Actua Soccer 3
Page Last Updated: 11/24/17
Installation & Troubleshooting
Table of Contents:
1. Error: Product not designed for Windows NT
2. Installation
3. Playing the Game w/dgVoodoo2
1. Error: This product was not designed for Windows NT. Install will abort.
Newer versions of Windows like to throw up this error when you try to install Actua Soccer 3:
To get past this, make sure your game CD is in the drive and pop open a File Explorer window (Windows key + E). Select your CD-ROM drive from the left hand sidebar, and you should be seeing the list of files from the CD. Look for a file named Autorun.exe, and click on it with your right mouse button. Then, hit Properties from the popup menu.
At the Properties window, click on the "Compatibility" tab. Under Compatibility mode, place a check mark next to "Run this program in compatibility mode for:" and then select Windows 95. Press OK to save your changes.
Once you're back to File Explorer, double-click on the Autorun.exe to launch it - the setup program should proceed.
2. Installation
Some quick notes about installation:
(1) Select the maximum installation. The game will run better and you will have fewer issues. What's 490 MB these days?
*not* install the game inside of a Program Files directory.
(2) When asked for your destination folder, Do NOT install the game inside a Program Files directory. Create a new folder for the game. C:\Soccer3, C:\Games\Soccer3, it can be anything as long as it isn't inside Program Files.
(3) When prompted, say no to both the DirectX 6.1 installation and the Indeo codec installation. In all likelihood you have a newer version of the codec on your system already.
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Okay, so now you have the game installed. You can try launching it at this point, but in all likelihood it will crash with one of these errors:
"actua99 has stopped working"
"Fatal error Exiting.."
The game just doesn't play well with newer versions of DirectX. Fortunately, programs exist to help us work around this. Read on..
3. Playing the Game w/dgVoodoo2
dgVoodoo 2 is a graphics "wrapper" which makes it possible to play old DirectX games on newer systems.
You'll want to unzip the following files from the zip to your Actua Soccer 3 game directory.
dgVoodooCpl.exe (dgVoodooSetup.exe in versions 2.53 and older)
D3DImm.dll (Located in the "MS" directory in the zip)
DDraw.dll (Located in the "MS" directory in the zip)
Run dgVoodooCpl.exe. You'll want to add your Actua Soccer 3 folder to its configuration list. You can do that quickly by clicking the backslash icon (it’s to the left of “add” in the top right corner).
Then, select the "DirectX" tab. UNcheck "Disable Alt-Enter to toggle screen state. Your screen should look like this. Press OK to save your changes, and you should notice that a 'dgvoodoo.conf' file has been added to your Actua Soccer 3 folder. If this file is not there, try re-running the Control Panel as an administrator.
Try running the game executable (Soccer3.exe). Your screen should flash a few times, and then the Actua Soccer 3 logo should appear. Look for the dgVoodoo watermark in the bottom right corner.
Note: the game may appear in a window, but you can press ALT-ENTER to go full screen.
From the menu, go to the Audio Visual options (it's the TV with a musical note inside it). Select a "D3D1" mode from the list. You can use the left or right buttons to cycle through the available resolutions/color modes.
Nothing left to do now but hit the pitch! Try loading a match - hopefully it works for you. :)
4. Playing the Game w/nGlide
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Now, if dgVoodoo doesn't work properly, or if you just feel like trying something different, you can set up nGlide to make use of the 3DFX graphics engine inside the game.
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Download nGlide from Zeus Software
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Once you install nGlide, it should add an nGlide folder to your start menu. Inside that folder is the nGlide configurator, and it is important to spend a moment or two using it before you fire the game up, as this program is what will actually be controlling your graphics output, rather than the in-game settings.
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The most important setting here is the screen resolution. By default, this is set to "by app" which means Actua Soccer 3 controls what you see - whatever resolution you have selected in the Audio Visual menu is what you'll get.
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By specifying a custom setting here, you can improve the game's visuals drastically -- just be sure to use modes your monitor supports. "By desktop" is typically a safe setting, as it will set the game to whatever resolution you use on your desktop.
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The other options can safely be left on default settings, but you may wish to turn off the 3Dfx logo splash screen which pops up every time you start the game.
That's just about it for nGlide. As before with dgVoodoo, access the Audio/Visual options, only this time, select a "3DFX GLIDE" setting instead of a D3D setting.
5. Additional Troubleshooting
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If you still have issues, here are a couple of additional steps you can try:
(1) Set 16-bit Color Mode
On Windows 10, right click on the Soccer3.exe file in Explorer and select properties as before. Click the compatibility tab, and place a check mark next to "Reduced color mode." Then, select 16-bit (65536) color.
On Windows 7 right click on your desktop and hit Screen resolution. At the next screen, choose "advanced settings." From the popup, click the "Monitor" tab. You should be at a screen similar to this. Select "High Color (16 bit)".
6. More Help @ the Message Board
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For further assistance, or if you just have a question or comment about Actua Soccer 3, please visit the message board.
(2) Disable DEP
Data Execution Prevention is a feature in Windows which prevents code from being run in unauthorized areas of memory. This is a good security measure, but it can cause issues with certain programs. To disable DEP for Actua Soccer 3, follow these steps:
(1) Right click on My Computer (or This PC) and select Properties
(2) Hit "Advanced system settings"
(3) Press the Advanced tab, and then Settings under Performance
(4) Select the Data Execution Prevention tab. At this screen, select the radio button for: Turn on DEP for all programs and services except those I select:
(5) Hit add, and then navigate to your Soccer3.exe. Press Apply and then OK.
Try the game again. If there is no effect, I recommend returning to this screen and changing the setting back to "Turn on DEP for essential Windows programs and services only.
