Crimson Skies
Windows - 2000
Description of Crimson Skies
Crimson Skies is a title which you may love for the game it tries to be more than for the game it is. A cross between Red Baron and Star Wars: X-Wing, Crimson Skies puts you in the role of a daring air pirate, leading his crew to booty and glory.
The world-building in Crimson Skies is exceptional. Based on the tabletop game from FASA, CS aims to recapture the feel of aeronautics adventure pulps with a dystopian sci-fi twist. The mission briefings are filled with a colorful cast of quirky pirate companions and are intentionally reminiscent of old radio serials. While you’ll grow sick of a few of the canned lines during the missions themselves (“looks like you’ve got them all hot and bothered!”), the voice acting is top-notch and fun overall.
CS does have issues, both technical and gameplay. The original release was very buggy, but even with fixes, there are problems (the loading screen on the patched version flashes rapidly and could trigger epilepsy). CS has a screwy sense of scale that makes it more difficult than it should be. CS puts a focus on barnstorming and stunt-flying, demanding you do WWI-style trick flying stunts with planes the size of WW2 bombers. Not intentionally, of course; you’re supposedly flying nimble single-seaters, except the model sizes are drastically off when compared to the bridges, tunnels, and buildings you’re flying around. Ground textures are scaled to create illusions of flying high over buildings, but your plane’s model may be bigger than a residential block, so it can be difficult to tell just how close you are to the ground.
While the game gives you the ability to skip levels, you may keep trying in your frustration because you WANT to be able to do it. Just like you’ll want to love Crimson Skies, but it can be hard to do so.
Review By P. Alexander
External links
Captures and Snapshots
Comments and reviews
Nathan 2023-03-27 1 point
Hi! ULTRARAPTOR, Read what HARRY and J.D. wrote. I found the solution in this place https://discord.gg/75JR9KWzAn . After that, it worked without intrerrupion.
UltraRaptor 2023-03-26 0 point
"Crimson Skies requires DirectX version 7 or higher. Reinstall from the Crimson Skies CD to install DirectX on your computer."
That's the error message I keep getting while trying to run this at proper 1080p using DgVoodoo. Tried just about everything, installed and reinstalled the game multiple times, testing multiple directories and using all the fixes and patches I possibly could.
I can run it unpatched using only the csfix file but it runs at horribly low res. If I patch the csfix to run at 1080p, it breaks the game again and I can only see half the screen during gameplay (if the game launches at all).
I'll just run it unpatched because I'm happy to be playing this again (used to have an original copy on windows ME back in the day lmao) but it's really a bummer after following every guide on every forum and still not being able to run the game properly. Hopefully someone having similar issues has managed to fix it. If you have, please share. Thanks in advance.
narrowback 2022-11-30 -2 points
I installed everything correctly as far as I understand. 1.02 ISO, copied the CSFIX files, resolution in the ini is the right aspect ratio, set to AGP, still failed to initiate video, still crash. I dunno if its because Im on Windows 11 or what. Really bummed out. This was my favorite game to play with my new HOTAS
J.D. 2022-09-30 3 points
first of all i love Crimson Skies and it's sequel on original XBOX. it's one of the few flight games that i actually enjoyed playing and did not bore me like most flight games do. sadly my original copy has been lost to time. anyway the setup is surprisingly straight forward and not super complicated like other games. i got it to work without any issues and it's so good to play this game once again. all you have to do is download the ISO (ver 1.02) which come's with the patch. open the ISO install the game from "setup" (the "full installation" not the "minimal") after it's done installing, don't start the game yet, then mount the ISO file, copy 3 files from the csfix folder: "crimson.exe", "csfix.dll" and "csfix.ini" to the main game directory (where you install the game) it will override the main exe (unless you want a original exe file as backup), now the game will work properly on modern systems, and also no need to use virtual disc cause the exe file is also a no-cd crack, so you can start the game from the shortcut launcher after installation, but when asked about video device, make sure it's on Accelerator display (AGP). also don't try aiming for really higher-resolution in the "ini" file it will crash the game.
