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Magic Carpet - crashing and generally being a jerk

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First post, by badmojo

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Is there some arcane knowledge required to get this game running? I have what I think is the ‘plus’ version on CD – it doesn’t say that anywhere but there are 70 level files in the LEVELS directory, and my understanding is that the standard version only had 50 levels. (The ‘plus’ version includes the expansion).

I’m trying to run it on a P166MMX, 32MB RAM, DOS 7. Regardless of what sound and controller option is selected the game crashes regularly during gameplay, particularly when receiving input via keyboard or joystick. I’ve tried running with no EMM, no sound, no joystick, and with no CD-ROM diver loaded (with the CD contents copied to HDD). I’ve also tried running it from within Windows 95, but it behaves the same way.

I’ve also tried the GOG version on this same machine, and this version does not crash, but I can’t save my progress – it simply doesn’t let me enter a save file name. GOG have mangled their version a bit - the game files are hidden inside a .gog file, which is just a RAR, but I suspect that my save game issue relates to their messing with it.

It looks like an interesting game but I’m running out of ideas – any suggestions for getting either version working? I’ve looked for a patch but can’t find one. The game has speed issues so I suspect that might have something to do with it – it seems to be aimed at fast 486’s or slow Pentiums. But in SVGA mode the speed seems about right on the P166.

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Reply 2 of 10, by badmojo

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Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

I might checkout the GOG version this afternoon.

Thanks Phil! As I mentioned the game files are hidden in the .gog file, but there was a copy of CARPET.EXE outside of that archive file. The included DOSBOX config files seemed to be simply mounting the .gog, CDing into the CARPET dir, and running the CARPET.EXE in there.

This game doesn't have an installer, it simply creates a directory automatically called C:\CARPET.CD on first run and puts saves, config in there.

The GOG version ran OK when I copied the contents of the .gog to my HDD, but only if no CD-ROM driver was installed. If it detected a CD drive then it failed, and likewise if I copied the contents of the .gog to a CD, it failed.

I also noticed that the GOG version only had 2 level files, compared to the 70 files on my official CD.

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Reply 3 of 10, by Mau1wurf1977

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.GOG files are usually CD images. If it mounts a very large file > rename as ISO and burn it. If it's a small text file > rename CUE/BIN and burn it.

Sometimes the CD is an installation CD. Often the folder needs to be copied as well.

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Reply 4 of 10, by badmojo

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Right that makes sense, so it wasn't a RAR file, WinRAR was just clever enough to open it. And here I was congratulating myself for guessing what format it was.

I'll burn the image tonight, maybe that's the key to getting a working CD out of it.

Life? Don't talk to me about life.

Reply 6 of 10, by Jorpho

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badmojo wrote:

The game has speed issues so I suspect that might have something to do with it – it seems to be aimed at fast 486’s or slow Pentiums. But in SVGA mode the speed seems about right on the P166.

A glance at the forums suggests speed sensitivity may indeed be the problem.
http://www.gog.com/forum/magic_carpet_series/ … sion_crash_free

Reply 7 of 10, by badmojo

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Jorpho wrote:

A glance at the forums suggests speed sensitivity may indeed be the problem.
http://www.gog.com/forum/magic_carpet_series/ … sion_crash_free

Thanks for the link, that's exactly the issue I'm having - the game just seems to exit when selecting a spell or entering the map. There is mention of a patch but only to fix level 50, not to fix this problem.

It sounds like the GOG version is the way to go, I'll focus my energies on that. Mau1wurf1977 - whoever gets it working first in pure DOS wins a million dollars!

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Reply 8 of 10, by badmojo

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Phew I won the million dollars, good thing there's a 2 hour time difference b/w us.

Burning the ISO gives you a working CD which gives a splash screen at the start, allowing you to choose b/w the original Magic Carpet and the expansion. It plays fine, no crashing.

Thanks for the replies.

Life? Don't talk to me about life.

Reply 10 of 10, by vetz

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Gemini000 featured this game on Ancient DOS Games. He said the game was prone to crashing and causing trouble back in the day due to it being released too early.

http://www.pixelships.com/adg/ep0043.html
The sequel: http://www.pixelships.com/adg/ep0125.html

I also believe they did more fixing on the 3D Blaster CGL version. I have not experienced any crashes with it.

3D Accelerated Games List (Proprietary APIs - No 3DFX/Direct3D)
3D Acceleration Comparison Episodes

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