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Game Patches (Mac and PC)

It is very unlikely that you need a patch. Almost all PC games are delivered at a later technical standard than is required for these patches. But, if you do need one, please visit our patch page.


DirectX Problems? (PC only)

DirectX is an element of Microsoft Windows, and is the means by which the game tells Windows it wants graphics support, sound support and CD support. DirectX by Microsoft has problems all of its own, and can stop the game from running if it does not like your hardware. This may be that your hardware is not compatible, but more usually that the DirectX driver interface is erring somewhere. This is particularly true with graphics cards that are very advanced pieces of hardware, and sometimes just a little too clever in what they do with your central processor. Please try our DirectX page.

Mac Problems?

Be warned: this is the sum total of our Mac knowledge! The Mac does not use DirectX but instead uses QuickTime. 

SST Already Thinks It Is Installed

What happens is this: SST was once installed on your system, you then deleted it, and now you are trying to install it again. But when you do this, it says it is already installed.

This problem is brought about because you did not do an Uninstall process, so the Windows' System Registry still believes the game is installed. If you go to the Windows Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, you will see that SST is shown as installed. But, try as you might, you cannot uninstall a program if you have already deleted its files from your system. And you cannot install it again because Windows thinks it is already there. The only solution to this paradox is to edit manually the System Registry.

This is a system-risky process, details of which are available at our Editing The Registry page. 


Game Fails To Run (PC only)

Tried the DirectX process, and made sure you're not trying to run SST under Windows NT/2000? If it still won't work, this is the next stage.

In this modern day and age, ‘other programs’ are causing increasing problems on the PC. It seems that everybody wants to load hidden drivers at boot-up for you, even when their program is not running, and these are getting in the way of every other program on your system. Microsoft help them in this task by providing a start-up section in your Windows Start button, but almost nobody uses that. Instead. they use a hidden start-up group which Microsoft also provide and which you can't edit directly. 

Hidden away on your PC is a means to get at these, to isolate them progressively, and to find out what's stopping SST from running on your system. That is the MS Configuration Utility.

I checked mine recently and found bits of programs there that I had uninstalled more than three years ago. There were even bits of programs there that I had refused installation in the first place! 


Windows NT

Please note that Starship Titanic for the PC is certified to run under Windows 95 only. This by extension includes Windows 98, and Windows-ME (Millennium Edition).
SST was never compiled to run under Windows NT 
The usual failure under Windows NT is that the gamer can get as far as loading the CD into the computer's tray (all this within the first room of the game) and then nothing else happens... the game does not proceed to the next stage but still allows simple actions to be performed (but not turning of the character).

These symptoms also apply to Windows 2000/XP but another page refers to those operating systems.

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