🚀 go-pugleaf

I have to say that for anyone unfamiliar with the good ol' dos prompt, that
has got to be the most difficult way to get an xcom game working, especially
since we have no idea which game you are talking about....


-Micah
micahdg@xcomufo.com
www.xcomufo.com



"Penelope Baker" <penelope_baker@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:vmcbkqdl7chh3d@corp.supernews.com...
> I tried all the hacks, cracks, cheats, CD protections, sound VM drivers,
> etc.  NOTHING worked.
>
> SOOOOOO...I just copied the c:\windows\command directory from a Win98 box
on
> the network to my hard drive as C:\DOS, copied over the command.com,
> himem.sys, emm386.exe and smartdrv.exe files from c:\windows\system to the
> same directory, and created a windows 98 startup disk.  Then I copied the
> DOS drivers (or as in the case of my SB Live! which has no 'real' DOS
> drivers, I faked it using the windows drivers and the .ini file) to the
> C:\DOS\drivers\ directory.  I also made a C:\dos\drivers\mouse and
> c:\dos\drivers\cd-rom directory.  Then I nuked the autoexec.bat and config
> sys that came with the startup disk and made my own calling all the stuff
I
> needed off C.  Now, whenever I want to play X-COM, I enjoy the full game,
no
> glitches, no funky sound, no mouse BS, by just popping in my startup disk
> and rebooting :P
>
> Yeah, I know, it's not REALLY under XP, but it turned out to be the best
> solution for me and was the least 'quirky'.  :)
>
> Peace,
> Pen
>
>

This applies to any of the older X-COM games at all.  Config.sys and
autoexec.bat tutorials are rampant on the 'net, so that's pretty much a
non-issue too.

Lastly, if you have nothing constructive to say, no one is forcing you to
use this solution :)

Peace,
Pen

"Micah" <micahdg@xcomufo.com> wrote in message
news:bk5qge$p3g0e$1@ID-202884.news.uni-berlin.de...
> I have to say that for anyone unfamiliar with the good ol' dos prompt,
that
> has got to be the most difficult way to get an xcom game working,
especially
> since we have no idea which game you are talking about....
>
>
> -Micah
> micahdg@xcomufo.com
> www.xcomufo.com
>
>
>
> "Penelope Baker" <penelope_baker@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:vmcbkqdl7chh3d@corp.supernews.com...
> > I tried all the hacks, cracks, cheats, CD protections, sound VM drivers,
> > etc.  NOTHING worked.
> >
> > SOOOOOO...I just copied the c:\windows\command directory from a Win98
box
> on
> > the network to my hard drive as C:\DOS, copied over the command.com,
> > himem.sys, emm386.exe and smartdrv.exe files from c:\windows\system to
the
> > same directory, and created a windows 98 startup disk.  Then I copied
the
> > DOS drivers (or as in the case of my SB Live! which has no 'real' DOS
> > drivers, I faked it using the windows drivers and the .ini file) to the
> > C:\DOS\drivers\ directory.  I also made a C:\dos\drivers\mouse and
> > c:\dos\drivers\cd-rom directory.  Then I nuked the autoexec.bat and
config
> > sys that came with the startup disk and made my own calling all the
stuff
> I
> > needed off C.  Now, whenever I want to play X-COM, I enjoy the full
game,
> no
> > glitches, no funky sound, no mouse BS, by just popping in my startup
disk
> > and rebooting :P
> >
> > Yeah, I know, it's not REALLY under XP, but it turned out to be the best
> > solution for me and was the least 'quirky'.  :)
> >
> > Peace,
> > Pen
> >
> >
>
>

Penelope Baker wrote:
> I tried all the hacks, cracks, cheats, CD protections, sound VM drivers,
> etc.  NOTHING worked.
> 
 >
(snip-er-rooni)
> 
> Yeah, I know, it's not REALLY under XP, but it turned out to be the best
> solution for me and was the least 'quirky'.  :)
> 
> Peace,
> Pen
> 
> 

Just a heads-up. This method absolutely will not work if the drive you 
are using has been formatted as an NTFS filesytem (as many pre-installed 
and wipe-and-startover installs are.)

