The biggest selling point of these compressed editions is not just the file size, but the "Plug-and-Play" functionality.
The Old Way:
Buying the disc version requires three CDs, installing SafeDisc DRM (which doesn't work on Windows 10/11), patching to v1.2, and manually tweaking .cfg files to get widescreen support.
The Compressed POB Way:
| Problem | Solution |
|---------|----------|
| "Please insert correct CD-ROM" | The crack may be missing. Copy a No-CD.exe from the Crack folder inside the POB download. |
| Low FPS on a modern PC | Disable "Smooth Mouse" and set "Vertex Lighting" to OFF in game options. |
| No multiplayer/online | Compressed versions often remove multiplayer maps. Download the maintt folder separately. |
| Colors are weird/rainbow | Your GPU no longer supports 16-bit color depth. Force 32-bit via the config.cfg file: seta r_colorbits "32". |
If you want a modern, compressed, legal way to play: