Older game Necronomicon The Dawning of Darkness

I ordered this game from the Zodiac game site on a backup disc. I can download the game but
I prefer to have my games on disc when possible. I recieved my game today and installed it. However after the installation there is no launch icon for the game anywhere on my desktop or in the all programs file that lists games etc. that on on your computer. I found the game file in programs under the Anuman Interactive name. I still do not see any game launch icon anywhere in that file. There is the game name with a picture but when you click on that is only says icon...so nothing there either to start the game. I am at a loss as how to play the game now. I did contact the Zodiac game site but was hoping someone here at Gameboomers may be able to help me. Any suggestions greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I don't know why the game didn't put a shortcut on your desktop. You can check your Start Menu to see if the game put a shortcut there.

If Zodiac is anything like Big Fish, they made the game exe a "hidden file" so you won't see it unless you enable the viewing of hidden files. There are instructions for how to do this here
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/how-to-see-hidden-files-in-windows/

Here's another site with pictures
http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000516.htm

Once you've enabled viewing of hidden files, you should be able to see the game exe in the game folder.

Thanks, will see what I can do!

I got the game from GamersGate for $3.99. How do I save the game. Are there any closed captions. Thanks
Richard

I tried all sorts of things and finally got the game to launch. Thanks...however lots of problems accessing my game page from the Zodiac icon. It just will not connect for me the past couple of days...contacted their website support...but they are suggesting it may be my firewall etc. However my computer has had no changes at all and I connected fine a week ago...frustrating problem.

Kjos, hi. I also am trying to play this game...did you manage to find out how to save? I tried the escape key while playing but that did nothing...no menu even appears. In the game menu I cannot find any way to save either.....

According to the manual for Necronomicon that I downloaded from ***Replacementdocs***,


and


So you're doing it right by using the Escape key. However if you're using the Escape key while zoomed in on something or inside the inventory, it might not work (I'm not sure what "not accessible from interface screens" means, but there is an inventory screen, a writing desk screen, a map screen, and an attache case screen that are different from the regular gameplay screen).

But I'm guessing the company you bought the game from has altered the save feature somehow. Can you tell if it's autosaving now? If you restart the game, does it take you back to where you left off?

Kjos,
I don't see anything about closed captions in the manual I downloaded.

Thanks Jenny will try the save again.
Richard

I also cannot access a save game area. I followed your prompts and checked out the areas mentioned:inventory screen, writing desk, attache case and map. But the only two that work for me are the inventory and writing desk screen. The other two are there but when you click on them nothing happens...when I go back to the game I can continue from where I last left off in the game but I was hoping to save as I understand you can die in this game and should save...still cannot access anyway to save. Been over it and over it...

I wonder if you got a bad download or a bad install, Linda. If you see the areas, they should work -- unless they only come available later in the game. It's been years since I played the game and I traded it so can't check, and the new versions at Zodiac and Gamersgate may be different anyway.

I did finally access the map. I had to buy one in order to do that. It does seem that somehow the save has been deleted and you can only continue on from where you left off. However if that is what is happening then why keep the load in the menu screen....I have tried over and over to access a save screen with no progress at all.

It sounds like they "dumbed down" the save feature to be an autosave. Casual game portals sometimes do that. It's very annoying for people who want to go back to previous saves to replay part of the game -- especially when they want to hear a conversation or watch a cut scene again because they were interrupted by a phone call or something while playing. You should write to the place you bought it from and tell them how confusing the change was with the option to load a game sitting there in the menu screen but nothing attached -- no saves to load. Tell them your preference for a real save feature like the game originally had.

New issue with this game. O.K. I found a bug of sorts in the game purchased earlier. I reached a point in the game where I could not use an item in my inventory for some reason. Without doing this I could not continue. I tried over and over but just could not get the item I needed to be of any use....I found the game on The Adventure Shop at a reasonable price so I purchased it again. I love these older games and really wanted to play this one again. I dowonloaded it, installed and activated the game without any problems. However when I go to play the game will not launch. I only see a greyish screen with no images of any kind on it. I have to use the contrl/del buttons to even get out of the screen. I went into the game file under properites and changed that to windows 95/98 hoping that would help. It was of no help at all. I am playing some older and newer games right now with no problems. I am using windows XP home edition. I was hoping someone may be able to help me to get this game running. I did contact The Adventure Shop as well.

