First post, by iconoclast12
Hello,
I'm attempting to get both Future Shock and Skynet running but am having issues with both games crashing right after starting a new game or loading a save. I can hang out in the main menu as long a I like, however, with no issues.
I have the original discs for both games, and I'm installing the games from the discs. It does not matter which order I install them in (other than doing Skynet second, it offers to detect Future Shock during the installation).
One of the computers I attempted this on is an older Windows 7 Dell with a core i3, 6gb ram and a geforce 8600 gts card (yes the graphics drivers are up-to-date and yes I already thought of that).
The other computer I've attempted it on is an Alienware laptop with Windows 10, 8th gen i7, 16gb ram and a geforce 1060 6gb.
I'm running version 0.74 of Dosbox (at least that is what the damn icon says).
Game versions are both 1.00 on the discs but I have patched both Future Shock and Skynet to 1.30 and 1.01 respectively. (I have also tried getting the games to run patched AND un-patched with the same results!)
Games are installed to my C: drive in this folder C:\dosgames
I open dosbox and type the same thing I've typed for literally every other freaking dos game I've installed through dosbox (Every other WORKING dos game, mind you!)
mount c c:\dosgames
mount d d:\
d:
cd shock
install.exe
mount c c:\dosgames
mount d d:\
d:
cd skynet
install.exe
(I do this for both games. Both games install successfully)
After the games are installed. I copy the patch files (sky101.exe and tfs130.exe) to their respective folders in c:\dosgames\shock and c:\dosgames\skynet
I then run them from the dosbox prompt. Both games patch successfully.
For whatever reason, I CANNOT get Future Shock to run independently by itself. Every. Single. Time. I install the game. I run the following commands..
(physical disc in physical drive)
mount d d:\
mount c c:\dosgames
c:
cd shock
shock.exe
(Throws some error about the disc not being detected in the drive)
So, yeah, Future Shock whines and moans about the disc not being in the drive no matter what I do, so there's that problem.
However, if I startup Skynet, the game actually works and I can use the main menu to get to Future Shock from there, however here is where the real problem comes in..
Both Future Shock and Skynet run for mere seconds before dosbox crashes. Every. Single. Time.
"Dosbox ran into an unexpected problem and needs to close" EVERY. TIME.
I've attempted running the games without configuring any sound and also without running in 640x480 just to test it out to see if the resolution or audio is causing the problem, and funny enough, I can run both games for maybe 10-15 minutes in low-res without audio, until they crash. However, they still crash, it just takes longer..
What am I doing wrong here? I have over a dozen other games installed through dosbox, some of which are from the late 1980's that still work fine. These are literally the only two dos games I cannot get running in dosbox.
I see people with videos on youtube running computers similar to mine, without having to do any of the crap I've had to do to get these games working.
I should note that I can get Skynet running by itself if I use the unofficial 2017 patch on it, and it works with both audio and high-res but if I try to switch over to Future Shock after using this patch, I get kicked back to the dosbox prompt with some weird error message involving characters that I can only describe as wingdings.
And that's that..
