Area 51 (2005) Broken textures and lighting

[bentehgray 0]

Although my computer can run its sequel, BlackSite, without a hitch besides having to enable vsync, I think that on certain systems, Area 51's textures are broken.

The game starts fine, but the lighting becomes dark, and the textures become non-existent when I begin playing.

Keep in mind, my PC specs include an AMD Ryzen processor and an RTX 2060 card. I should be able to run this game without a hitch, but no matter what I try, be it reinstalling the game, installing it in another directory, running in compatibility mode or trying the Project Dreamland version, the textures remain broken. It's a shame too, because Area 51 is a truly underrated gem and one of the better shooters of the 2000s, and I wanted to play through it again.

Anyone have any ideas to what is happening?

[diegoelcapo123 0]

Install patch 1.2 https://www.patches-scrolls.de/patch/392/7/

[bentehgray 0]

9 hours ago, bentehgray said:

yzen processor and an RTX 2060 card. I should be able to run this game without a hitch, but no matter what I try, be

I did just that. It still has broken textures and shaders.

[Antrad 38]

It is a DirectX 9 game.

You can try using WineD3D for Windows:

https://fdossena.com/?p=wined3d/index.frag

Or dgVoodoo 2:

https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/DgVoodoo_2

You just need to copy the required dll files into the game installation folder where the game executable is located, read the instructions.

[bentehgray 0]

8 hours ago, Antrad said:

It is a DirectX 9 game.

You can try using WineD3D for Windows:

https://fdossena.com/?p=wined3d/index.frag

Or dgVoodoo 2:

https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/DgVoodoo_2

You just need to copy the required dll files into the game installation folder where the game executable is located, read the instructions.

Good news! The WineD3D method worked perfectly! Now none of the textures and lighting are broken!

Now that we have a way to fix this, I think we should probably edit the game's PCGamingWiki page to list WineD3D as an essential file, as playing without it results in a 50/50 chance of broken textures on some systems.

[Antrad 38]

On 4/22/2020 at 12:18 PM, bentehgray said:

Good news! The WineD3D method worked perfectly! Now none of the textures and lighting are broken!

Now that we have a way to fix this, I think we should probably edit the game's PCGamingWiki page to list WineD3D as an essential file, as playing without it results in a 50/50 chance of broken textures on some systems.

Glad to hear it works. Since you weren't brave enough to update the wiki, I added it to "Issues fixed" section myself.

[Suicide machine 54]

On 4/22/2020 at 12:18 PM, bentehgray said:

Now that we have a way to fix this, I think we should probably edit the game's PCGamingWiki page to list WineD3D as an essential file, as playing without it results in a 50/50 chance of broken textures on some systems.

Citation please...