Need help getting an old game to run

[Stg-Flame]

I've been trying to install and run Star Wars Episode 1 Racer on an old PC and I was running into an error about 64-bit systems being incompatible with 16-bit games. I looked around and found a fan-made patch that supposedly fixes the error and allows us to run the game, but once the splash screens get done playing and it loads the main menu, the display driver crashes.

Does anyone have any ideas? All of the splash screens work perfectly fine, but the moment the main menu loads (it never actually loads, it goes from the splash screen to a black screen), I get the error that the display driver stopped responding.

The system is Windows 7 64-bit

 

[mindless1]

I'd go to a forum that suggested the patch and see who else has a problem, try a different video card driver, look for tips in youtube videos, and if all else fails, it only takes a few seconds to (do a) dual boot/reboot to a secondary Windows 32 bit install. I'd use the oldest OS that is supported by video card drivers. Win98SE lite for example only takes up a few hundred MB of space or even XP under 1GB.

Then again there might be an easier way...

 

[Stg-Flame]

I'm listening...

 

[shortylickens]

I love Racer. But got tired of it a long time ago and am pretty sure its in my storage locker.

 

[TheELF]

Database for a lot of games with links to new installers that run in 32/64bit,patches and wrappers to make all your old games run.
https://www.play-old-pc-games.com/2013/12/02/star-wars-episode-i-racer/

 

[Stg-Flame]

Database for a lot of games with links to new installers that run in 32/64bit,patches and wrappers to make all your old games run.
https://www.play-old-pc-games.com/2013/12/02/star-wars-episode-i-racer/

That was the first thing I found when I started searching after it gave us the error about a 16-bit game can't be played on a 64-bit system. I downloaded the patch it outlined and we were able to start the game, but once the splash screens run their course, the display driver crashes the moment the main menu tries to load. I've read a lot of places it's a driver issue, but I can't find any information regarding which driver is the issue or which driver will work.

I've spoken to a lot of people and it seems that I partition my main HDD and dual-boot XP 32-bit and install the game there to fix the issue, but my concern is that if the display driver is not responding after the fan-made patch allows us to run the game on the Win 7 OS, what's to say the display driver won't crash on the 32-bit XP OS? I'm kinda at a loss here and I'd love to narrow this down so I can figure out how to fix this issue. If I can get the driver to stop crashing, I think the fan patch should allow me to run the game.

Any other ideas?

 

[Ketchup]

Might want to try a virtual macine if you still have a 32-bit version of XP lying around.

 

[TheELF]

That was the first thing I found when I started searching after it gave us the error about a 16-bit game can't be played on a 64-bit system.

Did you read to the end?
You are getting a black screen and they describe two methods of running the game through wrappers that simulate the graphics of ye olden days.

 

[BSim500]

Any other ideas?

Is this any use? Page is in German (but still makes rough sense what to do). The links at the top may be a newer version of the game with fewer issues. It may be a similar situation to NOLF1 vs NOLF1 GOTY where the original release was a 32-bit game with a 16-bit installer and needed a patch for 64-bit OS's, whilst the GOTY was 32/32 and didn't need patching. So the first thing I'd do is obtain the newest possible version of the game if you don't already have that. Likewise, if you do get it working, widescreen instructions are here. And if / when you've got all that done, I'd recommended zipping up the game folder and backing it up so you don't have to repeat the process in future.

 

[Stg-Flame]

Might want to try a virtual macine if you still have a 32-bit version of XP lying around.

I have one, but I have no idea where it's at. I'm still in the process of looking for it and a friend of mine said if he finds one of his copies, he'll give it to me.

Did you read to the end?
You are getting a black screen and they describe two methods of running the game through wrappers that simulate the graphics of ye olden days.

I did read it to the end but I didn't see anything about black screens or video drivers crashing.

 

[Stg-Flame]

Is this any use? Page is in German (but still makes rough sense what to do). The links at the top may be a newer version of the game with fewer issues. It may be a similar situation to NOLF1 vs NOLF1 GOTY where the original release was a 32-bit game with a 16-bit installer and needed a patch for 64-bit OS's, whilst the GOTY was 32/32 and didn't need patching. So the first thing I'd do is obtain the newest possible version of the game if you don't already have that. Likewise, if you do get it working, widescreen instructions are here. And if / when you've got all that done, I'd recommended zipping up the game folder and backing it up so you don't have to repeat the process in future.

That's the fan made patch I've been using. Without that patch, the game simply won't do anything other than tell me it's a 16-bit game which is impossible to run on a 64-bit system. With the patch I can get through the splash screens and opening cinematic, but once I hit the main menu (the sound plays for a split second before crashing) the display drivers stop responding.

 

[TheELF]

I did read it to the end but I didn't see anything about black screens or video drivers crashing.

They explain two methods DXWnd and dgVoodoo2 both of those are graphics wrappers that fool the game into thinking that you have a compatible gpu.

 

[Stg-Flame]

The dgVoodoo2 link is broken. When I googled the name, it brought me to the creator's webpage but I can only download the D3D compilers since Chrome flags the program as malware, firefox blocks the download for a virus, Avast found suspicious files inside the download, and MalwareBytes says the file is malicious.

Also, I tried the DXWnd and like the author of that site said, it doesn't work.