Hey, I'm new to the forum, and I was hoping I could get a little (ok a lot) of help. I love QFG, I mean I really do, definitly one of my favorite series of all time, but I have the hardest times getting it to work...I just downloaded dos box, and I have a copy of QFG collection I...acquired. I also have the quest for glory anthology on CD. But, my problem is I don't know how to get them to run at their best, or at all for that matter. If there's a guide out there, I'd loved to be pointed toward it, as I'd love to give these games another go. Well, if anyone can help me out, that'd be great. I've already downloaded dosbox, but don't know where to go from there...thanks all.

You're very welcome here, Alcibiates!

We have help for you all over the place - try going here for extensive help on DosBox.

You might also want to try NewRisingSun's patches for the games. They are available directly from here.

Read through this thread for a lot of information about this subject, too.

And if you have any further questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Note that the following instructions are for Win XP. For other OS'es, just ask..

QFG1EGA/2- run the games with General MIDI 'homemade' drivers, downloadable here:
http://www4.ncsu.edu:8030/~rniyenga/sci/gm.zip (QFG1EGA)
http://www4.ncsu.edu:8030/~rniyenga/sci/mpumap.zip (QFG2EGA)
(Note: Use these drivers if you have a sound card which supports General MIDI. Any Sound Blaster card newer than a SB16, ie AWE32, Live!, Audigy, etc will do.)

Run with VDM Sound and Speedset (set to .005, ask me if you don't know how to do this) to obtain roughly correct music. QFG2's driver is almost as good as playing with a MT-32. Almost..

QFG1VGA- run with General MIDI and the digital driver to patch your 'audblast.drv' here: ftp://ftp.sierra.com/pub/patches/pc/sb16drv.exe
Then use VDM Sound and Speedset (.005) and music plays perfectly.
Also run with NewRisingSun's timer fixes.

QFG3- Same as QFG1VGA.

QFG4- Timer fixes (again), run with GM and the digital driver should work fine. No worries. Any further timer problems can be solved by using Turbo. Just use VDM Sound- Speedset does NOT support SCI32 games at this point. DOSBOX could be a good alternative with this game if you care about music (which you should for QFGIV!).

QFG5- There's a patch for the version out there that's easy to find.

Regards,
- Spike

Thanks very much both of you, I've started perusing the resources, and compiling everything into a folder on my desktop. Now I have to go about finding myself an avatar...

I think It'll probably take me awhile to get these games working, as I usually need to be led by the hand with stuff like this. I'll do my best to figure it out on my own though, thanks again, and I look forward to talking to you both more in the other forums

alright, I dusted of my anthology CD, and set to work. I'm trying to get the first game working, I installed it through the setup in QG1 old. Now, the part where the help quide says

If you are running the Qfg Anthology you should find the game folders here:

C:\SIERRA\QGANTH

To get to the location type the following command:

cd sierra\qganth

I tried typing cd sierra\qganth but it get the response "Unable to change to sierra\qganth"

I setup the drives in the config as the guide shows as well, can anyone help? After reading everyones success stories, I'm anxious to make a new hero and play through all the games...

Edit, tried installing it through the anthology CD installer (You know, pick which language, pick which games, pick directory) and when I try that, it says access denied and something else really quickly and then the window shuts down...any idea?

Also, can't seem to find a setup.exe, so I've been trying the installers...I get the nagging feeling that I'm screwing up....

I'll let you know something straight up. Ignore anything the CD says. The 'cd' command ONLY works under DOS. That's all.

I'd completely avoid using the Anthology installer.

If you can, look on the CD and see if you can find folders with the games in them.. If you can, get back to us. I'm sure I can help you from there.

- Spike

Yep, the game folders are all in there, but I've already tried using those installers...but any instruction would be nice...

I've always done this the easy way... Since that isn't working for you, let me yell for some help.

"PEOPLE"...

*jumps in through the window in a panicky state*

The PEOPLE are coming! RUN!!!!!!!!

*defenestrates himself*

Will, the guide, the guy was using the .60 (I think) version of dosbox, and I'm using .62. Might this be causing some of the problem? It seems to me that the majority of the problem seems to be with anthology, or my comp...none of the files seem to want to install to my hard drive...errors aplenty.

