First post, by Venter127
I have Several games in which I would love to play, but cant, due to debilitating problems, and Need help. Im running Vista on a Toshiba satellite laptop, and my DOSbox version is 0.72. Also, I checked out the README of each game, and all of them either didn't help me, or I wasn't able to read the entire thing.
The first game is Darkseed, but I don't think its a problem with the game, since i've tried a few different versions already, all giving me the same results. What's intresting to note is that there are 2 different applications in my current darkseed folder, One entitled "START," while the other is called "TOS". My current method of getting these games to run is by dragging the applications or batch files over the DOSbox Icon, but when I try the "Start" App, I get prompted for the sound type and interface choice, then it proceeds with the intro as it always had. Then, as it reaches the area where the game is supposed to start, it just goes to a black screen and stays there until my patience runs out and I kill the program. However, when I try the "TOS" app, the game picks up where the other app seemingly left off, and I start the gameplay. I can play the game, up untill I try to leave the house (which I assume is where I needed to go, since the doorbell was ringing, and as I opened the door, someone was standing in front of it), then it goes to a black screen like it had after the intro. After trying the "Start" app again, im given a cutscene of a baby doll inside of a box instead of the intro (which scared the crap out of me the first time). I couldnt tell you if this cutscene was supposed to come after I left the house or not, but after that I tried the "TOS" app one more time, and it started outside my house. My initial thought is that "Start" shows the cutscenes, while "TOS" does the gameplay, and one picks up after the other stops at the black screen, but I couldnt say for sure. Any suggestions?
The next game is Elder Scrolls 1: Arena, as far as it's concerned, the game still runs horribly slow. I tried the app labeled "Install", but it wont let me proceed, saying that I need the floppy disk (which I obviously don't have). So, I just try the batch file with the name of the game instead, and it runs as though I never needed to installed it. I tried the "Ctrl+F12" keystroke, and it speeds up the game a bit, but there are still significant framerate issues, though it seems to stop working after a certen point, and i'm afraid to keep pressing it, in fear of damaging my computer or the program.
Next up is Elder scrolls 2: Daggerfell. The folder for it contains several WinRar archive files, all by the name of "dagger", A folder called "DAGGER", and several more files that go by the name of "dagger" as well, but have an unknown file extension called ".r" and a number starting at thirty, going up by one each new file down. The folder also contains a winRar application called "dagger". Ive had this folder a while, and I remember I couldnt get it working then either, but when I run the winRar app, it tries extracting several files, many of which it says already exist (im assuming i've already run this before), and when it finishes, it says it encountered an error of some sort. If i proceed into the folder marked "DAGGER," there exist your usual assortment of files, folders and apps. Obviously I try the install app, and everything runs smoothly, untill the instillation begins, at which im kicked back to the DOS prompt, with a message saying that it couldn't find a file labeled "font0000.fnt" in the "DATA" folder. After checking the mentioned folder, however, I find that that file is quite clearly there.
The last game is a little-known FPS called "Zero population count" or "zpc" for short. Trying the apps in this folder give me a variety of responses. Some say that that command is illegal, one even says that "Microsoft windows is required". If I try the app called "autorun," it says that it cant be run in DOS mode, but trying to run the app in the normal window begins to load something, but nothing ever shows up. If i try to run the app labeled "crack" (and before you admins lay down the ban hammer beacuse you saw the "c word," as it was described to me on other forums, this game was legal abandonware), The signature of whoever cracked the game appears, then I get a message telling me "Error, cannot find the file to patch".
I'm pretty inept at DOSbox and their games, as you can see, so I could use a bit of help, as I seem to have exhausted my immediate resources. I'll continue to work with these games to see if I can make some progress, and if more detail is needed, feel free to ask (so long as you do it politely, as was a problem in my last post.)
As always, any help would be greatly appreciated.
