DISCLAIMER: I'm not very good with computers. It's taken me eons just to get to this stage. I've now lost all my hair as a result.

Hi all,

I've noticed that there have been some posts on the forum about this game before, in 2010 and 2018 if I'm not mistaken, but neither resulted in a solution. Perhaps wishful thinking, but hoping I might luck into someone who knows the answers in 2022.

I'm attempting to get this game to work with PCem, as all other VM software programs (Virtualbox, VMware etc.) have failed to even install Windows 98SE OEM. Furthermore, I was advised that it was the best option.

In order to avoid any potential issues with ISOs etc. I've opted to run the game from my CD drive into PCem. It's a "2 track disk", seemingly, and this apparently causes issues with ISO creation. I'm trying to get rid of as many variables as possible, so I'm circumventing this issue for now.

The game installs fine, however at the end of installation there is a request to install Direct X 5.2. I've done several clean OS and game installs, and if I click yes, or no, the results are the same. When clicking yes, nothing happens, there is no visible Direct X installation, and it then asks if I want to play the game or read the readme file. Click no, same thing happens. Of course, when I attempt to play the game, nothing happens also. The game seems to have installed fine, direct from the original CD itself... but it refuses to run.

I thought this might be something to do with the PCem settings, and the hardware choices I had made for the machine. Admittedly, I don't recognise half of the options, so have no idea what is the best fit for this game, despite having the minimum and recommended specs to hand.

I attempted to run it on a Windows XP VM, but the game is exclusively built for 95/98 (which it says during install in XP). So it's 98/95 or bust. Given that the game was released in 98, and it's what I played it on at time of release, I'm thinking 98 is the best bet, but perhaps the specs required will suggest otherwise:

Minimum Configuration
Windows 96 or 98
Pentium 133MHz
16MB RAM
2XCD-ROM drive
800x600 16bit display
110MB HD Space

Recommended Configuration
Penium 200MHz or Higher
32MB RAM
3D Accelerator (see supported hardware)
4MB Video Card

Supported Hardware
Supported Graphic Acceleration Boards:
Via D3D - 3Dfx Voodoo/ Voodoo2/Voodoo2 w/SLI /3Dfx Voodoo Rush, Intel 740, nVidia Riva 128, and ATI 3D Rage Pro.

"Also requires Video and Sound card compatible with Direct X 5.* "

I've noticed that some of you operate on the PCem forum also, so please forgive me if you're seeing this twice. I'm determined (or the other word beginning with "de"... desperate) to get this to work.

The setup I used originally was as follows:

I would honestly be extremely and eternally grateful if someone could help me. If any more information is required in order to do so, please let me know.

To those that have read this, thank you so much for taking the time.