How to get Doom 3 to work for 9x/ME(tutorial!)

Just a fair warning before we get started. This is, after all, EDITING/DECOMPILING the executable file, which as astump said, violate your liscense agreement.

Please be advised that doing this violates your license agreement. By editing the executable file in a hex editor, you are reverse engineering the program.

By following what is stated below, you most likely are not valid for help from iD. Also, this MAY or MAY NOT work. If you happen to "screw up" your executable, simply switch the values to what they were.

Well, first off you'll need a hex tool. For this i just searched "Hex Editor" in google and used the first one. The following procedure...
1. open Doom3.exe with hex editor
2. go to offset 00374F1E and 00374F1F
3. change and save it as follows:
00374F1E: 45 ----change to---->00
00374F1F: 78 ----change to---->00
4.Run it!
...and boom! It works fine! I have tested this on WinME and Win98SE(I have Win98SE, my freind has WinME). Now, if only I could get Doom3 to run faster then 18FPS :P

[EDIT] Just thought I might add an addition question/theory. Why would iD "hide" Doom3 from Win95-NT users? It may have something to do with a deal between them and microsoft or microsoft and activision, with activision telling them what OS Doom3 "needs" to run on. Weird, huh?

[EDIT-HEXEDITOR]
Seeings I just thought people might download a "bogus" hex editor or somthing, I'll post a link to the one I downloaded and used.
http://www.shareup.com/Hex_Editor_P...nload-6553.html

[EDIT2] Also, if like me your comp suffers some performance, here are some links to good perforamnce updates:
http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/ge...15503352&page=0
http://www.doomworld.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=26116
http://www.doomworld.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=26178
^ The important post in the last link is posted by HackNeyed
http://www.viperlair.com/articles/h...oftware/tweakd3

I have a feeling that it is unstable on Windows 98 and so instead of wanting to support it they just disabled it. I highly doubt that there is some conspiracy by Microsoft to get everyone to upgrade to Windows XP.

Well, it does have some quitting problems(Win98SE)... Haven't tested multiplayer yet, probaly wont either due to the lag that I'm getting. If someone could test MP with the given fix, that be good. :P I know so far that the given fix works for SP, but anything can happen and MP must just bug out with it. :)

Thanks alot. Worked like a charm, except for one problem. The game starts and runs fine now, except there is no sound whatsoever. Anyone have any idea why that would be? Thanks again.

Hmm, I'm not sure, I don't even have a sound card/ :( ONce I get mine(in about 5 days) I'll cehck it out and see what happense. In the meantime, make sure to check that your sound drivers are up-to-date.

VolteFace said:

I have a feeling that it is unstable on Windows 98 and so instead of wanting to support it they just disabled it. I highly doubt that there is some conspiracy by Microsoft to get everyone to upgrade to Windows XP.

It may not be a conspiracy between ID and Microsoft, but you can bet youre Doom 3 copy , that Micro is pulling strings to force People to upgrade. Personaly I dont see why they didnt allow it to run with a disclaimer that said we will not support anything but win 2000 and XP. that is more than reasonable than disableing it. Not supported rarely means won't work, and companies don't seem to bother to tell us wich the word unsupported means, probably for good reason.

ok I am interested. I will be getting xp within the next 60 days, this will help in the mean time. One thing though, is there a suggested free hex edit download and site downloaded from, that you allready know is safe for me to use? I just got rid of a downloaderkl virus, I dont need another or something worse thanks :) ( last I felt this violated was when that 19 year gave the clap when I was 17 ;) )

lol, ok, hold on and I'll get the link...
http://www.shareup.com/Hex_Editor_Pro-download-6553.html
Enjoy. :)

( last I felt this violatedf was when that 19 year gave the clap when I was 17 ;) )

X D
[EDIT]Umm...it blocks **? Weird X D

what blocked? I got the file thank you.

So? Did it work?

The DW forums seem to block X-D from displaying right. I have to space X from D. Unless its just FireFox fubaring...

@The Tingler: It works for Win98SE and WinME. If you try it on NT or whatever, let me know and I'll add it to the compatibility list.

What about this sound thing?

the sharware version crashed each time I tried to open the doom3.exe. And it only lets you run it 5 times :( oh well. I am on 98 updated version ( not se ) Maybe someone will be kind enough to create a utility that specifically changes the values you just listed and make it downloadable on a Doom3 site. Thanks anyway. I should have xp by the end of this month or the beginning of next. I can only afford the upgrade version home ( I heard I would be happier with pro though )
I just have to figure the walk around with haveing a win 95 full version ( not a valid upgrade for xp for some greedy Bill gates reason ) And can only upgrade from my windows 98 if I install it first ( no clean intall for me :( ) But then that leaves the problem haveing to run a third party program to get my 80 gig hard drive to function properly with it. atghh, Maybe I will ge tlucky and find a cheap slae and get it for only 40 bucks sniff. the thing that really sucks is because of how xp works a lot of my older games ( like darklands and conquest of the new world ) wont work and I need to buy 2 computers. a 486 dx2 66 and a pentium 200 mmx. But those can wait untill next summer :(.

Umm... shareware? What shareware version?

You mean the Hex Editor?

Could try a different one...

Please be advised that doing this violates your license agreement. By editing the executable file in a hex editor, you are reverse engineering the program.

Oh, I suppose I'll add that. :) That is, after all, important and stuff :P

http://www.fileplanet.com/files/140000/144010.shtml

Is this patch any good?

it is prolly the same thing given here, just already modified for ya, or its a virus ;)

This is a new one:

1. download any 'Hex Edit' utility
2. open Doom3.exe with it
3. find the next string 'GlobalMemoryStatusEx'
4. replace the 'Ex' with 00,00 in HEX MODE!!!
5. save it
6. Run and enjoy it :)

Try it alongside the original Hex Edit, as in Eragon's first post.