My Computer setup is the following

Athlon 64 3500+
MSI Neo2 Platinum motherboard (nforce 3 ultra)
Sapphire Radeon 9800 pro, with the ATI silencer rev. 3
Sound Blaster Audigy
plain jane 80 gig HD.


ARGH, I want these games to work SO badly...I'll do anything for anyone to help me get them running!

Hmm, When I try running the setup now, I window opens along my toolbar, and the sierra music plays...but I can't open the window, so it justs sits there and does nothing...it seems god doesn't want me to play this game.

God has great taste and is kindness personified, so let's not jump to conclusions here... <grin>

I'm emailing Unknown Hero, who is an expert at these questions. Hang tight and we'll see if we can't get this working for you...

Woot, thanks a lot (bows graciously)

Of course, if you wanna duke it out with theology, some would argue that God is merely the unmoved mover, and CAN'T be the embodiment of kindness, and kindness is a human canception, and humans are flawed, and since humans are flawed, out concept are as well, and God of course can't be flawed...

Ack, off topic (zips mouth shut) Thanks again!

(Of course, all that above is presuming there actually IS a god, which is a whole nother can of worms in itself)

Whaaat? I posted a reply last night before Almirena's last post! Argh!

As I said last night-

Copy the game folders to c:/sierra. Then run the install.exe files.. The games shold work if you're playing with VDM Sound.. or DOSBOX. But DOSBOX is really only useful for QFG4.

- Spike

Well, I've read your post a couple times, and I didn'd see anything about copying and then installing....

Anyways, tried it, same exact thing as when I tried installing off of the CD, I get to the point where it asks what drive to install to, I click C, the entire thing just shuts down in a flash.

Alcibiates

In order to be able to change to a specific drive, you have to mount it into DosBox first so it knows it's there

For example to mount c drive type:

Mount c c:\

then you should be able to change to it

I didn't mean to be rude! I wasn't referring to your post. Rather I posted and somehow it got deleted!
You didn't see it because somehow it's gone. <helpless look>

If you're copying folders of files straight to your hard disk, you shouldn't be installing! You run the install.exe file to set options. You skip the install to 'c:' bit!

Regards,
- Spike

Elsa-That was the first thing I did when I got dosbox, I set it up in the config, and everytime I launch dosbox, it automatically mounts, and tells me so.

Spike-No offense taken, I was just worried I had missed something some how. So, I've moved the files into the C drive (local disk C, with all the other folders like "program files" and such, and now I'll run setup. What command line should I use in dosbox to make the game run?

I know this will sound real stupid but....

What letter is your hard drive?

lol, its paritioned into c and d, but d is just used for loose storage, everything I use is on C.

You really don't need DOSBOX for QFG's 1-3. It can be useful for 4, for getting the music to run properly.

Once you've copied a game folder, don't try and install anything- but definitely run install.exe to set up your sound, music options, etc. You can then patch the games and run with VDM Sound and Speedset to achieve perfect gaming, no DOSBOX required.

- Spike

I'm awaiting a reply from Unknown...

Right on, I got my qganth to work by watching you guys puzzle it out over this thread. I only have one question: how do you get the DosBox to go fullscreen mode?

Nevermind, I found it on another thread.

<smile> Good. Happy playing!

Dammit, everyone seems to be able to get these games working but me :-(

I'm going to look into VDM, hopefully I'll get some results, but it'd just be nice to have them all work fine normally. So, can anyone point me to a guide on how to get the patches installed, that'd be great...

I just need these games working!

Getting these games up and running shouldn’t be the grand challenge it appears to be. (Forgive me, I typed up a really informative and enjoyable read on precicely what to do, then I clicked a link somewhere and lost it all... I’m going to try to redo this, so hopefully I won’t forget something important along the way.) I should tell you, your system specs are completely irrelevant (unless you’re going to use DOSBox.) If you bought a computer anytime after 1995, I guarantee you these games will work fine.

First things first, you absolutely have to install VDMSound (http://vogons.zetafleet.com/ndldownload.php?filename=VDMSound2.1.0.exe) if you want to have any hope of listening to the audio these games have to offer. Once that’s done, you can get on to playing the games.

