Carmageddon 1 lomem trouble

redcrow_design · Post by **redcrow_design** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 8:46 pm

Hi, I got problems trying to run Interplay's Carmageddon 1 I got a pentium 4, 2.60 Ghz and 240 mb ram, and the game actually runs but it looks choppy like there isn´t enough ram because the low memory mode is invoked always like it was on a very slow PC, also the sound skips and is very choppy, I tried to run it without sound, but the game still looks choppy so I think the problem isn't the sound.
I tried to edit config.nt and I copied it to the game's directory, this is what was edited:

'dos=high, umb
emm=RAM
device=%SystemRoot%\system32\himem.sys
files=60'

I also tried with all the compatibility modes and several 'dos box emulators' including 'glidos' and 'dos box'.
But I still can't get it running with a normal memory mode, it crashes even with the normal mode.

do you have any clue of what to do??
do I have to speed up the PC or the win xp's dos emulator?

I read every single message related with this topic on this forum and other forums and I tried everything they say but I still can't solve the problem.

Please help me.

Thanx for your time and sorry for my bad english.

Elign · Post by **Elign** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 9:30 pm

Since by default, the NTVDM receives 1 MB from Windows XP's memory management, and also, since Carmageddon is a 32-bit game, DOSBox and the Command Prompt/NTVDM will not work well with it.

DOSBox is not very good with 32-bit games yet, and Windows NT/2000/XP have trouble with 32-bit DOS games in that they demand more CPU time, that often can't be provided very well.

In this case, your best bet is to use a native DOS-compatible system, like DOS itself, or Windows 95/98/ME.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 9:50 pm

thank you very much for answering, but, how do I do this??

I don't want to format my drive just to set a double boot system because it was formted thousands of times and every time I do this I loss two or three gigabytes of disk space.

is it posible to format a partition of my disk in FAT32 without formating both partitions?? and is it posible to make another partition for this disk??
because my wife doesn't want my stuff in her partition.
Now I got two partitions: C:\ and F:\ wich is mine and I want to split F:\ into F:\ and G:\.

thanks.

P.S.: where do I get a copy of MS-DOS?? and how much costs??

Elign · Post by **Elign** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 10:00 pm

Well you can get FreeDOS or OpenDOS/DR-DOS 7.xx for free.

http://www.freedos.org
http://public.planetmirror.com/pub/drdos/

Backup everything from the F drive onto the C drive (or burn it on CD/DVDs), format the F drive as FAT32 (or if it is less than 2 GB, format it as FAT/FAT16).

Put the game on F:

Then create a DOS bootdisk (actually Windows XP can create an MS-DOS 8.00 Boot disk when you format A: through Windows XP)

Leave the disk in the drive, then reboot your computer. The F: drive will be recognized as a C: drive if your real C: drive is NTFS.

Type C:, press Enter, then CD\ to the folder/directory the game is in, then run the game.

Since PCI sound cards are almost impossible to use in pure DOS, you're have to play with no sound/music.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 10:27 pm

Is there a way to emulate the exact conditions of ms-dos manipulating all the config files of windows xp??
or with any video card emulator or anything like that??

or how do I get glidos working...?

the problem is tht I cannot run the game without sound, because I want to use it for editing purposes so I need all the graphics working fine.

Elign · Post by **Elign** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 10:00 am

The problem there is that unlike Windows 95 and 98, Windows XP has no DOS foundation. The Command Prompt is a half-knocked DOS emulator that Microsoft generously provided for some degree of convenience. But it cannot be tweaked to work like a real DOS system because of XP limitations (like lack of direct hardware access).

So I think your best solution is Microsoft Virtual PC (you can download it for a free 45-day trial). It will take a fair bit of work to configure, as you need to provide your own operating system (like FreeDOS/OpenDOS/etc.) and configure it's individual options.

Microsoft Virtual PC is like having another computer altogether; like buying an old computer just to play DOS games.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/deta ... laylang=en

redcrow_design · Post by **redcrow_design** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 6:03 pm

Thanx, I'll try it.
Is this program suitable for NTFS?? I don't want to format the disk if it's not necesary.

thank you very much for your kindness and all your help, it is very apreheciated

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 6:49 pm

I tried it but it does not find the F: drive and I cannot share the folder because the additions aren't installed; when I try to install the additions it does not do anything...

Elign · Post by **Elign** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 8:40 pm

Sure, no problem

Virtual PC is a self-contained system, as such, it starts off with a fake hard drive with nothing on it.

You would need to burn a CD or use floppy disks, as you would need to do if you had a 2nd computer.

redcrow_design · Post by **redcrow_design** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 9:24 pm

I can't get it to work, I can't install the additions nor acces the shared folders settings....

do you know where I can find a "fool proof" manual for the instalation of this prog. with gaming purposes??

redcrow_design · Post by **redcrow_design** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 10:52 pm

finally I am playing with a higer memory mode than 'lomem', but it still isn't hi-res and it IS still choppy, I did this tweaking the windows settings, but I don't know how to tweak himem.sys and other config files, maybe there is the problem.
I also found another strange thing in the game, when you are on a slope or an inclined plane the camera 'shakes' I don't know why happens this strange side effect, but it happens. I still can't get rid of it.
I'll keep tweaking the win settings since I cannot properly use the virtual PC thing.
do you have any kind of tips for the windows' memory config files tweaking???

thank you again.

Elign · Post by **Elign** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 8:13 am

If you can, try reducing the graphics detail, or try a lower resolution (in the game itself).

redcrow_design · Post by **redcrow_design** » Thu Jun 23, 2005 10:09 pm

the problem is that I can't, I want to start another MOD for the game but this time in HI-RES using the same characters & cars of the game to make it better.

xitsmex · Post by **xitsmex** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 11:53 am

redcrow_design, hi. You again. Wanna say, that you can use win95 version of Carma. Even with hires.

Mail me. moe_mectoATnm.ru

GameMaster.EXE · Post by **GameMaster.EXE** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 12:22 pm

If everything fails, dual-boot in a earlier version of Windows that has DOS. If you still have problems, dump your WinXp and get Win98SE or just pure DOS.

DOS Games Discussion

Carmageddon 1 lomem trouble

Carmageddon 1 lomem trouble

use Carma95 instead of carmdos!