An alternative, if you are using an NTFS filesystem, is to burn all the 
above files to a CD-R, and make it bootable. You can also put copies of 
X-COM on the CD-R, and if you're feeling adventurous, write up a boot 
menu that you can use to go straight into one of the games. Using this 
method, you can play X-COM on anyones computer (well, x86 machines, at 
least, and unless they had the same sound card, you'd be without sound) 
, anywhere, anytime, without having to install anything.

Agreed with what Micah said though. Applying this procedure to an 
individual computer would be tedious at best, fraught with much trial 
and error at worst, and downright impossible if you dont have a copy of 
Win95/98 or DOS. But it would work, and hey, learning DOS would give a 
lot you lazy-ass newbies a taste of what it was like to try and get 
these games running on the systems of 10 years ago. :D

____     On Mon, 15 Sep 2003 17:26:55 -0400
\__/___  Penelope Baker ran through the
 LI-\o-' streets of alt.games.x-com
     |   waving an axe and screaming:
    / \
>I tried all the hacks, cracks, cheats, CD protections, sound VM drivers,
>etc.  NOTHING worked.
>
>SOOOOOO...I just copied the c:\windows\command directory from a Win98 box on
>the network to my hard drive as C:\DOS, copied over the command.com,
>himem.sys, emm386.exe and smartdrv.exe files from c:\windows\system to the
>same directory, and created a windows 98 startup disk.  Then I copied the
>DOS drivers (or as in the case of my SB Live! which has no 'real' DOS
>drivers, I faked it using the windows drivers and the .ini file) to the
>C:\DOS\drivers\ directory.  I also made a C:\dos\drivers\mouse and
>c:\dos\drivers\cd-rom directory.  Then I nuked the autoexec.bat and config
>sys that came with the startup disk and made my own calling all the stuff I
>needed off C.  Now, whenever I want to play X-COM, I enjoy the full game, no
>glitches, no funky sound, no mouse BS, by just popping in my startup disk
>and rebooting :P
>
>Yeah, I know, it's not REALLY under XP, but it turned out to be the best
>solution for me and was the least 'quirky'.  :)

Why not just install and boot to DOS normally?
-- 
|    _             .\ ~~   _       ^~
|   <')_,/    ,  ;  .\   >(')__,  . ` '  ,
|   (_~=/   \._`.'.  .\   (_~_/         _,      _..-''-._,____,----,____
|    ='-     \=~_) ;  .\ ~^~~^~   ` (_~_/        `'--'`  `~~~~)_)=\_\-.(
|             -'=      .\    ~^~    ~^~~^~
ICQ:11367619 EMAIL:bateau:-)jupiter-io.net WEB:http://tyrian2000.cjb.net

"Jason" <badmonkeyREMOVE@BANANAScfl.rr.com> wrote in message
news:Bmy9b.23295$kX.6303@twister.tampabay.rr.com...
> Penelope Baker wrote:
> > I tried all the hacks, cracks, cheats, CD protections, sound VM drivers,
> > etc.  NOTHING worked.
> >
>  >
> (snip-er-rooni)
> >
> > Yeah, I know, it's not REALLY under XP, but it turned out to be the best
> > solution for me and was the least 'quirky'.  :)
> >
> > Peace,
> > Pen
> >
> >
>
> Just a heads-up. This method absolutely will not work if the drive you
> are using has been formatted as an NTFS filesytem (as many pre-installed
> and wipe-and-startover installs are.)
>
> An alternative, if you are using an NTFS filesystem, is to burn all the
> above files to a CD-R, and make it bootable. You can also put copies of
> X-COM on the CD-R, and if you're feeling adventurous, write up a boot
> menu that you can use to go straight into one of the games. Using this
> method, you can play X-COM on anyones computer (well, x86 machines, at
> least, and unless they had the same sound card, you'd be without sound)
> , anywhere, anytime, without having to install anything.
>
> Agreed with what Micah said though. Applying this procedure to an
> individual computer would be tedious at best, fraught with much trial
> and error at worst, and downright impossible if you dont have a copy of
> Win95/98 or DOS. But it would work, and hey, learning DOS would give a
> lot you lazy-ass newbies a taste of what it was like to try and get
> these games running on the systems of 10 years ago. :D
>
Jason forgets that a CD bootable game and an NTFS filesystem is going to
make saving games just a little bit difficult :)


