Exile 3 Installation problem

[PiG]

I'm trying to Install Exile 3 on my PC and keep getting this error message:

 

"The version of this file is not compatible with the version of windows you're running. Check your computer's system information to see whether you need an x86 )32-bit) or x64(64-bit) version of the program and then contact the software publisher."

 

I'm running a 64-bit version of windows 7. Completely legit copy.

 

I've tried running the installer as administrator and in windows 95, 98 and 2000 mode and it still doesn't work.

 

If there's any other information anyone needs to help me out with this please just ask I'll be checking the thread regularly.

 

Thanks for any help in advance!

[Micawber]

The subject says E3, but the post says A3. If you meant A3, it should install ok *if* you download the latest version of the demo from the spiderweb website (it installs fine on my 64 bit windows). However, any versions you had downloaded a few years ago, or received on a CD-ROM, might not work. If you have problems with your game being unregistered, just e-mail spiderweb explaining (and giving the name & address from which you originally registered) and they will give you a new registration code.

 

To avoid doubt, E3 cannot be installed on a 64 bit windows, for that you need to use a virtual machine (e.g. VirtualBox).

 

Edit: Alright can we stop messing with the boards now? It's getting confusing.

[PiG]

Thanks so much for your help micawber!

 

Yeah I actually prefer Exile 3 over Avernum 3, just personal preference and nostalgia. I noticed the name was edited. I'll try Dosbox and VirtualBox!

 

Cheers!

[Harehunter]

This procedure works well.

Installing Windows 3.1 on DOSBox.

[The Mystic]

If you use VirtualBox, I recommend using it to create a 32-bit Windows XP or Vista virtual machine; earlier Windows versions tend not to run too well (for me, at least). Another possibility is to create a 32-bit Linux machine in VirtualBox, then installing Wine in Linux, and running Exile in Wine; I've never tried it myself, but it's supposed to work rather well.

 

Welcome to Spiderweb Software. Leave your sanity at the door, and everything will become much clearer.

[Earth]

or could use native linux version of exile 3.

[The Mystic]

Yeah, I completely forgot about E3 for Linux, never having used it myself.

 

I can't help wondering, though, would E3 Linux even run in Ubuntu, or would you need an older version of Linux? Over a decade has passed since E3 was written, after all.

[Earth]

some1 could test it, I think there's 50% chance that it works.

[PinkyTux]

Hello Everyone

 

I've been trying to install and run Exile3 on a 64bit linux operating system (LinuxMint)

I downloaded the Linux Tgz file for linux from the website, and used that to try installing the game.

I can get the installer to run, but the game wont, and symlinks aren't created

even though I tell the installer to create them.

 

What can I do to get the game working?

Also, I see several Binary files in the game folder but have no idea what is what.

Which file is the games main executable? I thought maybe I could run it in the termnal

and get debug information if I knew what file to run.

[keira]

I doubt the Linux version of Exile has any chance of working on a modern kernel, especially an amd64 kernel. First thing I'd recommend is checking if ia32-libs is installed (it should be), and if that fails, I'd honestly just try using the windows version through Wine (dial it back to windows 9x configs if possible, too). There's a lot of discussion in the Blades of Exile forum on running it with Wine, and although cBoE is much more modern under-the-hood, the discussions (esp. relating to audio issues) might be of assistance.

[Earth]

64bit operating systems run 16bit programs quite badly if at all and between Exile 3 and today Linux has changed quite much so ......

 

If you have enough free space you could create new partition (or empty harddrive) and install 32bit Linux there and try that way, another option (worst) is to find some old enough version of Linux and use it to play Exile.

[keira]

Alternatively, you might just be able to use the same filesystem, and just install an old kernel alongside the new one. I have 2.6.x and 3.x running like this on my debian boxes, I just pick the desired kernel during grub time. However, as mentioned, the archaic old kernels might make this "fun".

[PinkyTux]

Hi all,

First of all I want to thank everyone who replied and offered a suggestion for trying to deal with my problem.

Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to this, other more pressing issues have kept me away for a while, but I appreciate your help.

I'm reading through all the suggestions and will let you know If I have any success in getting Exile 3 to run.

 

Sylae: Your suggestion about installing a second kernel and booting to that to install and play Exile 3 sounds like it might work....but I dont feel confident enough in my linux super-user-ness to try it. You would be surprised to hear some of the seemingly simple things I've screwed up and consequently mangled my operating system. As a matter of fact I'm still trying to set-up a clean new install of my os after the last "let me try this out" experiment. One of the first things I did after basic set-up was install ia32-libs because I need it for my favorite cookbook software, so when I get everything set up again I will try again to get Exile 3 installed and running.

[Harehunter]

Paranoia is a healthy attitude when it comes to trying new things at the super user level.

