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jl415 wrote:Still, I have another error pop-up (see printscreen):

Couldn't find raw card data file C:\Users\Leo\Desktop\Manalink-3-20141114-KOT\RARITY.CSV
Couldn't create the palette

and the game crashes. Can someone help me please? Feel like an idiot!

Can't really help. You should copy all the patch folder/files into the games installed 'Magic/Program' directory - including both of the files I posted.

I've got absolutely no idea how you got the game to look for it's files in the patch folder on the desktop!

Sonic wrote:I've got absolutely no idea how you got the game to look for it's files in the patch folder on the desktop!

What do you mean? I've downloaded all of the files into a single folder in my desktop rather than Program Files (x86) in the order provided - is that a problem? I used to be able to play the game and followed the same process - no installation was ever required - am I missing something?

The error message is describing how the CARDBack.pic file in the CARDART folder in the manalink folder, which is located in my desktop, cannot be loaded - not directly from the desktop. On closer inspection, said folder - CARDART - does not have the CARDBack.pic - where is this file located?


I will try to recap:
1. I download Sonic's corner file
2. Click to run magic.exe and get error message that Cardartlib.dll and Drawcardlib.dll are missing - they are not included in Sonic's corner folder and Sonic provided the files to me separately
3. Click to run magic.exe a second time and get error message that CardBack.pic and Manasymbols.pic are missing from CARDART folder - they are not included in Sonic's corner folder - can someone please provide me with these files?

jl415 wrote:I will try to recap:
1. I download Sonic's corner file
2. Click to run magic.exe and get error message that Cardartlib.dll and Drawcardlib.dll are missing - they are not included in Sonic's corner folder and Sonic provided the files to me separately
3. Click to run magic.exe a second time and get error message that CardBack.pic and Manasymbols.pic are missing from CARDART folder - they are not included in Sonic's corner folder

That explains it then - you're trying to play an update patch.
This is a thread for an update to the game - the links in the first post are to patch files, not the whole game.

You need to install the game first: viewtopic.php?f=55&t=6401

It's an old 16-bit game; so its best to install it on the C: drive in the normal programs folder. It can be run from other locations, but it has been know to cause problems doing so.

KIll me now Sonic - I'm so stupid -.-
Working fine now, and enjoying your make over mod hehe

Sonic wrote:

jl415 wrote:It's an old 16-bit game; so its best to install it on the C: drive in the normal programs folder. It can be run from other locations, but it has been know to cause problems doing so.

Now that's quite interesting news to me in fact! I have seen it publicized countless of times as a sort of "Golden Rule Of Thumb" (and as a pretty IT savvy person myself I have have always advised people and clients too) to install EVERYTHING but Microsoft stuff, other OS related stuff, other Administrative stuff, Antivirus + other Security stuff OUTSIDE of the Program Files / Program Files x86 .... simply because of potential problems due to those often pesky access policies (I.E. Administrator Rights and Privileges) implemented methodically in Windows 7 and later. Even modern day game developer sometimes advise against installing in those 2 "default" Program Files directories due to many novice users experiencing problems especially when not running each and everything from those particular directories as Administrators.
I know very well that some old 16-bit coded software can be a totally different ballgame - also in the strict program executing sense - than the overwhelmingly vast majority of software from this century .... Seen several older games and other software than this particular one that will simply not run if not installed on the C drive and even sometimes only in a specifically named directory, just never heard the one about Microprose's MTG causing problems OUTSIDE of the Program Files. Personally I have always installed Manalink 2 and 3 on a different Harddisk Partition just as I described I do with nearly all software for Windows not mentioned above.

Anyway long story short, naturally I'm only basically interested in running today's fairly reversed engineered Manalink optimally, so Sonic could you please elaborate on what typical problems I (and others) might encounter - and subscribe to - NOT having installed in C's Program Files, and most importantly what about all 64 bit OS users like myself: What is the best solution: To A) Install to C's "Program Files" directory .... or B) the commonly used and often default suggested for Windows 64-bit users C's "Program Files x86" directory??? Or no difference although I strongly sense the answer must be A)???

There was some issues because of the space in the name folder "Program Files", but also it was OS and language specific (for example french OS can have accent which mess up the game for card ID and deck files).

Spicy Manipulator wrote:Now that's quite interesting news to me in fact!

The only things to remember with this game is; it's an old Win95 16-bit game riddled with a patch job of C hacks, original hard coded ASM, and bad programming practises. And not to assume that what works for one game installation, will necessarily work in another on a different PC.

The original Microprose game had a bug which prevented it running on any OS other than Win95. So think how the game would have been installed originally in Win95 and work on from there. Get the game running stably first and then start experimenting with the personal installation preferences.

Common known fixes include:

Installing to the C: drive, in either C:\Program Files (32-bit) or C:\Program Files x86 (64-bit).
Disabling the visual themes setting in the magic.exe properties menu.
Adding the magic.exe to the DEP and/or Virus checker exclusion list.

It's worth checking the 'Installation and Troubleshooting' thread viewforum.php?f=55 - it contains many a personal experience of how people managed to get the game running on their particular systems.

So I kinda stopped playing the game after Born of the Gods' release and am back now. I've installed both patches (m15 and Khans) and then unzipped the card art files... and now the card art for m15 and Khans is not visible in-game (as well as Khans expansion symbol on cards). Do I have to reinstall the whole game now?

@takijeden - short answer. Yes - a lot has changed since Born of the Gods so you need to install the game again.

OK, this is my fault. But this patch announcement thread is getting slightly out of hand with all the installation questions. And I should have reminded people earlier, before I got heavily involved.

If you have installation problems could you please post them in the 'Installation and Troubleshooting' thread - viewforum.php?f=55 as it provides a point of call for people with similar issues to yours to find answers without having to spend hours trawling the site.

Could one of the mods please move the relevant posts to the 'Installation and Troubleshooting' thread with a link back to this.

This thread contains posts relating to installation questions from the Khans of Tarkir patch thread.