Running Privateer/rf/armada/pg In Windows: Howto

Darkmage

Vice Admiral
OK. I have finally gotten this down to an art form. I have been writing a howto on making privateer/rf/Armada/PG run in windows:
Running Privateer and Armada in linux or windows
By James "Darkmage/DMJC" Carthew
Note: All games are copyright Origin systems and Electronic Arts.
All methods were tested on my Duron 1.3ghz with 448mb sdram
You will need msdos 6.22 on floppy
A copy of Privateer
A copy of Armada
Running Privateer and Armada using VMware
This method works in windows 9x/nt/xp/Linux
Once you have installed vmware it should automatically load the virtual machine creation wizard. Create a standard virtual machine then select ms-dos as the guest os.Select create a new virtual disk and put in between 100-250mb.Give your virtual machine 16mb of ram, and access to your cdrom/virtual hard disk/floppy disk drives.
hit finish. next hit [Power On].
Running Privateer and Armada using VirtualPC
This method works in windows 9x/nt/xp
Once you've installed VirtualPC -[this section to come. still undergoing writing]

Setting up ms-dos and installing the games
Insert the first disk of your 3 ms-dos install disks. Once you've installed ms-dos and rebooted the virtual machine you now need to run memmaker. Under vmware this will probably fail but not to worry if it does, open up your config.sys and add DEVICE=C:\DOS\emm386.exe RAM /m3 add this after Device=C:\Dos\himem.sys save and exit. Install your cdrom/mouse/*sound drivers for dos and reboot. In vmware an error will come up, just hit enter emm386 will still load. put your privateer/armada cd in the cd drive and then install it. Running is exactly the same as you normally would.
Note: the sound drivers are not needed for virtualpc it emulates a soundblaster 16 using whatever soundcard you have.
VMware is available from www.vmware.com
VirtualPC is available from www.connectix.com
 
Running Privateer and Armada in linux or windows
By James "Darkmage/DMJC" Carthew
Note: All games are copyright Origin systems and Electronic Arts.
All methods were tested on my Duron 1.3ghz with 448mb sdram
You will need msdos 6.22 on floppy
A copy of Privateer
A copy of Armada
Running Privateer and Armada using VMware
This method works in windows 9x/nt/xp/Linux
Once you have installed vmware it should automatically load the virtual machine creation wizard. Create a standard virtual machine then select ms-dos as the guest os.Select create a new virtual disk and put in between 100-250mb.Give your virtual machine 16mb of ram, and access to your cdrom/virtual hard disk/floppy disk drives.
hit finish. next hit [Power On].
Running Privateer and Armada using VirtualPC
This method works in windows 9x/nt/xp
Once you've installed VirtualPC run the virtual disk wizard. create a new hard disk image create a dynamically expanding disk image. select 514 mb and hit finish. Now select new pc. enter a name for the new pc hit next. select guide me and hit next. select DOS as the operating system then select yes to adjust memory allocated. enter 16mb. Select an existing hard disk image. and select the image you made earlier. click finish. your now ready to start up. (Note: to access a floppy disk or cd drive in virtualpc you must close all windows apps using the drive like windows explorer, then you need to select floppy-> capture host drive A: or cdrom-> capture host drive.)
Setting up ms-dos and installing the games (this applies to both emulators)
Insert the first disk of your 3 ms-dos install disks. Once you've installed ms-dos and rebooted the virtual machine you now need to run memmaker. Under vmware this will probably fail but not to worry if it does, open up your config.sys and add DEVICE=C:\DOS\emm386.exe RAM /m3 add this after Device=C:\Dos\himem.sys save and exit. Install your cdrom/mouse/*sound drivers for dos and reboot. In vmware an error will come up, just hit enter emm386 will still load. put your privateer/armada cd in the cd drive and then install it. Running is exactly the same as you normally would.
Note: the sound drivers are not needed for virtualpc it emulates a soundblaster 16 using whatever soundcard you have.

