Running cd-rom game on dvd-rom drive

[reverin]

This is the first time i write a long technical support report in English, so do correct me if I'm wrong.

- Game used in testing:Star Trek the next generation:
" A Final Unity "

-Test Using Dos Box 0.72.

- Problems occurred
- The game needs a CD-drive and cannot install it whit a DVD-drive.
The next action i took was to inspect the game CD archives,and luckily i found a zip-archive whit the needed game files in it so i didn't need the installation program anymore.

- The next problem i encountered was running the game it always said: "Cant locate game archive check path.ini" I cursed couple of hours whit it and changed the path location in the .ini file. After i changed the file information i got the game up and running ( :)). I Enjoyed the moment and the i realized how silent it was, the sound was missing again messing whit the .ini file paid up after changing the sound blaster variable to Sb 16 or something like that but its one of the sound blasters listed in the dos box file.

- The game runs very well but there is some problems:
- cant save the game
- controls stagger slightly

Technical Summary

Cd-games can be played in DVD-drives if you have the game, and you know what you're doing feel free to destroy your sanity.

Reverin.

PS: i have two other arcade CD-games what work without a hitch.

[The Fifth Horseman]

The game needs a CD-drive and cannot install it whit a DVD-drive.
DVD drives are fully backwards-compatible. I'm more inclined to believe you messed something up when mounting the drive.
At any rate, it's preferable to create an ISO of the CD and then mount that using IMGMOUNT. Less flexible than having the actual drive mounted, but works around a couple problems too.

[gregor]

DVD drives usually have backward support for playing the CD. so what are you talking about?

did you mount the drive before installing it?

[reverin]

Drive was mounted

D:\ -usecd 0

And for the record im a simple man use simple words.

[dosraider]

D:\ -usecd 0
Qué ? :confused:

[The Fifth Horseman]

D:\ -usecd 0
:amused: No wonder the game didn't work right.
Try doing it this way instead:
mount d D:\ -t cdrom -usecd 0 -ioctl

[reverin]

Häh?

(eng: What?)

the drive was mounted D:\ -usecd0 -label .....

my computing level is inexperienced and i need to translate every word said. So Please would ya ask only the most relevant guestions?

[The Fifth Horseman]

You need to use -t cdrom for DOSBox to recognize the drive properly.
Using -ioctl is optional, but solves problems with some games.

[reverin]

:amused: No wonder the game didn't work right.
Try doing it this way instead:
mount d D:\ -t cdrom -usecd 0 -ioctl

I used the -t cdrom the game worked but crashed right after the main title.

I did not try the -ioctl i posted the command line i used, it worked on both 98 and XP.

( d:\ - usecd 0 -label .... )

ps. the command line was used on win 98

[dosraider]

Reverin, did you ever thought it would be a good idea to read the 'readme' included with dosbox?
Some interesting stuffs about the mount commands in there.
(As there is the small but not insignificant fact that W98 uses ASPI ....)
Just a thought ......

It could benefit when you use dosbox.

[The Fifth Horseman]

I used the -t cdrom the game worked but crashed right after the main title.
Is the game original or a pirate copy?

Are you sure it isn't actually a CD-RIP which should be copied to a hard drive and ran from there? That would explain a lot of what you wrote - the inability to save, the presence of additional files in a ZIP archive and so on.

[MinigunFiend]

I've got Final Unity working before with no problems past the initial installation, which ran very slowly.

You could also try just copying the entire disk into a seperate folder and mounting that as D:

[reverin]

Is the game original or a pirate copy?

Are you sure it isn't actually a CD-RIP which should be copied to a hard drive and ran from there? That would explain a lot of what you wrote - the inability to save, the presence of additional files in a ZIP archive and so on.



I bought the game in what seemed to be an original package, although i bought it from the flea market. I have made couple of good deals too,
but I'm starting to turn into the pirate copy theory becoss the game crashes in win 98 when running it in windows or dos. but in dos-box it runs without a problem. And there isn't any copy protection software.

could you do me a favor and see if the micro prose company has a list of all the games released.

PS. When running the game in windows 98 i needed to turn on the " Prevent program from detecting windows" option, could this be the problem.

[gregor]

if the game was made for Dos it doesnt' mean it would run under windows. It may or may not run. maybe it runs but sound doesn't work... there are more options.

That is why they made Dosbox, which is emulator. It means it creates a simulation of DOS.

now since you have Win98, you actually do not need DosBox to run dos games. because Win98 is based on DOS. to fully access dos i recomend either creating a boot disk (abandonia boot disk does this quite nicely) or hit F8 before windows load and selecting DOS. only that way you will get into pure dos. And you can there attempt to run the game. if you decide to use dos you will likewise need to install CD player (with propper command), configure the memory, mouse and sound card in Autoexec.bat file. since you need to know the commands to do this windows became more sucesfull as a result. commands are done by clicking and going through menus there.

Also some games might run nicelly if you choose in Win98 to run it in dos or to restart computer in DOS mode or something like that. however i had problems with a lot of games running them this way. reason was that Win98 left some stuff in RAM or it occupied the IRQ used by soundcard in DOS.

[The Fifth Horseman]

Please check if there are any TXT, DOC, NFO, READ.ME or DIZ files anywhere on the CD. If there are, open them using Notepad - the piracy scene often uses these file types to identify their releases.

could you do me a favor and see if the micro prose company has a list of all the games released.
There are three lists:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_MicroProse_games
http://www.abandonia.com/en/oldwarez/0/microprose/0/title/
http://www.mobygames.com/browse/games/microprose-software-inc/list-games/

[reverin]

The box is real ( thanks for the lists), i now retire to check if there is a photo of the game CD ( to make sure thats the Right one ).

This concludes my mischief this month, if i find a working dos game from my country i throw it in here you can do whatever you want with it. If i encounter something more bizarre than this i wont tell you.

Thank you very much, take care now, bu-bye then.

[reverin]

After 2 hours in internet and 5 cups of coffee i came to this conclusion:

- The game is real about 70% possibility.

ps. if i find a working Dos-game from my country how can i send it to ya ?

[The Fifth Horseman]

You can either upload it to Rapidshare and send us the link or ask on of the admins for login and password to our FTP server where you can upload the thing.

[reverin]

................

[dosraider]

Wait a sec ....... you want to contribute to this site by linking to games on other AW sites?
:laugh:

[reverin]

Plplplplplplplplease.

( after saying that i seek out fin-eng dictionary)

What the...that wasnt the idea, i was just lazy i came from my uncles birthday 20 minutes ago

[dosraider]

I friendly advise you to edit your previous post and delete that link before a mod comes around.

[reverin]

be carefull or i insult Belgia

ps. send a post thru personnal adds if ya wanna chat.

[reverin]

One last thing try to guess where this is from.

" gotcha with my winning smile, I'm a living lesson in flare and style! You just can't help but stare at my savoir-faire! I'm Nouveau, Deco, Roman-Greco, Rococo, Barroco,Be-bop and hip-hop, uh... flip-flop - Somebody stop me!Pretty viridian faces like mine, don't come a dime a dozen - I stand out in a crowd! Babe, when they made me, yeah, they broke the mold!
Wholesome and kind, staid and refined, totally out of my mind! "

[Mighty Midget]

Reverin: Can you please stop this nonsense?

[The Fifth Horseman]

I understand this topic has outlived its usefulness.