- Info about the game
- Installing main game (Win9x version)
- Running main game (Win9x version)
- Installing bonus levels (Win9x version)
- Running bonus levels (Win9x version)
- Installing (using TR2Main)
- Running (using TR2Main)
1. Info about the game
Developer: Core Design Ltd.
Resources:
2. Installing main game (Win9x version)
If you don’t care about the “vanilla” experience, you should go straight to #6.
2.1.a) Insert your original CD into the CD/DVD drive,
or:
2.1.b) Buy the game on GoG or Steam and only then download CD image from archive.org.
US version is recommended, since it doesn’t require any patches. Tomb2.exe of this version has the modification date of 19 December 1997, while the UK version’s exe, patched with Patch v1.1 – 10 December 1997.
Patch notes:
* This patch is intended to resolve a problem some users are having whereby the CD is being accessed continuously, thereby reducing the frame rate dramatically. This patch addresses no other issues and therefore we recommend that you install this new executable only if you are experiencing this problem. * A slight tweak to the software rendering.
Extract .bin & .cue files, mount the CD image in ImgDrive or similar software.
2.2) Autorun should run autorun.exe (run it manually if you disabled Autorun for CD/DVD drives):
2.3) Install the game:
2.4) Installer should install the game fine without any compatibility settings:
3. Running main game (Win9x version)
3.1) You can now run the game in its original form. It should work regardless of hardware & OS, and it works fine on my rig (see “Statement” for info about my setup).
3.2) Game doesn’t use any form of copy protection, except a simple CD check:
But you need an inserted CD / mounted image for CD-Audio to work anyway…
3.3) Launch the game, set up options:
And run it.
The only problem can be the misaligned screen on higher resolutions (above 800 x 600):
Which can be fixed by changing Tomb2.exe‘s high DPI settings:
Game looks like this (1280 x 960 res, 4:3 AR):
3.4.a) If you’re on old hardware & OS (Win98, WinXP), you can now play the game – it should work without any problems.
3.4.b) If you’re on modern hardware & OS, you should use modern solution instead (GOTO #6).
4. Installing bonus levels (Win9x version)
There are five bonus levels for TR2 (which create a mini-campaign called The Golden Mask):
Tomb Raider II Gold is a re-release of Tomb Raider II along with a new scenario titled "The Golden Mask", comprising five new levels. In this bonus mission, Lara explores Alaska in search of the Mask of Tornarsuk, an artifact with allegedly holding the power of resurrection. The levels take you to an abandoned Russian mining base, the ruins of an Inuit settlement and a tropical Shangri-La.
4.1) Get TR2 Gold from Patches Scrolls: US version or UK version. These are practically identical, except main menu backgrounds.
4.2) Install the expansion:
4.3) Installer should install the expansion fine without any compatibility settings:
5. Running bonus levels (Win9x version)
5.1) You can now run the expansion in its original form. It should work regardless of hardware & OS, and it works fine on my rig (see “Statement” for info about my setup).
5.2) Expansion doesn’t use any form of copy protection, except a simple CD check:
But you need an inserted CD / mounted image for CD-Audio to work anyway…
5.3) Launch the expansion, set up options:
And run it.
The smaller problem can be the misaligned screen on higher resolutions (above 800 x 600), which can be fixed by changing t2gold.exe‘s high DPI settings:
The bigger problem is a fact, that game’s window overlay is always visible (game won’t run in proper fullscreen). Expansion looks like this (1280 x 960 res, 4:3 AR):
But this problem should only affect people on modern hardware / OS, who should use TR2Main anyway…
5.4.a) If you’re on old hardware & OS (Win98, WinXP), you can now play the expansion– it should work without any problems.
5.4.b) If you’re on modern hardware & OS, you should use modern solution instead (GOTO #6).
6. Installing (using TR2Main)
People on modern hardware & OS should use the modern TR2 solution. Which is TR2Main by Arsunt.
This is an open source implementation of the classic Tomb Raider II game (1997), made by reverse engineering of the original game for PC and PS1. The goal of the project is to make 1:1 clone of the original PC game, to fix all its bugs, and to add more features from non-PC official ports (for example from PS1). So TR2Main is some sort of unofficial modern PC port of Tomb Raider II.
6.1) Create game’s main folder (c:\Tomb2) for example.
6.2) Grab latest build of TR2Main from Github. Extract contents of the TR2Main_v0.9.0.zip to game’s main folder. Files required to run The Golden Mask are already included.
6.3.a) Insert your original CD into the CD/DVD drive,
or:
6.3.b) Buy the game on GoG or Steam and only then download CD image from archive.org. Extract .bin & .cue files, mount the CD image in ImgDrive or similar software.
6.4) Copy \Data\ and \Fmv\ subfolders from the CD to game’s main folder. Overwrite existing files if necessary (Arsunt included some of the “Data” files in TR2Main – they are identical to the ones found on game’s CD).
If you want to save space, only following files from \Data\ subfolder are needed:
- Tombpc.dat
- Main.sfx
- All 24 .tr2 files (maps)
6.5) Eject CD / unmount image. CD is no longer needed to play the game.
6.6) (Optional) Grab the AI upscaled HD FMVs by LeonDeka from this link. Copy all .mp4 files to game’s \Fmv\ subfolder. Rename them by removing the “(30fps)” part:
7. Running (using TR2Main)
7.1) TR2Main uses an anusual way of configuring: Windows registry files. Goto \ExtraOptions\ and run selected .reg files. My recommended list is as follows:
a) Controls:
- GamepadButtonHints_Enable
- GamepadButtonStyle_Auto
- WalkToSidestep_Enable
b) Gameplay Bugfixes:
- LowCeilingJumpFix_Enable
- RunningM16_damageFix_Enable
c) Graphic effects:
- AlphaBlendAdvanced
- CustomWaterColorEnabled
- PickupItemStyle_SpritesAdjusted
- ReflectionsHigh
- RoundShadowsEnable
d) GUI style:
- InvBackgroundDarken
- PauseDarkened_Enable
- PsxBarPosDisable
- PsxBarsDisable
- PsxInvTextBoxDisable
- SavegameSlots24
- StatsBackgroundDarken
e) Other features:
- PngScreenshotsEnable
f) Pictures:
- LoadingScreensDisabled
- RemasteredPixEnable
g) Sound:
- BarefootSfxEnable
- InventoryMusicMute_Quiet
- UnderwaterMusicMute_Quiet
h) View:
- PsxFovDisable
- ViewFogRecommended
(Almost) full explanation of these settings can be found here.
7.2.) Launch run_setup.bat to modify “main” settings:
And run the game.
7.3) Game looks like this using settings described above (1920 x 1080 res, 16:9 AR):
Gamepad support (DirectInput & XInput) + gamepad hints enabled:
Transparent Inventory & Statistics background:
PC-style health bar & air bar:
7.4) You can also run bonus levels (The Golden Mask) by launching run_gold.bat:
Running Old PC Games 