Triad Viking 2022-05-11 0 point
Hi could someone help me, when I start the campaign or instant action to test if the gameplay works it kicks me back to the desktop every time. I've done everything I can and even had to tweak things and download an iso file editor so it's been a pain and I managed to get it finally working right up until this point. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.
SpacePiloten 2021-03-07 6 points
Makknozz, you might find on this link.. https://discord.gg/gyqnuct .. the answer to your problem.
Makknozz 2021-03-06 0 point
The game studders while running way too fast for me. Have tried all in game graphic options and .ini-file options whithout luck. Anyone else having the same problem? Does anyone know of a fix?
Clickity 2021-01-23 -6 points
WHY download this one ? Cuz it s FUN . An old Xbox version that I loved . Sure it has flaws , but damn , it IS a blast to PLAY . Forgiving to a point whereby a guy can actually grab another BEER to stay in the game !
NEW game versions ae TOO TOUGH to be able to 'Make It' to any ending . Also , higher ended grfix are making some players 'obsolete' by budget in keeping up ; just like the Jonses !
SBan83 2020-11-09 7 points
The v1.02 on the site right now works perfectly, however, is there any way to set the resolution to anything higher than 640x480? Also, I have selected the 'joystick+keyboard' control option but my joystick doesn't work in-game. dinput.dll or something is there to address that?
Last Star Fighter 2020-08-29 -6 points
How many missions are there? What is the purpose of Crimson Skies?
Harry 2020-08-28 4 points
@XSYNTRK, the install options they're referring to appear after your click on Setup.exe and follow through the installation steps. You'll have the option to install just the essential files or "all game files, movies and Scrapbook items to the hard drive", which is the recommended one.
Harry 2020-08-28 11 points
The "ISO Version 1.02 with fix" has been working flawlessly so far on a Windows7 x64 machine.
Just a heads up: there is an extremely loud dialog during the installation. Thank god I had taken off my earphones, otherwise my eardrums would've exploded.
helpme 2020-08-24 -10 points
can you help me to play crimson skies in windows 10? What do I have to do? I already download ISO Version 1.02 with fix English version 496 MB. But what is the next step? When I run Crimson skies again, the game still did not started.
Cortezic 2020-08-19 0 point
I continued to get "Error: Failed to Initialize Video" after adjusting graphic settings to 4:3 ratio.
The game worked after switching the 'Crimson.exe' compatibility properties to Windows 95.
Xsyntrk 2020-08-15 -1 point
I mounted the image and extracted the files (downloaded the ISO 1.02 version) to a folder and click on SETUP to install it but it says the setup could not read the specific resource dll to even set it up. I'm running on Windows 10. I know how the rest of the process works, but it can't even set it up to install the game. Is this because of Direct X? Maybe i need to setup the directx in the directX folder in this ISO download? Also in the read me file what does 'Tick INSTALL' mean? Why doesn't it just say install the game from the Setup.exe file?
Netghost 2020-08-06 0 point
I don't have a custom video setting option. For my primary video I only get 640, 800, 1024 options. Loading image color is off, but main menu and game has good quality BUT menus are 1/3 of the screen and gameplay the screen is stretched 3x bigger than my actual screen (so the plane is barely visible in the bottom right).
How do I fix this?
WildEagle 2020-07-08 4 points
Great job! I downloaded only ISO Version 1.02 496 MB and nothing else. I followed exactly the steps from readme file. It works fine on windows 7Sp1 x64 as well as on windows 10 Pro x64. Copy the address discord server https://discord.gg/FSkAuqj for those who want to play online. Thanks a lot!
Max power 2020-06-18 3 points
Downloaded and installed according to instructions provided. Working perfect in W7 x64.
Thanks!
