The "Games that don't work with Vista" thread

Associate
Joined
22 Jun 2004
Posts
44
Location
Scotland
I thought that it'd be a good idea to make a list of games software that doesn't run correctly under Windows Vista at present; it'd be a good idea to post

1. Which version of Vista you're running e.g. Basic/Home/Business x32 or x64
2. What your main hardware specs are e.g. GPU / Mobo / RAM etc.
3. What drivers you're using for your GPU, in case this is a drive issue

Then list the software and brief description/reason for the incompatability. I'll start the ball rolling in the next post.

Worthy of a sticky?
 
Updated games list

1. Windows Vista Premium x64 OEM
2. MSI P6N 680i, Intel E6600, nVidia 8800 GTS 640MB, 2GB PC6400 DDR2
3. nVidia 100.64 beta drivers

Games not working:
*Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy - runs extremely slowly (~5fps) in all resolutions
*Star Wars: KOTOR - crashes to desktop when starting new game
*Star Wars: KOTOR II - crashes to desktop when starting new game
*Star Wars: Battlefront II - does not launch after installation (no CD detected)
*Star Wars: Republic Commando - crashes to desktop (verified 8800 issue)
*Star Wars: X-Wing vs TIE Fighter - does not install
*Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance - will not install; runs from CD but without H/W 3D video support
*Drakan: Order of the Flame - installs but crashes when attempting to launch a new game

Games working:
the following via the Steam application from Valve Software
*Call of Duty
*Call of Duty: United Offensive
*Call of Duty 2
*Half-Life 2
*Half-Life 2: Episode 1
*Day of Defeat: Source

the following via CD/DVD install
*Quake 4
*Star Wars: Battlefront
*Star Wars: Empire at War
*Star Wars: Jedi Knight II - Jedi Outcast
*Unreal Tournament 2004 (patch 3369 64-bit)
*Battlezone - but will not allow greater than 640x480 in hardware 3D
*Battlezone II: Combat Commander
*Far Cry (both 32-bit and 64-bit)
*Giants: Citizen Kabuto
*Conflict: Freespace
*Quake II ;)
*Unreal II: The Awakening
*Project IGI (a little jerky on the FPS, but it works well enough)
*Soldier of Fortune II - framerate issues but playable

Command And Conquer: The First Decade (patched to 1.02)
*C&C - Works
*Red Alert - Works
*Tiberian Sun - reports missing dll's.. fails to load
*Renegade - Works
*Red Alert II - reports "String Manager failed to initialize" and doesn't load
*Yuri's Revenge - requests "Correct CD" to be inserted - fails to load
*Generals - Works
 
Last edited:
Only game i have tried so far is Team Fortress Classic, Wouldn't work in OpenGL mode with Nvidia Drivers but works with D3D mode. No reported slowdown when i was playing 60fps all the time.
 
Windows Business
X800XT 256mb
1GB OCZ DDR 400 ram

Games working:
need For speed Most Wanted

Games not working
Need for speed carbon
GTA SA
 
Just a pointer here, but a some games require you to run the game in admin mode. So make sure you try that in the compatabiliy tab, before you think it doesn't work
 
modo77 said:
Just a pointer here, but a some games require you to run the game in admin mode. So make sure you try that in the compatabiliy tab, before you think it doesn't work

I've got User Account Control turned off, so the 'run as administrator' option is grayed out ;)

I will try, however, the 'run in Win XP SP2' compatability option to see if that makes a difference...
 
GTA SA runs fine on mine.

Vista Ultimate 32
E6600
GF 7950GX2
SB Fatality fps thingymajig.

Other games that run on mine:

TFC (including OpenGL, so dunno what problem the guy above is getting)
All of my Steam Games (HL, HL:S, HL2, HL2 Ep1, DoD +S)

Battlefield 2 (though not as smoothly as XP, starts of fine, just gets juddery after a few maps) + 2142
Quake 4
Empire Earth

That's all i've really tried so far, but touch wood, not had a game thats refused yet.
 
Last edited:
Out of curiosity, I just tried a few very old games (ie 90s) that installed via DOS commands. They all failed as the CMD prompt in Vista won't allow you to go full screen.

There goes any hope of getting my reliability index up...
 
1.Vista Home Premium 64bit

2.C2D 6400
X1800XT
2x1GB G.Skill PC5300
Asrock XFire...something

3. Dark Messiah M&M Single Player comes up with a white background and an error message when tried to play off the disc. When tried to play off Steam it says its launching and then doesn't.

Multiplayer off Steam works fine however.
 
Windows Vista Ultimate 32bit

A64 4000+ San Diego
DFI LanParty UT NF4 Ultra-D 2006/04/06
OCZ 1GB PC4800 Dual Channel Platinum EE EL-DDR (2.5,3,3,7)
Connect3D ATI Radeon X1950 XT 256MB GDDR3

Only tried 2 games so far

SC: Double Agent - will not install
DOW: Dark Crusade - Installs fine, but crashes back to desktop when trying to play (even in compatability mode)

:(
 
Gigabyte 965P-DS3, Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz, 2Gb DDR2 RAM, ATI X1800 Graphics Card, Creative Audigy ZS - Windows Vista Home Premium 32 Bit.

Not sure whats wrong with the persons problem above, Might and Magic Dark Messiah works fine here. The same with all my Steam games: Half Life 2, Counter Strike Source, Uplink and original Half Life (updated to Half Life 2 engine).

Also playing City of Heroes with no problems, though the login screen tells me I have an old graphics driver and I should update. I think thats to do with the current state of OpenGL though.

Grand Theft Auto - San Andreas also works fine, Hitman: Blood Money and Defcon.
 
DAS said:
Out of curiosity, I just tried a few very old games (ie 90s) that installed via DOS commands. They all failed as the CMD prompt in Vista won't allow you to go full screen.

There goes any hope of getting my reliability index up...

DOSBox is your friend.

edit:

What games btw?
 
TheMadScot said:
1. Windows Vista Premium x64 OEM
2. MSI P6N 680i, Intel E6600, nVidia 8800 GTS 640MB, 2GB PC6400 DDR2
3. nVidia 100.59 beta drivers

Games not working:
*Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy - runs extremely slowly (~5fps) in all resolutions
*Star Wars: KOTOR - crashes to desktop when starting new game
*Star Wars: KOTOR II - crashes to desktop when starting new game
*Star Wars: Battlefront II - does not launch after installation (no CD detected)
*Star Wars: Republic Commando - crashes to desktop (verified 8800 issue)
Definitely not getting Vista then...
 
z0mbi3 said:
DOSBox is your friend.

edit:

What games btw?

Thanks I'll have a look at that.

Old golf games : Links 386 (the title is the giveaway of the age!), PGA Tour etc. I don't really want to play them, but thought I'd see how Vista coped.
 
Back
Top Bottom