Please help me get my game on

May 10, 2009 8:55 PM

Part II of this question. I now know where to find the game I want to play, but I cannot get it working on my computer. Please help.

I can download the file and unzip it without problems.

I've also downloaded DOSBox, mounted a C: drive on it, and run install in that. So far so good, but when I try to run qg1old.bat there, I get a message that says "unable to change to QG1Old" and it won't let me type in anything after that.

I've tried installing VDMSound. Then I ran Sierra with VDMS as he said to. This resulted in my getting a VDMS Launchpad window with the message "Loading 'VDDLoader.dll'... and then nothing. It just sits there.

I've tried installing DFend. When I try running the game from there, again I get the "unable to change to QG1Old" and it won't let me type in anything after that.

What should I do next? I have WindowsXP.

posted by orange swan to Computers & Internet (13 answers total)

I also have XP and DosBox. If you can send me the game (email's in profile), I'll see what I can do.
posted by equalpants at 9:11 PM on May 10, 2009

I also have XP, but I didn't try to use DOSBox at all. I simply downloaded the files and unzipped them, opened up a normal command prompt (Start->All Programs->Accessories->Command Prompt) used the cd command to change to the game directory, and ran QG1OLD.BAT. The game started full screen and appeared to run properly, in all its 16-color glory. Though I didn't get any sound.
posted by XMLicious at 9:16 PM on May 10, 2009

Response by poster: I've tried your method, XMLicious. I just get the message, "The system cannot find the path specified."
posted by orange swan at 9:33 PM on May 10, 2009

Sounds like the batch file has a hardcoded directory name, and perhaps yours doesn't match. You can open the .bat file in notepad, there will probably be a cd command near the top. Change that to match the directory name as you see it in dosbox.
posted by mad bomber what bombs at midnight at 9:56 PM on May 10, 2009

I haven't tried this particular game, but if you haven't already, put the unzipped files in a directory with no spaces or long filenames in the path. Something like "c:\game".
posted by AndrewStephens at 9:58 PM on May 10, 2009

If I may suggest an alternative; you might try ScummVM, as it apparently has merged with a few other projects and now supports many Sierra games as well.

Good luck! Don't get killed by an Antwerp!
posted by Monster_Zero at 10:03 PM on May 10, 2009

I think mad bomber has it. Open the batch file in any text editor and change the directory name.
posted by archagon at 10:25 PM on May 10, 2009

Response by poster: Okay, it's working, albeit without sound. I don't have the slightest idea what I did right. I just clicked on the damn thing in "my computer/c/hero" and it fired up. Thanks all!
posted by orange swan at 10:48 PM on May 10, 2009

Well if it's of any interest to you I got it working in the bochs emulator running FreeDOS, which I would imagine is something like DOSBox. Files are here, just unzip and run the .exe. But it would be worse of than what you're at now, I think: neither the sound nor the mouse is working. However there are lots of settings in bochs to try that might make a difference if you wanted to play around with it.
posted by XMLicious at 11:26 PM on May 10, 2009

Here are the updates for the game.

Full disclosure: I run SierraPlanet.com and this user (who runs sierrahelp.com linked above) is an online acquaintance of mine. He has made several useful patches for Sierra games.
posted by IndigoRain at 12:25 AM on May 11, 2009

Seconding ScummVM. For certain games it ends up working better than DOSbox. Worth a shot at least.

Ugh...getting audio to work in DOS games is such a pain.
posted by JauntyFedora at 1:33 AM on May 11, 2009

Ugh...getting audio to work in DOS games is such a pain.

Yeah, good luck figuring out what to put in your 'BLASTER=" environment variable. Nostalgia is great, but that is one thing I'm not going to miss.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 4:49 AM on May 11, 2009

There are several threads here which concern getting quest for glory to work in xp.
I haven't tried any of the suggestions myself, but there's probably something there that will get your sound going as well.
posted by juv3nal at 9:52 AM on May 11, 2009