 

Have you checked out the price of refurbished machines lately? For about $250 you can get a very decent machine with 32-bit Windows 7 Pro installed, with installation disk. This will run the Exile and Nethergate (original) without any tweaks.

 

Not a cost free solution, but there is still some life left in Win7 so there are other uses for it.

[PinkyTux]

HareHunter,

you said

Paranoia is a healthy attitude when it comes to trying new things at the super user level.

yep, it pays to be cautious. But....If we dont try new things that could break the OS from time to time, we dont learn those all important lessons of what absolutely Doesnt work.

 

About hardware:

Thanks for the thought, but I really dont want to dual-boot to windows.

Even If was willing to do that, I'm not in a position to spend any money on something I can neiher eat, nor live in at the moment.

Just keeping the rain off our heads, keeping the lights on and keeping macaroni in the cupboard sucks up all the money we can scrape together here.

I'm thankful packaged mac and cheese is cheap. I have most of my software up and running, but still have a few more tweaks to do before I can try installing exile again.

[Harehunter]

Breaking the OS / database is absolutely the best way to learn. Just make sure you have a good back up to go to when you need to restore.

 

Virtual Machines are not dual-boot, they run as background processes when you start them (they can be started automatically at boot time. Accessing them simply connecting to them like you would any other shell program.

 

As for the budgetary constraints, I understand. Been there, done that, got the shirt.

[PinkyTux]

ahh, okay....now I understand that you were suggesting running MS Windows in a virtual machine. Ty for clarifying that.

If I get seriously desperate I may try it . I'd like to try to fix my problem without going quite so far....but if I must I will try that to.

You said:

"As for the budgetary constraints, I understand. Been there, done that, got the shirt. "

Lol

 

( I cant afford the T-shirt, but maybe some day )

most of my basic software is installed and working but, some 32bit apps still arent working properly and my distro just recently released a new build. I may just wipe everything and re-install Again before trying to run exile. The new release looks promising and I really want to try it.

[Tyranicus]

ahh, okay....now I understand that you were suggesting running MS Windows in a virtual machine. Ty for clarifying that.

If I get seriously desperate I may try it . I'd like to try to fix my problem without going quite so far....but if I must I will try that to.

You said:

"As for the budgetary constraints, I understand. Been there, done that, got the shirt. "

Lol

 

( I cant afford the T-shirt, but maybe some day )

most of my basic software is installed and working but, some 32bit apps still arent working properly and my distro just recently released a new build. I may just wipe everything and re-install Again before trying to run exile. The new release looks promising and I really want to try it.

Rather than running a VM and paying for a Windows license, why not just use Wine?

[germboy]

Having a somewhat similar issue. I want to do a little Raspberry Pi project where I make a little treasure chest case, and have it be an Exile 3 box. Unfortunately, can't get it to open, after unizipping everything, running the exile3 command simply doesn't respond. Running Wheezy Raspbian. Would run wine, but so far as I can tell, it's a no go on the Pi. Are there any known workarounds that might be suitable for this?

[Tyranicus]

The Raspberry Pi has an ARM CPU. An x86 program like Exile 3 will not run on that architecture.

[The Mystic]

Paranoia is a healthy attitude when it comes to trying new things at the super user level.

Tell me about it. I once corrupted the file containing the sudoers list, and had to reinstall because none of the users could use "sudo" anymore.

Having a somewhat similar issue. I want to do a little Raspberry Pi project where I make a little treasure chest case, and have it be an Exile 3 box. Unfortunately, can't get it to open, after unizipping everything, running the exile3 command simply doesn't respond. Running Wheezy Raspbian. Would run wine, but so far as I can tell, it's a no go on the Pi. Are there any known workarounds that might be suitable for this?

Sorry, there aren't any. From the Raspberry Pi FAQs page:

 

Will it run WINE (or Windows, or other x86 software)?

 

No.

[keira]

Tell me about it. I once corrupted the file containing the sudoers list, and had to reinstall because none of the users could use "sudo" anymore.

Protip: just slap in a recovery disk (I know debian's install disks have a recovery option) and get to a console. Then simply mount the "real" filesystem somewhere and edit/recreate/whatever the file. No reinstall needed!

 

(You can usually even use the demo/recovery's copy of the file as a basis, i.e., cp /etc/sudoers /mnt/OHGODIACCIDENTALLY/etc/sudoers, then nano that bloke)

[The Mystic]

Thanks, I'll have to remember that next time, though I'm still a near-total newbie at using command lines (and Linux in general, for that matter).

 

However, at the time this happened, it wasn't nearly as bad as you might think, because 1) I was running a fairly new installation of Raspbian on my Raspberry Pi; and 2) experience has taught me not to put any documents on the same disk as the OS, so what little that was worth saving was already on a separate USB drive.