Hi all -

I had this game for long while but never played it - I didn't like the controls much.. but Now I am giving it a shot again and ran into a different problem..

After I opened the Fireplace using the Piano notes, I cannot enter the fireplace to follow her.. I have the lamp but when I approach the fireplace opening, Sir Amadey keeps repeating the same line over and over - it is looping the line about it is too dangerous to enter -- I have the lamp he needs but I cannot use the lamp while he is in that dialog loop which I cannot stop.

I am looking for either a fix if someone here had the same issue OR if anyone has a Saved Game at this point !

Thank you !

Oh, dear... that doesn't sound good! I looked for your issue, but couldn't find anything. Hopefully you haven't missed some tiny detail needed to proceed! Is it possible there is a different lamp you need?

Sureshot, I remember having this exact same problem when I played the game, and it was some little thing that I had failed to do prior. Maybe oldbroad will be able to help you out here as I have only played the game once when it was released, and I can't remember now what I needed to do.

Otherwise, we can take a look at video walkthroughs.

While I have played the game twice, the last time was prior to 2018 and my memory for detail is not that good. Actually, I liked the game but don't remember too much about it at all other than that. I don't know if that happened to me or not. The only notation I made on my game list is that I had some graphical issues the last time I played it but I don't know what they were. Looking at the walkthrough, you're not that far in. I suppose I can try to fire up my XP and see if it and the game is still working. I've been wanting to plug it in for a long time now and haven't gotten around to doing so. I'm a pretty lazy person!

Try watching this part of the walkthrough and see if this helps.

OK - Think I got it - I had to install the game on an older PC I have, it got me past the Fireplace - I saved it and copied that save to my Current PC and I am playing from AFTER the fireplace now. So we go onward !

I must say - if this game was mouse friendly from the beginning, it would have been a bigger hit ! It had the potential !

I'm glad you found a solution!

Thank you ! me too -- phew - almost had to scrap it - for good this time !

Good to hear you found a solution to your problem, sureshot!

This game ran fine on my Windows 7 computer. Haven't tried it on Windows 10/11.

Excellent news, sureshot. Hopefully, that's the last of the glitches.

I've been trying to replay this game with Windows 11. No such luck & I tried it with dxwnd too.

I found these instructions for Windows 10 - maybe they would work for Windows 11 (or maybe they are already exactly what you tried)?



Anyway, this is off topic, but if I find anything in future to try for Windows 11, I will post it in Glitches. Maybe this game will require the use of a virtual machine, but then again maybe not.

Despite its flaws, I did enjoy this game a lot.

Thanks Marian. I tried it but no dice. I'm not giving up yet!

Hi revco..

When I installed the game, I had to put d3d9.dll and d3d9.ini into the game folder where it installed - Then I had to run Windows Compatibility which suggested Windows Vista Service Pack 2 AND run the game as Administrator !! I finally got it to work -- I did run into a glitch which I mentioned here ( the fireplace glitch ) - I had to install the game on an older system I had running Win 7 to get past the fireplace glitch - and copy the saved game back to my Windows 11 PC which worked.

I'd like to say it was worth the effort - but the NO MOUSE thing is giving me the fits - But I have to finish the game - The story and graphics are it's saving formula.

Oh - I got the mouse to "kinda" work -- I have a programable G203 mouse which moves him forward and left - but a RIGHT turn crashes to desktop !! May not be worth the effort and may just use the keyboard !

OH well - I hope you find a solution -- Keep at it !

Hi Sureshot,

Thank you so much for writing to me and providing suggestions.

I did place those files into the game folder & changed Win comp options. When the exe starts, I get a white screen. It won't load.

I've tried dxwrapper, DxWnd, compatibility-package-v103, suis-fix, dgVoodoo2 & played around with compatibility settings.

I'm still looking but I'm not having any luck.

I also seem to recall that this game was picky about the screen resolution used when starting the game or else it would not run at all. Way back when, I believe it was 1024 x 768. I think once you launched the game, then you could change the resolution to something else if desired.

I really ought to move this entire thread over to Glitches - so will do that now.

I'm just wondering sureshot, why you didn't just continue in Win 7?

Also, this is from a review by nickie here on GameBoomers that may be something helpful with movement.

"I am no stranger to keyboard games, and sometimes even prefer that method for games including a lot of interaction. However, there is not as much interaction in this game as the 3D environments should have made possible, so there appears to be little reason for the necessity of keyboard controls. Instead the developers might have used mouse control as they did on their two previous games for a more seamless gaming experience. Hitting the “S” key, only to find myself in a whirligig that seemed to last forever, and having the character move on his own long after keys were pushed -- in the process missing doors and steps -- was frustrating, to say the least. I changed from the default “run” to “walk” via the shift key, and this tended to make the errors less significant. Using walk instead of run did not have any impact on the puzzles requiring a quick response."

Hi Oldbroad ..

My profession ( semi-retired ) is Network and Computer engineering - I keep old PC's that clients turn in -- I usually break them down for their parts - RAM, HDs, Sound Cards, etc etc .. Some I recycle into LINUX PCs etc ..

That Win7 machine was a rebuild I did long time ago but it wasn't worth boosting the RAM or putting in a bigger HD so I kept around for testing etc. When I ran into these glitches with Dead Reefs - I was determined to get past the fireplace glitch so I fired up that PC to see if it would handle it - it did but it ran too slow otherwise.

I ran the install in my WM Ware running XP but had issue too. So Win 7 was the winner. I hate giving up !

As for the Keyboard / Mouse issue... I feel that when this game was published - we were well into MOUSE driven Adventure games - especially the ones like this where you move a character around, and with all the computer power we had then - it would not have been a problem to program it for mouse. Even when I switched from "running" to "walking" I found myself missing items keeping an eye on where I was "trying" to go and when the "arrow" buttons showed possible action / inventory selections. For me, it took a lot away from the game's enjoying factor and made it a chore.

I am still playing it and I will finish it.. may take a bit longer than it should by I have to complete it. May just need an extra drink or two.

Oldbroad and I did not recommend this game so that we could drive you to drink, but all's well that ends well.

Marian!

Good luck sureshot. It is a shame when something like that ruins an otherwise good game but if A drink helps you get through it...

CHEERS !