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Having trouble getting an abandonware game to work - Delta Hydra
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kvn8907
Junior Member
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6. April 2010 @ 23:00 |
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Hello. There's this game, Delta Hydra, that I played the shareware version of many years ago. I looked it up recently, and found it at http://free-game-downloads.mosw.com/aban...elta_hydra.html . So, I paid $6 for a one day subscription to the site, and downloaded the game (and practically every other strategy game that looked interesting...hey, if opportunity knocks, might as well answer it!). But, the game was made in 1997, and I suppose Windows registries were different then, so at first the game wouldn't run. But, I downloaded the registry files, put them in C:\Windows, and each one got me a bit further:
*VB40032.DLL - Allowed Delta Hydra to at least start
*ANIBTN32.OCX - Allowed me to get to start menu
*THREED32.OCX - Allowed me to click on any menu button but "vehicles" and "solar chart"
But then, it game me cryptic error "Runtime error '6' Overflow", and I could troubleshoot no further. I tried using registry cleaners on the off chance that would solve the problem, but the good ones would only partially clean the registry before you had to pay for them, and one free registry cleaner turned out to be full of viruses, and I ended up having to reinstall Windows (it was a fool's errand anyway, as even the best registry cleaner likely wouldn't solve the Runtime error message, but that was the only advice I found online about it, and I was out of other options save giving up). So, does anyone here have any ideas for how to solve this (possibly final) problem with the game? In return, you'll have not only the satisfaction of knowing you helped a stranger, but a simple yet fun old game too. :-)
Here's files relating to the game:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=LGAJV9RI
If you're a mod, don't worry, the game's abandonware, and all I had to pay for was server running cost for the server it was hosted on.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 6. April 2010 @ 23:01
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Junior Member
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19. April 2010 @ 08:44 |
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I've had great success running older games like that by using DOSbox. Admittedly, the game does need to be able to run in dos for that to work, buit it's worth a shot.
http://www.dosbox.com/
Alternatively, if you have a copy of Windows 98 knocking around, you could install it using Microsoft Virtual PC and try running the game from there.
I realise that I'm not answering your specific problem, but I hope this helps.
~the Cyclo DS is a path to many powers some consider unnatural
~is it possible to learn this power?
~not from Nintendo
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kvn8907
Junior Member
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19. April 2010 @ 12:31 |
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Originally posted by delta36:
I've had great success running older games like that by using DOSbox. Admittedly, the game does need to be able to run in dos for that to work, buit it's worth a shot.
http://www.dosbox.com/
Alternatively, if you have a copy of Windows 98 knocking around, you could install it using Microsoft Virtual PC and try running the game from there.
I realise that I'm not answering your specific problem, but I hope this helps.
It's not a DOS game. Even trying to run it in DOSbox will tell you that. And why would I have a copy of Windows 98 kicking around?
The game files are availible for download, so all I'm really waiting for is for someone to download the game files from Megaupload, get the game working on their computer, then tell me how they did it. It shouldn't be that hard. But, it's been two weeks and I've hardly gotten a response to this thread.
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Paula_X
Suspended permanently
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19. April 2010 @ 16:17 |
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not surprised.. it's an old game and not many people understand the problems with getting them to run..
You need to run it in "compatibility mode" probably for win95.. not just the xecutable but the dll's as well.. the setting is under properties..
try one at a time until it works... maybe it never will.. but you know you can run windoze95 in dosbox yes?? just need to write an autoexec.bat file for it.
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kvn8907
Junior Member
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23. April 2010 @ 13:13 |
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Originally posted by Paula_X:
You need to run it in "compatibility mode" probably for win95.. not just the xecutable but the dll's as well.. the setting is under properties.
Sorry, I got your post notification the instant it was posted, but didn't get around to it until now...when I took 5 minutes to try it and realized that's impossible. Windows won't let you run anything but an executable in compatibility mode. There's not even an option for that on any other file.
The good news however is that I've been also having some problems with IE lately, and been going into Problem Reports and Solutions, so that gave me the idea to check the full problem report for Delta Hydra:
Product
Delta Hydra
Problem
Stopped working
Date
4/23/2010 1:02 PM
Status
Not Reported
Problem signature
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: DH.Exe
Application Version: 1.0.0.125
Application Timestamp: 33afe0e6
Fault Module Name: VB40032.DLL
Fault Module Version: 4.0.24.22
Fault Module Timestamp: 303acbf6
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 0003aaf9
OS Version: 6.0.6002.2.2.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: 1947
Additional Information 2: f157e46a4dfb1b9ccbc604482237b7a4
Additional Information 3: 9cde
Additional Information 4: 9778dd4245b486589e6530dbad6416d2
So apparently, it's the VB40032.DLL file I downloaded that's causing problems. Which is good news in that now I at least isolated the problem to a specific DLL, but I'm not sure where to go from there. After all, VB40032.DLL is the first required file, and though with it, the game will crash in the Vehicle menu, without the file, the game won't even start. So where do I go from here?
