X-com 3 And Windows Xp -- A Saucy Combination

[WUMU34]

Hello,

 

I have a Pentium II 399 MHz, 192 MB, and a Rage128 PRO (16 MB) video card. Of course I'm running every classic gamer's favorite OS with the latest for Service Pack 2. The download from an abandonware site has been occupying most of my time for the last 8 hours. I've surfed several forums, including this 1, and found but a single post with a problem like mine. Sadly, that person never received a reply. I hope I don't suffer the same fate.

 

The abandonware site download has a lot going for it. The 'Savegame' and 'Scenario' folders R already there after U unzip it. Mouse2kv.exe is in place and there's even a .bat file which is set up to run VDMSound (which I installed) and the mouse fix. I've found that I can watch the intro with unbroken sound just by unpacking the .rar's, setting the compatibility for Windows 95 and 256 colors, and then firing up VDMS_Apoc.bat by double-clicking. Following the intro I'm given the black screen which I Esc from. This puts me back onto the desktop with the following error message:

 

16 bit MS-DOS Subsystem

 

C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe

The NTVDM CPU has encountered an illegal instruction.

CS:0000 IP:43a4 OP:ff ff 00 00 00 Choose 'Close' to terminate the application.

 

I'm then given the options 'Close' and 'Ignore'. I generally choose 'Close' at that point because choosing 'Ignore' presents me with the same choice a few more times B4 the program decides to close itself. Strangely, fiddling with the sound configuration axes the intro even though the default sound setting won't give me a successful sound test; the auto-detect setting produces a warbly alarm sound but the intro will invariably fail to play. Seemingly no matter what, I end up with the black screen followed by the above error message -- sometimes the codes on the last line will have changed. I was able to start the game using DOSBox but it's so choppy that I'd rather not play the game if that's the only option left to me.

 

Believe me, 8 hours is a lengthy time for me to try different things. I've been able to get many other DOS-based games from the abandonware site to work on my machine at other times. I used to run X-Com 1 on this computer. There seems to B ample evidence that other people have been able to get X-Com 3 working on their systems without having to resort to an emulator. At this point I will usually have either gotten the program working or determined that it is beyond my system's capabilities; the former obviously hasn't happened and the latter is almost certainly negative. I feel as if I've mined as much data as I can from various Web locales and I've tried most everything that has proven effective for other people in similar situations. Barring DOSBox, every attempt has resulted in a kick to the desktop and a variant on the above error message.

 

I'd have posted this on the abandonware site if their forum registration wasn't broken. Also, it was on this forum that I found the post closest to my own problem and U guys seemed more focused on the X-Com games in general. I thank U for reading to this point and I await your timely and helpful reply.

Edited September 20, 2007 by Zombie
Removed abandonware site name.

[Mark0]

Hello,

 

I have a Pentium II 399 MHz, 192 MB, and a Rage128 PRO (16 MB) video card. Of course I'm running every classic gamer's favorite OS with the latest for Service Pack 2. The download from an abandonware site has been occupying most of my time for the last 8 hours. I've surfed several forums, including this 1, and found but a single post with a problem like mine. Sadly, that person never received a reply. I hope I don't suffer the same fate.

 

The abandonware site download has a lot going for it. The 'Savegame' and 'Scenario' folders R already there after U unzip it. Mouse2kv.exe is in place and there's even a .bat file which is set up to run VDMSound (which I installed) and the mouse fix. I've found that I can watch the intro with unbroken sound just by unpacking the .rar's, setting the compatibility for Windows 95 and 256 colors, and then firing up VDMS_Apoc.bat by double-clicking. Following the intro I'm given the black screen which I Esc from. This puts me back onto the desktop with the following error message:

 

16 bit MS-DOS Subsystem

 

C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe

The NTVDM CPU has encountered an illegal instruction.

CS:0000 IP:43a4 OP:ff ff 00 00 00 Choose 'Close' to terminate the application.

