Bringing this topic back up because it's been mentioned several times and still hasn't been resolved, plus I'm having the same issue.
What I get is the Windows Installer blue gradient screen, with the words "Exile III: Ruined World" visible at the top. That's all. Nothing else happens, save an hourglass that never stops turning. Ctrl-Alt-Del suggests that the 16-bit subsystem is unstable, and the program title bar suggest it is not responding.
It's completely a Win-XP issue, that much is clear. Compatibility-mode settings do nothing. Running Windows 3.1 in Dos-Box allows the installation to go forward, however even then the game hangs at a solid white window when run in XP. I've performed the XP System32 file fix (autoexec.nt etc.) already. I've confirmed it is not a download issue in the least. Windows 3.1 does allow the game to play, but drivers for modern hardware are difficult to come by for Windows 3, and I can't get more than 256 colors. There are also various crashing problems that plague this approach, perhaps owing more to Dos-Box's emulation quality than to Exile itself.
Avernum runs fine and as I can figure, is a faithful remake of the original Exile storylines. I prefer the original game though, if only because the original wasn't 3D. If there is a way to get the Exile series to run on my machine, I want it to happen.
My specs are AMD 1.5Ghz CPU w/256 RAM, 64 meg ATI Radeon card, onboard audio (SB16 compatible).
