Just wanted to say that Im surprised this works at all. It doesnt for me, I get the oh-too-familiar runtime error 216. This happens on any pentium 3 or above based computer, dont know about AMDs.

BTW, the latest versions of Dosbox can run the game on all of my computers, but on all of them very slowly (even my 3.4Ghz P4). And yes, that is after optimising the cycles.

>>>Just wanted to say that Im surprised this works at all. It doesnt for me, I get the oh-too-familiar runtime error 216. This happens on any pentium 3 or above based computer, dont know about AMDs.

I got it to work under DosBox 0.63 (with D-Fend front end), and to be honest it was quite easy. I didn't use the 1.3 patch, but I had the "Replay" version so it might be patched already. ( I have an PIV 2.4 MHz ) 😁

>>>BTW, the latest versions of Dosbox can run the game on all of my computers, but on all of them very slowly (even my 3.4Ghz P4). And yes, that is after optimising the cycles.

Try using Frameskip 1, Dynamic core, and 20.000 cycles. I use these settings and it runs smoothly at 1024x768 or 1280x1024, with DDraw, and aspect correction and advint2x filters enabled. 😀

I can get it to run using Dosbox too, and it is easy as you say. The original thread poster says that they ran the game without dosbox, only used it for install, thus my comment.

As for you running the game smoothly, you must have some serious tolerance to lag or something strange is going on. Mine is still laggy at 30000 cycles, and once I hit about 34000 it gets even more laggy since that is when the real CPU usage is approaching maximum. Id ilke to hear more details on your directdraw thing though, and the filter you used. Can you give exact full details on your configuration please (like post your config file please)? Are you playing with sound?

Thanks.

>As for you running the game smoothly, you must have some serious tolerance to lag or something strange is going on. Mine is still laggy at 30000 cycles, and once I hit about 34000 it gets even more laggy since that is when the real CPU usage is approaching maximum.

There are a couple of tips to speed up DosBox. First of all, play all games fullscreen. Second use frameskip 1. You don't have jerky animation, and saves a lot of computer power. And try using dynamic core. It is not that stable, but IF it works there is a big speed boost. 😁 And try to expetiment to see what you like or not. A Front End like D-Fend makes experimantation easier. There is a guide in DosBox forum that gives you tips how to speed up games.

>Can you give exact full details on your configuration please (like post your >config file please)? Are you playing with sound?

Yes I play with sound. I uploaded my D-Fend Coniguration. (UnRar, Import to D-Fend) 😁

Well in short, that didnt work as well as you made it sound for me. Glad to hear it works for some though.

It was faster than when I had tried before though, Ill give you that much. And Id say it crossed the unplayable threshold and is now somewhere in the you-can-play-this-if-youve-got-loads-of-time-and-patience category. However, things like the difference in how fast time passes on say speed 2 on the starmap and a screen like equipment or production really goes to show how the game is supposed to run. Still, a step in the right direction!

>>>It was faster than when I had tried before though, Ill give you that much. And Id say it crossed the unplayable threshold and is now somewhere in the you-can-play-this-if-youve-got-loads-of-time-and-patience category.

Well, now it is time for experiments. Try every setting to see what happens, and keep the settings you like. You might even try CVS builds. With a little experimentation you will find your optimum configuration. 😁

Yeah I might, when I actually do get some free time. Bit hectic now. And yeah, after trying your settings in the official, I went straight away for one of the CVS builds and tried similar settings and played for about 10 minutes with them. Gets hard to remember which setting worked best after youve tried like 20 different ones heh! But still, whereas 2 years ago I couldnt play this game at all, now it is possible, so in a year or so, it should be running great! 😜

You might even want to play Imperial Galactica 2. It's essentially the same game with 3D graphics 😁 ( I put IG1 back to the self 😏 )

Really? You feel IG2 is the same game but with 3d graphics? I liked IG2, but I loved IG1. The story was pretty good, and all the imperfections made it perfect. 3 flagships a fleet max I prefer to IG2 too. The list goes on and on. I cant actually point and say thats what made this game so special to me though, I think it was because I was very young when I first played it and it was only the start of my affection for scifi and space, and I guess every time I play it I just recapture those emotions I had, and its fantastic. Too bad IG3 got delayed so many times, then got moved to other people, then got delayed some more, then got renamed and is basically not true to the IG series huh? 🙁