There's been a few threads dedicated to this topic and plenty of people share the problem, however, and while there are solutions out there, I'm surprised to see how difficult they can be to find. That a sticky doesn't already exist to fix this issue when so many people are experiencing it (as far as I can tell, almost everyone using the recommended widescreen mod) is very surprising to me. Well, with the help of a few users on this and other forums, I managed to fix the issue via hex editing and decided to write up this guide for everyone.

Note: All credit to discovering the fix goes to scient.

I'm not sure of the exact technical reason behind the glitch, but as far as I can tell it affects those using the widescreen mod because occasionally the game will attempt to load assets in the game's native resolution (640x480) instead of the resolution the widescreen mod has altered the game to run at, hence the crash. If this explanation is incorrect or not comprehensive enough, I more than welcome someone more knowledgeable about the topic to chime in.

*So here's how you fix it.*

IMPORTANT: I recommend making a back-up copy of your Torment.exe file before proceeding any further.
Download a hex editor program, I recommend HxD which is free and easy to download. Now, with your hex editor program of choice, boot it up and navigate to your Planescape: Torment installation directory (using the command "File > Open"). Once there, open the Torment.exe file.

Now that you have the Torment.exe file open you'll see a bunch of hex values and other information. What you need to do now is search for some very specific values using the command "Search > Find". Switch the search options to "hex value" from "text string" and then enter (and modify) the following four lines ONE AT A TIME.

search: B9 80 02 00 00 F7 F9 89 45 BC 8B 95 D8 FE FF FF 8B 82 F0 00 00 00 99 B9 80 02 00 00
search: B9 E0 01 00 00 F7 F9 89 45 A0 8B 95 D8 FE FF FF 8B 82 F4 00 00 00 99 B9 E0 01 00 00
search: B9 80 02 00 00 F7 F9 89 85 68 FF FF FF 8B 55 18 8B 42 04 99 B9 E0 01 00 00
search: B9 80 02 00 00 F7 F9 89 85 70 FF FF FF 8B 55 18 8B 42 0C 99 B9 E0 01 00 00

The values that are relevant here are "80 02" and "E0 01". You'll need to modify these values to represent the correct resolution (the one you've modified the game to run in with the widescreen mod). IMPORTANT TIP: When modifying hex values, click your cursor in front of the value you want to modify (e.g. |80) and then input new values OVER the old ones, do not select and delete hex values then reenter them!

For example, to change the values for a resolution of 1920x1080, you would change all instances of 80 02 to 80 07, and all instances of E0 01 to 38 04.

Here's a list of common resolutions and their corresponding values (IMPORTANT: the ones you want are the "Formatted Value").

Value******Hexadecimal Value******Formatted Value
---------------------------------------------------------------
200*******00C8*****************C800
---------------------------------------------------------------
240*******00F0*****************F000
---------------------------------------------------------------
320*******0140*****************4001
---------------------------------------------------------------
480*******01E0*****************E001
---------------------------------------------------------------
525*******020D*****************0D02
---------------------------------------------------------------
540*******021C*****************1C02
---------------------------------------------------------------
576*******0240*****************4002
---------------------------------------------------------------
600*******0258*****************5802
---------------------------------------------------------------
640*******0280*****************8002
---------------------------------------------------------------
704*******02C0*****************C002
---------------------------------------------------------------
720*******02D0*****************D002
---------------------------------------------------------------
768*******0300*****************0003
---------------------------------------------------------------
800*******0320*****************2003
---------------------------------------------------------------
840*******0348*****************4803
---------------------------------------------------------------
848*******0350*****************5003
---------------------------------------------------------------
854*******0356*****************5603
---------------------------------------------------------------
900*******0384*****************8403
---------------------------------------------------------------
960*******03C0*****************C003
---------------------------------------------------------------
992*******03E0*****************E003
---------------------------------------------------------------
1000******03E8*****************E803
---------------------------------------------------------------
1024******0400*****************0004
---------------------------------------------------------------
1050******041A*****************1A04
---------------------------------------------------------------
1080******0438*****************3804
---------------------------------------------------------------
1152******0480*****************8004
---------------------------------------------------------------
1200******04B0*****************B004
---------------------------------------------------------------
1280******0500*****************0005
---------------------------------------------------------------
1360******0550*****************5005
---------------------------------------------------------------
1366******0556*****************5605
---------------------------------------------------------------
1368******0558*****************5805
---------------------------------------------------------------
1440******05A0*****************A005
---------------------------------------------------------------
1536******0600*****************0006
---------------------------------------------------------------
1600******0640*****************4006
---------------------------------------------------------------
1680******0690*****************9006
---------------------------------------------------------------
1768******06E8*****************E806
---------------------------------------------------------------
1776******06F0*****************F006
---------------------------------------------------------------
1800******0708*****************0807
---------------------------------------------------------------
1920******0780*****************8007
---------------------------------------------------------------
2048******0800*****************0008
---------------------------------------------------------------
2400******0960*****************6009
---------------------------------------------------------------
2560******0A00*****************000A
---------------------------------------------------------------
2720******0AA0*****************A00A
---------------------------------------------------------------
2880******0B40*****************400B
---------------------------------------------------------------
3072******0C00*****************000C
---------------------------------------------------------------
3200******0C80*****************800C
---------------------------------------------------------------
3360******0D20*****************200D
---------------------------------------------------------------
3840******0F00*****************000F
---------------------------------------------------------------
4080******0FF0*****************F00F
---------------------------------------------------------------
4320******0010E0***************E010
---------------------------------------------------------------
5040******0013B0***************B013
---------------------------------------------------------------

