Problems creating a DOS game

[alkis21]

Everything has worked well with the game I'm creating so far. I was always making Windows executables. However, tonight I tried creating a DOS executable for a friend who has an old PC with Windows 3.1. It saves the game ok but when I select 'Test', I get the message:

"Error ST02: could not load game file 'AC2GAME.DAT'".

Any idea what I'm doing wrong? I'm using v2.55, May 2003 (Build 2.55.359).

[Pumaman]

The "Test Game" feature doesn't work with DOS games - you need to find the game executable and run it seperately.

Bear in mind that if you are using Windows 2000 or XP, you may not be able to run the DOS version.

[alkis21]

Thank you but I wish it was that easy. I did try to run the executable instead but got the same message. The weirdest thing is that when I try to run dossetup.bat I get a "Bad command or file name"! I have a dual boot (98/XP) so I'm trying all of the above on Win98 and pure DOS, same result.
An old version of AGS I had (2.21) used to create two files, ac2game.dat and ac2game.dta. Version 2.55 only creates the latter, which doesn't seem to matter to the windows version but the engine still asks for ac2game.dat when running the DOS executable. It looks like a bug to me.

[Pumaman]

What is the name of the executable you're producing? Remember that for DOS games to work, the filename must be 8 characters or less.

I just tried out saving a game as a DOS game, and it worked fine, so at this stage I don't think it's a bug.

[alkis21]

The original name was "Other Worlds". I renamed the game folder to "OW", so the new executable is OW.exe. The only thing that changed is that dossetup.exe now asks for the mysterious DAT file as well instead of giving me an error message. Do YOU have that dat file in your game?

[Pumaman]

That error message is a bit of a red herring - it just means that it couldn't open its data files.

What is the full path name to your game folder? If you try copying the Compiled folder into the root of the C drive, for instance, does it work then? The DOS engine can have problems if it's in a path with spaces (like "Program Files") or if it's too deeply nested.

[alkis21]

I copied the 'OW' folder to the root directory and loaded it from there. Tried to run the .exe, same message.  :'( So all you do is choose the "Produce DOS exe" option and the game runs fine? I appreciate the help anyway.

[Pumaman]

Where did you get the DOS engine from by the way? If I remember correctly, I forgot to include it in the v2.55 distribution. If you're using one from another version, that could cause problems.

[alkis21]

Not I'm not using a different version. I simply choose the "Produce DOS EXE" in the "Game" menu. Maybe there's something missing from v2.55 and DOS executables are impossible to work?

[Pumaman]

Make a backup copy of your game, then try loading it into 2.56 and compiling a DOS version - see if that works any better.

[alkis21]

Thanks, I'll try that.

[alkis21]

IT WORKED!! Thanks a million.

[alkis21]

I spoke too soon.   The DOS version works now, but I have new kind of problem with my game. I posted it in the "AGS 2.56d Final is released!" thread.

[edmundito]

This doesn't have to do with the topic specifically, but it's just a thought. How come the setup for acdos is still the same? I shouldn't it be updated a little bit with at least "Adventure Game Studio" instead of "Adventure Creator"? and what features in AGS's winsetup do not work on dos anyway?

[Gilbert]

Well, Netmonkey, read the last few posts from:

http://www.agsforums.com/yabb/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=6349;start=40