Planescape Torment Installation and Modding

E

evilsofa

[H]F Junkie
Joined
Jan 1, 2007
Messages
10,078
Edit: I apparently reinvented most of the steps in this installation walkthrough, which includes better detail on some steps; thanks for the link Trex!

Everyone always talks about Planescape: Torment being one of the best RPGs ever, so I have finally gotten around to doing this thing. I am running Windows 7 64bit with an E6600 at 3.0GHz and an Nvidia GTX 275 with 186.16 WHQL drivers. The good news is that Win7 64bit does not seem to present any problems with running PS:T. I didn't even have to use Windows Compatibility mode or Adminstration mode.

First, I'll give you the list of patches and mods to download. These mods supersede pretty much all the mods that existed before, including various mods by Platter, SKARDAVNELNATE, and Cilantro's Restoration Pack; all that stuff has been merged into Qwinn's trio of mods. If I don't list it here, you don't need it anymore, and you'll almost certainly want all of these mods to get the full experience of the way PS:T was supposed to be.

Install the mods in this order:

1. Install Planescape: Torment.

2. If you have the 4 CD version of PS:T, install the Official Interplay Patch 1.1. Do not install it if you have the 2 CD version, because the 1.1 patch has already been applied. DVD and direct download versions are probably already patched to 1.1 as well.

3. If you are playing in a language different than English, you should install your language pack at this time, but the best support is for English.

4. Install Qwinn's PS:T Ultimate WeiDU Fixpack (version 4.0 at this writing). Fixes every known bug in the game, so it's really not optional.

5. Install Qwinn's PS:T Unfinished Business (version 4.0 at this writing). Puts back in a bunch of great unfinished stuff - about 95% original Black Isle content. Sure, it's optional, but some of the best parts of the game are in there.

6. Install Qwinn's PS:T Tweaks (version 4.0 at this writing). Tweaks that aren't bugfixes but are still very useful; only a few are cheats and you can decide not to install those parts. The Banter fix is almost not optional.

7. Install The Bigg's Widescreen Mod (version 2.31 at this writing). If you don't want to run PS:T at 640x480, you need this, so this should be not optional for just about everybody now.

8. OPTIONAL: Install Ghostdog's PS:T UI mod (version 2.1 at this writing). Now supports all resolutions except those below 800x480; can also increase the text size by 30% to 120% which is a godsend on really large resolution monitors.

9. Be aware of the Lost Party Members Fix, but use it only if needed after the fact. It fixes three situations where it is possible to lose party members, and I don't know whether or not Qwinn's patches fix those situations. I did not experience this problem.

11. Edit the Torment.ini file and change "Path Search Nodes" from 4000 to 32000 to make your companions follow you better, and change "Maximum Frame Rate" from 30 to 40 to make gameplay smoother. Those with Nvidia cards may also want to turn SoftSrcKeyBltFast, SoftBltFast, SoftSrcKeyBlt, SoftBlt, and SoftMirrorBlt all to zero to remove some graphics glitches.

12. There have been writeups like this one about how to do a full install by copying files from the CDs and editing the first lines of the Torment.ini, but I was never able to get this to work. The game seems to work fine without doing that. However, you'll want to make sure that the "CD2:=" entry is looking at the drive that you have CD 2 in or you won't be able to get past the CD check. I will not discuss means to get around the CD check since that is against forum rules. Edit: this installation writeup has more detail about this step that may work better.

Edit: removed a bunch of stuff about custom resolutions and pixel doubling that doesn't matter anymore, now that Ghostdog's UI supports all resolutions.

Other useful information for playing PS:T:

GameFAQs walkthroughs:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/game/187975.html
There you will find:
1. DSimpson's PS:T FAQ 2.0.1 - a very complete walkthrough of the game, which includes the fixes from Qwinn's Fixpack, Unfinished Business and Tweaks.
2. DSimpson's AD&D Rules FAQ - a must read that explains basic things about PS:T's ruleset that are not explained anywhere else
3. Player's Maze Map - a map of a confusing area.

Gamebanshee walkthrough:
Presented in a completely different way than DSimpson's FAQ and just as useful, because it shows maps of every single area.
 
Last edited:
A beautiful and well documented guide, I performed most these steps a while back from about 10 different sources, and it looks spectacular in the end at 1650x1080 with a nice crisp gui and full field of view.

