Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Multiple Diablo II Instances & No-CD


1. Virtual Machine - This is one of the the safest ways. I'm not going to get into detail on how to set it up as there are plenty of documentations on that. If you don't know what a Virtual Machine is, you're basically running an Operating System inside your Operating System. A Blizzard Technical Support Representative has said that Blizzard will not ban for the usage of VMWare. This is the most tedious way to achieve multiple instances, however.

2. Sandbox - This is probably the easiest way to run multiple instances without using an actual Diablo II "hack". However, this /could/ still be considered third-party software, but it is unlikely that you will get banned for using it.
    Install Sandboxie
    Make a copy of your Diablo II folder.
    Use Serby's CD-Key Changer to change the keys used by your original Diablo II folder.
    Right Click on your second Diablo II.exe or shortcut to "Run Sandboxed!"

3. D2Launcher - *Chance of detection!* D2Launcher is a D2Loader substitute that allows multiple instances and offers a few more commandline options. D2Launcher removes its patches and unloads once Diablo II is loaded.
    CommandLine Options:
    -title "title here" : Changes the window title
    -mpq mpqnamehere.mpq : Load MPQs
    -cachefix : Renames bncache.dat to .dat !! *WARNING* !! This modifies the memory! Not recommended!

4. Fast User Switching on XP - I'm not sure if this is possible with other versions of Windows, but it works with XP. First you need to make sure "Fast User Switching" is enabled. To do this go to Start -> Control Panel -> User Accounts -> Change the way users log on or off. After that, create a second user account if you don't already have one. Now you need to copy your Diablo II folder and use Serby's CD-Key Changer to change your main Diablo II folder's CD-Key set. After this, you can run one Diablo II instance, then switch user accounts and run the second. Also check this link for User Switching.


"How can I play without the CD in the CD-drive?"


The first step is to make sure you have performed a 'Full install' option of the game when it was initially installed, or insert your Diablo II CD and choose the 'Upgrade to Full install' option.

You will need to repeat this upgrade process with the Expansion CD as well if you have it.

You will now need to copy a file from the Original Play CD, and Expansion CD if you have the expansion.



Windows Users:

  • From the Diablo II play CD, you will need to copy the file D2MUSIC.MPQ to your Diablo II installation folder (normally C:\Program files\Diablo II)

  • If you also have the expansion installed, you will also need to copy the D2XMUSIC.MPQ from your Expansion CD and place this in your Diablo II folder as well.


Mac Users:

You will need to make sure that you have performed a full install of the game, and as well as the copying, you will have to rename the files.
  • From the original Diablo II play disc, please copy the D2MUSIC.MPQ file and save this to your Diablo II folder, after the copy has been done you will also need to rename this file, please rename it to:
    Diablo II Music

  • If you have the expansion installed as well, you will also need to copy the D2XMUSIC.MPQ from the expansion CD. After the file has been copied to your Diablo II folder, please rename this file to:
    Diablo II Expansion Music