Nutguy Posted January 17, 2005 Report Share Posted January 17, 2005 After a long time I decided to play X-Com again (I've tried to finish the game twice and I was always getting stuck due to the research tree) only to find out things have changed a lot... Last time I even tried to install the game I had Win98 OS and now with the XP... arghhhhh!!!! I've tried to use a DOS emulator (DOSbox v 6.1) but, depending on the installation mode (more on that later on) I can't get past the language screen. Installation mode 1: Directly from the CD. So, I install the files, cdspeed run smoothly, setup screen appears I set my soundcard as a SBPro (Port 220, IRQ:7, DMA:1, channels 4), the game loads, the language screen appears and when I select one (English) it's all over... Instead of a DOSbox I now have a blackbox (completely black DOS window). Installation mode 2: Copy the CD to the Harddrive and install from there. Same as before except that there is no CDspeed check of course, and that the DOSbox window freezes at the sound initialization window. I'm shown my sound selection (the one I've setup from setup.exe) and that's as far as it goes... I've tried fiddling with the sound options but even no sound at all won't do. So... any ideas 'cause I'm all fresh out of them? And by the way, can someone give me a working link for the tftdv2 patch? Thanx in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slaughter Posted January 17, 2005 Report Share Posted January 17, 2005 As long as you own the game, I think the easiest solution would be to download the windows version *removed*. I do not know if this is legal or not though, so do so at your own risk. The whole abandonware issue is kind of a "grayzone", so it's hard to tell if it's legal or not. Personally I think it's okay as long as you own a original copy of the game, but... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutguy Posted January 17, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2005 Well, I do own the game so, if it is possible I'd like to explore my options with the DOSbox before dabbling with downloadable versions of something I already own... I mean it can't be that hard right? Just a few setting changes here and the and I should be able to play it... Thanx anyway though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slaughter Posted January 17, 2005 Report Share Posted January 17, 2005 You are probably right, should be very possible to run it in Dosbox. I have no experience with it though, so I can't help you there. The advantage with the version of the game I pointed you too though, is that it's made to be run in Windows. Should be more stable no matter what I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bomb Bloke Posted January 18, 2005 Report Share Posted January 18, 2005 (Helpful as it is, I believe simply putting that link there is against the forums rules). *pokes Slaughter with a sharp stick* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted January 18, 2005 Report Share Posted January 18, 2005 *Pokes Bomb Bloke back* You've had a link in your signature for the same site for almost a year Shh, nobody's noticed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bomb Bloke Posted January 18, 2005 Report Share Posted January 18, 2005 Not right to the game, though! :o But, if it's fine with you, then I've got no excuses to complain. *hands Slaughter the poking stick* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slaughter Posted January 18, 2005 Report Share Posted January 18, 2005 As I said BB, it's a grayzone. Not sure I should provide the link, but it's a shame that people who want to play the game again should have to struggle with programs like Dosbox when there's a perfectly working version available. And since he owns the game, and Atari haven't provided a proper update for his DOS version, why shouldn't he use the updated version? But because I'm not sure it's legal I'll remove the links again. Still bothers me though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutguy Posted January 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2005 So, anyone up with even a possible solution for me yet? Come on guys! PLEASE! Now that I'm eager again to play the game getting stuck on some technical difficulties is frustrating! I want to crack Lobstermen open with Heavy thermic lances again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slaughter Posted January 18, 2005 Report Share Posted January 18, 2005 Well, maybe some of the comments here helps? Guess you've seen them already though. How about testing the latest version of DOSBox found here. Or asking in the DOSBox forum, as they are more qualified to answer your question. If you search for X-Com there, you'll get 5 pages of results. Take a look. Besides that I'm sorry I can't be of more help, but I have no experience with the program Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutguy Posted January 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2005 Slaughter you 're my hero !!!! That link to the DOSbox site helped a lot.... *gives slaughter a huge hug!* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted January 18, 2005 Report Share Posted January 18, 2005 We aim to please Nutguy If you could post your solution here just in case the DOSBox site should ever disappear that'd be great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slaughter Posted January 18, 2005 Report Share Posted January 18, 2005 My pleasure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutguy Posted January 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2005 Well, actually it was simple and I was an idiot... When I wrote in my starting post that I tried several sound setups I didn't mentioned that this was done only in the installation mode 2. So, for some reason no matter what sound settings I used, if the game wasn't installed from the CD it simply refused to play. And when I installed it directly from the cd I was setting the IRQ of my sound card to 7 (IRQ:7) which was what the dosbox window was starting with (SETBLASTER=A220 I7 D1 T4). Well, on the dosbox site I found out that I should set the IRQ value to 5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted January 18, 2005 Report Share Posted January 18, 2005 Hehe, it's always the simple problems that cause the most trouble Thanks for posting that up - it's bound to occur with another TFTD player sooner or later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bomb Bloke Posted January 20, 2005 Report Share Posted January 20, 2005 I know that would stuff me up. If the sound card seems to be set to one thing, why set the game to another? Perhaps there are multiple configuration files, and the one that came into effect used an IRQ of 5. That's all I can think of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutguy Posted January 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2005 Well, after installing another age old game I have (TIE fighter. Quite a nostalgia attack this last week but while I'm waiting for BF2 I 've got to do something!!!), I noticed that the auto sound setup of the installation set the card's IRQ to 7. I'm able to run both games in the same DOSbox session (i.e one after another) with no problems... So I've come to this conclusion (which is also implied on the DOSbox site). Seems like each game "requires" it's own IRQ value to run under DOSbox. And since I don't own a SB anymore and my actuall card's IRQ value is 17, I think that what DOSbox sets as an IRQ value on its startup is just for show... Or maybe I'm talking BS here and I'm a noob :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilesy Posted January 24, 2005 Report Share Posted January 24, 2005 Sorry lads but whats Dosbox? Can i use it to play 16 bit games on XP? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slaughter Posted January 24, 2005 Report Share Posted January 24, 2005 Sorry lads but whats Dosbox? Can i use it to play 16 bit games on XP?Indeed you can. Take a look at the game list here. On a sidenote, if you like adventure games you should also take a look at my personal favourite, ScummVM. You can run a lot of neat adventures with it, and download a great game like Beneath a Steel Sky for free (it's legal)! Flight of the Amazon Queen is also good! Me likes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bomb Bloke Posted January 26, 2005 Report Share Posted January 26, 2005 That specifically runs games written under the scumm engine, made by Lucas Arts. It also runs the Simon the Sorceror games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slaughter Posted January 26, 2005 Report Share Posted January 26, 2005 It also runs the Revolution games (Broken Sword, Beneath a Steel Sky and so on) and a few others. Also, the good thing with Scumm is that you install and run. Hardly any configuration needed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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