VOGONS


First post, by Salim

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Alright, this is going to sound a trifle odd, but bear with me.

One thing I've noticed with the QFG games that I have, especially since I got them in the 1997 QFG anthology/collection is that some of the games have been slightly modified from the very original. Though I haven't tested much out, the single most obvious thing is QFG 2. We all know the famous 'sell beard' bug that permitted you to get basically unlimited cash from Keapon Laffin.

However in the QFG 2 in the anthology, this bug is absent. I assume that some folk over at Sierra decided to hammer it out for some reason or the other (I wish they did the same for Error 52 at the time, instead of making everyone wait until DosBox came to save the day).

Anyways, getting to my main point. Since I wanted to play the game in CGA, 2 color mode, and with PC Speaker for sound, I found out that the QFG 2 anthology CD did not permit that kind of installation, so I had to hunt down the internet for an original 1990 version of the game. I did that, and when I tried to run it, I got this message.

"Zero Hunk Allocation Request"

After that, the command prompt was there and the game didn't run at all.

Any help on overcoming this? Thanks in advance.

Reply 1 of 5, by wd

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Don't use "some game from the internet" then.

Reply 2 of 5, by Salim

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It isn't a buggy game or anything, I ran it just fine. Also I got it from an abandonware website that I know of. I know it isn't exactly the most highly looked upon thing, but I DO own the original games, I did pay for them, and all I want is to be able to see them in CGA mod and hear how pathetic the PC speaker sounded. :p

EDIT: Wait a minute! I got it to work, it's running CGA mode with PC speaker noise... err I mean 'music'. :p

EDIT 2: Oh my god the graphics are sooo horrendous! 😁 I seriously can't make out the difference between the characters and the 'background' it's painfully clear that this game was never designed with 2 colors in mind! Still, this could be a bit of fun to play around with for a while.

Reply 3 of 5, by collector

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Salim wrote:

Also I got it from an abandonware website that I know of. I know it isn't exactly the most highly looked upon thing, but I DO own the original games, I did pay for them

It is not just about the legality of abandonware. These games are often ripped, cracked and/or otherwise modified. This can have unforeseen consequences, introducing new bugs and unpredictable behavior missing in the official games. Helping someone with a downloaded game is problematic when you aren't working with the same game. This is why people with abandonware games are usually referred back to where they got it from.

Reply 4 of 5, by Salim

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Well collector, you're right about a lot of stuff, but in the case of QFG 2, I'd have to disagree... the QFG 2 that came packed with the anthology series was preset to work ONLY with the 16 color EGA, Midi or Adlib sound cards, and had some original bugs missing (I didn't really care much that they hammered out the sell beard bug, but it's semi-legendary status as a bug-based cheat was kinda cool to have). If I wanted to play the game in any other mode than those preset, I'm pretty much stuck, so the only way I can hear the sound tracks in PC speaker, or try to see if I can survive the game in CGA mode, is to download it.

Also, one thing I need to mention... since you've probably heard of the RawCopy crack program.... I actually owned it as a kid and we used it to crack a lot of games, so seeing the sign come up when loading is nothing I'm not familiar with.

Just a bit of info about me. Back in my childhood, most of the games (and indeed, most software in general) that were available in the country were I grew up (the UAE) were pirated to begin with, and ALL of the games I had were the ones that either I, or my brother, 'borrowed' from other people, or bought from computer stores that had them pirated. I hate to say it, but it wasn't until I was about 13 to 14 years old that the Copyright status in the UAE was finally enforced and most of the old places that sold pirated videos and software were closed down.

Anyways, that's my experience with that stuff and as such, I rarely go out to ask for help with games that might have had their problems result from deliberate tinkering or cracking and such since I know first hand that people can't help me.

Reply 5 of 5, by wd

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Closed. Don't 'borrow' and 'download' too much.