Dungeon Siege: Command-Line Parameters and Troubleshooting Shortcuts (325037)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Dungeon Siege 1.0
  • Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna
This article was previously published under Q325037

SUMMARY

You can use command-line parameters to customize the Microsoft Dungeon Siege startup process and to resolve certain problems that may occur when you try to start or play the game. This article lists the command-line parameters and explains how they work.

This article also lists several troubleshooting shortcuts that Dungeon Siege provides. The troubleshooting shortcuts are preconfigured with command-line parameters to resolve certain problems.

MORE INFORMATION

The following table lists the command-line parameters that you can use to start Dungeon Siege.

Parameter Description
fpslog=true Records frames-per-second information and outputs it to the Fps.log file in the DS folder.
zonematch=true Disables the Microsoft and GPG logo movies and goes immediately to ZoneMatch.
nosound=true Turns off all sounds, including music.
nointro=true Disables the Microsoft and GPG logo movies.
fullscreen=false Forces Dungeon Siege to run in windowed mode.
height=xxxx Forces Dungeon Siege to run at xxxx resolution height.
width=xxxx Forces Dungeon Siege to run at xxxx resolution width.
bpp=xx Forces Dungeon Siege to run in a specific color depth, where xx can be 16 or 32.
verifydata=true Instructs Dungeon Siege to verify the integrity of its executable and resource data when it starts up. This process takes time to run and shows a dialog box after it verifies each file. If the test indicates that a file is corrupted, try reinstalling the game.

NOTE: Turn this option off after you use it.
bltonly=true Forces blt mode instead of flip mode (to work around the nVidia blinking problem with earlier drivers).
aa_screenshots=true Uses anti-aliasing when it renders a screen shot (may cause your computer to stop running with earlier drivers). By default, anti-aliasing is off.
nospacecheck=true Skips the free-disk-space and available-memory checks on startup.
simplerender=true Forces simple rendering mode. This turns off multitexturing. Use this parameter to get rid of rendering problems for some video adapter/driver combinations.
asynccursor=false Turns off the asynchronous cursor. This parameter increases the frame rate but slows mouse response time.
turtle=true Turns on auto-disconnect from a multiplayer session when a computer times out (that is, when a computer is not heard from for a long time). By default, this feature is on. Setting turtle=false turns off auto-disconnection. Changing this option is not recommended.
maxfps=xx Forces Dungeon Siege to run at a maximum framerate of xx.


When you install the Dungeon Siege 1.1 Update, additional parameters are available:

ParametersDescription
noalttab=truePrevents task switching during gameplay (supported on Windows XP only).
nowinkeys=trueDisables the Windows keys (supported on Windows 2000 and Windows XP only).
user_path=path Specifies where the user files go (rather than \My Documents\Dungeon Siege).


Note Other path-related command line options are: keys_path, map_paths, mod_paths, res_paths, save_path, and shots_path.

To manually add parameters to the Dungeon Siege shortcut command line, follow these steps:
  1. Insert Dungeon Siege disc 1 into the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive. Hold down the SHIFT key to prevent the program from starting automatically.
  2. Right-click Start, and then click Open or Open All Users.
  3. Double-click the Programs folder.
  4. Double-click the Dungeon Siege folder or the Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna folder.
  5. Right-click the Dungeon Siege shortcut or the Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna shortcut, and then click Properties.
  6. Click the Shortcut tab.
  7. Click the Target box, press END, press SPACEBAR, and then type the parameter that you want to use. If you want to use an additional parameter, press SPACEBAR, and then type the next parameter.

    For example, the following command line includes several parameters:

    "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Dungeon Siege\DungeonSiege.exe" nosound=true bltonly=true fullscreen=false nointro=true

    Note Parameters are not case-sensitive. The path must be in quotation marks if it contains spaces.
  8. Click Apply or click OK.
  9. Double-click the Dungeon Siege shortcut to start the game.

Troubleshooting Shortcuts

When you install Dungeon Siege, the Setup program creates several troubleshooting shortcuts that customize the Dungeon Siege startup process.

To access these shortcuts, click Start, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Games, point to Dungeon Siege, and then click Troubleshooting.

These troubleshooting shortcuts include the following:
  • Dungeon Siege 640 x 480

    This shortcut starts Dungeon Siege with the following parameters: height=480 width=640 bpp=16
  • Dungeon Siege No Intro

    This shortcut starts Dungeon Siege with the following parameter: nointro=true
  • Dungeon Siege No Sound

    This shortcut starts Dungeon Siege with the following parameter: nosound=true
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:6/16/2005
Keywords:kbui kbinfo KB325037
©2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.