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kvn8907
Junior Member
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8. May 2010 @ 22:15 |
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Paula_X
Suspended permanently
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9. May 2010 @ 23:06 |
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no windoze.. works fine for me in dosbox on debian64
you must have a "later" version of xp than the last one I saw.. that allowed compatibility modes for dll's and ocx and all kinds of active files.. that vb dll sounds like something to do with that visual basic junk.. perhaps it's for a much earlier version? didn't try this one?.. from 2001 http://www.annoyances.org/exec/software/vb4rt
then read and follow this.. http://www.oldgames.nu/forums/PC-Delta-hydra-t23613.html a friend linked me up but it still might not work with sp2/3 .. so there..
better place to look would be around the abandonware and retro gaming forums for specific answers (not easy running win95 in a dos emulator for starters, let alone running a game from that over the top of it)..
you could use the leftover chunk of your hdd formatted fat32.. y'know.. that chunk windoze rubbish partitioner leaves wasted (probably what a part of the problem is) with win95 installed.. and then run the game from there.. might not like the new hardware, but 98 or 2k drivers for the vitals should work.
I have seen these dll problems many times.. M$ are retards.. they reuse a dll name with a different function causing many things to suddenly not work.. webcams and soundcards seen to be the main victims, but games as well.. anything not on their "approved" list seems fair game.. and because everything is statically linked theres nothing us mere mortals can do about it except find an older os and run that sometimes.
sorry.. can't help further.. I have this working in an emulator I configured and tweaked for a specific purpose a while ago.. (getting at somebodys office 97 data file archives) which is configured like a 97/98 era system.. running on p133 settings.
and one little thing..
Quote:
The game files are availible for download, so all I'm really waiting for is for someone to download the game files from Megaupload, get the game working on their computer, then tell me how they did it. It shouldn't be that hard. But, it's been two weeks and I've hardly gotten a response to this thread.
why should somebody go to all that trouble for you? .. nothing happens like that in emulation and retro hacking world.. ever.. we do stuff because we want to, not because some person who can't do it comes along whining for help. just a heads up for you.. did you think to whine at the people who have posted possible fixes elsewhere?.. you won't find them here.. wrong kind of site.. just find the odd proper malicious hacker and emulator dev among the n00bs.. ;)
lest see.. this problem isn't teh original game writers fault.. it isn't exactly M$ fault either for not keeping things the same for 13 years.. so maybe it's something to throw in the bin.. plenty of modern games out there to have fun with, or how about the snes version in an emulator? (rumoured there was a ps1 version as well.. never seen or heard of that).. that's supposed to work
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kvn8907
Junior Member
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11. May 2010 @ 17:30 |
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Alright. There's a lot of stuff in this post, and I've got finals, so it'll be a few days before I look into it.
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kvn8907
Junior Member
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3. June 2010 @ 18:49 |
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"Paula_X - Suspended account"
Huh. Didn't see that coming.
Anyway, it's been about three weeks, and though I have the urge to look at this thread almost every day and try Paula-X's solution, three things have always stopped me:
1. It's mean. Everytime I come to this thread I have to re-read some jerk saying that my request for help is "whining". There's nothing that that so deters me from coming back to this thread, not even the desire for a working game of Delta Hydra, than having to re-read someone insulting me.
2. It's complicated. For example, the first line is "no windoze.. works fine for me in dosbox on debian64". I haven't a clue what windoze or debian64 is, and I already tried DOSbox and predicibly, it said that since the game is a Windows program that DOSbox couldn't run it. How the devil Paula_X got it to even run is beyond me, and further, I'm not sure if he/she means it runs fine as in actual playing the game, or just getting the intro to load, which worked fine for me. The response has a lot of things that would take a good deal of time for me to look up and do, and even then, I'd probably need more help and clarification on the steps, which I can't get because
3. It's final. The last paragraph is basically a roundabout way of saying "if this doesn't work, then go fuck yourself and forget about this stupid game, and maybe go play Mario or something". So what? This is the end just because Paula_X says it is?
And now that Paula_X's account has been suspended, I'm not sure if that's a good thing. At least I don't have to read his insults anymore, but then, this thread is dead anyway if no one else reads it.
So, long story short, is anyone else still reading this thread? Because if you are, it will mean I have at least a safety net for if Paula_X's solutions don't work, and that this isn't necessarily the end if they don't work.
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