(I'd put them on a floppy)

Pen - its nice to see an exhaustive list of what needs to be copied where.
Personally though, I just keep a dual-boot win98 kicking around, for Apoc,
and Worms Armageddon.

Well, you actually can get DOS based NTFS drivers if you want.  Free ones
too :)

Peace,
Pen

"Jason" <badmonkeyREMOVE@BANANAScfl.rr.com> wrote in message
news:Bmy9b.23295$kX.6303@twister.tampabay.rr.com...
> Penelope Baker wrote:
> > I tried all the hacks, cracks, cheats, CD protections, sound VM drivers,
> > etc.  NOTHING worked.
> >
>  >
> (snip-er-rooni)
> >
> > Yeah, I know, it's not REALLY under XP, but it turned out to be the best
> > solution for me and was the least 'quirky'.  :)
> >
> > Peace,
> > Pen
> >
> >
>
> Just a heads-up. This method absolutely will not work if the drive you
> are using has been formatted as an NTFS filesytem (as many pre-installed
> and wipe-and-startover installs are.)
>
> An alternative, if you are using an NTFS filesystem, is to burn all the
> above files to a CD-R, and make it bootable. You can also put copies of
> X-COM on the CD-R, and if you're feeling adventurous, write up a boot
> menu that you can use to go straight into one of the games. Using this
> method, you can play X-COM on anyones computer (well, x86 machines, at
> least, and unless they had the same sound card, you'd be without sound)
> , anywhere, anytime, without having to install anything.
>
> Agreed with what Micah said though. Applying this procedure to an
> individual computer would be tedious at best, fraught with much trial
> and error at worst, and downright impossible if you dont have a copy of
> Win95/98 or DOS. But it would work, and hey, learning DOS would give a
> lot you lazy-ass newbies a taste of what it was like to try and get
> these games running on the systems of 10 years ago. :D
>

"Andy Bolstridge" <nowhere@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:PLH9b.6342$vX3.841911@wards.force9.net...

<snip>

>
> (I'd put them on a floppy)
>
> Pen - its nice to see an exhaustive list of what needs to be copied where.
> Personally though, I just keep a dual-boot win98 kicking around, for Apoc,
> and Worms Armageddon.

I'm short of hard drive space :\

Peace,
Pen

"Bateau" <Gamera@work.stomping.aza> wrote in message
news:60jdmv8etiif4ctup7o2u4i1brt32sfq4t@4ax.com...

<snip>

> >Yeah, I know, it's not REALLY under XP, but it turned out to be the best
> >solution for me and was the least 'quirky'.  :)
>
> Why not just install and boot to DOS normally?

No copy of DOS?

Peace,
Pen

On Tue, 16 Sep 2003 18:29:09 +0100, "Andy Bolstridge"
<nowhere@nowhere.com> wrote:

>
>Pen - its nice to see an exhaustive list of what needs to be copied where.
>Personally though, I just keep a dual-boot win98 kicking around, for Apoc,
>and Worms Armageddon.

I was given an old laptop a whiile back - PII-200.

I was annoyed to find it can't play a Direct games - not even worms
!!!

