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Fragile AllegianceRunning without Dosbox?(16 posts)(16 posts)
(16 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted April 04, 2021
I have been wanting to play this game on my pc with Windows 95. The game traditionally ran fine on 95.

I purchased this game a while ago from GOG, but this version has been useless to me. I simply cannot understand taking a truly good old game and making it only available to run on a new os. The emulation requires ridiculous specs for an old game.

The problem is that when I try running the game without Dosbox, it asks for the CD. Isn't that DRM?

Is there any way to make the game work outside of Dosbox? If not, GOG should provide an original iso at least. Or some proper option. Not just "you need modern specs to run old game."

This is my top childhood game. It would be a shame if I cannot play it in the OS it was intended to run on.
Posted April 04, 2021
If your computer runs Windows 95, it will also run DOS so just install DOS too and unpack and do a manual installation. Have fun! Remember the hardware limitations of DOS! Mainly not too large hard drives.

I cannot find any Win95 executive so DOS it is.
Post edited April 04, 2021 by Themken
Posted April 04, 2021
Thanks for the response!

I am running 95 on Dos 7.1, so I had tried restarting in Dos mode. The game still won't run.

How do I properly extract the game from the GOG installer? I tried running the setup, but nothing happens.
Posted April 04, 2021
The installer was made for modern Windows. GOG sells games for current systems.

All I know is that it can be done but I do not know how and am bad at searching but remember reading about it here on GOG.

Oh and I cannot really try either as I only have the game on disc, which works just fine as is.
Post edited April 04, 2021 by Themken
Posted April 06, 2021
So, I got an email back from GOG. All I can say is this company is tricking people and ruining old games. They have 100% ruined old shareware games. Rather than producing original copies of games, they are producing these monstrosities that inly run on new computers. There's nothing legitimate about repackaging games with an emulator for sale. Selling games that ONLY run on emulation. Crazy!

"Hello,

Unfortunately, version of the game that is on GOG is not available for Windows 95.

And it is not possible to open the game without Dosbox.

We apologize for the inconveniences caused.
Regards,
Crazy Pixie
GOG Support"

Lame company can't even offer the original iso.
I bought a drm free game? I think not.

I can only run it on new windows with the packaged emulator. Without the emulation it wants CD. That means there's still DRM. Nice scam.
Post edited April 06, 2021 by geekbaic
Posted April 06, 2021
Had I known all this I wouldn't have spent a penny here. To bad I purchased like 50 games.
Posted April 06, 2021
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geekbaic:
All Windows versions from before Vista account for less than a single percent of the market and XP has almost all of that. GOG's business idea started with making old games work on modern Windows.

If you want to play your game you should either install it on a modern computer and move the files over or use the Inno Unpack and set it up yourself. Sorry but it is unfeasible for GOG to cater to 30% of the estimated 42 Windows 95 users out there. That can never cover the costs.

If you use Windows 95 as a hobby you should learn how to tinker. PhilsComputerLab channel on YouTube can be your friend. They are also a GOG customer and sometimes active on these forums.

If you use Windows 95 because of trying to save money you are cheating yourself as you can get a much newer used computer for under $100 (central unit only). I have tried giving away my old gaming PC and there are no takers.
Post edited April 06, 2021 by Themken
Posted April 07, 2021
Our industry is dying thanks to blind support for Microsoft. Why should anyone be expected to use or develop an operating system that is as intrusive and restrictive as government subsidized Windows 10. Gamers have become lazy, selfish, and clueless. Totally dependent. They expect developers to support only new versions of Windows when Microsoft abandoned backwards compatibility and implements forced obsolescence.

How do you expect developers to produce games this way? The old games we know and love from the past did not come from these restrictive conditions. It's a suicide mission to be an independent Windows game developer anymore.

Windows 95 is my preferred version as it waa the least restrictive while still offering standard Windows api.

Furthermore, my rig is an Ebox with a Vortex86 processor. 95 is the only version of Windows that runs on it. The machine consumes 5v at 2a. Usb powered windows pc. It has 32 bit color, sound, and ever runs Age of Empires 2! Yes, you can easily run aoe2 onnn 95. Seamlessly.

Best of all, I am able to easily produce live booting Windows 95 USB flash drives. This requires MsDos 7.1 and some drivers. The OS is very accessible and portable. It just takes spreading the right info.

Nonetheless, even if nobody is using 95, plenty of people know how to maintain an XP machine properly in 2021. The fact that GOG is repackaging old games to only run on an emulator without providing a drm free copy or at least an original iso is shameful. Just like using Windows 10 is shameful and disrespectful to all tbe people who actually develop and preserve technology. It's no longer about the games at this point. We already lost so much due to people throwing everything away and consuming new stuff every year.

IT'S SAD.

Sorry for the rant for those of you taking the time to read. I just cannot sit and watch as technology preservationists are replaced by a bunch of people who think it's acceptable to sell games with an emulator. Like really, who goes out and buys Snes emulator with Donkey Kong country?

Btw I have no concern with saving money here. If I did, my money wouldn't have been spent on digital copies of video games.

I do own almost every Atari, Nintendo, etc. Pc towers from all eras. Including a machine with Windows 10 and an i7 processor when that monstrosity of an OS first came out. I used the stock Windows 10 for a small website server until it bricked itself during a forced update power outage combo. Used Linux for my server aftwr that before finally setting on VPS hosting. That was partially also due to ISP upload throttling.

