Game problems, wont start, crashes and fixing

I'm aware that if you are looking for this you probably already tried to open the game (or do some of these things, but let's take it from the top with a clean slate)
Attempt to boot from steam (If possible, redownload the game first) from there, let's see what happens
If the game wont even start (mine changed the resolution to potato and basically froze) or crashes quickly

• First, right click the game on library > Browse Local Files, Right click on mm.exe and go to compatibility.
  
• Set compatibility to Windows XP Service Pack 3
  
• Check DISABLE FULLSCREEN OPTIMIZATIONS
  
• Check Run As Administrator
  

• Go to Dark Messiah Might and Magic Single Player\mm\media
  
• Open startupvids.txt
  
• Change the name of the files to something that doesnt exist since cutscene files can break the game launch

E.G:
media/alogo_ubi.old
media/alogoarkane.old
media/aIntro.old

I changed my extensions to.old and added a letter "a" at the begining to make sure it finds nothing

Try opening the game again FROM THE mm.exe, not steam (but with steam running in the background) and give it a minute or two even if it looks frozen. If it boots at all, good.
Change only the resolution and finish the first level to see if you run into the dreaded second crash, if you don't, move onto the CRASH PROOFING section, you are almost there.

Depending on what crash you got the solution varies so lets just deal with them all, you can apply all of these fixes at the same time and the game should just work even if you dont get one's exact error message

Disable High Dynamic Range (HDR)

• Search for binkw32.dll and COPY (not move) it to the games root directory

(...)steamapps\common\Dark Messiah Might and Magic Single Player

Error : can't find background image materials/console/background01.vtf

• Go to Dark Messiah Might and Magic Single Player\vpks
  
• Copy depot_2101_000.vpk
  
• Go to Dark Messiah Might and Magic Single Player\mm\materials\
  
• Create a folder named "console"
  
• Paste depot_2101_000.vpk into that folder
  
• Rename that depot file to background01.vtf

If you still get the same error or cant rename it, just put a random 640x480 jpeg in console and rename it to background01.vft This should work with any image since a .vtf is just a texture file. Trying to rename the file is better but can give people other errors,

EXE Patching

• Download a 4GB patch
  https://ntcore.com/?page_id=371
  
  
• Point the patcher to the Dark Messiah executable in the game files (mm.exe) and apply
  

IF YOU HAVE INSTALLED MODS THAT CREATE A "CUSTOM" FOLDER, MAKE SURE TO COPY THE "media" folder into the "custom" folder and make sure startupvids has been modified in both as discussed above

Still cant make it work?

• In Steam Library right-click on ''Dark Messiah of Might and Magic Singleplayer'' => Properties
  
• ''Set Launch Options...''
  
• In the text box type in: -autoconfig
  
• Click OK
  
• Launch the game FROM STEAM and wait about two minutes. Remove the option after the game launches if it does and try again
  
• Add this game launch option:
  -novid
  
• Retry

Still no dice? Follow this guide:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1934864423
And use the Microsoft Compatibility Tool to apply these fixes:

HeapValidateFrees
IgnoreCRTExit

(Credit to Hexaae)


LAST RESORT
If the game still crashes unexpectedly while playing, the last thing you can try is to set through NVidia Profile Inspector or NVidia driver settings: Threaded Optimization: OFF.

EXE Patching

• Download a 4GB patch
  https://ntcore.com/?page_id=371
  
  
• Point the patcher to the Dark Messiah executable in the game files (mm.exe) and apply
  

Add these to the steam launch commands line
-novid -heapsize 1572864 +fps_max 60 -applaunch 2100 -dxlevel 90

If you encounter any problems later, also add at the string end
+datacachesize "128"


Game wont save my graphics settings
Boot from the mm.exe executable, not steam
If this does save your settings, try making a desktop shortcut to it and running the game from it instead of steam.
You still might have to check that AA has not been disabled pretty much every start up.

Some video settings are stored in the windows registry aside from the cfg files
Video settings are stored in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Valve\Source\mm\Settings
You can try changing it from the registry and "freezing" the cfg files by making them read only after settings have been applied