Colour Thief and I have been discussing the Windows version of Tetris Classic, and the discussion migrated towards "Tetris Gold". Tetris Gold was a compliation CD by Spectrum Holobyte that included all of their DOS and Windows versions of their various Tetris styled games. Although the CD included Tetris Classic for Windows, it (as well as the Windows version of "Super Tetris") was hard-coded in such a way that it's almost impossible to run it under Windows XP. Spectrum Holobyte also sold Tetris Classic for Windows as a seperate retail product (before the "Tetris Gold" CD was released), but that version doesn't suffer from the same problems. Anyhow: Code: Running Spectrum Holobyte's "Tetris Gold" CD under Windows XP(ee) ----------------------------------------------------------------- The following is not an easy task for the faint-hearted, and is geared more towards the PC technical-minded and savy. 1) Create the directory "C:\GOLDTET" (minus the quotes, of course). 2) Copy the following directories in verbatim from the Tetris Gold CD to the "C:\GOLDTET" directory on your hard drive: FACES (this is "Faces... Tris III") STDOS (this is "Super Tetris for DOS") STWIN (this is "Super Tetris for Windows") TCWIN (this is "Tetris Classic for Windows") TETRIS (this is the original commercial version of "Tetris" for DOS) TETRISC (this is "Tetris Classic for DOS") WELLTRIS (this is "WellTris") WORDTRIS (this is "WordTris") 3) Remove the "Read-only" attributes for all of the files using your file manager of choice. 4) Add the following line to the bottom of your "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\AUTOEXEC.NT" file using Windows Notepad: SET SHGAMES=C:\GOLDTET 5) For the all of the DOS versions of the games (example follows for "Tetris Classic for DOS"): 5-1) Use the Windows Explorer and navigate to the "C:\GOLDTET\TETRISC" directory on your hard drive. 5-2) Right-click on the "TETRISC.EXE", and left-click on "Properties" to create a "PIF" (Program Information File) file. 5-3) Click on the "Program" tab. 5-4) Change the "Run" dropdown box to "Maximized". 5-5) Click the "Close on exit" checkbox. 5-6) Click the "Advanced" button, and ensure that the follwing entries exist: Autoexec filename: %SystemRoot%\SYSTEM32\AUTOEXEC.NT Config filename: %SystemRoot%\SYSTEM32\CONFIG.NT Also ensure that compatible timer hardware emulation is unchecked. 5-7) Click on the "Memory" tab, and set all of the dropdown boxes to "Auto". Uncheck the "Protected" checkbox, and check the "Uses HMA" checkbox. 5-8) Click on the "Screen" tab, and check the "Full-screen" radio button. Leave the other checkboxes at their defaults (usually all of them are checked). 5-9) Click on the "Misc" tab, and uncheck the "Allow screen saver" checkbox. 5-10) Click on the "Compatiblity" tab, and check the "Run this program in compatibilty mode for" checkbox, and select "Windows 95" in the dropdown box. 5-11) Click on the "Apply" button, and then click on the "OK" button. This will create a "PIF" (Program Information File) file ("TETRISC.PIF") of the same filename as the executable ("TETRISC.EXE"). 5-12) The DOS versions of the games should run fine when the above tasks are done for each of them. If any of the DOS versions (or the Windows versions, for that matter) complain about not being able to find a file, take note of the filename. Then use Windows Notepad to create an empty and blank "dummy" file using that filename, and save it to the game's directory on your hard drive. As an example, "Faces" will complain about not being able to find the file "HISCORE.BIN". Start Windows Notepad, and save an empty blank file to the filename "HISCORE.BIN" to your "C:\GOLDTET\FACES" directory on your hard drive. After running the game, click on the "Reset High Scores" button, and then "Faces" should run without a hitch. The same/similar method applies to any of the other DOS games. BTW, for "WordTris" the file that will cause the problem will be named "WCF" (no file extension), and the file for "Super Tetris for Windows" will be "Scores.dat". If you have any problems with any of the DOS games, perform step 4 above. Then run "TETDOS.EXE" from the "Tetris Gold" CD, run the game in question once from the launcher, and then exit the launcher and the DOS shell. Then continue with step 2 above (*without* overwriting the existing files that the "TETDOS.EXE" launcher copied to your hard drive). 6) For the all of the Windows versions of the games (example follows for "Tetris Classic for Windows"): 6-1) Use Windows Notepad to create a new DOS "BAT" batch file with the filename of "TCWIN.BAT", and with the following contents contained in it: @ECHO OFF SET SHGAMES=C:\GOLDTET SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 P330 T3 TC.EXE Note that the "SET BLASTER" line may require editing of the parameters to match your sound card. 6-2) Copy one one of the "PIF" (Program Information File) files that you previously created for one of the DOS versions of the games to the "C:\GOLDTET\TCWIN" on your hard drive. 6-3) Rename this "PIF" file to "TCWIN.PIF". 6-4) Right-click on the "TCWIN.PIF", and left-click on "Properties". 6-5) Edit the line contained in the "Cmd line" text entry box to read "C:\GOLDTET\TCWIN\TCWIN.BAT" (minus the quotes). 6-6) Follow steps 5-3 through 5-11 above. Step 5-12 above may also be required if the game complains about not being able to find a file. 7) Note that for all of the above for all of the games (the DOS, as well as the Windows versions), you may have to run the game twice to get the "SET SHGAMES" statement to "kick in". 8) Lastly, note that in order to get any sound or music from several (if not all) of the DOS games, you may have to run a utility such as "DOSBox" ( http://dosbox.sourceforge.net ). Unfortunately, "DOSBox" won't work for the Windows versions of the games. Consequently, if you have an obscure sound card that is not set to regular Sound Blaster parameters, you may not be able to get any sound or music at all from the Windows versions of the games. 9) Bitch about Windows XP(ee) not being able to run ANY old software (*especially* DOS stuff) without having to perform the above Voodoo ritual <aarrgghh>! 10) Shake fist at Bill Gates, and curse Micro$oft! 11) You're all done! Enjoy! Rich Weeds Nagel
No, it's like bitching that newer model PS3s are less backwards compatible than old model PS3s because Sony was too cheap and cut corners.
