I don't know what it is that makes it so satisfying to attack zeppelins but.......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL5d_iFtGsg

Good Stuff!

LOVE IT!!!!

Man, gonna have to search thru my closet to see if I kept the game around.

Very cool speedbump!

Looks pretty good when encoded in Nero AVC, their version of H-264 codec.

Crimson Skies - The Pilfered Prototype - Mission 7

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOCQnC3r3pg

Hey speedbump, where'd you download that mod you mentioned earlier?

Gosh, I blundered around on the web looking for an answer to the graphics corruption that plagues Nvidia cards running Crimson Skies and found it to be caused by something Nvidia did with their drivers. Some one made a little mod that gets around it. The forum I got it from is still there, but the link is dead. I have the files. There is the official 102 patch and the graphics fix file which includes a nocd and resolution config file. So the patch and graphics fix file work on either XP or Win 7, but you still have to set the executable for WIN 98 compatibility mode or the game crashes randomly. The menu will stay small even though you change the resolution in the config file since this game came out when 800x600 was a common resolution, but at least you can read the menus. I bet this old game would look great on a big monitor though.

Anyone wanting the files, PM me with your email and I'll zip them up and send them to Megaupload.

It would be great if they made this today with widescreen and upgraded graphics. I remember how impressed I was with the way it ran back then, smooth and fast.

Please upload the files somewhere so I can give this a go again.

I put the files on Megaupload. If you want them, PM me and I'll send you the link. Or I can email them. The whole thing is about 5Mb. I don't know what SimHQ's policy is on patches and fixes.

Mission 9.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRDfYAkHdBI

Here is a short video of the Crimson Skies mod I did for SF1...

http://www.archive.org/details/PaulGrubichCrimsonSkiesforSF1

Wow, that is so cool. I don't know what it is about shooting at zeps, but it's very satisfying. Must be similar to shooting at a battleship.

Oh hell yes. I still have that on my shelf back home somewhere. Awesome!

That game was a lot of fun and had a lot of style. The xbox version didn't have the cockpit view, that makes it even better. That would be a fun one to play through again sometime on a pc.

Got it up and running again on my computer. Thanks Speedbump!

It's such a shame that Microsoft pretty much killed off the franchise. I would have loved to have seen sequels on the PC, and the board game was actually quite a lot of fun as well. But then again, that's Microsoft for you.

There is a sequel in the works now I believe.

Agreed, played it again over the weekend (thanks, Speedbump!) and it's great to just fly around and shoot things up.

RK, you have more info on this sequel?

Not that specific by any means, but I'd say it's promising. The big news is about Mechwarrior.

Part 1 from 2007:
http://www.smithandtinker.com/news/smith-and-tinker-acquires-fasa-ips.php

Couple months ago:
http://au.gamespot.com/news/6214624.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=morenews&tag=morenews;title;1

That is so cool, Crimson Skies was a great game, with some fantastic voice acting and a good story

Care to email me those files? semmern at hotmail dot com

Allows it to run in Win 7 (x64), full hardware acceleration, NVIDIA cards, working menus. No glitches or crashes that I have noticed.

It's like back in the day...except that there these big side bars...oh wait, that's cause I'm playing it on a widescreen monitor.

Now if only there was a way to up the resolution past 1024x768...

FC

Anyone wants the files, they are on the page under the video tab on my site. It's on Megaupload, but I personally uploaded them so the files are OK and with the patch and res fix, the whole RAR is about 5M. The place I got them from was a forum that a person was trying to get Nvidia to fix it and another individual came up with the fix.

FastCargo, you can edit the fix file now up to I guess any resolution. The only bad thing about me running it at 1280x1024 is the menu section is stuck at 800x600, but I can live with that. One of the files you extract to the game directory has an editable area where you put in your custom resolution.

You're a champion speedbump I could stand it no longer after seeing all your vids and the horrible res I was getting on my rig (yep XP AND nvidia !) and promptly downloaded your fix.

Anywhere in particular I have to place the files or is it an auto installer ? Or are instructions included ?

And thanks again mate. There's a lot of secret CS admirers out there I reckon and you've done 'em proud.

