How can I play "these old games on my new laptop?
August 13, 2009 2:01 PM Subscribe
How can I play "Caesar"games III and IV on my new laptop?
I do not know much about computers, all the google "answers" I did not understand. (alcohol and deamons?)
My laptop runs with Windows Vista. On my old computer with XP they both worked.
Caesar IV worked one time on my laptop, now when I try to play it, a screen pops up with: copy or backup cd, replace with original or go to SecuROM website. I have the original cdrom with code, it is not a copy. So I email SecuROM and they told me ( auto reply) to get a patch. So I got that, no idea what it is, but I installed. Still the same message. Unstalled and installed the game again, same pop-up screen. I did not know what to do anymore so I went for Caesar III.
Game worked fine on all the computers I have ever owned except maybe the Philips P2000. It is a copy from the original because I can not find the game in the shops anymore. On XP it gave some start up problems but when I made it compatible it was fine. Now with this wonderful new machine it says F:/ it is not applicable with Win-32 [rough translation from Dutch].
It will not even download the game. Can not go to the disk and open it manually, all the setup files have a windows warning on them. Making it compatible with 98/2000 makes no differance.
should I give up on Caesar on this computer?
I do not know much about computers, all the google "answers" I did not understand. (alcohol and deamons?)
My laptop runs with Windows Vista. On my old computer with XP they both worked.
Caesar IV worked one time on my laptop, now when I try to play it, a screen pops up with: copy or backup cd, replace with original or go to SecuROM website. I have the original cdrom with code, it is not a copy. So I email SecuROM and they told me ( auto reply) to get a patch. So I got that, no idea what it is, but I installed. Still the same message. Unstalled and installed the game again, same pop-up screen. I did not know what to do anymore so I went for Caesar III.
Game worked fine on all the computers I have ever owned except maybe the Philips P2000. It is a copy from the original because I can not find the game in the shops anymore. On XP it gave some start up problems but when I made it compatible it was fine. Now with this wonderful new machine it says F:/ it is not applicable with Win-32 [rough translation from Dutch].
It will not even download the game. Can not go to the disk and open it manually, all the setup files have a windows warning on them. Making it compatible with 98/2000 makes no differance.
should I give up on Caesar on this computer?
Best answer: Gamecopyworld (warning: may contain slightly NSFW ads) has long been a source for 'No CD' patches, which allow you to bypass the SecuROM stuff. I'm not 100% sure of the legality of such patches, but since you own the physical discs, there's certainly no moral problem. They have patches for both Caesar III and IV.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 2:24 PM on August 13, 2009
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 2:24 PM on August 13, 2009
Response by poster: I think I am the admin because I am the only one on this laptop. Correct me if I am wrong please. I tried compatability and it said
Please insert the original disc instead of a backup. See http://www.securom.com/no_orig_found for more details. again.
posted by kudzu at 2:27 PM on August 13, 2009
Please insert the original disc instead of a backup. See http://www.securom.com/no_orig_found for more details. again.
posted by kudzu at 2:27 PM on August 13, 2009
Being logged in as admin does not mean you are giving admin permissions to your programs.
That is what the "run as administrator" option does: It tells Vista that you trust this program and to let it do things normally not allowed. Versions of Windows prior to Vista basicially let the application do whatever the current user could (and there were lots of workarounds to bootstrap up your permissions). So now that Vista actually has a good security base some programs (especially games) don't work right unless you explicitly give them admin rights.
BTW: Don't just disable UAC (the security system). It is a very good safety net and a valuable tool. It is much better to just learn to use it properly. I use my Vista home machine primarily for gaming (including lots of older games like the Sierra City Building games) with UAC on.
posted by Riemann at 2:31 PM on August 13, 2009
That is what the "run as administrator" option does: It tells Vista that you trust this program and to let it do things normally not allowed. Versions of Windows prior to Vista basicially let the application do whatever the current user could (and there were lots of workarounds to bootstrap up your permissions). So now that Vista actually has a good security base some programs (especially games) don't work right unless you explicitly give them admin rights.
BTW: Don't just disable UAC (the security system). It is a very good safety net and a valuable tool. It is much better to just learn to use it properly. I use my Vista home machine primarily for gaming (including lots of older games like the Sierra City Building games) with UAC on.
posted by Riemann at 2:31 PM on August 13, 2009
Response by poster: Gamecopyworld is a great link, I downloaded the No cd patch, although the popup said I did not have the original, never said I had no cd.
Could not open it because the computer can not find the BINKW32.DLL, I understand that, I have no idea what that could be so I would not be able to find it either. HELP!
posted by kudzu at 2:41 PM on August 13, 2009
Could not open it because the computer can not find the BINKW32.DLL, I understand that, I have no idea what that could be so I would not be able to find it either. HELP!
posted by kudzu at 2:41 PM on August 13, 2009
Response by poster: ran them both as administrator with the same effect. Same popups.
posted by kudzu at 2:44 PM on August 13, 2009
posted by kudzu at 2:44 PM on August 13, 2009
Response by poster: The download from gamecopyworld was for caesar IV.
posted by kudzu at 2:45 PM on August 13, 2009
posted by kudzu at 2:45 PM on August 13, 2009
Ok, so backing up a bit. Did Caesar IV install correctly with no errors when you can it's setup program?
posted by Riemann at 2:51 PM on August 13, 2009
posted by Riemann at 2:51 PM on August 13, 2009
* ran not can. firk ding blast primitive no-edit message board.
posted by Riemann at 2:51 PM on August 13, 2009
posted by Riemann at 2:51 PM on August 13, 2009
Also: I would never, ever just run an exe downloaded from gamecopyworld or similar sites without running a virus / malware scan on it. And even then only if I was really desperate.
