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[gufetto]

Oh man, I think I'm screwed.
I don't have any setup of Windows XP or anything, that OP just came bundled with my old pc.

(Because yes, it's confirmed: I asked my brother and the game run on Windows XP.)


That's such a bummer. I thought perhaps I could get the game to work on that Win 3.X emulation since it gets installed.

[dosraider]

Depending of what ver of W7/64 you have you maybe can get XPMode for free from MS ... however in my opinion XPMode isn't really suited for gaming purposes ... a bit too restricted.

On the other hand VPC2007+W98Se or maybe even better VPC2007+XP should work.
http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/showthread.php?t=28390
http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/showthread.php?t=25508
It ain't that hard to set up a VPC2007 virtual PC, just follow instructions.

..... however, problem could be you have a rip, dunno if game has software/D3D mode, D3D won't run in VPC or really badly, software mode usually do run fine for gaming, if software mode has been ripped .... aie, screwed again....

BTW, did you at least try what Fifth said about compability? Ya never know ....

Originally Posted by The Fifth Horseman

..blah blah................
Metal and Lace 2 can run on Windows XP - I've done so myself some years ago - so the first thing you should try is running it in compatibility mode (context menu on the game's executable -> Properties -> Compatibility).
If that doesn't work, there is another solution: you'll need Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 and a setup disk for an older Windows version - anything from 95 to XP. MSVPC allows you to create a virtual machine and install an older version of Windows inside that, then run the game in it.....blah blah......

Problem is I can't find any relevant info about this game, even not on Dosfreak's comp list ... PC Game Compatibility List

As you mentioned 'downloaded', I may hope you scanned that download for nasty things with an updated avir-malware-spyware/somethingware scanner, yes?

And honestly, you didn't lose your precious time setting up dosbox/W3, is handy to have around and most W3 era games run fine in it....

[Edit]
Of course proposed solution of getting some old XP laptop still stands and can be an easy way out.
Dunno how it is where you live but here in Belgium those things are getting dropped by piles in the trash, many of them still working OK, just completely outdated ..... and as MS will drop support shortly, plenty ol'small office gear is to salvage nowadays.
Even if a laptop isn't really my thing for gaming, plug in an external keyb+mouse and you're set.
If you have enough room an ol' XP desktop is even better .......
Just think about it for a sec.

[gufetto]

Yes, I forgot to mention: I did try the compatibility trick, but it didn't work. Would've been too simple to be true. :P

Trying to come up with a solution, I realize the pc game is actually a port from a PC38 version. So I assumed if I found the original PX38 rom and played it with a PC38 emulator, it'd work.

It wasn't easy to find the rom, but it appears to be in this torrent:

http://torrentz-proxy.com/31b33735c0...cae4c4ee2280cd

http://www.nyaa.se/?page=view&tid=320480&showfiles=1

Here's the problem, tho: there's about 280.000 files or more in that torrent, and there's no option to deselect them all when I try to launch it. Is there a way to deselect them all except Metal & Lace 2?

[The Fifth Horseman]

Originally Posted by gufetto

Here's the problem, tho: there's about 280.000 files or more in that torrent, and there's no option to deselect them all when I try to launch it. Is there a way to deselect them all except Metal & Lace 2?

Depends on the torrent client you are using. There definitely is an option to do that in uTorrent.

Originally Posted by gufetto

I don't have any setup of Windows XP or anything, that OP just came bundled with my old pc.

Disc images for Windows 95, 98 and XP are relatively easy to *ahem* obtain if you know where to look.

Originally Posted by gufetto

Odd thing is, by accessing my directx data I can see DirectDraw: Enabled....

The problem isn't with not having DirectX or not having it enabled.
It's with the game relying on a different - much older - version of the API .
You could try disabling DirectDraw and seeing if that changes the game's reaction - it's known to fix similar issues with certain old games, but there is no certainity as to whether it will work here (and obviously you'll want to set it back on after you've finished playing the game)

[gufetto]

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE:

I've downloaded another, bigger version of the game, which isn't ripped but the real deal... and it works.

