Gaming Sim Theme Park + Windows XP Fix + Windows 7?

[Sora de Eclaune]

I've acquired my copy of Sim Theme Park Gold Edition from my parents and would like to play it. As Chell won't allow me to use it on her computer, I'll have to use it on my laptop.

Since Sim Theme Park has problems on Windows 7, I've gone ahead and looked for a fix on Google. However, the only fix I could find was for Windows XP.

Would this even work on Windows 7?

In addition, would I be able to get a No-CD crack on the game afterward? My disc is kind of screwed up and the game gives a no disc error most of the times I played. The only way I could get the game to run every time was with a No-CD crack.

 

[Wiip™]

Even on microsoft.com it states that it doesn't work on Windows 7. (I think that I typo'd again...)

 

[Sora de Eclaune]

Even on microsoft.com it states that it doesn't work on Windows 7. (I think that I typo'd again...)

I know that.

But it also said that Rollercoaster Tycoon didn't work and I got that running just fine without even doing anything to the game.

From what I've seen with errors in the game (Yes I have gotten the game to at least boot. However, just once, as before and after that the 'insert cd' bug was going on), and from what's written on that page I linked, all that's broken are font files and the way fonts are handled in-game.

 

[Wiip™]

Even on microsoft.com it states that it doesn't work on Windows 7. (I think that I typo'd again...)

I know that.

But it also said that Rollercoaster Tycoon didn't work and I got that running just fine without even doing anything to the game.

That's right, Rollercoaster Tycoon does work. But I can't find any fix for Windows 7.

Edit: I think This can help You.

 

[Sora de Eclaune]

Even on microsoft.com it states that it doesn't work on Windows 7. (I think that I typo'd again...)

I know that.

But it also said that Rollercoaster Tycoon didn't work and I got that running just fine without even doing anything to the game.

That's right, Rollercoaster Tycoon does work. But I can't find any fix for Windows 7.

Edit: I think This can help You.

Oh. Thank you!

However, I've got the Gold edition, which is a 2-disc thing. Do I have to do the same thing when attempting to install that, as well?

And according to the website I linked, Gold edition, when fully installed, is already version 2.0. I won't have to patch it at all, will I?

 

[Wiip™]

Even on microsoft.com it states that it doesn't work on Windows 7. (I think that I typo'd again...)

I know that.

But it also said that Rollercoaster Tycoon didn't work and I got that running just fine without even doing anything to the game.

That's right, Rollercoaster Tycoon does work. But I can't find any fix for Windows 7.

Edit: I think This can help You.

Oh. Thank you!

However, I've got the Gold edition, which is a 2-disc thing. Do I have to do the same thing when attempting to install that, as well?

And according to the website I linked, Gold edition, when fully installed, is already version 2.0. I won't have to patch it at all, will I?

Yes, all You have to do is swapping the disks when the installer ask you to.
And no, You won't have to patch anything, but You probably must restart Your laptop.

 

[Sora de Eclaune]

Even on microsoft.com it states that it doesn't work on Windows 7. (I think that I typo'd again...)

I know that.

But it also said that Rollercoaster Tycoon didn't work and I got that running just fine without even doing anything to the game.

That's right, Rollercoaster Tycoon does work. But I can't find any fix for Windows 7.

Edit: I think This can help You.

Oh. Thank you!

However, I've got the Gold edition, which is a 2-disc thing. Do I have to do the same thing when attempting to install that, as well?

And according to the website I linked, Gold edition, when fully installed, is already version 2.0. I won't have to patch it at all, will I?

Yes, all You have to do is swapping the disks when the installer ask you to.
And no, You won't have to patch anything, but You probably must restart Your laptop.

It doesn't ask to swap the discs. One disc is the main game, and it's standalone. I could play the game with just the one disc if I wanted to.
The other is the Gold Edition disc, which is more of an expansion pack.

 

[Wiip™]

Even on microsoft.com it states that it doesn't work on Windows 7. (I think that I typo'd again...)

I know that.

But it also said that Rollercoaster Tycoon didn't work and I got that running just fine without even doing anything to the game.

That's right, Rollercoaster Tycoon does work. But I can't find any fix for Windows 7.

Edit: I think This can help You.

Oh. Thank you!

However, I've got the Gold edition, which is a 2-disc thing. Do I have to do the same thing when attempting to install that, as well?

And according to the website I linked, Gold edition, when fully installed, is already version 2.0. I won't have to patch it at all, will I?

Yes, all You have to do is swapping the disks when the installer ask you to.
And no, You won't have to patch anything, but You probably must restart Your laptop.

It doesn't ask to swap the discs. One disc is the main game, and it's standalone. I could play the game with just the one disc if I wanted to.
The other is the Gold Edition disc, which is more of an expansion pack.

Oh...
Well, You probably should try to install the main game first then.

