I bought a used copy of Phantasmagoria from a Yahoo! auction. Trying to install it on my system, and it will not install. I’ve been getting a message saying that my computer passed each of several tests (sound, monitor, etc.), but that it fails on the speed of the processor. The game requires a minimum of 486/66 processor.
This game was published in 1995; I’m sure that a computer I bought a few months ago is plenty powerful. I have no idea of the speed of my CPU, but I’m sure it’s more than enough. I have a Gateway Essentials, 64MB RAM, Windows 98 operating system.
Well, the I can only think of two things- either A) the game can’t comprehend how fast your system really is, and so registers it as ‘non-compatible’; or B) the game was designed for Windows 3.1 and Windows 98 is giving it a minor heart attack.
I lean away from option B simply because, IIRC, Phantasamagoria was one of the first few games to come out with Windows 95 support.
Have you tried calling their tech support?
JMCJ
“John C., it looks like you have blended in very nicely.”
-UncleBeer
I just visited www.sierra.com to see what they had to say.
Not much.
They seemed to assume all problems would be caused by actual slow speed processors etc. I shudder to imagine the times when people had slower computers than a 486/66… Though I do seem to recall those days, vaguely…
Anyway, the only thing I can think of is to call or e-mail their tech support, as that’s the only way to address your specific problem.
John is probably right, in that the setup program, for whatever reason, simply isn’t recognizing that you do indeed have a fast enough processor. Go ahead and install the game, ignore the failed test. I did it when my computer failed Phantasmagoria’s memory test, never had a problem. Well. Never had a problem other than the problems I have with ALL sierra games…grrr…old computer or new, they have an annoying tendency to freeze the system.
Ooh, this reminds me, GK3 is out now. Too bad mom broke…excuse me. Too bad the CD-ROM drive spontaneously stopped working during the week I was away.
The Minty One
Satan’s spirit flew right out of my TV Set and into my soul.
I don’t know why this is, but I have always had problems with Sierra games and their installation. I used to get failed video tests on my Ultra Pinball games, but I was able to run them just fine anyway. Just ignore the message and allow it to install anyway.
Bosso bizzaro folks. I just got Gabriel Knight 3 and it won’t load. The CDROM drive doesn’t even “see” the disk. So, I have three 15 dollar coasters now… poo! And Windows 98 will run Phantasmagoria… ignore the failed test and load it anyway. Make sure you have the color and video cards set to lower settings (mine crashed when they were too high).
There seems to be a common message here… SIERRA GAMES SUCK!!!
I stopped buying Sierra games after The Dagger Of Amon Rah, or was it one of the Lounge Lizard Larry games? (Only the first one was any good) Nothing but problems, plus their games are so linear. You can’t do Z until you do X and then Y. Or the one that kills me, is that it makes you wait for a pre determined amount of time before giving you a certain clue. What’s that all about? I think it was in one of the Kings Quest(?) games where you had to go into the “bad guy’s” room and wait for 30 minutes or something. It really sucked. I don’t want to play Sierra games in real time.
Dunno what you can do other than find another computer to try it on.
I agree with what people say about Sierra games, I really don’t like them because they usually come up with, ‘you have to set your display to 256 colors’, which is like sucks.