Crusader series (DOS) troubleshooting

[Gapporin]

Some of you may remember awhile back when I started a thread detailing my experiences with configuring and running an actual DOS machine from "scratch" (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=118089). Well, I'm happy to report that since smoothing things over, I've had an incredible success rate with any game I choose to throw at it. Suere, I've had a few niggling issues, but nothing major. However, I have two games that flat out simply refuse to work. Coincedentially, they also happen to be from the same series: Crusader: No Remorse and Crusader: No Regret.

For both games, I am using the CD-ROM version. Installation works fine, but afterwards, it's running the actual game that's the problem.

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I'll start with No Remorse. After patching it to v1.21, running the game causes the game to respond with a "DOS Interrupt Error". This simply means that there are one or more TSR's screwing with the loading process and they need to be disabled. After a "clean boot" (loading nothing but CD-ROM and mouse drivers and SET BLASTER), I ran the game again. This time, the loading process completed but now it froze on a black screen. The readme says that this is because "FILES=40" and "BUFFER=40" was not defined in my CONFIG.SYS. So I add those lines and load those with the aforementioned drivers. Still hangs. The readme offers no help past what it already mentioned.

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In No Regret, the problem is similar but different. It, too, will load up with a "DOS Interrupt Error" if it finds a conflicting TSR. So I did the aforementioned "clean boot". Now whenever I run the game, it loads with an "Out of memory in file ..\ITEMDATA\ITEM.C -line 55" and freezes. Now, I know I have enough memory to run the game. The machine has 64MB+ memory total, plus an acceptable amount of high memory as well. The game's version is 1.06 and as far as I know, there were no additional patches released.

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So can anybody give me a hand here and point me in the right direction? If you say, "Use DOSBox", you automatically get an F-. ;) Thanks in advance!

[roushimsx]

For both games, I am using the CD-ROM version.

That's good, because no other version of the game was ever released. I can't believe sites still carry those crummy rips that have been floating around for the last 12-13 years :(

Have you tried loading your mouse and CD-ROM drivers high? (LOADHIGH or LH)
Should read something like LOADHIGH=MSCDEX.EXE /L:driveletter /d:MSCD001

...and then don't forget to put a corresponding DEVICEHIGH entry in your config.sys for the driver.

Or you could quit gimping your experience, spend 5 minutes learning how to properly tweak and manipulate DOSbox, and not have these silly problems that get in the way of enjoying awesomely badass games like Crusader: No Remorse/No Regret.

p.s. thanks for making me pull this out of my CD binder, jerk. I should be in bed by now but instead I've gotta watch the intro, jam to the title screen music for at least one loop, and play through the first mission. You know, rituals and all. :)

p.p.s. Star Trek 25th Anniversary CD-ROM. Play it. Thank me later :(

edit - hey, what version of DOS are you rolling with, anyway? MSDOS 6.22 or are you rolling with one of those newfangled ones?

[Gapporin]

That's good, because no other version of the game was ever released. I can't believe sites still carry those crummy rips that have been floating around for the last 12-13 years :(

Heh, now that I think about it, it probably would've been counterproductive to release a game of that magnitude on floppy disk.


Have you tried loading your mouse and CD-ROM drivers high? (LOADHIGH or LH)
Should read something like LOADHIGH=MSCDEX.EXE /L:driveletter /d:MSCD001

...and then don't forget to put a corresponding DEVICEHIGH entry in your config.sys for the driver.

Well, whaddaya know. After putting a together a quick MS-DOS boot disk with both CD-ROM and mouse drivers, both games work flawlessly. I almost feel kinda stupid now, but I had hoped that the problem could've been circumvented without the use of an external floppy, as it's one more thing to carry along with my "stuff". Hmm...this might be a good time to learn how to do dual config/autoexec booting...


Or you could quit gimping your experience, spend 5 minutes learning how to properly tweak and manipulate DOSbox, and not have these silly problems that get in the way of enjoying awesomely badass games like Crusader: No Remorse/No Regret.

C'mon, that's not the point. DOS games go on the DOS laptop, Windows games go on the Windows laptop, and everybody lives harmoniusly. That being said, I'm not saying that DOSBox doesn't have a place -- It's much easier to carry DOSBox and a few games around on a flash drive than it is to carry around another laptop and as a matter of fact, I've got a DOSBox setup on my flash drive that I always carry around in case I've got to time to kill and a computer nearby.

