Does anyone know how to get Ultima 7 to run right. I've been trying to use VDM and I can get the intro to play with sound but after the intro is over the program crashes.
Wow. I'm surprised you haven't heard about the legend of "Trying to get Ultima 7 to run properly on a PC".
Also, you didn't give us any info about your system. This really is critical.
What OS? Processor/Speed? Memory? Video? Audio?,etc...
This is especially true for Ultima 7. Since you haven't heard, I'll tell you that Origin made a rather large mistake creating their own (proprietary) memory manager call "Voodoo". Unless you have a computer system very similar to the "system requirements" that it specifies, it's very difficult to run (Even if you do, it will still probably be a pain).
In addition to that, it's also speed-sensitive. If you're running it on a modern PC it will run so fast that it will be unplayable.
But it's the memory manager, that's the biggest problem. It will not work if you have any other memory management running.
First thing we need to confirm is your OS. If it's Win9x-based then you shouldn't be try VDMSound in the first place (don't be offended, I've seen numerous people try this out of desperation).
If it's an NT OS, you're still stuck because the memory manager will not work with the NT OS.
Possible solutions do exist, though.
Try here:
http://reconstruction.voyd.net/inde...t&type=fanpatch
or the author's original page here:
http://members.iinet.net.au/~rsd/
Make sure you read and follow the directions.
"Dragon Baroque" pulled off something of a miracle by finding a way to bypass the "Voodoo" memory manager. This should let you run U7 in Windows.
Also, be aware of there will probably still be speed issues. If you're running an NT OS on a modern PC, then hopefully the U7.DPMI will slow it down enough.
NOTE: If you're on an NT OS, you'll still need VDMSound for proper audio support.
There is at least one other possibility: Exult
http://exult.sourceforge.net/
It's a remake attempt that comes very close to the original (not bad considering that Origin lost the source code some time ago).
It's presently at v0.99.1RC2.
I'm running Windows XP. And I have a 1.5Ghz Athlon processor. So yeah its going to be really fast. I hadn't geard about "Voodoo" memory manager before but it explains alot. I remember always having a hard time just to get it to run on the 486 I had in the early 90s. I'll look into some of those links you posted. Thanks!
The patch on Gaseous' website for U7 is TECHNICALLY for Win9x. You can use an NT based version that uses DPMI but it is *SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW*
Exult (exult.sourceforge.net)is PROBABLY a better solution overall. It is a recreation of the Ultima 7/Serpent Isle engine that uses the original data files.
It runs in XP fine.
--
psz
aka
Darkling Dragon --==(UDIC)==--
I tried Exult It worked GREAT!! Now I will have no life for the next couple of months just like when I was a kid! Thanks for the help!
wrote:The patch on Gaseous' website for U7 is TECHNICALLY for Win9x. You can use an NT based version that uses DPMI but it is *SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW*
True, but it includes U7.DPMI specifically because it's NT compatible.
Also, from the text:
It has been reported that Black Gate still runs a bit too fast once processor speed gets over 600. It it still easy to slow the game down in this case - use moslo or turbo. The other option is to try the DPMI.com file provided
And considering he has 1.5GHz, it's likely that it would still be too fast.
Exult (exult.sourceforge.net)is PROBABLY a better solution overall.
It should be noted, however that combat in Exult is different than U7. The authors simply didn't have any real data on how combat worked and ended up fabricating most of the combat themselves. It does affect gameplay, but nobody's certain by how much.
I think they managed to stop the birds from opening doors like humans and some accidental "barfing" issues (characters throwing up without reason).
Yeah, most of the lil things (birds, puking) are long gone.
And if you wanna try the DPMI version, please do :->
The U7Patch for Win9x is indeed way too fast, the DPMI one, OTOH, is not so much.
So far I've not gotten much over half the correct speed from it, though when I get The New System(TM) it may finally be fast enough 😄
Exult (exult.sourceforge.net)is PROBABLY a better solution overall. It is a recreation of the Ultima 7/Serpent Isle engine that uses the original data files.
Might be a dumb question but will ask anyway. This Exult program only works if you can get the game to install in the first place correct? I am having problems even getting the game to install from Floppy on a WinXP system (just wont do it no matter what).
Yes for exult you need a your data on the hard drive. Seems that maybe your disks got bad 🙁
(btw for all the others, Dosbox (http://dosbox.sf.net) also runs both Ultima 7 now)