BUT: I still get the error. I launch the game, it works perfectly, I select my character, but once the fight begins the game closes and I get "Direct Draw error"...

[gufetto]

Ok, it won't let me edit my post for some reason, which is annoying, because I had edited it and wrote a lot of stuff.

I've tried everything, even going into regedit and altering stuff, but nope.

So here is the link to the full game upload:

http://www.filestube.to/eqXqebudKuKS6tl3qnp76n

The game also contains a folder called directx but I can't get it to work. If I copy the folder inside the game folder, everything crashes.
I've tried to just install the directx in the installer, but the installer refuses to do so.

Can someone, perhaps, take a few minutes to download this and give it a look?

[dosraider]

Originally Posted by gufetto

Can someone, perhaps, take a few minutes to download this and give it a look?

Come on, seriously, 5 parts download via mediafire will take what .... 5 days ??? Don't push it will ya, provide some serious download from host with 1 link and maybe , and that's a big maybe I'll take a look.
That game isn't really appealing

But already have a good idea what's going on: Win7 64, if the game installs in /prog files (x86)/, now those are protected in win7 64, try to install in something as /users/your name/mace/ or something, if you have a D partition even better, try on D partition.
If fails, now it's probably that '64' that is to blame and you're screwed indeed.
VPC2007 it will be.

One last remark, I wouldn't be so eager to try to install all kind of old apps and obsolete sysfiles on my new PC.
VPC2007 is more secure.

[Edit]
Just thought about the fact you prob don't know but in Win 64 16b softs won't work.
As the game is I think W9X installer is most likely 16b or has partial 16b code sections.
Happens more with W9X softs.
Some -(in fact plenty)- even had dos based code somewhere, devs laziness you could say.

[gufetto]

Ok, apparently, using Windows 7, you can't disable the direct draw acceleration since it's an integral part of the OS. That seems to be where my problem comes from!

I've managed to make two icons who will enable/disable direct draw acceleration, and they're on my desktop.... but I haven't clicked them. I'm afraid it might crash my computer.

I guess it's either emulating an entire OS for a single game, or giving up.... that sucks!! I am strongly against the idea that new systems can't allow old programs to work!!!

[Japo]

I would not mess your system for a game, it's less trouble if you have to install Virtual PC or Windows 3.1 on DOSBox or whatever.

This could be the longest troubleshooting conversation ever on Abandonia, and that's a lot to say. At this point you have invested so much effort that you really deserve to have a good solution, so even though there isn't much for me to add, because you already have expert help (with an attitude in Dosraiders's case), I feel compelled to add my two cents.

I think at this point your best and easiest choice is to use a virtual PC (and hope you're done after that). It isn't as hard as it looks, here you have an easy tutorial:
http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/showthread.php?t=28390

I also have some tips to try to run old Windows games in modern versions, but it's more an art than a science, and if you don't manage with these few simple tips, I really think it's less trouble to resort to a virtual PC.
http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/showthread.php?t=17501

I recommend to install Windows 95/98 on the virtual machine, as that version can also run Windows 3.1 programs with no compatibility issues. I don't recommend XP for this.

[gufetto]

Ok, here's what I did.
I downloaded the PC98 version of the game, plus every PC98 emulator ever. Supposedly they're complete with bios, although I'm not sure I know how to load them.

Aaand guess what? IT KEEPS NOT WORKING. This is ridiculous!! This game is mocking me, I swear!!

Usually, when I mount the .fdi file, it tells me to "insert disc 1 in drive 2". I've tried loading the game in drive 2 then, but nothing changed.

I've uploaded here all of the emulators plus the Metal & Lace 2 rom is both versions (but I think the .fdi version is probably better).

http://junoh.altervista.org/pc98emus&tools.rar

It's only 38 mb, so if someone would like to download it and give it a try. I just can't get the darn thing to work!!!