How to Get Old Windows Games (Like Putt-Putt the Car) to Play in XP - Step by Step

Last week when I picked up my son from day care, he and another little boy were playing a little game on the center's computer. It was such a hotly contested activity that tears ensued. The game was one of the Putt-Putt the Car Games, in which a little car goes around and does little activities. It's easy, and there are lots of items to click that do something entertaining and have cute sound effects, so the kids love it.

I decided to see if I could get a copy for home use, and ordered some used game disks on Amazon.com for cheap. The descriptions stated that they would play on Windows or XP.

However, when I tried them out on my laptop, there was no sound no matter what I did. This was a problem, because at least half the fun is the sounds that things make in the game. Also, it's how you know what to do in the game. However, it's not surprising that some things won't work, as the disk states "copyright 1992". (I'm writing this post in 2010.)

I tried lots of things to make it work, including trying compatibility mode, which I guess doesn't stretch far back enough in time for a prehistoric game like this.

However, after spending hours and hours clambering through the tubes of the internets and experimenting with stuff, I found something that did work and is pretty easy once you know what to do.

Basically, you install what I think of as a "viewer" for old games on your current computer, and play the game "through" it. If that makes any sense to you, you probably think the internet is tubes like I do.

If, like me, you may be technologically very ignorant (but not technologically stupid!) you can still do this. The application you want is called ScummVM and is freeware or maybe shareware...actually open-source freeware or shareware. (But I was so excited when it worked that I donated some money to them anyway in thanks.)

Their description of the procedure can be found here. Anyway, hang on with it: we'll get to that in a minute.

The descriptions of what to do were confusing to me, as they were written for people who know what the heck they're doing, and I had to figure it out piece by piece. For example, it may say "copy the blah blah files into your hard drive." What does that mean, exactly? What are those files, and where are they? And where in my hard drive do they go, in what form? And how does one do all that, anyway?

So here's my step-by-step translation of what I did. If something's unclear, please comment and I'll see if I can clarify. But unless you're doing pretty much what I was doing, I may not know either. My PhD's in another field!

I'm sure there are other (and probably better) ways to do a lot of these procedures, but I'm just going to tell you what I did that worked for me. So here's what I did to get Putt-Putt up and running:


1. Have the disk of the game. I'm using "Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon" for this demonstration.

2. Go to this page and look up the game you're using. You must do this part in order to know what files to copy. [Note: I used ctrl-f to search the page for "putt" since the page is so huge.]

3. Within the "Putt Putt" title I'm looking at, there are several section headings: 3DOS, DOS Demo, Windows Demo, and Windows. We want to know the names of the files listed under "Windows." As you can see, for this game, those would be:

PUTTMOON.BRS

PUTTMOON.HE0

PUTTMOON.HE1

PUTTMOON.HE2

PUTTMOON.HE3

PUTTMOON.HE4

4. On your start menu, open "my computer" and then open Disk C. Create a new folder (right click, new, new folder) right there in your C drive. I called mine "puttmoon files".

5. Put the disk in your computer's drive. Select "quit" not "play" if the little screen comes up.

6. On your computer's start menu, select "search." (Heck, use the search companion if you want--I did!) Search under "all files and folders" within the drive where your game disk is. Probably Drive D or Disk D. I searched for all files with "puttmoon.he" in the title, since most of the required files for my game started with puttmoon.he.

7. Some files came up in your search box, right? Called puttmoon.he or whatever your game requires? Good.
a. Okay, now under the edit menu of your open search box, select all the files that came up by using "select all", then--
b. --copy them using "copy". If there are doubles then copy both--it won't hurt anything. (And I don't know which ones you're supposed to use, do you?)
c. Now paste them all into the empty folder you created ("puttmoon files"?) in your C drive. Answer "yes" if it asks to copy over any doubles or whatever.

8. There was one other file the list mentioned that was not a puttmoon.he (PUTMOON.BRS), so I repeated the procedure with that one, searching for "putmoon.brs". Make sure you've got ALL the file names in your new folder that are listed in your game listing.

