The old Frogwares game. I hear a noise like an unlocking type sound and then I just get a blank screen when I open the game. Anything I need to be doing? I know the reviews mention a patch but not what the patch is for and it is no longer available. The reviews also mention long load times but I don't think that's the problem at the moment. It just won't start. I'm trying to play it in Win XP.

You can get the 80 Days patch here. Not sure what the issue is, but you might as well try patching the game first and then we can take it from there.

I have a vague recollection that there were a lot of problems with this game. As Marian says, try the patch and see what happens. In the meantime, I'll see if I can find the old thread about it.

EDIT: I found some old threads about 80 days. In one of them Jenny posted a link to Frogwares support. 80 Days is still listed at the bottom of the list when you click on Choose a Game. I assume the page is still active. I went there and it appeared to be.

https://frogwares.com/support/

Interestingly, in the second thread of Windows 7 and Games, 80 Days is first on the list as a game that either ran perfectly or only needed minor tweaks. It might be worth considering trying the game on Windows 7 also to see what happens.

That a really good idea, Marian.

Yeah, I saw that in the Windows 7 thread and may try that. The patch site doesn't look like a site I want to try to use. I'm pretty sure I tried it once before with no good result. It may have been a different site though. I don't know about wasting my time with the Frogwares support site either.

Thanks for the information though which I will keep in mind. I often decide (in the moment) to not bother with a game giving me problems and later when it is still bothering me, I go ahead and try some of the stuff anyway .

The patches-scrolls website is safe and I've never had any problems with it.

Patches-scrolls has been around a very long time and I have been downloading from there for years and years with never a problem. They also have some patches that I have never been able to find anywhere else and I really don't know what I would have done without them.

Patchesl-scrolls has saved my bacon more than once with hard to find patches that are no longer available anywhere else! I noticed their extension is no longer .de but is now .com.

Okay, okay. No offense was intended. I DO trust you ladies! It just says something about the page no longer being updated and I have to "accept" some stuff. And, when I said I had "no good result" it wasn't that something bad actually happened but that I was unable to get the patch for some reason, though I don't remember what it was.

Yeah, you have to "accept" conditions at almost all pages any more. Too much legal stuff!

Okay, so I downloaded the patch to my Windows 10 computer. I wanted to scan it but that option does not show when I right click like it usually does. I think it needs to be extracted or something but I'm not sure. I copied the download to the disk I use to transfer to the XP. I did not open the file.

What next? Should I have opened the file first or should I wait until I get to the XP? And, how can I scan it to make sure it is okay?

How is the file named? Is it a zip file? You may need to extract it before you can scan.

It says 80Days_patch application type There is a pink box at the top of the screen that says "extract". Shouldn't you be able to scan before extracting though? What if there's something wrong with it and I extract it it? Anyway, right clicking gives me the option to "open" not extract. Is that what I should do? And then what about copying it over to the XP? Opened or not opened? And into the game file somewhere or ??

There are 2 reviews for 80 Days here on GB, and both of the reviewers said they used XP.

Hi oldbroad, I find it out that you could not scan a zipped file, you should be able to Scan a zipped file with MS Defender, I do it all the time, anyway as a test I downloaded the patch file you probably downloaded and I ran the Scan and all was good, I also ran the Scan with Malewarebytes and also all was good. So you should be safe to use it.

As a side note, a few months back my wife did not have the scan feature in the context menu at all and I had to add it to her context menu and all is good now.

That's what I'm trying to play it in Uncle Reg.

Thanks Starcom. I'll look at it some more tomorrow. (I haven't been to sleep yet.) I use Norton. My other downloaded files allow me to scan so I guess I have to open this one first.

Bumping this because I'm not sure what to do with the patch. Drac? Open to extract and then copy to disk for XP or copy unopened? And where do I place it in XP?

Is there a "read me" file after you unzipped it? Or a .exe file? Most of the time, you just double click the patch and it finds the game files and installs itself.

It is too bad that we can't find out what the patch is supposed to fix. I read an old post here on GameBoomers where someone stated that the patch wasn't strictly necessary. They had gotten the game running on Windows 10. But it can't hurt anything to patch it nevertheless. If patching it does not help, at least we can then rule that out as being the issue in this instance.

Have you tried just waiting a REALLY long time for the game to start, oldbroad ??

I've forgotten the title now but years ago I do remember playing an Adventure that actually took several minutes to start up.
Used to have to sit twiddling my thumbs waiting for signs of life 🤡

That's not a bad idea, Mad!

I had left it for quite awhile. I'll see what happens. I don't know if I have the energy to deal with it tonight. Still not sure what to do with the patch!

I download a patch and then put it (unzipped) into the folder where the game files are - and unzip it there.
(Normally there will be an option to "extract here" if you right click on a zipped file.)

Look for a readme file after you unzip it.