SHP Forums

Originally PostPosted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 6:39 pm

Ive recently been replaying my fave series on my new computer, which is pretty much the same as my old one, and Ive gotten all the way to the end of game 5 without a problem, but now Ive got several. I had never encountered the bug that made the quicktime movies not play, or had a problem with "the minos bug" until now. Every time he fell to his death, my game froze. I turned off compatibility mode, and at that point I got windows errors that closed the program. I had used the Windows2K patch on The Collectors site, and after reading some posts here, thought that may be the problem. So I uninstalled the game and tried to reinstall. Thats when I met ANOTHER problem. Every time I try to install the game, it starts up, then tells me:

"Setup has detected that unInstallShield is in use. Please close unInstallShield and restart setup.

Error 432."

Ive restarted and rebooted my computer, and checked all my running processes. InstallShield is NOT running, and the install will not get past that. It's one thing after the other here, and I don't know what to do.

The magic of Collector will be here in a dashing moment, I'm sure!

Glad to see you were able to post!

I can be of less assistance with the later Sierra games than I can with the SCI and AGI games. I am not sure what the problem is with Install shield. Try deleting your temp files. As far as QuickTime goes, they use to recommend that you upgrade QuickTime to the latest, but it appears that you may want to downgrade QuickTime to the version that shipped with the game (different APIs, etc.) if you can get past the Install Shield problem, uninstall your current QuickTime and install the one that shipped with with the game.

I cleared my temp files and Im still having trouble.
The last time I played through, I used the latest version of quicktime. I tried to uninstall it and use the old version, but I ran into the same problems. If I can get the damn thing to install again, Im going to try it without the Windows2000 patch.

Okay, I figured out the install problem. It was as simple as turning off my ant-virus software. But now Im back to the quicktime problem.

If I run the game with the 2K patch, in non compatibility mode, I get a windows error whenever a cutscene should play. It says "quicktime.qts" is the problem. If I run it in ANY type of compatibility mode, the game freezes when Minos falls, and everytime I try to play the intro, it tells me to insert the install CD.

Now, If I play it WITHOUT the 2K patch, no matter how, I get the windows error. All the cutscene files are there in my Data folders, and I can even play them outside the game! Its infuriating!

Did you try to uninstall your current Quicktime and installing the one that shipped with the game?

Yes, I did.
Had the same problem. Im going to try diff versions, but I don't understand why this is happening. I even tried to uninstall the game, and reinstall on a lower setting...
You know, "Typical" instead of "Complete"
Still no luck. There has GOT to be a way to just bypass the movie files. If there is, Im sure you'de be able to figure it out!
I know you said you arnt as good with newer games, but you've given me a lot of help before, and anything you can think of will be greatly appreciated.

YAY!
I just wanted to let you know that I figured it out, finally!
I have no idea why it works now, and didn't before. I think it HAS to be Quicktime's settings.

Here's what I did:
1. I installed the game by double clicking the "setup.exe" on the install disc. Before I did that, I set the install to run in Windows 2000 compatibility mode.

2. Installed the game on Full settings.

3. Applied the 1.2 and Windows2k patches.

4. Installed the NEWEST version of Quicktime.

5. Went into Quicktime, then into "Preferances" and selected "Quicktime Preferences"
Under the "Audio" tab I check marked "Safe mode (waveOut only)" and under the "Advanced" Tab I selected "Safe mode (GDI only)"

6. Saved the settings, ran the game, and all cutscene issues are gone!

Does this actually fix the problem with the gamefreeze at Minos falling?

There have been many, many players who have experienced this problem, and we've never, so far as I recall, been able to help them consistently. For some, the problem was solved by turning sound off completely in the setup - but the some were actually very few.

Yeah, that worked for me completely.
No freeze up or crash when Minos dies, no freeze up or crash when any cutscene plays. That includes the intro, the dragon rising, the dragon fleeing, and its death. No errors at all.

Oh, I might add that now, the actual cutscenes look and sound better than I ever remember them being.

Last edited by LaughingMan008 on Fri May 02, 2008 3:31 pm; edited 1 time in total

It would be nice if someone else that has had the lockup see if this works for them, too. Getting this game to run right has been inconsistent battle. What has worked for some has not work reliably for others. I have had this game not run beyond the intro menu after install and start working weeks later with no apparent change to the PC or game.

Yeah, I know. Ive read the Sierra forums. Dragon Fire is a bigger pain in the arse than Shadows of Darkness at times. If I see anybody whose having the same problem as me, Ill be sure to let them know. You might wanna add that last bit, about turning on the safe modes, to your help pages.
Thats where I usually tell people to go.

LaughingMan008 wrote:You might wanna add that last bit, about turning on the safe modes, to your help pages.

That is why I would like to get some conformation that this reliably works for others, too before I do. Too many fixes have been "one shot wonders" to say that any of them are the fix. My personal guess is that this may be it, though.

I certainly hope so. It would be nice to know that after a dozen experts have searched for the fix, I found it while casually playing around and drinking vodka.
Even if it's not the cure all, I think maybe you should add it, and some of the other one shots you've found to a seperate page under the dragon fire one. You know, as last ditch tricks to try. Im sure some of them would work for other people. Ill go to the Sierra forums and see if I can find somebody else whose having trouble. Try and get confirmation.

I found an old post on the VUgames forums about the Minos problem, and contacted the writer. He said he worked the problem out some time back, and THINKS he did the safe mode things I suggested. Heh. Not quite the confirmation I was hoping for. Ill keep asking around.