VMware is available from www.vmware.com
VirtualPC is available from www.connectix.com
 
Great Thread

First off great thread.

I have jest downloaded the trial for VMware, and am currently configureing my memory and sound for Armada as I type this.

Buuuuuuttttt......... there seems to be no way to set up high-audio or Joystick support according to the documintation. Anyone know if Virtual Computer has suppot for this? Any help to get my Wingman digital 3d working under Dos would be great.


The Emperor
________________
Killing Confed's Civilian Population, One Transport at a time
 
Ok, I'm stuck with a low-end 233 MHz AMD K6 (most pc technicians reminscient about the days spent with first class pentiums...I know how it feels first hand). Are there any alternatives to using the cited methods for running Privateer in native Windows? The game doesn't seem to work even in DOS (probably memory problems?). I'd appreciate some help.
 
Small Update: I got Armada to work (yay!) on my Windows XP running Laptop under VMWARE. The Sound Is non Exsistant, There is no joystick support, and the game runs like C*R*A*P (realy realy slow) - so ive pretty much given up on that method

I Set up a Real Dos Computer. And everything is fine except that I can not get any game to see my Joystick (Wingman Extreem). Anyone know how I could go about fixing this? Maybe I need some joystick drivers ?

Also Would anyone know how to go about how to get Sound or a joystick to work on a Dos booted (boot disk) computer? The computer is a 300 mhz Laptop..... and historicly I have only goten my old-school sb16 to work under dos.........

I was hopeing I could get armada loaded on a laptop so I could get some multiplayer armada action with my homiez - But whats the point if I cant get sound or a joystick working, right ?
 
Wingman Extreme? Is it digital?

As far as I know, digital joysticks do not work in real DOS mode. A real pity.
 
Privateer too slow using VirtualPC

Setting up a Dos system on VirtualPC is NOT easy at all....I had to pull out every old DOS trick I know to get it established, free some upper memory, and transfer as many drivers into upper memory as possible to conserve conventional memory.

I finally got it working but the game runs VERY slowly, sound or no sound. I adjusted the memory allocation (from 8 MB to as high as 64, and adjusted CONFIG.SYS accordingly), changed video cards, and pretty muched tweaked the hell outta it. I even tried playing P2 and Armada on the virtual machine and they all still run slow. Can anyone who has SUCCESSFULLY gotten this method to work help me out? I am DYING to get back into the seat of my Tarsus and start scrubbing Retros off the face of Gemini....

BTW, I'm running a 533Mhz with 128MB RAM. It's not much, but it should be more than enough to handle this operation. PLEASE HELP anyone...
 
Your problems are all CPU related. my computer is a 1.3ghz duron. if you want to run priv in windows you reallly need a hefty box. to setup priv to use your sound card in Virtualpc just give it the usual settings 220, 5, 1. joystick ONLY worked in virtualpc. I cannot guarantee that any of this will run on a low end system. I will continue testing but if you want priv in windows get a really powerful box, otherwise it ain't going to work. for 500+ users out there, have hope. Dosbox SHOULD be able to run privateer at full speed but right now it's still in development.
 
Yes, I know things might be a tad easier if I had a high-end machine....but the thing is, EVERYTHING runs slow in VirtualPC, not just Privateer. I have tried the simplest, less-than-3MB-in-size DOS games and they all run slowly, graphics and sound. In fact, even the sound by itself stutters and drags, so given all this I can likely eliminate CPU speed as a probable for my problems. While Virtual PC was not designed for the purpose of games, I refuse to believe that I have to have a super-techno computer generations beyond a Geminian B.S. Omniscient to get even halfway decent performance.....there must be something else wrong...