9. Now we need to get the "viewer" or virtual monitor, which is ScummVM (description here.)

10. Google "download scummvm for xp". (What came up for me was Softonic.) (I hope you have a virus checker installed so you know if the page is safe!) Click on Download Free. Softonic gave me a choice to download a $2.99 version (from their guaranteed source or whatever) or a free version; I risked the free version and it was fine. There may be lots of pirated ScummVM out there, but I doubt it, considering its attributes. Anyway, an install wizard should come up that will install it pretty easily. Just run it all when it asks, and make sure it IS pinned to your start menu when it asks.

11. Once it's installed, open your start menu and you'll probably see "new program installed." Go to "all programs" and open the folder. I copied the shortcut (a green "S") and pasted it on my desktop, because I like easy access.

12. Okay, we're almost ready. Run ScummVM (click on the shortcut if you made one). A little ScummVM black window will come up, and then a yellowish one with actions.

13. Select ADD GAME.

14. It will probably start looking for games by opening Drive C, but if it doesn't, then browse to Drive C. Select your folder name ("Puttmoon".) Then click CHOOSE and any other acceptance button that comes up.

15. There will now be a window with names of the games you've loaded into ScummVM (maybe only one game if this is your first.) Select the game you want, and click START.

16. Putt-Putt is going to the moon!! Yippee for old-game geeks!

17. If you're as happy as I was with the results, then give the nice geeks some well-earned support in their hard work here at this page, bottom right ("Support this Project").

Notes:

I played with the options a bit. I tried making the game window bigger as it seemed small to me, but it just created screwy and also huge graphics that wouldn't allow me to escape the window. I had to turn off the computer to get out. I also tried fullscreen mode*, which had different yet similarly bad effects. We now use the small window and it's fine.

I tried the sound options, and turned down that loud background music (but not the speech and sound fx), and that worked great.

I had to get a kitchen timer like they had at the day care to limit game play to 15 minutes at a time, because my son is already addicted and would probably not eat, sleep, or go potty if I let him play as much as he wanted. (What have I done?! Such a bad mother!)

*Update: you can use alt-enter for fullscreen (on Putt-Putt anyway). Just make sure to toggle it off before you let your computer sleep, or your cursor will have disappeared when it wakes up.

Also, for some people (including me) the topiary creatures song is not triggered when the hedge animals are clicked. However, it does work at my son's daycare, so...not sure why. Could be a licensing issue or something like that.

Anony Mouses

You probably know that it is a point of honor with me to keep my anonymous blog comments function open. 

After all, I am annoyed when I have to go through various sign-ins and also swirly-printed passwords just to make some tiny inconsequential smartass comment on a blog. My comments are of such little value that it's not really worth it.  I get most annoyed when a given sign-in looks simple but ends up in some weird technical loop that won't allow me to comment anyway, which happens more often than you might think, thanks to the cross-wired perambulations of Google and Blogger and LiveJournal and so forth. 

So, I'm sorry, but it's true.  I'm annoyed by it, and think you are all paranoid.  All of you!

Nevertheless, perhaps there are people whose blogs truly are well-read and who really do get so many irritating anonymous spammy comments that it takes a lot of time to delete them, in which case it's understandable. But for me, it's usually one or two spammy robot comments a month, if that. However. Lately, I've been getting weird dumb spam comments like [read using DUH voice] "Nice fill someone in on and this fill someone in on helped me alot in my college assignement. Thanks you as your information."  That was to a post in which I complained about Mensa, and it couldn't possibly have "fill someone in" on any dang thing at all.

Sometimes these comments are obviously spam and have a link in them, but a lot of times it's just some general comment about how fantastically great that particular blog post was, which is obviously complete BS.  I'm not sure what they are doing with those comments; possibly trolling for blogs that allow anonymous comments?  I can't think of anything else.

Of Great Importance

FInally, after literally decades of striving, I have succeeded.  That's right, for once I have a haircut I like. 

I am pleased* with how it looks whether up or loose, parted side or middle, after wash-n-wear with no styling, or even upon waking the next day.  I'm going to celebrate it now because it is certain to grow out and look bad again within 3 days or so.

 

 

*That's not to say anyone else would necessarily approve, but I don't really care about that.

Human Sacrifices for Science! Be One.

