Simon the Sorcerer
Setup Walkthrough
by Infocom/AdventureSoft 1994
Requirements:
IBM PC or 100% Compatible
386-16MHz (486 recommended)
2Mb Ram
CD ROM DRIVE 150K bps
VGA Graphics with Color Monitor
MS-DOS (5.0-6.22)
Microsoft Mouse or 100%Compatible
SoundBlaster or 100% Compatible
I must qualify this Setup in that it is for Simon the Sorcerer by Infocom/AdventureSoft,
1994. It is the one that has the manual attached to the inside cover of the box. Not the one with the manual on the
CD. In order for this game to run, we'll need a few things: Vesa Drivers and VDMSound+/Launchpad. and a patch. Simon195.zip. While this is primary a DOS Game the patch allows you to play it
in Windows XP in the NTVDM. So, let's get busy!
First let's take a look at the "General Drill"
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.
Because this games does require "Vesa" and SoundBlaster
support in order to run effectively; make sure that you
have VDMSound/ +VDMS Launchpad installed. Keep in mind that when running this particular utility, it will lend a certain
amount of "Vesa" support to
NTVDM (XP's own Virtual DOS Machine). If you don't have a "Vesa" driver Check on the CD itself as there are some utility programs provided there. If you find that they are not working for you, check the
Utilities section of
"My Comupter Specs" page and further information can be found in
"The Library".
All installed and ready to go? Good.
Before we do any installing go and download the patches:
"Simon195.zip" and "Simon1.zip".
Make sure that you save them to a place where you may find them easily. (Mine are
all
located in My Documents-->My Downloads-->Game Patches-->(and then a specific folder, created for each game).
-
Once that is finished close exit out of all windows programs (you should be at your Desk Top).
-
Place the CD in your Default CD ROM DRIVER (for our purposes, we'll call it "D"). Right Click Drive "D"-->Explore-->Locate 4 files: Install.exe, RunVGA.exe, Set.exe and XMScheck.exe
-
For each one of these files in it's turn Right Click-->Properties--> You should see 7 tabs: Screen, Misc, Compatibility, General, Font, Program and Memory. It is from these popups that we will create our Pif files to make the install for Simon the Sorcerer viable.
-
Use the Chart below in TABLE 1 to set the various checks and variables:
|
Program--> |
Run--> |
Maximized |
|
Close on Exit--> |
Uncheck Box |
|
|
Memory--> |
Conventional
Memory-> ems memory--> xms
memory--> dpmi memory--> |
total
= 640 16384
|
|
Screen--> |
Check--> |
Full Screen |
|
MISC--> |
foreground--> |
uncheck "allow screensaver |
|
mouse--> |
check exclusive mode |
|
|
Compatibility--> |
Compatibility mode--> |
Win95 |
|
Display Settings--> |
check-->256
colors |
|
|
input settings--> |
check-->turn off advanced text services for this program |
-
Click Apply. Click OK.
-
Double Click in the file Install.exe-->Press any key to Start--> Select the Drive where you wish to install the program (I chose "C").-->Use the arrow keys to select the drive and press "Enter". Press "Enter" again.-->Choose--> Yes-->It will ask if you want to have the entire game file copied to your hard drive to improve performance. Choose Yes (7MB).
-
Next Simon will ask you if you'd like to test for SoundBlaster--> Choose "y" for yes. If the program can't locate it (or you don't have one-->Select the arrow up key on your keyboard.)
Choose the Soundcard that is the closest match to yours.
-
Next comes "Configuring" (just type in the numbers as they appear) So, you should have Address: 220 (enter) IRQ: 7 (enter) DMA: 1(enter). Simon will then ask if you'd like to test
the sound. Select "y" for "yes". If you hear the voice -->select "y" for "Yes". If not press "n" for "No" and choose another sound driver. Press enter to finish the install and "any key to
exit.
-
Now Click on the "Back" button at the upper right corner of your Window-->This will bring you to "My Computer"-->Double Click and Choose "local disk "C" "-->Double Click-->Simon.
Leave this folder alone for now.
-
Go to -->Where ever you downloaded those files to. (Mine would be in My Documents-->My Downloads-->Game Patches-Simon.) Unzip the first patch Simon195.zip. Then the second patch
(which by the, way may or may not work) to "C:\Simon".
-
Go to-->C:\Simon folder. Locate the following files: DigVesa.com, Soundblaster.com, SoundDrv.com and STFX.com Follow the chart in Table 2 for each file in its turn to set the variables for the game.
|
Table2 |
|
Program--> |
Run--> |
Maximized |
|
Close on Exit--> |
Uncheck Box |
|
|
Memory--> |
Conventional
Memory-> ems memory--> xms
memory--> dpmi memory--> |
total
= Auto 16384
|
|
Screen--> |
Check--> |
Full Screen |
|
MISC--> |
foreground--> |
uncheck "allow screensaver |
|
mouse--> |
check exclusive mode |
|
-
Click Apply. Click OK.
-
Go to-->C:\Simon folder. Locate the following files: RunVGA.exe, Simon (MSDOS ICON) and Setup.exe. Right Click--> Properties--> for each one in its turn and follow the chart in Table1 to set the variables for the game.
-
Click Apply. Click OK.
-
Finally, the last few files! Locate the following files: Simon.Bat (the one that has the gold gear on it), Simon95.exe, and SimonSts.exe. Right Click on each one in its turn and use Table 3 below to configure the variables.
|
Table3 |
|
Compatibility--> |
Compatibility mode--> |
Win95 |
|
Display Settings--> |
check-->256
colors |
|
|
input settings--> |
check-->turn off advanced text services for this program |
-
Click Apply Click OK
-
Right Click-->"Simon.Bat"-->Choose "Send To:"-->Choose "Desk Top"-->Close out of all Windows-->Locate "Simon.bat"-->on your Desk Top-->Right Click-->Properties-->Choose Short Cut-->
Select Run-->Choose-->Maximized.
-
Choose-->Change Icon-->Browse-->Click on the "little green arrow on the folder" to the right of where it says "Look in"-->let this arrow take you through out your system's hierarchy until you find "Local Disk C". Then scroll down and locate-->"Simon" folder-->Double Click-->Choose-->"Simon.ico"-->Choose-->
Open-->OK-->Choose-->Compatibility-->make sure (once again) that all boxes are checked, with the exception of the first box, which should be checked "Run in Win95".
-
Click Apply Click OK-->you're done!
-
To play the game-->Right Click on your Desk top Icon--> Choose-->Run with VDMS (no musical note).
...Inferno