Gaming Starship Titanic

[exangel]

For reference:
Official FAQ: http://www.starshiptitanic.com/game/faq.html
Wikipedia Entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starship_Titanic
Getting it working on post-XP Windows: http://forums.techguy.org/games/877759-run...indows-7-a.html

I'll be getting this game sometime later today to play for the first time. I've never seen it in action (and don't exactly want to see gameplay videos), so this game is a pretty sweet surprise for me. I wasn't aware of its existence until today, when I stumbled into the reference in a Wikipedia article about Alternate Reality Games.

Have any of you ladies or gents seen or played this game yourself? It looks pretty amazing based on the official website and Wiki information I've gathered so far.

(For those who don't recognize Douglas Adams, he was the author of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He died much too young at age 49 in 2001, and the film adaptation of Hitchhiker's Guide came out in 2005. He did many other great works but the Guide is his most globally recognized contribution.)

 

[ProtoKun7]

They've made every effort to make sure your computer is stable, so expect it to crash the first time you run it

 

[exangel]

I've got an XP partition to try it on but I'm still expecting it to crash no matter where I install it

 

[ProtoKun7]

Just checking, but you do realise I was making a small in-universe Hitchhiker's joke?

 

[exangel]

I was vaguely aware. Honest to .. um.. that guy!

I was distracted when I replied >.>

 

[SylvWolf]

Played it through at least 5 times, if not more. It's such an awesome game, with awesome writing and characters. Plus it has that nostalgia factor for me, as one of the first computer games I ever played. Just played through it a few months ago, actually, and still have it installed. I had some trouble with my video card not supporting 640x480 resolution, but some driver figuring cleared that up.

Just remember... nobody likes a smartass.

 

[exangel]

Well wouldn't you know it, I got one of them good ol'

Spoiler

errors!

Time to throw some keyword dice into some sort of google. The thread I had for reference said nothing about one of these.

edit:
Trying solution 1 (feel stupid for not initially doing this) - http://support.selectsoft.com/customer40/V...;ReturnPage=FAQ
edit2:
That sure didn't do a damn thing. T_T

 

[SylvWolf]

Are you on Vista or 7? That's not the link I used to get it setup. For reference, here's my install folder:

This is on v1.00.42c. Try to match that, if you need the files I can send you a PM. I also had to install the IndeoVideo codec; I have iv5setup.exe on my computer but I can't remember which version of it I had to install (the iv5setup.exe file contains all the previous versions as well). Maybe I'll search that up a bit later if you can't find anything. Hope this helps, as it's a great game.

EDIT: Ah, I found it. Not sure if this is your problem, but some of the videos need IndeoVideo codec v3.2. So only, and ONLY, install that version from iv5setup.exe (will corrupt other versions if you install from that file).

EDIT2: Let me elaborate a bit on the video codec thing, actually. This won't be involved in booting the game, and you won't need to install that codec in order to start the game and play normally. However, there is at least one point in the game where the v3.2 codec is necessary to display something, and you will not be able to finish the game without it.

 

[exangel]

Well I was trying to get it working on Windows XP first, because the original website said it worked on XP.

I followed Johnny's Step-by-Step to set it up initially, except that I'm currently on XP.
That was the reason for following the instructions in the second link, which had me completely uninstall my full install and try again -.-
I also am patched to v1.00.42c when I skipped that step before.
Same result, game does not start. I get that error before ST.exe fully loads. I'm on XP SP3, because I just thought I'd have an easier time.
I'll try again on Windows 7 tomorrow if I have time -.-

Thanks for your assistance.

 

[SylvWolf]

You're probably using a too recent version of SH33W32.dll for XP. I assume you have the one that matches his install and not mine? The 2009 one he has probably works with 7, while the 1997 most likely works with XP/Vista (on Vista myself btw). I'm gonna test this now and see if the more recent one breaks the game on Vista.

OK, I just tried that newer one. While I was unable to reproduce your exact error, the game did crash when I attempted to run it. Download this version of SH33W32.dll and try it on XP. I don't have a 7 installation to fully test this but I believe this theory to be correct (e.g. older SH33W32.dll for XP/Vista and newer SH33W32.dll for 7 ONLY) as only that file appears to be different between my working Vista install and his working 7 install.

Also, no prob on the help. I love this game and I like to keep documentation on how to get it working (which I can now add this info to).