The Sacred Amulet

(This is a continuation of a post in the Adventure games discussion forum under Current Re-Plays and Plays.)


OK, here's what he answered:

1. Download Polish CD patch (or here).
2. Rename Azteken.exe -> Aztec.exe.
3. Run AztecPL5.exe from the patch.
4. Rename back Aztec.exe -> Azteken.exe.
5. Try the game - and tell if it works!


I've downloaded this patch to my Windows 7 computer but want to use it in my XP computer. Do I do this renaming stuff first before saving to disc for transferring to XP or after transferring to XP?

Sorry if this is another of my dumb questions.

You'd want to do the renaming of the game .exe after you'd installed the game on XP. Don't try to patch a game before you install it.

But I wonder if "Rename Azteken.exe -> Aztec.exe"
shouldn't be "Rename Aztec.exe -> Azteken.exe"

You've got an English version of the game (which has an Aztec.exe) and a Polish patch, so your installed game will have Aztec.exe while the patch is looking for an Azteken.exe file to patch.

Also, if you've got the version of the game called "Sacred Amulet" and not the European version of the game with the original name "Aztec", the "Sacred Amulet" version might have a different game .exe. I can't check because I don't have the version of the game called "Sacred Amulet."

Anyway, since you're using a Polish patch on an English-named .exe, the point is to
1. Give the English-named .exe a Polish name so the Polish patch can recognize and patch it.
2. Run the patch
3. Name the patched .exe back to the English name so the game will work.

Let us know if it works for you.

EDIT -- For this type of patch, the patch should probably be in the same folder as the game exe when you run the patch. It's not like a modern patch that can find the game exe anywhere on your computer.

+_+_+_+_+_+

For future reference, you're referring to the procedure at
http://www.gameboomers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/999139/1
http://www.gameboomers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/999139/2
http://www.gameboomers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/999139/3
that I posted links to in the Current Replays thread here
http://www.gameboomers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1159024/Current_Re-Plays_and_Plays

The MalwareBytes and Norton warnings for the links KSE posted are probably because they were hosted on 4shared, and MalwareBytes and Norton are blacklisting 4shared. When I try to follow that link to
English / International CD Patch: http://www.4shared.com/zip/tXKNDzofba/AztecPL5.html
the patch file has long since been removed (the Gameboomers thread is from 3 years ago). These file hosting sites will remove files if you don't pay for a subscription. Anyway, whatever MalwareBytes and Norton are reacting to, it certainly isn't the AztecPL5 file that's no longer there.

Thank you Jenny for all of this information and for adding the "for future reference" section.

I have opened up the game folder in C program file/cryo/the sacred amulet and cannot find any .exe file at all. Not in the data folder or the game folder or anywhere else. Am I looking in the wrong place?

The game starts and plays through the opening scene but can't transition into the game after that. I get "Aztec.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close" which is I think what was the same problem mentioned in the 2015 thread.

EDIT: I put the patch into the game folder and extracted the files (still no .exe file) and tried the game but it got stuck somewhere during the introduction (prior to even starting the game)and I had to control/alt/delete to get to the desktop, so I removed the patch files from the game files. I don't know what I'm doing wrong but I really don't want to screw my XP machine up.

There has to be an .exe file.
Make sure your XP is set to display file extensions.

Here's one way to force XP to display file extensions, from this site
https://www.howtohaven.com/system/show-file-extensions-in-windows-explorer.shtml


Or here's a pictorial version
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/how-to-show-file-extensions-in-windows/

If you weren't able to locate and rename the .exe file to Azteken.exe before patching, then running the patch won't do anything and the game will remain unpatched.

Simply extracting the files into the game folder won't run the patch.
I'm assuming you're using the patch here
https://yadi.sk/d/N_oFmM-Ef6kyw
from Iurii's post#1005525 ***here***
The zip file has two files:
AztecPL5.asm
AztecPL5.exe
You have to run the AztecPL5.exe file after extracting AztecPL5.zip to the game folder in order to patch the game.

You can find the location of the game exe by examining the Properties of the desktop shortcut for the game (right-click the game shortcut--> Choose Properties. Then check the tabs for the path to the game exe.

Thank you. I did that. I still can't get this to work though.

When I extract from the zip file I get a "AztecPL5.exe" file that gives me an error (see below) when I click on it to run it. Maybe I am still doing something wrong.

Error opening file Aztec.exe

More likely I'm having problems describing what to do because I don't have your version of the game and I don't know what version Iurii was working with when he wrote those instructions. I thought Azteken.exe was the Polish name but maybe it wasn't.


Did you find the .exe file in the game folder?
If it's not called Aztec.exe try renaming it to Aztec.exe and try running the patch again.

OKAY!!! I don't know for sure what I did different this time but I got it working. I think maybe I moved the extracted AztecPL5.exe file as I think it opened into a different folder when I extracted the zip file. I moved it to my desktop and then back into the game folder on the same screen as the game .exe file. It still showed the error but when I changed the game .exe back to Aztec.exe it showed "patched successfully". I played the game just through the beginning and saved it. I quit and went back in and my save seems to be there though I didn't open it.

I cannot thank you enough for being patient with me. You described everything perfectly. I know I've said this before, but it is so very true: You always are very thorough and detailed with your explanations and make things pretty easy to follow. Any problems I have are most likely on MY end!!

And yes, that is the patch I am using.

I'm glad to hear you got it working.
Hope you enjoy it.

Thanks! I'll come back to let you know if I have any further problems and how I liked the game.

Isn't Jenny great?

I played Sacred Amulet years ago and enjoyed it quite a bit. I've downloaded the patch, just in case I get my Windows XP computer working again. I hope you have fun with it, oldbroad.

I agree with you Marian, Jenny is great and also yourself, and Draclvr just to name a few... and oldbroad enjoy the game, it is a great and long game and great puzzles and great graphics....

Thanks Marian and Starcom. I'm sure the game will be worth the effort of figuring out the patch... once I get used to the wooziness it gives me looking and moving around. I know I did not have this problem when I first started gaming.

Motion sickness and dizziness in games with panning is definitely less of a problem on an older computer (AMD K-6 or Pentium 1 or 2 with less than 400mhz) and with a 17" CRT monitor. It's not just you getting older.

It took me 6 days to get myself back into the game after I started it but I have now finished it and didn't even get sick while playing. The game did freeze on me twice but I was able to get to task manager to close it so no harm done.

Thanks again Jenny100 and thanks to Iurii and his friend for the patch!

That is great that you were able to finish it.
It's good we have that patch.

It's nice to hear that everything is fine!