King's Quest VI in Windows 2000

[remixor]

I can't imagine why I'm having so many problems with this, but I can't get KQ6 to run in Windows 2000. I played this game when it came out but never managed to beat it, and now that I've come my original CD, I really wanted to play it. I know I've successfully run the game since I first played it in 92, but I don't recall how I got it working. I'm using VDMS (and I've tried it without, just in case), and I've tried running it directly from the CD, using the DOS installer, using the Win3.1 installer, and it either just doesn't run at all (as in, no window or anything even comes up), or I get a message saying something like "cannot initialize video driver." Following that I tried running Windows in 256 colors at the lowest resolution my video card supports, but no luck. What's the deal!? Has anyone else gotten this game working in Win2000, and how?

[fov]

haven't tried it in Win2000, but the DOS version works in XP. (the windows version sends the 'puter into the blue screen of death when i try to launch...)

what is the lowest resolution your video card supports? if it's 800x600, that might still be too high for this game.

doesn't Win2000 also have compatibility mode? have you tried using this?

also, what version of KQ6 are you using... from the collection? or a stand-alone CD? (i have both versions, and can try fiddling with it on my Win2000 laptop if you can't get it working).

-emily

ps i did need to use VDMSound in XP for this game.

[remixor]

Thanks for your response fov :)

I suppose Win2000 has compatability mode, although I haven't tried it. When I used XP, it was just a matter of going to an executable's properties and enabling compatability mode from there, but I can't seem to do that in 2000.

My video card supports 640x480, which I'd think should be fine, right?

My version of KQ6 is a stand-alone CD.

[fov]

640x480 resolution and 256 colors should meet the video requirements for this game.

did you see the comment in the Broken Sword Win2000 thread about how to use compatibility mode?

-emily

EDIT: okay, i'm not going to be much help, because i just installed it on win2000 without any problems. my resolution is 1024x768 and i'm using 16 bit color -- the game didn't have any problem starting up though. didn't even need VDMSound.

i installed by selecting install.exe from the CD. i did the large install.

once the game is installed you can fiddle with the settings by selecting install.exe from the KQ6 directory on your hard drive. the graphics option that's selected for me is "VGA or IBM PS2 - 256 colors" ... the only other option available to me is grayscale. but you may have more options, and choosing one over the other could help. i had to mess with the audio options to get KQ5 working on my win98 machine.

sorry i couldn't help. i love figuring out how to get these old sierra games working...

[remixor]

Thanks again for your help. It's very appreciated. Unfortunately I couldn't get it working the way you described. When I do that, the game sort of loads, but all I get is the crown icon (the one displayed when the game is "busy") on a black screen. Nothing else happens, and I waited a LONG time.

I did, however, get it working after doing a whole bunch of fairly random things and using VDMS. There are a few problems, however. The game takes a while to load up, which isn't much of a problem, but all the videos run at a very slow rate--just about 1fps. What this means is that, for example, the Sierra theme music is done playing while the Sierra logo video has hardly even lit up yet. Also, the "King's Quest VI" title screen takes an enormously long time to go through its little animation with the "VI". Finally, and this is the only video problem that really bothers me, I can't watch the intro video at all. But even that's not a fatal error, it's just a bit disappointing. I can live with it. "Not enough hunk" errors, I can't live with. The following error message pops up when I do certain things:
Out of hunk!
Script #: 0, IP: 339
I don't recall all of the things that triggered it (there have only been a few), but the current one is preventing me from getting any farther in the game. I have just stolen the hole in the wall from the Isle of Wonders and put it on the castle wall on the Isle of the Crown. However, as soon as I try to get Alex to look through it, the narrator says "Alexander looks through the hole in the wall" then I get the Out of hunk! error. Any idea what this could possibly be?

[fov]

there are a few KQ6 patches out, maybe one will help you. look at this site:

http://www.sierraplanet.com/kingsquest6/technical.html

there is also a link to some troubleshooting information (including what to do about the display error message).

i don't know what to do about "out of hunk" errors, although they're pretty common when you try running old sierra games on newer machines. maybe a slowdown utility would help you get thru that part.

-emily

ps you coudl also try posting at sierra's KQ forum (yes, they still have one!): http://community.vugames.com/WebX?13@69.mEH7cpkslaU.0@.ee6b535

they have some tech savvy people over there.

ps2 i just remembered that i had an out of hunk error playing KQ6 on XP... it happened right before the part you describe (when alex is playing the flute for for the wallflowers). i just restarted (possibly without VDMS, i can't remember) and was able to play through that part without any problem. also, you don't actually *need* to put the hole on the castle wall, so if you can't get around the problem, just don't do it!

[remixor]

Fov: Yeah, I was able to bypass the other Out of Hunk errors by restarting, but not this one. To be honest, it's been so many years since I've played this game that I didn't even remember that the hole in the wall was unnecessary. Thanks though, and I'll definitely check out the other things you mentioned.

[fov]

To be honest, it's been so many years since I've played this game that I didn't even remember that the hole in the wall was unnecessary.

you do need to use it in other places, but not on the castle wall.

i hope you get it working. KQ6 is one of my all time favorites. i think anyone who hasn't played it should go do so. now.

in fact, maybe i'll go do so...

*D emily