For me, this fix resolved 99% of the crashes I was experiencing while loading into new areas, and I have only had 1 crash in the last 4-5 hours. Good luck and if anyone needs any assistance or has anything to add, please drop a reply. :)

Thanks for this, I haven't tried it out since I just completed the game the other night, however I found a simpler fix myself during my playthrough. It seemed that the many crashes that I had when entering a building could all be alleviated by making sure there were no other playable characters standing in the entryways, and just using one character to walk through the door. This has worked 100% of the time for an entire playthrough.

Out of curiosity, were you using Bigg's Widescreen mod? I was unable to get the game to stop crashing in certain areas (such as Mebbeth's hut) without the hex editing fix, even trying the technique you mentioned as well as numerous reloads and attempting to delete all cache/temp files.

I certainly was. I used all the patches and mods from the GOG mod guide. Moving characters out the way of doorways and trying different characters to enter buildings always worked for me. And I encountered the bug many times.

Your fix is certainly very helpful and I wish I would have had it before I played through, because it would have saved many CTDs, but I figured it may also be too complicated for some GOGgers, that's why I left my comment.

Hex editing is pretty easy with instructions as long as you know not to delete values and instead overwrite them. As for your workarounds, I wish they would have worked in my case because I almost gave up on the game after getting stuck in Mebbeth's hut a few hours into the game and unable to get out of it (which would have been a shame considering how amazing PS:T is). I had to spend a couple hours researching the issue until I came across this hex editing solution buried in the middle of a thread without much explanation. What a pain. My frustration is the primary motivator for this guide, lol.

Which has got me thinking, would it be possible to implement this fix directly into the initial installation process of the widescreen mod? I have no idea myself, but if it is possible it really surprises me that it hasn't been done yet. Would save a lot of headaches before they've even began. >.<

Hex editing is simple if you know what you are doing. The fact of the matter is that for people without much technical skill, hex editing is more than just intimidating, you can damage your game executable or worse. Just a word of caution for anyone unfamiliar with the process. BACK UP your executable, and follow the instructions precisely.


oh, and +1 for bringing this solution to the forums.

Dang, I've tried to reply to your post several times now but GOG just refuses to post it, just hangs up on processing forever. Here's hoping they don't all pop up at some point overnight and then I'll have 4-5 messages saying the exact same thing. :P

In any case, thank you for the suggestion about backing up the executable, I should have thought of that before. I've went ahead and added it right at the start of the guide. Thanks!

Thanks for the suggestion, but I just tried it and it didn't work for me. Now to try the hex edit option...

Well, just performed the hex edit. It also did not get me past my current crash issue. As a background, I've been experiencing area entry crashes for the last couple of days (since I installed the wide screen mod and all associated mods). I've had a few issues where I couldn't enter any new areas. A re-install of the mods seemed to do the trick. It got me past two different spans of entry crashes. Now, following my recent re-install, I'm crashing while trying to go up the steps by Nihal Xander in the Foundry. No luck... Now I'm off to try re-installing the mods.... again. It's a great game though, and totally worth all the hassles.

Yes, this is sometimes what has to be done in games where game bugs are concerned...;) Usually, it's something simple that Q&A testers never experienced in the game originally, and so the bug was overlooked--but with my luck, I would get the "experience" of the *bug* every time! I dimly recall having to do something myself like you report doing in that particular section of the game, but I really have to say that I've had no problems at all running the game @ 1920x1200 using Bigg's mod--at least that I recall at the moment. (In Win8.1x64, too)--except...

