Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on Windows 10

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Introduction

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was released by EA in 2001 on PC and a other platforms of the time (all completely different games). The PC version that we're focusing on was built using the Unreal Engine 1.

The game has some issues with modern systems:

  • CD check does not work on modern Windows (and even if it did, CD drives are disappearing)
  • The game uses 16 bit colors, which causes poor performance if not changed to 32 bit
  • The game has some issues with modern GPUs, but not with nVidia

What we need

  • Your Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (or Philosopher's Stone, depending on region) disc
  • A valid serial number for the game

Installing the game

Insert the disc and install the game. Place a shortcut on your desktop, don't register it and don't run it yet.

Fix

Right click the Harry Potter shortcut on your desktop and select Open file location.
Download these patched files and extract them into the game's folder, replacing the existing files: New fix | Old fix.

Run the game from the shortcut on your desktop. It might take a while to start, it's normal. If it asks which 3D device to use, choose Direct3D Support.

Important: Don't click anything while it's starting, or the game will freak out. Don't try to take screenshots either.

Once it's started, go to Options and set the resolution to 1024x768 and the color depth to 32 bit. You can increase the resolution by editing the game's ini files, but in my experience, it makes it unstable.

Enjoy!

The game works perfectly and is still enjoyable; the controls suck though. Screenshot Screenshot Screenshot

Related article

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on Windows 10

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