Vikings the strategy of ultimate conquest

[Viviking]

Hi there!

I can't get Vikings the strategy of ultimate conquest to run.
When I try to open it on vista in win95 comp mode and 256 colours it will start, but I will need to refresh the page every time I click on a button, for example to start the game.

Now I have already been looking around and found that getting it to run on vista will not work (?). I installed Dosbox and I got to run it for several other games, so no problems there, but Vikings is a windows only game.

I also got windows 3.11 and I know how to start it up. The problem however is I do not know how to start Vikings when I started Windows 3.11 in Dosbox.

Not sure if it matters, but I have two drives. I installed dosbox on the D:\
and all the games are in my games folder. So D:\Dosbox\Games.
I simply cannot access any files which are within D:\Dosbox or D:\Dosbox\Games. I just don't know how I can get Vikings to work. Please help me out.

[dosraider]

I also got windows 3.11 and I know how to start it up. The problem however is I do not know how to start Vikings when I started Windows 3.11 in Dosbox.

Not sure if it matters, but I have two drives. I installed dosbox on the D:\
and all the games are in my games folder. So D:\Dosbox\Games.
I simply cannot access any files which are within D:\Dosbox or D:\Dosbox\Games. I just don't know how I can get Vikings to work. Please help me out.
Gonna need some relevant info from you, as is:
Where are your W3 files located? Full path please,detailed.
Your exact mount lines in dosbox.
Full path of viking folder.Detailed please.


As far as I can see from your post, you vikings folder isn't mounted correctly in dosbox/W3.
Viking folder should be in the same folder as your W3 files.

[Viviking]

Gonna need some relevant info from you, as is:
Where are your W3 files located? Full path please,detailed.
Your exact mount lines in dosbox.
Full path of viking folder.Detailed please.


As far as I can see from your post, you vikings folder isn't mounted correctly in dosbox/W3.
Viking folder should be in the same folder as your W3 files.

Dosbox D:\Dosbox

The W31.img file is located in D:\Dosbox

Games are normally located in D:\Dosbox\Games\...
but Vikings is located in D:\Dosbox\Vikings

I start up Dosbox. It starts with the Z:\ drive - I enter the following lines to start up windows 3.11

Z:\> mount d d:\dosbox [enter]
Z:\> d:\ [enter]
d:\> imgmount A win31.img [enter]
d:\> a:\ [enter]
a:\> boot w31.img [enter]

(windows now loading)
Opening image file: w31.img
Booting from drive A...
Starting MS-DOS...

HIMEM is testing extended memory....done

C:\>C:\WINDOWS\SMARTDRV.EXE

C:\>PATH C:\WINDOWS;

C:\>SET TEMP=C:\WINDOWS\TEMP

C:\>
C:\> _

(Now I can enter a new command in C:\>)

C:\>win [enter]

(windows starting)

[The Fifth Horseman]

Program Manager -> Main -> File Manager.

[dosraider]

d:\> imgmount A win31.img [enter]
d:\> a:\ [enter]
a:\> boot w31.img [enter]
Ah so, I see, nope, dosbox can only read what's in your img when you do so.
As you boot into MsDos dosbox loses previous virtual mounts, if you want an accessible HD mounted with the 'boot' comm in dosbox you should use a full HD image mount with the imgmount command .... this kinda complicates things as you'll understand.
Also: by booting into MsDos dosbox loses most (all..?) internal dosbox commands, and if memory serves me swell you also lose CD access,

Simplest solution:
I would say get Fifth's W3 @
http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/showthread.php?t=27770

Put the windows stuff in D:\Dosbox\ and
mount c d:\dosbox
c:
windows.bat

Then you'll see a c:\games and c:\vikings in W3 file manager.

If for some reason you prefer your own W3 you should install W3 within dosbox, use normal mounts, no img boot.
Or add the vikings folder into win31.img, but I personally wouldn't do so, you will have to add every game/soft into the img to be able to access them.

FYI: W3 runs fine in the regular dosbox 0.74, there is no reason whatsoever to boot into MsDos to run W3, it only complicates things.

[Viviking]

Alright I started windows using the windows.bat - so far so good.
I can now see the maps located in d:\dosbox\

But when I try to run the program through the program manager **** 'File' **** 'Run' I select 'vk.exe' press 'ok' **** 'run'. Nothing happens. With other games, something does happen, but I wouldn't be able to run it, because of different problems. For example when I try to start Theme Hospital, a new window opens and Theme Hospital is trying to start-up but it then says: Failed to initialise VRES256 screen.

With Vikings nothing happens at all. For now I am only interested in running Vikings, because Theme Hospital I am able to run through another emulator.

[The Fifth Horseman]

I'll check this.

[The Fifth Horseman]

You don't need to use File -> Run. Just navigate to where VK.exe is and double-click it.

