There is one other thing I did between it not working and working, and that was I upgraded my nVidia drivers to 313.96 (a beta) from 310.90 before I replaced the video card itself.

I forgot to test Outcast after the beta driver update, but I had noticed that my video card was acting funny (every day it would "not respond" and "recover", and at one point the entire screen was covered in random dots).

My guess is my card was on its last legs, because driver updates in the past did not solve this issue.

Changing the video card is no option for me as I'm using a Mac Book Pro.

Other games like Skyrim are working fine. Replacing the video card to fix just one game is not worth the effort and costs.

Just bought the game - and it still seems like this is a problem. I don't cry for wasted 4 dollars, but it's not good for GOGs reputation - as this is my first game bought here. Especially since it clearly states compatibility with Windows 8 in the game description. Should I go ahead and try installing all the patches (1-4) from openoutcast, or is it a waste of time?

I have the same problem ("OC3.exe has stopped working" ) using Win8 x64. Installing patches, new graphic card drivers and trying different loaders doesnt help.

Same Problem here: Win8 x64 with newest NVIDIA drivers. Tried different loaders and the HiRes-Patch - no success. OC3.exe keeps crashing.

I had the exact same issue on my Win7 x64 notebook, and traced it back to Nvidia control panel settings.

My notebook has integrated graphics and a separate Nvidia chip; to solve an unrelated issue, I had changed the global settings (found under "manage 3D settings" in the Nvidia control panel) to always use the Nvidia processor.

By changing back to the default "auto select" the problem disappeared. Apparently, the Nvidia GPU won't properly handle such an old game, but the integrated graphics (now automatically selected for oc3.exe) will.

If you have separate integrated and Nvidia chips, give it a try; if it doesn't work, try forcing integrated graphics for oc3.exe in the program settings tab (you may have to manually add it to the list).

Crashes for me on Win8 64bit aswell

EDIT: I also have Nvidia. However I have no integrated graphics setting so that is not an option for me. However it worked with the same setup when I played through it 2 years ago.

I fixed it by installing Win7 Pro 64bit.

Windows 8 was a pain in the ***.

I just wanted to say that applying the hires patch did not fix the problem for me.
Also, I do not have an Nvidia card: I am using a Vaio Duo 11 with Intel HD 4000.
Installing Windows 7 is not an option for this notebook.
I uninstalled Outcast. I have to wait until a more general solution is found.

I'm also having this problem

The game stops responding at random times.

I'm using Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bits, my GPU is a AMD HD5870 1GB and CPU is Intel Core i7 930. I also applied the fan patch that allows to run the game in 1280x1024.

Why would GOG advertise that this game runs on Windows 7 when it clearly doesn't?

I'm seriously considering asking for a refund.

I tried several compatibility modes before I posted that, the game still freezes/stop responding.

It usually happens 5 minutes after I load a game.

I would like to know if there's any effective troubleshooting that I can apply to the game.

Thanks for responding.

I had the same problem just now with Outcast not starting anymore (OC3.exe stopped working).
Even though i knew i played it in the past.
I did reinstall my Win 7 once or twice in the meantime so i figured something changed.

Turns out Outcast doesn't like my 120Hz monitor. (or has general refresh rate issues)
Since my reinstall i had the global nvidia CP setting for refresh rate changed to highest available.

I added oc3.exe manually and changed it to application controlled. Now it starts! :)

The crash happened with or without the hires patch installed and after changing this both versions start fine for me.

Can't judge stability yet though.

I tried this on my notebook with an Intel chip.
Switched between 40 and 60 Hz.
Both did not work.

I also experience some problems.

"OC3.exe has stopped working".

I'm running on a Win 8 64 Bit with NVidia graphics.

I tried to run it with different compatibility settings, but none of it did work out. I also tried to change some settings in the NVidia control panel, but same here.

I'm a little lost here. Help is appreciated.

Regards.