can someone help me? (DM2)

Mr Ferret · Post by **Mr Ferret** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 11:16 am

being a new user to dm2, i tried the port on the pc from this site (english version). i have tried and tried, even using the way the installation guide tells you to. unfortunately it doesn't seem to want to work at all. could someone please help?

JCG · Post by **JCG** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 1:21 pm

I suppose you arrived to the Dungeon Master Forum from the DM encyclopedia site. You didn't give much information about your problems. Are you under Windows 98 or Windows 2000/XP ?
Under Windows 98, your must run the game in DOS Mode (out of Windows). Under Windows 2000/XP, you need DOSBOX.
Have you configured the soundcard ? What are the messages you receive on the screen ? When does the program stops ?

Mr Ferret · Post by **Mr Ferret** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 4:02 pm

i use win 98se and have tried to run the game in DOS mode, but always crashes after the title loads and plays. i have installed the patch that was downed at the same time, but it still doesn't work. any ideas?

beowuuf · Post by **beowuuf** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 6:04 pm

you are playing using the dm2.bat file rather than the skull.exe file?
it includes a few set up steps...

JCG · Post by **JCG** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 3:31 am

As Beowuuf mentionned, being in pure DOS mode, you must start the game with the command DM2, which launches the batch file DM2.BAT, not SKULL.EXE.
But before, the sound card must be configured properly. For this, you need to run the command SETUP (in the installation directory),
You need to configure both "Digital Sound" and "Midi Sound". Verify with "test Digital" and "Test Midi" that you hear the corresponding sounds and save the settings.
If the sound settings are not correct, the game will crash.
Notes:
-pure DOS Mode: if you launch from windows 98, in the shortcut advanced settings, you may have to select "Specify a new MS-DOS configuration" and fill the corresponding CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT boxes rather than "Use current MS-DOS configuration".
with this setting, your PC will reboot before entering DOS mode
-FYI : The starting sequence of DM2 is the following:
* Interplay Logo
* FTL Logo ("swoosh")
* Skullkeep stone animation
* Selection screen
*...the game
where you crash gives an indication of the problem.
-Some sound cards may not work in DOS Mode.
-although it may be possible to run SETUP under Windows and apparently succeed to configure the program, you must do it in DOS mode, as the settings under Windows may be different from the settings under DOS mode ( It's tricky. all this depends on your soundcard )

Hope this helps.

Mr Ferret · Post by **Mr Ferret** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 3:40 pm

the game crashes after the skullkeep stone animation. i have tried to run the setup program, but the file crashes before and after the patch was installed, and comes up with some hex error lines which i will post tomorrow to see if anyone can make heads or tails of. after setup crashes, the entire machine locks up, and i have to do a hard reboot. hope any of this helps. thanks so far though.

JCG · Post by **JCG** » Wed Jan 26, 2005 12:23 pm

You probably have a sound configuration problem. But from my tests, DM2 also crashes after the skullkeep stone animation if it is run under Windows. Are you sure you're in DOS mode ? Do you have sound during the "Swoosh" and the skullkeep stone animation ?
SETUP should not crash/freeze unless the soundcard settings are incorrect. Try to delete the file SKULL.CFG which contains the configuration and start again. Use the manual configuration (refer to your soundcard documentation for the settings), not the automatic detection.

Mr Ferret · Post by **Mr Ferret** » Wed Jan 26, 2005 3:19 pm

thanks for that, JCG. will try that later on tonite.

Mr Ferret · Post by **Mr Ferret** » Fri Jan 28, 2005 12:44 pm

have deleted the Skull.cfg file, but the setup file refuses to work. it always comes up with errors. i have even tried editing the skull.cfg file and input my soundcard details in, but to no avail. i have just downloaded DOSbox, so i am going to see if that makes any difference. worse thing is, i have recently completed DM for the pc, so i would like to try DM II, as i didn't even know there was one till i looked on the DM Encyclopedia site.

Valderra · Post by **Valderra** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 1:05 am

JCG wrote:I suppose you arrived to the Dungeon Master Forum from the DM encyclopedia site. You didn't give much information about your problems. Are you under Windows 98 or Windows 2000/XP ?
Under Windows 98, your must run the game in DOS Mode (out of Windows). Under Windows 2000/XP, you need DOSBOX.
Have you configured the soundcard ? What are the messages you receive on the screen ? When does the program stops ?

I used to be able to play the Sega Mega CD for DM II on my computer but now I have XP, it doesn't work anymore.