 

I'm then given the options 'Close' and 'Ignore'. I generally choose 'Close' at that point because choosing 'Ignore' presents me with the same choice a few more times B4 the program decides to close itself. Strangely, fiddling with the sound configuration axes the intro even though the default sound setting won't give me a successful sound test; the auto-detect setting produces a warbly alarm sound but the intro will invariably fail to play. Seemingly no matter what, I end up with the black screen followed by the above error message -- sometimes the codes on the last line will have changed. I was able to start the game using DOSBox but it's so choppy that I'd rather not play the game if that's the only option left to me.

 

Believe me, 8 hours is a lengthy time for me to try different things. I've been able to get many other DOS-based games from the abandonware site to work on my machine at other times. I used to run X-Com 1 on this computer. There seems to B ample evidence that other people have been able to get X-Com 3 working on their systems without having to resort to an emulator. At this point I will usually have either gotten the program working or determined that it is beyond my system's capabilities; the former obviously hasn't happened and the latter is almost certainly negative. I feel as if I've mined as much data as I can from various Web locales and I've tried most everything that has proven effective for other people in similar situations. Barring DOSBox, every attempt has resulted in a kick to the desktop and a variant on the above error message.

 

I'd have posted this on the abandonware site if their forum registration wasn't broken. Also, it was on this forum that I found the post closest to my own problem and U guys seemed more focused on the X-Com games in general. I thank U for reading to this point and I await your timely and helpful reply.

 

 

Hi WUMU34

 

I will try to help you with this problem

i also had this problem with Windows Vista and i have found a work arround.

 

You will need to roll back your video card Drvers and set it to Standard VGA.

 

By rolling back drivers, your Windows might freeze.It's at your risk here. (Hey it happened with me, Vista froze!)

 

Before rolling back the drivers, try Right clicking on the Desktop- Properties In there, you should be able to set the colors. Try settign it at 16bit and see if it changes.

 

 

Have a look at this web page. i followed Workarround #2 to make the setup.exe and xcomapoc.exe run.

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/06/27/w...-windows-vista/

 

Unfortunatly, i reinstalled the drivers and used dosbox. i got no choppy sound, its all smooth.

 

I would also liek to know what version of DosBox you are using ?

Latest DosBox sets the CPU Cycles to MAX. it shouldn't cause problems and i doubt the hardware you have is causing the game to be choppy.

 

 

I'm 2 days late, i hope you get to read this...

Edited September 20, 2007 by Zombie
Removed abandonware site name.

[WUMU34]

Hello Mark0,

 

I believe that U directed me to change my video driver to the factory default and alter my video setting to 16 bit. I used the "Update Driver..." button in my adapter settings to change it to the only other compatible option: Xpert 128. I went from 32 to 16 bit. After rebooting, VDMS_Apoc.bat played the intro movie flawlessly and then presented me with an error message identical to the 1 in my previous post. But it seemed to throw up an "unhandled exception" error which closed faster than I could read it after I had closed the program; perhaps just the CPU farting.

 

It doesn't seem like your advice has worked for me or perhaps I'm misunderstanding what U want me to do with my video drivers. I followed the link U posted and was able to muddle my way through the menus even though many of them R different from Vista. I was not given the choice of "Standard VGA Graphics Adapter" at the end, though -- just my current video card's drivers or the motherboard's.

 

I have the most recent version of DOSBox. As I said, I was able to get the game functioning using that but I look at that as a non-option. The performance was 2 weak regardless of what I did to the frameskip or cycles. Not only that but many other people seem to have found success without emulation.

 

U mention that U R "2 days late". R U the only 1 who regularly patrols this branch of the forum?? Do U have any more helpful advice or know of some1 else on the forum who does??

 

Thanks for following up.

[Mark0]

Hello Mark0,

 

I believe that U directed me to change my video driver to the factory default and alter my video setting to 16 bit. I used the "Update Driver..." button in my adapter settings to change it to the only other compatible option: Xpert 128. I went from 32 to 16 bit. After rebooting, VDMS_Apoc.bat played the intro movie flawlessly and then presented me with an error message identical to the 1 in my previous post. But it seemed to throw up an "unhandled exception" error which closed faster than I could read it after I had closed the program; perhaps just the CPU farting.

