MOO2 won't run....

GhostTX · November 26, 2002, 11:53

Win 2K
Pentium 400Mhz
250MB Ram
4GB HD
3D Rage Pro AGP w/4MB (Desktop res at 1280x1024)
Legacy(?) audio
DirectX 8.1

Trying to get MOO2 to run on the box at work for lunchtime fun, but no love.

Launch Orion95.exe and the screen goes black for the res change, then come back to desktop and nothing happens. Desktop icons disappear and the cursor is premently set at the hourglass, though I can click on Start to reboot the system.

Tried setting the desktop to 1024x768 and also setting properties on the shortcut for window maximized, but nothing.

Help!

vmxa1 · November 26, 2002, 12:49

Have you looked at ntcomaptible.com? The only windows system that I never ran Moo2 on was W2K.

GhostTX · November 26, 2002, 15:21

Only thing on NTCompatible.com is the possible service pack 3 and logictech drivers.

This box has SP3 and no logitech drivers.

Yolky · November 26, 2002, 18:00

I am not computer smart but since Moo2 is an old game maybe try putting your settings to only 16true colour with 680x400 screen resulution. I know nothing of win2k.

Also do you have the patch? in know I had problems running Moo2 in windows95 but could run it in dos. When patch isnstalled had no problem running the game. Hope that helps.

Davor

vmxa1 · November 26, 2002, 18:31

I have heard of so many people with issues of games on W2K, that is why I say go to XP, but that may be out of your hands, since it is work.

GhostTX · November 26, 2002, 18:35

Ya...got the 1.31 patch installed, too.

Tried the 16bit color as well.. (though only did a 1024x768 trial run).

I'm at a loss...even got 'newer' ATI drivers installed.

Unfortunately, the 2000 to XP is out of my hands...would have to get IT to change it over and hard to justify with a " because I wanna play a game."

kalbear · November 26, 2002, 21:28

I had no end of problems running it on Win2K. It eventually ran, but would not display the cursor. That was basically the last straw - it made the game unplayable.

Only real option was to go for Win98.

If it's any consolation, you could, in theory, go back to a previous DirectX run if possible - but I think that's too much work for this great old game.

catullus · November 27, 2002, 04:27

Problems with W2K here, too.
Most probably it was the last DX that broke MOO2. So I stuck to MOO1 for some time. Didn't mean much, I always thought the original was way better.
Now I use XP and MOO2 runs like a charm. MOO1 I haven't been able to run yet, though. So I'm rediscovering MOO2, and it's a better game than I remembered it to be.

C.

GhostTX · November 27, 2002, 10:09

Is there a way to run the DOS version of MOO2 under Win2K?

I could live without sound...just as long as I could see it and the mouse worked.

piratebrun · November 27, 2002, 11:08

I have had no problems running under win2k at all... just make sure you have installed the latest service pack for 2k and you should be fine. If not, I dunno

vmxa1 · November 27, 2002, 13:43

Quote:

Originally posted by catullus
Problems with W2K here, too.
Most probably it was the last DX that broke MOO2. So I stuck to MOO1 for some time. Didn't mean much, I always thought the original was way better.
Now I use XP and MOO2 runs like a charm. MOO1 I haven't been able to run yet, though. So I'm rediscovering MOO2, and it's a better game than I remembered it to be.

C.

Have you not tried to get Moo1 going or has it failed in XP? I had no problems getting it to run on my XP PRO, with sound no less.

catullus · November 28, 2002, 06:01

Quote:

Originally posted by vmxa1

Have you not tried to get Moo1 going or has it failed in XP? I had no problems getting it to run on my XP PRO, with sound no less.

Tried and failed.
I just can't get EMS to work. Seems it MIGHT be a hardware thing. Rumours are some sparkling new computers (and especially laptops) won't support EMS under no OSes. I'll try to run it under an emulator.

C.

vmxa1 · November 28, 2002, 14:39

Do you get an error msg, but can not see it has it flashes by?

