D. Weideman on 12/6/2000 at 03:47

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I just found a shrink-wrapped copy of Terra Nova the other day, and I'm trying to get it running under Windows98 SE. Does anyone have any tips for getting it to work in Windows? I seem to remember when I first played it years ago, that there was a way to do it in '95 but of course most of us were still playing games in DOS back then. I've figured out how to run System Shock in Windows with a few tweaks, has anyone gotten it to run without exiting to DOS?
-Dave

Spignola on 14/6/2000 at 17:10

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I was, but I´m afraid I´m pretty useless in the tech-support department, since on my computer Terra Nova ran beautifully under Win98 on the first try.

But now you know it´s possible...

Shadowcat on 4/10/2000 at 15:15

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Okay, a bit of an extended delay on this response :)

I've just been setting up TN on my new machine so I thought I'd report on my results.

System Specs:

CPU: Athlon 800
RAM: 128MB
Sound: SoundBlaster Live Value
Video: Trio64V+ and Voodoo 2
OS: Win98 SE


Procedure:

Copy the entire Terra Nova CD to a directory on your hard drive. (You can put the CD away again now, as we won't need it any longer.)

Download the v1.09 patch (fixes an issue with the random mission generator.) Unpack the patch file into a separate directory, grab the __ff.exe file, and copy it over the one from the CD.

Right-click the __ff.exe file, select Properties, go to the 'Misc' tab, and deselect the 'Ctrl+Esc' and 'PrtSc' options at the bottom. (For some reasons this doesn't always have the desired effect, so note that you can also abort missions through the Option screen.)

To be nice and thorough, right-click on 'version.txt' and deselect the 'read only' box, and click on OK. Then edit the file and change the '1.08' to '1.09'

Next, go to the 'instdata' directory and right-click on the 'tn' file. Deselect the 'read only' box, then go to the 'Program' tab and click on the 'Advanced' button. Deselect the 'MS-DOS Mode' option (it should revert to 'Suggest MS-DOS mode as necessary') and click on OK.

Now deselect the 'Ctrl+Esc' and 'PrtSc' options from the 'Misc' tab as before (for good measure; I'm not certain whether this is necessary or not) and click on OK to exit the Properties panel.

This leaves us with a patched version of the CD, which won't revert to DOS when running the game.

It _will_ still go to DOS for the installation. You could prevent this by editing the properties of the 'tninst' file; however I never succeeded in performing an install within Windows -- it always ended up trying to display a video mode my video card or monitor couldn't handle.

To install, run Terranov.exe (or tninst)

I suggest NOT letting it build a UniVBE driver when it asks, as this also caused problems for me under Windows.

If you have a SoundBlaster Live sound card, it will probably detect a SoundBlaster 16. Click on 'choose new card' and select SoundBlaster AWE32, and then click on auto-configure. For music again click on the 'choose new card' option, and this time select 'General Midi' and auto-configure. This combination should give the best audio for the SB Live.

As the CD is in fact now on your hard drive, choose the minimal installation option to avoid wasting disc space.

Once the installation is complete, and you are back in Windows, simply run 'tn' from the directory you chose during installation to start the game. I recommend adding a shortcut to this file in your Start Menu.

And we're done. I may have been lucky. The fact that I still have an elderly Trio64V+ in my machine may well have helped me too. I hope that my next video card upgrade doesn't mess too much with my DOS games :/

Remember to go to the options screen and set the video mode to 320x400 and the ground detail to 'excellent'. Everything else should be maxed out by default, IIRC.

I hope this helps people. I've had a blast today with the random missions, just kicking pirate butt with my squadmates across those wonderful terrains!



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Shadowcat
One of Many