So... what is DOSBOX and where can I get it from?

JCG · Post by **JCG** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 2:53 am

Valderra wrote:So... what is DOSBOX and where can I get it from?

Most old DOS games cannot run at all on recent PCs, most often because Windows does not allow direct access to the hardware. DOSBOX is a wonderful piece of software. It completely emulates the hardware of an old DOS-time PC, and therefore allows many old DOS games to run under Windows 2000/XP.
DOSBOX is an Sourceforge opensource project. It's free and you can download it from their site : http://dosbox.sourceforge.net/

JCG · Post by **JCG** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 3:49 am

Mr Ferret wrote:... but the setup file refuses to work. it always comes up with errors.

We always had terrible times to configure these DOS games. They were not forgiving at all.
What happens exactly when you try run SETUP.EXE ? Can you start the program, or does it freeze, give an error message, crash, exit ?
Remember that if any of the settings you indicate is incorrect (does not correspond to your soundcard settings), when you'll try the test samples, SETUP may stay silent, crash or freeze.
What is your soundcard ? Does it emulate the Sound Blaster ? What are its settings ?
If you have another game working correctly in DOS mode, this may help you to find the correct configuration.
You should verify also the MS-DOS configuration in the advanced Program settings of the shortcut. These must include lines for HIMEM.SYS and EMM386.EXE in CONFIG.SYS, and you need also to load a mouse driver.

Valderra · Post by **Valderra** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 12:16 pm

JCG wrote:
Valderra wrote:So... what is DOSBOX and where can I get it from?
Most old DOS games cannot run at all on recent PCs, most often because Windows does not allow direct access to the hardware. DOSBOX is a wonderful piece of software. It completely emulates the hardware of an old DOS-time PC, and therefore allows many old DOS games to run under Windows 2000/XP.
DOSBOX is an Sourceforge opensource project. It's free and you can download it from their site : http://dosbox.sourceforge.net/

So it's like the emulator for SNES and Mega Drive etc, where you can download the ROM and play it on your PC !!
Thank you so much for the link.

Additional: This DOSBox is tricky because I am suppose to add an .exe or .bat file but have neither with the DM II game...
Not sure WHAT to do... I have loads of .FTL files and .DAT files and whatnot, but no .bat or .exe file...

In fact, looking at my other CDs, none of them has an .exe or .bat file. So does that mean I can't play these particular games on the DOSBox?

PS: I just had a look at the DOSBox forum and they advise that pre 1990 games often don't work with the DOSBox (probably because they don't have the file extension needed?

Any suggestions anyone ??

The Journeyman · Post by **The Journeyman** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 9:54 pm

Hey Valderra..you might wanna head over to this czech Dungeon Master site and grab a DM2 copy from there...it has plenty of exe & batch files in it, so you can follow JCG's step by step installation.

-->Czech DM2 page

JCG · Post by **JCG** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 1:30 am

Valderra wrote:..... to add an .exe or .bat file but have neither with the DM II game...
Not sure WHAT to do... I have loads of .FTL files and .DAT files and whatnot, but no .bat or .exe file...

In fact, looking at my other CDs, none of them has an .exe or .bat file. So does that mean I can't play these particular games on the DOSBox?

PS: I just had a look at the DOSBox forum and they advise that pre 1990 games often don't work with the DOSBox (probably because they don't have the file extension needed?

Any suggestions anyone ??

Huuummmm.....are you sure it's the PC version of DM2 that you have ?
Other possibility : There is a misfeature (extremely dangerous ) of Windows which hides the known extensions of the files under Windows Explorer, in particular the extensions .EXE and .BAT.
The default (M$) setting is "ON", and it should be turned "OFF" to show the true names. Is it the case ?

The problem of the old games which do not run under DOSBox: its not related to the file extensions, but most often to copy protections, non standards access to the hardware, original bugs, use of undocumented features, non standard timing methods.... DOSBox est excellent, but not perfect.

Valderra · Post by **Valderra** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 6:55 pm

LOL Oh no... they are actually CDs for the Mega Drive CD player.

But you know... I was able to play them on my computer when it was running under Windows 98 and ME. But I can't run them under XP anymore. LOL

Nevermind, I am hugely grateful for pointing me to the DOSBox though because I have many other DOS games I downloaded from the Internet and where I still have a CD, which don't play or don't play well under Windows and play beautifully with the DOSBox. So, many thanks for that.

Additional: I just downloaded the PC version and played it with the DOSbox - works like a dream - sounds and music are there as well.