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Re: Installation instructions for vintage "Rome: Caesar's Will" on Windows 8 [Re: RichAlexis] #1127321
10/06/17 05:39 AM
10/06/17 05:39 AM
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A success - I was able to install and run the game using VMWare Workstation with WinXP Pro. It's a trial so far, but at least some progress...

Thanks for the tip!

(btw I didn't expect it to look so ugly...)

Re: Installation instructions for vintage "Rome: Caesar's Will" on Windows 8 [Re: Fingon] #1127338
10/06/17 09:04 AM
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Originally Posted By: Fingon
A success - I was able to install and run the game using VMWare Workstation with WinXP Pro. It's a trial so far, but at least some progress...

Thanks for the tip!

(btw I didn't expect it to look so ugly...)
Ah, Fingon, that's good news! So far, that is wink.

The trouble with computer support, unlike support for (largely) mechanical appliances, is that you can never know if a set of instructions will work, even if you have the same configuration on the face of it. We all know that of course, but with more and more tools getting hooked up to the internet and receiving unseen software updates and synchronization with various apps, we're basically all left to our own devices!

As for the look of the game, don't say I didn't warn you! wink

Quote:
Though the characters have a strange 'origami marionette' (polygonal projections) kind of look, comparable to the In Utero productions Odyssey and Jekyll & Hyde from the same era - it takes some getting used to - one quite interesting aspect is its non-linear design.

(from my second post in this thread)

You can take a look over here for a beginners' course in ugliness:

https://web.archive.org/web/20010223233642/http://www.aleajactaest.com:80/us/perso.html

Introductory cutscene on YouTube here.

The locations look pretty good though!

Don't they say that ugliness is in the eye of the beholder? Let's call it a bold, unconventional design!

Alea iacta est! (The die is cast!), as Caesar is supposed to have said when crossing the Rubicon!

Good luck!

Rich

Re: Installation instructions for vintage "Rome: Caesar's Will" on Windows 8 [Re: RichAlexis] #1127340
10/06/17 09:31 AM
10/06/17 09:31 AM
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I have seen the original website a while ago, I think I used it, together with other sources, to create a game profile for my usual stomping grounds (czech-based game database).

Alea iacta est is known to me, together with Littera scripta manet, Cogito ergo sum, Lorem ipsum dolor..., Ceterum autem censeo, Carthaginem esse delendam or my personal favorite, Quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi.

I have survived Pompei, I have survived Egypt II, I should survive this as well... I used to like educative adventures with french flare (but, honestly, who else has done them, maybe except the Germans - Opera fatal, I am looking at you!), but sometimes the visuals didn't hold that well...


EDIT: the game doesn`t seem to be very stable and the animations in the close-up scenes jitter. It crashed into (emulated) Windows after I tried to save the position... Oh my, this will be fun...

Last edited by Fingon; 10/06/17 02:40 PM.
Re: Installation instructions for vintage "Rome: Caesar's Will" on Windows 8 [Re: Fingon] #1127432
10/07/17 10:11 AM
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Oh boy, oh boy .... sorry to hear that!

I had no problem saving the game inside my VMware Windows XP emulator. I was able to find the saves in a subdirectory, and activate them.

As for the other issues, I wouldn't know, and right now I have no time to look into them, I'm afraid.

Over the past few days, I did look for hints or patches on French sites under the original title of "Rome: Le Testament de César", but couldn't find anything, apart from one obvious hint on an official Microsoft support site to set the game compatibility to Windows XP. I guess it's too obscure even in French!

As for Opera Fatal, I thought you were going to talk pig Latin to me, but I realized it's a game I'd never heard of. I found that Jenny posted a superbly written review of it on our site, and as I've had a few years of musical instruction, I think it would be fun to play it.

I read a review on German Amazon which stated it can run on any Windows platform, even 10, so this would be a potential purchase for me, preferably in the original German.

So, inadvertently perhaps, thanks for mentioning it!

The best of luck!

Rich


Re: Installation instructions for vintage "Rome: Caesar's Will" on Windows 8 [Re: RichAlexis] #1127442
10/07/17 10:56 AM
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AD Opera Fatal - the original release cannot be played natively anymore, but the developer is still in business and sells an updated re-release. I think it still uses QuickTime, but I had no problems installing nor playing it.

On the Rome note, I was able to save and load at first, but once I did two dialogues and picked two items and wanted to save after that, there was a crash. The game has certain hardware demands which aren't probably emulated with ease, or my notebook can't handle it that well. I will try to fiddle with the settings a bit...

It's fascinating, there is no english walkthrough readilly available, but thanks to one french site I was able to access both a walkthrough in french (and run it through google translate, it's not entirely gibberish) and even some hints in natively written English (via Archive.org).

BTW on a completely side note, are there any Dutch adventure games? I understand German and I can decipher pieces of written Dutch, given enough time:-P

Re: Installation instructions for vintage "Rome: Caesar's Will" on Windows 8 [Re: RichAlexis] #1127447
10/07/17 11:13 AM
10/07/17 11:13 AM
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I wonder if the original Opera Fatal for Windows 3.1/95/NT would run in DOSBox with Windows 3.1 installed, as described at https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=9405

Some Windows 3.1 games work that way (e.g. Shivers and Myst), but QuickTime can sometimes cause problems. The advantage of using DOSBox over VMware, Virtual PC, or Virtualbox is that DOSBox controls for processor speed.