I applaud your effort putting it all in one place
 
Awesome post, i have always wanted to play PS:T but i really couldn't bother going through a lot of trouble to make the game run nicely, i might give it a try after this.
 
Nice writeup. I played through again using most of those add-ons last year.
Best cRPG story and character development (especially the NPCs), hands down.

I would hope the mods wouldn't get on your case about bypassing cd checks on 11 year old abandonware.
 
Any suggestions on where to get this game? I looked on GoG and Steam to no avail. I too have heard that it is a good game and am interested in playing it.
 
This game is crying to be carried on GoG. Otherwise, ebay . There are $20 DVD copies.
One original sealed mint 4 disc version is up to $85 right now.
 
ilikecake said:
Any suggestions on where to get this game? I looked on GoG and Steam to no avail. I too have heard that it is a good game and am interested in playing it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, huge X2. I'd much prefer to download this from somewhere (legally) instead of looking for a physical copy.

Edit: Err. That is a great deal on ebay. A few months back when I was looking for this game all I could find were copies going for over $70. I may bite for $20. ...
 
Go Gamer has it for 20 dollars too. I have the original 4 disc set I bought about 10 years ago. It's beginning to sound like I have a collectors item. It's understable with a game of this caliber.
 
Games on DVD? I think my grandpa told me about that one time. :D

Thanks for the heads up, I just placed an order with amazon. I haven't bought a physical copy of a game in quite some time, thanks to Steam, but I hear this game is worth it. Does anyone want to post some screenshots of how the game looks in high resolution?
 
ilikecake said:
Games on DVD? I think my grandpa told me about that one time. :D

Thanks for the heads up, I just placed an order with amazon. I haven't bought a physical copy of a game in quite some time, thanks to Steam, but I hear this game is worth it. Does anyone want to post some screenshots of how the game looks in high resolution?
Click to expand...

I'll try and post some tonight when I get home from work.
 
ilikecake said:
Games on DVD? I think my grandpa told me about that one time. :D

Thanks for the heads up, I just placed an order with amazon. I haven't bought a physical copy of a game in quite some time, thanks to Steam, but I hear this game is worth it. Does anyone want to post some screenshots of how the game looks in high resolution?
Click to expand...

Ghostdog put up a video of his mod at 1680x1050 (select the 720p version of the video to see it best):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GejCUObcfA
 
Here are some screenshots at 1920x1200. Remember, this game is 11 years old. I'm not very far into the game so this is at the beginning. I also had trouble getting all 5 of my speakers to work in Windows 7. I fired up the the game in Windows XP and all 5 speakers are now working which makes a huge difference. If anyone has played the game you know the sound effects and music are top notch and need to be heard in the best possible way. Without further ado.

TormentStart.png


Torment1-1.png


Torment2.png


Torment3.png
 
Last edited:
Got the game yesterday. I spent a bit getting all the mods to work right. It should be emphasized that the mods should be installed in the order mentioned in the OP. I originally tried it in the order mentioned in the other guide linked in the OP, but there was some issue with different versions of the mods, and it ended up not working.

OP: Did you have problems running this game full screen? I had some issues with the cursor not drawing correctly when I ran the game normally. There is a solution in the install guide you linked to, but it involves running the game in a window which messes up the aspect ratio.

Also, there seems to be an issue with the 'fog of war' that masks off the stuff outside your field of view. There appear to be a bunch of lines in it. I will try to post a screen shot later that illustrates what I am talking about. Did I miss installing something?

A few other notes:
Damn the text is small -- and there is a lot of it. I may reinstall the mod and increase the text size to as big as it gets.

Did not get to play for too long, but the story is intriguing so far. I will probably mess around with the mods a bit before I continue.
 
ilikecake said:
A few other notes:
Damn the text is small -- and there is a lot of it. I may reinstall the mod and increase the text size to as big as it gets.
Click to expand...

You have no idea. I've read that if you actually go through all the dialogue in the course of your game, it's like reading the first six Harry Potter novels(in terms of volume of text). 800,000 lines, I think. It's some of the best writing around, though, so it's absolutely worth trying to get all of it.

Make sure you talk to people, this is a given of course, but also make sure you really pay attention to what's being said. If you click on a dialogue choice, and are returned to the same set of choices, don't necessarily assume that was the end of that particular tree. As well, your party members have a LOT to say, so I suggest you spend a lot of time talking to them. Not only will it enhance both them and you, but it can change the way you think about the game and the other characters in it.

