Hello,

New to GOG.com but already liking it quite a bit.

Anyway, I have a question that might be a silly one. I recently bought Syberia II but for some reason there's no cinematics. Is this common policy of GOG.com that the games include only the actual games and not the cinematics? I always found cinematics beautiful and rewarding aspect of the game...

Thanks in advance!

Thanks for the swift reply!

I did found the videos (.bik) and wasn't able to play them. I downloaded and installed RAD video tools which helped me to play the videos "manually" (by clicking them). However, the videos still won't play during the game. I also downloaded and installed new drivers for my graphic card but it didn'help either.

The log doesn't show anything out of ordinary:

----- Starting Syberia 2 version 1.0.0.16, Wed Jul 24 13:48:41 2013
Current user: Annamanna
Operation System is: 'Windows NT/2000/XP' version 6.1 build 7601
Using service pack 'Service Pack 1'
Windows NT: Using path 'C:\Users\Annamanna\Documents\' for save game.
Options loaded. Subtitle=1 bpp=32 fsaa=0 detail=2 Volume=10 Music=5
Creating full-screen application
CKEngine Started
Parsing DLL path
Creating CKContext.
Selected render driver description is: 'AMD M880G with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4225 (T&L DX8)'
32-bit rendering detected.
Testing sound hardware...
Creating full-screen render context (800x600x32)
Loading the .Cmo
Using data file language: 'AN'
Playing cinematic 'Intro_microids.bik'
.Cmo loaded
Playing cinematic 'CI_PreIntro.bik'
Using Bigfile: Full install detected.
SyberiaBootInit: Preload

----

When I start the game, a brief clip of music can be heard, possibly from the opening video of Microids. However, it is just a 1-2 seconds and I find myself in the opening menu. Any possibility that a fresh re-install could work?

EDIT: Tried to re-install. No effect...

Hmm, that's tricky. One thing I could try is changing the game's binkw32.dll for a newer one, like the one that comes with the RAD tools. There's other possibilities, though. How does your main game work? Does it load and render properly? Start it and try playing around a bit, switch a few screens, etc. Also, you didn't comment on whether the cinematics run when manually started from the menu: The "Cinematics" and the "Syberia 1 Recap" buttons. If the first one is empty, run the game so that at least it logs the intro one.

Also, this is for Syberia 2. How did 1 run? If it ran fine, you could try its own binkw32.dll file instead...

Tricky indeed. I read BINK FAQ on their website which says:

---

Someone told me to get a new Bink DLL or to download the RAD Video Tools to get a new DLL to fix my game - why doesn't this help?

Because it's lousy advice. Bink DLLs are NOT replacable! If you copy a different version of the DLL onto another pre-compiled application (like a game), then you are likely to crash. The RAD Video Tools don't even have the Bink DLL built into them, so this will have absolutely no effect. Please contact your game maker for support.

---

So, I guess that's not an option here? And I've played it a round a bit, 'til monastery. The game itself runs smoothly and without problems (thank god Kate can run this time). The cinematics do appear in the menu, you can click them, screen fades but the game returns you immediately to the menu. Same goes for the Syberia Recap. And no music is heard this time.

I do not have Syberia 1 as a GOG.com version since I bought the retail version when it originally came out. Decided to install it and surprisingly it has exactly the same problem. Game works but the cinematics won't run (you hear 1-2 seconds of title music and then you find yourself in the menu). I can manually play the cinematics from the actual folder by clicking them but that's all.

Could very well be lousy, but does it hurt to try? At this point, that bink library appears to be the only failing part. Just be sure to back up the old file and if the new one fares as badly or worse, return the old one, no harm done.

Other venues to explore would be changing compatibility settings (32-bit XP SP3 should work) and/or processor affinity (set to use only one core) for the game exe and/or the bink library (if that's even possible; I think affinity might be). Also, the problem might be with your graphics card or driver, but since it's not a crossfire config, I can't really see how. For sanity's sake, it would be best if the game weren't installed in Program Files (again, that seems entirely unrelated, but still)

Finally, here's the game's official site & forum, maybe you can find something useful there (I didn't, though). There are links to some patches (at least for the first game, though I don't think they changed the bink files in any way).

I would start by making sure your ESC key isn't stuck or half stuck.

^ No, my ESC key is not stuck or even half-stuck :)

Never solved this problem. Just re-installed windows on my fiancée's computer (on which I tried to play Syberia 2) but never tried to play Syberia 2 on it. Could give it a shot since this Windows version is Ultimate (maybe there's some special features that would make Syberia 2 cinematics work, dunno).

I'll let you know, if I find a solution. Then again, I could try to play it on some other Windows laptop. Maybe.

It's possible there are some codec issues. As a very long shot, you could try installing something like VLC media player, which then comes with the ability to play just about anything. That might help.