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[gufetto]

I used to love Battlebeast as a kid, but my Windows 7 won't make the game work anymore because it's a 64 bit system.
Is there any way to make it work? I would really love to play this again...

[dosraider]

Runs in W3 -> dosbox 0.74+Win3x

http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/showthread.php?t=27770

Or if you're up to it:
VPC2007+dos+W3
VPC2007+W98SE

Or find yourself an older PC-laptop ...............

[gufetto]

I've used Win3x and it works like a charm!! Well, I did get a bunch of weird error messages when launching the program for the first time, but Battlebeast works!

But now I have another problem. I've tried to use that same program to play "Metal & Lace - Ningyou Tsukai 2", but after I've installed it and tried to launch it, it always tells me this:


Cannot find DDRAW.DLL


What's this?? Where do I find that file and where do I put it?

[dosraider]

Originally Posted by gufetto

Cannot find DDRAW.DLL
What's this?? Where do I find that file and where do I put it?

DX error, means that DX isn't or properly installed or more probably : DX ver isn't right for that game......
Now, how to fix that:
First of all: Should be a 'readme' stating what DX ver you need to play the game.

There should normally be a suited DX 'install' or 'update' on your game's install media.
Check, if yes install DX from game media.
(be sure none of the win3 windows windows-sys files aren't flagged read only !!! )
If that dooesn't do it it gonna be a bit more complicated, you'll have to hunt for a newer DX ver that's isnstalled and install that, not simply copy-paste files but install newer DX ver in win3.

[gufetto]

Originally Posted by dosraider

DX error, means that DX isn't or properly installed or more probably : DX ver isn't right for that game......
Now, how to fix that:
First of all: Should be a 'readme' stating what DX ver you need to play the game.

There should normally be a suited DX 'install' or 'update' on your game's install media.
Check, if yes install DX from game media.
(be sure none of the win3 windows windows-sys files aren't flagged read only !!! )
If that dooesn't do it it gonna be a bit more complicated, you'll have to hunt for a newer DX ver that's isnstalled and install that, not simply copy-paste files but install newer DX ver in win3.

Mmmh, nope, can't find any update/install thingie to fix the issue.
Not to mention that I'm so noobish I can't understand why you say DX while I say DDRAW.DLL

Heelp!

Perhaps I can try to upload the game (it's abandonware after all), and you can check yourself what's the issue?

[dosraider]

Originally Posted by gufetto

Not to mention that I'm so noobish I can't understand why you say DX while I say DDRAW.DLL

Heelp!

Djees man, do you want me to explain the whole ins and outs of windows ...?????? Do you want a 5000 pages long tech blah blah explanation? You won't get it from me.

I say DX because ddraw.dll is part of DirectX , AKA as DirectX Application Program(ming) Interface (API) etcetera etcetera......
Started as DX 1.0 ..... and had a lot of updates since then...........
If you wanna know more: google, wiki, programmers sites, ......... and more, happy reading and learning.

If your game needs ddraw.dll: install the right ver of DX and you're all set.

Again: install it, not just copy/paste.

[Edit]
Ah well : http://www.oldversion.com/windows/directx/

[Edit²]
Now that I think about it, is Ningyou Tsukai 2 a game that even can run on Win3 or does it needs Win9X .....?????
If it's a Win9X game you'll need VPC2007+Win9X, not dosbox Win3.

I have no idea and info on the net is scarce, so better look for the game's readme or similar ......

[Edit³]
The rare info on the net about this obscure game seems to indicate it's a W9x game, if so you're screwed, won't run in Win3.
Yeah yeah some can if you do tricks with win32 and similar, but reading gufetto's posts till now, good luck getting him to do so ... no pun intended.

[gufetto]

Well, that wasn't very nice of you to act like I'm a retarded just because I happen to not be an expert of tech stuff.
I'm a high school teacher; imagine if I were to act like you did whenever one of my students asks a silly question or doesn't understand something.
I always say that when the student keeps not understanding, the teacher must try to see if perhaps their explanation wasn't good enough.