This is really a game that's more like a Novel than a game. I don't want to tell you how to play it, or how to role-play, but Wis and Int are the most important stats(followed by Cha). In terms of experiencing the dialogue of this game and really getting the story, playing the diplomat is the way to go. You hardly ever actually have to fight anyone.
 
Update: Well, I fixed most of my problems with the graphics. It turns out there is some problems with direct draw in this game with new video cards. A solution is to run the program in a window. For anyone else interested: the program you need is D3DWindower and you can follow the guide here to set it up. A few things to note:
  • If you are also running the widescreen patch (recommended) you should set the resolution below your monitor's native res because the title bar at the top of the window will cause a bit of the screen to be cut off if you are running at full resolution.
  • If you have to re-run the widescreen patch, you will have to restart your game. The game will seem to work for a bit, but will crash at certain points unless you start over.
  • In order to scroll the screen, you will have to use the arrow keys. If the game is full screen, when you move the cursor to the edge of the screen it causes it to scroll. However, when it is running in a window, that doesn't happen. This is a bit annoying, but I have gotten used to it by now.

On a related note: I also jacked the font size to maximum -- highly recommended if you are playing on a larger screen (1920x1200 here). It is easier to read, but still a bit small. See the second screenshot for an example of the text. ;)

Screenshots in window mode (click for full size):


Spewn said:
You have no idea. I've read that if you actually go through all the dialogue in the course of your game, it's like reading the first six Harry Potter novels(in terms of volume of text). 800,000 lines, I think. It's some of the best writing around, though, so it's absolutely worth trying to get all of it.

Make sure you talk to people, this is a given of course, but also make sure you really pay attention to what's being said. If you click on a dialogue choice, and are returned to the same set of choices, don't necessarily assume that was the end of that particular tree. As well, your party members have a LOT to say, so I suggest you spend a lot of time talking to them. Not only will it enhance both them and you, but it can change the way you think about the game and the other characters in it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, replaying the first bit in the Mortuary I found a bunch of extra dialog. It turns out it pays to talk to everybody, even the zombies. I didn't expect each one to have something unique to say. I guess when you don't need to voice over everything, it is much easier to make every character have unique interactions.

Spewn said:
This is really a game that's more like a Novel than a game. I don't want to tell you how to play it, or how to role-play, but Wis and Int are the most important stats(followed by Cha). In terms of experiencing the dialogue of this game and really getting the story, playing the diplomat is the way to go. You hardly ever actually have to fight anyone.
Click to expand...

I blame recent Bioware games (Dragon Age, ME1, ME2) for training me to get the dialog-enhancing stats early. :D I will probably get my ass kicked in an actual fight, but I have been concentrating on getting Wis and Int in order to get extra dialog options.
 
Wis also gives you an experience boost in PS:T, the more you have the more exp you get. Fights aren't typically difficult, there's at least one area that can be pretty tough if you don't have decent gear, but I think you'll find you have a unique ability that will enable you to, eventually, win any fight ;)
 
Nice, thanks. After I lost my previous save game I lost the will to replay it all(was about halfway done). And then seeing all the available mods I just knew I'd install one in the wrong order or something.
 
Spewn said:
Wis also gives you an experience boost in PS:T, the more you have the more exp you get. Fights aren't typically difficult, there's at least one area that can be pretty tough if you don't have decent gear, but I think you'll find you have a unique ability that will enable you to, eventually, win any fight ;)
Click to expand...
Are you referring to the ability to respawn back at the Mortuary an unlimited number of times a la Bioshock? ;)
 
Thought I would bump this thread to say: this game is kinda hard. I must suck at this sort of game. I haven't had too much time to play recently as I have also been moving to a new house, but I keep getting mobbed by a bunch of people and killed.

Who would have thought that a game where the protagonist is immortal would be so hard? :p
 
People are selling "new" copies of this game on ebay, on DVD. Should we assume they're pirated?

And, should that matter, since no one anywhere is willing to sell the game?
 
TRex said:
Go Gamer has it for 20 dollars too. I have the original 4 disc set I bought about 10 years ago. It's beginning to sound like I have a collectors item. It's understable with a game of this caliber.
Click to expand...

Maybe in a sealed box. I just find multiple disks annoying now. I also have the 4 Disk set and I cut out the UPC for a rebate, so I am sure mine isn't worth anything except to me. I would gladly trade the 4 disks for a DVD version.

