Classic Collection game files unusable on Linux DOSBox!

[jepael]

Hello everyone,

This is my first post on this forum and I had some hard time deciding which is the correct subforum for this.

I have bought three of the Classic Collection series (Space Quest, Police Quest and King's Quest) so I can relive the good old DOS days I had with Sierra games.

I know the Classic Collection series runs under DOSBox, so I thought it would be easy to run the games as I already have DOSBox installed on my Linux computer.

However, while the games can run under DOSBox which runs on multiple operating systems, or can be run on on real DOS, the Classic Collection series seem to have the DOS game files wrapped in an archive file understood only by the InstallShield program, which is Windows only.

So basically, since I don't have Windows, I can't use the game files, because Windows is needed to run the software that extracts the InstallShield packages.

This is almost like distributing the game files on password protected ZIP files, telling the password to Windows users only.

So is there any way to extract the game files under Linux, as Windows is not needed otherwise.

This is very bad way of distributing software.

I already tried a program called unshield, but it cannot understand the format.

So must I find a Windows computer, install the games, and then copy them to my Linux computer, or is there an easier way?

Please, for the love of <insert local superior being name here>, stop wrapping DOS games that can run under multiple platforms to Windows-only archive formats!

[DeadPoolX]

You could try Win4Lin which is a program that allows Linux users to run Windows without a dual boot configuration. It costs $30 USD, but that's a lot cheaper -- and less time intensive -- than finding, buying and installing Windows itself.

There might be free options out there somewhere, but I don't know of any. That doesn't mean they don't exist, but since I don't have Linux, I haven't thoroughly investigated it.

If you have a modern console (PS3, Xbox 360 or Wii) you should be able to install and run DOSBox on them. Doing so requires additional work, such as the use of WiiBrew on the Wii. You'll also need a mouse (or the Wiimote if on the Wii) and a keyboard.

As for the distribution of software... most people have Windows. The number of Linux or Mac OS X users are slim when compared to those who run Microsoft operating systems. Knowing this, the Sierra collections were packaged to appeal to the largest fan base and that means Windows users.

[jepael]

I kinda feel stupid now, but because of your post, I just installed WINE and run the installer under WINE.

5 minutes later, SQ1 is running under DOSBox 0.72 (latest in Ubuntu).

So thanks for the reminder.

[Collector]

You may want to try the patches under WINE, as well. They apply all patches, restore all of the missing files and optimizes the config files. You would only then need to modify the paths in the dosbox.conf files to fit the mounting to use your installed DOSBox.