Right click on the exe and select properties and then Program tab. Clear the close on exit box. This will allow the dos window to remain open so you can see the msg.

Was it a memory issue?

Go to the exe properties select Mem tab. Set the three drop downs to the highest values. Check protected and use HMA boxes.

Does the game require EMS?

If so you should create copies of the Config.Nt and Autoexec.NT files and put them in the directory of that game.
Edit the Config.NT file and check the box for compatible timer. I have not need the autoexec so far, so change the Config filename to point to the new one you are creating. In this file add EMM=RAM after dos=high statement. This will force emulation of EMS memory.
Other items may require changs to Config or even Autoexec and will likely be defined in the install doc for that game, I have not required any so far and all of my games are runningat this time, but I may buy others later.

It could be that you need to go to the compat tab and select run in compat mode for Win95. A game that requires 256 colors may need that box checked.
Misc tab you should look at the Exclusive mode for the mouse. Resolution 640 may be required for some.

Windows XP has a tool that can be downloaded to test various setting for desperate situations.

catullus · November 29, 2002, 04:30

Quote:

Originally posted by vmxa1
...
Was it a memory issue?
Go to the exe properties select Mem tab. Set the three drop downs to the highest values. Check protected and use HMA boxes.
Does the game require EMS?
...
have not need the autoexec so far, so change the Config filename to point to the new one you are creating. In this file add EMM=RAM after dos=high statement. This will force emulation of EMS memory.
...

Been there, done that. No matter what I do, EMS show as 0. Long time since I did any real DOS stuff, but as I remember it, no DOS program ever can be made to access memory above 1M.
So EMS need some large free memory chunks (64K contigous free?) in the 640K to 1M area to use as cache area for the otherwise inaccesible +1M area. It might be that the PC maker already has reserved the whole 640-1024 area for other stuff, like disk cache, since very, very few programs in use today rely on EMS.
Come to think of it, I never did a classify of the 640-1024 area. Maybe it's possible to throw something out? Or disable disk cache (or whatever) in BIOS?

Oh, and IIRC, MOO may refuse to run if you give too much EMS (more than 8?) in the drop down box in the pif. 2-4M is enough for most old apps.

Anyway, I found DosBox (http://dosbox.cjb.net/) and, although graphics seem slow, MOO runs nicely now. Haven't tried adding vdmsound, yet. And not entered tactical combat.
The ability of playing MOO in a resizeable windows is fantastic.

C.

Yolky · November 29, 2002, 06:24

please remeber I am not very computer smart so don't flame me for this.

I had trouble once playing Moo on my computer under widows ME once.

I made a short cut on my desk top. I right clicked it and went to properties. Then clicked on memeory tab. My ems was disabled and I could do nothing to get it back. What I relised at the time was when I added my fast dsl software it disabled my ems, so I reformated my hardrive and reinstalled everything from scratch and got new software and there it was my ems was back.

I don't know how win2k or xp or anything else works so this might not be an issue but try that.

Make a shortcut to desktop, right click on the icon and select properties, then go to memory tab if you have one and select auto for your ems or any combination of numbers you have.

Tell me if this works so I can be more knowladgeable about other operating systems.

Davor

vmxa1 · November 29, 2002, 15:30

I have a shortcut for orion.exe that I use to start the game. It has under the mem tab ems 2048. I have no problems what so ever in XP using it and I have DSL via SBCGLOBAL. It did not require any software (it did in win98). I have sound, but that could be a function of the sound card or mother board. Anyway I hate to see anyone not being able to play Moo, so I am glad you have it going.

catullus · December 4, 2002, 18:11

Could anyone/everyone getting MOO to run under XP do a normal command prompt (run - cmd) and execute a mem /c
And paste the result here?
Please?

C.

vmxa1 · December 4, 2002, 18:33

For what it is worth.

catullus · December 10, 2002, 06:02

Thanx, vmxa1.
Looks like I was right. My SYSTEM-area in Upper Memory is larger than yours. In additition, it breaks free memory in two, leaving no block larger than 45K. 64K is needed.
BIOS settings next.

C.