not exactly a problem with gog's...

Windows 8 is garbage get win 7 ultimate 64 bit edition here::

http://compare.ebay.com.au/like/350320435367?ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes

So what happens when you launch it? If you post all the info you've got, people will help.

Well, I click the icon, the DOSBox screen appears, and then it goes back to the desktop. I haven't tried any other DOSBox game yet.

My laptop is a 2 year old model not supported by the manufaturer (Toshiba) to run Windows 8. If mine is an isolated incident, the OP shouldn't worry about it (although everything seems to be working fine, and I actually like Windows 8 so far).

Aw, somebody reads my posts. That is so moving... Please everybody, give +1 to timppu. :)

I'm highly interested in any news of the Win8 backwards compatibility, just so that I know whether I should install the Win8 upgrade I already bought. Maybe I will try to set them up running side by side.

Has anyone tried using BASSMIDI and Munt with Win8, do they work the same as with Win7? (Getting Munt to work was already more tricky in Win7 than it was in WinXP, so just wondering if there are any extra quirks on Win8 on top of it).

There is most probably some descriptive error displayed in the DOSBox screen before it exits. So the first mission would be to change the GOG Ultima 7 settings (either in the shortcut, or the dosbox conf file?) so that it will not exit at the end. That way you'd see the error message. It might be something trivial.

(or I'm unsure if any such launch errors go also to some log file, maybe someone else knows)

Also, did the game work for you on the same machine with Win7? Just to make sure it is really a Win8 issue, and not something else on your PC.

Both Ultima 7 games run out of the box on my Win8 Pro 64-bit. It's not the OS.

Try running the graphic mode setup from the Start Screen and changing the graphic mode to something else.

This is a per-game setting so needs to be repeated for any other games showing the same behaviour. You could also try updating your video drivers which may resolve the issue entirely.

IM having a ton of Trouble using DoxBox in windows 8... But other than that everything works as exspected... Ive started to VM 95 and ditch Dosbox for game si cant find a renderer for....

But yes until DosBox is officially supported in Win8 its glitchy with there configs being Hit or Miss... as an example i can not get Shadow Warrior to run at all with even known good configs that work in Windows 8

First of all, as with all older games, don't install the game under the default "/Program Files (x86)/" directory, but some other place, e.g. "C:/Games/GOG.com/The Complete Ultima VII/" or something similar.

Also try to run the game as admin, ie. right click on the game shortcut and select "Run as administrator". I presume this works the same in Win8 as it does in Win7?


If the game still fails to work, to see what error it gives to you, ie. so that the game would not exit as soon as error is given, try this:

Right click on "Ultima VII - The Black Gate" or "Ultima VII - Serpent Isle" desktop icon, and select Properties.

In Target, remove the end of the command, ie.

-noconsole -c "exit"

Also, go to C:\Games\GOG.com\The Complete Ultima VII\Ultima7\ (or wherever you installed it), right click on dosboxULTIMA7.conf and select "Open with..." => Notepad. At the very end of the conf file after the ultima7.com line, comment out "exit", ie.:

# exit

Or remove that exit line altogether. Just so that DOSBox will not exit the command prompt if the game quits. Then save the conf file.

Then try to run the game again. See any error message? If the command prompt is still full screen, press Alt-Enter to get back to windowed mode, in order to see also the DOSBox console window if there are any errors there. You can exit the screens with "exit" command.

(If the game runs fine and you get to it, you can exit the game with Alt+x.)

Ps. The GOG game uses Soundblaster FM-music by default. I urge anyone to try to install and setup Munt (a Roland MT-32 emulator) and setup the game for MT-32 music, as it is so much better in this game. :) (Too bad though that in order to do that you'd have to get MT-32 or CM-32L ROM files from somewhere; I have the real CM-32L unit) I am currently trying to set up myself, I think one needs to run INSTALL.EXE in DOSBox, or edit U7.CFG directly.

EDIT: I think these are the correct settings to U7.CFG and SERPENT.CFG in order to get Roland MT-32 music (with Soundblaster Pro digitized speech):

r
220 7 1

But as said, unless you have a real Roland MT-32/CM-32L unit or have installed Munt, you will get incorrect music because then it is played through General MIDI.

The original setting in the GOG version for the Soundblaster music/effects was:

s 388
220 7 1 o

BTW, I also noticed there's small cosmetic glitch in the beginning of the game. There is a small earthquake and the whole screen is supposed to tremble, but at least for me there is just some small vibration in the lower part of the screen. Not biggie.

Your computer is possessed by a mean and wicked evil spirit. Format that touchy-touchy shit called "Windows 8" and install a perfectly functional OS like Windows 7. You'll thank me later :-P

Well, Lords of the Realm is up and running. I do have a feeling this computer is going back to the store.

What did it take to get it working?

Thanks so much for that. +1

I'll test it when I have some free time next week.

Anyway, my Windows 8 machine is a 11.6' laptop that I only use for work, so it's not a biggie. I installed some games out of curiosity: Nox worked flawlessly, Eufloria was to sloppy, actually unplayable, and U7 didn't launch.

I guess the problem is that AMD didn't bother creating Windows 8 drivers for lower-end GPUs (mine is ATI Radeon Mobility HD4200 (some people are successfully using W7 drivers, but I haven't been able to install them so far).