Getting Master of Orion to Run

[Sirian]

I've posted instructions at My Webpage on getting the game to run with Windows 98, 95, ME. Instructions for XP will be forthcoming. Isit has already written them up, but I need to edit them and format them into html.

The game also has a version for Macintosh, which is confirmed to be compatible with the DOS version (thus Mac users could participate in our Imperial tournament! Doc are you listening?)

There will also be advice on getting sound to work, still under construction.

Finally, there is a copy protection mechanism in the software, which is an inconvenience to legitimate owners of the game. It's fairly well low key, and I've played this game so many times over the years I know the answers by heart (how sad is that! but others may find a reference sheet useful. For that, and for other useful downloads such as scenario editors, I've found Jon Sullivan's MOO Page to be an invaluable resource.

I plan to incorporate important reference material available there, as well as other bits I'm assembling myself, at my site. Before too long, if you need to look up something about the game, I should have you covered. No reason not to look around other sites, though, except perhaps when it comes to strategy. The Imperia will be the definitive place for that.


- Sirian

[Kabuki]

I know the XP information is not up on your site yet, although they are up on Sullivan's page, but before I jusmp in both feet first it would be nice to get some more information.

My problem is that I only have one computer, and I need to know how installing MOO and the required changes to make it run affect the stability of the system and how much work it takes to set up. If someone could be as kind as to share their experiences with me, that would be awesome, and I could maybe get in on playing the imperium game.

Thanks,

[Zed-F]

There's some XP info in this thread:

http://www.network54.com/Hide/Forum/messag...geid=1080158841

[Kylearan]

Hi,

the stability of your system won't be affected at all. Unlike modern applications who will install lots of libraries (.dlls) in the core of your system, thus risking its stability, MoO is an old DOS-based game and won't install or copy any files outside of its directory. It will have absolutely no effect upon the rest of your installation, except that you have an additional icon on your desktop. :P

Installation is easy to do as well and won't require much work, at least in theory. Basically, it's downloading, extracting, downloading patch, extracting, creating icon on desktop, edit some properties of that icon, finished. How to do this exactly is described elsewhere, both on John Sullivan's and Sirian's site, but by "summary" should illustrate that it won't be a lot of work. Maybe a little bit more to do than a modern game would need, but not much.

And if it's not working immediately, just come back to this forum and ask.

-Kylearan

[Sirian]

Windows XP users in need of help to get the game running, Click Here!


- Sirian

[Isit]

The CD image file I have available on my site will only work with NERO or a program that supports NERO file formats. You might want to update the wording in that section since its unlikely that it will work with any other "out of the box" programs. If this an issue for anyone I can make one with a generic format that will work with a wider range of programs.

[Sirian]

I've made the changes you suggested. Was that the only errata that you found?

One question up in the air is whether the XP advice will work for Win2000 users. I suspect that it will, but we will need someone to come along and try it to know for sure.

Looks like I got everything necessary to get folks started posted just in time to have it all in place before the first tournament game opens.


- Sirian

[Isit]

Everything else looks good.

I also suspect that the bootdisk and DOSbox sections will work fine for a person running 2000. The WTM is the only thing I can think of that might look or behave differently.

I think you are on the right track with the NTFS and FAT32 support in dos. I think I have things narrowed down and I suspect that this (http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freewa...spro.shtml) program might provide a solution. I am going to check it out later today when I have some free time.

For the bootdisk section you might want to add in this link (http://www.filelibrary.com/Contents/DOS/53/3.html) At the very bottom of this page is the doscap.zip file, which is a program that allows you to take screen shots in MSDOS mode.

[Drasca]

http://www.ece.mcgill.ca/~vromas/vdmsound/

VDSM sound. Neat program. It lets me run simulated sound configuration, and auto-resolves the extended memory issues. I used it for Daggerfall originally, but it works well with other programs as well. Just install, then right click and select "Run with VDSM sound"

[Sirian]

VDSM sound. Neat program. It lets me run simulated sound configuration, and auto-resolves the extended memory issues. I used it for Daggerfall originally, but it works well with other programs as well. Just install, then right click and select "Run with VDSM sound"

Thanks for this tip.

I followed the link you provided. VDM Sound is for WinXP, Win2000, WinNT. I'll need folks using these OSes to try it and report.

I tried the Win9x version, which is still "alpha". It works! Problem is, it works a tad slowly at best and at worst causes long (and I mean long) pauses. Apparently, my box at well over 1gig lacks the juice to power this thing. The Win9x version of it, at least. It WORKS, but the net result is not playable. It does seem to work better on my machine than DOSbox does, so it may be an option for some folks who can't run DOSbox well enough but are better off than I am. And perhaps the NT-based version works better.

For me, for now, it's back to disabled sound on my main machine, with my "old games" machine still on the to-do list. However, here's hoping this option helps some of our players.

By the way... Drasca? Are you going to be playing any MOO with us?


- Sirian