Legacy Dark Shadows

Hi everyone

The reason for my thread is I am playing the above game it's running correctly
But the problem is when I try to save the game it won't save the system locks up
I don't know if this would make a difference but it states on the box the first system
Listed is windows 98 and the last listing is XP would the game only run on 98 because
Of it's age. Has anyone else had the same problem?
All help will be appreciated.

Thank You

Bluto

Hi, you are describing a technical problem, so I have moved your post over to Glitches.

Bluto, what operating system are you running?

My searching is finding this game has a lot of glitches including crashing to desktop and some problems with the save system. Supposedly there is a patch, but it's not clean exactly what I does. I'll see if I can find it though.


EDIT: I found the patch at Patches Scrolls, but I have no idea if it will help.

https://patches-scrolls.de/search/node/legacy%20dark%20shadows

Usually when an old game like this won't save, you can try running it as an Administrator (right-click the game exe, and from the context menu choose Run As..., and then Administrator).
You could also try running it using compatibility mode (right-click the game executable, Compatibility tab, etc).

The game was made for Windows 98, and only ran on XP because XP had great backward compatibility.

Are you using XP?

The patch is from 2005 and isn't for any problem with Windows 7 that doesn't happen with XP SP2 and earlier.

Hi Jenny

Yes I am trying to run it on xp it only gives me a problem when I quit the game it wont quit instead it lock
up and wont enable shut down.

So, do you mean you have two problems? It won't save and it locks up why you try to quit the game?

I don't remember if the game saved on exit.
If it does, that may be why it locks up when you try to exit.

Did you try the patch from patches-scrolls?
If so, did it help at all?

Have you tried running the game using compatibility mode set to Windows 98?
You could also try setting compatibility mode to Windows NT (mysteriously that helps with some games even when they're made for Windows 98).

Are you using an antivirus on the computer?

To me it sounds as if there are write permission issues. Older games should not be installed within a system folder like %ProgramFiles%. More recent Windows have the VirtualStore that will redirect file writes to the user's folder. The VirtualStore, however disallows certain file types and the program or game trying to write it will fail. This is why Leisure Suit Larry 5 will fail if it is installed under Program Files folder. It writes to a fake "*.DRV" file, a prohibited extension by the VirtualStore, so the game cannot write to it.

If this is the problem then the solution is easy. Just install the game under a non-system folder, say under C:\Games. It is why GOG moved their default install folder for older games from "%ProgramFiles%\GOG.com\" to "C:\GOG Games\"

Interesting... I wondered why GOG had their own game folder.