Hey people
Read this whole thread and see people struggling to get this to run.
All you need is DosBox and knowledge of how to up and down the CPU cycles.
Download the game and save to a directory on your computer.
Set DosBox to 10,000 cycles and use "mount c z:\zzz" where z:\zzz is the directory in which Oil Imperium / Black Gold is located.
Then goto "c:" in Dosbox and to run the game type OIL. Note you DO NOT need to change the batch file or run the EGA version - these won't work!
Hopefully the game should then run fine. When prompted for codes just enter any letter, press enter, another letter, press enter and you are in.
The arcade sequences need the CPU slowed down. Use CTRL-F11 to slow and CTRL-F12 to speed up. You definitely need to do the for drilling. Use SPACE to increase the pressure to max when drilling, use CURSOR KEYS to control deviation (keep central). Should take 3 days of game time.
Building a pipeline is tough - don't slow CPU too much or it won't respond to the mouse fast enough. Build a pipeline from bottom right to top left by clicking on pipe parts. Computer will still win sometimes you must plan your route be quick and have CPU set reasonably high.
Extinguishing fires - walk over and put dynamite (space) underneath each well, plan your route so you get to all in time.
MOST IMPORTANT TIP:!!! YOU CAN SAVE YOUR GAME. On the main office screen click on the logo of your company, bottom right-ish. From the menu that appears select the "PC to disk" option to save or the "Disk to PC" option to load. Then you can quit and return later.
Finally... if you suspect problems with the extinguisher game - two tips: 1) Keep a few million in reserve to pay for it to be extinguished. 2) Save regularly so if it happens you can re-load earlier game - maybe it won't happen or you can pay detectives to protect you.
IMPORTANT PLAYING THE GAME TIP: Choose an area to start in and get 4/5 expert reports first to select a first buy, then build up a map of reports before you buy. Every area will have some amazing fields (100K+ oil, below 1.2m price and 500K max running costs) whilst there will be some dreadful ones (less than 60K oil, in some cases just a few barrels a month).
GOOD LUCK PLAYING a great game and remember ctrl-f11 and ctrl-f12 to speed up and slow down, and use the save game option regularly.
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