The most problematic thing for me in playing at that resolution was Ddraw problems relating to my D3d drivers--which aqrit's Ddraw fix completely solved for me. Funny thing, that--some people have said that with Gog's version of the game aqrit's Ddraw fix isn't needed--but I needed it, all the same.

I wonder if DDraw fix would have prevented the many times that I saw my desktop shimmering beneath the game every once in a while. I heard, like you, that the GOG version didn't need the fix so I figured that wasn't it. Oh well, it was minor annoyance that certainly didn't take away from my enjoyment of the game.

Don't know. I always play full screen, but what I have noticed is that in the Gog version the game will often quickly alternate a few times between the "insert CD 2" screen and the normal screen, before deciding that it doesn't need CD 2, after all...Some remaining artifact of Gog removing the DRM, I'm sure.

Aqrit's Ddraw fix was necessary for me *to play the game*...! The mouse otherwise stuttered and jumped (when it wasn't leaving trails) so badly the game was literally unplayable because it was uncontrollable. If you need aqrit's Ddraw fix, believe me, you'll know it...;) It won't really be optional--at least, it wasn't for me. Whether that has to do with Win8.1x64 I couldn't really say--but the fix worked with my Gog version, and that's all that really matters in the end, imo.

I did play fullscreen. Still, my desktop would shimmer through.

Hi there,

I tried this fix and as far as I can tell I did nothing wrong. (Everything still works and I haven't noticed any CTDs since) However characters now appear in front of certain terrain images instead of behind them, e.g. I walk under an archway and I see my character the entire time instead of being obscured by it until passing under it.

Not entirely sure if it's related to the fix itself (can't see why, but equally I don't understand the hex malarkey- I just carefully followed your [very clear, thanks] instructions).

All I can say is that I resolved it by returning to my backup exe and am now putting up with the occasional crash because it's less of an issue for me.

It occurs to me that I am currently using my 4 disc version as opposed to my gog version so that could also be a factor perhaps. Again, don't really know.

If anyone has any thoughts, or ways to resolve this, fantastic. Otherwise just bringing a possible problem to your attention. Will try installing my gog version and using your fix to see if the problem persists.

Cheers,
Dan

EDIT: Also occurs using GOG version- installed mods: widescreen (1024/768, used hex values 00 04/00 03), UI mod, fix pack, unfinished business, tweak packs. Installed exactly as instructed by ThunderPeel2001's blog.

Hi, bigmac644. I'm not sure what might be causing your specific crashes, but the fact that the hex edit fix didn't work at all for you makes me think it may be caused by something entirely different than what I was experiencing. The way you phrased your statement also makes me think that you played the game for awhile and then chose to install the mods. Is this correct? If so, installing mods during a playthrough and then continuing on that save file is known to cause a lot of issues (including glitches and general instability) with Planescape. It may simply be that you need to start over on a fresh file. Keep me posted.


Hi, dandandan88. I too have experienced issues with characters appearing in front of certain parts of scenes instead of behind them where they should be. I also noticed this only after performing the hex edit fix, however, I only experienced it in one area that I can recall (the alley in Sigil where all the thugs are). Whether this is actually related to the fix itself or something else I can't confirm, as I didn't visit that area prior to performing the fix. Unfortunately, I don't have any idea how to fix this. My best recommendation would be to revert to your original executable (as you said you did), reinstall mods and perform the fix again. Other then that, I'm not really sure. If you can post back with any findings though I (and I'm sure others) would greatly appreciate it.

One last thing: have you checked to see if this glitch occurs in the vanilla game without any mods/fixes?

Thanks for the reply. Good to know that I'm not the only one experiencing the problem.

I've done a fresh install of the GOG version of the game and installed the widescreen and UI mods and the problem persists. I assumed you meant by vanilla not to install other mods in addition to these, since without the widescreen mod, resolution based hex edits would surely either do nothing or break the game further? Either way it would seem unnecessary as if the crashes are related to resolution they wouldn't be occurring without the widescreen mod?

If you meant does the glitch occur without ANY mods AND the fix, no it doesn't. However, since the game autosaves on entering area, I would sooner have periodic CTDs and reload the game and re-enter the area than play with the low resolution of the base game, having become accustomed to the increased resolution. (As I'm sure you can understand. :P)

Cheers,
Dan