No problems running the game here.
What are you mounting as your C drive?
Can you post a screenshot of the DOSBox window after you opened the file manager?

[dosraider]

......?
Did you install those games in your new W3?
My first idea is that those games are missing files, a lot of W3 games must be installed, they need their own specific files ( *.ini/*.dll/*.ocx/*.vbx/*.whatever/ ) installed in the Windows3 system.

[The Fifth Horseman]

Vikings doesn't need to be installed with my Win3 package - it works right out of the box, so to say.

[dosraider]

Vikings doesn't need to be installed with my Win3 package - it works right out of the box, so to say.
Ahem, ..... Original game is a CD game.
Only CD rips that you download doesn't need to be installed.

If he has the original vers (CD) he needs to install it in W3.
Just saying.

[Edit]
Tried and: Downloaded version works indeed fine without install in Fifth's W3.
Just to check and to confirm.

[The Fifth Horseman]

His previous post (and the lack of questions about mounting CD drives) indicates he is using a rip:
Dosbox D:\Dosbox
(..)Vikings is located in D:\Dosbox\Vikings

[Viviking]

Alright here is a screenshot of what I see.

http://postimage.org/image/cwdakxjod/

As you see there is no other thing then the program manager and the only way to access the maps is by going to file -> run -> browse.

I have indeed a downloaded version of Vikings, I know there are some problems with them, because you manually need to add some missing files, otherwise the game will crash in certain occassions.

The game will start on vista, but the only problem is alt+tab to see a new screen. Which is really annoying so getting this game to run on dosbox+w3.11 will be neat.

[The Fifth Horseman]

As you see there is no other thing then the program manager and the only way to access the maps is by going to file -> run -> browse. :palm:
The archive is supposed to be in the directory you mount as your DOSBox C drive.
Running it from a DOSBox drive letter other than C or from a subdirectory of your C mount will just mess it up (and should have produced several error messages in the process).
Unpack the windows directory again from scratch (confirm overwrite when prompted) and make sure you get your mounts right:

mount c d:\dosbox
c:\
windows

[Viviking]

Ok I downloaded the package again, unpacked it, overwrite all the files and now when I start up windows I see this

http://postimage.org/image/hluv9w4tn/

I do see some maps, but the games map is just the default windows map. When I go to main I can select the files and double click it as you said, but Vikings will simply not start up...

I tried to start Theme Hospital, the demo, and all it does is open a new window and it appears as if it is loading, a few seconds later it jumps out and closes the window again.

I do not know if the vikings is a corrupted file, preventing it from starting or there is some other problem?

[The Fifth Horseman]

but the games map is just the default windows map.That's normal. Windows doesn't autodetect games present on the same drive (and there's no reason to expect it to).

Step by step, this is what you are supposed to do:

1. Double-click Main
http://i.imgur.com/3BQkUOh.png


2. Double-click File Manager
http://i.imgur.com/2ZA6kuC.png


3. Double-click Vikings
http://i.imgur.com/SrI3Zva.png


4. Double-click vk.exe
http://i.imgur.com/M64SnVy.png


At that point, you should get the loading screen: http://imgur.com/rdFkpEM
And the game's main menu should appear shortly after that: http://imgur.com/bpRU7O9

If you get any error messages, take screenshots of those messages and post them here.

[Viviking]

That's normal. Windows doesn't autodetect games present on the same drive (and there's no reason to expect it to).

Step by step, this is what you are supposed to do:
...

That is exactly what I do, except when I double click Vk.exe, nothing happens. No loading screen, no error messages, just nothing.....

http://s16.postimage.org/wy86kpdrp/notstarting.jpg

I only get the hourglass for a moment, then it disappears and nothing happened.

I tried to reinstall the game, no difference. I don't know if you can share your vikings folder with me, see if it works then..?

[Viviking]

That is exactly what I do, except when I double click Vk.exe, nothing happens. No loading screen, no error messages, just nothing.....

http://s16.postimage.org/wy86kpdrp/notstarting.jpg

I only get the hourglass for a moment, then it disappears and nothing happened.

I tried to reinstall the game, no difference. I don't know if you can share your vikings folder with me, see if it works then..?

Wait!! I just had inspiration. I had a look at your folder...you had no wings.dll
If I want to start the game on vista it will give me an error message wings.dll is missing! So I added it to the folder, so it would start on vista...I removed the wings.dll from the folder and voila! it works in dosbox+w3!! :smile2:

[The Fifth Horseman]

Ah, that explains things.
The WinG libraries are composed of several DLLs - if you want to try using them on your Vista system, we're hosting a copy of the original installer files here: http://www.abandonia.com/en/programs#WinG .
Note that they're 16-bit and so will not work on 64-bit Windows versions.