If you haven't already heard about the Mass Homeopathic "Overdose" campaign, then look into it.  Whether you remember from high school science class what "molarity" or "the Avogadro's Constant" is,  or you simply understand what "extreme dilution" means, you should know what's going on.

 

Note: many participants in this protest will be ingesting high concentrations of dihydrogen monoxide.  Also known as DHMO or hydroxyl acid, it is the primary component in acid rain.  DHMO is found in nearly all recently deceased mammal bodies in North America, and is known to be present in mothers' milk worldwide.

 

 

 

(If you think this is scary, then please edify yourself by clicking on the links!)

 

 

Terrible Fanfic Across the Fourth Dimension

While looking for references to an old song I wanted to hear, I accidentally found this fanfic of--wait for it--Buckaroo Banzai. 

 

It's a real Mary Sue of a tale, in which Peggy gets killed off immediately and the writer gets to comfort BB (I'm strongly guessing with more to come, or at least in the writer's head).  Of course there are plenty of errors in the piece (I think Devine is my favorite), but I admit I was surprised to see cummerbund spelled correctly.  Probably used spellcheck.

 

Gosh, I miss Godawful Fanfic!

Hooked

I've been doing little in the past three weeks other than trying to manage Limelet's sleep disturbances, plus some basic cooking and cleaning.  And some occasional vegetative escape-websurfing.

However, while cooking and cleaning, I've been watching Torchwood from the beginning on Netflix.  I expected to enjoy it somewhat, but in point of fact I am totally hooked.  I'm sad now because it's the weekend and I won't be able to watch any more until Monday! 

I had not heard much about it before, although we caught maybe one static-y episode on PBS a few years ago late at night.  Some of the video editing and camera work is too aggressive and choppy for my taste, but not so that I can't overlook it. If forced to compare it to something, I'd say it's more or less CSI: Star Trek X-Files, in Cardiff.  For some reason.

I am also happy to see actors who, although attractive, are not entirely made of plastic, as in US programs.  (I am charmed by Eve Myles's teeth gap.)  And I want her hair now.

I'm not saying this is fine highbrow material, but I am certainly having a good time watching it.

Edith Keeler Must Die!

Greatly enjoyed seeing City on the Edge of Tomorrow, a Season 1 Star Trek I must have missed back in the day.  Didn't know that a) Joan Collins was in it, and b) Harlan Ellison wrote it.  Neat-o!  Now must research whether he wrote any other of the Season 1 episodes.

List

I think the non-grocery column of my shopping list eloquently sums up my family's life recently:
 
TP
Cough syrup
Vitamin C
Advil
Red Wine

Wikimedia, Uncle!

I give. 

 

Finally guilted into actually donating to Wikipedia, which I do use all the time.  Mostly for pop-culture references, since I just don't get those otherwise.

 

Awoke this morning and said, "It's really windy today."  TheLimey asked, "How do you know?"  "Can't you smell it?"  I replied, which just made him laugh. But sure enough, when he went out, it was super duper windy, and trash and trashcans were blowing about the streets wildly.  I could smell it being windy.  Weird.

 

Limelet had a great time opening presents on Christmas morning, playing with them all day, and then taking them to bed that evening.  It's taken him several days to stop asking for presents every morning, however.  He's now a one-man band with his kitarrh and his marmogginah.  Figure that one out, willya.

 

I now think it's harder to write fiction than nonfiction, although that wasn't always the case.  Maybe now I unreasonably apply nonfiction standards to fiction.  I keep telling myself, "It's okay to write derivative crap.  It's okay to write derivative crap."  Because you know what?  It is!  If that's what's in my head, which it is.  I have no delusions that I will write the Great American Novel or Great Literature (or even Good Literature), so what the hell.  Derivative crap sells, anyway.  When I was in music I always said I'd sell out first, then I could afford to do artsy and daring stuff, rather than be accused of selling out after I had an artsy audience. I think that philosophy may apply here as well.

A Stupid Eddy in the Time-Space Continuum

Strangely, I often find myself with an urge to watch the original Star Trek on Sunday afternoons at about 4 p.m.  It occurred to me to see if it's available on Netflix instant streaming (actually TheLimey mentioned it).  So I checked, and it's there!  Woo hoo! At least Season 1 is.

