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This thread is meant to be a small Legacy of Kain library. I'll try to keep this post updated. Basically I'll try to post all LoK related resources that deserve attention - technical stuff but also story related materials.
I'll try to keep this thread updated but time constraints may cause some (serious) delays. I'm sorry in advance.

Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain

The PC version is not available on GOG (or anywhere else) due to legal problems. Regardless, please show your support and vote for it here.

Legacy o Kain: Soul Reaver

1) widescreen mode and framerate unlocking:
General thread at Square-Enix forums,
or 'Fix for any kain2.exe (SR1-Hook support)' at Nosgothica.
Be warned that widescreen causes some slight graphical glitches when it comes to Reaver rendering. An annoyance but nothing game breaking.

2) introduction video:
The current introduction movie in GOG and Steam versions is incorrect (audio is from early pre-release version).
You can download proper version here.
If you are having problems with image stretching, you can use pillarboxed versions 16:9 or 16:10 [url=https://www.dropbox.com/s/5xg3bp4btvwzumn/sr_intro_16_10.rar]here.
(Let me know if the links go down and I'll reupload).

the Legacy of Kain series: Soul Reaver 2

1) technical issues:
The game is known to crash randomly on multicore processors. Surprisingly compatibility modes don't always fix this. To avoid this you can:
- use a program called StartAffinity.exe
- for Win 7 make a sr2.bat file in the game folder with the following content:
start /affinity 1 /high sr2.exe
and modify the shorcuts to point to that file.
- physically disable cores in Windows settings, but that's an overkill and a last resort
The process should be running in high priority to avoid cutscene skipping.

2) bonus material:
SR2 was released on DVD on PS2 but the PC version was still on 1 CD. Due to the size limitations much of bonus material from PS2 version was not released on PC and in part on PAL PS2 version (because of other language versions' size). Artworks can be found on Lost Worlds and LoK wiki linked below. But the most valuable part were the voice recording sessions. Since the creation of this thread these have been added as bonus in the GOG version (and in a better quality I think). I'm keeping the link for people who may come here from other sites. You can also watch them somewhere on Youtube, or you can download a package here. (Make sure to at least take a look at outtakes).

3) widescreen mode:
Unfortunately there are problems with modding SR2 in this regard. There was some progress made but at the time of writing of this post there is still no fully working version (and probably never will). Any updates however will most likely appear in this thread. You can also find some work in progress patches there.

the Legacy of Kain series: Blood Omen 2

1) technical issues:
See Soul Reaver 2 section (just change sr2.exe to bo2.exe).

2) full screen effects:
The game supports motion blur during jump sequences but the option is not available via 'normal' means (probably removed due to compatibility issues). However if you want you can enable it by registry edit (MotionBlur entry in Blood Omen 2\1.00.000 folder - folders location depends on operating system).

3) widescreen mode:
Thread at Square-Enix forums.

Legacy of Kain: Defiance

1) technical issues:
See SR2 section. The only difference is that high priority of the process is unnecessary (and the file name is obviously defiance.exe instead of sr2.exe).

2) unofficial camera patch:
The game was criticized for its fixed camera angles. If you are having too much trouble, you can try an unofficial patch from this thread.

3) widescreen mode:
Thread at Square-Enix forums. Originally just a widescreen thread. Currently also includes texture mods.

4) bonus material:
The PC version was not as bad as SR2 one in this regard. We got actual unlockable artwork in game this time. However the voice sessions that were present on PS2 were once again cut due to size reasons. You can download them here. This is the North American version - this means it is a little longer compared to European release. Just like with SR2, I highly recommend seeing at least the outtakes (files VS9 to VS14).

General links:

1) Official forums.
Everything LoK related. Still active 11 years after the latest (proper) instalment. Not as active in recent years, most traffic has moved to Nosgoth section. Recently the old Eidos forums were closed and all threads have been moved to Square-Enix forums. Old section is still available, but serves only as an archive.

2) Lost Worlds
Much information about the series - mainly focused on the parts that were planned but didn't make into the final products. Also includes software for asset extraction.

3) Nosgothica
Mostly technical files to keep the games up to date on modern hardware.

4) Dark Chronicle
or 'Encyclopaedia Nosgothica'. A great place for everything lore related.

5) Legacy of Kain wiki
The name says it all. Still in development.

6) Nosgothic Realm
Oldest LoK fansite. Includes dialogue from games as well as much promotional materials and other resources.

7) Daniel Cabuco's forum
A LoK section of a forum of former CD artist who worked on the series. Many answers about the story and the design process.

8) Nosgoth
The latest entry in the franchise. Theoretically. A free-to-play team-based asymmetrical multiplayer... something.
This is a sensitive topic, here I will just say that personally I wish this thing never existed. The team behind tries to take the lore seriously but in my opinion the game fails miserably in artistic department. And of course is in a incorrect genre. Anyway, It's all we have at the moment and it should be noted that many old fans are more positive about it than I am. So if you are interested you can check it out.
Edit: And Nosgoth is dead. I'm having conflicting feelings about this. I am leaving the link for now because it still leads to archived forum.


