Share us your wisdom! I was putting stuff away in storage and B&W II was sitting on the top of a box of movies I've been meaning to bring back upstairs.
I will copy everything I followed. I know it looks like a lot but it was relatively simple "myabandonware" is a safe site. But I understand if you want to check it's security on your own just as I did.
Running this in 2023:
1. Download ISO Version Deviance Release
2. Download Patch v1.1 - v1.2 - v1.42
NOTE: v1.42 is a fan made patch that makes the game compatible with modern systems.
5. Mount ISO and run arun.exe, then click install.
IMPORTANT: When mounting the ISO, do NOT use windows built-in mounting. I know it sounds stupid as hell, but use a program like WinCDEmu. (It's super easy to use, just google it, or use some other program) If you don't, the installer WON'T install the fourth level properly and you will crash after finishing the third level every time!
6. Use any of the provided serial keys when installing:
NOTE: When it asks to register with EA arts account just click "register later".
Install all of the patches in order v1.1 - v1.2 - v1.42
PLAY THE GAME! Run white.exe or use the desktop shortcut.
IMPORTANT: Do NOT use any cracked version white.exe and do not overwrite anything. There are anti piracy measures for this game which purposefully add bugs and glitches to the game (Most notorious being the villagers not aging and growing up). Using the fan patch v1.42 is all you need.
NOTE: Even with all the patches there may be still issues with running the game on a modern PC.
A.) You may get issues with overlapping audio due to too high frame rate.
To fix I had to limit my games FPS to 60.
1. Right-click on your desktop
2. NVIDIA Control Panel
3. Manage 3D settings
4. Program Settings
5. From the drop down find and select "Black And White 2 (white.exe)"
6. From the settings list, scroll down a bit and find "Max Frame Rate" and set it to 60
B.) You may get issues with being unable to move the mouse properly due to too high polling rate on your mouse (razer, logitech etc mouse for example)
To fix I had to reduce my mouses polling rate:
1. Check your polling rate here: https://cps-check.com/polling-rate-check
Click begin and move your mouse around. If the max it shows is anything above 125Hz (e.g. 500Hz or 1000Hz), you'll have to lower yours to 125Hz.
You really only have 2 options:
Option 1: Google your mouse model and check if there is software made by your mouse manufacturer you can download. Usually there will be an option for setting the "Report/Polling rate" manually.
Option 2: You could buy/find a cheap, old crappy mouse that has a low polling rate of 125Hz or less
Option 1 worked for me since I'm using a Logitech G102 which comes with software you can just download online.
C.) You may get issues with the game crashing after finishing the final task of any level.
Luckily the fan made patch v1.42 includes an option to skip the level to level transition sequence. Just press esc, and it will give you the option to skip.
Anyway, that's all I got, good luck! What a MASSIVE hassle to run, but it's a great game and I wish it had a proper GOG or Steam version release that you could just BUY and PLAY without all of these dumb issues!
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u/Bigr789 Jul 29 '26
I recently got it working on my PC and it plays better than a lot of modern games tbh