Quest for Glory I (typing) and Quest for Glory II are the easiest to get running. You don’t even need to copy them to your harddrive (but you can if you want to), because they’ll run off your cd-rom. All of the games are pre-configured for EGA/VGA picture, and soundblaster-compatible audio, which every machine today is capable of. Technically, they’ll almost all work off the cd-rom, but because the others have timer issues that are easiest dealt with when copied to your computer, we’ll set those aside for now. For the 1st two games, however, all you should need to do is browse through My Computer to you CD drive (drive “E” I believe for you?) and through to either the QG1OLD folder or QG2 folder. From there, right-click on one of either QG1OLD.BAT, SIERRA.COM, or SCIV.EXE (depensing on your computer’s setup, you might not see the extensions, so it’ll be QG1OLD, SIERRA, or SCIV instead). ANy-who, right click on one of those, and choose Run with VDMS. If VDMS give you any kind of write-error message (as it should, since the ROM in CD-ROM stands for “READ only”) just tell it to ignore. That should let you run QG1OLD and QG2 fine. Just remember that when you want to save, you need to choose your harddrive.

Quest for Glory I (point’n’click) and Quest for Glory III are slightly different matters. Because of things like the Weapon’s Master and “For what have you come, friend of Rakeesh” you need to have them fixed. If you don’t know how to copy them to your harddrive in Windows XP, read on: Again, browse through My Computer to your CD drive, and highlight the folders for the games you want (i.e. QG1NEW, or QG3E) then go to the Edit menu near the top, and select Copy To..., then select where you want to copy them to.

Now comes the fixing! Download the appropriate patches from http://geocities.com/belzorash/ and unzip them to their respective game’s folders on your harddrive. Some of them might ask if you want to replace certain files. Just say yes. Remember, so long as you don’t snap the cd in two when you’ve finished copying the games to your harddrive, you still have the unaltered versions, so fixing any mistakes is easy; just delete and try again.

If you really want to (and why wouldn’t you want to), you can do the same methods as above to copy the two typing QFG games to your harddrive, but if you do, do yourself a favour, and download this replacement configuration program: http://sierra.happy-land.ca/sierraDOSInstall.zip. It’s the familiar blue/green install/configure screen many of us are familiar with. Just incase you ever decide to play it in 4 colours with internal speaker sound.... for nostalgia, or weird bragging rights. Whatever gets you going.

The hardest to get installed and working is (in my opinion, at least) the best of the four to play. Shadows of Darkness. The first thing you need to do is get this one onto your harddrive. Because it’s files are seemingly scattered throughout the entire disc, it’s easiest to go through it’s own DOS install. Again, browse through My Computer to your cd drive, and from there, double-click INST.EXE (or, if like above, just INST) This might take a second to get going, but it should also correctly install everything for you. You want to choose the Full install, because you’re going to need to put some updated patches in there too, from the same place as above: http://geocities.com/belzorash/ just like before.

I think that just about covers everything. Unless I’m forgetting or missing something, I’m fairly confident you shoudl be able to get up and running in no time. Tomorrow’s lesson: “Playing Shadows of Darkness with full voices, and no CD.”

Everybody, this is Unknown Hero - who is a hero by anyone's definition.

Thank you so much, Charles, for making such a very clear and informative post. I will definitely pin this information up for easy access so that everyone who's got this problem can see the easy-to-follow instructions.

Alright, I got 3 working, but I don't know how to install the patches, do I just put them in the qfg3 folder? When I go to put them in, they don't copy over anything.

Also, would I be better off trying to get this game working in dosbox? Because I remember it had some serious bugs the last time I tried playing it....


And mucho thanks unknown hero, were you on the original sierra forums way back when? I was a member for a time as well, but anyways, your name just rung a bell, thanks again for the awesome help!

Personally I don't use any patches - I just run the games in DosBox and they work just fine

Alright, I'm fighting with dosbox again to make it run QFG3, I copied the files to my HD, and when I type the command line C:\QG3E\SIERRA.EXE which is what it is, I get the message "can't find interp. ERRCan't find interp. ERR" Anyone know what the problem might be?

