Pariah
Windows - 2005
Description of Pariah
Pariah (aka 弃民) is a video game published in 2005 on Windows by Russobit-M, Groove Games, Hip Games, Hip Interactive Europe. It's an action game, set in a sci-fi / futuristic, shooter, editor / construction set and regional differences themes.
External links
How to play Pariah Windows
NoCD for Russian version showed few warnings about suspicious/malicious file, but it is safe to use, nothing to worry about
The game with patch 1.03 and NoCD has been tested on Windows 7 64-bit and Windows 10, it works fine. You may experience some small troubles when you play the game on modern systems, check our Guide and Notes for details
Here's also alternative guide by PlayOldPCGames, we recommend to check it too
Install & play guide:
- Mount the disc image of CD1. You will need the utility for mounting disc image files, like WinCDEmu, UltraISO, Alcohol 52%/Alcohol 102% or Daemon Tools Lite
- Launch the installation (if autorun doesn't work - simply launch the installation from RunSetup.exe inside the disc)
- Install game not in default path
C:/Program Files/Pariah
, but in some non-system folder, likeC:/Games/Pariah
, otherwise you may have difficulties with NoCD - When the installation process will ask for CD2 - mount the disc image of CD2. Do the same when the installation process will ask to enter CD1 again. CD2 must be mounted in same virtual drive as CD1, so first un-mount disc image of CD1 and then mount the disc image of CD2. In example, if CD1 was in virtual drive G:, CD2 must be mounted in virtual drive G: as well
- Also it is recommended to install DirectX from the disc (if you're using Windows 10 - enable DirectPlay, read this or this guide how to do it)
- After you installed the game - install patch v1.03
- Then install NoCD, copy all files from the archive and put it in
Pariah/System
directory, agree to replace original files - Open
Pariah/System
directory and Pariah.exe. Right click on Pariah.exe - Properties - Compatibility - Set "Run this app in compatibility mode with Windows 2000" and "Run as administrator" - Launch the game and play. If the game doesn't work in compatibility mode with Windows 2000 - try to launch it in compatibility mode with other version of Windows (Windows 95, 98, WinXP, etc.)
How to play the game in widescreen:
- First method is to edit config-file, because like many Unreal Engine 2 games, Pariah can be launched in widescreen and high resolutions by simple edit of config-files. Go to
Pariah/System
directory, find Pariah.ini, and change resolution and FOV like in this guide or guide on WSGF page. But pay attention that HUD elements will be strected in widescreen resolutions. Also, by edit of config-files you can enable hidden graphics features like anti-aliasing and texture filtering, read this guide for details - Second method is simpler and doesn't require much steps - just run the game with dgVoodoo utility. Extract dgVoodoo archive, copy the dll-files from the MS/x86 folder, dgVoodooCpl.exe and dgVoodoo.conf to the
Pariah/System
directory and run the game from Pariah.exe, dgVoodoo will automatically stretch the game to your display resolution. Optionally, in DirectX tab of dgVoodoo Control Panel (dgVoodooCpl.exe) you can select additional graphics features, such as texture filtration, anti-aliasing, Vsync, etc. After you set the desired settings - click "Apply", close dgVoodoo and run the game from Pariah.exe. The game with dgVoodoo has been tested on Windows 7 64-bit and Windows 10, works with no problem
Notes:
- If the installation doesn't start - try to launch Setup.exe in compatibility mode with old version of Windows (98, 2000 or XP)
- NoCD is required for the launch because the game is using SafeDisc DRM protection, which doesn't work correctly on modern systems. That NoCD "breaks" DRM protection and allows the game to work on modern systems
- It is recommended to install all versions of Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for the correct work of the game
- Also it is recommended to install RAD Video Tools and K-Lite Codec Pack for the correct work of the game
- For Windows 7 users: if the game doesn't start after you launched it - open Task Manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del) and close Pariah.exe process, then try to run the game again
- For Windows 10 users: on some revisions of Windows 10 the game may crash on the launch or during random moments, so after you installed the game with patch and NoCD additionally use Windows 10 fix - copy all files from the archive and put it in
Pariah/System
directory, agree to replace original files. That fix should prevent crashes of the game on Windows 10 - If the game crashes with “LockRect failed: D3DERR_DEVICELOST” error - go to
Parian/System
folder, open Pariah.ini and edit it: changeReduceMouseLag=True
toReduceMouseLag=False
. Save the changes. Now the game should run good - If you have troubles with black screen on start of the game, or random graphical glitches - disable post render effects, go to Settings -> Performance -> Turn "Disable Post Render FX" to Yes. If you cannot do that in game - go to