 

Except that it's only available for streaming until December 30.  Dammit.

 

I'd have to watch 10 episodes per day to see them all.

Oh, One of "Those" Posts

I don't usually have time to remember my dreams this day, even if I am woken up at a point where I could remember them.  But by some chance I remembered this one, or rather three mini-dreams.

 

1. It was still my birthday, and some friends (I think grad school people) were having a party for me.  Party things were set up in a work area and I sat down at a table for a minute.  I was tired, and fell asleep with my head on the table.  When I woke up, it was hours later and the party was over, and no one had woken me up for it.  I missed the whole thing!

 

2. We had a garage that adjoined that of our new next-door neighbors, whom I met.  The husband was a small wiry blond man in his 50s or 60s, and told me that his name was Göran Visnjic  (Not, apparently, to be confused with Goran Višnjić, the actor of Practical Magic fame--at least, that's why I know of him), and they were from Denmark.  I guess my subconscious thinks that Göran is a Danish name.  Anyway, he offered me some Parma ham and said it was a traditional Danish food. I ate some out of politeness, but felt revulsion because I really dislike meats that are not cooked.  Blluugghh.  Anyway, he said that there was some kind of Scandinavian association in town, and that I was welcome to join them some time.  I said I'd be glad to, which I was, until he told me that they'd basically be eating all kinds of cured (but not cooked) meats.

 

3.  I had Limelet with me, and was climbing some giant iron stairs like a fire escape (but on a bigger scale).  There was a supervillain after us. His power was this super-stretchy candy cane, which he was throwing after us like a fishing line in an attempt to hook Limelet. Instead, I caught the hook myself and used the candy cane to throw the supervillain really far.

Happy Winter Solstice

The Winter Solstice
Originally uploaded by BarneyF

If I took a perfect photo, it'd look like this guy's.

Now, forward to the longer (and temporarily colder) days!

Diplomated

Today I received a UPS shipment from my PhD alma mater: a new diploma! 

 

This was nice, since the last one had a random letter capitalized in the middle of my last name. Also, it was unexpected, since I hadn't complained to them about it.  I don't know why.  Imagined I was stuck with it, I guess.  Learned helplessness in the face of bureaucracy, that's for sure.

 

Unfortunately, the new diploma had a new error, in which it actually left out a letter, although there were no extraneous capitalizations this time.  This finally gave me the impetus to actually call them up and ask what the heck was going on. It helped that the return address contained a specific person's name and his phone number. Wow!

 

The guy was quite nice and explained that they had sent out the replacement because many of the PhD diplomas had had errors in them (blamed on some particular person, possible no longer there). Before I even told him about the new error, he spotted it and told me he would send out a new one, possibly tomorrow.

 

So, hey, for once being a squeaky wheel gets me some grease, instead of being the blade of grass that sticks up and gets cut off.

Random Idle Complaints: Amazon Again

More love/hate ambivalence with Amazon, with whom I have such a dependent and needy yet angry relationship.

So one of my FriendFeed feeds is my Amazon wishlist. Rather, my Amazon wishlists, as they have diverged into half a dozen or so different categories. (For the record, they are mostly not pleas for someone to buy me something, but reminders to myself of various items that I'm interested in getting someday. Just so you don't think I'm terrifically greedy. Even if that is the case.)

And the reason I have the wishlists on FF? I don't know. Not any particular reason. Really more of an OC thing than anything. I just like FF to collect all my lists and stuff into one spot so I can see them organized neatly in my Google Reader.

I finally decided to once and for all change my wishlist email addresses from the one associated with my uni and teaching life to my private Gmail address. (Do I really want students finding out in idle curiousity that I want Victoria's Secret Very Sexy cologne? There's nothing wrong with that, of course, but...it's just not something I want so easily findable, I guess.)

However, once I finally changed the email address associated with the wishlists (had to each be done individually, of course), FF can't ever find them under the new email address. And when I search Amazon itself with the new address, it claims to find nothing. Looking under the old email, it finds them all. Maybe it just takes a while to propagate. But the thing is, I've tried this before, albeit not so systematically. Amazon's "search engine"* [spits and makes sign against evil eye] just never, ever recognized the new email address and I ended up changing it back and just making some lists private. This time I wanted to try and do it methodically to see for once and for all if it worked.

