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RollerCoaster Tycoon seriesNo Explorer whilst playing the game(14 posts)(14 posts)
(14 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted July 07, 2011
Is there a particular reason why there is no explorer.exe running whilst I play this game? The rest of my programs are running fine in the background but I have to alt-tab to get to them, clicking on them does nothing.

The game continues to function after I launch explorer.exe after the game has launched. I have all visual themes etc running fine (some old games really don't like visual themes and boot explorer into basic mode). So I'm a bit puzzled by this. Is it just required for the boot up or an oversight in the coding of the launcher? Any chance you can amend the launcher so that it re-opens explorer.exe once RCT has loaded? Or just get rid of that piece of code altogether. I assume it's just a simple batch?

I'm running Windows 7 Pro x64. I like to run RCT in a window, rather than full screen.
Post edited July 07, 2011 by Niode
Posted July 07, 2011
Have you tried running from the RCT executable either with no run options or in Compatibility mode or a Administrator yet?

Reportedly the original runs in Win 7 but there are varying reports of windowed/fullscreen support and not being able to load/save games. So, if you do try something, make sure you can toggle windowed/fullscreen and load/save before playing for a long time.
Posted July 07, 2011
For some reason the game just refused to run from the .exe at first so had to use the launcher to get the game to run. Since then it works flawlessly. Able to load/save and use window mode. Perfect!
Posted July 07, 2011
Huh. Having made my own shortcut to the RCT executable the game runs/starts/quits better/faster than it did with the one provided by GoG. I wonder what the heck the latter is doing. This is on Win 7 64bit.
Post edited July 07, 2011 by mistermumbles
Posted July 07, 2011
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Niode: Is there a particular reason why there is no explorer.exe running whilst I play this game? The rest of my programs are running fine in the background but I have to alt-tab to get to them, clicking on them does nothing.

The game continues to function after I launch explorer.exe after the game has launched. I have all visual themes etc running fine (some old games really don't like visual themes and boot explorer into basic mode). So I'm a bit puzzled by this. Is it just required for the boot up or an oversight in the coding of the launcher? Any chance you can amend the launcher so that it re-opens explorer.exe once RCT has loaded? Or just get rid of that piece of code altogether. I assume it's just a simple batch?

I'm running Windows 7 Pro x64. I like to run RCT in a window, rather than full screen.
Yes, GOG's launcher uses taskill to kill off explorer to improve stability. See this post:

http://www.gog.com/en/forum/rollercoaster_tycoon_deluxe/launcher_error_taskill_xp_home
Posted July 09, 2011
THe explorer program for Windows Vista and 7 has created problem with older games. GOG simply decided to solve this for users without having to thave them go look for a look around.
Posted July 14, 2011
I actually really like how the game kills explorer before starting. In fat, I'd love to attach a program like this to a few older games I have. Is there an easy way to do this or will I just have to do it manually?
Posted July 23, 2011
@epmode
You can create a batch file do to just that. To make such a batch file just open up notepad, paste in this code:

taskkill /f /IM explorer.exe
D:\"Game\game.exe"
start explorer.exe

you will need to change to location of the game so it matches the game you want to launch.
save the notepad as something like gamename.bat, and make sure when you save you select the save type as 'All Files (*.*)' or it wont work. you should now have .bat file that will close explorer, launch your game, and when you close the game, explorer will run again! Extemely helpful for many old games.
Posted August 19, 2011
I want to disable this. My PC has 3 monitors and RCT is a game that I like to have running on a side monitor (gaining money and people in my park) while I do other stuff. This whole killing of explorer is weak.
Post edited August 19, 2011 by auptyk
Posted August 19, 2011
This feature only works in Windows "Professional" editions taskkill.exe is not included in home versions of windows to lower tech support calls. My Windows 7 Home install keeps explorer running if you use Pro/business or ultimate the launcher will kill explorer and restart it after RCT.exe quits.
Posted September 02, 2011
This must be the reason that I can't load/save in the game. I click on load game or save game, and it just locks up. :(
Posted September 02, 2011
avatar
ImDrFreak: This must be the reason that I can't load/save in the game. I click on load game or save game, and it just locks up. :(
The work around is to change the shortcut to point to RCT.exe and run the game in compatibility mode.
Posted September 04, 2011
The explorer killing was seemingly a necessity for games that otherwise garble up their colors (MoO2 on Windows, Diablo1, Starcraft etc..) - but nowadays there are other options. One being "Palettestealer Suspender", a custom made tool that uses Windows' built-in process suspending mechanisms to prevent the problem; the other being simple registry modifications that force DirectDraw into compatibility mode for these old games.
Both solutions (and some others, including the WIP ddhack (DirectDraw-to-OpenGL-Wrapper DLL) can easily be found on google and are - imho - much better than taskkill :)
Posted April 17, 2012
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Niode: Is there a particular reason why there is no explorer.exe running whilst I play this game? The rest of my programs are running fine in the background but I have to alt-tab to get to them, clicking on them does nothing.

The game continues to function after I launch explorer.exe after the game has launched. I have all visual themes etc running fine (some old games really don't like visual themes and boot explorer into basic mode). So I'm a bit puzzled by this. Is it just required for the boot up or an oversight in the coding of the launcher? Any chance you can amend the launcher so that it re-opens explorer.exe once RCT has loaded? Or just get rid of that piece of code altogether. I assume it's just a simple batch?

I'm running Windows 7 Pro x64. I like to run RCT in a window, rather than full screen.
What fixed it for me was changing the shortcut to refer to the executable in the game folder. Whenever I want to do something in explorer, while playing RCT in window mode, I just rightclick on the taskbar and wait for the "right-click menu" to appear. After that everything works as it should.
Post edited April 17, 2012 by elint-castwood
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RollerCoaster Tycoon seriesNo Explorer whilst playing the game(14 posts)(14 posts)
(14 posts)