Now, for example, how is linking me to an old version of DirectX going to fix my problem? Surely a very stupid question for someone like you who happens to know a lot about computer stuff. But not everyone is like you, and perhaps they want to learn.

I'm using basic logic to assume old DirectX contains the DDRAW.DLL. Now, here's another very stupid question: installing that old DirectX won't bring other issues to my machine, will it?

(I'm a she, by the way. And I'm pretty sure I can learn to do tricks with win32 and similar... if I get a good explanation.)

[dosraider]

Originally Posted by gufetto

Well, that wasn't very nice of you to act like I'm a retarded just because I happen to not be an expert of tech stuff.
I'm a high school teacher; imagine if I were to act like you did whenever one of my students asks a silly question or doesn't understand something.
I always say that when the student keeps not understanding, the teacher must try to see if perhaps their explanation wasn't good enough

- I'm not your teacher.
- I told you why I mentioned DX regarding your ddraw.dll problem.
- 'High school teacher' doesn't make you smarter than someone else.
- etcetera .. you had answers, and as I said: no pun intended.

Originally Posted by gufetto

I'm using basic logic to assume old DirectX contains the DDRAW.DLL. Now, here's another very stupid question: installing that old DirectX won't bring other issues to my machine, will it?

Only problems can occur in dosbox, that is as long you followed the basic instructions and work on your virtual C in dosbox, dosbox can only access what YOU mounted as virtual C, nothing else.
Of course if you do a mount c c:\ you're taking risks, and as we're talking altering sysfiles here, even old ones, you can indeed harm your 'machine' as you seems to call your PC.

Originally Posted by gufetto

(I'm a she, by the way. And I'm pretty sure I can learn to do tricks with win32 and similar... if I get a good explanation.)

You seems to have a reading problem, 'high school teacher ' or not, you already had an answer.

Originally Posted by dosraider

I say DX because ddraw.dll is part of DirectX , AKA as DirectX Application Program(ming) Interface (API) etcetera etcetera......
Started as DX 1.0 ..... and had a lot of updates since then...........
If you wanna know more: google, wiki, programmers sites, ......... and more, happy reading and learning.

The whole internet is filled with instructions - explanations about this subject, you'll have to dig your way through it if you want to understand it.
In very short and incomplete style:
->There are several DirectX versions, mostly newer are coping with older ones and include the instructions, but not always/obligatory.
So sometimes to get a game/soft running that needs a specific instruction set from an older one you'll need to install the correct version.
-> It can, (can, not will) screw things up for newer versions, however Win7 /8 seems to cope with them problems.
-> as long you mount a folder as virtual C in dosbox and work within dosbox nothing bad will happen with your 'machine' as dosbox can only access/alter files in that virtual C folder. Dosbox can't alter files on your 'machine' itself.

And once again: dig in your game install files, pretty sure there is a readme or similar, and in those days it was usual to include the needed DX version install files (can be named 'redist' ....)
Other possibility: you downloaded incomplete installation media?

Still remains the question: can this game run in W3 or does it need W9X? I have no idea.
High school teacher seems to like asking stuffs and seems to expect longwinded detailed answers but doesn't like to answer simple questions ....

[The Fifth Horseman]

Don't take Dosraider personally. He's like that all the time.

Dosraider, what did I tell you about biting newcomers?

Originally Posted by gufetto

Now, for example, how is linking me to an old version of DirectX going to fix my problem? Surely a very stupid question for someone like you who happens to know a lot about computer stuff. But not everyone is like you, and perhaps they want to learn.

I'm using basic logic to assume old DirectX contains the DDRAW.DLL. Now, here's another very stupid question: installing that old DirectX won't bring other issues to my machine, will it?

(I'm a she, by the way. And I'm pretty sure I can learn to do tricks with win32 and similar... if I get a good explanation.)

Right, this solution... won't work.

