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Claw

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
Claw
Claw cover
Developers
Monolith Productions
Publishers
Monolith Productions
Japan Takarajimasha
Engines
Windows Animation Package 32
Release dates
Windows September 5, 1997
Claw on MobyGames
Claw on Wikipedia

Key points

Installing the game on 64-bit systems requires using a fan made installer.
Level editors and a large collection of fan made levels are available here and here.

General information

The Claw Recluse - fan community.

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
Disc check (requires the CD/DVD in the drive to play)
Available in CD or DVD form.
Windows

Essential improvements

Patches

Patch 1.3 installation[citation needed]
  1. Download the Patch 1.3 and extract the files.
  2. Move CLAW.EXE, CLAWREG.EXE and DSETUP.DLL to installation folder, overriding already existing files.

Notes

Patches greatly reduced the game difficulty by increasing the number of lives when starting a new game, reducing the amount of coins needed to get a new life, significantly reducing damage taken from boss attacks and reducing energy of bosses.

dgVoodoo 2

Fixes broken rendering during Monolith intro video and when changing resolution using MPINCVID, MPDECVID and MPDEFVID cheat codes.
Game crashes when selecting Edit Players and Custom Levels.
Instructions[1]
  1. Download the latest version of dgVoodoo 2 and extract it (verified working on version 2.55.4).
  2. Copy all the files from the MS folder and paste the files into the game installation folder.
  3. Optional: run dgVoodooCpl.exe and edit the settings (game uses DirectX).
    • Vsync can be forced, but it causes stuttering during video playback.
    • For integer scaling set the resolution to Max ISF in the DirectX tab and set Scaling mode to Centered in the General tab.

Skip intro videos

Instructions[1]
  1. Start the Autorun program from Claw CD/DVD.
  2. Go to Advanced.
  3. Check Skip logo movie and click OK.

OpenClaw

OpenClaw is an open source re-implementation of the game which supports a wide array of resolutions and adds 64-bit support. Be aware that the graphics do not scale with the resolution as it simply zooms out. It can be ran on Windows and Linux. Linux users should install Timidity and set it up to have music in the game.
Not all levels are currently available.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Monolith Productions\Claw\[Note 1]

Save game data location

System Location
Windows <path-to-game>\CLAW.USR[Note 2]

Video

Display options menu.
Display options menu.
Advanced options program.
Advanced options program.

Graphics feature State Notes
Widescreen resolution
Originally it supports 640x480 only. Higher resolutions up to 1280x1024, including widescreen, can be cycled through using the MPINCVID cheat code, but the game will not save any progress. Outside of that, see OpenClaw.
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
Increasing the resolution using the MPINCVID cheat code increases the visible area.
Windowed
Can be forced using dgVoodoo 2 or using OpenClaw.
Borderless fullscreen windowed
See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Anti-aliasing (AA)
High-fidelity upscaling
See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
Can be forced using dgVoodoo 2.
60 FPS
Capped 60fps
120+ FPS
High dynamic range display (HDR)

Input

Controls menu.
Controls menu.

Audio

Audio options menu.
Audio options menu.

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

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
Original release. Released as Claw.
German
Polish
Released as Kapitan Pazur.
Brazilian Portuguese
Russian
Released as Kapitan Klyk (Капитан Клык).
Spanish
Spanish and Latin American Spanish versions are identical. Both use the same mixed cast of Spanish and Latin American Spanish voice actors.
Latin American Spanish
Spanish and Latin American Spanish versions are identical. Both use the same mixed cast of Spanish and Latin American Spanish voice actors.

Issues fixed

Installing on 64-bit versions of Windows

Use alternative installer.[1]

Unplayable low frame rate

Disable direct video access[citation needed]
  1. Run Claw Advanced Options.
  2. Enable Disable direct video access.
  3. Click OK. The game will now run normally.

CD not being detected

Install Patch 1.3[citation needed]

Game doesn't start on Windows 7

Use dgVoodoo 2[citation needed]

Claw is not jumping high enough

Force Vsync from a driver's control panel[citation needed]
Use dgVoodoo 2[citation needed]

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
DirectDraw
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows
Use OpenClaw for 64-bit.

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Audio Miles Sound System
Cutscenes Smacker

System requirements

Windows
Minimum
Operating system (OS) 95, 98
Processor (CPU) Intel Pentium (75 MHz)
System memory (RAM) 16 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 18 MB
Video card (GPU) 2 MB of VRAM
DirectX 5 compatible
The DVD release of the game only works with specific Creative MPEG-2 decoder cards.


Notes

  1. Applications writing to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE will be redirected to other locations based on various criterias, see the glossary page for more details.
  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

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Verified by User:Antrad on May 16, 2019