The original single player MtG doesn’t seem to work with XP (won’t even install). Does anyone have a work around for this? I couldn’t find a patch or any info.
I’m trying to install it, by the way, because after playing Ether Lords 2 for a couple of hours I realized that I was bored and nostalgic for the complexity of MtG. EL2 is pretty slick but just too simplistic for me.
I wish I could help you. I’d like to play it again as well.
It annoys me that Windows makes older Windows programs obsolete.
I don’t have the game, but you may want to try the following if you have not already.
Pop in the cd and “Explore” the contents
Right click on Setup.exe (or the appropriate executable and click Properites
Click the “Compatiblity Tab”
Put a checkmark in “Run this program in…” (try the different options <98,95, 2000>)
Click on Apply and then OK.
This worked for me on a few older games that would not install. I sure you have already tried this though, but just a thought.
I’ve said it before…invest in an older PC–a Pentium 200 is probably the sweet spot at the moment–so that you can dual boot between DOS and Windows 98.
I actually have a 486/66 for old DOS games and a Pentium Pro 200 for old win games.
Takes too much space.
I got it working on XP. You have to apply the patch (I think it’s the “manalink132” one).
It’s kind of a pain but there’s information on various fan sites that will help you get it sorted.
Also, when you run the patched program don’t set compatibility mode.
well, something I don’t want to promote, but if you go to Home of the Underdogs, there’s a MTG download. the MTG download includes the game and all the patches. download it and follow the nfo instructions then install manalink 132 which is also on the same page. It works fine under xp and 2k then.
The Shandalar adventure part of MtG also runs way to fast on a modern computer. As I recall it ran to fast to be playable on a PII 450, on one of today’s 2-3 GHz machines it will be impossible to play. I tried working with MoSlo on it with no luck.
Eh, fuggedaboutit. I can’t get the damn thing to work–not from the original cd, not from the Underdogs. Plus ydejin is saying that Shandalar probably won’t work anyway, and that’s the part that I was interested in.
Thanks Myth, for that nifty compatibility trick. I had no idea you could do that.
Yeah, I know what you mean, but I guess it’s ok if I actually own it? And, coincidentally, I was working at Microprose while they were developing it.
You know, I’d actually pay decently for the following:
PCI card with 486-66 or Pentium 150 or somesuch
16MB (32MB) of memory?
Built in Vesa 2.0 compatible video chip.
Proper Bios/Drivers to run fullscreen as a separate thread under Windows XP.
I’m sure there’s programs out there like this (DOSbox comes to mind) but seems like a huge chunk of problems could be gotten around by providing an entirely separate CPU.
I don’t have the time/space/inclination to set up a second box (especially an old one with all the heat issues and the like) to do this type of gaming, but I’d love to be able to play the old games. Of course, getting them to build a SB/SB2.0/Gravis Ultrasound/whatever all in one chip that someone could write directly to might be tough.
I can’t believe so many old games worked so well considering the complete mess that programming games for PCs used to be.
Yeah, I know what you mean, but I guess it’s ok if I actually own it? And, coincidentally, I was working at Microprose while they were developing it.[/quote]
I can’t think of any legal problems with downloading it if you already own it.
Yeah, I had that with my old 450 too, it surprised me that they didn’t cater for even a slight increase in CPU speeds when they designed it. IIRC it came out when 166s were fairly common and 233s may have been available too. Did they think that the growth in CPU speeds was going to stop, or was it just built-in obsolescence?