Has anyone actually got it working on 98 with no problems?

win98 isnt the best thing for doom III
you could always "barrow" windows, or wait until the linux version is out.
i dont know if they will add support in later versions, but i dout it.

One problem I've found with running the game on Win98, is that you can't install the new ATI drivers... since the game supposedly only runs on 2000 and higher, they don't make the upgrades accessable on 98. Grr...

Just FYI, Doom 3 runs fine in Win98SE for me. I too wish I could get the 4.9 Beta Catalysts though...

I suspect that when we finally see the official 98/Me 4.9 drivers they will also contain the Doom 3 fixes. They will already be in the code; why bother spending the time to remove them?

Eragon said:

Well, it does have some quitting problems(Win98SE)... Haven't tested multiplayer yet, probaly wont either due to the lag that I'm getting. If someone could test MP with the given fix, that be good. :P I know so far that the given fix works for SP, but anything can happen and MP must just bug out with it. :)

I highly doubt a hex edited .exe would work on multiplayer, seeing as you can't even play the game with un packed pk4 files online. But I'd be interested to know...

Shaikoten said:

I highly doubt a hex edited .exe would work on multiplayer, seeing as you can't even play the game with un packed pk4 files online. But I'd be interested to know...

That's what my thought was, but I also thought seeing switching a memory refrence in the hex editor, it(the game) would notice something diffrent from others exe's and count it as piracy or a wrong version, or something of the sort. :P

Yep, mine's workin' fine.
ATi RADEON 9600
AMD Athlon 1700
512Mb DDR RAM
And WINDOWS 98SE, of course.
Not exactly a kick-ass PC, but it ran Far Cry in Full Detall in 1024x768 fine, and now runs Doom 3 in 800x600 in High Detail fine. I could probably go higher than that, too.

I also got the problem with your Hex Editor that thought Doom 3.exe was too big a file.
I personally used http://www.ultraedit.com, which is also a 30-day download thing.

I tried XVI32, but it was too confusing.

Just for people too worried about doing something like this, here's an in-detail step-by-step.

1. Firstly, grab Ultra Edit Shareware and install.
2. Install Doom 3 normally. Make a backup copy of Doom3.exe, just in case.
3. Open the main Doom3.exe file in Ultra Edit. Ignore the bit about Authorisation Code.
4. Scroll down until you find the line 00374F1.
After it will be a set of double-digit numbers, and after them in a third column will be something about 'GlobalMemoryStatus' mostly over this line.
5. At the end of the middle column will be the numbers 45 and 78.
Change these both to 00.
6. Go to 'File' then 'Save'. (This should create another file in the Doom 3 folder, which you can ignore)
7. Close Ultra Edit then run Doom 3. Shortcuts work fine too.

Any other problems will probably be your own.

If you uninstall Doom 3, make sure you keep a copy of the altered Doom3.exe file and the newly-created Ultra Edit file (probably don't need it, but what the hey - better safe than sorry).

Sorry if this is all Idiot's Guide stuff, and yes, it IS basically just what Eragon posted at the top, but it wasn't COMPLETELY concise.

Thanks! Now I can play Doom 3 on 98...there isnt much difference in the performance though..

This is pretty cool but I doubt there is a conspiracy. Unfortuantly Windows 98 just doesn't cut it anymore. Sure, it's better than XP for old stuff, but it just doesn't have as much support for newer hardware, and even though your hack involved editing two lines of hex, id Software would probably have to do a lot more stuff, to guarantee that it ran on Windows98. However that's still pretty cool!

Oh yeah, plus it's being ported to Linux and that's Microsoft's arch-enemy :D

I just don't like XP, that's all. I've got a copy (mainly just in case Doom 3 didn't work), but I don't want to stick it in until I have no choice. Like, when games come out with no workaround whatsoever.

I agree that id Software would probably have to do a lot more to guarantee that the game worked on 98. Still, check all the problems on this forum. They obviously haven't done all their homework on more important matters, like ATi graphics cards etc.

One thing I don't get though... id tried so hard to allow people with lower specs to play this game, even allowing the crap Geforce MX series to work it and giving the game on CDs rather than a DVD. So WHY make Windows 98 the only casualty on the specs? I'd rather have a DVD than the ridiculous over-sized box we got lumbered with.

xbertmx said:

Thanks alot. Worked like a charm, except for one problem. The game starts and runs fine now, except there is no sound whatsoever. Anyone have any idea why that would be? Thanks again.

I got the sound thing covered, for me at least (yes I did buy it, albeit second-hand). Win98 mostly uses a VxD driver for its sound, whereas Win2000/XP uses the WDM one. Now, D3's sound DOES work in 98SE, but no 5.1 (for me), the rest is fine.
So the only thing in 98(SE) is : no 5.1 (and up) sound ...

I got it from ... Painkiller where using the WDM driver under 98SE created temporary freezes every 5 secs or so when things got busy.

It (D3 I mean) looks b u t t ugly on my A64 3200+ w/ Ti4200 and 512 mb ram though, even with settings at the 2nd highest. It even recommends me 640x480 ...

Nice find,too bad I uninstaled DOOM 3, and don't want to install it again.

Some people call this paranoid, but I certainly find possible the chance of some kind of deal between id and microsoft and/or hardware companies. I mean, come on, it's obvious that microsoft loves you to upgrade their products and always use the latest (many times crapiest) versions. Skilled coders as id could set something as complex as DOOM 3 to work with lower hardware and software requirements, but their sure find some privileges for doing this.
Back then in the DOOM 3 - Ge Force 3 era I think it was quite obvious.

Yeah I know, many will find this paranoid, oh well.