Then was delighted to find it was perfect for DOS games - the first 3
UFO games were quickly installed, as well as some older RPGs.       :)

-- 

Bunnies aren't just cute like everybody supposes !
They got them hoppy legs and twitchy little noses !
And what's with all the carrots ?  
What do they need such good eyesight for anyway ?
Bunnies !  Bunnies !  It must be BUNNIES !

Do you have a link to those?


-Micah


"Penelope Baker" <penelope_baker@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:vmf3gup8c8etb9@corp.supernews.com...
> Well, you actually can get DOS based NTFS drivers if you want.  Free ones
> too :)
>
> Peace,
> Pen
>
> "Jason" <badmonkeyREMOVE@BANANAScfl.rr.com> wrote in message
> news:Bmy9b.23295$kX.6303@twister.tampabay.rr.com...
> > Penelope Baker wrote:
> > > I tried all the hacks, cracks, cheats, CD protections, sound VM
drivers,
> > > etc.  NOTHING worked.
> > >
> >  >
> > (snip-er-rooni)
> > >
> > > Yeah, I know, it's not REALLY under XP, but it turned out to be the
best
> > > solution for me and was the least 'quirky'.  :)
> > >
> > > Peace,
> > > Pen
> > >
> > >
> >
> > Just a heads-up. This method absolutely will not work if the drive you
> > are using has been formatted as an NTFS filesytem (as many pre-installed
> > and wipe-and-startover installs are.)
> >
> > An alternative, if you are using an NTFS filesystem, is to burn all the
> > above files to a CD-R, and make it bootable. You can also put copies of
> > X-COM on the CD-R, and if you're feeling adventurous, write up a boot
> > menu that you can use to go straight into one of the games. Using this
> > method, you can play X-COM on anyones computer (well, x86 machines, at
> > least, and unless they had the same sound card, you'd be without sound)
> > , anywhere, anytime, without having to install anything.
> >
> > Agreed with what Micah said though. Applying this procedure to an
> > individual computer would be tedious at best, fraught with much trial
> > and error at worst, and downright impossible if you dont have a copy of
> > Win95/98 or DOS. But it would work, and hey, learning DOS would give a
> > lot you lazy-ass newbies a taste of what it was like to try and get
> > these games running on the systems of 10 years ago. :D
> >
>
>

Here you go!  Freeware too! :)

http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/NTFSDOS.shtml

Peace,
Pen

"Micah" <micahdg@xcomufo.com> wrote in message
news:bk844f$q9svv$1@ID-202884.news.uni-berlin.de...
> Do you have a link to those?
>
>
> -Micah
>
>
> "Penelope Baker" <penelope_baker@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:vmf3gup8c8etb9@corp.supernews.com...
> > Well, you actually can get DOS based NTFS drivers if you want.  Free
ones
> > too :)
> >
> > Peace,
> > Pen
> >
> > "Jason" <badmonkeyREMOVE@BANANAScfl.rr.com> wrote in message
> > news:Bmy9b.23295$kX.6303@twister.tampabay.rr.com...
> > > Penelope Baker wrote:
> > > > I tried all the hacks, cracks, cheats, CD protections, sound VM
> drivers,
> > > > etc.  NOTHING worked.
> > > >
> > >  >
> > > (snip-er-rooni)
> > > >
> > > > Yeah, I know, it's not REALLY under XP, but it turned out to be the
> best
> > > > solution for me and was the least 'quirky'.  :)
> > > >
> > > > Peace,
> > > > Pen
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > > Just a heads-up. This method absolutely will not work if the drive you
> > > are using has been formatted as an NTFS filesytem (as many
pre-installed
> > > and wipe-and-startover installs are.)
> > >
> > > An alternative, if you are using an NTFS filesystem, is to burn all
the
> > > above files to a CD-R, and make it bootable. You can also put copies
of
> > > X-COM on the CD-R, and if you're feeling adventurous, write up a boot
> > > menu that you can use to go straight into one of the games. Using this
> > > method, you can play X-COM on anyones computer (well, x86 machines, at
> > > least, and unless they had the same sound card, you'd be without
sound)
> > > , anywhere, anytime, without having to install anything.
> > >
> > > Agreed with what Micah said though. Applying this procedure to an
> > > individual computer would be tedious at best, fraught with much trial
> > > and error at worst, and downright impossible if you dont have a copy
of
> > > Win95/98 or DOS. But it would work, and hey, learning DOS would give a
> > > lot you lazy-ass newbies a taste of what it was like to try and get
> > > these games running on the systems of 10 years ago. :D
> > >
> >
> >
>
>

