Some People Go To Ridiculous lengths ....

People like me !!

I spent hours this weekend trying to perfect a DOS install of "The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes : The Case of the Serrated Scalpel" !!

Managed it - but I had forgotten so much of how to do it - because it's a very long time now since I actually attempted to install anything in DOS

Good for you for having the patience to get the job done. It's a game that's definitely worth that hassle.

I agree, Marian. Although whether I'll still agree when I get to the lengthy remains to be seen !!

Well, good luck with that!!

Thanks, Marian. I will need it !! But I will still enjoy myself

I think I still have it installed on an old computer -- set it up back in the early 2000's.

Do you think you ever give it another play, Jenny100 ??

Maybe some day.
I think I've played it twice.
From what I remember, Case of the Rose Tattoo was better.
Unfortunately both games had a dartboard.

Yes. I, too, have played it twice before - but it's a long time since my last go.

And I agree that the Rose Tattoo is the better game of the two.

However I DO like them both.

For the day they were really good games, I thought

I keep hoping that GOG will get these games some day.

Allvideo has Case of the Rose Tatoo.

Yes, I have noticed that, oldbroad. I run the game in DOSBox, but it is good to know there is another source for it for players.

Well. I am currently in the pub .... playing .... "guess what" .... and doing very badly !!

Did you do it in DOSbox Mad or on a suitably old machine.
And well done btw - the last time I tried didn't go anywhere near as well!

I installed it to DOS - on my Win98 machine.
(Which has DOS 6.2 if I am remembering correctly.)

All my attempts to use DOSbox have been total flops - since I first ever tried.
I just don't understand it


EDIT :
Victory at the pub !!!!
[Although I think there might be more to contend with later in the game ....]

The DOS that comes with Windows 95 is DOS 7.0
The DOS that comes with Windows 98 is DOS 7.1


Congratulations!
Hopefully no more darts required.

"The DOS that comes with Windows 95 is DOS 7.0
The DOS that comes with Windows 98 is DOS 7.1"

Shows how good my memory is, Jenny100 !!
[I can't remember where on the computer to look, to find out, either.]

Anyway, hopefully, my memory is just as faulty concerning how many darts sessions there are in the game - because I had thought there were more to come

EDIT :

Had a very frustrating time this afternoon. No matter what I did I couldn't trigger a vital location to appear on the map and spent a looooong time re-visiting every location that WAS showing and "re-talking" to EVERY person in EVERY location until all conversation options had been used up.
I finally cracked it when I discovered just ONE person had ONE further options than was originally apparent - even after it appeared all HAD been used.
Talk about
Still lovin' this old game, though

Both The Serrated Scalpel and The Case of the Rose Tattoo supposedly work with ScummVM now. https://www.scummvm.org/compatibility/ So should be easy to get them running without DOS/DosBox or buying again from GOG.

That's right, frazap - I had forgotten that. ScummVM is great.

Thanks for that info, frazap, but I'm "technically challenged" to the nth Degree and tend to stick with what I know

ScummVM is way easier to use than DOSBox.

All you have to do do is copy game files to your hard drive and point ScummVM to the folder where you copied them.

If you know how to browse folders in Windows, you can use ScummVM.

That is just what I was thinking, Jenny. ScummVM is much easier to use.

Well, thank you both for that. I will bear it in mind

Me too, and will give it a go

Having read this post, I decided to try scumm. (Have used Dosbox before, but it's a bit of a challenge.)
So easy! Downloaded and installed scumm; decided to try Shivers.
Created a new folder C:/Shivers and copied the CD contents into that folder.
Told scumm: New game, and pointed it to that folder - and BOOM! it worked perfectly. Sound and all!
Only one other tweak; changed the screen resolution because it plays in a window of it's own, and won't go full-screen.

Ixupi's beware - here I come!

I expect all old games will not be so cooperative, but hey! It's something.

Alt-TAB makes ScummVM play the game in full screen. And take you back to windowed mode if you should want.

Always good to read the data files document for the game you intend to play. Sometimes small extra steps are needed, like renaming some files from multi-disc games after copying them to HD (Gabriel Knight 2 and Broken Sword for example). And many files on the CDs are not needed and would only take up space on the HD. https://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/Datafiles

I'm getting towards the end of the game, now, but I have enjoyed myself SO much I think I will just HAVE to carry on in the same vein and play The Rose Tattoo next

Wonderful!

Yep Now started the Rose Tattoo

Enjoy it to the max, Mad!

Or is that "Mad Max?" hehehehe

Who knows ????

[And thanks, Marian ]

Well you convinced me on Scumm so off to download!

I'm well into my re-play of The Rose Tattoo now and it is holding up amazingly well. A truly excellent oldie

The conversation trees are just about as "picky" as they were in The Serrated Scalpel so do need care - but the way the characters look and move around on screen in this later game is massively improved and very realistic for such an old game.

And the voice acting for both Holmes and Watson is extremely good.

Just needed to share my enthusiasm !!

Great to hear your thoughts about the game, Mad. I need to play this again.

I'm glad you're enjoying yourself Mad, but what exactly do you mean when you say the conversation trees are "picky"? I've thought about buying this game but never convinced myself.

Hi Marion. I know very well you would enjoy it. It's just finding the time .... right ??

Hi oldbroad.
The conversation trees show as lines of text to click on with a scroll down slider at the side.
But I had to constantly check, after clicking on ALL the lines, as to whether another had suddenly "appeared ".
(The same thing went on throughout the Serrated Scalpel game.)
Just takes a bit of extra care and attention and doesn't detract from my overall enjoyment

Okay. Thanks for the explanation Mad. That doesn't sound too bad.

You seem to enjoy plenty of oldies, oldbroad and I reckon you would like this one too