Old Games on New Computers

I'm sure there must have been a thread on this somewhere, but I couldn't find out. Point me out if you know.

I just found my old Day of the Tentacle CD, and I'm trying to play. Needless to say, it's not going too well. I try to run it run the XP Command Prompt, but it says something about it not being able to go to fullscreen, and then it kicks me out. Is there a way I can fix this?

I hope so, because I found my old Monkey Islands along with DOTT.

 

You could try to run it in compatibility mode for Windows 95 or Windows 98. That might fix the problem.

 

To clarify Master Salty's advice, right click on the shortcut, and find the link to Compatability. Try running it in Windows 95 compatabitilty mode (where Win XP pretends to be Win 95, but it really isn't a master of disguise), in 256 clours, and something else which I forget. That may help.

Horn out

 

Yeah, I tried the Compatibility feature. No luck.

The exact message: DOTT.EXE - The video device failed to initialize for fullscreen mode. Choose 'Close' to terminate the application.

 

Some old games don't work because modern computers are way too fast so sometimes it's necessary to slow down the computer. There's a few programs for this. But I doubt that this your problem has anything to do with computer being to fast. Hopefully someone can help you.

 

Wasn't DOTT an old DOS game? It's probably trying to open the video display and it's not made to interact through Windows drivers. It's having a hard time because NT/2k/XP expect programs to talk to the driver and don't let programs talk directly to the hardware. You'd probably have to setup a DOS partition or find a DOS emulator in order to play the game. You may also need some kind of slow down software to make the game playable.

 

Another option, although it would cost money, would be to have a look through your local discount/used computer store for a machine of the vintage you'd need to play these games.

 

You need ScummVM or QuicknEasy. They're incredible. I got my old DOTT working through ScummVM in 2 minutes after years of trying with windows configurations and stuff. Check this story on Mixnmojo for more info on the latest scummVM build.

Downloads:

http://scummvm.sourceforge.net/

http://quick.mixnmojo.com/

 

I know this is extremely off topic, but I have a question that I need help with also.

I have a video file on my computer, and I want to get rid of it. It will not delete. It says that it is in use by another file or program. I have checked the process list, and I cannot find anything that could be running it. I have restarted multiple times, but it still will not work. Does anyone know what could be causing it, or what I could do about it?

P.S. Thanks a bundle jp, I got it working!!

 

...Anyone?

 

YoungJedi: Sounds like a possible virus. Have you run a virus scanner to see if something is running that is keeping the file in use?

 

Yeah, that's what confused me. Virus scanner finds nothing.

My computer has a history of acting bizarre though. Some person is trying to break into my computer 24/7, so I have no idea if they ever get through. My firewall is constantly blinking, giving me the IP of the person who is trying to attack or infiltrate my system. It's quite annoying.

Antivirus has done it's job pretty faithfully, and I run it at 4 AM every night. It never detects anything, but I'm not sure how much to trust that.

People trying to constantly break into my computer concerns me the most, followed closely by the files I can't delete. The un-eventful virus scanner can be a good thing or a bad thing.

 

giving me the IP of the person who is trying to attack or infiltrate my system

are you quite sure someone is trying to attack you ? often your ISP will be sending information blocked by your firewall.

malkie

 

It says "You were last attacked on: ..." so I assume that means I was being attacked.

And that's not sarcastic.

 

That could just be a generic message. Does it give you a port number? A lot of broadband ISPs do regular port scans to make sure you're not running web or ftp servers (or whatever else is covered in their AUP). That would definitely set off your firewall. And if your address is set automatically, they would also be sending data to ports 67 and 68 (might be 69).

 

That might actually be it. I run the cursed AOL DSL system (which I am changing next week - I swear, it's spawned from Satan), and they do screwey things with their system. It's starting to really get on my nerves.

 

I had a rogue .avi file that would not delete, because the computer told me it was in use.

A few days later, it was deleteable - so keep trying.

Another theory (one I just thought of, not tested) would be to start windows in Safe Mode, and then try and delete the file.

 

Yeah jp, that's happened to me before too. A few days later it will delete. This one seems to be paticularly persistant about it though...

I'll try that Safemode thing though, thanks.

 

This is a great idea for a thread.

Now, can someone help me. I snagged a copy of Wing Command Prophecy for $10 off some on-line store, and while the game plays fine (except no lens flares, IIRC), the FMV zips through and not watchable- not a huge deal, I've seen it many times before, but I would like to be able to watch it.

Origin/EA's tech support said their CPU killer program MOSLO would solve the problem. Wrong. It didn't help at all, because I don't believe that's the problem.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm running XP Pro on an Athlon 1900 XP+ with 512 mb ram and a GeForce 4 card. (And when I installed WCP, I was running Win98).

 

Will it be possible to be able to play Tie Fighter vs. X-WING with the links provided by JP? I have win 2000.

I still can't that direct 3D enabled and I even went to the Microsoft site and downloaded the new one!!

 

Origin/EA's tech support said their CPU killer program MOSLO would solve the problem. Wrong. It didn't help at all, because I don't believe that's the problem.

If MOSLO didn't do the job, you're probably gonna have to search around google for CPU killer software. I don't know if MOSLO is designed for AMD XP or P4 processors. I'm sure there is something out there that will work. It is definitely most likely that your CPU is running so fast that it's flying through the videos.

JEDI_SOLO:

Will it be possible to be able to play Tie Fighter vs. X-WING with the links provided by JP? I have win 2000.

Not likely. I think ScummVM only works with games like DOTT, Sam and Max, etc. I don't think it works for the X-Wing and TIE Fighter games, but I really don't know either.

Please list the exact error message your getting about the Direct3D problem. We'll see if we can figure anything out from there.

 

> Not likely. I think ScummVM only works with games like DOTT, Sam and Max, etc.

Correct. It's only for LEC adventure games that use the "Scumm" engine.

 

I thought The Dig also used SCUMM?

 

Scumm isn't working for my Lucasarts games.

When it opens, the command prompt comes up, but it says something about not being able to establish correct video size.

 

> I thought The Dig also used SCUMM?

Yes. I don't think I implied that it didn't.

ScummVM compatibility chart


When it opens, the command prompt comes up, but it says something about not being able to establish correct video size.

In the "edit game" option in the ScummVM launcher, uncheck "use fullscreen mode" and see if that makes any difference.