There is the patch which is called 102 I think. Just execute it and it will patch the game top 102. The rest should be extracted to the game directory. Then open csfix which is now in the game directory, with notepad and set your resolution.

Thanks speedbump

I tried to get Crimson Skies to work in Vista and then upgraded to Win7 due to everyone saying that it can usually run CS vs Vista not doing so. I'm having the same problem with both OSs, when I click on the patched exe, I see the intro splash screen in distorted purple/black, I'll hear a quick burst of music, the screen flashes white and then the OS cuts in saying the exe is not functioning properly. Any ideas?

Did you use the whole file on my site. First install game, then patch to 1.02. Then extract the fix which replaces the exe.

Then look for csfix which is a new config file which makes all the changes possible. The first paragraph needs to be set to 1 so it will run in 32 bit color. It causes some weird menu problems but the game is fine.

The second paragraph if set to 1 allows you to set a specific game resolution manually. I'm sure some resolutions will crash the game though. I have mine set to 1280x1024. If you leave the number on 0 it will not run the resolution you set, but the resolution set in the game.

Disable usage of high performance counter, set it to 1 unless you are running an old Pentium 3.

I have the other two setting set to 1 too as they are self explanatory.

If you mess it up, you can always extract the fix again which should overwrite your messed up settings.

I'm running an Intel 2.4ghz quadcore with ATI Radeon HD4870, and I used 1.02 and csfix. On a whim, I just deleted CS, reinstalled everything, set all of the options in csfix to 1, resolution to 1024x768 and I was able to get into the game using the AGP renderer option, I can see the menus just fine, but when I fly my screen has black areas that expand and gradually take over the entire viewable area, as if the screen isnt being refreshed properly. That's not very fun. :-(

When I use the software renderer, my color palette is reversed (purples, blacks and greens) and my flying view is limited to one side of my monitor with the other side empty.

Here's the black areas from the hardware renderer in a screenshot, other times everything but the cockpit will be obscured, eventually the whole screen will be black: Screenshot

Yeah, I can't use the software renderer either. The csfix requires the CS exe be replaced too though as far as I know since there is no config file before extracting and replacing the exe.

I saw that same screen before when I tried to run it on my old ASUS EAX 1950 Pro VC in Win XP so it may be something to do with ATI only.

I found out a little more information in this thread, apparently I need to find an old atiumdag.dll file and put it in the Crimson Skies directory to eliminate the black boxes. If we can find one that works, we could include it in the big CS patch zip to make it even easier for people rediscovering the game.

I will put it in the file if you can find it. Most of those sites listing downloads for dll files are completely bogus.

I tried every ATI driver that had atiumdag (8.1 or later x64 drivers), no success, and that RobotJesus guy doesnt have email enabled and hasn't posted on Rage3d since the summer. Maybe I'll grab a $30 Nvidia card and dual-boot my PC since I have a spare 16x slot...

I've wondered if you could do that. I have two slots too.

I can use this as it improves the rendering in-game. I can even stand the 60's style purple arthouse menu effect But if I take fraps clips in-game with it switched on I get a dual 60's style purple arthouse clip on playback. Apart from the acid flashbacks, it makes vids impossible. Well, not impossible, but I don't want to scare everyone.

Is this your experience too speedbump ? Is there a way around it ?

Yeah, I get the upper lower split dual screen too on software mode using Fraps.

Dropping in an Nvidia 8400 solved the problem, too bad Win7 dropped hardware profiles as I have to manually reconfigure Win7 to use the Nvidia or the ATI depending on which game I want to play (I have an RGB switch to handle the actual wiring).

Now, does anyone have an online strategy guide? I only have my game CD, no sign of the manual, mainly I'm wondering if there's a chart regarding the different ammo types for the guns. Is explosive always the best choice for all-around damage, or does it have downsides where I may want to use AP in one gun and dum-dum in another?

Dum Dum is the bullet of choice for all the killers that used to play online. Next would be a slug.

I found this place while blundering around on the internet. Not sure how busy it is though.

http://crimsonskies.no-ip.biz/

http://www.montanaraiders.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=24

Apparently there are some hidden areas in the game. I wonder how many?

http://www.montanaraiders.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=408