Introduction
Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, despite being targeted ad children, is actually a pretty good game.
Released in late 2002 by EA Games, it was one of the last games to use the Unreal Engine 1. The game was also released on PlayStation 1 and 2, Xbox, and even Gameboy, and surprisingly, all these versions are very different, developed by completely different teams using different engines, and they're all pretty good. Ah, those were the days.
Being this
recent, this game doesn't have too many problems: the CD check doesn't work but there's a crack for that, and we have graphical issues that we have to fix.
What the hell happened to transparencies?
How to fix the game
First of all, install the game. You will need a CD key, found in the game's box.
The installer still works fine on Windows 10, but at the end it says that the system is incompatible. Ignore it and don't run the game yet.
Download these patched files and extract them to the game's folder replacing the existing files: English (International) |
English (USA) | Italian | French | German |
Spanish | Brazilian Portuguese.
How does the fix work?
If you ran the game before, you will also have to open My Documents, enter the Harry Potter II folder and delete Game.ini, as shown in the screenshot below
Finally, try to run the game from the shortcut on your desktop. The game will take a few seconds to start after the logos.
When you get to the menu, enter the video settings and make sure Direct3D is selected, along with the highest resolution supported by
your screen.
The game only supports resolutions up to 1024x768. Higher resolutions can be forced by modifying Game.ini but the UI doesn't scale well and it's basically unplayable in widescreen, so I suggest you stick with 1024x768.
And now you can enjoy the game!
Previous versions of this fix
If the current version of the fix doesn't work for you, here are some older versions: 2019 version | 2016 version
Still doesn't work?
Leave a comment or contact me and I'll help you out.
Related article
This HP game shows signs of improvement if we compare it with the first one...sadly, it is nothing really interesting for hardcore gamers. It's certainly just for kids, but if you want to see the world of HP, this is the game in which you can. The graphics are very attractive, and Hogwarts as well as Hogwarts grounds look splendid. The changes could be called significant, compared to the first game. Beside the better graphics, there are more game play changes:
1) Wizard Cards-more...and in 3 categories: bronze, silver, gold...haven't found all yet;
2) Lessons - each new spell is learned with the help of your keypad...The course for each lesson has an amount of time, and it depends on how much time you have at the end, how many points you get for Gryffindor;
3) Duels - Nice little thingies, where you can use 3 spells...it's a real good way to earn beans, which are of much more use than in HP 1;
4) Quidditch - there's a new controlling system here...I think it's far easier than the first. There are also more games, so you do have enough to play;
The thing that disappointed me most was the battle against the basilisk, which is quite not as I expected it. The end scene looks groovy though. I'd say the game's worth a look if you're passing through a boring period, or if you just want to see the world of Harry Potter once again.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
KnowWonder | |
Mac OS (Classic) | Westlake Interactive |
macOS (OS X) | Westlake Interactive |
Electronic Arts | |
1C-SoftClub | |
Mac OS (Classic) | Aspyr Media |
macOS (OS X) | Aspyr Media |
Unreal Engine 1 | |
Windows | November 8, 2002 |
Mac OS (Classic) | April 10, 2003 |
macOS (OS X) | August 15, 2005 |
Metacritic | 77 |
Monetization | One-time game purchase |
Modes | Singleplayer |
Pacing | Real-time |
Perspectives | Third-person |
Controls | Direct control |
Genres | Adventure, Platform, Puzzle |
Art styles | Realistic |
Themes | Contemporary, Fantasy |
Series | Harry Potter |
⤏ Go to series page | |
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone | 2001 |
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | 2002 |
Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup | 2003 |
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | 2004 |
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | 2005 |
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | 2007 |
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | 2009 |
Lego Harry Potter (series) | |
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 | 2010 |
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 | 2011 |
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them VR Experience | 2018 |
Hogwarts Legacy | 2022 |
Warnings
SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see Availability for affected versions). The Mac OS X version of this game does not work on Mac OS X Lion (version 10.7) or later due to the removal of support for PowerPC apps.Availability[edit]
SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions). A demo is also available. This game is not available digitally.DLC and expansion packs
The promotional CD-Rom contains a 2D desktop mini-game (scourge challenge),[4] demos for Harry Potter 1 and 2, and access to a secret level within the full game.[5] The secret level can be also be accessed by using the debug mode.[6] |
Game data[edit]
Configuration file(s) location[edit]
%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Harry Potter II\ |
Save game data location[edit]
%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Harry Potter II\Save\ |
Video[edit]
Launcher video settings.
