HELP NEEDED PLEASE with TR2 Golden Mask

[suzieq51]

I'm having technical difficulties with playing TR2 Golden Mask levels. The darn thing just won't play! Am playing on PC Windows ME. First download was working perfectly, was going great guns! I was up to "Furnace of the Gods" when it just konked out! In desperation I've uninstalled and downloaded again (3 times in fact), have unzipped, etc., but it just won't start up. Yes, I've got the TR2 CD-Rom in the drive (I've even cleaned it!). I've got a little "shortcut" icon on my desktop and all but nothing's happening! Perhaps I'm doing something wrong? Afraid I'm not very computer literate. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Any advice greatly appreciated.:(

[quaver]

What exactly do you mean by "konked out"?
Do you mean when you load it, it goes back to desktop?
Have you tried setup again? Perhaps check the display settings?

[THE True Lara]

Without knowing exactly what you mean, all I can suggest is that you check all your settings are correct and compatable after installing, before you start playing.

[suzieq51]

Tks quaver and THE True Lara for your response. I'll try to explain what is happening.
Have "set up" game but am unable to "enter" it. Can't get out of my desktop. It hasn't registered in "Programs" but I've been able to add a shortcut icon on my desktop. Now what I do is insert the TRII cd-rom in the drive then double click the icon. The cursor goes into hourglass mode for about 3 seconds ... then nothing ... am still at desktop. Have "set up" game several times but still no luck. Have attempted to get into settings, etc., and everything appears to be ok therefore can't understand what (or if) I am doing wrong. As I said, I was playing with no problems at all then suddenly last week I was unable to actually enter and play the game. It sorta feels like I have had my "access denied". The computer is working ok - have done virus checks etc., and all is well, TRII itself is also working perfectly therefore my problems with Golden Mask have me mystified.
Thanks once again for your interest.

[THE True Lara]

Curious, humm...
where did your Golden mask bit originate from? Have you downloaded it from the internet, or did you buy it on disk? I'm presuming it's not the demo levels, as you're at the 'furnace of the gods'.
A few obvious things spring to mind, though, of course I don't know if they are indeed to problem; -
There is a certain problem with Rendition Verite 1000 cards crashing out after the copyright screen, which can usually be solved by turning off the FMV's in the setup box, and/or installing the latest version of DirectX. Having the latest DirectX is good practise for any game.
There's also a chance that there isn't enough memery to run it for whatever reason. But you'll usually get an alert window if it's a problem the game can detect.
Have you tested the settings in the setup box? Or do you only ajust and try to play? knock everything down to the lowest settings and try running on that, e.g. running on 640x800 if it works, gradually notch them up as far as the computer can cope.
All I can recommend after that is double checking your source, if you've had to download it a second time the files may be incomplete. Uninstall everything Tombraider from your system and then when you've rebooted go through your C drive and clear out anything left behind. Then just to be sure do a file search for any lingering files. Try running another game to check your 'puter is firing on all cilinders then reinstall a fresh version of Golden Mask. If that fails you can always go the drastic route and re-install windows again. But frankly M.E. doesn't have the best track records, it's just an even more bug-laiden version of 98. -which is why I refuse to 'upgrade'.
To be honest unless I'm sat infront of your computer I can only give general ideas.
If you do find the Golden Mask files are incomplete can always direct you to another copy.
Hope you're problem clears up soon.

[suzieq51]

Many thanks THE True Lara for your reply. I downloaded the Golden Mask off the net, linked thru' Stella's page on to Gamespot (the first time which was when it went feral in Furnace of the Gods). I then uninstalled it and downloaded again thru' Stellas page this time thru' The Croft Times. When I couldn't play this one I trashed it and downloaded a third time from a different site (can't recall what it was). Can't play that one either. Whew, what a drag!
Will now do as you've suggested (actually tried running on lowest settings and that didn't work either) and uninstall etc., then download again ... can u recommend a good one?
Ciao for now.

[THE True Lara]

Ah, so you're downloading the 5 level expansion pack, gotcha.
Okay, I only know of 5 places you can get that;

http://extra.gamespot.co.uk/pc.gamespot/action/tr2gm_uk/demos.html

http://ctimes.dnsalias.com/download/addon/tr2.html

http://www.3dgamers.com/games/tombraider2/

http://www.gamespot.com/action/tr2gold/index.html

ftp://ftp.zdnet.com/gs/action/tr2gold/tr2gfus.exe

...and all of these I believe are listed at Stella's site anyway.

I'm afraid it would work if I just zipped the contents of my cd of it, as the program still looks for the cd even though the files are on the disk. Unless -and this is just theoretical- you downloaded all the files, wrote them onto a cd yourself, then setup from that...? But of course you'd need a write drive your end, and it'd probably infringe about a hundred copyright laws.... :(

If the first one worked to start with, then try gamespot again.

Good luck, wish there was more I could do to help. :(

[Dino]

suzieq51

My copy of TR2 is from the Trilogy package, so I downloaded the Gold levels a year ago last June.

The downloaded file was "tr2gfus.exe", 16.69 MB (17,504,904 bytes). Executing that file created a directory named "Tomb Raider II Gold (Full Net)" with 8 files and a subdirectory "Data", with 20 files; 6 suffix tr2 level files, 12 suffix PSX credits files, a MAIN.SFX file, and a tombPC.dat file. The "tr2gold.exe" file created is 917,504 bytes long, and has a modify date of Wed 6/23/1999 9:26:46 AM. There are also 5 suffix DLL files, the uninstall file and the readme file, which I'm sure you have read.

Does the above match what you have downloaded and installed? When you download, do you save the file to disk or open it immediately? You should save the file to disk and if you download again, compare the downloaded files. If you have a good download, you should have a good install.

I don't know if this helps or just adds confusion, but it's my 2 cents worth for now.

[suzieq51]

Many thanks THE True Lara and Dino - yes Dino I've got all the files that you've listed - but I guess I've just got a "dodgee" (Australian for no good) download so I'll trash and start again. Ya never know, 4th time maybe lucky!
Thanks THE True Lara for the list of sites - I've actually downloaded from 3 of them previously - might try zdnet this time - ya just never know ya luck in a big city!

I really appreciate all the trouble you've gone to - I am not worthy!

[THE True Lara]

You're welcome suzieq51! :) Always happy to help.

Hope you have better luck from now on.