just the first two levels have disgusting graphics like quake

updated to latest QEmu 7.0.0

I tried it out, QEMU boots up with HAXM but unfortunately the Win98 Startup menu says 'Windows has detected a registry/configuration error' and doesn't run the game.

it's a dos game

Thanks for the reply. It takes me to the screen attached below. None of the .bat or .exe files work when selected in QEMU, they give errors saying DOS4GW not found or invalid drive specification. Not sure what I'm doing wrong unfortunately.

inst_pyl.bat is for coping game files from the game's cd

updated

Hi robertmo,

I've tried your package, unfortunately having issues:
1. The autoexec.bat and config.sys are refering to C:\CDROM, which doesn't exist. I've fixed that to C:\ and CDROM is mounted now
2. The autoexec.bat refers to c:\1mouse\ctmouse2/r1, which doesn't exist. Is this needed for the game? If yes, do I just need som freedos cute mouse driver?
3. pyl_instl.bat copied some files, but the DOS4GW was not included, so I've copied it manually.
4. Now I'm getting some graphical activity and QEMU window shows:

1c:\Users\admin\Downloads\Pyl-QEMU\Pyl_7z>rem TRYING CDROM e: and HAXM acceleration
2HAX is working and emulator runs in fast virt mode.
3Failed to sync vcpu reg
4Failed to sync vcpu reg
5Failed to sync vcpu reg
6glidept: DLL loaded - glide2x.dll
7trace: _grSstQueryBoards@4 called
8trace: _grGlideInit@0 called
9glidept: de5c83c-13:29:43 Jul 24 2022 build WRAPFX32
10wr2x_trace: _grSstQueryHardware@4
11wr2x_trace: _grSstSelect@4
12glidept: grSstWinOpen called, fmt 0 org 0 buf 2 aux 1 gLfb 0xfb000000
13wr2x_trace: _grSstWinOpen@28
14glidept: LFB mode is Shared Memory (fast), One-copy, LfbLockDirty
15     window 640x480
16glidept: grSstWinClose called
17glidept: grGlideShutdown called, fifo 0x0028 data 0x0000 shm 0x0040000 lfb 0xfb000000
18glidept:   GrState 0 VtxLayout 0
19glidept: DLL unloaded

Game however fails with message:

1Graphics 3DFX Voodoo 640x480 16Bpp Brak sterownika myszki

Is there anything I can do? I'm on
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-8259U CPU @ 2.30GHz 2.30 GHz
16GB RAM
Iris graphics

robertmo wrote on 2022-08-27, 06:08:

updated

just need som freedos cute mouse driver 2.0

I found this source which works well: REMOVED

qemu has 4 times more fps than dosbox
dgvoodoo allows removing black bars on top and bottom

Yasashii wrote on 2014-09-07, 12:19:

I didn't like the horror genre (and I still don't), and on top of that, one of the first enemies you encounter were spider-like creatures, which I can't tolerate.

spiders are not enemies, are very tiny (hard to notice at all), and you can ignore them completely, and they are only in the first scene of the game 😀
game is not a horror but s-f, and only first two levels are ugly. Once you pass first two levels you should be fine.
it's incomparable to doom or quake which are disgusting almost all the time on every level.

Gamecollector wrote on 2012-11-09, 01:55:

This is FPS. Very-very bad FPS.

only first two levels are very-very bad like doom or quake. Rest of the game is very-very good.

So is this game freeware now or what?

Also, does a demo version exist maybe?

MrFlibble wrote on 2023-12-24, 10:54:

Also, does a demo version exist maybe?

Alright, I used Hallfiry's magazine coverdisk catalogue and found one on this coverdisk:
https://archive.org/details/gambler_cdrom_25a

Alright, I played the demo a bit (it's only one level), and the game has nothing to do with Quake or Doom at all. Instead, it's a first-person action-adventure game of sorts that also happens to be an FPS. Since the demo has no built-in hints or a manual whatsoever, I had to look up the video walkthrough of the full game to get a grasp of the basics. Essentially, you need to sneak around and snipe the guards using the sniper scope (Backspace by default) and the single-shot mode of the carbine (default is bursts/auto mode, but you can press 1 to switch between them) as much as possible. There's locational damage so go for the headshots. The enemies appear to simply not see you outside a certain range, regardless of lighting, and the AI generally does not act too sophisticated, but if you make noise or shoot and miss, they'll go for you.

Be prepared to save and load a lot, the level designers were apparently fond of spawning enemies behind the player's back without warning (and clearly in places where they had no way to get there by natural means), and if you miss a stealth shot it's better to reload anyway. The emphasis is clearly on puzzles, stealth and exploration, but I got the impression that this is how the developers conceived of a realistic FPS. The end result seems to have a very limited replay value, at least the demo looks that way, because of the little variety offered by the gameplay. It's either puzzles or sniping at enemies from a safe distance; go the wrong way and you'll be greeted by overwhelming firepower; do things out of sequence, and again you'll run into too many enemies, or a trap, or explosives, all of which means reload game.

Visually, the 3D in software mode reminded me of Azrael's Tear somewhat. Once you figure out how to get around, the setting is very stylish, so I've no idea what all this talk about ugly levels is all about. If it weren't for performance issues and perhaps some gameplay balance, Pył could've easily thrown out of the water some of the more ambitious FPS titles that came much later, like in the early to mid-2000s.

MrFlibble wrote on 2024-03-26, 15:30:

spawning enemies behind the player's back without warning (and clearly in places where they had no way to get there by natural means)

if you watch video walkthrough you will notice there are door textures on the walls which you cannot open.

robertmo3 wrote on 2024-03-26, 19:42:

if you watch video walkthrough you will notice there are door textures on the walls which you cannot open.

Well yeah, that might be an "in-universe" explanation, but still it's very obvious that these are the kind of scripted gotcha moments that become old very quickly.

I actually found and read an interview with the developers and it was a small team of young people without prior game development experience, all the more glory to them for making this game, of course.

robertmo3 wrote on 2024-03-26, 19:42:

I actually found and read an interview with the developers and it was a small team of young people without prior game development experience, all the more glory to them for making this game, of course.

It's a real pity that the game didn't do (much) better, they deserved the respect and the publicity that would have helped their programming/designing careers. Did they at least get jobs in the gaming industry?

Dust publisher, Optimus Pascal Multimedia, wasnt really on top of their game. They were more of a shovelware house known mostly for multimedia encyclopedias and educational software.