Hmmm...it appears that is read only...still, it might work if you could
point savegames at a resource like a zip drive.

Peace,
Pen

"Penelope Baker" <penelope_baker@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:vmf8lp9ho6bqde@corp.supernews.com...
> Here you go!  Freeware too! :)
>
> http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/NTFSDOS.shtml
>
> Peace,
> Pen
>
> "Micah" <micahdg@xcomufo.com> wrote in message
> news:bk844f$q9svv$1@ID-202884.news.uni-berlin.de...
> > Do you have a link to those?
> >
> >
> > -Micah
> >
> >
> > "Penelope Baker" <penelope_baker@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> > news:vmf3gup8c8etb9@corp.supernews.com...
> > > Well, you actually can get DOS based NTFS drivers if you want.  Free
> ones
> > > too :)
> > >
> > > Peace,
> > > Pen
> > >
> > > "Jason" <badmonkeyREMOVE@BANANAScfl.rr.com> wrote in message
> > > news:Bmy9b.23295$kX.6303@twister.tampabay.rr.com...
> > > > Penelope Baker wrote:
> > > > > I tried all the hacks, cracks, cheats, CD protections, sound VM
> > drivers,
> > > > > etc.  NOTHING worked.
> > > > >
> > > >  >
> > > > (snip-er-rooni)
> > > > >
> > > > > Yeah, I know, it's not REALLY under XP, but it turned out to be
the
> > best
> > > > > solution for me and was the least 'quirky'.  :)
> > > > >
> > > > > Peace,
> > > > > Pen
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > > Just a heads-up. This method absolutely will not work if the drive
you
> > > > are using has been formatted as an NTFS filesytem (as many
> pre-installed
> > > > and wipe-and-startover installs are.)
> > > >
> > > > An alternative, if you are using an NTFS filesystem, is to burn all
> the
> > > > above files to a CD-R, and make it bootable. You can also put copies
> of
> > > > X-COM on the CD-R, and if you're feeling adventurous, write up a
boot
> > > > menu that you can use to go straight into one of the games. Using
this
> > > > method, you can play X-COM on anyones computer (well, x86 machines,
at
> > > > least, and unless they had the same sound card, you'd be without
> sound)
> > > > , anywhere, anytime, without having to install anything.
> > > >
> > > > Agreed with what Micah said though. Applying this procedure to an
> > > > individual computer would be tedious at best, fraught with much
trial
> > > > and error at worst, and downright impossible if you dont have a copy
> of
> > > > Win95/98 or DOS. But it would work, and hey, learning DOS would give
a
> > > > lot you lazy-ass newbies a taste of what it was like to try and get
> > > > these games running on the systems of 10 years ago. :D
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>

"Penelope Baker" <penelope_baker@hotmail.com> writes:

> No copy of DOS?

There's FreeDOS that's, well, free.