I tried running the install from dosbox as well, got the following message
"FATAL ERROR: Can't find text video entry for 'videoprompt'. This can be caused by a missing install.txt or install.hlp file,
Module: textdict.cpp(148)"

I'm going to try running it from the CD now.
EDIT
Same thing trying it from the CD as well...durnit

**EDIT**

Heh... took me over an hour to write this... well, I’m not deleting it, but let me ask you some things...

Which cd version did you say you had? Anthology? That’s the one with the four pictures of the hero on the front, from the first four games?

It sounds like you didn’t copy everything over completely... but I don’t see how, if you just copied over the folders.

Are you sure your disc is good? No obscene scratches, or unexpected holes, say?

On the CD, was it the same Error about the videoprompt entry missing?

Just had a thought... you are typing “CD \QG3E\” before typing SIERRA.EXE, right? It’s much easier if you go there through windows... plus you can use VDMSound right there, instead of opening a command prompt with VDMSound first.

**RESUME ORIGINAL LONG-WINDED POST**

I’m Unknown Hero on the Sierra forums now, but I think way back when there was another Unknown Hero. When they switched from the old forums years back (before QFG5 even, I think) I had joined up and used the name Unknown Hero without realising there was somebody else who had already laid claim to the name, so to speak. I just chose the name, because that was the default name if you left it blank in the original QFG1 (or Hero’s Quest as it was known by in those days; back then we tied an onion around our belts, as was the fashion of the day... ....)

But back to reality. You’re exactly right about installing the patches; just unzip them into your QFG3 folder, and if it asks to overwrite a file, do so. It may very well not ask. I guess “installing” is a bit of a misnomer. You’re not really doing anything. If I could just drift of on a slight tangent for a second, let me tell you one of the reasons why the old Sierra games were so good. Updates. All the classic Sierra games from King’s Quest 4 onward (that is SCI, if you’re familiar with that name; “Pause-While-You-Type” if you’re not) are just a collection of backgrounds, animations, sounds/music, and scripts (etc.) thrown together in a single file, much like the zip files of today. You may recognise these as the RESOURCE.000, and perhaps RESOURCE.001, etc., files found in the game’s folder. (The .001, .002, and so forth are so the game can be played form multiple disks, when the games were small enough to be able to do that... but I digress from my digression.) You can have your backgrounds, animations, sounds/music, and scripts in the collected RESOURCE.000 file, or they can just be loose in the folder. Now, here’s where the genious comes in. If the game finds a file loose in the folder, it assumes this is a newer version, and uses it instead of the one in the larger RESOURCE.000 file. Since the “patch” files (your backgrounds, animations, sound/music, scripts, etc.) are much smaller individually, it makes it much easier for Sierra to distribute fixes or corrections to their games, and makes it all that easier for the end-user (you) to apply them.

The timer fixes are simply the work of one man (NewRisingSun) re-writing selected scripts from the game to make them not-dependant on CPU speed; Something the programmers back at Sierra were supposed to do, and encouraged to do, because it is better programming. But since at the time, computers were slow enough that if you didn’t make it independant from CPU speed, it ran just as fast as if it was dependant, and dead-lines keep looming evercloser and closer, they took shortcuts because it looked like no harm, no foul. Turns out, for nostalgia fans, big harm and foul.

Personally, I’m much more in support of throwing these new timer-corrected scripts into the game that using DOSBox. Not only is it easier, but I think it’s a better solution. To me, using DOSBox, or slow-down utilities aren’t really solutions, they’re just ways of avoiding the problem, but they may not neccessarily be healthy for your computer. Think of it this way; would you think it’s a good idea to drive a manual-transmission in 1st gear all the time, just because you like to floor it without worrying about going over 30mph? If you have termites, do you just slap a fresh coat of paint over the holes? The way DOSBox and these slow-down programs make your games more playable is by forcing your CPU to do extra useless tasks so it can’t concentrate fully on the thing you want to slow down. That means, since it has less time to dedicate to your game, the game runs slower. And in the case of Sierra games, so it will run slow enough that the faulty programming won’t show any of it’s flaws. Technically speaking, it’s not the best thing for your CPU to be running extra hard just to slow down a game, especially when there are other alternatives. The harder your CPU runs, the hotter it gets, the worse it is for the stability of your entire system, and the shorter your CPU will last. Now, mind, even if your CPU only lasts 5 years (and that’s an extreme example... you’re more likely to only get 20 years out of it instead of 50, by running it hotter), how many peopel will still be using the same computer five years from now? Ten years from now? Practically speaking, you probably won’t notice any performance loss. But back to five years, or ten years from now... The best reason DOSBox works to get past timer issues is because DOSBox is so system intensive, it naturally slows the system down enough to play the old games without a problem. But as computers get faster and faster, and more and more sensitive to overheating, this could become an issue again, in as little as 3 years. Anyways, to wrap it up, I have always preferred fixing the problems as opposed to circumventing them, when applicable.

