Gold Rush - memory bug

[Nowhere Girl]

I've noticed a bug which doesn't seem described/solved on Sierra Help. Here's what happens: I'm in the secret passage under Jake's cabin and outhouse, have just opened the door and I'm climbing down the ladder. Here's where the game crashes: it says "No moemory. want 880, have 778" - every time I try. "Gold Rush", as a timed game, has its share of bugs and problems with running it on computers with completely different speed settings than in the 80s, some problems with the timing are solved through debug mode... I thought about it, but a) I guess I wouldn't know what parameters to change, b) the really weird thing is I can't access debug mode while in that passage. It was no problem in Brooklyn, but now the game says (in this traper dialect - "ya" and so on) I can't access it. Strange... Does anyone know how to solve the problem?

[Collector]

I am not familiar with that error. How did you set the game up? Did you use the installer from here or use ScummVM? Is the game cracked?

[Nowhere Girl]

I didn't use any installer, I just downloaded and unpacked the game and made a profile in D-Fend Reloaded (actually it was not without "adventures" of its own - at first I found a broken version, didn't notice it and wondered - and asked! - why I can play it with neither DOSBox nor ScummVM). As for the game being cracked or not - how to check it? However, if this detail tells anything - I haven't encountered any copy protection.
At least one other person has found this bug too. It wasn't easy to Google this bug and find things which are indeed about it, but I managed to find such a message. However, that person didn't get any reply about how to solve this problem.
I just thought: I'll check if changing the internal speed settings changes anything. Somehow I haven't thought about it yet.
Edit: no effect. What a pity...

[Collector]

You can try the new installer, but if you downloaded the game, it is cracked. This has problems that are not manifested in the official version. I don't give support for abandonware, so will make no guarantee, butyou can try the new installer:

http://sierrahelp.com/Patches-Updates/N ... rs.html#GR

By the way, the game is still available from its developer at http://www.softwarefarm.com/Product_info.htm

[Nowhere Girl]

How do installers really work? Is it a game + emulator package? I guess most fans of vintage games have and use emulators anyway, so I think it must be possible to keep game files only?

[Collector]

They are new installers that include all the relevant patches and enhancements. They automatically set the games up and optimally configure them. Some of the ones for Windows games are just 32-bit replacements for games that shipped with 16-bit installers that won't install on 64-bit systems. Some include compatibility fixes to allow problematic old games to run on modern Windows. Most are for DOS games, which makes use of DOSBox, or in a couple of cases, ScummVM. They create shortcuts that allow the user to start the games as if they were native Windows games. Most include a configuration utility to easily change a few basic settings.

Floppy games can be installed by copying the files from your disks to a folder on your hard drive. This is so the games can be installed on PCs without floppy drives, however, you still need to be able to copy the files on the disks on some machine to copy them on the target PC. They will process the install files by concatenating, decompressing or whatever else is required, apply the relevant patches and then configure the hardware to be used. CD games are installed by running the new installer from the hard drive. They will check your CD drive for the proper disc and in most cases, install the entire game on your hard drive for CD-less play.

If the installer makes use of DOSBox or ScummVM, they will allow you to choose a version already installed or they can automatically download and install the latest version for you. Either DOSBox or ScummVM can be upgraded by replacing the latest in the same folder without breaking the games' shortcuts.

That said, they may not work for abandonware copies of the games as they are looking for the original install files. I do not try to prevent people from using them on Abandonware, but offer no support for such copies. Besides any legal issues, abandonware is too unpredictable and introduces problems not found with the official versions for me to try to support.

[Tawmis]

I didn't use any installer, I just downloaded and unpacked the game and made a profile in D-Fend Reloaded (actually it was not without "adventures" of its own - at first I found a broken version, didn't notice it and wondered - and asked! - why I can play it with neither DOSBox nor ScummVM). As for the game being cracked or not - how to check it? However, if this detail tells anything - I haven't encountered any copy protection.

My guess is that it's a cracked copy.

First, you mentioned downloading it. Probably means from an abandonware site or something - which means, the executable has probably been tampered with - because - you mention no copy protection.

Gold Rush has a copy protection right at the start...

Where it asks you a specific question from the manual - if you answer it incorrectly, the game promptly hangs your character - and tells you to try again.





You can try this, mentioned on the site. See if that helps.