P.s. I've grabbed the game, but I can't install on my Win7: the setup keeps saying that the platform isn't supported no matter how I set the program compatibility modes. How did you get it to run on your PC?
Last edit: gho 2013-04-27
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
I still can't make the game running, but I fixed something wrong in the pixelformat setting that was preventing the game to start and show correctly on screen.
You can try the attached dll that should be replaced to the one in the v2_02_18 release.
Mind you: this dll REQUIRES the last DxWnd release because some internals were changed.
The proper setting for the game is the following:
Windows tab:
x Refresh on win resize
x Simulate 8BPP desktop
DirectX tab:
x automatic or DirectX1-6
x Emulate Primary Surface
Make some experiments with the mouse settings and the game and please let me know.
Great, I'm glad you have your game working.
For some strange reason, though, I can't get it working properly: screen blitting seems shifted and mouse position isn't where it's supposed to be. Does this happen to you as well? Maybe I just made something very stupid, but the configuration I suggested to you still needs some adjustment.... I place here a screenshot.
b.t.w. thank you very much for the rip. That overcome the setup problem and the game is playable also on Win7 63bit os.
About window resizing, while in lock win coordinates you can use the Alt-F9 toggle key to temporarily enable and disable window resizing: press Alt-F9, resize the window and press Alt-F9 again to lock it where you like.
About contacting aqrit, I'm afraid I got no better link than yours, but I see that he reads this board often enough, so I'm confident he may notice your request.
Oh! What a surprise!
After a boring analysis of all the DxWnd trace finding nothing odd, I had an awful and eerie suspect and disabled the AERO desktop theme: all the blits returned 100% perfect!
Looking in the net, you can see that AERO theme on Win7 disable default scaling for blitting operations. Now the solution will be finding the proper ddraw setting to recover this disabled feature. Definitely, better than putting all x,y computations in discussion again!
Still, mouse isn't working properly, but that's another story....
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Yes, mouse handling is still quite crappy. I'll take care of it, just be patient....
One small update: in the meanwhile I get the reason of this stupid behaviour, be aware that if you set the screen coordinates ad 640x480 (the supposed screen size) the mouse works perfectly and the game should become playable, even though the window is a little too small.
Last edit: gho 2013-04-28
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Strange things happen sometimes!
I was desperately trying to fix the Diablo problems (they depend on a correct remapping of the windows coordinates...) and I got a release that is not working yet, but while trying it on several other games, I noticed with surprise that it seems to fix the Premier Manager 98 mouse problems. With this release, I could correctly move players everywhere in the tactical screen at 800 x 600 screen resolution.
While you wait for an official release, you can use this experimental version and let me know if there are other bugs.
Ehi! I don't know if you tried my patch, but now you can head to the file section and download the v2.02,19 release that has many improvements, including the proper handling of Premier manager 98.
Some feedback will be appreciated.
Enjoy!
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
-
2017-01-31
For Premier Manager 97, the "Injected suspended mode" is needed to prevent screen mode change. But the color looks very washed out as in the screenshot. No luck after setting virtual color to "8 BPP".
It seems a palette problem: for some reason, the game is using 8BPP color depth, but it's not using all 256 possible colors in the palette: at a first sight it seems to limit the palette to 16 colors, then it uses dithering to simulate the missing ones. The whole thing could be done internalli to GDI. I think I remember having noticed this difference between pm97 and pm98, and it didn't seem an easy thing to manage. Well, let's do it again....
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Hi, can you please help me set this game to work? :) I have read what you typed previosly, googled alot of these terms, but I don't have these advanced computer skills. :( So please please help me setup this awesome game! :D
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
It shouldn't be too complicated. First of all, one thing: PM98 works with DxWnd, PM97 does NOT, so I hope you're interested only to PM98.
Basic steps are the following:
1) get a copy of the game (CD, game RIP, whatever)
2) install it on your computer
3) install last DxWnd release (it only takes decompressing the rar archive on your hard disk)
4) run DxWnd and, on the menu, select File -> Import ...
5) in the file open dialog select the "Premier Manager 98.dxw" file that you'll find in DxWnd export folder
6) At this point the game is not configured because the export file can't guess where you installed your copy of the game. So, right-click on the DxWnd game entry and select ->Modify
7) in the Main configuration tab, type the actual game pathname in the "path" field. If you prefer, you can drag&drop the MANAGER.exe file in the path field.