Parian/System
folder, open Pariah.ini and edit it: in section [D3DDrv.D3DRenderDevice] changeDisablePostFX=False
toDisablePostFX=True
, in section [WinDrv.WindowsClient] changeEnablePostFX=True
toEnablePostFX=False
. Save the changes and try to run the game again, now post render effects will be disabled and the game should work fine - If you have visual glitches during explosions, like flashing screen or broken colors - open Pariah.ini and edit it: in section [D3DDrv.D3DRenderDevice] add
HasNVidiaTexM32Tex=1
line (or change it to 1, if that line already exists) - If you have graphical glitches anyway - select Low graphics in Settings
- The game was using EAX sound system, so you may have sound issues on modern systems. If you have any sound issues - disable "Use Native OpenAL" in Settings, if you still have sound troubles - also disable "3D Sound" in Settings
- However, if your sound card supports EAX - you can enable it with EAX fix or Creative ALchemy tool. Simply add the game to the Creative ALchemy tool as normal (install ALchemy into the system sub folder in the games directory) and then choose “On + EAX AdvancedHD”
- Another solution can be to enable EAX with DSOAL utility: install OpenAL and then DSOAL, that will make DirectSound (and EAX as well) to work through OpenAL sound system. Here's the guide how to install DSOAL (it's on Russian, use translator)
- If you has troubles when you cannot make savegame - re-install the game in non-system folder, like
C:/Games/Pariah
, or changeC:/Program Files
folder permissions - By default the game has 60 FPS lock, but it is possible to run it on more than 60 FPS - in Pariah.ini find
DesiredRefreshRate
line and change it to your monitor's refresh rate - If you want to play the game on old Windows (like retro-machine) - for Windows 98/ME and Windows 2000 make sure to use patch 1.03, otherwise the game won't work
- If you plan to play Russian version of the game - make sure to use NoCD by KRBDZSKL, because Russian version has game breaking bug when you cannot continue playing after oil depot level. That NoCD fixes that bug
- Don't forget to check PCGamingWiki page if you have troubles, also check PlayOldPCGames guide
Captures and Snapshots
Comments and reviews
OldGamesReshade 2024-02-05 0 point
This is my reshade:
PARIAH (2005) Reshade Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L0kY7IzLJo
admin 2023-11-25 2 points
We have updated this page, added some fixes and instruction how to use it, make sure to check it above.
@DRAGOS Easier to use NoCD, it will allow to run the game completely without SafeDisc DRM
Dragos 2023-11-23 0 point
Use this to restore SafeDisc on Windows 10 and above:https://community.pcgamingwiki.com/files/file/1154-safedisc-driver-restoration-for-win10/.
smyntix 2023-09-10 0 point
hi,when starting singleplayer and then selecting a difficulty in pariah,i crash and get an error code
StarkillerCZ 2023-01-17 2 points
Cant play, it wrote star as administrator but this do nothin.
And NoCD wrote missing Core.dll, Splash.dll, Engine.dll and Window.dll.
so how i can play this game? Please help
BeerTornazo 2022-10-09 0 point
This is VERY late but just unpack all the 3 ISOs to same folder & run setup. No asking for next disc or image, the setup runs just fine with all the files in one folder. Of course it does ask for the serial that is provided here on My Abandonware.
Then you can use the 1.0 NoCD files and play the game.
OR update to 1.03 (rename the update exe to zip, unpack it and move the files to game dir). Then find the 1.03 NoCD files (maybe from GCW) and put them in your game dir overwriting the originals. Just like you'd have done with the 1.0 NoCD stuff. Works.
Tested on Windows 10.
Dustin Echoes 2022-07-21 -2 points
Just a head's up, the No-cd .exe will break if you try to play it on a patched version of the game, it only works on the 1.0 version of the game straight from the CD or Iso.
The No-cd is basically the only way to play the game now, since the legit version won't run without it since the disc check program is broken on modern windows.
DaGlassMan4797 2022-06-19 -1 point
I gotta say, the story really has a habit of jumping around without much flow to it; it feels like parts of it are missing.
Geehwiz 2021-10-23 3 points
@Alienrobot
I know this is very late lol but once you've mounted the first disc (do it from example: daemon tools directly and run the installer it will ask for disc 2 at some point.
Eject the first disc from within daemon tools and mount disc 2 from the same mount and do the same process ejecting mounting with disc 3 it will even ask you to mount disc 1 after 3 and after again ask for 3 lol.
This is the first Time I have seen this and I'm on Windows 11.
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Windows Version
Game Extras
Various files to help you run Pariah, apply patches, fixes, maps or miscellaneous utilities.
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