System Shock - help me get it working!

[LeftHandedGuitarist]

I got the original System Shock for PC off eBay, well aware that I would probably have difficulties getting it to work but I figured that I would be able to get around the problem.

I'm using Windows XP Pro. The game installed and I tried to run it first using VDM Sound. It starts up and plays the intro very nicely with sound, but once I choose to 'START GAME' from the menu screen it dumps me back to Windows with an 'out of memory' message... hmm.

Next tried running the game with DOSBox. Got it all up and running but the only problem is that it's very slow, even at the lowest detail levels, and close to unplayable. Any other programs or tweaks people can recommend? I'm quite confused as to why VDM Sound didn't run it, as I thought it handled the memory issues and I've read reports that other people got it to run fine with it.

Thanks!

[daz_75]

Quality game, i like the elevator music. Not sure about your problems though, have you tried looking for any old systems shock websites?

[LeftHandedGuitarist]

Good idea, daz. I'll have a check.

[JPP]

Im not sure if this will help you but there is a nice FAQ on it here:

http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=69578

[KeyserSoze]

ah man this was a bitch to get running. But i did get it working in the end. Cant remmeebr how as it was a long process, yes there a lot of memory problems.

ill have a look at hme, but ill probably just end up send you my settings.

[LCD-Killer]

I never did get to finish this (or properly start it for that matter).

I played the demo when it first came out on my long departed 486. I was totally blown away by this game, but my machine just wasn't up to the task of running it at a decent framerate.

By the time I'd upgraded, SysShock was a dusty relic, and far too clunky and cumbersome to play, when compared to the Half-Life's and Unreals of the TPS world.

I did play through the second one though, and that remains at the top of my all-time favourite games. It's a benchmark for all story-driven games in my opinion, and given the trouble they had getting it finished (check out the Gamasutra.com post-mortom) it's even more impressive.

[greebofitz]

The TTLG guide is very good. What I found works best for me is using a combo of NOLFB.com, VDMSound, the SShock XP patch and Mouse2kv (all of which are detailed in the TTLG guide). Works nicely now and was very much worth the effort.

[LeftHandedGuitarist]

Thanks, got it running wonderfully now!