Little Question: Is the version of the game 1.0 if You don't install the expansion pack?

 

[Sora de Eclaune]

Even on microsoft.com it states that it doesn't work on Windows 7. (I think that I typo'd again...)

I know that.

But it also said that Rollercoaster Tycoon didn't work and I got that running just fine without even doing anything to the game.

That's right, Rollercoaster Tycoon does work. But I can't find any fix for Windows 7.

Edit: I think This can help You.

Oh. Thank you!

However, I've got the Gold edition, which is a 2-disc thing. Do I have to do the same thing when attempting to install that, as well?

And according to the website I linked, Gold edition, when fully installed, is already version 2.0. I won't have to patch it at all, will I?

Yes, all You have to do is swapping the disks when the installer ask you to.
And no, You won't have to patch anything, but You probably must restart Your laptop.

It doesn't ask to swap the discs. One disc is the main game, and it's standalone. I could play the game with just the one disc if I wanted to.
The other is the Gold Edition disc, which is more of an expansion pack.

Little Question: Is the version of the game 1.0 if You don't install the expansion pack?

That's how I understand it.

 

[Wiip™]

You should probably try to patch it anyway. Just to be sure.

 

[Sora de Eclaune]

You have to install the Gold Edition onto a clean install though.

Edit) AAAAAAH *Rips hair out* It's asking for autorun.apm in the Autorun folder in the disc, but autorun.apm isn't in Autorun, it's just on the root folder of the disc! How in the world did I even install it on my parents' computer?!
Edit2) I admit it... The booting I spoke of was just the autorun box. The text was all garbled, so...
Edit3) A friend of mine found this and it seems to be working better now that I've booted the installer from the autoplay box.
Edit4) It works now! All of the ride animation is laggy, though. It's not that the game is lagging. It's not lagging at all. Just the ride animations are.
Edit5) Wow, Chell is smart. She somehow knew that changing the rendering process would fix the ride animation.

 

[Wiip™]

You have to install the Gold Edition onto a clean install though.

Edit) AAAAAAH *Rips hair out* It's asking for autorun.apm in the Autorun folder in the disc, but autorun.apm isn't in Autorun, it's just on the root folder of the disc! How in the world did I even install it on my parents' computer?!
Edit2) I admit it... The booting I spoke of was just the autorun box. The text was all garbled, so...
Edit3) A friend of mine found this and it seems to be working better now that I've booted the installer from the autoplay box.
Edit4) It works now! All of the ride animation is laggy, though. It's not that the game is lagging. It's not lagging at all. Just the ride animations are.
Edit5) Wow, Chell is smart. She somehow knew that changing the rendering process would fix the ride animation.

So it's like working now. Chell is smart.

 

[maxtormaxtor]

SIM THEME PARK/GOLD tips to run on WINDOWS 7

I have Sim Theme Park Gold and it runs perfectly on all settings on Windows7. More than likely it will run on yours as well.
Things to keep in mind;
This is a long post simply because it is very descriptive about a few simple steps. You may have to use some or all of these tweaks in order to get the game to work. You may also have to do them in various orders or attempt them more than one time each.
PLEASE read this entire page prior to doing anything as it could very well change what you do.

First, install the game but do not start the game. Also, if you have the GOLD edition add-on disc do not install it yet. Wait until ALL of your problems have been solved and the game running before wasting time on that. The only thing the GOLD disc does is add a few files to some folders that have nothing to do with installation/playing issues.

Here is the list of things we're going to do;
(1) Change one number in a file folder and change the name of that file folder.
(2) Put the game in 'Compatibility mode' for WindowsXP SP3.
(3) Tell the computer to use only one of its multiple processors to run this ancient game.
(4) In the games menu we're going to tell it to use 'software rendering' and not 'Hardware rendering'.

After installing game;
Win7 doesn't like one of the games default graphics settings and you need to make a small change to a simple file. It also doesn't like the name of the file itself. So we're going to find the file, change one setting and then rename the file itself. This file can be found in the games installation folder, something like;
C:\PROGRAM FILES\SIM THEME PARK\DATA\_Resolution.sam.
You must find the "_Resolution.sam" file as described in the above default location(your SIM THEME PARK folder my be in a slightly different place).
This file is simply a NotePad document that can be changed. (NotePad is a Windows Text document writer which can be found by right clicking on the "_Resolution.sam. " file and choose to "Open With" and select NotePad and it will open the file as Text. Here you will see a graphics over-ride option. Change the setting from 5 to 0 and save and exit(if it wont let you see Tip below).
TIP: You may have to be logged onto your computer as Administrator for it to let you make changes to the "_Resolution.sam" file. If it still doesn't give you permission to make a change to the file then do this;
'Right Click' the _Resolution.sam file and 'Copy' it. Then, 'Paste' the file onto your Desktop of yor computer. Then 'delete' the original _Resolution.sam file in the DATA folder from where you just copied it from. Now, go back to the Desktop copy of _Resolution.sam and open it up and it will now let you make changes to it. Here you will see a graphics over-ride option. Change the setting from 5 to 0 and save and exit. Now, copy the file and Paste it back into the DATA folder where you deleted the original(Tip; paste the updated file at the very bottom of the list in a blank spot as to not accidentally paste into another folder by mistake). Lastly, right click on the "_resolution.sam" file and click 'rename'. Simply get rid of the underscore and you end up with a finished file called "resolution.sam" with a changed graphic setting. Now your done with that, EXCEPT! Sometimes, there are 2 files in the DATA folder which are called 'Resolution.sam' and the other is called '_Resolution.sam'. If this is the case then follow fix #2 below.