Dosraider linked you to DirectX because he assumed it was possible to set it up in Windows 3 ran in DOSBox.

As he seems to have realized later, though (and should have from the start - now it's our turn to at him ), that is not the case - DirectX was developed for Windows 95 and above.

Installing that version of DirectX is flat out impossible on modern Windows versions, which come with DirectX already bundled.

Metal and Lace 2 can run on Windows XP - I've done so myself some years ago - so the first thing you should try is running it in compatibility mode (context menu on the game's executable -> Properties -> Compatibility).
If that doesn't work, there is another solution: you'll need Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 and a setup disk for an older Windows version - anything from 95 to XP. MSVPC allows you to create a virtual machine and install an older version of Windows inside that, then run the game in it.

Originally Posted by dosraider

You seems to have a reading problem, 'high school teacher ' or not, you already had an answer.

Still remains the question: can this game run in W3 or does it need W9X? I have no idea.
High school teacher seems to like asking stuffs and seems to expect longwinded detailed answers but doesn't like to answer simple questions ....

*cough* Dosraider, you seem to forget that not everyone's a techie, nor has over a decade's experience in running very old games on modern systems. Things you and I consider obvious and take for granted are far from either to a typical computer user.

[dosraider]

Originally Posted by The Fifth Horseman

...blah blah ....

Yeah, you're right, of course, sometimes I think that chemo I got made a chaotic sponge of my brain, no Dx in W3, damn. Prob confused with WinG and that horrific direct draw .... ah well, good thing once in a while someone calls me back a bit, THX for that.

Originally Posted by gufetto

Well, if it helps, I used to play it on a W9X system back in the days, but now I've installed it on that emulated Win3.X and at least the installation went correctly. It only asks me for that DDRAW.DLL file when I try to launch the game.

If it asks for ddraw.dll it means DirectX is needed.
First thought it could be a version problem but as Fifth correctly stated no DX in Win3, minimal W9x, first DirectX files were shipped with W95 and onwards.
Just to be complete: some half baked attempts were made to get DirectX working in Win3 but they all failed, as Win3 still relied on the old MsDos heritage of using DMA etcetera long story, and MS never supported bringing DirectX to Win3, maybe for good reasons (and they wanted to promote-sell W95...)

Originally Posted by gufetto

Now, please bear with me, as I'm probably thick-minded on these things, but... you mention that mounting c: on dosbox after installing the old DirectX, in a way that looks like you're implying that I should install that DirectX not on actual windows, but only on the dosbox folder? Is that so? If so, how do I do it?

Take a look at the tutorial section, those are written for a reason, to help beginners, not much use that I repeat everything here .....

Ah well, repeat same stuff ance again?
Basics:
You always mount a FOLDER as virtual C:, what folder where folder depends a bit of that OS you're on, again: tutorial section.
You always run those old files IN dosbox, that way your main system is safe as dosbox can only access-alter-read-write-whatever do with files on the virtual C
How you do that? Move-copy the files in your virtual C folder, launch dosbox with that folder mounted as virtual C and run files in dosbox.
(Also means: close dosbox and restart after adding things into virtual C via Windows, cache needs refresh, or read manual, there are other ways)

Originally Posted by gufetto

I can't find any readme file. But I've downloaded the game off the internet because it's been a lot of years and I don't remember at all where my game copy is. It does look like it's the full, working game, tho.

Nope it probably isn't the full install media but missing a lot.
There is no game released with a least a 'readme' with tech info about OS-sys requirements.
As said before, early games always included (or mostly) the needed files to run the game, as in those days it was too costly to have to download MBs of extra files, and conn wasn't really reliable neither, so there were on the CD.
Etcetera, makes your downloaded thing is a (poor?) rip.

Possible remaining solutions:
Or comp settings as Fifth said, but I doubt it will work, W7 64 is kinda nitpicking about those matters.
Or VPC2007/W9X or Xp ..... probably your best shot.