Dark side of the moon text problem

Posted By: sanford

Dark side of the moon text problem - 02/19/14 04:07 AM

Hi fellow Boomers,
I have the original boxed copy of DSOM. It runs fine on my WIN XP computer EXCEPT for the fact that you don't see dialog text under the window plus the fact that you can't SAVE because you can't see text in the SAVE or RESTORE boxes. I downloaded the
"riched32.dll" and put it in the BIN folder in the game directory. (I had seen this "fix" on some forums, including an old GB forum.) Well, I STILL don't get the TEXT where it is supposed to be. I would appreciate it if somebody can help me out with this problem. Thanks in advance.
Sandy

Posted By: SharonB

Re: Dark side of the moon text problem - 02/19/14 08:17 AM

This game is well known for not showing the text. The DVD version does not have this problem. When I had the CD version the only way the text would show was by running it in Microsoft Virtual PC. It was quite a while back so I don't remember the details but this was one of those games that needed to run through VPC.

This site has a very good explanation of VPC and tells you how and where to go to set it up.

Metzomagic VPC

Good luck,

Sharon

Posted By: Jenny100

Re: Dark side of the moon text problem - 02/19/14 03:49 PM

This is where GreyFuss originally posted the fix for text at Gameboomers.
***Everyone can now play Dark Side of the Moon***

The fix was originally posted by Winterfury at Adventuregamers, and the thread is now in their archive
http://archive.adventuregamers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3837

This is a quote of Winterfury's post with the information about riched32.dll.
Make sure you have the right version of riched32.dll.
It needs to be from Windows 98, Windows 95, or Windows ME.
The link to riched32.dll in GreyFuss' and Winterfury's posts no longer work.
It explains why you need to have the right version of riched32.dll.

Quote:

I'll provide some details in case anyone is interested. The common belief is that the problem with the missing text in DSOM is caused by the game being unable to read text or some files not installed properly. I've run the game in the debugger and found out that it is not really the case - the text is actually there in memory while the game is running, it's just that for some reason it's not showing up. While examining the game in the debugger, I've also found out that DSOM handles text in Rich Text format and uses Microsoft Rich Edit control. Up till now there are several versions of Rich Edit and the newer ones, according to Microsoft, are supposed to be backward compatible with the older ones, but in reality it’s only true up to some degree. Now, different Rich Edit versions (read: different DLLs) are distributed with different versions of Windows. Rich Edit 1.0 (riched32.dll) is included in Windows 95. Windows 98 includes both Rich Edit 1.0 and Rich Edit 2.0 (riched32.dll and riched20.dll accordingly) and Windows XP includes Rich Edit 3.0 (its corresponding DLL is confusingly named riched20.dll) and Rich Edit 1.0 emulator (riched32.dll, which is in fact a thin wrapper around riched20.dll). DSOM loads riched32.dll, i.e. uses Rich Edit 1.0 (which figures, since the game was made for Windows 95.) I suspected that there might be an incompatibility between the Rich Edit 1.0 which the game was programmed with in mind and the emulator provided by the recent versions of Windows. So I copied the riched32.dll from my Windows 98 distribution to the game folder where there other DLLs that depend on it and you know the rest.

Also, there are three different versions of riched32.dll (can you imagine that) and only one of them (with the version number 4.0.993.4) is redistributable. Fortunately, the one that is also happens to be just the one that is required by the game.

The bottom line is that Microsoft is to blame for breaking compatibility and creating this mess.

There is also a patch for 64-bit which is discussed in the Adventuregamers thread, as well as a video patch.

Ultimately, using Virtual PC might be easier.

Posted By: sanford

Re: Dark side of the moon text problem - 02/20/14 01:21 AM

Thanks everybody for your input. I have a feeling that I'll never be able to play DSOM because of the missing text problem, but I will look into the "Microsoft Virtual PC" option before I call it quits.Thanks again. If I can get it to "work", I'll let you know.
Sandy

OK, after reading the "Metzomagic VPC" article, I decided it was NOT worth it to me to go through all of those steps just to be able to run ONE game. Just call me "a coward" LOL

Posted By: Jenny100

Re: Dark side of the moon text problem - 02/20/14 04:40 AM

The nice thing about Virtual PC is that it is NOT just for one game.
You can use the same virtual machine with a lot of older games that don't play properly on newer versions of Windows -- Amber, Nightlong, and any Windows game from the 90's that uses 16-bit code and SVGA graphics.

Where did you get the riched32.dll file you used?
Even if it was the right version, you'd probably need the patch for 64-bit Windows and maybe another patch for the crash that was mentioned in the AG forum.