DOSBox v0.58 (CVS/Not Supported)

This will run the Dos version of Xcom and TFTD smoothly on my 2700+
under XP.. The speed controls seem to be verry good. and the SB Sound
emulation runs great once I speed it up.. (the default speed is
insanly slow)

I got this _Beta_ version from :

http://files.pixelz.org/dosboxcvs.zip

-Blade FireLight

"Penelope Baker" <penelope_baker@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<vmcbkqdl7chh3d@corp.supernews.com>...
> I tried all the hacks, cracks, cheats, CD protections, sound VM drivers,
> etc.  NOTHING worked.
> 
> SOOOOOO...I just copied the c:\windows\command directory from a Win98 box on
> the network to my hard drive as C:\DOS, copied over the command.com,
> himem.sys, emm386.exe and smartdrv.exe files from c:\windows\system to the
> same directory, and created a windows 98 startup disk.  Then I copied the
> DOS drivers (or as in the case of my SB Live! which has no 'real' DOS
> drivers, I faked it using the windows drivers and the .ini file) to the
> C:\DOS\drivers\ directory.  I also made a C:\dos\drivers\mouse and
> c:\dos\drivers\cd-rom directory.  Then I nuked the autoexec.bat and config
> sys that came with the startup disk and made my own calling all the stuff I
> needed off C.  Now, whenever I want to play X-COM, I enjoy the full game, no
> glitches, no funky sound, no mouse BS, by just popping in my startup disk
> and rebooting :P
> 
> Yeah, I know, it's not REALLY under XP, but it turned out to be the best
> solution for me and was the least 'quirky'.  :)
> 
> Peace,
> Pen

On 2003-09-18, BladeFireLight <kid3@usa.net> wrote:
> DOSBox v0.58 (CVS/Not Supported)
>
> This will run the Dos version of Xcom and TFTD smoothly on my 2700+
> under XP.. The speed controls seem to be verry good. and the SB Sound
> emulation runs great once I speed it up.. (the default speed is
> insanly slow)
>
> I got this _Beta_ version from :
>
> http://files.pixelz.org/dosboxcvs.zip
>
> -Blade FireLight

I'm about to give this a go. It's open source and there's a version in
Debian...

-- 
Jon Dowland

"Jon Dowland" <spambox@alcopop.org> wrote in message
news:ylDab.1844$Cm2.15986715@news-text.cableinet.net...
> On 2003-09-18, BladeFireLight <kid3@usa.net> wrote:
> > DOSBox v0.58 (CVS/Not Supported)
> >
> > This will run the Dos version of Xcom and TFTD smoothly on my 2700+
> > under XP.. The speed controls seem to be verry good. and the SB Sound
> > emulation runs great once I speed it up.. (the default speed is
> > insanly slow)
> >
> > I got this _Beta_ version from :
> >
> > http://files.pixelz.org/dosboxcvs.zip
> >
> > -Blade FireLight
>
> I'm about to give this a go. It's open source and there's a version in
> Debian...

I never managed to get it to work, but good luck to ya :)

Peace,
Pen

Jon Dowland <spambox@alcopop.org> wrote in message news:<ylDab.1844$Cm2.15986715@news-text.cableinet.net>...
> On 2003-09-18, BladeFireLight <kid3@usa.net> wrote:
> > DOSBox v0.58 (CVS/Not Supported)
> >
> > This will run the Dos version of Xcom and TFTD smoothly on my 2700+
> > under XP.. The speed controls seem to be verry good. and the SB Sound
> > emulation runs great once I speed it up.. (the default speed is
> > insanly slow)
> >
> > I got this _Beta_ version from :
> >
> > http://files.pixelz.org/dosboxcvs.zip
> >
> > -Blade FireLight
> 
> I'm about to give this a go. It's open source and there's a version in
> Debian...

DOSBox is not completly compatible with the current Xcomutil 9.41
The problem is the way runxcom.bat trys to detect if your exiting the
game or entering combat.. (scott made a fancy way to support the split
TFTD:CE executible.) How ever the file can be motified to work..

if you open it and look for:

ufoexe\geoscape "0"

and add to it to look like

ufoexe\geoscape "0"
if errorlevel 2 goto begin
goto end

and then change the line:
ufoexe\geoscape "1"

to look like this

ufoexe\geoscape "1"
if errorlevel 2 goto begin
goto end

save the file and now it will work with the CVS version of DOSBox.

-Blade FireLight