8) Double-click on DxWnd game entry "Premier Manager 98" and the game should start
9) Read some guide or ask information for changing some game features, like window style, size and position.
10) Be back on this forum if you get troubles.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Hi, first of all thank you for posting such a simple and helpful guide. :) I'm sorry for not answering earlier, I was really busy... I have another problem, after I run the game I receive this http://prntscr.com/gzy9j6 .
I have the iso file game, which I can only extract and then drag MANAGER.EXE that way and that ss appears. Is there any crack, or can you tell me how did you install the game and drag that exe in the path field? Thank you in advance! :D
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Extract from the ISO? If that means you're copying the ISO files to hard disk, this is not the way it is supposed to be. You should rather "mount" the ISO image on a virtual CD-Rom device. For WinXP there were plenty of CD-Rom emulators, but if you have Win10 the only safe and working one AFAIK is WinCDEmu that you can find for free here: http://wincdemu.sysprogs.org/
Or, since the game is not that big in size, you can google for a Premier Manager 98 RIP to download (oops, I shouldn't suggest this type of ideas ...)
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Still nothing. I have windows 7 so I downloaded WinCDEmu, mounted as data disc, mounted as cd rom, in modify i draged MANAGER.EXE, but it is still the same. Also tried to dl the RIP, couldn't find it. :(((
Where am I doing this wrong? What else can I try?
P.S. sorry for bothering you so much!
Actually, I burned the game to a DVD and inserted to my DVD ROM and managed to get the game going, but the screen is completely black. I can hear the sound and i tried clicking blindly, it seems to work, but as I said, completely black screen. I turned off Aero theme in windows, didnt help. Any ideas?
Last edit: Aleksandar 2017-10-20
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
I apologize, but the same thing is happening here. Probably something broke in recent DxWnd releases or there must be some other problem. I tried some old versions and, for instance, v2.03.22 and v2.03.66 work better, though there are still big problems in desktop (the program draws the entire desktop in black...). So, you have two options: either download some old DxWnd release (they are all available in SourceForge download area, just don't pick the default download and enter the Files - Latest build folder) or wait a few days until I fix the problem. Since the game worked in the past, I have a good reference about how it is supposed to work and so it shouldn't take long, hopefully.
P.s. in older releases the file drag&drop wasn't implemented yet, so you'll have to select the MANAGER.EXE file using the Add command, or import the included "Premier manager 98.dxw" file that is in the export folder.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Uhm, maybe I was a little optimistic, but this game revealed some flaw in DxWnd core logic. This time I wouldn't like to bake an easy recipy and cook a partially fixed solution, for that purpose an old enough DxWnd release will do quite well. I want to understand the situation a little better, also in the hope to be able to tame the predecessor Premier Manager 97 that so far brought unsolved palette problems. Please, be patient, these two games deserve some care.
P.s. if using an old DxWnd release, set also the "Libs / GDI / Emulated Device Context" flag: that will avoid the desktop blackening.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Hey thank you man! I downloaded v2.02.90 and it is working! Now all I need is to know how to make it work in full screen if possible! :D Thank you so so much! :D
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Easy: uncheck "Run in window" flag (or "Esegui in finestra" if localized in italian..)
And stay tuned for news: things are starting to work again and better ....
Likely some compatibility issue for file system or save file dialog box. You said you have Win7, I'll try later on, hoping to be able to fix that as well.
Since I can't work on such an old version of DxWnd, maybe you'd better try the attached alpha, perhaps the problem doesn't occur here, or it it does then wait for my further fix. In the archive you'll find also an export file, if you use it, you must update the path field before. Also, I set the game for bilinear filtering: it that is too heavy for your CPU just turn it off.
So the game works, and it is better than before in graphics. Must be the bi linear setting! Thank you! :D But I still can't save the game! Maybe it is because I miss the some folders on the dvd. I will burn it again, but this time I'll implement them, and see if it works. I'll let you know how it went!
P.S. I will do it after 3 and a half hours when I finish my work! :p
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
So that brings me back to the beginning. :/ I can't install because Windows 7 isnt letting me, and if i copy from the dvd to a folder, it says that I need the cd.... I have tried few days ago a program that emulates XP but I had no luck... Maybe that program was bad or something. Do you have any ideas? xD
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Aye!
I'll take care of it.
P.s. I've grabbed the game, but I can't install on my Win7: the setup keeps saying that the platform isn't supported no matter how I set the program compatibility modes. How did you get it to run on your PC?
