Ski Racing 2006 - Installation Guide

[gildum 0]

I would like to share this guide on how to get the game "Ski Racing 2006 - Featuring Hermann Maier" running on Windows 7. The solution very likely also works for Windows 10/11. For now I will leave it with this forum post but in the future (after reading through guides) I will try making an actual wiki entry, as there is no page for this  game yet. 

I really like the game and I think it's still the best and most authentic alpine skiing sim to date with pretty alright and atmospheric graphics (foggy weather in particular), real world cup locations and good controls.

Installation Tutorial
1) install the game (I used the setup-en.exe file for the install)

2) before the end of the installation, two error messages will appear:
- TAGES Drivers - Unable to proceed (error 577)
- Ski Racing 2006 - Error 1722. There is a problem with this Windows Installer package...

Don't click on anything yet, just ignore these prompts.

3) Go to the destination where the game has been installed:
C:\Program Files (x86)\JoWooD\Ski Racing 2006

- Copy the whole Jowood folder from C:\Program Files (x86) to your desktop

4) now you can confirm the 2 error messages and finish the installation
- Note that this will remove the whole installation and the JoWooD folder will be deleted.

5) Now copy the JoWooD folder from your Desktop back to C:\Program Files (x86)

6) a NO-CD patch is required to replace the original SR2006.exe with (in C:\Program Files (x86)\JoWooD\Ski Racing 2006)

7) now when you start the game, the following issue occurs:
- if you skip the intro (with ENTER), the game always crashes

- to fix this, go to C:\Program Files (x86)\JoWooD\Ski Racing 2006\Data\Common and delete the coldwood.avi video file

 

Save file Issues
- after a while (several game sessions) your save game might get resetted
- I'm unsure what's triggering it, seems rather random
- that's why it's recommended to backup your save file (profile.pro) regularly:
C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\JoWooD\Ski Racing 2006\Data\User
C:\Program Files (x86)\JoWooD\Ski Racing 2006\Data\User
- in my case the actual save game file is stored in the 2nd path

Gamepad Setup
- If you would like to play the game with a gamepad (XInput), here are some tips
- in-game mapping of gamepad is limited to buttons only (no axis and triggers)
- left stick can be mapped to steering, but results in digital output only (no analog sensitivity)
- solution: map left/right steering in-game to mouse and use a Controller remapping tool in order to control the mouse (x-axis) with the left stick

- my controller setting suggestion:
- use this in-game mapping
- then use this mapping in the controller remapping tool

Other Issues
-  ATL-TABBING breaks the mouse controls - you will have to restart the game to fix it
- closing the game via ALT+F4 shortcut doesn't work (it does after ALT+TABBING)

Official Patch

- there is also 1 official patch for the game:

https://www.gamepressure.com/download.asp?ID=10529

[mrpenguinb 4]

On 12/5/2021 at 12:49 AM, gildum said:

I would like to share this guide on how to get the game "Ski Racing 2006 - Featuring Hermann Maier" running on Windows 7. The solution very likely also works for Windows 10/11. For now I will leave it with this forum post but in the future (after reading through guides) I will try making an actual wiki entry, as there is no page for this  game yet. 

I really like the game and I think it's still the best and most authentic alpine skiing sim to date with pretty alright and atmospheric graphics (foggy weather in particular), real world cup locations and good controls.

Installation Tutorial
1) install the game (I used the setup-en.exe file for the install)

2) before the end of the installation, two error messages will appear:
- TAGES Drivers - Unable to proceed (error 577)
- Ski Racing 2006 - Error 1722. There is a problem with this Windows Installer package...

Don't click on anything yet, just ignore these prompts.

3) Go to the destination where the game has been installed:
C:\Program Files (x86)\JoWooD\Ski Racing 2006

- Copy the whole Jowood folder from C:\Program Files (x86) to your desktop

4) now you can confirm the 2 error messages and finish the installation
- Note that this will remove the whole installation and the JoWooD folder will be deleted.

