Midtown Madness 2

[jonifen]

I have found that since upgrading my computer, Midtown Madness 2 seems to take ages to load. Previously on my pentium 3 it ran OK, but on my girlfriends computer (p3 733) it also takes ages to load on. All machines are running winxp pro sp1, my old pc (gf's kids have it now) has 512mb ram, my gf's pc has 512mb ram and my machine has 1gb ram... all machines have been tested with gf 2mx cards, so its not the graphics (i have the same 2mx in the new pc as i did in the old), and both my new pc and old pc have the det 43.00 drivers on.

The only thing I can see different between both machines is that my old machine (p3 750) runs at 100fsb, where my gfs pc (p3 733) and my new pc (p4 2.4ghz) run at 133fsb (the p4 being quad pumped to 533fsb).

could the fsb be at fault? i very much doubt it tbh, but its worth thinking about. Also, with my old pc having a 440bx chipset and my new pc having an intel 845PE and my gf;s having an intel 810... it could be something to do with that perhaps?

If anyone has any ideas on how to fix this issue, please tell me as since clicking the icon to load the game, I have logged onto the forum, typed all this and posted it and the game STILL hasnt started yet (I find that by loading and closing programs on the PC makes it work eventually... as it did on my gf's comp - but this is really buggin me now )

Thanks for any help...

 

[2z]

Midtown Madness 2 Update
Midtown Madness 2 Update fixes launching issues with Windows XP and graphics related with the Intel 810 and Geforce families of graphics chips.

http://www.microsoft.com/games/midtown2/

 

[scriptasylum]

That makes no sense at all! The 810 should run doggy while everything else should run well. I would look for patches for XP. How do other games run?

 

[jonifen]

Zigzag, I have already applied that crack as the game looks awful without it. I am using a no-cd crack (I hate having to put the cd in all the time cuz I play it a lot lol), but the problem occurs when I try it without the crack aswell, so I know thats not the problem.

Every other single game I play runs perfect (according to each spec of course), I've even tried changing the refresh rate in the nvidia drivers for direct3d, and that makes no difference (well, I didnt think it would tbh)... the game actually runs really well when it finally loads, but it just takes AGES to load

I have even tried changing priority on the exe but it changes nothing. I have tried Win2k compatibility mode but still takes ages to load... I'd even try Win98/ME mode, but my gamepad (Sidewinder Gamepad) wouldnt work then, so it'd be quite pointless me playing the game lol.

 

[2z]

there is a program compatibility patch from MS that covers issues with this game > its quite an old one & should be included in SP1

if not get it here

only other thing I can think of is reinstalling the game

if you've not already tried it

 

[jonifen]

ill give that 2nd patch you mentioned a go zigzag... cheers.

i have tried reinstalling it yeah... no joy though

 

[jonifen]

bah, that 2nd patch was actually the same patch i applied to fix the nvidia thing... the first patch is just an older version of the 2nd.

thanks for trying though