Many people seem to experience problems getting this game to work. After a year of on-off attempts I've finally managed to get it working and played it to completion, and I'm glad I persevered because it's a great game if you enjoy tactical turn-based combat.

In the spirit of giving something back to the community, I've put together this little guide that hopefully may(!) get this game working for you.

For reference I tested the game on the following 4 PCs:

- Windows XP (32-bit) laptop, Athlon single-core, Radeon 1150 xpress graphics card
- Windows XP (32-bit) desktop, Athlon single-core, GeForce 7800GTX graphics card
- Windows 7 (64-bit) laptop, Intel i3, Intel HD3000 graphics (integrated)
- Windows 7 (64-bit) desktop, Intel P3420 dual-core, GeForce GTX 650 Ti graphics card

Each time you double-click on the Gorky icon to start the game, a pop-up box appears giving you the choice between:

- Software Renderer
- Primary Display Driver
- 'Name of your graphics card'

(N.B. I always ticked the box to 'Disable hardware zoom')

Selecting 'Primary Display Driver' or 'Name of your graphics card' caused problems on all my PCs - mainly invisible characters and/or characters disappearing behind scenery.

So, I recommend choosing 'Software Renderer'. (The game was made in 1998 and has very low system requirements, so your PC should easily cope with this mode - my old laptop ran it fine.)

HOWEVER - 'Software Renderer' caused sound problems on all my PCs - garbled voices, lagging sound, and even crashes. The good news is there are (keeping fingers crossed!) simple solutions that worked on all my systems.

Windows 7:
1.) Right-click on 'Gorky 17' desktop icon and then select 'Properties'.
2.) Click on 'Compatibility' tab and change compatibility mode from 'Windows 95' to 'Windows XP (Service Pack 3)'.
3.) Ensure that 'Run this program as administrator' is selected and then click 'OK' button to close the panel.

Windows XP:
1.) Open 'Control Panel' and select 'Sounds and Audio Devices'
2.) Select 'Audio' tab - in 'Sound Playback' click on the 'Advanced' button
3.) Select 'Performance' tab - move 'Hardware Acceleration' slider to 'None'
4.) Click 'OK' button to close (remember to change this back to its original setting after you have finished the game)

Obviously I can't guarantee these will work for you, but it may be worth giving them a go.

Best of luck!

Further Information:

Cut-scenes:

The cut-scenes worked fine for me, but I know some people have experienced problems viewing them. If that's the case for you, then don't worry they really aren't vital to enjoying the game or understanding the plot. Apart from the intro and ending, they are merely short (under 45 sec) introduction scenes to the boss monsters.
If you want to view them separately, they can be found in the '..\GOG Games\Gorky 17\AVI' folder ('intro' is the starting video, 'autro' is the ending video, and the others are named after the relevant bosses you meet). They can be viewed with most video players e.g. GOM, VLC, Windows Media Player etc..


Incubus fight crash:

There is a bug, which may cause your game to crash during the fight against the 2 incubus bosses (they are the monsters that throw silver coloured spheres at you). This was the only crash I experienced whilst playing, and I'd like to thank Bolch76 for providing the following solution:

'The freeze occurs when an Incubus mine detonates after ANY Incubus had died. So if you want to avoid this problem, kill the other monsters first, then weaken both Incubuses and kill them in the same turn (so the battle is over before the detonations).'



### MILD SPOILER ALERT!!! ###

This may be difficult to achieve because of how far the incubus can move and the fact that it will move next to its own mines (and end up destroying itself before you want it to). The easy answer to this is to save the Energy Beam or Missile weapon for this battle, so you can instantly destroy the incubus if you need to.

### END OF MILD SPOILER ALERT ###



Difficulty and Tactics - General Hints (mild spoilers!)

Some people find this game difficult. This is mainly due to the lack of ammunition and the fact that you can only regain health via the various health-packs that you find.

I would offer the following general tips:
- Save ammunition wherever possible by using melee weapons
- Don't waste powerful weapons and ammunition on weak opponents - save it for when you really need it!
- The key to winning battles is learning each creatures weaknesses and strengths - what are they vulnerable or immune to, how far can they move, how do they attack you. Also learn how your weapons work - their effects, range, and which directions they can be aimed.
- Paralyzing or stunning your enemies is your friend


Hope this information will be of some assistance. Have fun!

Very useful tips, groundhog42.

Thank you! :)

REDVWIN