That’s not to say DOSBox doesn’t have some other appreciable attributes. Some builds have MT-32 emulation, and then there’s the graphic scaling/antialiasing. But if you’re using it for just slow down, trust me when I say there are now better ways.

For QFG1-3, DOSBOX is not needed, as I said.. Shadows of Darkness is the only QFG game where benefit is derived from using DOSBOX, and that's purely music related. Which means a lot to me- I love the game's score.

The QFG Anthology has a problem with its' installer. However, if you run the appropriate 'install.exe' files FROM THE CD, from the individual game folders, the games should be fine on your hard disk. From there, simply patch QFG1-3 and run with VDMS and Speedset. For QFG4, run with DOSBOX as Elsa and others have outlined previously.

It's very simple. It annoys me so much when people complicate things..

And Charles, you certainly are familiar to me.. I remember your brief stint at our Space Quest forums.

- Spike

Excellent information, all. This should be impossible to mistake... and I hope the information proves of inestimable value to all players.

Sorry for those of you who are getting frustrated, I do have a tendancy to make things harder than they are. But to be fair, I did say I would need to have my hand held to get through this in my oringal post.

Now, back to QFG3, I'm assuming then that the 'could not initialize audio hardware" at the beginning doesn't matter then right? So, now my two questions are

1. How do you use speedset, do I have to go to dos? I read the readme that came with it, but I don't quite understand how to apply it to the game

And I tried doing what charles said by installing QFG4 with the installer off the CD, but I got the same "video prompt" error I got from trying to use dosbox with qfg3. Durnit, very close.

And yes, my version is anthology, but no, the CD is in very good condition.
EDIT
Update, reinstalled dosbox, and everything is working fine now, one question, do I need to install the patches if i'm using dosbox?

Also, installed and patched dragon vire to 1.0.0.2, but whenever I try to run, it tells me it encountered an unexpected error and crashes, anyone have any ideas?

The “could not initialize audio hardware” error should be fixed with this link Spikey gave above: ftp://ftp.sierra.com/pub/patches/pc/sb16drv.exe

I don’t think you’d need to use the timer-patches if you’re using DOSBox, but it also shouldn’t hurt, either.

All I can suggest for Dragon Fire is to set the Compability for Windows 95 or 98.

Speedset is something Spikey can help with; I’ve never heard of it because of my irrational bias on slow-down utilities.

And Spikey, what was it that reminded you? Was it my avatar, or my cocky “Know-it-All” attitude? I’d imagine you got more than a few fly-by-nighters when NewRisingSun came out with his timer-patches. I still occasionally check out your SQ forums, but admitedly not so much lately, since I re-installed my computer. Lost all my favourites, y’know.

I hope I didn’t complicate things too much, as I have a tendency to do, and at least helped a little.

awesome, thanks for all the help. I heard that compatibility should be set for windows 98, I'm just not sure how one goes about doing that...I don't suppose you could give me one more nugget of information :-D

Of course.

Just right-click on your Dragon Fire shortcut, and you’ll see a tab at the top that says Compatibility. Just check off the “Run this program in compatibility mode for” option, and select the Windows version you want. You could also try the other options if you find you need them. I don’t think any of those other ones help Dragon Fire though.

Alright

Every game except 4 is working perfect now, however, I thought I had 4 cased, but I actually tried playing it, and there is no voice...I did the maximum installation in the install..., but no voices...I can taste it, I'm so close to having the series working perfectly...Now, I think it has something to do with the CD, since I've heard that the voices come off the CD. Now the CD is in the right drive (E) and when I open the game in dosbox, all other sounds play right, and theres the pause for the speaking, but there is no Jonathan Ryes Davies talking...Sorry for lying earlier, guess there was a little more than one last nugget o' help needed ^_^

I ran the installer, it installed the .bat file onto my c drive. I run that file in dosbox, and when I get into the actual game, the messages go to fast for me to read, there's no voice.

