Hi guys. I picked up Road Rash from my old place earlier today. Of course I ran into multiple issues trying to make it run on Windows 7 64 bit. The color corruption was one thing, a bigger problem was that the installer doesn't work on 64 bit systems and the game refuses to run without installing it first. And while there's zillions of guides and YouTube videos on eliminating the color problems I couldn't find any help on installing it on 64 bit systems.

Anyway, long story short: I've written a batch file and created a small package that *probably* solves all the problems at once. It does work perfectly fine for me but it would be awesome if someone else was willing to test it too. I presume that there may be a few GOG users who both use a 64 bit version of Windows and have the game lying around, so it would be awesome if one of you guys might check it out.

UPDATE:
Because people keep messaging me for a download link (and some of them even joined GOG because of that - GOG should really pay me):
http://www.mediafire.com/download/59ch4mtbffn20wn/Road+Rash+Launcher+v1.0.zip

UPDATE 2: I just discovered that I could rather easily make the batch file install the game to the HDD and make it run without using a cracked exe, so I'll probably create a new file soon which will do just that. Hopefully it will also make running the game on Windows 8 a bit easier. <.<

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvD8NydSA4I

Hmmm, with Road Redemption coming, hopefully GOG can re-release this title eventually, perhaps even making use of your file. As for me, I'm willing to torrent the game to test it out, but I'm guessing that's not a good idea/sends a bad message.

EDIT: Oh, this is an EA title?! Well hopefully we'll see it here eventually, assuming compatibility issues can be worked out.

I downloaded it a long time ago and got it working after some tweaking. Of course I skipped the installation process.

Edit: Also, that video isn't the PC version :P

Lol. Well, that's not the one I had in mind. I'm talking about the PC version which is identical to the PSX version (and definitely much better than the N64 version). Nah, my file only works for the retail version. It really just makes a change to the registry (something that GOG would do through the installer), kills explorer.exe (something GOG can easily do itself) and than just runs the game's executable which will always stream the data from your optical drive (something the GOG release wouldn't be allowed to do). And it restores explorer.exe after quitting the game.

I'm curious whether my launcher batch file will also work with a virtual drive or on Windows 8, two things I haven't tested yet. I think the big problem with the game is that it's using a massive amount of licensed songs. I bet the licenses have expired and that EA wouldn't ever consider renewing them for such a trashy game. Yeah, didn't take that much time figuring out what I have to do although I couldn't find a guide for it on the web. I installed it on my netbook first where the installer does work in order to find out what changes the installer does to the registry and what entry the game is looking for.

I spent most time making the whole thing an automated process that should work on any system and with any directory since I haven't had any experiece with writing batch files or reg files until making this one. Also I wanted to avoid using a crack.

Edit: Oh yeah, forgot to mention one thing. The batch file also automatically sets the compatibility mode to Windows 95 which seems to be necessary to run the game properly (although sometimes the game will run without it while at other times it generates an error message - really weird).

I actually just found my copy of the game and have been searching for a way to fix it. I'd love to give your batch file a shot, as I'm having the same problem!

Cool. I'll send you a private message in a few moments.

I was going to mention that it is possible to put all of the CD assets (cutscenes, music, etc.) locally in game directory and the game will access it with a config tweak I believe. When I originally made the switch 64bit windows I went through the old games I know I like to run that have 16bit installers and made portable apps out of them. I did this with Road Rash but can't remember the exact way I got it to read assets locally. I'd have to reverse a DAT archive to see but I remember it wasn't difficult and pretty straightforward.

For the color fix a simple batch file that task kills explorer (GUI), launchs game, and then relaunchs explorer when done works fine.

taskkill /f /IM explorer.exe
start /w ROADRASH.EXE
start explorer.exe


Hope this helps.

Yeah, that's what I did before. Today I decided to see whether I can make the batch file use Windows' own color fix, though (the one which is also used by Starcraft). And it works. So now it's not necessary to kill explorer anymore. :)

Funny story btw., I spent more than an hour looking for information on how this fix works, read a lot of useless blogs and stuff, ultimately I found this thread which instantly allowed me to apply the color fix to Road Rash as well. The world is small. Or GOG is just a brilliant community.

F4LL0UT I'd love to have that Batch file. I'm trying to get Road Rash to run on Win8 64-bit. It won't let me install. :( I sent you a PM. Thanks.

F4LLOUT wud love to try out ur batch file ... hurry pls
thnks in advance

Yeah me too. Please, share your knowledge! :-)

F4LL0UT, I'd love to have a copy too, if i may?

I have the retail version, the disc, and a ripped version, both of which refuses to run on my sibling's Win 7 64bit system. I personally use Win XP and Win Vista 32 bit, alternatively.

Lol, sorry guys, I wasn't aware people were posting here (why doesn't anybody seem to use the "reply" feature when it's about something "important").

I just updated the original post and added a download link.

Greetings! Hey excuse me, i downloaded your bat but it seems not to work, doesn't fix the graphic issues on my Road Rash (not sure if i'm the only one). I tried with the 'taskkill¡ bat and that one does work but i don't like killing my explorer.exe every time...

Also, is there any way for the batches not to close Java based applications? (both yours and the taskkiller do)

Thanks!