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[powwow]

Hi -

I've been stuck on Level 15 for a bit now and need help getting out. I can't figure out the door south of the ladder that you entered the level with. It says it is operated elsewhere, but I've tried searching the walls, etc. I have already gotten the demon statuette.


Thanks!

[Marquis Celt Dragon]

Originally posted by powwow@May 25 2005, 03:37 AM
I can't figure out the door south of the ladder that you entered the level with. It says it is operated elsewhere, but I've tried searching the walls, etc.

There should be a secret door in the wall of the hallway. go to the door that you cant get open, face it and go to the wall to the right. than head a few steps back and search the wall for the door. It wont be much farther than 6 or 7 steps away from the door.

Allright... I'm sitting in the front of the door in the 25th level, with the DemonCrusher and 4 statues. I think I've missed one at the minotaur labirynt...
I know they guard two statues, but I found only the one in the room with a stair up. Someone can tell me where is the other one? Please?
And, oh yeah, who's with me in lvl 25?

Hi, everybody!

Finally downloaded this game (and other big ones) courtesy of a friend's Broadband connection.

Just wanted to check regarding the EEEK! message popping up at the beginning. I'm running Win98SE on a P4 2GHz and basically managed to resolve quite a few problems related to running DOS-based games and I'll be damned if I couldn't get this game to run (UFO: Enemy Unknown for Win95 was also having problems).

However, with UFO: Enemy Unknown, the problem was due to some conflict with the Directx. Thankfully, I could uninstall Directx 9.0c (which I only use to run TOEE and Port Royale) and reloaded a v5.0 from Fallout 2 that settled the problem. Directx conflicts occurred even when running older Windows games such as Mechcommander and Dungeon Keeper 2 (the sound and VOs ended up being garbled and choppy), so the DirectX Eradicator was a godsend. Hence my question here: can I confirm that the problem with "an exeception occurred at startup" is a Directx problem?

(I'm rather anti-WinXP after discovering the problem with FATS, since I enjoy getting around the problems related to Windows at times by running a Win98 DOS-boot. Thankfully I haven't totally forgotten my DOS abilities and still retain MS-DOS 6.22)

Well, in case nobody can answer, I'll experiment and post my results.

Thanks!

Whew! Got a little sidetracked with Civ2G...

Well, I've finally narrowed down quite a number of variables. AE is definitely one of those games that is VERY much influenced by the DirectX version. There doesn't seem to be a direct conflict with OS versions, just largely conflicts with the video. Yup, as far as what I can tell, it's a video/display problem.

I'm running the game on a Pentium 4 2GHz with a 40Gb hard disk, 512Mb RAM and a RivaTNT2 graphics card with 32Mb on board (yeah, I know the card is dated). My OS of choice is Win98SE, since for most retro games, Win2K compatibility is questionable (even with DosBox). This means that technically, there should be NO problems running a game like AE on Win98. Still, like the proverbial saying goes, "Fecal matter transpires".

I originally ran the game on DirectX 9.0c; the first time, it would not load. An "EXECEPTION" occurred. Reinstalling DirectX 9.0c cleared the problem, but created another one. Subsequently, I decided to check the forum and decided to confirm the conflicts.

DirectX problems with old games are very common, and AE is no exception. Thanks to DirectX Eradicator, I've managed to observe the following problems running the game (remember that DirectX functionality depends on the specs of graphic card you use; in my case, my graphic card has problems with software maxing it out running DirectX 9.0):

DirectX 4.0 - Game loads, with video corruption. Startup of game lists an error window stating that the game needs at least 2Mb graphic RAM. Game unplayable since the display area goes bonkers.

DirectX 5.0 - Game loads just as DirectX 4.0, with the same startup error. Video corruption is minimal; confined to the icons on the bottom screen going completely bonkers and "mirror-imaging" occuring in the game windows that lists inventory/character and map.

DirectX 7.1 - Game loads sans problems! No video corruption, no hanging. Consistently reliable among the other versions.

DirectX 8.1 - Game loads without a hitch, but stalls and hangs within moments of moving around. May be additional conflicts involved, but uncertain.

DirectX 9.0c - As DirectX 8.1, but with faster rate to hang (2-4 seconds).

I have consistently tested the various DirectX versions, and found v7.1 to be most ideal for running the game (of course, I suppose the syspecs for the game might have covered minimum DirectX requirements). This is of course, probably because that my graphic card is rather dated, but after taking into consideration the Win2K function of running software on a lower OS requirement, it is more probable that the game is dependent on lower DirectX versions. The reason why I'm finicky about all this is because I have to change my DirectX version whenever I want to play certain Windows games such as Win95 version of UFO: Enemy Unknown (hangs on anything newer than v5.0), Mechcommander Gold (anything newer than v7.1 causes the graphics and sound to become slow and garbled; mission will also not load) and Temple of Elemental Evil (runs only on v9.0c, and the sounds gets all garbled; downloaded the latest GeForce driver and solved the sound problem, but the graphics all went to Hell). DOS-based games aren't dependent on DirectX... thank God!!!

My deepest thanks to Abandonia and to all who support retro games!

Yikes! Belay all references to Win2K in my last post. I meant WinXP!!!

On Level 17 (Minotaur level) is a room with a ladder up (SW). But the room is closed! Does anyone know how to open this door?

On Level 18 is a room E that is unreachable. It looks like as there would be some blocks to jump on. But if I try to jump from the bridge to one of them I always get killed. This room is underneath the room with all the zombies, wrights and sarghopharges. How many secret rooms are on level 18 anyway? I only found one.
Does anyone know if the altar NW or the chair with the skeletion in the center has any meaning?

Thanks for any help!

Andy

This one I still don't know what to do:

On Level 17 (Minotaur level) is a room with a ladder up (SW). But the room is closed! Does anyone know how to open this door?

Hahahaha!!!

Finally got another "EXECEPTION" error message. Best opinion? Freakin' game is DirectX sensitive. Reinstalled v7.0a and it ran fine yet again.

The game reminds me of the computer version of Games Workshop's "HeroQuest" boardgame... with an additional feature: tonnes of hair-pulling frustration moments!!! I think location sensitive (and I mean sensitive to the square) secret doors are totally &%*&#$!!! No wonder Diablo was such a big hit and thank God Blizzard never aped AE for the secret doors...

[Miss Vanilla]

Where is the doorway to level 13 and the DemonCrusher. I've cast See Reality nearly everywhere, and opened to secret doors, but I still can't find it. Some says it's on level 10, near the ladders down, but I can't find it. It's frustrating, please help.

Please spell it out for me, because I can't use the other posts about DemonCrusher, they don't make sense to me