Heh.. a bit of everything, Charles. <grin>
And you have no idea how many people actually were posting there! We're back to around 20 actives again, now.
I must say I love the 'Thin Crust, No Anchovies' avatar. Awesome stuff.

Alcibiates- For Speedset, you make a batch file (run Notepad and save as a .bat file, or just rename it as one) with the contents "speedset .005 <insert game executable here>".

For QFG4.. run install.exe from the CD, and then timer patch it and DOSBOX it (though- I doubt the timer patch is terribly helpful under DOSBOX). I dpn't know- there may be a problem with DACBLAST.DRV under DOSBOX. I must check these things out..

- Spike

Alright, I did that, now what do I do with the bat file? I tried running it with VDM, but it crashes, and doesn't even load the game, says its not a valid MS-DOS program. I tried with and without the <>. I copied the game executable from the file itself, the same one I was using with VDM before, but nothing.

Alcibiates, I think I can help with your QFG4 audio problems. It sounds like a classic case of you not having the CD in the drive, when you play the game.

There might be some “complications” because of your using DOSBox.

First things, if you cannot get the voices working, but don’t want it to skip the text as well, when you run the game go to the control panel (that’s the place where you can save, load, set skill and etail settings; a whole host of stuff) and turn off voices. The game is expecting to find the voices, and is planning on clearing the text box as soon as the voices are done playing. No voices, no delay.

Now, as for actually fixing the problem: Did you install the game in DOSBox, or a regular old Comand Prompt? (Or Windows Explorer, or the Run dialog; those would be the same as command prompt.)

Your CD-ROM Drive would normally be, what, E?
Are you mounting E as your CD-ROM drive in DOSBox?

I would suggest keeping your DOSBox mounting the same as (or at least similar to) what they are in Windows if you plan on playing these games both inside and out of DOSBox. If you’re just going to be playing it through DOSBox, but installed it outside of DOSBox, then you should just need to change the configuration file for Quest for Glory 4. Just go to the QFG4 folder, and open up RESOURCE.CFG in notepad, and change any line pointing to your Windows CD-ROM drive to whatever your CD-ROM drive is mounted as in DOSBox.

Woot, got it working. Now, one game left, and I'm sure spikey can help clear me of the problems I'm having with getting speedset to work for GFQ3 :-D Hopefully THIS is the last help I'll be needing...

Great

QFG3 speedset file:

Make a new text document by right-clicking, selecting 'new' and 'text document'. Rename it to something like 'qfg3speed.bat'.

Open the file with Notepad and enter the following text:
speedset .005
sierra.exe

Save it. Make sure the 2 speedset files are in your QFG3 folder, as is the qfg3speed.bat file.

Run qfg3speed.bat with VDMS by right-clicking.

- Spike

P.S. Hopefully you patched it first!

Well, thanks to everyone who helped me get these games running, they all seem to be running great now, and I know I couldn't have got it working without everyones help. Thank you all very much, and I look forward to talking to you all more on the other forums.

Thanks again!

Well, I am sorry, but I just can't get QFG4 to install. I copied the files over to my HD and clicked on the install file. I get the same message as before. "It is not suitable to run in MS-DOS or Windows. Click close to terminate the application." I am about to quit unless someone can help. This for the single cd only.

I'm having a problem just getting the "Anthology" cd to work properly. Everytime I try to click something, like the install button, it goes to the screen, but an error thing pops up saying,

Title: 16 bit MS-DOS Subsystem

"The System file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows applications. Choose 'close' to terminate the application."

I don't know what to do, or what I can do... It could be my computer, which is kinda old, but has Windows XP on it... Or it could be the disk... I don't know. If anyone can help, it would be nice.

And I'm new to these boards, but I've liked "Quest for Glory" for a long time, the first one that is, the remake... I've never played any of the others.

Have you done a search on this board for all the topics that mention Windows XP?