It's just that in dealing with older computer games, I like to keep everything as "authentic" as possible (yes, including the trials and tribulations...).


p.p.s. Star Trek 25th Anniversary CD-ROM. Play it. Thank me later :(

Another great game. I've got the Interplay 10th Anniversary disc which has ST:25 on it, but it's not the same as the CD-ROM version (it's missing speech and whatever else was added on). Still a great little compliation, though, which also includes The Bard's Tale and Wasteland.


edit - hey, what version of DOS are you rolling with, anyway? MSDOS 6.22 or are you rolling with one of those newfangled ones?

MS-DOS 6.22. I haven't felt a need to experiment with FreeDOS or DR-DOS or whathaveyou, just because everything I need with MS-DOS is available and the fact that compability may suffer with any of these newer "rebuilt" versions.

Thanks again for your help!

[Daria]

Or you could quit gimping your experience, spend 5 minutes learning how to properly tweak and manipulate DOSbox, and not have these silly problems that get in the way of enjoying awesomely badass games like Crusader: No Remorse/No Regret.


While I think it's sort of awesome that the OP built a DOS machine just for gaming, I have to say that I just starting tinkering around with DOSbox for MAC. OMG, it's fucking amazing. I downloaded a graphical front end, because I always sucked at DOS commands. One neat feature is that it displays my games in a list sort of like MAME. I can set categories as well as write descriptions for each title. I can also set individual setups for each game without having to write a bunch of config files. I've gotten games to run on this machine that I could never get to work on my old PC. Even when using DOSbox. It's been years since I was able to play "I Have no Mouth" with functioning sound.

edit: Holy crap. The Crusader games look kind of like Fallout. Have to check them out.

[s1lence]

i used to have a way for loading those. I had to do all sorts of fun stuff with the mem settings. Let me check my old notes and see if I can post what I did.

[Jorpho]

It's been years since I was able to play "I Have no Mouth" with functioning sound.

Dude, ScummVM.

Also, see http://www.hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/crusader/crusader.htm for more information on Crusader.

[roushimsx]

I've got the Interplay 10th Anniversary disc which has ST:25 on it, but it's not the same as the CD-ROM version (it's missing speech and whatever else was added on). Still a great little compliation, though, which also includes The Bard's Tale and Wasteland.


Oh man, the CD-ROM edition is so much nicer than the floppy version. The voice acting alone makes it worth the purchase (I bought a brand new copy off of eBay for cheap. It felt good opening that sucker up) and the expanded seventh episode is great. Terrible ship combat conclusion remains, unfortunately... one of the most difficulty final showdowns I've ever successfully completed (after much swearing and retrying). :(


While I think it's sort of awesome that the OP built a DOS machine just for gaming, I have to say that I just starting tinkering around with DOSbox for MAC. OMG, it's fucking amazing.

I love DOSbox because it eliminates the multiple boot disks (each with custom boot menus for various games) that I once had. Never needing to run MoSlow, noflb, univbe or any other utility is a serious plus, as is the ability to grab screenshots, record movies, upscale to my native monitor resolution, use any controller I want with my games (Saitek x52 with Wing Commander 2? You betcha!) and use a frontend like you described to instantly launch games a la MAMEUIXX. Being able to emulate a variety of audio hardware is a plus, too (since I love the GUS demo scene stuff but generally prefer a SB and MT32 for gaming).

DOSbox is the best thing to ever happen to DOS gaming.


edit: Holy crap. The Crusader games look kind of like Fallout. Have to check them out.

Crusader: No Remorse won action game of the year for 1995 from multiple publications for a reason. It's fucking awesome. The music is fucking awesome. I bought Chaser just because the dude looked like a Silencer.

Play No Remorse. Get addicted. Play No Regret. Google information on the canceled multiplayer enabled sequel, "No Mercy". Cry. :'(

[Daria]

Dude, ScummVM.

Also, see http://www.hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/crusader/crusader.htm for more information on Crusader.

