1. next time post in the Dosbox forum (I'll move the topic there now)
2. we do not support illegal copies even if you once owned the game (thus I'll close the topic)
3. it's a Windows game and won't run directly in Dosbox
4. next time you have problems with a legit copy of a game, state what your problems are

Unlocked again, OP got his new copy off Amazon. I'm sorry, should have asked first before shooting.

You asked about 3., you CAN probably run it in Dosbox when you install Windows 3.x in Dosbox first (though that needs a legit copy, too). Or you try the experimental Dosbox-x branch that runs Windows 95 reasonably better.

I'd go withWindows 3.x as that is easier to do 😉

Thanks, I'll look into those two options. I still have a Win 3.1 copy, but since it's all on floppy disks I'll have to see about transferring that to CD at least as I don't have a floppy drive anymore. I also still have Win95 on CD at least (I'm somewhat of a digital pack rat!) so I'll check out DosBox-X as well.

Hmm. I just realized that I don't have my Win95 disc anymore (must have loaned it out). Will Silent Steel run in Win98SE?

Probably 😉
I'd still go for Windows 3.x... Works much better and in lock stock Dosbox 😉

Did you ever figure out how to run this game in DosBOx?

I get a 16 Bit app not supported message 🙁

Unfortunately, I had no success. I paid 10 bucks for the discs and now I can't use them! 🙁

I got the same Dosbox error you did. I even tried setting up a VM using VirtualPC 2007 with both Win 3.1 and Win98 with no luck. I may have to resort to setting up an old box as a standalone machine just for this, but I'd really hate to commit the resources for just one game.

You can install Windows 3.x in Dosbox (see my sig).
When does that error show?

Sorry, I should have been a bit clearer. I got the "16-bit app not supported" error trying to run the game in DOS in DoxBox which you pointed out earlier that it would probably not work (I just had to try, you know!).

The issue I had with Win 3.1 was with the audio & video. While playing the video, the audio would not play nor could I get the colors to be better than the minimal colors (8 colors I think). When I played the audio files separately, they were fine. Apparently the game just wouldn't play both simultaneously. I played around a bit with the Dosbox settings, but frankly it's been way too long for me to really remember how to configure all that. When I get some free time, I may look closer at your Win 3.1 guide and see what I can do.

acutshall wrote:

The issue I had with Win 3.1 was with the audio & video. While playing the video, the audio would not play nor could I get the colors to be better than the minimal colors (8 colors I think). When I played the audio files separately, they were fine.

Not sure on the audio issues, but to get more than the 16 color graphics you need a few things:

• A video memory amount large enought to support high-color modes in Windows in the DOSBox config
• The appropriate drivers installed for the emulated video card configured, most likely S3. Check the Windows 3.1x DOSBox Guide.
• Setup Windows to use a 256 color mode via it's Display control panel.

Thanks for the tips! I'll be sure to look into that as soon as I get some free time and I'll post my progress.

Thanks to everyone for their work trying to get this game running. acutshall, did you ever get SS to work? I saw the "16-bit program not supported" error, but then I got windows 3.1 working using Dominus' instructions on this site.

I'm trying to make the game run in Windows 3.1 running in Dosbox on Mac OSX 10.8. I'm using the S3 video driver set to 256 colors small font. Once I got windows working, I tried running the Silent Steel setup file, and I got an error that I needed an MPEG driver and a WAV driver. I found vmpeg17 (http://www.filewatcher.com/m/vmpeg17.exe.553028-0.html) and Speakr from this website: http://ulihansen.kicks-ass.net/speaker/index2.htm.

Once I installed those, I stopped getting that error. Silent Steel installs fine, and when I run the program from windows 3, it starts to run, but the video does not play, and the sound is very very choppy and delayed. I can get the first and second set of choices to appear if I play with the options to skip the video, but the game is definitely unplayable.

Are there other drivers out there that might make the game work better? Am I mistaken that the drivers are the likely cause of these issues? If I tried to run the "steel.exe" file from the Silent Steel DVD, it says I don't have Video for Windows or the Indeo Codec. I found the Video for Windows driver and had it installed at one point, but have since deleted it. I couldn't find an Indeo Codec that I could install.

Thanks again, y'all. Any advice you can give will help.

Ryan,

To be honest, I have not had much free time to mess with this anymore. When I get the opportunity, I'll try it again with the drivers you suggested. I don't have it on a DVD but on 4 CD-ROMs although I did create an ISO of all 4 discs combined. I haven't had a chance to try it yet since I didn't fare too well with just the first disc.

Unfortunately, it takes so much time and effort to track down all of these sniggly little issues that it take much of the joy out of it! It also doesn't help that it's been way too long since I worked in a DOS/Win3.1/Win95/Win98 environment and I've forgotten more than I remember!

Aaron

Thanks, Aaron. I know what you mean, I had to fiddle with things at every step, and then when I finally thought it was working, no video. I'm hoping Dominus has some input. I'll keep you updated if I get it working.

sorry, I don't have the game and cannot help further without it 🙁

Aw, thanks anyway. I just thought you might know of some other MPEG drivers or something I hadn't found.

According to MobyGames there is an MPEG and non-MPEG version of the game. Since you mention MPEG drivers, I guess you must have the MPEG version.

SB16 drivers, like those described in the Win3.x guide, would usually be your best digital audio (WAV) option. Did you resort to using a speaker driver (not a good option, IMO, due to CPU usage) because the SB16 drivers aren't working in some way?

I might be late for the party but, I have just completed a successful install of Silent Steel.
I used DOSBox-0.74 and installed Windows 3.11 following the guide, installing the S3 and SB16 drivers. I also installed Video For Windows VFW11E. Then I had originally tried VMPEG17.exe and got it to run but this turned out to be a Demo and only 60 seconds of audio. I could not find a full version (if it exists). I then found the Xing MPEG Player xing_31.zip and this works well, the game runs with video and audio and the Capitan’s voice for the choices. The only issue I have with it now is when I exit the game it throws an application error for XMVIDEO.DLL but I can live with it. If I use the upgraded Silent Steel EXE, I don’t get the error but the video is really choppy unless I run it in a very small window.

Better late than never! Good job getting it to work. I've pretty much put the discs away as I've not had time for it and, if I'm to be completely honest, I didn't want to invest a bunch of time for something that may not work. After all, I'm not THAT bored! 😀