 

It doesn't seem like your advice has worked for me or perhaps I'm misunderstanding what U want me to do with my video drivers. I followed the link U posted and was able to muddle my way through the menus even though many of them R different from Vista. I was not given the choice of "Standard VGA Graphics Adapter" at the end, though -- just my current video card's drivers or the motherboard's.

 

I have the most recent version of DOSBox. As I said, I was able to get the game functioning using that but I look at that as a non-option. The performance was 2 weak regardless of what I did to the frameskip or cycles. Not only that but many other people seem to have found success without emulation.

 

U mention that U R "2 days late". R U the only 1 who regularly patrols this branch of the forum?? Do U have any more helpful advice or know of some1 else on the forum who does??

 

Thanks for following up.

 

 

I only mentioned that I'm 2 days late because sometimes, people ask their questions and never return to verify( not pointing it at you)

 

 

You stated previously that you got the version off of an abandonware site, i don't know if that version is runnable on those OS's. I'll need to test that version myself to see

 

 

EDIT:

 

Ok this Version is quite simple. I just ran the .bat and i got a black screen

I created a shortcut of this .bat file, tried to run it and got the same.

 

Right clicked on the shortcut of the .bat file, clicked on properties, went to the options Tab, set it on Full screen.

I then went on the compatibility tab, Set it on Win95(that is optional since the game worked with/without compatibility)

 

The thread that i wrote in the sticky has the same batch file.. I guess the abandonware site stole that from me

i have the -skip as extra after xcomapoc.exe

 

 

My hardware: AMD 64 4600+ 2gb ram, GForce 7600GT,

OS: WinXPRO SP2

Edited September 20, 2007 by Zombie
Removed abandonware site name.

[WUMU34]

Mark0,

 

I tried creating a shortcut to VDMS_Apoc.bat and fiddling around with the properties. All boxes checked, none, or permutations in between resulted in the same thing: a flawless intro movie followed by a black screen and then the exact same error message that I mentioned in my 1st post. The only thing that seemed to B different was that using the shortcut caused the program to hang after the intro and I had to Alt-Tab out in order to C the same error message. It seems to indicate a conflict with either VDMSound or the NT File System. Is it gibberish to U??

 

How is accessing the shortcut any different than activating the .bat that it's sitting next to??

 

Could this B the refresh rate error that I've encountered, and if so, what then??

 

Also, R U the only person who offers tech help on this branch of the forum??

 

Talk to U later.

[Mark0]

Mark0,

 

I tried creating a shortcut to VDMS_Apoc.bat and fiddling around with the properties. All boxes checked, none, or permutations in between resulted in the same thing: a flawless intro movie followed by a black screen and then the exact same error message that I mentioned in my 1st post. The only thing that seemed to B different was that using the shortcut caused the program to hang after the intro and I had to Alt-Tab out in order to C the same error message. It seems to indicate a conflict with either VDMSound or the NT File System. Is it gibberish to U??

 

How is accessing the shortcut any different than activating the .bat that it's sitting next to??

 

Could this B the refresh rate error that I've encountered, and if so, what then??

 

Also, R U the only person who offers tech help on this branch of the forum??

 

Talk to U later.

 

Wumu,

 

No i shouldn't be the only one to try to help. I'm sorry i took time to reply to you. I've been busy lately with work and renewing the passport cause I'll be traveling in a week.

 

 

 

To be honest with you,this NTDVM thing is complicated. I tried to Google it, some ppl say that it can be fixed by replacing the config.sys and autoexec.bat

 

From here i do not trust this source cause those 2 files are important. there are alot of ppl having this problem.

 

 

What i understood from the NTVDM is that it is some kind of a DOS emulator. i would suggest you to google "The NTVDM CPU has encountered an illegal instruction."

