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AG Community Playthrough: The Space Bar

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It’s in Dutch. The bottom line is that this file is not compatible with the Windows version. Check the system info of your computer… blabla… contact the publisher… blabla.

     

Now playing: ——-
Recently finished: don’t remember
Up next:  Eh…
Looking forward to:
Ithaka of the Clouds; The Last Crown; all the kickstarter adventure games I supported

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In my case, (windows 7 64-bit, home premium edition), when I try to start the setup the error message says: The version of this file is not compatible with the version of Windows you’re running. Check your computer’s system information to see whether you need an x86 (32-bit) or x64 (64-bit) version of the   program, and contact the software publisher.

I have tried everything, from compatibility modes to sneaking into my boss’s office and secretly trying to install and play the game in his XP-working computer. No luck so far. Virtual Box or virtual PC are my last hopes for creating a windows 98 environment in my PC. I hope that the game is good enough to worth the trouble…

     
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Sefir - 16 July 2012 03:58 AM

In my case, (windows 7 64-bit, home premium edition), when I try to start the setup the error message says: The version of this file is not compatible with the version of Windows you’re running. Check your computer’s system information to see whether you need an x86 (32-bit) or x64 (64-bit) version of the   program, and contact the software publisher.

We get the same message. It’s useless.

I have tried everything, from compatibility modes to sneaking into my boss’s XP-working computer and secretly trying to install and play the game. No luck so far. Virtual Box or virtual PC are my last hopes for creating a windows 98 environment in my PC. I hope that the game is good enough to worth the trouble…

Look on the bright side. Even if you find the game disappointing, you’ll be able to play all the other older games you’re interested in. Smile

     

Now playing: ——-
Recently finished: don’t remember
Up next:  Eh…
Looking forward to:
Ithaka of the Clouds; The Last Crown; all the kickstarter adventure games I supported

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Joined 2005-04-14

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Fien - 16 July 2012 03:58 AM

It’s in Dutch. The bottom line is that this file is not compatible with the Windows version. Check the system info of your computer… blabla… contact the publisher… blabla.

Stupid Windows 7!

Sefir - 16 July 2012 03:58 AM

Virtual Box or virtual PC are my last hopes for creating a windows 98 environment in my PC.

Create a Windows 95 environment instead, that’s the right one for TSB.

Sefir - 16 July 2012 03:58 AM

I hope that the game is good enough to worth the trouble…

It’s worth it.

     

Everybody wants to be Cary Grant.
Even Me.

-Cary Grant

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I posted this in “Time for a new community playthrough” but I should have posted it here:


I’m in!
I found and bought a big box 3CD version for about 20€ (including shipping). It’ll probably take a week before I get it, though. And maybe a few days more to get it to run on my Vista.
Still have my VirtualMachine with Win98 on it (from the Discworld Noir playthrough) set up, so I might use that immediately to avoid problems…

     

The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka

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I have some good news. I managed to get this running on Windows 7, and with no disk swapping! I even managed to play all the way through the Fleebix and Thud segment. BUT don’t get too excited yet. There’s bad news.

After getting out of Fleebix’s head, I decided to just take a look around the whole bar and make sure everything seemed to work. I ran into problems in the kitchen. Once you enter, if you look at the alien chef (as in keep him on your screen) for more than a couple of seconds the game will crash, citing a problem with SMACKW32.DLL (the Smacker and Bink plugin, which handles all of the in-game videos and moving characters and objects, which are called Panimations).

Turning off Panimations fixes that crash, but I encountered another crash right after that. If you look at the Megawave oven and adjust the dial, the game will crash when you zoom back out. Same SMACKW32.DLL error. I haven’t been able to find a way around this.

I found a file called BAR.WLD in the WLD folder, which seems to contain most of the scripting for how the game behaves. I don’t quite grok it, but it seems to be well-commented, and the section for the kitchen has several comments referring to “hacks” the developers used to get things working. So, that could play a factor. I have figured out that the dial on the oven seems to be represented by a video file consisting of 55 frames, and the game displays a single frame from that video depending on how you’ve set the dial. It seems like an odd approach, but I think they do similar things in other areas and it works OK.

I’ve never played the game before, so I don’t know how soon you have to do things in the kitchen in order to advance. If it comes down to it, it looks like it might be possible to bypass the kitchen puzzles by editing some variables in the .WLD file to say that we’ve completed them. I’ll look a little more at it tomorrow to see if I can get around it. Either way, I’ll at least post the steps to get the game running.

-driver8

     
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driver8 - 17 July 2012 02:45 AM

I have some good news. I managed to get this running on Windows 7

Great news! How exactly did you do that?
I mean nobody got past that dreaded message “The version of this file is not compatible with the version of Windows you’re running.” before.

     

Everybody wants to be Cary Grant.
Even Me.

-Cary Grant

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Great Lord!! Finally!! I just finished the “install TSB in windows 7” adventure!!
Very difficult riddles, but the finale was a sweet one Tongue (thank you Virtual PC!!).

Count me in.

     
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Sefir - 17 July 2012 06:01 AM

I just finished the “install TSB in windows 7” adventure!!
Very difficult riddles, but the finale was a sweet one Tongue

Shhhhh… Don’t let the folks from SegaSoft hear you - they’ll charge you extra for the bonus adventure!

     

Everybody wants to be Cary Grant.
Even Me.