Posted By: sanford

Re: Dark side of the moon text problem - 02/20/14 05:30 AM

Hi Jenny
I just googled "riched32.dll" and came up with a site that allowed me to download that file, but apparently it was not the correct version of that file. No big deal. I have SO MANY games to play that I've downloaded. I also own about a "million" boxed games on my shelves. LOL I have now given up on DSOM, altogether. Thanks for your response
Sandy

Posted By: Uncle Reg

Re: Dark side of the moon text problem - 02/20/14 07:20 AM

If you follow that Adventuregamers thread to the 2nd page, you will find newer links to both of those files that still work. Also, I have them from when Greyfuss first posted about the fix, and I can email them to anybody that wants them. Just send me an email, and I will reply with the files attached.

Posted By: sanford

Re: Dark side of the moon text problem - 02/21/14 07:02 AM

Hi Uncle Reg.
I really would appreciate if you would send me ANYTHING that could get DSOM to work properly (The no-text problem). How do I find your E-Mail address?
Sandy

Posted By: MaG

Re: Dark side of the moon text problem - 02/21/14 07:03 AM

Sandy,

Check his profile - click on his name.

Posted By: sanford

Re: Dark side of the moon text problem - 02/21/14 07:24 AM

Thanks, Mag. I was looking in the wrong place. E-MAIL sent
Sandy

Posted By: sanford

Re: Dark side of the moon text problem - 02/21/14 08:49 AM

OMG I can't believe it. I took Uncle Reg's advice, went to page 2 of that Adventuregamers forum, downloaded the "TEXT PATCH provided, and downloaded the "Video Fix" as well. I just re-installed the game, extracted the CORRECT riched32.dll file to the "BIN" folder in the game directory, started the game and "LO AND BEHOLD", the TEXT DOES appear now where it's supposed to be including in the SAVE\LOAD files. After 11 years, I am finally now able to play the game properly. I have NOT installed the "VIDEO FIX PATCH" yet. I WILL if I need it.
Thank you ALL for your input, and a special THANK YOU to Uncle Reg
who put me in the right direction.
To all those who have DSOM on their "shelf" or have downloaded it:
Play the game and ENJOY it after you have installed the two "fixes".
Sandy

P.S. Be sure to go to the adventuregamers forum link provided above by OUR JENNY to get those two "fixes" that are seen on Page 2 of the thread.

Posted By: Draclvr

Re: Dark side of the moon text problem - 02/21/14 03:52 PM

The lesson here, Sandy, is that Gameboomers NEVER let you give up when it comes to getting a game to run!

Posted By: Marian

Re: Dark side of the moon text problem - 02/21/14 05:51 PM

Originally Posted By: Draclvr

The lesson here, Sandy, is that Gameboomers NEVER lets you give up when it come to getting a game to run!

Yes, we have our priorities straight, don't we?

Posted By: sanford

Re: Dark side of the moon text problem - 02/21/14 09:17 PM

Thanks, everybody, for NOT giving up on me.I had all but QUIT looking for a solution to the problem in question. Come to think of it, I DID play DSOM on my old WIN 98 computer, but didn't get to far with it at the time. NOW, I'm an "experienced" Adventure Game Player, so I think I'll get through this game after all. I say I'm "experienced" now, but without OUR Mag's MAGnificent WT'S,I couldn't do what I'm doing now with these games.I'm 82, and I find it difficult to keep up with the skills of my 11 year old grandson. LOL Happy Gaming, fellow Boomers.
Sandy

Posted By: MaG

Re: Dark side of the moon text problem - 02/22/14 05:26 PM

Sandy!

Posted By: GreyFuss

Re: Dark side of the moon text problem - 02/22/14 08:00 PM

Glad to hear you got the game working Sandy, it is a great game IMO, one of my Top Ten. I sure wish someone would take the story and create a new game with full screen graphics and FMV.

Posted By: sanford

Re: Dark side of the moon text problem - 02/22/14 08:25 PM

I agree with you, Greyfuss. Meanwhile I'm thankful that I was able to get THIS version working so well("with a little help from my friends").
Sandy

Posted By: saskee

Re: Dark side of the moon text problem - 03/08/14 12:54 AM

Just a note about playing Dark Side of the Moon on Windows 7, 64 bit using VPC 2007. It would not install on Windows 7. On VPC 2007, Windows 98 guest machine, it started to install, but would endup with a totally black screen, that required a reset. I first turned off the Direct Draw acceleration using dxdiag and the game installed and played well up to the blackjack game at the casino. I ended up turning the Direct Draw back on and turning the video hardware acceleration down one notch and the sound acceleration down one notch and so far so good.

Posted By: Marian

Re: Dark side of the moon text problem - 03/08/14 01:00 AM

Thanks for that info, saskee. I might try this game in my Virtual PC.