QFG1 Bug - highly annoying, but not impossible to play with

[MellowVids]

I am playing QFG1 VGA on dosbox on ubuntu linux.

So basically, if I click somewhere, my character goes to a spot a little up and about thrice that distance to the left of where I clicked. (see picture--> the mouse is where I clicked)

Also, When I talk to someone, sometimes half their head shows up above the text.

Also, sometimes when I do something, the text accompanying the action gets stuck on the screen.

Also, the stats screen is pretty much fubar.

Any explanations or fixes? I CAN tell you that this started when I was gathering magic mushrooms for the first time during the game.

[darkgamorck]

It's almost like you have a bugged version of the game. What version of DOSBox are you using? Is it installed from a binary package, or did you build it yourself? I myself use an internal beta build for 0.73 distributed back in March on OS X. Perhaps it's a graphics driver issue. What output method do you use?

It's worth posting this question at the DOSBox forums and seeing if they have any insight.

[EZ]

I'm no expert with troubleshooting Dosbox/Ubuntu BUT:

1) Are you using a generic, out-of-the-box Dosbox install? Specifically, are you absolutely sure the resolution is VGA (320x200?)
2) Does the problem occur in both full screen and windowed modes? If so, does the picture change between the two, besides becoming more stretched of course?
3) Do you play DosBox games often? Does this happen in any other games?

Let's start with these until someone more experienced can take over.

[techie775]

I always thought qfg1vga was a little buggy. I remember sometimes when Bruno tried to kill you it run through the loop of him throwing the dagger twice before the dagger would hit. Plus Yorick spazzing out at you and keep throwing junk even if you told who you were. Of course the second was without any patches or slowdown programs. That's why I preferred the EGA Version.

[adeyke]

I've encountered that bug myself in the past. It's a bug in QfG1 itself, not a user error involving DOSBox.

[Solarkid]

Right, well i can advise these things.

I used to get the bug with the fubar stat screen and the character moving to the wrong position.

1) to correct the stat screen, simply open it with the shortcut (i think it's ctrl+c but might be ctrl+s), i found when opening it using this method the numbers were always in the right place.
2) for the movement positioning thing, simply save and reload your game, works for me.
3) For the text sticking on the screen, i found a save/reload would fix that too

Lemme know how you do.
Dave

[jpnuar1]

I've encountered that bug a few times myself. Like you, I've noticed that it seems to stem from picking magic mushrooms. did you get overloaded with them? I think that the the breaking point whenever I did it.

It seems to corrupt the file outright, (meaning saving and reloading the game won't help) so your best bet, imo, is to load a game before you started the magic mushrooms. Then just avoid picking more than you need to get points for selling them. If you need the money, farm goblins. Or, if you want a non-violent alternative, pick flowers from Erana's Peace.

[cyberdalekyeti]

I also had this bug before.Just wondering are you trying to get the mushrooms while carrying more than your maximum that you are supposed to carry ?
Because i noticed i always get this bug if i try to get the mushrooms while carrying to much.
Just exit the game and restart game and restore game before getting mushrooms (i hope you have a save game before this).And try to improve strength or drop useless items to carry less.

John

[MellowVids]

Wow, thanks for all the help everyone... I never imagined that this would generate so much interest or help. Ummm, the dosbox version is .72 and I got it through adept in kubuntu, but like everyone said I think it's a problem with the game itself, because I have played through multiple times fully and experienced no problems. Anyway, the tipping point for me was the stats screen, and a HUGE thanks for the tip Solarkid.

For the other problems, I suppose I will live with them, just 'til I finish this character... shouldn't really take too long. Again, thanks so much to everyone! Hope everyone's ready for qfg2 (I, for one, am freakin' excited).

Oh, and I think I was overloaded on the shrooms, I just kinda held enter to grab some (only realized later that the healer would only take 2, AFTER I saved, but BEFORE I realized that I was buggy.)

[MellowVids]

By the way, I think all your posts have helped me restore some of my faith in humanity. You've really made my day.

[Sandsai]

By the way, I think all your posts have helped me restore some of my faith in humanity. You've really made my day.

I take it someone plays a little bit of WoW and has happened to venture over to the general forums in search of help only to be flamed for being a 'noob', etc?

[Solarkid]

Anyway, the tipping point for me was the stats screen, and a HUGE thanks for the tip Solarkid.

No problem im really glad that fixed your problem, i remember being extremely happy when i learned that trick.

I also find problems at the mushrooms screen myself, but they never plague me for the rest of the game.
Normally i think the problem is that you keep picking mushrooms quickly and the message that says you're encumbered comes up at the exact same time as the one that says you picked the mushrooms, causing one of them to stick on the screen for some reason. I can't imagine why this would spread to the rest of the game though.

Tell you what you could try, make sure you have the latest patches for the game (including the cpu timing ones) and then download VDMsound http://sourceforge.net/project/showfile ... p_id=20091 . Then try running the game without dosbox but with VDMsound so you still get music, this involves rightclicking on the game executable and setting it up with VDMsound, but this shouldn't be a problem.
This is the way i always play dos games, mainly because i find it a hell of a lot easier than using dosbox for them. And i figure if i can play them with no problems like this then maybe it might work for you .
But only if you feel like it, its just a suggestion as to what might work.

Dave