-Cary Grant

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Joined 2012-07-08

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OK, sorry for the delay posting these instructions. Busy day.

If you can’t get the installer to work, this should do the trick. This may also interest people not running Windows 7, since it allows you to play without disc swapping.

1) From Disc 1, copy the “SPACEBAR” folder to the root of your C:\ driver. You should now have a “C:\SPACEBAR” folder.

2) From Disc 1, copy the files “DISK1” and “README.TXT” and all of the folders to “C:\SPACEBAR\”

3) Copy everything from Disc 2 and Disc 3 to “C:\SPACEBAR\”

4) Now we’ll edit the registry. Open up notepad and paste this:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Rocket Science]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Rocket Science\The Space Bar]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Rocket Science\The Space Bar\1.0]
"InstallCode"="1"
"InstallPath"
="C:\\spacebar"
"HomeDir"
="C:\\spacebar\\" 


5) Save this to the “C:\SPACEBAR\” folder as “spacebar.reg”.

6) Find the “spacebar.reg” file and run it. This merges the settings into your registry and makes the game look to the “C:\SPACEBAR” directory instead of your CD drive for the files from the discs. No more swapping!

7) Right click on “SPACEBAR.EXE” and click Properties. Go to the Compatibility tab and check “Run this program in compatibility mode for: Windows 95”. Check “Run in 640 x 480” and click OK.

8) EDIT: Actually, it seems you can run it without using Resolver.

9) That should do it. Run the game by executing “SPACEBAR.EXE” and beware of crashes in the kitchen area.

Your “C:\SPACEBAR” folder should look like this when you’re done:

Finally, a request: Could someone who has successfully run the installer tell me what all you have in the registry under “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Rocket Science”? You can do this by running regedit (Ctrl+Win, type “regedit”, Enter). Navigate to the Rocket Science folder and right click on it. Click Export and save it somewhere. Right click on the resulting file, click edit, and copy/paste it’s contents here. I’d also like to know if you have any extra files or folders in your install folder that aren’t in my screenshot.

-driver8

     

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Now you’re talking!
for the instructions, Hacker Driver!

driver8 - 17 July 2012 09:53 PM

Could someone who has successfully run the installer tell me what all you have in the registry under “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Rocket Science”?

Here’s what I got (on Win XP SP2):

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Rocket Science]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Rocket Science\The Space Bar]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Rocket Science\The Space Bar\1.0]
"HomeDir"="E:\\"
"InstallCode"
="1"
"InstallPath"
="d:\\programi\\The Space Bar"
"WaveVolume"
="12"
"MidiVolume"
="0"
"PanSpeed"
="0"
"Correction"
="0"
"FlyThroughs"
="1"
"Panimations"
="1" 

As you can see, I installed the game (and I play it) from a virtual drive E.

     

Everybody wants to be Cary Grant.
Even Me.

-Cary Grant

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Thanks for the instructions, Driver! I’m reasonably sure we can do the first 4 Emp Tels without going into the kitchen, but my memory is hazy after that. I’m not the most reliable playthrough leader, sorry. Maybe someone else knows, like LadyK or Vince. It’s also possible (but I’m no techie) that the crash in the kitchen area has nothing to do with Windows 7. I remember one or two crashes.

It’s Wednesday, at least in my part of the world, so let’s start playing. Smile Don’t forget to save often and take the shortest route in the bar to the Emp-Tel we’ll be playing. You have till Monday to deal with Fleebix and Thud. Brace yourself. Hehehe…

Quote of the Day: Interactivity starts here.


     

Now playing: ——-
Recently finished: don’t remember
Up next:  Eh…
Looking forward to:
Ithaka of the Clouds; The Last Crown; all the kickstarter adventure games I supported

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Joined 2007-07-22

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Great, got the game and it works like a charm on XP!

     

Recently finished: Four Last Things 4/5, Edna & Harvey: The Breakout 5/5, Chains of Satinav 3,95/5, A Vampyre Story 88, Sam Peters 3/5, Broken Sword 1 4,5/5, Broken Sword 2 4,3/5, Broken Sword 3 85, Broken Sword 5 81, Gray Matter 4/5\nCurrently playing: Broken Sword 4, Keepsake (Let\‘s Play), Callahan\‘s Crosstime Saloon (post-Community Playthrough)\nLooking forward to: A Playwright’s Tale

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I discovered the VC data (the gameworld encyclopaedia) yesterday and I’m still reading it. It takes time but it fleshes TSB out a lot (and I’m sure it will also help solve some puzzles). Now I know those “donkey lizards” (my term) are called Marmali. The Trisecks’ social structure is hilarious: I just can’t stop laughing .

     

Everybody wants to be Cary Grant.
Even Me.

-Cary Grant

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Joined 2004-09-28

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There is quite a bit you can do without ever going into the kitchen but there is a puzzle using that microwave as I recall that we may not be able to get around.

The crash may not be due to Windows 7, though.  I also remember having encountered a few crashes during my last look at the game (on XP).  In particular, during the boat-centric emptel (forget the alien’s name) I encountered a crashing bug that would happen if I was looking at a certain character during a specific frame of their idle animation.  So, I’d always have to look away from them when they were about to scratch their head or something like that.  It only happened in one particular location as well, so if I moved slightly one “step” in any direction (to the next node) I could look at that character just fine.  It was annoying but avoidable.

     

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