VOGONS


First post, by VirtuaIceMan

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NOTE: this guide assumes basic DOS knowledge of commands like cd, etc!

1. Install the game. Note where you install it for later...

2. Download the attached wrf_dosbox.zip file which contains various exe files from a hacked version of the game (which doesn't cause the "needs MSCDEX 2.1" error message). NOTE: I don't condone piracy so I haven't provided the whole game, just the key files needed to make an original CD-ROM version of the game work!

3. Unzip the wrf_dosbox.zip file (preserve folders etc if you're asked) and then move all the files in the wrf_dosbox folder to the WRF game folder, overwriting the original files in the WRF folder when asked.

4. Start up DOSBox using the following:
- Normal CPU emulation
- CPU cycles no higher than 18500 (over about this and the game won't boot - you can increase the cycles after the game has started with ctrl+F12)
- Soundblaster and Gravis Ultrasound emulation on (note the various address/IRQ settings for later...)
- You need to run the following (either when DOSBox has started or in the Auto execute section of Boxer if you use that):
mount c c:\ <- change c to the drive you installed WRF to!
mount d d:\ -t cdrom <- change d to the letter your CD-ROM drive is (with the WRF game CD in)

5. Run DOSBox. When it starts change to the directory that WRF is installed in. Type rally and press return to start the game

6. Enter the game Setup menu. If the game black screens here, close DOSBox and try it again. In Setup set the soundcard up using the Sound option. I recommend Gravis over Soundblaster as it breaks up less. You'll need the correct address/IRQ settings here. Choose Save to save the settings in the Setup menu.

7. Play the game!

NOTES:
- if you leave the intro running the game will exit after about a couple of demos
- a portion of the screen will flicker a lot. Not sure why.
- on my P4 3.2GHz Extreme Edition I find the optimal cycle setting to be around 25000-27000. Even then the game will slow down a little in places
- the CD-ROM will spin up to load data but sadly won't play any music... maybe that's what the original game used MSCDEX for...
- I haven't played the game through entirely as it's really hard! So it might crash on some tracks.

Any problems post them here!

Cheers,

Ice

Last edited by VirtuaIceMan on 2004-06-27, 19:56. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 1 of 8, by mirekluza

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@VirtuaIceMan: I am not happy about what you put here. It is not whole game, but there are some copyrighted EXEs and it very much reminds no-CD cracks.
It would be better if you replaced it:
a) by information which hex addresses should be edited
or
b) the program which you make which would modify EXEs
I am leaving it here now, but not for long (I will delete it later if you leave it here). If neither of the above mentioned is acceptable, then please move it elsewhere (on your own page outside of VOGONS and link to that page).

Mirek

Reply 2 of 8, by VirtuaIceMan

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Hi there,

I understand what you say but it is the only way to make the game work (believe me I tried everything!). It took me countless hours to track down a version of the game that didn't check for MSCDEX. Maybe if sapucdex or DOSBox can be improved to fool the original game then such measures won't be needed but I feel that is unlikely in the near future.

For reference I didn't make the hacks myself, but as I don't support warez I didn't include anything other than the basic exes needed to get the game working. The files in the zip aren't enough to play the game if you don't own a copy, so anyone seeking a full warez version will still need to go find the full game (it took me hours though).

Sorry if this is a wrong thing to do but I like to help where I can and I thought posting a link to the full warez version would be worse!

If you want to remove the zip file the go ahead. If anyone then wants to know how to get the game working then they can PM me for details.

Ice

Reply 3 of 8, by mirekluza

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I understand that you just want to enable people to play the game. And any warez link would be be worse and would be deleted immediately.
Nevertheless all what I wrote applies. I did not deleted it yet, nor closed the thread because I want to give you chance to choose other solution from those three I mentioned.
I will delete that ZIP with hacked EXEs later (perhaps tomorrow). This should give you time at least to put it elsewhere.

Mirek

Reply 4 of 8, by VirtuaIceMan

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Hi mirekluza,

As I don't want to get VOGONS in any trouble I have removed the zip file.

If anyone wants to run World Rally Fever on Windows XP either PM me or contact Team 17 at http://www.team17.com and ask them about patching the game! Though I don't rate your chances... check these threads on their forums:

http://forum.team17.com/showthread.php?t=12956
http://forum.team17.com/showthread.php?t=7162
http://forum.team17.com/showthread.php?t=6021

Ice

Reply 5 of 8, by mirekluza

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Ok, although I think you could just make a web page, put it there and link to it from here. In that case all would be happy. But it is your decision.

I think that PM does not work on VOGONS (but mailing does).

Mirek

Reply 6 of 8, by VirtuaIceMan

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Oh yeah it doesn't work! d'oh!

I'm not so hot on making websites so I can't help by hosting it elsewhere.

So basically if you are reading this and want to play World Rally Fever either:

1. pester Team 17 for a patch

2. go Google for the hacked warez version - the only hint I'll give is that it's on a foreign site

3. or post here asking for the file (only 500k-ish) and make sure you have an option for me to contact you

Good luck!

Ice

Reply 8 of 8, by VirtuaIceMan

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Forget all the above now (heh)...

World Rally Fever is fixed in the new CVS compile of DOSBox thanks to this update:

* MSCDEX sets word on stack to ADAD if it DADA on entry.

Thank you to QBix for looking at the problem, and wd for support too!

My PC spec: Win10 64bit, i7-4970K (not overclocked), KFA2 GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER, Creative Soundblaster ZXr, 16GB RAM, Asus Z97-A motherboard, NZXT 410 case, ROG Swift GSYNC monitor