Phantasmagoria II
Puzzle of Flesh
Setup Walkthrough
Requirements:
486-DX4
12MB RAM
Hard Drive Space (not including space for a Temporary Swap File)
Small Install: 10MB (compressed 30 MB)
Medium Install: 15MB (compressed 50 MB)
Large Install: 23MB (compressed 80 MB)
CD-ROM drive, double speed or better
Win95 or DOS
SVGA video card that supports 640x480x256 colors
Sound card with DAC - Sound Blaster compatible
Mouse
RECOMMENDED FOR BEST PERFORMANCE:
Pentium
16MB RAM
Quad speed CD ROM
NOTE*A* I must tell you that I've finally been able to complete this game (without one crash!) But it wouldn't have been possible without the help of two wonderful gamers from France who go by the name of Krug and his girlfriend Louve Grise
NOTE*B* Remember that this setup is for the DOS Version only. It can't be used for the Windows95 version, until you get to the instructions for VDMSound. For those of you who have this Windows Version, Go to Krkdnose's PhantasII Setup.
NOTE*C* Before we go any further I really feel the need to put some sort of disclaimer here. While I know that Phantasmagoria II is a "classic", it's important to take a strong note here that this game is NOT for the faint of heart. Indeed, it may prove to be a powerfully disturbing piece to some, and quite objectionable to others. While the language of the game is perfectly mild, its subject content is not. There are quite a few graphic depictions of child abuse, sado-masochism, violent murders, blood and plenty of gore. This is definitely an "adult" piece and I personally would give it a rating of somewhere between an "R" and an "X", so please be warned. During the actual setup of the game there is also a section which allows you to build a password so that a censored version of the game may be played. I would encourage this for anyone who may have adolescents viewing this piece.
The General Drill
First let's take a look at the "General Drill"
Whenever I start a new game, especially an "older one"; I have always made it a habit to make sure my system is clean. (So let's clean house) Our cleaning products?? No, I'm not talking about special Orange Sprays or Pine smelly disinfectants! I'm referring to the "3 Musketeers" of WINTEL Systems. They are:
"Disk Clean Up", Check Disc (the old Scan Disc in pre XP Windows based systems) and Defrag.
First, Let's do a Disk Clean Up (Don't know how?) GO to-->Start-->All Programs--> Accessories--> System Tools-->Disk Clean Up. Empty out what you don't need ( you'll be surprised at what you can accumulate!) Shut down all extra programs. (for those of you who know how to do this part...just skip onto the next area of the "Setup".) For those of you who don't, the easiest way to terminate your TSRs (terminated but staying resident programs, also known as background applications") is to right click on each of the little icons in the lower right portion of your
"Tool Bar" (located near your clock), As you right click on each of them you will get the option to either "exit", "close" or "unload". Do this for each of them. Then, if you have a Screensaver go ahead and disable it.
If you haven't done the "Ole' Scan Disk"...(in XP it's called
"Check Disk") and Defragged recently here is a good time to do it. Go to-->My Computer-->Local Disc "C" ("C" is mine but your Local Disc maybe assigned another
letter)-->Right Click-->Properties-->
Tools-->"Check Now..." ->Make sure that both boxes are checked--> 1.)Automatically fix file system errors and
2.)Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors.-->Click Start. You can follow this same path to locate your Defrag program as well or use Start-->All Programs-->Accessories-->System Tools-->Defrag Hard Drive.
Check your system by doing a "Ctrl, Alt &
Delete", this will bring up "The Task
Manager", If you have closed out all Windows Programs, the field under "Applications" will be blank.
(Leave the field marked "Processes" alone. Yep, I know there are lots of interesting files in there...but your really better off not touching anything in there unless you really know just what you are doing.)
You might want to check on your Video and Audio Acceleration at this time, make sure you set the video at the 2nd notch from the right --> and audio should be set to the 2nd notch from the right as well (I find that this is the best setting for this adventure on MY system. Yours may be different, but this is always a good place to start and you can increase or lower them as you see fit after the game is installed.)
I know this seems like a bother, but if you take the time to make sure your system is sparkling on the inside, you'll have less headaches later. Remember a healthy XP is a happy one.
You also set your Display and Resolution to 800x600/16bit/100Hz. Right Click anywhere on your
Desktop--> Properties--> Settings--> Advanced--> Adapters-->List all
Modes-->Then choose your preference from the cascade menu. Click -->OK-->OK-->Apply-->OK.
Keep in mind to take a look at what you are given on your "PhantasII" CD1 ... there's a
"Vesa Driver" which you may utilize. You will need a Vesa Driver for this game. If you don't already have one loaded onto you system check the
"PhantasII CD1", you'll find that the game should offer a few. You should check them out to see which one will have the best compatibility for your video card. Make sure you read the Readme files on how to properly install the
Vesa driver. I already have mine (I use a generic one called "Uvesa") Remember if you already have a
Vesa driver installed you won't need to install it again.
