KOTR KOTOR Windows 7 Fix (CD installation and Nvidia Graphics cards)

[jabber2033]

So thought I'd put this up for people, since this is somewhat relevant. I have an Asus G74sx gaming laptop that I use for gaming. It's decent, and no issues save for KOTOR. Always crashed. After doing a bit of Googling and trying different things, I found what best works for me.

 

After doing all of the following, I found the game rarely, if ever crashes. Only started exploring Taris, but so far no issues.

 

NOTE: THIS ASSUMES YOU ARE USING THE ORIGINAL GAME WITH THE 4 INSTALLATION CDS AND NOT THE STEAM OR COLLECTOR'S EDITIONS

 

System information:

OS: Windows 7 64-bit.

Nvidia 560 Graphics card

8GB Ram

Intel Core i7-2630QM CP @ 2.00GHz

 

Steps:

1. Install the game using the 4 installation CDs

 

2. Download and install KOTOR patch 1.03 which can be found elsewhere since the game's updater no longer works. (this is optional)

 

3. Open windows explorer and find the game's directory. Default is likely Program Files (x86) under your C drive. Personally, I installed my game in the D drive and created a KOTOR folder for the game. So the path to my game is Computer --> SDATA1 (D:) --> KOTOR.

 

4. Find the swkotor.exe file. Right-click and click on Properties. Click on the Compatibility tab.

 

5. Check the box that says Run this program in compatibility mode for: and select Windows XP (Service Pack 2) in the pull-down menu.

 

6. Check the box that says Run this program as an administrator. Click the Apply button. Do steps 4-6 for the shortcut on the desktop as well just to be safe.

 

7. Double-click the swconfig.exe file. Make sure that the V-sync and the Enable Hardware Mouse boxes are unchecked. Click Apply.

 

8. Open the swkotor.ini file in Notepad. Scroll to Graphics Options and add the line "Disable Vertex Buffer Objects=1" without quotes. Save the file.

 

9. Go into the game's movie files and rename the following files: biologo.bik, leclogo.bik, and legal.bik. Renaming these movie files allows you to get to the game's start screen without crashing since those intro movies can cause crash issues. I simply added a 1 before the .bik.

 

10. You should be able to get to the game's start screen at this point. While on the start screen, click Options, then Graphics. Turn off Grass and Shadows.

 

11. Click on Advanced Options. Uncheck Frame Buffer Effects.

 

 

THE FOLLOWING STEPS ASSUME YOU HAVE AN NVIDIA GRAPHICS CARD AND ACCESS TO THE NVIDIA CONTROL PANEL.

 

12. Right-click on your desktop and open the Nvidia Control Panel.

 

13. Click on Manage 3D Settings.

 

14. Go to Program Settings. Add swkotor.exe to the list of programs if it is not available.

 

15. The following settings are what I use for the game:

 

Ambient Occlusion: Not Supported (Grayed out in my settings)

Anisotropic Filtering: Application Controlled

Anti-Aliasing - FXAA: OFF

Anti-Aliasing - Gamma Correction: ON

Anti-Aliasing - Mode: OFF

Anti-Aliasing - Setting: None (Grayed out in my settings)

Anti-Aliasing - Transparency: Off (Grayed out in my settings)

CUDA - GPUs: Global Settings

Maximum Pre-Rendered Frames: Global Settings

Multi-display/mixed-GPU acceleration: Single Display

Power Management: Max Performance

Shader Cache: Global Settings

Texture Filtering - Anisotropic Sample Options: ON

Texture Filtering - Negative LODS bias: Clamp

Texture Filtering - Quality: High Performance

Texture Filtering - Trilinear optimization: On

Threaded optimization: Off

Triple Buffering: On

Vertical Sync: On

Virtual Reality Pre-Rendered Frames: Global Settings

Note: you can experiment with these, but keep Threaded optimization off. I have Googled around and several places have said that it does cause quite a number of issues, and is responsible for some crashes.

 

 

Hope this fix helps some people. Not sure how many are still playing KOTOR in 2017, but it's definitely an old favorite.

[Maphisto86]

I have been playing it recently using the digital, GOG.com version and have run into a cutscene bug. The bug causes the game to minimize to Windows every time a pre-rendered cutscene is played. Not game breaking, but annoying. Would your fix possibly help with this issue? I tried a widescreen fix using a program called "Flawless Wallscreen" but it did not seem to work for me. I can only play those cutscenes without interference in a smaller window and not the full window by editing the swkotor.ini file.

 

Update: I found that running the game in compatibility mode (Windows XP, Service Pack 3) fixes this particular issue. However, I have run into other bugs with the digital version on Windows 10. : /

Edited May 5, 2017 by Maphisto86