rev79 - could you post that install.bat file? The command interpreter in DOSBox is not complete, so perhaps a peek into the BAT can tell us why it fails.

The "Out of environment space" error message does not sound nice. Just a a guess: It tries to extend the PATH variable with the location of the what program, but fails, and then everything after that goes haywire because what is not found. Maybe what is used by the install.bat to pick something from a menu??

Its not letting me attach it...I'm not getting an error message or anything, its just plain not showing up after I click add attachment.

notepad install.bat, CTRL-A, CTRL-C

Reply, CTRL-V

??

You could just copy the PQ4 folder from the CD to your hard drive and edit your RESOURCE.CFG file to add a audioDrv=DACBLAST.DRV lin to it and change the soundDrv=ADL.DRV to soundDrv=GENMIDI.DRV

Then just run SIERRA.EXE in DOSBox.

^Thanks man, you're a genius. Sound is fixed and the game is runnable, not installable, but runnable from the CD...but its still running too slowly. I've been tinkering with the cycles and framerates, but can't get it set to a tolerable level. Any info on that?

Try turning down the detail from within the game's control panel. It basically stops background animation and speeds up a little. There might also be the chance that you don't have quite the right amount of CPU specs to run it.

Ok, upon playing the game for a longer period I've got a different problem now: DOSBox keeps closing out without warning every minute or two.
I'm fine with the speed issue as is now, I just want it to stop closing out. What could be causing this? I'm tried full-screen windowed, setting the priority level from Task Manager, etc. 😒

Have you tried to run the game with VDMSound?

You copied the whole PQ4 folder to drive C: right? Change the options in the resource.cfg to the folder on C: because I'm sure right now they point to the cd-rom drive (which should not be needed when everything is on your harddrive).

Also, make sure NOTHING is read-only in that pq4 directory. I've said before, sierra games hate that....although if the game ran I doubt this is the cause.

rev79, other things to try in the RESOURCE.CFG is to change your videoDrvr=VESA to videoDrvr=VGA. and memoryDrv=none to memoryDrv=ARM.

avatar_58, If he followed my instructions above, the paths in his RESOURCE.CFG are what they need to be. The default points to the installed folder (relative path, not absolute.) As far as the read only goes, the game only needs to write files to the game's folder. the only files that need to be writable are the save games and RESOURCE.CFG. Also, when copying files from a CD in XP, the read only attribute is dropped.

^I tried it out and it made the screen going haywire inside DOSBox. Also the CPanel for the game wasn't accessable.
Here is what my RESOURCE.cfg file currently looks like..

joyDrv = NO
soundDrv = GENMIDI.DRV
memoryDrv = ARM
videoDrv = VGA.DRV
directory = C:\SIERRA
cd = YES
cmd = PQ4
minmemory = 2M
resAUD = .\aud
resSFX = .\sfx
audio = .\patches
patchDir = .\patches
audioDrv=DACBLAST.DRV

Anything strange there?

Try going back to the VESA driver, but keep the ARM driver. If you still have trouble, try the game with VDMS instead of DOSBox.

Case closed, its working 100%. 😀 Funny thing, I loaded up D-Fend and that seemed to do the trick. Thanks for all your help guys- I might be calling on you soon about some other Sierra games.

Good to hear.

Collector - Odd because I have many sierra games which are not relative...even in their default settings? 😕 In fact I just toyed with LSL7 recently. Then again mine usually aren't copied directly off the cd so it might be the reason. 😅

PS- Ever tried running sierraw.exe (I think thats the name) off the cd? It comes up with a scene selection menu...kind of like a cheat teleporter. Try it! 😳 I'm not sure what the heck this is for but it made me laugh anyway...must be a test utility.

In the RESOURCE.CFG if you define paths with a ".\" the game will start looking in its own directory, hence "resAUD=.\" will get the game to look in the same folder as the executable. Otherwise you have to have the absolute path, ie: "resAUD=C:\SIERRA\PQ4". This works for most Sierra SCI games.

hey guys almost the same problem here, I have downloaded PQ4 and installed in Im running DOSBox to get into the game, I have to mount my C every time before i can run the game. so i do that.
when i get into the game It plays sound but no voices or anything.
Ive downloaded VSDM and tried to get that to fix the issue. I just can seem to get the thing to work. Im sure I have to change some sort of resource file around, is what ive been reading from Collector but i cant find that resource file... headache. hope you guys can help out.

ps. Im not the smartest brainchild when it comes to pc issues. just to get that out there 😒

Since you are using an illegal copy I suggest you take your questions to the place you obtained it. Experience tells me, that your problem is not caused by a problem with DOSBox, but with how the copy was made.

The question you need to ask yourself now is this:

Is my time spent in getting this illegal copy to work in DOSBox worth more to me, than the costs of buying a legally licensed copy of the game on eBay, Amazon or some other reputable site?

ok, well in the mean time i was looking around for a download i also purchased the Real cd off ebay! 😀
I have the CD but it does not properly install in windows.. I Will for delete all the other PQ4 files if i get the game to work. It is such an amazing game that i have tried everything to get it to work.
Can u use DOSBox ? and load it from the CD ?
Just seems like I am backtracking. But I will except help on installing it from the CD thank you.