Remember that we're going to use
the DOS install and not WIndows95.
You will also need VDMSound 2.0.4. + VDMSound Update2 and Launchpad. (If you don't already have them installed on you system. You can find the information on "My XP Compatibility List" page under
"Utilities". Download and install, then come back to this page.)
Everything Installed???? good.
The Setup Walkthrough was written for the 5CD-1996 version of this game. Now, while you can load this in WIN95 using the "Sierra" loader I do not
recommend it. We will be doing a DOS setup here. There's a lot of work ahead of us here...but I have full confidence in you...believe me, if I can do this anyone can.
So, let's get busy!
The Research
If you haven't done it yet, this is
something to think about. This walkthrough is for the
NTVDM
(Dos 8.0) which comes with XP and will support a certain degree of Vesa Capability when run with VDMSound .
This program is similar to a DOS EMULATOR and NOT
pure DOS. You need to make sure your NTVDM is working properly. There are a few articles in
"The Library" about the subject. It's a little intense, I'll admit, but you only really have to do the check if your having problems.
If you need to troubleshoot; this article really helped
me out. (Even though I had to read it about 5 times
before I understood what it wanted me to do.) Trouble
Shooting for the NTVDM in XP.
The Patches
There are 2 patches I've located for this game. Which I found at SierraGamePlanet. They are P2dospat.exe and p2fix,exe
I found that I needed neither one of these patches at the end of the day
with the computer configuration that I have. But I've posted
them here in case you need to make use of them. The first
patch must be installed in Pure Dos...which I haven't
found a way to do in Windows XP...since no Pure DOS
exists.
The Setup
-
Put the CD1 into your default CD ROM DRIVE.
-
It also might help to disable "Autorun" for your CDROM Drive...but if that isn't an option, never fear! Just cancel out of the "auto setup".
-
Go to-->My Computer-->Whatever letter Drive you've placed it in (mine is "D") -->Right Click and locate the following file:
INSTALL.BAT--> Choose Properties then Compatibility--> follow
Table1 below.
-
We are going to install this game into XP's Dos emulator.
Yes, yes XP does come with it's own version of a
DOSBOX, it's called NTVDM
(didn't know you could, huh?) just follow along with the Table #1 below
(oh, stop whining, it's painless once you get the hang of it. )
|
Table1 |
|
Compatibility--> |
Compatibility mode--> |
|
|
Display Settings--> |
check-->disable visual themes |
|
|
input settings--> |
check-->turn off advanced text services for this program |
- Click Apply Click OK
- Double Click on this file and the installation will begin. Follow through all the prompts.
-
Press Enter-->Enter-->then for the third display (Installation Choices) --> use your arrow keys to choose-->
"accept these choices and begin installation" (unless of course, you wish to modify something)
vdmsound - When the installation is completed. Close out of all open folders. Then Go To-->"C://Sierra and locate the file "P2DOS.BAT" ) if the file is not here Click on the PDOS2 folder and locate it there. Right Click on this-->Run with "VDMS with musical note" this will open up the VDMS Wizard. Follow the pictures below.
-
Click Apply. Click OK
- A new shortcut will now appear in the Folder.
- Right Click on this icon and Choose --> Send To--> Desktop.
-
Note**
The following step is optional and only used if you'd like to have a "Puzzle of Flesh" ICON on your DESK TOP
(...oh go ahead, why not?...You've come this far...pretty soon, you'll be an expert on
this!)
-
Go to-->My computer-->Locate the CD Rom Drive that has "CD1" in it--> Right Click-->Choose -->Explore
-
Locate the "P2.ico" file-->
Right Click-->Copy.
-
Go to -->Click on the Back Button located in the top right area on this window (it will bring you to "My Computer"
Right Click on "Local Disk C"-->Sierra-->P2DOS-->Right Click anywhere in this folder -->Paste. (you now have the icon safely copied to your P2DOS folder.
-
Now Left click on the "Back Button" located on the top right area on this window
(This will bring you to "C://Sierra" )--> Locate -->P2DOS
on your Desktop.
- Right click on this file -->Choose --> Properties--> Change.
- A new window will appear. Choose --> Change Icon.
- A new window will appear. Choose --> Browse.
-
Search through your Hierarchy
until you locate the Sierra folder -->P2DOS. You should see the Phantasmagoria
II puzzle icon , go
ahead and Double Click on it. It will now appear in the
"change icon" window. Click OK.
-
Click Apply Click OK.
- Click OK in the "Change Program Information" window.
- Click OK in the "Properties" window.
-
To play this game Right Click on
your new custom Icon and Choose VDMS with musical note.
While during game play, you might want to try your hand at acquiring the 480 Easter Egg points. For more information take a look here at Anthony Larme's wonderful Phantasmagoria II Memorial website.
Super...you're done.
...enjoy
Inferno