 

I personally don't have a solution for this NTDVM, i thought it would be possible to bypass it but it jams on cmd.exe .

 

 

Try the following plz" Edit the .bat file ( that you use to run the game) and add SKIP after xcomapoc.exe

see what it gives.

i'll get backsoon, im at work now. We need to fix this ntvdm thing and im pretty sure everything would work.

[WUMU34]

Mark0,

 

In my 1st post I mentioned that I had already dedicated 8 hours to this problem. I don't mean to B rude but I must say that I feel somewhat insulted that U don't think I would have tried altering the .bat with the "SKIP" command or performed searches on the "NTVDM CPU" error message. I pretty thoroughly scanned this forum along with a couple others and did a full Web search on the problem. I believe I mentioned this in my 1st post.

 

Your 1st suggestion to create a modified shortcut had already been tried B4 I posted to this forum but I thought that it wouldn't hurt to follow your instructions explicitly and look for a different result. Of course it was not forthcoming. I've also mentioned that I've been able to get many other DOS-based games working on my machine; I'm no computer whiz but I do have some modicum of technical know-how when it comes to these things. Posting on a forum like this is pretty much a last resort for me.

 

I'm human and I know that humans learn by repitition so allow me to reiterate: I spent several fruitless hours on this problem. I achieved a small measure of success with DOSBox but felt that the in-game performance issues were intolerable. I posted to this forum in the hopes that some1 would step forward with knowledge specific to the error message I'm receiving, hence my posting the exact language of the error message. I've noticed posts on this site and others pertaining to this specific problem but none of them seem to have come to a reasonable conclusion. I simply thought that because U guys have a stickied topic pertaining to Windows XP and X-Com 3 stating that the 2 R compatible that there would B more technical knowledge forthcoming on my error message -- it's 2 bad that I was mistaken.

 

I regret that I have added 1 more useless post to the stack of them and made it that much more difficult for people with the same problem to arrive at a solution. Mark0, U at least made the attempt to help but I fear that U have just added to the time that people will waste getting to the bottom of this topic only to find out there is no real substance to it. I apologize to U if I have squandered your time here.

 

If it has not yet made itself fully clear to U, let me repeat myself in plainer terms: I've pretty much given up. I might check back 1 more time but I don't hold out a lot of hope for a reasonable fix.

[meinild]

Hello,

 

I have a Pentium II 399 MHz, 192 MB, and a Rage128 PRO (16 MB) video card. Of course I'm running every classic gamer's favorite OS with the latest for Service Pack 2. The download from an abandonware site has been occupying most of my time for the last 8 hours. I've surfed several forums, including this 1, and found but a single post with a problem like mine. Sadly, that person never received a reply. I hope I don't suffer the same fate.

 

Yay for abandonware. Yay for replies.

 

To the point.... It's impossible to run XCOM3 on my Radeon X1950. The vesa implementation is broken AND i suspect it has always been on ati cards since the Rage series of cards. At best you will get the game running with psychadelic colors at worst it will crash.

 

Although I seem to recall seeing a VESA driver for the Rage128 card. Try googling vesa and rage128.

 

If you get no luck... DOSBox it on a modern PC. The abandonware version runs flawlessly in DOSBox on my box (Core 2 duo, 2Gigs, Radeon X1950).

Edited September 20, 2007 by Zombie
Removed abandonware site name.

[Ruivo]

Hello there, i've downloaded the same version Wumu did, and from the same source. I also happen to have an onboard, 4mb Rage Pro on my armada 1750 notebook. I'm running windows xp sp2, and i'm experiencing the same problem.

 

Before i had this problem, i was confronted with the svga error, and i installed the svga fix. I was just wondering, i have an ATI rage card, as he does.. i'm betting he had the same svga error, and used the same fix. Could be this a ATI rage specific error? Would this be a xcom apocalypse error, or an error caused by the svga fix??

 

Please.. any input would be very much appreciated, as i can't start playing ufo defense, and tftd for the 40th time knowing that i won't be able to run apocalypse, and finish the whole trilogy