5) Now copy the JoWooD folder from your Desktop back to C:\Program Files (x86)

6) a NO-CD patch is required to replace the original SR2006.exe with (in C:\Program Files (x86)\JoWooD\Ski Racing 2006)

7) now when you start the game, the following issue occurs:
- if you skip the intro (with ENTER), the game always crashes

- to fix this, go to C:\Program Files (x86)\JoWooD\Ski Racing 2006\Data\Common and delete the coldwood.avi video file

 

Save file Issues
- after a while (several game sessions) your save game might get resetted
- I'm unsure what's triggering it, seems rather random
- that's why it's recommended to backup your save file (profile.pro) regularly:
C:\Users\Lenovo\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\JoWooD\Ski Racing 2006\Data\User
C:\Program Files (x86)\JoWooD\Ski Racing 2006\Data\User
- in my case the actual save game file is stored in the 2nd path

Gamepad Setup
- If you would like to play the game with a gamepad (XInput), here are some tips
- in-game mapping of gamepad is limited to buttons only (no axis and triggers)
- left stick can be mapped to steering, but results in digital output only (no analog sensitivity)
- solution: map left/right steering in-game to mouse and use a Controller remapping tool in order to control the mouse (x-axis) with the left stick

- my controller setting suggestion:
- use this in-game mapping
- then use this mapping in the controller remapping tool

Other Issues
-  ATL-TABBING breaks the mouse controls - you will have to restart the game to fix it
- closing the game via ALT+F4 shortcut doesn't work (it does after ALT+TABBING)

Official Patch

- there is also 1 official patch for the game:

https://www.gamepressure.com/download.asp?ID=10529

With save games resetting, this is because the game is being run in Program Files. If the game is installed anywhere else, (like root C:\ , your desktop or an external drive), then it will be able to save properly. Never install old games to Program Files if you want settings/saves to work properly because no application can write to Program Files unless you run them as administrator. By old games, I mean 2008 and prior generally.

[gildum 0]

I actually have moved the game to "C:\Games\Ski Racing 2006" a while ago and the save file reset issue still occurs. Recently I noticed that the game folder had limited rights for "User" (in folder properties > security), so I changed this setting to "full access" (so now rights include change and write). I hoped this would solve the save issue, but alas it didn't.

[peter1977 0]

Hello,

my System is Windows 10. I do everything you write here. But the Game will not start. Or it only work with Windows 7?

Sorry for my bad englisch :-(

[gildum 0]

You could try to run the game in compatibility mode via right-click on SR2006.exe (or its shortcut), then go to Properties > Compatibility > Compatibility Mode. Try it with Windows 7 or Windows XP (SP3) compatibility mode.

If this doesn't work and you properly followed all steps of the Installation Tutorial (step 6 is especially essential), then this solution indeed only works for Windows 7.

 

[peter1977 0]

i try it, but the game dont start :-(

[magikgimp 2]

The first part of this guide should be credited to Pirault at the now defunct ISOZone forums- https://web.archive.org/web/20180821022429/http://theisozone.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=135&t=73532

The reason the installer fails is because the Tagès copy protection driver is incompatible with Windows 7 and above so the solution given does circumvent this problem. The other advice is not necessary however and there's other things to take into consideration too:

1. In Windows 10 the installer won't run at all because the DirectX setup file cannot run unless the installer is run in compatibility mode (right click on the setup file). You can also choose to skip the DirectX installation. The game itself runs fine without compatibility mode.
2. As well as backing up the game's files, you may not want to forget about the Start Menu and Desktop shortcuts too as they are also deleted.
3. And the big one- The guide above suggests deleting the videos in the installation folder to make the game run. In fact, the videos can be left as they are and just skipped as suggested by pressing Return until the menu appears when the game starts (you can hear the videos' audio playing with a black screen). Actually, it is possible to see the videos as they should be and it's important to get them working as videos play during the game too e.g. when the player starts a World Tour. The problem is that the videos are encoded with the Cinepak codec. Modern computer setups with newer codec packs interfere with this and need to have the option to play these videos disabled. There are guides online that describe how to do this with FFmpeg but that's increasingly being depreciated for the LAV video decoder instead. I use the K-Lite pack so I'll use it as an example. Using the Tweak Tool you need to change the settings by clicking DirectShow Filters -> LAV video decoder -> then the Formats tab. There scroll down and untick / uncheck cinepak. Then click OK and quit out of the Tweak Tool. The videos will now play in game!

