VOGONS


First post, by blejicaaa

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Hello,

I installed the game called Electronic Popple on my C drive through DOSBox and now when I put the directory to the installed folder (c:/popple/) and I run the game .exe called POPPLE.exe the screen just goes black and the client crashes. Can someone help me with this? This is my childhood game I would really love it to work please.

Add me on discord to get this solved more quickly
blejaTebraa#2507

Reply 2 of 30, by blejicaaa

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ripsaw8080 wrote on 2021-02-12, 07:02:

I found it before and I couldn't decipher what you guys are saying, I'm not really computer savvy plus english isn't my native language. Can you please run me through the process? I would be forever grateful, sir.

EDIT:

I mounted the virtual drive with the game and it had "epsetup.ex_" and "popple.ex_" and I copied them to the POPPLE installation folder, renamed them from ".ex_" to ".exe" and still the black screen and crash remains as before. I tried running "epsetup.exe" to configure the language and soundcard thinking if I do the config first and then run the game it would make a difference but no, I configure the soundcard and language, try running popple.exe again and still the same...

Reply 3 of 30, by Jorpho

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blejicaaa wrote on 2021-02-12, 16:25:

I found it before and I couldn't decipher what you guys are saying, I'm not really computer savvy plus english isn't my native language. Can you please run me through the process? I would be forever grateful, sir.

Simple workaround: create a folder on the emulated C: drive other than the intended install target (which defaults to C:\POPPLE), copy all of the files from the root dir of the cdrom into this folder, then run the installer from there. This allows the redirection file to be created, which satisfies the installer, although it will prompt you for the language because it couldn't be determined automatically. The install source folder can be deleted when installation is complete.

  • Create a folder on your hard drive, like C:\Users\your-user-name\Documents\blah
  • Copy all the files from the root directory of the CD-ROM to another folder, like C:\Users\your-user-name\Documents\blah\popinst
  • In DOSBox, type
    mount d C:\Users\your-user-name\Documents\blah\popinst
    mount c C:\Users\your-user-name\Documents\blah
    d:
    install

Is that clear enough?

Reply 4 of 30, by blejicaaa

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Jorpho wrote on 2021-02-12, 17:01:
Is that clear enough? […]
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blejicaaa wrote on 2021-02-12, 16:25:

I found it before and I couldn't decipher what you guys are saying, I'm not really computer savvy plus english isn't my native language. Can you please run me through the process? I would be forever grateful, sir.

Simple workaround: create a folder on the emulated C: drive other than the intended install target (which defaults to C:\POPPLE), copy all of the files from the root dir of the cdrom into this folder, then run the installer from there. This allows the redirection file to be created, which satisfies the installer, although it will prompt you for the language because it couldn't be determined automatically. The install source folder can be deleted when installation is complete.

  • Create a folder on your hard drive, like C:\Users\your-user-name\Documents\blah
  • Copy all the files from the root directory of the CD-ROM to another folder, like C:\Users\your-user-name\Documents\blah\popinst
  • In DOSBox, type
    mount d C:\Users\your-user-name\Documents\blah\popinst
    mount c C:\Users\your-user-name\Documents\blah
    d:
    install

Is that clear enough?

Sir I've already managed to install the game the default way, so the game is installed through DOSBox on C partition and the folder is called POPPLE, so when I navigate to that folder in DOSBox and run popple.exe nothing happens.

Reply 5 of 30, by blejicaaa

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A quick update.

I managed to run the game somehow by creating an additional folder and putting the POPPLE folder in there, but I'm encountering two other problems. 1st one is when I save and run the game again, the save file is missing so it's not possible to save the game and the other one, the level up animation keeps looping so the game gets softlocked. The point is gathering many little orbs when enemies drop them and when you gather lets say 50 of them, the character should level up and be stronger, but when I collect them all and when he starts to level up, the animation keeps looping and I'm forced to exit the game. Is there any fix for these problems? Please...

Reply 6 of 30, by Jorpho

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blejicaaa wrote on 2021-02-12, 17:14:

Sir I've already managed to install the game the default way, so the game is installed through DOSBox on C partition and the folder is called POPPLE, so when I navigate to that folder in DOSBox and run popple.exe nothing happens.

Did you follow the instructions? Because the game may not be installed incorrectly, despite how it may appear. If you install the game by following the instructions in my post, then you may be able to save correctly.

but when I collect them all and when he starts to level up, the animation keeps looping and I'm forced to exit the game.

This happens in some circumstances when the game tries to play CD audio, but no audio CD is present.

After you have installed the game, you will need to mount the game's CD in DOSBox before you start playing. (Any CD with audio tracks will work.) Do you have the game CD, or are you using a BIN/CUE image?

Reply 7 of 30, by blejicaaa

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Jorpho wrote on 2021-02-12, 21:18:
Did you follow the instructions? Because the game may not be installed incorrectly, despite how it may appear. If you install […]
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blejicaaa wrote on 2021-02-12, 17:14:

Sir I've already managed to install the game the default way, so the game is installed through DOSBox on C partition and the folder is called POPPLE, so when I navigate to that folder in DOSBox and run popple.exe nothing happens.

Did you follow the instructions? Because the game may not be installed incorrectly, despite how it may appear. If you install the game by following the instructions in my post, then you may be able to save correctly.

but when I collect them all and when he starts to level up, the animation keeps looping and I'm forced to exit the game.

This happens in some circumstances when the game tries to play CD audio, but no audio CD is present.

