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Afterlife CD version on Windows XP

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First post, by fiduch

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hi there, i haven't posted here much, but i've just dusted off my old cd copy of the lucasarts heaven and hell sim "afterlife", and i'm having trouble getting it to work in windows xp.

here's my information:
Motherboard - MSI 975X Platinum
Processor - Intel Core2Duo E6600 2.4 GHz
RAM - 4 GB DDR2
Graphics - ATI x1950Pro 256 MB
Sound Card - Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS
OS - Windows XP Home
Game - Afterlife (cd version, shipped with LucasArts Archives III)

When i insert the game, the autoplay screen comes up and looks perfectly correct, but when i click on "install afterlife onto your hard drive", the setup file simply locks up.

if i try to run it directly from the disc, it works, but the sound works for only a moment before shutting off completely.

i've even tried running it through vdmsound and dosbox 0.70, and neither work. dosbox gives a dos4gw error, and the video seems to be negative when it's run in vdmsound.

anybody have any suggestions? i'd be very appreciative.

thanks.

Reply 1 of 7, by collector

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I have found that it will run in XP, but will not install in XP. You could try to install on a another non-XP PC or on a virtual 9x machine and transfer the installed files to your XP box.

The Sierra Help Pages -- New Sierra Game Installers -- Sierra Game Patches -- New Non-Sierra Game Installers

Reply 2 of 7, by akula65

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I get the same results as collector on my WinXP Pro machine.

I did a Windows installation on a Win98 SE machine, and the installation process does the following:

1. Copies the following files from the CD-ROM to the install directory (C:\ALIFE by default):
ALIFE.000
ALIFE.EXE
ALIFE.INI
README.TXT
SETUP.EXE
SETUP.INI

When it copies ALIFE.000, it copies only some portion of the ALIFE.000 file on the CD-ROM based on the install size and graphics options you select.

2. Creates the following Registry entries:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\LucasArts Entertainment Company
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\LucasArts Entertainment Company\Afterlife

Within the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\LucasArts Entertainment Company\Afterlife subkey, it creates the following String Values (Name Data):
Install path "C:\ALIFE"
Source path "Q:"
Version "Release 1.0"

(My install CD-ROM drive is Q: )

3. Changes entries in the ALIFE.INI and SETUP.INI files
Within ALIFE.INI the following changes were made:
CD Path changed from ALIFE.000 to Q:\ALIFE.000
Installation changed from None to Full (I did a Full install)
Within SETUP.INI the following changes were made:
CD Path changed from ALIFE.000 to Q:\ALIFE.000

So you might try to do a manual installation by making the above changes. I would suggest that you NOT make the Registry changes if you don't have any experience doing that sort of thing. The Registry changes may not be necessary to get the game to work anyway, so I would only make them as a last resort.

I went through this manual process on my WinXP Pro machine, and the game seems to work, although I haven't played it extensively. I do get sound and music, by the way (Soundblaster Live! 5.1). Even though the game runs after going through this process, the SETUP.EXE program still causes the game to lock up, so you can't use it to change the configuration.

Reply 3 of 7, by fiduch

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collector, unfortunately, i've only got the one system with xp on it, no old boxes with win95 or 98. and i don't think it would work anyways, as i tried what akula did (mimicing a 98 install), and though it did help the game to run at a better resolution for my 19" lcd monitor, it didn't clear up my sound issues.

akula, thanks for that. i did everything you mentioned with the exception of creating registry keys (it didn't seem to be necessary, and i'd rather not mess around in my registry if i don't have to). it got me somewhere, but the sound still works through the intro video, but kicks out the minute i try to talk to the "guides" or run a tutorial. the tutorials actually won't even run. they simply start and finish in a couple of seconds without actually running through. i can still play, but i really don't want to play it without the sound.

i'm fairly certain this is a sound driver issue of some sort. does anyone have any suggestions on what settings i should be trying to use? or even where i should be trying to change them? there are "imuse.ini" and "imuse.exe" files, but i think those would be for the dos version of the game. should i edit "alife.exe" itself somehow?

has anyone been able to get it running through dosbox? if so, how?

thanks again. any further help would be wonderful.

Reply 4 of 7, by CJ Dennis

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I had no trouble installing Afterlife. I copied all the files onto my hard drive, runs nicely under native XP. Doesn't actually need to be installed under Windows as it will run (and let you save games) from the CD or copied directory.

Then I tried DOSBox as Demonically Fast is waaaaaay too fast under XP. I installed it from the HD copy, not from the original CD, no installation problems at all.

Only problem under DOSBox is the palette switching. Takes about half a second to redraw the screen each time. I'm getting the same issue with Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego? (Deluxe).

It seems that these games are being run in some high colour mode. Is there a way to get it to run in 256 colour mode (ie true palette rather than emulating)? If not is there a way to speed up the palette emulation as other people don't seem to be getting the same issues as me.

As I'm typing this I've got Afterlife running in DOSBox in the background. The music is coming through perfectly but when I bring it to the front the music becomes choppy, probably related to the palette redraw problem.

My system is very similar to fiduch's. I'm using DOSBox 0.72.