Last edit: gho 2013-04-27
I still can't make the game running, but I fixed something wrong in the pixelformat setting that was preventing the game to start and show correctly on screen.
You can try the attached dll that should be replaced to the one in the v2_02_18 release.
Mind you: this dll REQUIRES the last DxWnd release because some internals were changed.
The proper setting for the game is the following:
Windows tab:
x Refresh on win resize
x Simulate 8BPP desktop
DirectX tab:
x automatic or DirectX1-6
x Emulate Primary Surface
Make some experiments with the mouse settings and the game and please let me know.
Last edit: gho 2013-04-27
Great, I'm glad you have your game working.
For some strange reason, though, I can't get it working properly: screen blitting seems shifted and mouse position isn't where it's supposed to be. Does this happen to you as well? Maybe I just made something very stupid, but the configuration I suggested to you still needs some adjustment.... I place here a screenshot.
b.t.w. thank you very much for the rip. That overcome the setup problem and the game is playable also on Win7 63bit os.
About window resizing, while in lock win coordinates you can use the Alt-F9 toggle key to temporarily enable and disable window resizing: press Alt-F9, resize the window and press Alt-F9 again to lock it where you like.
About contacting aqrit, I'm afraid I got no better link than yours, but I see that he reads this board often enough, so I'm confident he may notice your request.
Last edit: gho 2013-04-28
Oh! What a surprise!
After a boring analysis of all the DxWnd trace finding nothing odd, I had an awful and eerie suspect and disabled the AERO desktop theme: all the blits returned 100% perfect!
Looking in the net, you can see that AERO theme on Win7 disable default scaling for blitting operations. Now the solution will be finding the proper ddraw setting to recover this disabled feature. Definitely, better than putting all x,y computations in discussion again!
Still, mouse isn't working properly, but that's another story....
Yes, mouse handling is still quite crappy. I'll take care of it, just be patient....
One small update: in the meanwhile I get the reason of this stupid behaviour, be aware that if you set the screen coordinates ad 640x480 (the supposed screen size) the mouse works perfectly and the game should become playable, even though the window is a little too small.
Last edit: gho 2013-04-28
Strange things happen sometimes!
I was desperately trying to fix the Diablo problems (they depend on a correct remapping of the windows coordinates...) and I got a release that is not working yet, but while trying it on several other games, I noticed with surprise that it seems to fix the Premier Manager 98 mouse problems. With this release, I could correctly move players everywhere in the tactical screen at 800 x 600 screen resolution.
While you wait for an official release, you can use this experimental version and let me know if there are other bugs.
Last edit: gho 2013-05-12
Ehi! I don't know if you tried my patch, but now you can head to the file section and download the v2.02,19 release that has many improvements, including the proper handling of Premier manager 98.
Some feedback will be appreciated.
Enjoy!
For Premier Manager 97, the "Injected suspended mode" is needed to prevent screen mode change. But the color looks very washed out as in the screenshot. No luck after setting virtual color to "8 BPP".
Last edit: 2017-01-31
It seems a palette problem: for some reason, the game is using 8BPP color depth, but it's not using all 256 possible colors in the palette: at a first sight it seems to limit the palette to 16 colors, then it uses dithering to simulate the missing ones. The whole thing could be done internalli to GDI. I think I remember having noticed this difference between pm97 and pm98, and it didn't seem an easy thing to manage. Well, let's do it again....
Hi, can you please help me set this game to work? :) I have read what you typed previosly, googled alot of these terms, but I don't have these advanced computer skills. :( So please please help me setup this awesome game! :D
It shouldn't be too complicated. First of all, one thing: PM98 works with DxWnd, PM97 does NOT, so I hope you're interested only to PM98.
Basic steps are the following:
1) get a copy of the game (CD, game RIP, whatever)
2) install it on your computer
3) install last DxWnd release (it only takes decompressing the rar archive on your hard disk)
4) run DxWnd and, on the menu, select File -> Import ...
5) in the file open dialog select the "Premier Manager 98.dxw" file that you'll find in DxWnd export folder
6) At this point the game is not configured because the export file can't guess where you installed your copy of the game. So, right-click on the DxWnd game entry and select ->Modify
7) in the Main configuration tab, type the actual game pathname in the "path" field. If you prefer, you can drag&drop the MANAGER.exe file in the path field.
8) Double-click on DxWnd game entry "Premier Manager 98" and the game should start
9) Read some guide or ask information for changing some game features, like window style, size and position.
