Rama
by Arthur C Clarke and Gentry Lee
Setup Walkthrough
Requirements:
486 DX/66
8 MB RAM
2X CD-ROM drive
SVGA graphics
DOS 5.0 or Windows 95
Mouse
Supports most major sound cards
Let's start at the beginning and prepare your system.
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.)
If after the install and test running, you might want to check on your Video and
Audio Acceleration at this time, mine is set at full for both, but your system
may be different. Change it only if you need to. Try starting with your video
level at the 3rd notch from the right --> and audio should be set to 1 notch to
the left and then go from there. 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 didn't have to change my Display at all for this game but you may have to. You
might want to set your Display and resolution to 800x600/16bit/75Hz, to start, if you have problems with the game.
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.
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.
There is a patch out there somewhere, but unfortunately after a two day search
...I'm still coming up with nothing. Sierra support, I've just noticed has
wiped out a lot of the patches for their older
games. Hopefully they are just revamping their site and will put them back...
but I'm not going to hold
my breath.
You Will need a Vesa Driver for this game. If you don't already have one
loaded onto your system, you might want to have a look on the The Rama disk.
It does offer a few, check them out to see which one will have the best
compatibility for your video card. Make sure that you read the Readme files on
how to properly install the Vesa driver. I already have mine (I use a
generic one called "UVesa") which fits very nicely with my Nvidia
cards. Remember, if you already have a Vesa driver installed you won't need to
install it again.
If you have Windows XP with SP2 (yes, I have that now as well.) Make sure that
you have a long indepth look at the General Page page. You will need to make
sure that your NTVDM and WOW consoles are running properly first.
You will also need VDMSound and Launchpad. (If you don't already have them
installed on you system. You can find the information on
"
My
Computer Specs" page under "Utilities". Download and install then
come back to this page.) If you need me to -- drop me a line and I will send
them to you.
Everything Installed???? good.
Let's install Rama
-
Put the CD1 into your default CD ROM DRIVE.
When the "install splash screen comes up click on "EXIT".
Go to-->My Computer-->Whatever letter Drive you've placed it in (mine is "D") -->Right Click --> Click on "OPEN" and locate the following file: INSTALL.EXE.
Choose-->Properties then follow the pictures below.
-
We are going to install this game into XP's Dos emulator
(didn't know you could, huh?)
just follow along with the pictures
(oh, stop whining, it's painless once you get the hang of
it.)
It's very similar to the Lighthouse: The Dark Being
installation
-
Program--> Uncheck-->"Close on Exit"
Run-->Maximized
-
Memory--> Leave the "Total"--> Auto
and increase all other parameters to the maximum level (this will increase all memories).
-
Screen--> Check--> Full Screen
-
Uncheck-->"Allow Screen Saver"
Mouse-->Exclusive Mode
-
Compatibility-->Leave the Compatibility Mode Blank
Display Settings -->Check-->Run in 256 colors and 640X480 and
...Check--> "Disable Visual Themes"
Check-->"Turn off advanced text services for this program".
-
Click Apply. Click OK.
Now Double Click on INSTALL.EXE to install RAMA to your hard drive.
You will see this image:
Press the ENTER Key. The next screen will ask you to choose which hard drive to install the game to. Choose the lowest letter you can. Mine is "C". Press the Enter Key again. On the next screen use your arrow keys to toggle to "accept these choices and begin the installation." Once this is highlighted press the ENTER Key. Now you see a gray screen appear. This needs to know the speed of your CDROM or DVDROM Drive is. Mine has a high drive speed you I will choose 3. type in 3 on your keyboard and the installation will begin. During the installation your screen will go blank and then the registration screen will appear, press any key to continue. Then press any key to exit the installation. -
Go To "C://Sierra/RamaDOS and locate the file SIER.EXE and RAMADOS.BAT
-
Right Click-->Properties-->here you'll find the similar tabs for this file as you found in the "INSTALL.EXE just follow the pictures above and make the exact changes.
-
Click Apply. Click OK.
-
Note**
The following step is optional and only used if you'd like to have a RAMA 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 CDROM Drive that has the Rama CD1 in it-->Right Click-->Choose -->Explore.
-
Locate the Rama.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-->Local Disk C-->Sierra-->.
-
Right Click anywhere in this folder -->Paste.
(you now have the icon safely copied to your RamaDOS folder.)
-
Now Left Click on the "Back Button" located on the top right area on this window. This will bring you to "C:\Sierra\RAMADOS Folder -->Locate--> RAMADOS.BAT. Use the RAMADOS.BAT file which is located INSIDE your RAMADOS Folder and NOT the one located by itself in the Sierra folder.
-
Right Click on the RAMADOS.BAT file -->Choose -->
Properties--> Compatibility--> make sure that you check: 256 colors, 640x480 display, Disable Visual Themes" and "Turn off advanced text services"
-
Click Apply. Click OK.
-
Right Click once more on this file-->choose Send To:-->Desktop.
-
Exit out of all windows and Go to-->Desktop-->Locate the "Generic Windows icon" for RAMADOS.BAT.
-
Right Click-->Properties-->Shortcut--> Make sure that under the command for "Run" you change it to Maximized.
-
Then click on "Change Icon".
(just ignore that "You-can't do-this!" message)
-
Browse-->Look through your Hierarchy for -->Local Disk "C"-->Sierra-->RamaDOS--> Rama.ico--> Click-->Open-->Click Apply-->Click OK.
It should look like this:
Super...you're done.
To play the game Right Click on the Rama Icon and Choose Run with VDMS
without the musical note.
.....Inferno