This guide is designed mainly to help those poor souls who cannot get Tribes 2 installed and/or patched using the auto-patching system built into the game. At the end of the guide, you'll find links to other resources, plus a summary of some of the typical causes of problems installing Tribes 2. Feedback on the guide is always welcome.
Sections I. Pre-installation
II. Game installation
III. Summary of possible causes of a T2 install failure
IV. Links to other resources
I. Pre-installation
The pre-install guide covers nearly every possibility to insure a smooth setup prior to installing T2. While you do not have to flash your system's BIOS, for example, it is a step you can take if you need to repeat the process due to a failure. Bear in mind that such actions are not without risk and we offer no guarantee of success.
1. Make sure you have updated your BIOS to the latest version.
2. Get the latest motherboard drivers and install them. You may need VIA 4-in-1 drivers, Intel drivers or others. Check your motherboard manual to be sure you are getting the right driver set. AMD also has updates that may be important if you are running Windows 2000 with an Athlon chipset.
3. Get the latest official drivers for your video and sound cards. You may update drivers on other components, but these two are most important. Avoid beta drivers, as they can lead to instability, which is especially bad for a T2 install. Links to common vendors driver pages are listed below:
Video
ATI
Nvidia
3dfx Sound
Creative
Hercules
Turtle Beach
4. Go to Lavasoft and get AD-Aware. This small program will find spyware on your system that may interfere with the Tribes 2 install process.
5. Disable your anti-virus software before installing. You may re-enable the anti-virus software after the install.
Once you've done the above, you are ready to install the game.
II. Game installation
It's important that these steps are followed carefully. All of the files listed here are found at PlanetTribes's T2 Recommended Downloads page.
1. Create a subdirectory to save all the following files to. Do not run the game until finished with this process.
2. The Sierra Updater will, itself, need to be updated, listed as SierraUp Update for Tribes 2 here.
3. Next, grab the Tribes 2 First Aid Utility.
4. Go to the patches section and get the following four patches for the game:
21570.exe-22755.exe
22755.exe-23115.exe
23115.exe-23669.exe
23669.exe-24834.exe
5. Install the game. Do NOT not run or update the game yet.
6. Run the First Aid utility and use the "Check Files" option. It will compare the files against your CD to make sure they copied correctly. If any files did not copy over correctly, use the utility to copy over the pertinent files. If they still fail to copy over properly, even with the utility, you can see which files are being flagged and manually copy them over from the T2 CD.
7. Once the First Aid Utility has given all of the files a clean bill of health, run the update to the updater.
8. Run the patches in order.
9. You are ready to play the game. Enjoy!
III. Summary of possible causes of a T2 install failure
This is a quick list that covers the usual causes of a T2 install failing (some of which is covered above).
Spyware. Software that is typically installed on your system without your knowledge, usually piggybacked on another program you download and install.
Viruses. It may seem obvious, but a lot of games will install fine even on an infected system. T2 typically won't.
Bad ram. A defective DIMM will often cause a T2 install to fail. Run a memory diagnostic program or try pulling out the suspect memory while installing (and replace it if it is defective, obviously).
IV. Useful links
Tribes 2 Troubleshooting Guide
PT's Unhandled Exception Error Suggestions
Tweak3D's Tribes 2 Tweaking Guide
3DSpotlight's Tribes 2 Tweaking Guide
Creole Ned's Tribes 2 Graphics Guide
Sections I. Pre-installation
II. Game installation
III. Summary of possible causes of a T2 install failure
IV. Links to other resources
I. Pre-installation
The pre-install guide covers nearly every possibility to insure a smooth setup prior to installing T2. While you do not have to flash your system's BIOS, for example, it is a step you can take if you need to repeat the process due to a failure. Bear in mind that such actions are not without risk and we offer no guarantee of success.
1. Make sure you have updated your BIOS to the latest version.
2. Get the latest motherboard drivers and install them. You may need VIA 4-in-1 drivers, Intel drivers or others. Check your motherboard manual to be sure you are getting the right driver set. AMD also has updates that may be important if you are running Windows 2000 with an Athlon chipset.
3. Get the latest official drivers for your video and sound cards. You may update drivers on other components, but these two are most important. Avoid beta drivers, as they can lead to instability, which is especially bad for a T2 install. Links to common vendors driver pages are listed below:
Video
ATI
Nvidia
3dfx Sound
Creative
Hercules
Turtle Beach
4. Go to Lavasoft and get AD-Aware. This small program will find spyware on your system that may interfere with the Tribes 2 install process.
5. Disable your anti-virus software before installing. You may re-enable the anti-virus software after the install.
Once you've done the above, you are ready to install the game.
II. Game installation
It's important that these steps are followed carefully. All of the files listed here are found at PlanetTribes's T2 Recommended Downloads page.
1. Create a subdirectory to save all the following files to. Do not run the game until finished with this process.
2. The Sierra Updater will, itself, need to be updated, listed as SierraUp Update for Tribes 2 here.
3. Next, grab the Tribes 2 First Aid Utility.
4. Go to the patches section and get the following four patches for the game:
21570.exe-22755.exe
22755.exe-23115.exe
23115.exe-23669.exe
23669.exe-24834.exe
5. Install the game. Do NOT not run or update the game yet.
6. Run the First Aid utility and use the "Check Files" option. It will compare the files against your CD to make sure they copied correctly. If any files did not copy over correctly, use the utility to copy over the pertinent files. If they still fail to copy over properly, even with the utility, you can see which files are being flagged and manually copy them over from the T2 CD.
7. Once the First Aid Utility has given all of the files a clean bill of health, run the update to the updater.
8. Run the patches in order.
9. You are ready to play the game. Enjoy!
III. Summary of possible causes of a T2 install failure
This is a quick list that covers the usual causes of a T2 install failing (some of which is covered above).
Spyware. Software that is typically installed on your system without your knowledge, usually piggybacked on another program you download and install.
Viruses. It may seem obvious, but a lot of games will install fine even on an infected system. T2 typically won't.
Bad ram. A defective DIMM will often cause a T2 install to fail. Run a memory diagnostic program or try pulling out the suspect memory while installing (and replace it if it is defective, obviously).
IV. Useful links
Tribes 2 Troubleshooting Guide
PT's Unhandled Exception Error Suggestions
Tweak3D's Tribes 2 Tweaking Guide
3DSpotlight's Tribes 2 Tweaking Guide
Creole Ned's Tribes 2 Graphics Guide