Ths is probably just one of those things where I don't know how the hell to do something simple and am therefore blaming some outside entity in frustration.

*Update* : It worked! It finally, finally worked!
Now, if only the great 'Zon would allow me to cancel my inactive subscription to Emergen-C fizzy drink powder.

*I have a long and angry history of dislike for Amazon's so-called "search" function

Winter Day, Postbirthday

As I wait for my breakfast barley to cook, I write.  A pile of dirty dishes has somehow already accumulated since I loaded the dishwasher last night, and they are literally staring me in the face.  Okay, I give, the dishes are not literally staring, as the dishes don't have eyes.  It just feels like they do.  Accusatory, glaring eyes.  I read an article the other day in which a woman claimed to have "literally devoured" a great number of books and journal articles, which made her an expert on her topic (herbal fertility aids).  Naturally, I couldn't take anything she wrote seriously after that.  I wonder if I could have simply eaten my grad school materials instead of wasting all that time reading?

 

I am currently reading a Neil Gaiman novel and enjoying it a lot more than I expected (yes, I do a lot of things for which I have low expectations).  Maybe it's just a reflection on the kinds of books I've been reading this year, but I am really impressed with his writing. Once past the introduction, the writing itself became invisible and there is nothing now but story.  I haven't had this kind of reading experience in a long while. I thought it was because I'm a grownup now and perhaps don't read in the same way I used to.  It didn't occur to me that it could have to do with the writing itself, except in cases of very clumsy or amateurish writing.  So, Mr. Gaiman, I'm impressed, for what that's worth.

 

Last week I splurged and got a lovely, pungent bunch of dried eucalyptus branches because I love how they make the house smell.  I haven't had them since before I got married. However, when my smelling-impaired husband came home that evening, he sniffed and asked with genuine concern, "What is that? Is that garbage?  Does the trash need taking out?"  Hmpf.

 

Speaking of smells, I am terrifically disappointed with the Christmas tree we just got over the weekend (I picked it out).  It has almost no smell at all, unless I'm practically roosting in the branches.  The smell is possibly the most important aspect of a Christmas tree, and there are still three whole weeks to go!  I will have to do something drastic, such as clipping some of those raggedy bottom branches off.  Admittedly, it was fun decorating it with Limelet this year, as now he is old enough to hang hooks instead of taking everything off and throwing it.  At least most of th e time.

 

TheLimey got me a One Touch video capture device for my birthday that works well with the video camera, so I plan to post some clips on Flick'r, including the aforementioned tree decorating. Now, off to finally undergo a bunch of fillings at the dentist.  Bleah.

Paypal Phishers

Just received an email that (purposely, of course) made my heart jump.  At first I though it was about the oven rack that I recently made an eBay offer on; then I wondered how the heck they got my name and email address.  I'm posting the text because I haven't seen it posted anywhere else yet, and maybe someone else will be Googling it as I did.  I deleted the email address of the sender, because as likely as not, it's another stolen email of an innocent person.  ...maybe.

 

to [real first name, real last name] [mygmail@gmail.com]

date Sat, Nov 28, 2009 at 11:57 PM
subject My Goodies has rejected your Invoice
mailed-bypaypal.com
signed-bypaypal.com

hide details 11:57 PM (9 hours ago)

Hello [real first name, real last name],

My Goodies (suspicious_email@msn.com) rejected the following Invoice:

------------------------------Invoice Details------------------------------

Item total:  40.00
Shipping:  4.00
Total:  $44.00 USD

Note:  Dear Molly,

Hope this works! I have never tried doing this before. Since I have a "Premier" Paypal account, it should accept credit or debit card payments. The total is $44.

To view updated details of this Invoice, click on the following link or copy and paste the link into your web browser:

[phishing link removed for your safety]

Sincerely,
PayPal

----------------------------------------------------------------
PROTECT YOUR PASSWORD

NEVER give your password to anyone, including PayPal employees. Protect yourself against fraudulent websites by opening a new web browser (e.g. Internet Explorer or Netscape) and typing in the PayPal URL every time you log in to your account.