Re: Installation instructions for vintage "Rome: Caesar's Will" on Windows 8 [Re: Fingon] #1127482
10/07/17 04:07 PM
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Originally Posted By: Fingon
AD Opera Fatal - the original release cannot be played natively anymore, but the developer is still in business and sells an updated re-release. I think it still uses QuickTime, but I had no problems installing nor playing it.

On the Rome note, I was able to save and load at first, but once I did two dialogues and picked two items and wanted to save after that, there was a crash. The game has certain hardware demands which aren't probably emulated with ease, or my notebook can't handle it that well. I will try to fiddle with the settings a bit...

It's fascinating, there is no english walkthrough readilly available, but thanks to one french site I was able to access both a walkthrough in french (and run it through google translate, it's not entirely gibberish) and even some hints in natively written English (via Archive.org).

BTW on a completely side note, are there any Dutch adventure games? I understand German and I can decipher pieces of written Dutch, given enough time:-P
Okay, this will be my last post for a while. Too busy!

The Opera Fatal edition on Amazon I was referring to is a Jubiläumausgabe, so some kind of Xth Anniversary Edition. I don't know what year it's from, but at least 'XP' is included in the compatibility specs, so I suppose this is a relatively recent release adapted to later platforms. A number of customers say it will run on the latest versions.

With regard to the rendering problems, this occurred to me with a very similar game I tried to play on Windows XP: Odyssey: The Search for Ulysses.

I wrote:
Quote:
Problem: I get shimmering, jittering, epilepsy-inducing images whenever I open a dialogue box, which in this case is a figure overlay which slides down on the screen. So I tried disabling hardware acceleration from the Windows Control Panel -> Display icon. This worked!
This could mean you'll have to experiment with various hardware acceleration settings.

An archived English walkthough for Rome can be found here. It's by a Dutch player, from the obsolete www.gamesover.com. I think it's a good idea to download the page to disk - you never know how long archived sites will stay online and readable.

No, I don't know any native Dutch games, although there are of course Dutch game development studios working mainly for the English-language market. From the old days, I only remember Philips of course (abortive CD-i venture), Davilex and releases translated into Dutch by Dice Multimedia. The only game I played in Dutch was Egypt 1156 B.C. simply because I picked it up at a jumble sale. Even in this case, it was packaged with a French edition, as is often the case (aiming at the combined French/Belgian (bilingual)/Dutch market).

Of course there are some largely isolated hobby projects in Dutch for some museums, theme parks and educational purposes, but they are of limited interest, and were short-lived.

Good luck!

Rich

Re: Installation instructions for vintage "Rome: Caesar's Will" on Windows 8 [Re: Jenny100] #1127762
10/10/17 09:21 AM
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Originally Posted By: Jenny100
I wonder if the original Opera Fatal for Windows 3.1/95/NT would run in DOSBox with Windows 3.1 installed, as described at https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=9405

Some Windows 3.1 games work that way (e.g. Shivers and Myst), but QuickTime can sometimes cause problems. The advantage of using DOSBox over VMware, Virtual PC, or Virtualbox is that DOSBox controls for processor speed.
That's an interesting alternative for the other emulators, Jenny! I thought that DOSBox would only be suited for DOS-based games, as the name implies. Apparently, Windows 3.1 and even 95 can be installed inside them, but I guess it would be quite tricky with all the required drivers and mounting points for disks or disk images. As I don't have these older operating systems, and don't plan to get and spend time on them, it wouldn't be for me, but I guess it would be a nice idea for those who love the look and feel of mostly 'flat' vintage games.

Best,

Rich

Re: Installation instructions for vintage "Rome: Caesar's Will" on Windows 8 [Re: RichAlexis] #1127777
10/10/17 12:25 PM
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Originally Posted By: RichAlexis
Apparently, Windows 3.1 and even 95 can be installed inside them, but I guess it would be quite tricky with all the required drivers and mounting points for disks or disk images.

Mounting points are the same as for DOSBox so you don't have to do anything extra. When I installed Windows 3.1, I first copied all the floppies to a folder, mounted that folder as the A: drive in DOSBox, then installed from there without having to change floppies. It went very fast.

Links to the necessary drivers are in the VOGONS Guide
https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=9405
Not all drivers are necessary. You need the graphics and sound drivers. Other drivers depend on whether you want a joystick in Windows 3.1, or additional tweaks as described in the Guide.

Windows 95 is "not supported" at VOGONS. It's apparently a lot harder to install and get usable on plain DOSBox. Usually people use DOSBox Daum or DOSBox-X for Windows 95 on a DOSBox version. I have not tried it.

Something like 86box, where they are experimenting with emulating a few 3D graphics cards, would probably be better for Windows 95 than DOSBox.
https://emulation.miraheze.org/wiki/86Box

Re: Installation instructions for vintage "Rome: Caesar's Will" on Windows 8 [Re: RichAlexis] #1203388
12/02/19 03:15 PM
12/02/19 03:15 PM
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A quick update after more than two years - I have bought a new laptop and gave Rome: Caesar's Will a new try. I was able to install and run the game on Win 10 Pro using the instructions provided by Rich back then, I didn't even have to use any virtualization. I think the game crashes less than before, yet I am unable to pick items for some reason. Will have to check that later...

Re: Installation instructions for vintage "Rome: Caesar's Will" on Windows 8 [Re: RichAlexis] #1203390
12/02/19 03:27 PM
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Thank you for the update, Fingon. Keep us posted.

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