Well don't need it now. :P

[Gapporin]

While I think it's sort of awesome that the OP built a DOS machine just for gaming, I have to say that I just starting tinkering around with DOSbox for MAC.

That's another great thing about DOSBox -- cross platform emulation. If I had a Linux box handy, you'd bet your sweet bippy that I'd have that installed and ready to go.


Play No Remorse. Get addicted. Play No Regret. Google information on the canceled multiplayer enabled sequel, "No Mercy". Cry. :'(

Have you played any of the later knockoffs that were inspired by Crusader (Total Mayhem, Bedlam, etc.)? I have Bedlam, and while it still follows the "shoot-everything-in-sight" motif, it's nowhere near as polished as the Crusader series. I've played a demo of Total Mayhem before, but that was long, long ago and I hardly remember anything about it.

[roushimsx]

Have you played any of the later knockoffs that were inspired by Crusader (Total Mayhem, Bedlam, etc.)? I have Bedlam, and while it still follows the "shoot-everything-in-sight" motif, it's nowhere near as polished as the Crusader series. I've played a demo of Total Mayhem before, but that was long, long ago and I hardly remember anything about it.

I was really looking forward to Bedlam and was disappointed in it when it did finally come out. Ditto for Gender Wars :(

Haven't played Total Mayhem...might have to hunt it down to give it a look-see for shits n' grins. :)

[Jorpho]

Bit of a pity that development on Pentagram (http://pentagram.sourceforge.net/) seems to have stalled. (Crusader uses the same engine as Ultima 8, dont'cha know.)

[roushimsx]

Bit of a pity that development on Pentagram (http://pentagram.sourceforge.net/) seems to have stalled. (Crusader uses the same engine as Ultima 8, dont'cha know.)

Holy shit, I gave up on that project making anything playable long before their earlier update on that news page. Awesome to see that they were updating as recently as a year ago.

[Scott45]

Wow,
The Crusader series was second to only the XCom series to me.
I still have the CDroms but need to learn how to play them on XP.
anyone know of a good tutorial?

[roushimsx]

Wow,
The Crusader series was second to only the XCom series to me.
I still have the CDroms but need to learn how to play them on XP.
anyone know of a good tutorial?

1) Grab the latest DOSbox (http://www.dosbox.com/)
1a) I live on the edge (http://cvscompile.aep-emu.de/dosbox.htm)!
2) Mount a virtual C Drive in DOSbox
3) Mount the CD as a CD within DOSbox
4) Install the game
5) Knock yourself the fuck out.

For step 2, I have a subfolder under C:\games called "DOS" (C:\games\DOS) where I store all of my DOS games. In the bottom of my DOSbox.conf file (in the autoexec section), I have the following line:

mount c C:\games\DOS

Under that are folders like \blood, \SW, \Remorse, \Regret, \Xcom, etc.

For step 3, I use the following command under the previous one:
mount d E:\ -t cdrom

...but only because my CD drive is currently drive E. edit as needed for yourself. Something else I like to do is rip images to my hard drive and then mount them with the IMGMOUNT command:
IMGMOUNT d "D:\cd images\PC Games\One_Unit_Whole_Blood.cue" -t iso

That'd mount the Blood compilation as a CD ROM with drive letter D. You know, assuming you were playing One Unit Whole Blood. Which you don't really need to do, you just really need Blood and Cryptic Passage. Skip the Plasma Pak.

Once you have your C drive setup and your CD ROM mounted, you're set. Go in there, install that sucker, and rock the fuck out proper.

If needed, go to your DOSbox.conf file to change the fullscreen and windowed resolutions to match those of your monitor (if you're using an LCD) and feel free to toggle the output mode to opengl or direct3d. If you're running Fraps to snap screenshots, you'll be happy that you did. That's all optional, but whatever!

[Scott45]

Thanks!
Unless Hurricane Hanna knocks out the power here in Eastern NC I'll be doing that this weekend.

[Kitsune Sniper]

If a moron like me can get DOSBox to work, anyone can. :D

I've tinkered with it, and the only issues I've had with it are audio problems. I tried to play Wayne's World on it and my speakers almost exploded. :P

[Nescollector]

roushimsx.....The music is fucking awesome.

You can listen to the music with ModPlug Player :) Both great games.