Win 95 games won't run on my system!!

I just tried to play Ripper, and Lighthouse on my computer. I have WindowsXP. I got both games to load just fine, but when I try to play them, I just get a bunch of colorful, horizontal lines over the entire screen. I did click on properties to run the games with Win95 compatability, but I still just get a bunch of lines. This happened one other time with Clandestiny, and I ended up trading it.(I didn't know about this site) I hope you can help me.

Inferno's site might be able to help you.

Lighthouse Setup for XP

Ripper Setup for XP

Good luck.


Gamehound

I am printing out Inferno's setup walkthru right now. Thanks for your help!!

No problem, and good luck.


Gamehound

Hi again!! I am following Inferno's walk thru, and am stuck. I did the defrag and disc clean up, now I am ready to install the game. The walk thru says "locate "inst.exe." files on CD." I did the My Computer>My CDROM drive>Right Click> Choose Explore, but I don't have any files called inst.exe. What am I doing wrong?

Maybe it should be install.exe?

It would make sense to change the install program to Win 95 compatibility before installing the game.

Nope........

Did install vdms? and Launchpad? Did you download both patches?

Last question: How many pitchers of Margarita's does it take to install Ripper? *hic-cup!*

Inferno

Is it's Lighthouse you're talking about, I think the install file is called setup.exe... at least for a Windows version. (Does compatibility mode even work with DOS games?)

Install.exe is generally for sierra's DOS games. I've never encountered a file called inst.exe.

-emily

I checked my Lighthouse CD.
There is an install.bat with this:

And there really is an inst.exe on the CD, which I never noticed before.

There is also a Setup.exe file, and it is for a Windows install that uses DirectX.
Perhaps it doesn't work in XP?

INST.EXE is located on CD1 after "HELPFORM.TXT" and before "INSTALL.BAT"

I decided to use the DOS version and NTVDM instead of Windows because the sound was too choppy and it wasn't stable enough for my particular system.

Inferno

I did find the install file. It was named something else. Anyway, I followed Inferno's instructions,downloaded all the patches, and guess what? It still doesn't work. I need some more margaritas. LOL
It loads just fine, but I still get bight colored horizonatal lines up and down my screen. I'm sure it is the beginning of Lighthouse, as I have a cursor, but I can't seem to make out the words. This also happened with Clandestiny, and Ripper. I am dissapointed, as I wanted to play Lighthouse. Maybe this will get me motivated to fix my WIN98 computer. They will probably play fine on that one. BTW-thanks for all the help. At least my computer is "squeaky clean."

Really silly question but have you tried Compatibility mode? Lighthouse didn't work on one XP computer for me, but it did on another. I blew up the space pod and became bored with it. Haha.
It was right after the death of Uru live and all was sad.
You can use the Compatibility Wizard or just right click on game icon and look for Compatibility mode. Also, there are several extra graphics adjustments located in the same place that will NOT appear in the Control Panel settings area! Very, very interesting stuff. I wouldn't give up! Just grab another maguarita, being careful to avoid keyboard and keep tryin'.

BTW I have the DVD version of Lighthouse. I don't know if that makes a difference.
Good luck and bottoms up! Tee hee!

I have never heard of a problem like this -- the bright colored horizontal lines you're describing. It's also weird because these three games are by different developers. (It makes more sense to me that you'd have this exact same problem with three games from the same developer or that use the same engine.)

It sounds more like there's something wrong with your video card, or at the very least, something about these games that your video card doesn't like. What kind of card is it?

When you use compatibility mode, are you checking the box about turning off visual effects? I didn't see that in the Lighthouse setup but it might help with your problem. Also, have you tried manually setting your screen resolution to 640x480 and 256 colors before you launch the games? (Right-click your desktop, choose Properties / Settings / Advanced / Adaptor / List All Modes.)

-emily

ps There's a DVD version of Lighthouse?! I had no idea!

I never heard of a DVD version of Lighthouse either.
Do you mean the game actually comes on a DVD or that it came in a DVD case?

There's got to be an easier way to install this game Lighthouse on my system. I have Windows XP professional and it's not working at all!

If you do install-don't install service pack 2-in interferes with lighthouse's patches-you'll have patches all over your desktop-believe me I know-

I'm with fov on this one. It sounds like a video card/driver problem to me. What do you have for a video card? Are you using the latest drivers for the card?

Rusty

I've played Ripper on Win 98 SE and got the lines and picture scrunched up to the top of the screen. I downloaded the game patch and it cured everything. It's possible the same patch might work in XP. I have it in my files if you'd like me to send it over to you.
Happy Gaming,
Bill

If anyone has used inferno's instructions-do you have a problem changing your conventional memory-mine won't let me change it-it did before-and now it won't it's driving me nuts