I seem to remember that there used to be older versions of SSEE that ran totally fine on WinXP, but the current version suggests that it’s not a Win32 program when I tried to launch it. Is it just that my memory’s playing trick on me or they dropped the support for WinXP with certain updates?

Thanks for the information! I guess I’d just have to go with SS portable then.

I hope that's an airgapped Windows XP machine.

This one is seemingly running fine on Windows XP (32-bit)
setup_system_shock_enhanced_2.0.0.3.exe
Containing sshock.exe 21-09-2015

But I prefer this one instead:
https://github.com/Interrupt/systemshock/releases/tag/v0.7.7
For windows XP though, you need to add a compatible libfluidsynth-1.dll. You can get it here:
http://www.gb-homepage.nl ( Select: Downloads -> System Shock W32 / Shockolate SVN )

Sorry but I don’t quite get it. Where’s this “setup_system_shock_enhanced_2.0.0.3.exe”? The current version number of SSEE seems to be 1.2.16. Or is that a mistake of SS classic? Whose version number is indeed 2.0.0.3.

As for the github link, is that an open source remake thing or...?

Where it is? It is gone. It was the name for the installer at GOG around 2015. GOG replaced it with a newer version since. Just like you wrote in your first post. Even I don't have that installer anymore, but I do have the files that it installed.

EDIT: archive.org still has a copy of that installer, seemingly. A working port based on the released source code.

So GOG named newer version back down to 1.x.x.x? Lol
Thanks for the info! Do you know of System Shock Portable? How’s this GitHub one compared to that?

It has OpenGL rendering. That is the main difference I can think of now.

Oh...my machine supports only up to OpenGL 1.4 and has failed to run many games these years, since most of the newer ones require at least OpenGL 2.0. Thanks for all your help!

I know this thread is now nearly 2 months old, but if someone is still interested into getting the enhanced edition to run on win xp you have to get the "old" enhanced edition prior the source port update. Unfortunately you only can get the old version via the GOG Galaxy launcher and downgrading the game version. Just to clarify: the version mentioned in this thread 2.0.0.3 is the old dos version and is also entitled as the classic version. The latest enhanced version is 1.2.16. So don't get confused about the numbers.

The old (pre-source port) enhanced version is entitled as "1e16 Hotfix" in the GOG Galaxy version history. You can download this version via the galaxy launcher, install the game and copy the installation directory to your win xp machine. This version works on xp.

you can also get the same thing when you apply SSPtool to the DOS version of the game (free on GOG if you already have SSEESP).

//scratch that, the beta is not public yet.

System Shock with SSPtool still runs via DOSBox (or via NTVDM on Win XP, but that doesn't work that well on my old rig). The pre-source port enhanced version seems to run natively on windows machines and give better performance.

I've also tried the "Shockolate" Source Port on my old pc... all I can say is: Don't bother, it's not worth the hassle. Even though you can run the modified version of shockolate, you still have to collect some dll files to get this thing to run on win xp. After I've got every dll file I was able to start this source port... performance wise this one is pretty bad on old machines in software mode (OpenGL mode doesn't work on 2.0 cards). Unless you are unable to obtain the old enhanced edition by Nightdive for some reasons, it's better to use the classic dos version instead of the shockolate source port.

right, the beta is not public yet, so yeah, SSPtool will get you the dosbox version.

anyway, you actually were able to get Shockolate running under winxp? also opengl should work on 2.0 cards - iirc, someone on steam had it running on a radeon x550.

Yes, the link provided by gerwin79 contains a version which is compiled in a way that allows shockolate to be run on win xp. Regarding the opengl support... my old pc has a ATI X800 XT. That card, at least for me, has some issues regarding opengl. I could have changed to an alternative driver (the old "Omega Driver") but didn't felt to try. Maybe with the omega driver shockolate could have worked in opengl on windows xp.