VOGONS


First post, by Bronnergus

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Hello guys,

I HAVE done some research before coming here and asking for help on this problem. I've expent quite some time googling and trying different things on how to make this works.
I have the game running smoothly and with perfect sound by now (both are quite common complaints). Only the save feature is still not working.

Some threads say that the game is not saving because DosBox is trying to write it to the cd and the workaround for this would be to create a SAVE folder where the game is being loaded from. The problem is that apparently this is also not working.

I'm using DosBox 0.74 on a Windows 7 Pro 64 bits.

Any insight?

EDIT: fixed spelling mistake. 😉

Reply 1 of 11, by Dominus

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Give us more information.
Give us all your mountings, the drive number of your Cd-Rom and best start by following the 60seconds guide 😉

Windows 3.1x guide for DOSBox
60 seconds guide to DOSBox
DOSBox SVN snapshot for macOS (10.4-11.x ppc/intel 32/64bit) notarized for gatekeeper

Reply 2 of 11, by Bronnergus

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Note: my OS is in portuguese, so I need to translate. Sorry if my work is not perfect.

I used to have the CD in the picture I attached to the post but it is long useless to misuse and bad storage (what is really a shame, because I really loved Strike Commander). I am using a downloaded source that works perfectly fine (execpt for the no save).
I DO KNOW that vogons dont support piarcy/abandonware, but I did buy the game back in the day... :'( (and i really, REALLY want to clear the Atlantic Accelerator to beat the game, the last stage of the game). I got this image from: REMOVED
Please dont ignored my plea just for this detail. I know i'm just being stupid about something simple... 😁

Anyway, the folder with the game is in:
D:\dos\syndicate
I've created a SAVE folder like some people said to do to fix this. Path: D:\dos\syndicate\SAVE
I've changed the write permissions for all registered users to the entire syndicate folder (Properties > Security > Authenticaded users > Full control).

As for mounting the images, I tried:
mount d d:\dos\syndicate
d:
synd.exe
//works sounds and flickering, but no save

I also tried mounting the image with:
mount d d:\dos\syndicate -t cdrom
but still no deal on the save feature.

But here is something that I just realized as I was writing this response:
After the game launches, a new message appears on the console:
"DOSBox switched to max cycles, because of the setting: cycles = auto. Is the game runs too fast try a fixed cycles amount in DOSBox's options."
But here's the thing:
After finishing the sound configuration and choosing which game I'll play (there are 2 choices: Syndicate or American Revolution) a NEW MESSAGE SHOWS UP on console:
"SHELL: redirect output to nul"

I guess I finally found the source of my problems, but still no idea on how to fix it.
//Aaaaaaaaand I just read somewhere that this line might be related to //sound output :'(

My system configuration:
Windows 7 Professional 64 bits
DOSBox 0.74 (downloaded from official DOSBox webpage)
CPU: AMD FX-8150 3.6GHz
RAM: 4GB DDR3 1600MHz (Model: F3-12800CL9-4GBSR)
//is there anything missing?

THX!

edit: removed link to site

Last edited by Bronnergus on 2013-04-04, 16:44. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 3 of 11, by Dominus

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works fine for me 😀 Do this:
mount c d:\dos
c:
cd syndicate
synd.exe

When you save *it* will make a new folder in the virtual C:\ (c:\Dos on your real hard drive) named synd.

Btw. that in the zip is not an image, it is a rip of the CD.
Also if you know our stance against warez/abandonware why do you have the nerve and link to such a site?

Windows 3.1x guide for DOSBox
60 seconds guide to DOSBox
DOSBox SVN snapshot for macOS (10.4-11.x ppc/intel 32/64bit) notarized for gatekeeper

Reply 4 of 11, by Bronnergus

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Dominus wrote:

Also if you know our stance against warez/abandonware why do you have the nerve and link to such a site?

Despair? Hope? Stupidness?
Anyway, I removed the link.

Man, I still have no idea on what magic you worked there, but now the save is working! 🤣
I usually just say a tysvm, but you deserve the whole THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH! You're awesome! 😜

Since I foresee a chance of this hapenning again when I decide to play my old Lucas Arts Adventures (Monkey Island, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atantlis and many others), can you please explain what I was doing wrong?

THANK YOU!

Reply 5 of 11, by Dominus

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In this case, I think the game is supposed to be played from the cdrom and it saves to c:/synd. But you didn't mount anything as c:
So it failed to save there.
Always have a c:/ drive. Always 😉

Windows 3.1x guide for DOSBox
60 seconds guide to DOSBox
DOSBox SVN snapshot for macOS (10.4-11.x ppc/intel 32/64bit) notarized for gatekeeper

Reply 6 of 11, by Bronnergus

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Got it!
Thx for the help 😁

Reply 7 of 11, by eL_PuSHeR

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[Thread moved to DOSBox Games/Apps. Section]

Reply 8 of 11, by IIGS_User

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Bronnergus wrote:

Since I foresee a chance of this hapenning again when I decide to play my old Lucas Arts Adventures (Monkey Island, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atantlis and many others), can you please explain what I was doing wrong?

Try ScummVM with the games mentioned here to not have to fiddle around with DOS emulation.

Klimawandel.

Reply 9 of 11, by Bronnergus

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IIGS_User wrote:

Try ScummVM with the games mentioned here to not have to fiddle around with DOS emulation.

Yeah, I already knew about it and was thinking about using it first place, but anyway, I still dont know why when I was emulating on D it was not saving. Neither what this line:
cd syndicate
means. Can you tell me?

Reply 10 of 11, by Dominus

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Because when you can't save to a cd-rom. When you emulate that the game is on CD and there is no other harddrive,it can't save.
And no matter waht the game seems to have hardcoded to save to c:/synd. HARDCODED
And the command cd means "change directory".

Windows 3.1x guide for DOSBox
60 seconds guide to DOSBox
DOSBox SVN snapshot for macOS (10.4-11.x ppc/intel 32/64bit) notarized for gatekeeper

Reply 11 of 11, by Bronnergus

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Ok. I'll work on understanding your info 😁
Thank you so very much! (again ^^ )