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Running Privateer in Windows XP




Hey everyone:

Yes, it has finally arrived! Several programmers have now developed a way to play Privateer (and hundreds of other DOS games too) on a Windows XP/2000 machine! I've heard numerous reports on it working, and it has worked for myself too. Here's where to get it and what to do:

1. Copy the file priv.tre (or rf.tre) from your Privateer CD to your Privateer directory on your hard drive (AFTER running the DOS-native installer, the files should show up).

2. Edit your priv.cfg (or rf.cfg) to point to the directory on your hard drive where Privateer is installed.
i.e.
Before editing the .cfg file, it looks something like this:

=D:\

After editing, it should look like:

=C:\rf.tre


3. Next, you need to Download DOSBox.

4. In "Dosbox.conf" you will see a line that says "ems=true". Set this line to "ems=false" (yes, I know it's supposed to need EMS, but apparently in the emulator it messes it up like that!)

5. Then, you need to run Dosbox. Mount the program directory like so:

- mount c c:\privater

6. For example, if your C drive had a directory called privater where Privateer was, it would show up. Then, type c: to switch to the virtual c:\privater drive.

7. Finally, run the install program. Make sure to have ONLY SOUNDBLASTER (not 16 or PRO) set to the sound. It should have an IRQ of 7.

8. Once that is accomplished you should be able to type "priv" in dosbox to run the game.

9. If you have a fast computer and it runs too slowly, try overclocking dosbox by pressing ctrl and f12 until it runs smoothly, but be careful with this.

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*If you are still having trouble after following these easy steps, check out my extra tutorial, which includes a shortcut and a pictoral description as well.