I should imagine this is a problem for other games and other codecs too. I know the Indeo codec causes problems and K-Lite even advises deleting it if it detects it when you install it. I ignored this advice because I knew it was used in some games. There may also be a way to solve this problem the other way around. That is, if the game is made to use the newer codecs installed through the pack but I don't know enough about how games deal with videos (dll files? Compiled into the game's executable?) to care to find out. RAD Tools for GTA games plus many others comes to mind. Built in support or included libraries? I don't know but I do know the videos for this game can be made to work properly again.

[magikgimp 2]

I didn't notice the game not saving my progress but then I didn't play it for very long to test that particular problem. I found (somehow) that the game was saving to Program Files (x86) even though it wasn't running with Administrator privileges. I'm not entirely sure how this is possible! One reason why it might appear to not be saving may be because there are two files; the other being in VirtualStore and so the game sometimes uses one and then the other? It seems a good game but I'm just not into the minutia of sport to be interested to play it more, sorry!

[crypto92 0]

Hello, 

I play this game since 2006, as there is no better alternative at the moment. I would like to mod the game, to make it more challenging for me. To make some more demanding times, change name of skiers etc. To not mention that some part of equipment should be unlocked with achieving several results (for example, 2nd place in Chamonix Slalom) but there is no such race as Chamonix slalom (only super combined) and whatever you do, you can't get that equipment. 

I think the key to edit the profile.pro file. However, every time I open it with text editor, it not possible to be understand the text, it seems to be cryptic. 

Hopefully someone can give some advice. Thank you. 

[gildum 0]

@crypto92 A mod for this game would be really cool, I always thought about the idea of just updating the athlete names to the current official world cup ones. Unfortunately I'm not familiar with game modding.

@magikgimp Thanks for sharing your solution for the video playback issue. The world cup and Deep Silver video actually have always played fine for me, it was just the coldwood video that caused issues at boot. Maby it's different on Windows 10/11.

The isozone post was actually mine 🙂 The reason I posted this guide here is because isozone went offline so people couldn't find the guide through search engines anymore.

[crypto92 0]

@gildum Thank you for your reply. Yes, as you said, it would be so cool if we could just adjust names of the players to current ones. My biggest 3 wishes regarding mudding are:

1) Adjust names of players

2) Adjust course times to be more difficult, because I can win so easily, especially slalom

3) Add new courses (like Kvitfjel, Schladming GS, Wengen SG, Soldeu, Gurgl, even some older ones like slaloms in Levi, Zagreb, Alta Badia etc.) and even have possibility to "adjust" calendar by yourself. In other words, to have possibilities with many different venues and to select 10 venues by yourself). This wish would be a bit more difficult to obtain while first two could be realistic.

For example, we know that someone made a so called "TNT"  mod where everything is unlocked: https://megagames.com/trainers/tnt-ski-racing-2006-unlocker 

I'm pretty sure this was modded because I play game for more than 15 years, and I still can't unlock all things. For example, I cannot unlock "Dynomax R2" downhil skis because condition to do it is to "finish Chamonix slalom better than second place" (in career mode). And, in career mode there is no such race as Chamonix slalom, there is only supercombined in Chamonix, and downhill race. So, even if I win all races I still cannot get this one unlocked. Regardless modding, does anyone know maybe how to sort out this? I attach .png picture too. 

Key for modding would be to edit "profile.pro" file, but I do not know how to do it. I even asked ChatGPT, but model 4.0. is not able to decode it, hopefully some more advanced models will be able to do so. 

It is such a big shame we do not have possibility to have career mode with some modern new ski racing game. Ski Racing game for android few years ago had a lot potential, but it was never available for pc and it didn't have career mode. 

I guess I just stick to Ski Racing 2006, for now it will be 20 anniversary and I still play it, each year, since I was a kid till today's day.