10) Be back on this forum if you get troubles.
Hi, first of all thank you for posting such a simple and helpful guide. :) I'm sorry for not answering earlier, I was really busy... I have another problem, after I run the game I receive this http://prntscr.com/gzy9j6 .
I have the iso file game, which I can only extract and then drag MANAGER.EXE that way and that ss appears. Is there any crack, or can you tell me how did you install the game and drag that exe in the path field? Thank you in advance! :D
Extract from the ISO? If that means you're copying the ISO files to hard disk, this is not the way it is supposed to be. You should rather "mount" the ISO image on a virtual CD-Rom device. For WinXP there were plenty of CD-Rom emulators, but if you have Win10 the only safe and working one AFAIK is WinCDEmu that you can find for free here: http://wincdemu.sysprogs.org/
Or, since the game is not that big in size, you can google for a Premier Manager 98 RIP to download (oops, I shouldn't suggest this type of ideas ...)
Still nothing. I have windows 7 so I downloaded WinCDEmu, mounted as data disc, mounted as cd rom, in modify i draged MANAGER.EXE, but it is still the same. Also tried to dl the RIP, couldn't find it. :(((
Where am I doing this wrong? What else can I try?
P.S. sorry for bothering you so much!
Actually, I burned the game to a DVD and inserted to my DVD ROM and managed to get the game going, but the screen is completely black. I can hear the sound and i tried clicking blindly, it seems to work, but as I said, completely black screen. I turned off Aero theme in windows, didnt help. Any ideas?
Last edit: Aleksandar 2017-10-20
I apologize, but the same thing is happening here. Probably something broke in recent DxWnd releases or there must be some other problem. I tried some old versions and, for instance, v2.03.22 and v2.03.66 work better, though there are still big problems in desktop (the program draws the entire desktop in black...). So, you have two options: either download some old DxWnd release (they are all available in SourceForge download area, just don't pick the default download and enter the Files - Latest build folder) or wait a few days until I fix the problem. Since the game worked in the past, I have a good reference about how it is supposed to work and so it shouldn't take long, hopefully.
P.s. in older releases the file drag&drop wasn't implemented yet, so you'll have to select the MANAGER.EXE file using the Add command, or import the included "Premier manager 98.dxw" file that is in the export folder.
Uhm, maybe I was a little optimistic, but this game revealed some flaw in DxWnd core logic. This time I wouldn't like to bake an easy recipy and cook a partially fixed solution, for that purpose an old enough DxWnd release will do quite well. I want to understand the situation a little better, also in the hope to be able to tame the predecessor Premier Manager 97 that so far brought unsolved palette problems. Please, be patient, these two games deserve some care.
P.s. if using an old DxWnd release, set also the "Libs / GDI / Emulated Device Context" flag: that will avoid the desktop blackening.
Hey thank you man! I downloaded v2.02.90 and it is working! Now all I need is to know how to make it work in full screen if possible! :D Thank you so so much! :D
Easy: uncheck "Run in window" flag (or "Esegui in finestra" if localized in italian..)
And stay tuned for news: things are starting to work again and better ....
Last edit: gho 2017-10-21
Ok thank you very much! You are the best! :D :D :D
Oh now I see that I cant' save, any ideas on that? :D
Last edit: Aleksandar 2017-10-21
Likely some compatibility issue for file system or save file dialog box. You said you have Win7, I'll try later on, hoping to be able to fix that as well.
Since I can't work on such an old version of DxWnd, maybe you'd better try the attached alpha, perhaps the problem doesn't occur here, or it it does then wait for my further fix. In the archive you'll find also an export file, if you use it, you must update the path field before. Also, I set the game for bilinear filtering: it that is too heavy for your CPU just turn it off.
So the game works, and it is better than before in graphics. Must be the bi linear setting! Thank you! :D But I still can't save the game! Maybe it is because I miss the some folders on the dvd. I will burn it again, but this time I'll implement them, and see if it works. I'll let you know how it went!
P.S. I will do it after 3 and a half hours when I finish my work! :p
If you run the game from dvd you can't write a savegame there. You should install the game or at least copy all on hard disk.
So that brings me back to the beginning. :/ I can't install because Windows 7 isnt letting me, and if i copy from the dvd to a folder, it says that I need the cd.... I have tried few days ago a program that emulates XP but I had no luck... Maybe that program was bad or something. Do you have any ideas? xD
Yes, I'll send you directions laterl through pm
Ok thanks alot! :D