And I can't get the joystick to work within VPC...I always noticed that Privateer runs faster if you have one plugged up (even if you dont use it) and in VPC, Priv detects the joystick and registers my attempts at calibrating it (far left/right/center and buttons) but consistently says that it hasnt been calibrated correctly and I need to try again. I'm wondering if this thing isn't more trouble than it's worth...?!?!? Unfortunately it is my only hope at running the game since I cannot get the DOS config for my Crystal sound card to work in DOS mode, so it's not like I can keep trying to tweak the memory configuration to do it the old-fashioned, Restart-in-MS-DOS-mode way... :mad:
 
I too have problems with my joystick. Even after calibration it skips around like hell and I've tried all the patches available. It's a sidewinder 3D pro.

EDIT: I run on virtual PC
 
Running Privateer and RF in ME...is it possible?

Ok, I'm not good with all the technical stuff, which is probably why I've been looking at all of these help pages and succeeded only in making myself more and more confused. Anywho. I rediscovered my Privateer CD and remember ed how fun it was, so I wanted to play it again and I got the lovely error messages associated with running DOS games in Windows. Well, is there a halfway easy way to run Privateer in Windows ME? Like, one that won't make me spin in circles trying to figure out what to do without screwing up my computer? If so I'd greatly appreciate the help. You all seem like really nice people from what I've read, so I thought you might be able to help me out. If so, thanks a lot, and if not, it's ok. I just really wanna play this again. Thanks alot!

Logan
 
salvation is at hand!

for those of you with cost issues.... HCL HAS GOTTEN BOCHS to run PRIV! Bochs is a FREE open source PC emulator. I've asked him for a copy and when I get it I'll make it available for everyone. BTW he also said that he was going to use bochs for research into privateer with the aim of making it win9x compatible!
 
Re: Running Privateer and RF in ME...is it possible?

Originally posted by IllusionShroud
Ok, I'm not good with all the technical stuff...Well, is there a halfway easy way to run Privateer in Windows ME? Like, one that won't make me spin in circles trying to figure out what to do without screwing up my computer? If so I'd greatly appreciate the help.

Sure, GET RIDDA Windows ME! It's the unholiest piece of dreck ever churned out by Microsoft. Woe to them what were suckered into buying it...

Get a more "REAL" Windows, like Win98, or even 95. THEN we can talk...
 
ok.. i have it running - but it locks up after a minute or two *sigh*

windows 98 - full reboot into dos
[BTW I dual boot win98/linux, but that shouldn't make a difference - it hasn't before]

Pentium III 800mhz
768 Megs of ram [16MB EMS]
ATI Radeon 32meg DDR
SB Live! Value
10 Gig Windows/DOS [fat32] partition on hda [primary master]
priv.tre and rf.tre copied to harddrive

config.sys
Code:
DOS=SINGLE
DOS=HIGH,UMB
Device=C:\WINDOWS\Himem.Sys
DeviceHigh=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.Exe 16384 HIGHSCAN ram /m3 /I=b000-b7ff
files=30
buffers=30
DEVICEhigh=C:\CDROM\AOATAPI.SYS /D:IDECD000 /P:170,15 /DMA /Q

autoexec.bat
Code:
@ECHO OFF
SET PROMPT=$p$g
SET PATH=C:\windows\command
SET MIDI=SYNTH:1 MAP:E MODE:0
SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 H5 P330  T6
SET CTSYN=C:\WINDOWS
C:\PROGRA~1\CREATIVE\SBLIVE\DOSDRV\SBEINIT.COM
rem lh net start ipx
lh c:\windows\command\mscdex.exe /D:IDECD000
lh c:\gmouse\gmouse.com
REM
REM The following lines have been created by Windows. Do not modify them.
REM
C:
CD C:\WINDOWS
CALL C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND.COM
C:\WINDOWS\WIN.COM /WX


all of the sb lives values are correct - and the game successfuilly uses the card while it does run... but then after a minute or two hard lock up. gar.....
 
hey what about 2k?

what the subject say.... what about win 2k computers? i havent tried any of these fixes yet (because i lost my privateer cd - just ordered one), but are these alleged fixes gonna work? does anyone here play with full operation at all?
 
you DO realize that this actual message was regarding running privateer in windows via emulation, not howto make it run in dos...
 
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