I have played it through a couple of times, but I might install these patches and run it again...
 
meme said:
People are selling "new" copies of this game on ebay, on DVD. Should we assume they're pirated?

And, should that matter, since no one anywhere is willing to sell the game?
Click to expand...

Amazon carries those as well, so I doubt it.
 
meme said:
People are selling "new" copies of this game on ebay, on DVD. Should we assume they're pirated?

And, should that matter, since no one anywhere is willing to sell the game?
Click to expand...

I got it from Amazon.com on DVD. It looks legit, but I dunno for sure. Since it is not possible to get it any other way (legally) I figure this is better than nothing.

As it turns out, I did not do a bunch of side quests earlier in the game. I did not have too many problems getting though the game until the last (I assume) dungeon. However, in the last dungeon, all my companions get lost, I have to strike out on my own, and I keep getting murdered by bad guys. :( I think I am gonna start over and level up a bit more before going to the final dungeon.
 
Absolutely worth a playthrough. I printed out the 500 page walkthrough from gamefaqs on a school computer once. That was dumb and nerve-wracking at the same time, people kept asking me what I was printing.
 
Planescape: Torment is now for sale on gog for $10, so I thought I'd bump this thread.

Urls in the OP have not been checked for updates since March 2010! Do let me know if the gog version is different enough to need an edit to the OP, but I have no intention of testing it myself.
 
11. Edit the Torment.ini file and change "Path Search Nodes" from 4000 to 32000 to make your companions follow you better, and change "Maximum Frame Rate" from 30 to 40 to make gameplay smoother. Those with Nvidia cards may also want to turn SoftSrcKeyBltFast, SoftBltFast, SoftSrcKeyBlt, SoftBlt, and SoftMirrorBlt all to zero to remove some graphics glitches.
Click to expand...

Did this get rid of the hitching and artifacts during spells? That was a game breaker for me.

I noticed that you also have a GTX2xx and Windows 7.
 
Damn. I need to break out my set of disks and try another play through. Amazing game, but i always seem to encounter crashes at certain points and cannot continue the game. Perhaps some of these bug fix patches will make it run like it was supposed to.

But from what i was able to play through was awesome. Even better than the fallout games, which were and still all high watermarks for storytelling RPG's.
 
So, i just bought another copy of the game off of GoG, and i downloaded the mods mentioned in the OP. The question is, how do you actually install the mods? Just unzip into the game directory? Or is there something else that i need to do.
 
Aren't there 'read me' .docs with them or install instructions where you got them?
 
spugnor said:
So, i just bought another copy of the game off of GoG, and i downloaded the mods mentioned in the OP. The question is, how do you actually install the mods? Just unzip into the game directory? Or is there something else that i need to do.
Click to expand...

The link contains installation instructions and in what order to install the mods. It's also helpful in determining which features of the tweak and unfinished business mods you'll want installed. I had no issues following the guide and everything worked properly in game.

http://thunderpeel2001.blogspot.com/2009/01/planescape-torment-fully-modded.html
 
BababooeyHTJ said:
Did this get rid of the hitching and artifacts during spells? That was a game breaker for me.

I noticed that you also have a GTX2xx and Windows 7.
Click to expand...

Did you try the D3DWindower described here? I had problems with the cursor looking messed up, and running the game through that program fixed it.
 
ilikecake said:
Did you try the D3DWindower described here? I had problems with the cursor looking messed up, and running the game through that program fixed it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I tried it but for some reason it really fucked up edge scrolling which was more annoying than the mouse trails. If I remember right my mouse wouldn't even stay in the window.
 
BababooeyHTJ said:
Yeah, I tried it but for some reason it really fucked up edge scrolling which was more annoying than the mouse trails. If I remember right my mouse wouldn't even stay in the window.
Click to expand...

There is an option in the program that fixes that, if I recall. I will try starting the program and see if I can find it.

Edit: Hmmm, I swear I found a way to fix that, but I can't seem to find it. I was using the arrow keys to scroll for a while, it was a bit of a pain in the ass, but I got used to it.
 
Last edited:
Well, i figured out how to get the mods installed, but it's crash city for me. Seems completely random too, so i have no idea what is causing the crashes. Good thing is since i have it of GoG, i can wipe and install over as many times as i have patience for.

But with the widescreen mods, it looks pretty damn good for a game that old. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top