Raptor 2020-06-14 3 points
I downloaded ISO Version 1.02 with fix 496 MB, I followed instructions in Readme and
it works with no problems. If anyone is interested to play Crimson Skies in multiplayer access this link: https://discord.gg/AZZrrxU
HFX 2020-05-15 7 points
Potentially Important Note!
If you are getting 'error: failed to initialize video' crash when launching the game make sure that you set your custom resolution to a 4:3 aspect ratio!
When I left it alone it crashed. When I set it 2560x1440 it crashed. When I set it to 1920x1440 it launched and ran perfectly at that resolution.
Use this calculator if you are unsure what width you need to set https://calculateaspectratio.com/ by selecting 4:3 and the pixel height of your monitor.
lolobananas 2020-04-11 -4 points
My game dont start because it miss ztiff.dll I try to go download the dll but its not available
Tail Gunner 2020-03-28 1 point
I followed the steps for installing the 1.02 patch and CSFIX files, start the .exe file, select Accelerator, click Ok and then get the error: Failed to Initialize Video. Any suggestions?
Steel 2020-02-13 -2 points
Get an error saying I need zTIFF.dll to run the executable.
anyone know where to get it?
Jay 2020-02-08 2 points
"CSFIX" (Crimson Skies Fix) from 2016
https://community.pcgamingwiki.com/files/file/433-crimson-skies-fix-csfix/
You need that
sharky6336 2019-12-18 0 point
If people are having problems with bin ^ cue files its because you need a prg like Alcohol 120 to mount them, dont know if this software is still going, but pretty sure you can get hold of a copy from somewhere...
i haven't got nickname 2019-12-11 1 point
c'est un jeu vieux mais franchement cool. Merci Amixem!?!
Crimson Ace 2019-08-05 -3 points
Instructions unclear. Virtual CloneDrive doesn't work. Daemon Tools doesn't work. Nothing but a useless .bin file that says the game isn't installed on the device.
Habef 2019-03-03 1 point
Maybe this helps: https://www.play-old-pc-games.com/2016/06/10/crimson-skies/
yababa 2019-03-01 -1 point
can't run it , i followed the instructions yet
the game displays stretched and the mouse moves all wrong
G.A.Arts 2018-12-09 1 point
I don't now how i can install the game, i have the game files that i downloaded from this website, i have tried to use the patch but it say : "Crimson skies is not installed."
What can I do ?
Iffy350 2018-09-17 3 points
In my opinion High Road to Revenge doesn't exist. I never liked that the PC version was never as popular as that Xbox game. It's a real shame that this IP is dead. It needs a reboot ASAP.
DF 2018-09-15 9 points
For anyone wondering about which files to apply first:
- After installing the game, apply the 1.02 patch.
- Make a backup copy of the original exe for good measure, then overwrite CRIMSON.EXE with the one from the csfix patch (also add the csfix dll and ini files into the Crimson Skies folder).
- You don't need the no cd crack because the csfix exe already has the safedisc protection removed.
- Open csfix.ini and edit parameters as you see fit. (Beware that aspect ratios other than 3:4 will have stretching.)
- When you run the game, choose Accelerator for the video device.
If you don't know what to do with the iso:
Install a program such as Virtual CloneDrive. When that's done, right click the iso file and click Mount. Install the game as you see fit, then right click the iso again and Unmount it. (You may have to leave it mounted while you replace crimson.exe, though.)
trigun 2018-07-12 -1 point
Iso and Patch files did not pick up malware. I say they are safe to use.
NoCD and Fix files seem okay but not 100% on them. be careful and check yourself.
Viperinterceptor 2018-06-13 2 points
Please help, I can download the files, but i have only a file called "BIN" what am I supposed to do ?
Viperinterceptor 2018-06-13 1 point
Please help, I can download the files, but i have only a file called "BIN" what am I supposed to do ?
mayeu 2018-06-07 3 points
How can you make it works? I can download the files but i can't run the game
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Windows Version
557 MBGame Extras
Various files to help you run Crimson Skies, apply patches, fixes, maps or miscellaneous utilities.
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