I have been developing for Atari, Dos, Windows, PHP web stuff, arduino, etc for so long now, that I am exactly the type of person GOG should market towards. Unfortunately, they are being foolish by trying to sell games to throwaway culture people. Those people will not support them forever. Now I will not either. I will enjoy watching them go out of business so we can go back to not taking game preservation for granted.

Are we going to just continue to be Microsoft test subjects while shunning Amiga users? Or Linux users? Like how dare someone not automatically update their computer with the latest government subsidized software.
Post edited April 07, 2021 by geekbaic
Posted April 07, 2021
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geekbaic: A rant.
Looooooooooooooooooooook, not everyone has room nor access to an Amiga, Atari 400, or 286 PC. So you really shouldn't belittle people trying to preserve access to software by any means possible.

Any number of circumstances can occur; I myself had to give up my entire Nintendo collection on the matter of not knowing if we'd have the room or finances to keep any of it while moving over 1300 km from home. And to even attempt to start building that up again...let's see: I'd need a television, a NES of some kind, at least one controller, and oh look this is quickly adding up to way over 100 USD. Plus I'd need the space to deploy and store all of that.

For example, when was the last time you even heard someone mention the Atari 800? I'll be blunt, I don't even know what games exist for it.

That, and with the physical hardware, I have to suffer with the limitations of whatever that may be; such as a lack of netplay, useful LUA scripts, overlays, post processing effects, or even something as basic as color correction.

I'm glad you're enough of a brain genius to know what you're doing, but not everyone shares your IQ of 300, Dr. Eggman.

As for me, I'm going to commit sacrilege by running Interstate 76 in Wine, and I'm going to enjoy it.
Posted April 07, 2021
DOSBox works fine in Linux too.

A discussion on operating systems belongs in the general discussion forum. A couple of threads there about how some (more than a handful) would like the games to come with the original files as a bonus. Not a bad idea in my opinion and would make the life of such as the OP in this thread much easier.
Post edited April 07, 2021 by Themken
Posted April 08, 2021
Thank's for the response.

It would make life easier. I live off grid in the Mojave and manly use solar power. A Diy setup. Otherwise, just a generator. Power consumption is important. Having optimized rig with low power consumption is very important. It's difficult to fit in among the consumer culture.

I must also say, I do feel this thread is relevant here for the sole reason that this game was sold with CD protection despite saying it's DRM free. For this game alone, this needs fixing. I don't want to wear out an old CD of the game (a relic) and piracy is not an option. All they have to do is provide us a copy of the CD. They are just being thoughtless. I have had a better conversation with you here in the forums than the customer service which only cares about mainstream Microsoft brainwashed customers. Thanks for that. I have seen the same discussion on other forums go sour fast. Like how dare someone maintain a computer beyond Microsoft's planned obsolescence!
The discussion of Windows 95 is directly 100% related to Fragile Allegience.
Post edited April 08, 2021 by geekbaic
Posted April 08, 2021
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geekbaic: I must also say, I do feel this thread is relevant here for the sole reason that this game was sold with CD protection despite saying it's DRM free.
The discussion of Windows 95 is directly 100% related to Fragile Allegience.
It doesn't require a CD, it's just how they formatted the install; basically it runs off a CD image (Probably a BIN/CUE pair). If you can't figure out what to do with that information, then I suggest you stick to the DOSbox install.
Posted April 08, 2021
It does require a CD. I have had this game since 1999. Don't feel like wearing out an actual CD. I have apent years trying to make it run without CD. Literally the only reason I spent money here.

The fact is theat GOG didn't remove the DRM and simply packed it with an emulator. Dosbox does make it easy to circumvent the CD protection. That doesn't mean that GOG made some kind of innovation. They just don't care.

Windows 10 and those who blindly use it are the scourge of computers. How are people so willing to give away control of their machines? Computers are OUR tools, not big brothers.
Posted April 08, 2021
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geekbaic: It does require a CD. I have had this game since 1999. Don't feel like wearing out an actual CD. I have apent years trying to make it run without CD. Literally the only reason I spent money here.

The fact is theat GOG didn't remove the DRM and simply packed it with an emulator. Dosbox does make it easy to circumvent the CD protection. That doesn't mean that GOG made some kind of innovation. They just don't care.

Windows 10 and those who blindly use it are the scourge of computers. How are people so willing to give away control of their machines? Computers are OUR tools, not big brothers.
I'm using Fedora, for your information. And if it requires a CD, then how is the GOG build running? I don't shove a plastic polycarbonate coated disk into my computer every time I want to colonize the asteroids. I don't know what your obsession with Windows 10 is, but I stopped using Windows permanantly.
Posted April 09, 2021
That's great news for Fedora and Linux users alike. Dosbox makes a lot more sense on platforms where Dos has never been native.

My obsession is with not being required to modify my 20 year old pc to play 20 year old games. Having to do so makes no sense.

What's going on here is simply a cheap gimmick. Dosbox tricks the game into not asking for CD. GoG made no innovation here. GoG should provide a legal iso copy for those with legacy systems. This is a site featuring legacy games.

Are we also baffled by people who listen to vinyl records or cassette tapes? Are we amazed by the fact that people still play the Playstation 2? Or the Snes? Or the Ataris? Without emulation? On native platforms? How absurd right?!

Serious retro tech enthusiasts and gamers have no place here at GoG. Clearly.

If I have to hack and mod the game to make it run on it's native OS after buying a legal copy, that's lame.

Shame on GoG for taking good old games and trying to make them mainstream though cheap gimmicks.
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Fragile AllegianceRunning without Dosbox?(16 posts)(16 posts)
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