After you have installed the game, you will need to mount the game's CD in DOSBox before you start playing. (Any CD with audio tracks will work.) Do you have the game CD, or are you using a BIN/CUE image?

it is bin/cue image, sir.

Reply 8 of 30, by Jorpho

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blejicaaa wrote on 2021-02-12, 22:30:

it is bin/cue image, sir.

Then you have to use the imgmount command in DOSBox. Assuming you followed something like the previous instructions to install the game, you would need to type:

mount c C:\Users\your-user-name\Documents\blah
imgmount d C:\whatever\popple.cue
c:
cd popple
popple

Use the full path to your .cue file as appropriate with the imgmount command. (The .bin file has to be in the same folder as the .cue file, of course.)

This assumes you have a properly-created bin/cue file of a few hundred megabytes generated from an original CD (as opposed to a quick rip that left out the audio tracks).

Reply 9 of 30, by blejicaaa

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Jorpho wrote on 2021-02-13, 01:22:
Then you have to use the imgmount command in DOSBox. Assuming you followed something like the previous instructions to install […]
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blejicaaa wrote on 2021-02-12, 22:30:

it is bin/cue image, sir.

Then you have to use the imgmount command in DOSBox. Assuming you followed something like the previous instructions to install the game, you would need to type:

mount c C:\Users\your-user-name\Documents\blah
imgmount d C:\whatever\popple.cue
c:
cd popple
popple

Use the full path to your .cue file as appropriate with the imgmount command. (The .bin file has to be in the same folder as the .cue file, of course.)

This assumes you have a properly-created bin/cue file of a few hundred megabytes generated from an original CD (as opposed to a quick rip that left out the audio tracks).

It is and when I do that line of command, it ends up saying "could not extract drive geometry from image. Use parameter -size, bps, spc, hpc, cyl to specify the geometry."

Reply 12 of 30, by Jorpho

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BardBun wrote on 2021-02-16, 09:12:

use WinBin2Iso to change it to an .iso file, that should be easier and no trouble to work with

No, that would remove the audio tracks, which is exactly what the game needs. This was discussed in the other thread. If you have a .iso file for a game that has audio tracks that play on an ordinary CD player, then either the game is not using those audio tracks or you do not have a "real" .iso file.

Also "-t cdrom" almost certainly should have worked, and I assume it did since M. Blejicaaa has not returned.

Reply 13 of 30, by blejicaaa

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Jorpho wrote on 2021-02-16, 17:12:
BardBun wrote on 2021-02-16, 09:12:

use WinBin2Iso to change it to an .iso file, that should be easier and no trouble to work with

No, that would remove the audio tracks, which is exactly what the game needs. This was discussed in the other thread. If you have a .iso file for a game that has audio tracks that play on an ordinary CD player, then either the game is not using those audio tracks or you do not have a "real" .iso file.

Also "-t cdrom" almost certainly should have worked, and I assume it did since M. Blejicaaa has not returned.

Sorry for inactivity, some awful things happened recently and I wasn't on the computer that much, but now I'm back and I did step by step everything that you told me. I created a "Popple" folder in my local disk C (C:\Popple) where the .cue and .bin files are, and when I open up DOSbox and type "mount c c:\popple" and "imgmount d c:\popple\popple.cue" it says Could not extract drive geometry from image. Use parameter -size, bps, spc, hpc, cyl to specify the geometry., and when I type "imgmount d c:\popple\popple.cue -t cdrom" it says Could not load image file c:\popple\popple.cue. MSCDEX: Failure: Invalid file or unable to open.

Reply 14 of 30, by Jorpho

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blejicaaa wrote on 2021-06-15, 01:50:

when I open up DOSbox and type "mount c c:\popple" and "imgmount d c:\popple\popple.cue"

What happens if you type "imgmount d c:\popple\popple.cue -t cdrom" first, without typing "mount c c:\popple" ?

Reply 16 of 30, by Qbix

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This is more common than you might think.
Quite a few DOS games don't expect to in the root of a drive

Water flows down the stream
How to ask questions the smart way!

Reply 17 of 30, by blejicaaa

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Jorpho wrote on 2021-06-15, 01:58:
blejicaaa wrote on 2021-06-15, 01:50:

when I open up DOSbox and type "mount c c:\popple" and "imgmount d c:\popple\popple.cue"

What happens if you type "imgmount d c:\popple\popple.cue -t cdrom" first, without typing "mount c c:\popple" ?

It says Could not load image file c:\popple\popple.cue. MSCDEX: Failure: Invalid file or unable to open.

Reply 18 of 30, by blejicaaa

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IIGS_User wrote on 2021-06-17, 17:54:

And do "mount c c:/"
"cd popple"
as it seems the game expects itself to sit inside the sub folder, as seen from within DOSBox.

Alright, when I type "mount c c:/" then it says "Drive C is mounted as local directory c:/\" BUT when I type "cd popple" it says "You are still on drive Z, change it to a mounted drive with C:."

Reply 19 of 30, by darry

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blejicaaa wrote on 2021-06-23, 23:56:
IIGS_User wrote on 2021-06-17, 17:54:

And do "mount c c:/"
"cd popple"
as it seems the game expects itself to sit inside the sub folder, as seen from within DOSBox.

Alright, when I type "mount c c:/" then it says "Drive C is mounted as local directory c:/\" BUT when I type "cd popple" it says "You are still on drive Z, change it to a mounted drive with C:."

Type "c:" followed by Enter to switch to the c: drive .