That's it for now.
Vae Victus!
Post edited August 03, 2016 by Paradoks
Thanks for the links :)

I just started the game and it appears to include the Bink cutscenes and widescreen support. At least, I just ran it at 1680x1050x32. Looks just how I remember it from the Dreamcast.
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Poulscath: Thanks for the links :)

I just started the game and it appears to include the Bink cutscenes and widescreen support. At least, I just ran it at 1680x1050x32. Looks just how I remember it from the Dreamcast.
Thanks for the answer. This thread and the screenshot provided actually shows that the widescreen patch is not included. The game always supported the widescreen resolutions, but the aspect ratio is incorrect. So I assume that the game is locked at 30 fps as well?
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Paradoks: Thanks for the answer. This thread and the screenshot provided actually shows that the widescreen patch is not included. The game always supported the widescreen resolutions, but the aspect ratio is incorrect. So I assume that the game is locked at 30 fps as well?
Interesting. I started the game again and it is running at 30 fps and the aspect ratio does look subtly off so it seems the widescreen patch isn't in.

It did show a splashscreen for the Bink support by Nosgothica during the startup though.
While I can confirm that the widescreen mode and framerate unlocking works perfectly, there's something you have to give up for these: the cutscenes. The über awesome intro doesn't work anymore :( The game itself looks much better than before though. So if the absence of (pre-rendered) cutscenes doesn't bother, I'd recommend this.
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SkyLynx: While I can confirm that the widescreen mode and framerate unlocking works perfectly, there's something you have to give up for these: the cutscenes. The über awesome intro doesn't work anymore :( The game itself looks much better than before though. So if the absence of (pre-rendered) cutscenes doesn't bother, I'd recommend this.
Does it still not work when you modify the file manually? That's what I did some time ago and the intro in my retail version still works. I admit I did not try the 'patch' itself yet.
The problem with the intro is different (again - I'm basing this on reports) - it apparently is the version from the early beta and not the retail.
I love this game so I'm glad to see it on GOG :D I have the retail version, so can I expect any differences in the GOG version? Such as any fixes that GOG may have done themselves? I notice people already said the intro FMV is a bit different too, so I wonder what else might have changed.
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SkyLynx: While I can confirm that the widescreen mode and framerate unlocking works perfectly, there's something you have to give up for these: the cutscenes. The über awesome intro doesn't work anymore :( The game itself looks much better than before though. So if the absence of (pre-rendered) cutscenes doesn't bother, I'd recommend this.
It's been a few years since I played the game, but I don't remember any other pre-rendered cutscenes aside from the intro. Are there other cutscenes that go missing with this patch?
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SkyLynx: While I can confirm that the widescreen mode and framerate unlocking works perfectly, there's something you have to give up for these: the cutscenes. The über awesome intro doesn't work anymore :( The game itself looks much better than before though. So if the absence of (pre-rendered) cutscenes doesn't bother, I'd recommend this.
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Paradoks: Does it still not work when you modify the file manually? That's what I did some time ago and the intro in my retail version still works. I admit I did not try the 'patch' itself yet.
What file are you referring to?
Only file I even opened was the ini file that came with the framerate, widescreen patch (called SRHook.ini) from the link in first post. The only thing it let me change was to enable debug mode and set the desired fps. Should I download some other files too and modify them to get the intro working again?
It's not a big problem though, if there aren't any more pre rendered cutscenes except the intro. The cutscenes with the game engine work just fine and the game itself looks much better now 8)
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SkyLynx: What file are you referring to?
Only file I even opened was the ini file that came with the framerate, widescreen patch (called SRHook.ini) from the link in first post. The only thing it let me change was to enable debug mode and set the desired fps. Should I download some other files too and modify them to get the intro working again?
It's not a big problem though, if there aren't any more pre rendered cutscenes except the intro. The cutscenes with the game engine work just fine and the game itself looks much better now 8)
I meant manually modifying the executable provided by GOG with a hex editor according to the thread on Eidos forums I link in the first post.
I should have the GOG version by Tuesday - I will check it then personally. I'm sure there will be a workaround for this.
There are other videos besides the intro. None of them is of the intro quality but there are there, all near the very end of the game (chronoplast visions, Moebius' 'verse' and credits).
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SkyLynx: What file are you referring to?
Only file I even opened was the ini file that came with the framerate, widescreen patch (called SRHook.ini) from the link in first post. The only thing it let me change was to enable debug mode and set the desired fps. Should I download some other files too and modify them to get the intro working again?
It's not a big problem though, if there aren't any more pre rendered cutscenes except the intro. The cutscenes with the game engine work just fine and the game itself looks much better now 8)
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Paradoks: I meant manually modifying the executable provided by GOG with a hex editor according to the thread on Eidos forums I link in the first post.
I should have the GOG version by Tuesday - I will check it then personally. I'm sure there will be a workaround for this.
There are other videos besides the intro. None of them is of the intro quality but there are there, all near the very end of the game (chronoplast visions, Moebius' 'verse' and credits).
I'm not familiar with hex editing, but what hex editor would you recommend? I'd like to have the proper widescreen support, but don't want to lose the videos as well.
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haydenaurion: I'm not familiar with hex editing, but what hex editor would you recommend? I'd like to have the proper widescreen support, but don't want to lose the videos as well.
For this I simply used HEX-Editor plugin for Notepad++. It does work when I update my retail version executable after applying the Bink patch.
However sometime tomorrow or on Saturday I think I will be able to post a more user-friendly solution (once I find the time to actually write it :)).

And I've updated the part about the intro.
A belated update. Small details and two new sections.
Should be stickied. :)
Link to Daniel Cabuco's forum added. I'll try to upload Defiance voice recording sessions at some point next week.
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tfishell: Should be stickied. :)
You are correct ;)