I'm sorry you're having so much trouble with this game. You might try other compatibility modes besides Win95/98, like Windows 2000 or Windows NT, to see if one of those work better. Also use the checkboxes on the compatibility tab to disable visual themes and advanced text services (if you see them on the compatibility tab).

I don't know if the above will work, but it's something to try.

Thanks will try a few changes!

Tried different setting etc. Nothing can get this game going on my computer. I did hear back from The Adventure Shop and they do not offer any help with game problems relating to launching the game etc. They said I have to contact Microids and they gave me a link. I have not heard back as yet. I think this game may not be a keeper....thanks for the help.

Obviously Adventure Shop doesn't know what's wrong with it either.

Is there a possibility that it's being blocked by an antivirus?

I never heard a thing back from Microids. I am tired of trying to get the game to run so I will just remove it from my computer. Too bad but sometimes you just cannot figure it out. I think my anti-virus would have given me a notice saying it is blocking the game if that was the case. I will perhaps try another time but just fed up with it right now. Thanks for all the suggestions.

Since you can't get it working, there's a Let's Play Necronomicon series on YouTube starting at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PzRqttLJ88

I my be out of line here, and if so, I apologize.If you really want to play this game and do not mind yet another purchase, ebay has the game for $5.91 free shipping and Amazon has some inexpensive ones too. I played the game on my XP with no problems.

Kazzmo,
The older version may or may not work on Linda333's computer, Kazzmo. Not every XP computer is the same. The problem could be with the file she downloaded, but Zodiac would have to check that.

Linda333,
If you get as far as seeing the game options, then you should be past the authentication part. However if the opening cut scene is damaged or for some other reason refuses to play, that could prevent you from getting to the rest of the game. You can try skipping the opening cut scene by using the Escape key or the Spacebar or the Return key (I'm not sure what the game uses) and see if that gets you past it. It's possible the cut scene won't play because you're missing the codecs it uses (something that might happen if you're using XP while the game is updated for Windows 7).

Kjos,
The problem with saves that you're seeing may have to do with the online distributor "casualizing" the controls so it autosaves instead of allowing manual saves. I remember somebody mentioning that happened with another game -- and whatever company updated it was so sloppy about it that they left the Load and Save options in the options menu even though they'd been removed from the game -- very confusing for people who'd played the older version.

Sometimes autosaving doesn't work on Vista and later Windows and you have to either right-click and "Run As Administrator" or play the game in a single sitting. I had that problem with saving in Mushroom Age, though apparently not everyone did. I have no idea why my computer decided to be "different" with that game. So if you haven't done so yet, try using "Run As Administrator" (if you're using Vista or Win7 or Win8).

Jenny100 that video of the game on utube was great! Thanks!

Glad you liked it.
That particular YouTuber (AdventureGameFan8) does a good job with "Let's Plays."
If you're a YouTube member, you can sign in and give their Let's Play a thumbs up.

I didn't know that Jenny100. Thanks! It's a definite thumbs up!

It seems like all these problems relate to downloaded versions of the game. I've got the game on disk that I bought about ten years ago. I haven't played it in some time, but it played fine on my old XP machine.

Think I'll dig it up and see if it plays on Windows 7.

Antoinetta

Let us know if your disc version works on Win7, Antoinetta. Usually download versions are updated for newer operating systems and work more easily, but there are always exceptions.

I just installed the game on my machine. After putting the disk in the machine I got the same "This game is not compatible with your version of Windows...." the same message I got when installing the first two Draculas. So I used the same advice from the windows 7 thread that I used to install the Draculas, and the game appears to run fine.

I'm playing something else just now (Aura II) so I didn't continue with Necronomicon beyond the initial interview Stanton has with his friend, who gives him some pyramid-shaped object.

After I finish Aura II, I'll play through Necronomicon, and let everyone know how it runs.

Antoinetta

That would be a great one to add to the list!