I'm sick of this. Almost every so-called classic game purchased via gog has massive issues, is not optimized for modern resolutions, widescreen etc. INI-tweaking all day long. That's that. Cash-in for no invested work. Fine.

But now Sanitarium is like the 3rd or 4th game (Escape from Monkey Island being the one before that) I purchased that just wont even start/has black screen on start with NO goddamn possibility to alt-tab out of it. Leaving me to restart my computer. You Serious? Dont fuck with my hardware. In fact get the hell out of your lazy asses and test this shit before SELLING it.

What the hell are you doing with these games and how in the world you even think you are in the position to want my money for this fucking mess?

The point is usually the sharp end, the handle is at the other end...

Sanitarium is notorious for its bugs. Always has been.
I barely managed to get it running years ago on Windows 7, every time you change anything a part of it breaks.


In all fairness, I rarely have issues with GOG classics... but some of them are utterly broken, I have to agree.

ScummVM supports Sanitarium since v2.6.

After reading your post i downloaded Sanitarium and installed it. The game booted up fine and i can alt-tab without issue although i can still hear the game's sound when another window is active.

I understand frustration, and venting, when things don't work as they should but for me the game works as intended out of the "box" with no fiddling whatsoever.

I'm on Windows 10 @1080p and i started the game without Galaxy - don't know if that makes a difference or not.

I didn't check Escape from Monkey Island because i don't have that one.

Comments like this often remind me of TinyE. He'd often be the first to reply with his remotely related hilarious posts.

Yeah!, I do miss his posts. They could bring a smile (or even a few tears) to most peoples faces...

Sanitarium and Escape from Monkey Island don't have anything in common. Only one is 3D, only one is powered by ScummVM, different developers and publishers. It sounds like a problem with your system. Open a support ticket, if you haven't already. I'd also ask for support from the graphics card manufacturer (or on their forum).

I played Sanitarium before the latest version. It had some mild performance issues and a bugged puzzle that was still solvable if you know what you're doing. Since then, they've put out a ScummVM build once it became supported, so that's an example of GOG keeping old games updated. I'll have to remember to see if they'll do the same for Syberia and Syberia II once support is finalized. As I recall, Tomb Raider 1-4 and the Prince of Persia games need to be modded or tweaked for widescreen support. So GOG "refurbishing" old games for modern systems can be hit or miss. When buying very old games, it's a good idea to check PCGamingWiki to know what to expect.

That's just PC gaming unfortunately, there's so many different combinations of hardware and software that GOG can't guarantee they'll work right out of the box for everyone.

If that upsets you so much, perhaps your best bet is just to play new games or console games? *shrug* Or we could rage to the ends of the earth because GOG exists and lives rent-free in our heads, which is the worst thing to ever happen.

And the GOG version has used ScummVM since late last summer. :)

@mihe8 - I overall agree with the expectation you have about working old games without necessity to make any tinkering.

Sadly, aside from already mentioned in this topic thing with various configurations, there are also more commonly known issues with some games (like the notoriously appearing issue with launching BI: Incubation on Windows 10), not fixed up to this moment, despite the fact that there is already "fan-made" solution (to make it more funny, it requires from you to use the same file twice, but under different names, to make it work for both base game and expansion)

And yes, I know that this particular package (BI1-3 + Incubation), has up to this day info, that it works on Win Xp, 7 and 8.... But this is really looking bad now, no WIn11 support could be excusable, but no Windows 10 support up to this moment?

And there are more of such cases.

Nobody's fucked with your hardware. But it sounds like your hardware or more likely your operating system might be fucked.

What games did you have problems with and what was the problem? For example, Sanitarium, was it that it wouldn't start at all, or was it that it had a black screen on start? Which one? How about Escape from Monkey Island? Which one?

What were the other one or two games?

Waiting anxiously for your reply,
Your fellow GOG-forum user.

Just installed Sanitarium and it's running great with ScummVM on Win 11. What are your PC specs, mihe8?

[STRG] - [Alt] - [Entf] = opens the task manager.
That should (in most cases) allow you to close any program without having to restart your computer.

Edit:
tried "Sanitarium": runs flawless. Alt-tabbing works.
tried "EscfMI": runs flawless. Alt-tabbing doesn't work, but "F1" calls up the menu, from where you can exit the game.
Apart from that: [STRG] - [Alt] - [Entf] does the trick. As already mentioned.

My machine runs Win10.

Best is to run Escape from MI in the newest ScummVM engine (which is now merged with ResidualVM, that was the previous way to go).
It is possible to get it to run natively (use dgVoodoo), but it's just a PITA.

Sanitarium: Make sure you install the latest version (5xxxx) and not the outdated one (2xxxx). That one already runs in ScummVM and has no problems at all.

If at all, you might have to change the render method, if your graphics card does not support the one selected.
That happened to me some time ago. Until that driver version, everything was peachy, but then I had to change the method used for DOSBox (ScummVM is fine), which was set to Overlay at the time.



If you ever face black screen problems:
Instead of restarting your computer, press Ctrl+Alt+Del, then Alt+T. That opens the task manager. If you still see nothing and are using Windows 10, then type monkey, followed by Alt+T. The Windows 11 task manager is not as convenient for blinded keyboard users. But if the list of games has the focus when it opens, you can also type the application name, then press the context menu key on your keyboard followed by [P].
What sometimes also helps, is locking your PC by typing Win+L
I was told that switching desktops by pressing Win+Tab (and then opening a new one) also helps.

The 3D games from the late 90s and early 2000s are the worst. Getting them to run on modern machines is work on academic levels.


GOG can't see into the future. They don't know how drivers (or Windows) will change. If you want to play old games, you always have to be ready to do some handywork.

In my opinion it's best, if you have ONE installation of ScummvM and add all your games to it. This way you only have to do your system settings once and only have to change very few things depending on the game (MIDI/Adlib or find the coolest looking interpolation mode for each game).