need to turn on virtualization in your BIOS for best experience. I have no idea how it runs without.

There's actually a completely legal way to do this (though I haven't used it personally). Here's a guide: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/download-windows-xp-for-free-and-legally-straight-from-microsoft-si/

 

Cool. Just got all that done, now gotta work on the audio problem lol. Thanks for all the help by the way.

 

Well, you might also try THIS DirectX link instead, which is what I used with Windows 7 and 10.
Download details: DirectX End-User Runtime

Also, with Windows 9X games, you should create a new directory in C:\, I personally use \Games (and also a \DOS for DOSbox). You will probably have to change the permissions to allow programs to write to their own directories so they can alter their .ini files and save games. The Virtual Store is supposed to remap things for you, but well, it doesn't work quite right.
This is potentially dangerous because viruses can also alter the programs. Usually the best thing is to check the "read only" flag on the exe files and change the security permissions on the .exe files so they are read only, but everything else is read, write, and modify.

If the home versions can't use the security tab when logged in as an admin, look up icacls (since cacls has been discontinued/depreciated).
They should NOT be installed to \program files\ on a 64-bit system, only \program files (x86)\, although that is more of an issue for some Win95 games.

 

So I figured out a fix for this but its kind of a process. I started playing on linux. Played most of the morning and havent had any trouble yet except for items disappearing from my inventory.

 

That was a bug in the unpatched game. Did you install all the patches in sequence or just download the latest patch?

Unlike most games where you download patches manually, the patches are not cumulative. They are incremental instead of the usual differential. Meaning that you need to install all the patches, not just the last one.

 

I havent even patched yet, Im trying to figure out how. I got it running but where do I extract to?

 

Ah, no patch, that explains the disappearing items. That was a known bug, they fixed it in one of the official patches.
I have not tried to install on OSes later that Windows XP.
I just extracted the patch to the game directory, and ran the installer from an admin account.
Patches can be found here:
https://sorcerers.net/Games/PoR2/index_misc.php

 

Im doing this on linux so Im not entirely sure how to run the installer or where it is. Do you drag everything out of the extracted folder or do it from in there?

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I think I got it. thank you for your help.

 

I recall dropping the patches into the game's install folder, then running them while logged in as an admin (XP), but I've only used it on Win98SE and XP.
I can't help you with Linux no matter how much you Wine.

 

I figured it out lol, got everything running properly. Thanks again for your help