Difference between revisions of "Crimson Skies"

Revision as of 03:11, 26 February 2023

Warnings

SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see Availability for affected versions).

Crimson Skies is a singleplayer and multiplayer action and vehicle combat game.

General information

MontanaRaiders.com - A fan site for the Crimson Skies series

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SafeDisc DRM^{[Note 1]}.

SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).

A free demo version is available from Archive.org.

Essential improvements

In-game general settings.

Patches

The latest official patch v1.02 is available here or at soggi.org.

Modern hardware support

Use csfix^{[citation needed]}

Make sure the game is patched to 1.02. If not, see the Patches section for a download link.
Download the Crimson Skies FOV Fix (This download includes CSFix and corrects the FOV to work with any aspect ratio).
Extract to the installation folder.
Optional: Edit csfix.ini to use a resolution other than your native resolution.
If running on Windows 10, ensure that the Windows features are also enabled under "Turn Windows Features On and off"
1. Legacy Components > DirectPlay
2. Media Features > Windows Media Player

Notes

The resolution specified in csfix.ini is used during gameplay; menus are letterboxed 4:3.

Use dgVoodoo2^{[citation needed]}

Download dgVoodoo 2.
Run dgVoodooCpl.exe and under the DirectX tab, tick Application controlled fullscreen/windowed state.
(Optional) Set your resolution and enable MSAA and texture filtering.
Copy D3DImm.dll and DDraw.dll from MS to <path-to-game>.

Notes

Menus will follow your resolution, but they will be stretched unless the aspect ratio is 4:3.

NVIDIA settings^{[citation needed]}

In addition to csfix, Turn off AtiFix in csfix.ini to fix view circles appearing as squares.
To fix FPS issues, in the NVIDIA Control Panel's 3D Settings, change these options for Crimson Skies:
Maximum Prerendered Frames: 1
Power Management Mode: Prefer Maximum performance
Threaded Optimization: Off
Vertical Sync: Fast
You may need to use the Windows Compatibility Administrator (32 bit) and enable DWM8And16BitMitigation to fix preview circle glitching. (Program available from Windows ADK from https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/get-started/adk-install as an optional component)
If cutscenes run slower than the audio (causing sync issues) Try enabling "DisableDXMaximizedWindowedMode" from the aforementioned Compatibility Administrator.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\SavedGames\^{[Note 2]}

Video

In-game video settings.

External video settings.

Graphics feature	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution		See the WSGF entry.
Multi-monitor		See the WSGF entry.
Ultra-widescreen		See the WSGF entry.
4K Ultra HD		See the WSGF entry.
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Borderless fullscreen windowed	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
High-fidelity upscaling	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)	Enable by default (D3D)
60 FPS
120+ FPS	If you are having frame rate issues, try capping the frame rate at 70 FPS.^{[citation needed]}
High dynamic range display (HDR)

Input

In-game general controls settings.

In-game key map settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support
Controller remapping
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers		XInput controllers will not detect LT and RT as an axis properly. See XInput-compatible controllers.
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

PlayStation controllers

Generic/other controllers		See XInput-compatible controllers.
Button prompts

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

XInput-compatible controllers

The game will not detect buttons above 11 and are practically unusable

Use XInput Plus

Download XInput Plus
Set the target program to crimson.exe
Go to "DirectInput" and check "Enable DirectInput Output"
Assign "DPAD" to "POV"
Go to "Customize"
Assign "Left Stick X" to "X Axis"
Assign "Left Stick Y" to "Y Axis"
Assign "Right Stick X" to "Z Rot"
Assign "Right Stick Y" to "Z Axis"
Assign "LT" to "Button7"
Assign "RT" to "Button8"
Assign "DPAD Up" to "POV_Up"
Assign "DPAD Right" to "POV_Right"
Assign "DPAD Down" to "POV_Down"
Assign "DPAD Left" to "POV_Left"
Assign "A" to "Button1"
Assign "B" to "Button2"
Assign "X" to "Button3"
Assign "Y" to "Button4"
Assign "LB" to "Button5"
Assign "RB" to "Button6"
Assign "LS Button" to "Button9"
Assign "RS Button" to "Button10"
Check "Enable ForcefeedBack Emulation"
Press apply, this will install a DLL file in <path-to-game> (which will be automatically used when you start the game).

Notes

Edit the button layout at In-game key map settings.

Use the HRTR control layout as a reference. [1]

Audio

In-game audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Music, Effects, Voice
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
German
Japanese

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		16	TCP/IP or IPX
Online play		16	Direct IP or via modem

Playing via MSN Gaming Zone is no longer possible.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

Ports

Protocol	Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP	28805, 28801, 3040, 1121^[3]

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

Other information

API

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Cutscenes	Windows Media Player

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	95	98, ME, 2000, XP
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium II 266 MHz
System memory (RAM)	64 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	700 MB	1 GB
Video card (GPU)	8 MB of VRAM DirectX 7 compatible	16 MB of VRAM DirectX 8 compatible
Sound (audio device)	DirectX compatible
Other	4x CD-ROM

Notes

↑ SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows 10^[1] or Windows 11 and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.^[2]
↑ When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).

References

↑ Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16
↑ Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16
↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/307554

[3] SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows 10^[1] or Windows 11 and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.^[2]

[gamedir-4] When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).

[1] Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16

[2] Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16

[5] ttps://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/307554

[Note 1]

[Note 2]

[3]

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 175: / Line 175: @@
 |xinput controllers        = hackable
 |xinput controllers notes  = XInput controllers will not detect LT and RT as an axis properly. See [[#XInput-compatible controllers|XInput-compatible controllers]].
-|xbox prompts              = unknown
+|xbox prompts              = false
 |xbox prompts notes        =
 |impulse triggers          = unknown
@@ Line 181: / Line 181: @@
 |dualshock 4               = unknown
 |dualshock 4 notes         =
-|dualshock prompts         = unknown
+|dualshock prompts         = false
 |dualshock prompts notes   =
 |light bar support         = unknown
@@ Line 193: / Line 193: @@
 |other controllers         = hackable
 |other controllers notes   = See [[#XInput-compatible controllers|XInput-compatible controllers]].
-|other button prompts      = unknown
+|other button prompts      = false
 |other button prompts notes=
-|button prompts            = false
-|button prompts notes      =
 |controller hotplug        = unknown
 |controller hotplug notes  =

Developers

	Zipper Interactive
Publishers
	Microsoft
Engines
	GameZ
Release dates
Windows	September 17, 2000
Reception
Metacritic	83
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Genres	Action, Vehicle combat
Vehicles	Flight
Themes	Interwar, North America, Piracy