----------------------------------------------------------------

 

PayPal Email ID PP715

Vegetarian Luncheon

The veggie lunch was a success.  I ended up making fewer items than I originally thought of, because I just ran out of time.  As it turns out, I could have skipped cleaning the bathroom as no one even went in there, but one never knows, do one?  But the place looked more or less tidy and there was plenty of delicious food.  My favorite decorating touch was the fake fireplace (a DVD plus pinon incense). Seven people showed up, so it's lucky I made a lot of food.

 

I made a spinach and potato frittata, and curried lentil tamales with cucumber yogurt sauce, featuring homemade yogurt. Man, that turned out to be some good sauce. Initially while researching recipes to synthesize, I was disappointed to realize that we didn't have any mint for the sauce. Then I remembered that we have mint tea, so I just opened a tea bag and used the dried mint.  For dessert we had small blackcurrant cheesecake bites and chocolate cupcakes with freshly whipped vanilla cream.  I also made spiced cider, tea, and limeade (from concentrate).

 

I have one of those post-effort headaches, but it was fun, regardless.  And now the house is tidied for the holiday!

It Feels Like Christmas Eve

Tomorrow will be the half-price thrift store day...yippee! Honestly, it's almost like getting stuff for free. I have a list of things to look out for, and things I scouted out on Wednesday. Hopefully no one else will have gotten to all of them before tomorrow at 8am, which is when they open.

Second Hand and Other Parts

I've converted my husband to the wonders of thrift shopping. When we were dating he used to shudder at the idea of wearing used clothing, but eventually he was swayed by the nice things I'd bring home for Limelet and myself for super cheap, and needing only a wash. (Heck, it's just cloth.)

Today (Wednesday is half-price clothes and shoes day) I got two nice pairs of shoes that perfectly fit Limelet for $1.50 each--one is a pair of Skechers trainers, and the other is a pair of sort of boot-shoes for winter. Both have velcro closures. I also dug through the jeans section and found myself two pairs of jeans, one kind of tight and stylish (and brand-new) and the other looser and casual. I also scouted (non-clothing) items for Friday's Total Half-Off Sale. Woo-hoo!

For anyone who may have ever resented my scrawniness in years past, now is your chance to gloat. My new jeans size is officially a 12! It feels kind of weird after being a 5-6 (long) for all those years. Being an 8 for a while was okay--I felt sturdier and more healthy. But this does feel kind of strange. It's not just the number "12" either; it's that I still go through a rack of clothes and think that certain pants look like they'll fit, but then I look at the tag and know it won't happen in a million years--that's a pair of pants for my twenties and thirties self.

I'm not really sure that I should try to lose weight, either. I'm reminded of that recent twins study that showed one huge factor in looking younger as one ages is a willingness to gain some weight (the twins who stayed thin were rated as looking significantly older). In response to Deneuve's observation, I am in fact willing to trade my ass for my face.

Everything. Well, Some Things

Made my best batch of yogurt yet using as starter those little "Immunity" yogurts (with a copyrighted culture, so I'll probably get sued) plus Stonyfield Farm yogurt. Very creamy, firm, and mild, and presumably very health-inducing. I hope the strains breed true for subsequent batches. Have also been making whole wheat-rye bread.

Also refurbished a pair of cheap-o shoes for Limelet's upcoming soccer nights, as well as his winter coat on which a zipper had broken.

Enjoyed Jarmusch's Dead Man a lot more than I expected. Not to say I expected to not enjoy it... Aha, just thought of the significance of the order of the deaths of the three hired killers. They are aspects of William's self! Of course. A very symbolic flick.

Also enjoyed Kristin Lavransdatter. Netflix is so cool. (Mostly)

Got replacement camera(s). Hopefully I will begin taking and posting photos again at my old pace.

Cleaned out the little fish pond in the back yard as winterization. The four fish were actually visible for once! Felt good about myself. The next morning one of them had disappeared, and cats have been lurking about daily since then. Dammit.

Am currently reduced to eating Limelet's icky leftover Halloween candy.

Friday the local Starvation Army is having a half-off sale ("Black Friday a week early"). Woo-hoo! Super-cheap stuff even cheaper!