Those sites, and "no cd" cracks in general, are absolutely filthy with virii and spyware / malware.
posted by Riemann at 2:52 PM on August 13, 2009
Those sites, and "no cd" cracks in general, are absolutely filthy with virii and spyware / malware.
posted by Riemann at 2:52 PM on August 13, 2009
I probably should have mentioned checking for viruses, yes. I tend to assume that people are being sensible about that sort of thing. And while cracks and patches are often used as a means to spread malware, gamecopyworld is relatively benign.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 2:59 PM on August 13, 2009
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 2:59 PM on August 13, 2009
Response by poster: Also: I would never, ever just run an exe downloaded from gamecopyworld or similar sites without running a virus / malware scan on it. And even then only if I was really desperate
yes, was thinking that too, but I trust metafilter. I do not even have a anti virus yet on this computer. Not very clever and I am well aware of it!
Caesar 4 installed correctly, it even worked one time. Then I closed it down and it would not run again because of the SecuROM. When I googled this, it seemed to be a commen problem.
posted by kudzu at 3:00 PM on August 13, 2009
yes, was thinking that too, but I trust metafilter. I do not even have a anti virus yet on this computer. Not very clever and I am well aware of it!
Caesar 4 installed correctly, it even worked one time. Then I closed it down and it would not run again because of the SecuROM. When I googled this, it seemed to be a commen problem.
posted by kudzu at 3:00 PM on August 13, 2009
Incidentally, do you have Nero installed? I seem to remember (although it would have been many years ago) running into problems with SecuROM discs on PCs that had Nero on them.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 3:02 PM on August 13, 2009
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 3:02 PM on August 13, 2009
And it will not run a second time even with Run As Administrator and Compatability Mode enabled?
posted by Riemann at 3:02 PM on August 13, 2009
posted by Riemann at 3:02 PM on August 13, 2009
Hmm, no idea then. Here is the link for the Forums of the company that made Caesar IV:
http://www.tiltedmill.com/forums/
posted by Riemann at 3:12 PM on August 13, 2009
http://www.tiltedmill.com/forums/
posted by Riemann at 3:12 PM on August 13, 2009
I think BINKW32.DLL is an internal video player used in a lot of games, it really sounds like you haven't installed the game properly. I'm 99% sure that most games that use it will install it locally in the game directory, during the normal install, but it might actually try to install it system wide instead. That can be a problem in vista.
Try running the install program with elevated privileges. IE. right click "run as administrator" on the install .exe on the CD.
Otherwise as a last resort you can google BINKW32.DLL and download it. Put it on the same directory as the actual .exe file where the game installed, not just with the shortcut if theres any. T
Thats properly not 100% legal, but really not likely to get you in any trouble. Just remember to Virus scan the file.
posted by Greald at 4:18 PM on August 13, 2009
Try running the install program with elevated privileges. IE. right click "run as administrator" on the install .exe on the CD.
Otherwise as a last resort you can google BINKW32.DLL and download it. Put it on the same directory as the actual .exe file where the game installed, not just with the shortcut if theres any. T
Thats properly not 100% legal, but really not likely to get you in any trouble. Just remember to Virus scan the file.
posted by Greald at 4:18 PM on August 13, 2009
A little late to the party here but make sure you've run and installed all windows updates\service packs, etc.
MS released a ton of patches to improve software compatibility.
The daemon tools \ alcohol 120% is for mounting CD ISOs to virtual ROM drives. You shouldn't have to do this since you have a real CD...
The error you're getting is common for people that are running cracked copies.
I would uninstall every you currently have. Run windows update.
Install C IV,
install this patch for the game http://caesar4.heavengames.com/downloads/lister.php?category=patches,
reboot.
Try to run the game again.
If you still get the bink error download this to install the latest binkw32.dll http://www.radgametools.com/down/Bink/RADTools.exe (it's the game engines official site http://www.radgametools.com/bnkdown.htm)
Reboot and then try to run the game again.
If it still doesn't work...good luck this is a good start. You'll have to to tinker and mess around with this to get it to work. No time like the present to learn a bit more about computers =]
posted by zephyr_words at 11:55 PM on August 13, 2009
MS released a ton of patches to improve software compatibility.
The daemon tools \ alcohol 120% is for mounting CD ISOs to virtual ROM drives. You shouldn't have to do this since you have a real CD...
The error you're getting is common for people that are running cracked copies.
I would uninstall every you currently have. Run windows update.
Install C IV,
install this patch for the game http://caesar4.heavengames.com/downloads/lister.php?category=patches,
reboot.
Try to run the game again.
If you still get the bink error download this to install the latest binkw32.dll http://www.radgametools.com/down/Bink/RADTools.exe (it's the game engines official site http://www.radgametools.com/bnkdown.htm)
Reboot and then try to run the game again.
If it still doesn't work...good luck this is a good start. You'll have to to tinker and mess around with this to get it to work. No time like the present to learn a bit more about computers =]
posted by zephyr_words at 11:55 PM on August 13, 2009
Response by poster: Update: Due to the birthday of my son I could not give it any more tries. But thanks to the same birthday my little brother had a look, downloaded a "NO-CD patch" and the game works. Good thing also, I now use firefox again! Thank you all for trying to make the games work. If you will excuse me now, I have a game to play.
posted by kudzu at 12:47 PM on August 15, 2009
posted by kudzu at 12:47 PM on August 15, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
Have you tried running it as an administrator or in compatability mode? (right click on the Caesar IV exe, click the compatablity tab)
posted by Riemann at 2:17 PM on August 13, 2009