In-game options menu.
Widescreen resolution[edit]
Forcing a widescreen resolution without modifications cuts off the lower part of in-game menus. If using the default Direct-X 7 renderer, the LegacyD3DResolutionHack or dgVoodoo 2 is required to make popular resolutions higher than 2048x1536 work. If using Windows scaling above 100%, part of the game will appear outside of the screen. To fix this reset scaling to 100%. This mod shifts the menu to the left side of the screen, allowing all options to be fully displayed.
Notes Alternatively, you can use the Harry Potter Settings Utility to set the resolution and FOV without having to manually edit the configuration files. |
Graphical Tweaks[edit]
Unreal Engine DirectX 11 Renderer[edit]
A fork of Kentie's Direct3D 10 renderer that adds more graphical features. Might cause some bugs and slow rendering. Run games at HD resolution. Improved lighting. Adds ambient occlusion, screen space reflections and higher quality HDR post-processing. Places a watermark in the bottom right, and overrides your clipboard with a link to the developer's PayPal. Follow these instructions to disable the watermark and remove the PayPal link from being inserted into your clipboard.
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|
DirectX 9 renderer for Stock HP2[edit]
A port of the Unreal Tournament DX9 driver, with fixes and HP2 specific implementations. Fully compatible with modern systems. Supports HD resolutions, anti-aliasing, anisotropic filtering, frame rate cap, v-sync, high res textures, DXT textures, and more. Better performance than the DX11 renderer.
|
Input[edit]
Audio[edit]
Launcher audio settings.
Music, Sound Effects | |
On by default. | |
Localizations
Only available in retail release in Mainland China. | |||
Only available in retail release in Taiwan. | |||
Only available in Czech & Slovak retail release. | |||
Only available in Danish retail release. | |||
Only available in Greek retail release. | |||
Only available in Japanese retail release. | |||
Only available in Korean retail release. | |||
Only available in Norwegian retail release. | |||
Only available in Polish retail release. | |||
Only available in Brazilian retail release. | |||
Only available in Russian retail release. | |||
Only available in Swedish retail release. |
Issues fixed[edit]
Most bugs can be fixed with dgVoodoo 2 (UsePrecache should still be set to False in Game.ini).
Certain transparent effects and textures are not rendered properly[edit]
Trees
Eyeglasses
|
Extract this fix into the game's System folder. Changing the brightness setting in the pause menu will reset the textures which will also solve the problem (temporarily). |
Low frame rate on modern systems[edit]
Notes If you change resolution from the game settings, dgVoodoo 2 switches to windowed mode, and pressing Alt+↵ Enter might be required to get back to fullscreen. To avoid this, just force the desired resolution via dgVoodooCpl.exe. Keep in mind that the default game does not support very high resolutions. |
Cutscenes are too fast cutting off characters voice lines / Physics bugs[edit]
Brightness slider not working[edit]
|
Camera spinning/Harry constantly walking backwards with Xbox 360 or Xbox One Controller[edit]
|
Other information[edit]
API[edit]
7 | |
Mac is only for Power PC, OSX executable runs in Rosetta |
Middleware[edit]
OpenAL |
System requirements[edit]
95 | 98, 2000, ME, XP |
Intel Pentium II 300 MHz | Intel Pentium III 500 MHz |
64 MB (95, 98) 128 MB (2000, XP) | 128 MB (95, 98) 256 MB (2000, XP) |
600 MB | |
4 MB (Software rendering) 8 MB (Hardware rendering) of VRAM DirectX 8.0a compatible | 16 MB of VRAM |
9.1 | |
PowerPC G3 350 MHz | G3 500 MHz |
128 MB | 256 MB |
600 MB | |
ATI Rage 128 16 MB of VRAM | Nvidia GeForce 2MX ATI Radeon |
4x CD-ROM drive | 8x CD-ROM drive |
Notes
- ↑ SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows 10[1] or Windows 11 and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.[2]
References
- ↑ Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16
- ↑ Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16
- ↑ Alamy - Carolyn Jenkins - Selection of children's discs with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets PC CD-ROM on top set on white background
- ↑ Youtube - HP-Games.net - Skurge Challenge (2002)
- ↑ //i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTYwMFgxNTM4/z/JEEAAOSwIHpdywoo/$_57.JPG
- ↑ DerMichael - Harry Potter und die Kammer des Schreckens - 24 - Coca Cola Geheimlevel
- ↑ Verified by User:Diegoelcapo1231 on 2021-08-27