POSSIBLE FIX VERSION #2 In the DATA folder there are 2 files, one is called Resolution.sam and the other is called _Resolution.sam. The first thing you have to do is open the _resolution.sam file with notepad. Here you will see a graphics over-ride option. Change the setting from 5 to 0 and save and exit. Then, rename the Resolution.sam to Resolution2.sam and then rename _Resolution.sam to Resolution.sam.

Now on to a few other fixes for sim Theme park.

Right click on the desktop Icon for Sim Theme Park. Select 'properties' and then click the Tab for 'Compatibility'. I used the Win XP Service Pack 3 and had good luck with that. This simply attempts to trick the game into thinking its an older computer. You may choose other Windows versions possibly. Save and exit.

Another thing is that older games don't like are these new mufti-core processors that divide up computer tasks. Many older games lock up on new computers simply because they have too much brains for the game. So what you need to do is that you can tell your computer to use only one processor(most computers have two to six processors now) to run your ancient game. Here's the trick, the game has to be running in order for you to tell it to run on a single processor.
So, start the game but do not choose or select anything. After the game fires up to a menu screen after the intro, then press 'control/alt/delete' on your keyboard. This will bring up your 'Task Manager'. Click on 'Processes'. Now at the bottom of this box you need to make sure there is a check in the box that says 'Show processes from all users'.
Now right click on the process from the list that says SOMETHING like Stp.exe(this is not the actual name of the file. The actual file will have 's t p' in the name though. After you right click the file you need to select 'affinity'. This will bring up a short list of checked boxes for all of your processors. Simply uncheck all boxes except for one(it doesn't matter which single processor you use). Save and exit. Now that particular game is now temporarily running on 1 processor while everything else on your computer remains unaffected. Next time you play the game you will have to go through this same deal again to tell the computer to run the game on one processor. There is 3rd party software available for 'affinity' issues that allows you to make permanent changes where you don't have to do this step every time you play your game. As for me, those types of programs may or may not work and are full of malware, user beware.
Other things to consider. Below here, some, all or none of these may apply to your systems needs.

Assuming that you have made the above changes, start the game and let it bring up the game menu. Select 'options' and choose 'software rendering' instead of 'hardware' rendering. There may be other graphic settings that you can play with that may effect your system. Also, remember when one of these settings fail, your computer may lock up. If so, then restart the game. Sometimes you may have to reboot your computer for a fresh start.
Another thing, when you create a new player the game will give you a choice of 'instant action' or 'full simulation'. Its possible that your game may play perfectly in 'instant action' mode but locks up in 'full simulation' mode. Its better to go ahead and get the game up and running and fine tuned in the limited 'instant action' mode.

Lastly, you must remember that various combinations of rebooting and making these changes may be whats needed for you. And remember that you need to change the computers 'affinity' for running only one processor every time you fire up the game(the game must be running to make the change).
Now, Create a player in 'instant action' mode and play the game for a while and play with it and navigate around its menus and 'save games' and 'load' them. Only after you can do these things for a while seamlessly are you really home free. Then you can install the GOLD edition disc with its extra rides if you wish.

Good luck.

 

[Originality]

...I'm impressed. Not only did you write up such a long answer to a problem from 9 months ago, you also wrote up such a long answer to a problem that had been solved already, 9 months ago.

The only redeeming value in the post is if someone needs such a detailed answer in future when trying to play retro games.

Welcome to GBATemp!

 

[maxtormaxtor]

...I'm impressed. Not only did you write up such a long answer to a problem from 9 months ago, you also wrote up such a long answer to a problem that had been solved already, 9 months ago.

The only redeeming value in the post is if someone needs such a detailed answer in future when trying to play retro games.

Welcome to GBATemp!

Well thank you chibi, sort of. lol Nonetheless, my post wasnt directed at someone from 9 months ago but to anyone in the future. Also, although my post didnt address all fixes and issues I havent seen another post like it. I looked for hours and only found a few fixes scatterered about in unrelated posts. Hopefully, with all contributions on this site along with my post people will get to enjoy STP and maybe others. Have a good day friend.