Please Help and Old Veteran-- Overseer on XP

First off, Welcome, I do hope you'll stick around and make yourself at home...

Apprentice1979 wrote:. I downloaded and installed it with DVDexpress

I didn't need to read any further... Getting the DVD to run is a pain in the *** well you know...

Stick with the CDs... Or www.gog.com has Overseer available for download for 10 bucks... Will work on XP and Vista... They claim it will work on Windows 7 32 bit and 64 bit, but I've heard some people have some problems, so I haven't tried it myself yet...


As for the DVD it was thrown together without being fully tested, you can thank Microsoft for that... At least I think it was Microsoft who was in charge at that point...

Sorry if this causes a problem for you... The Video between the CDs and the DVD aren't ground breaking or anything... I mean sure the picture quality is better, but it just isn't worth the hassle with all the crashes and lockups that go with it...




On a different note, Overseer wasn't as good as Pandora, but still a must for Tex fans... I thoroughly enjoy all the games, but Pandora is without doubt the better of the series...

Thanks,

I downloaded the DVD version via a torrent because I didnt feel like buying it if it sucked. It looks alright from what I have gotten so far. I have gotten the sound in game to work, but the videos and the sound for them doesn't work just yet. I forgot to set up the surround sound, apparently. Once I get some cash I will certainly buy it, but in the meantime I wanted to get this to run if at all possible. I think my problem is with DVD express. Can anyone walk me thru the process of setting it up with Overseer? Also it appears that I can't save games either.

Would it be easier to torrent the CD to test it out? If so does anyone have a link for it? I tried to look around the forum for a similar request but I can't find a search function on it.

Also is martian memorandum or mean streets worth digging up to play through?

Most people in this community don't use means of Torrent or other piracy acts, especially when it comes to the Tex Murphy Games... We prefer to support the game's developers, which is why we try to encourage people to purchase from GOG... Chris Jones and Aaron Connors get money every time someone purchases the games... And if they get enough, they will be making a NEW Tex Murphy Adventure...

They started their own company a couple of years ago called Big Finish Games, you can find their website at www.bigfinishgames.com... They have created 2 new games so far, 3 Cards Till Midnight and 3 Cards To Dead Time... Both are very enjoyable... They are kind of like Hidden Object Games, but with a twist... Both of which can be purchased from their website...


But if you're set on using the Torrent means, then yes I would advise trying to find the CD Version... I seriously doubt you will get any kind of link from anyone here though...

As I said the DVD Version is junk and was thrown together... Getting it to run smoothly is a miracle and I think it has only been done maybe two or three times... But since 99% of computers are usually different in one way or another those miracles didn't work for other people when they tried the step by step process... To some skeptics like myself I don't believe that the DVD Version has EVER run smoothly for anyone, I think those who gloated that they got it to run, did so just to make people think they did something no one else has been able to do...



As for Mean Streets and Martian Memorandum, yes they are worth playing... They aren't Movies like UAKM, Pandora, and Overseer are... They are more of a cartoonish style, especially Mean Streets... Martian Memorandum has real pictures and voices, but it isn't Full Motion Video like the other 3... But the Stories and puzzles are great fun...
You can get MS and MM from GOG for 5 bucks, it's a duel pack, so you get both of them together for only 5 bucks...

when you install dvd express you have to go to the overseer config panel & set it to hardware decoder, dvd express. Its down the bottom of the list, if you do not see it you haven't got the offical overseer patch.
did you install the RSX 3d which is on the installation disk.

the lines you are probably talking about could be due the lock video in the tex.ini file
you need to change from -1 to just 1. works on some computers.
the midi crashes the games unless you have a sound card (like creative) that installs the midi drivers with the gamer mode.
If you have no sound card you must mute the midi in the overseer config panel otherwise you will have no end of trouble.

early in the game there is a section where the game will crash time & time again, you will not get past this crash. I always change from decoder hardware to decoder software to get past this point.

the cd version is bug free. Overseer is only $10.00 from gog. The only reason gog isn't making the dvd version available is simply they could not get to work either.

There are enough details on line about overseer to know it's a good game, or go to gog and read users comments, Maybe the download didn't contain all the files, you take that risk when you use these sites.

Hey there,

I might dink around with my DVD version of Overseer for a minute or two, but unless I can get it immediately working I'm just going to purchase it on GOG. The 17 hours it took to dl plus the few hours I spent trying to get it to work is already enough pain to make me want to buy it. I didn't know that the money is going to the developers either, so thats a plus. I thought GOG was kind of like gametap or something. Anyway, thank you both for your help. I will see you on the Mean Steets!

Unrelated note: Ive been to Coit Tower irl before. Are there any other real places in SF that are featured in the Tex Murphy series?

Roswell is real... Well sort of, there isn't a complex there like they showed in the game... Area 51 is actually in Nevada... The Army base in New Mexico isn't all that big...

I don't think they went on location for the Mayan Temple scenes either, but there are Mayan Temples in Mexico and Central/South America...

That's about all I can think of right now...

As for money going to the Developers, yes a portion of sales go to Big Finish Games, which is Aaron's and Chris's Company they started a couple years ago...j
And for 35 bucks you can own all 5 games... Quite the deal in my opinion, especially when I think back to what I paid in the 90s for each game... lol
Something like $30 or $40 per game...

Thanks all I got it running with minimum effort thanks to these suggestions. Changing the -1 to "1" worked wonderfully, and I reinstalled a few components and it works. It crashes frequently though. Is the best way to avoid crashes to change from software mode to hardware mode and back?

Are you still running the DVD??? If so then it is going to Crash... Like I said before it was thrown out there hastily by Microsoft and needed a lot more tweaking... You won't get it to run smoothly... You're better off going with the CD Version that GOG offers... And the fact that you got it from a Torrent doesn't help at all... Who knows what files could have been missing...

the main crash with the dvd is crossing the chasm, (thats the ladder) which cannot be passed without changing from hardware to software but thats the only part that you have to resort to those measures. The only other crashes are the crashes with the midi to on.

gog have overseer for $5.00 at the moment as well as the other 2 tex games so now would be a good time to save a bit of money. So you can get the 3 games for $15.00, I think it's on till early january.

Hi. Overseer doen't 'suck', but it's not Pandora directive or UAKM. It has it's own feel once you have played it. Ban any pirates games, movies, etc. GOG has the best downloads for XP and Tex Murphy. I had problems with other games, but not with any Tex games, even the ancient ones I had never played. Overseer costs pennies and plays smoothly and without disk swapping!
Whenever I want to be there with Tex and the others I can just start from my desktop and off I go. I don't know anyone who has played PD, UAKM OR Overseer more than I have (and I'm not one of the original Tex fans!) GET THEE TO GOG and get these games!