How do you play old Windows games that use Quicktime?

Question

There are a few old Windows games I have that I can't get to work on Vista. The problem is usually Quicktime. For example, there is a game called Bad Day on the Midway, that I just can't get to work right. There are other games I'd like to play like Under a Killing Moon. I think I got through most of the hoops of getting the old games to play, but I can't get the Quicktime to work even if I download the really old version of it. Any advice?

Answer 1

Try running the game in a virtual machine running an older OS (perhaps Windows 98). It might run slowly, however, but if it's a game that old the impact might not be too bad.

The game's installation media may also contain a copy of the proper Quicktime installation (much like many games had DirectX installers), so be sure to use that when installing.

This sort of issue was such a pain that for playing Riven, we actually just acquired and used an older Windows 98-based machine. You may end up having to do so as well if all else fails.

Answer 2

There is a very handy company out there called Good Old Games that re-releases old games that it can get licensing for that will run on the current systems. For example: Under a Killing Moon.

They do not have all the games, and yes you have to buy the game again but they are usually very inexpensive. It does make running old games on a modern computer much much easier. I am very much enjoying Dungeon Keeper 2, Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 and the Descent series all over again :)

Answer 3

This works for certain games, but not all. Try renaming the .mov files, so that the program cannot find it. The game will launch without playing those files. Of course, this doesn't work with all games (it depends if the game exits or goes on if it fails to locate the video file), and you miss out on trailers, cutscenes. etc.

IIRC, this worked for Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire.

Answer 4

I agree with the above answer stating that you should use a Win98 virtual machine. I don't know where you managed to get an old version of QuickTime, but you can find nearly every former version of QuickTime over at OldVersion.com. I'd try to uninstall/reinstall a few of the versions from that site.

In selecting an old QT version, be sure to also choose a version that may be a year or so older than the actual game. I would imagine the games would work fine for a wide range of QT versions, but considering most games take a couple years to develop, it may be worth trying to target a version of QT that the devs might would have worked with when they made your games.

UPDATE

Another alternative is to try to find some other, old video player from that era that can play QT. I seem to recall deep within the recesses of my mind that this has solved a gaming problem for me in the past. I know it's a bit of a long shot, but it's crazy enough that it might just work.

Answer 5

I'd give QuickTime Lite a try.

Download link: http://www.filehippo.com/download_quicktime_alternative/ (link also has older versions available for download).

QuickTime Alternative is a codec package for Microsoft Windows for playing QuickTime media, normally only playable by the official QuickTime software distribution from Apple Inc.

QuickTime Alternative consists of codec libraries extracted from the official distribution, including the official QuickTime plugin required for playing QuickTime files (.MOV, .QT and others) in web browsers such as Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox, and also includes Media Player Classic.

The main functional differences between the official QuickTime distribution and QuickTime Alternative from an end-user standpoint are in feature set, size, and consumption of system resources. QuickTime Alternative is a smaller package and lacks the full complement of software included in Apple QuickTime, including QuickTime Player, PictureViewer, and any QuickTime Pro features. In addition, QuickTime Alternative does not run background processes such as the optional QuickTime Tray Icon from the official distribution.

QT Lite is a stripped-down version of QuickTime Alternative that contains only the base components, and does not install Media Player Classic. It used to be maintained concurrently with QuickTime Alternative.

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QuickTime_Alternative

Answer 6

Most of the old applications require QuickTime 2.1.2. Some of the programs are 16-bit and others are 32-bit. The solution is simple: Download 16-bit version "QTINST.EXE" and 32-bit version "QT32INST.EXE", and then install both, first 16-bit, and then 32-bit. Now you should be able to get videos working on all of your oldest pieces of software. (16-bit QT 2.1.2 does not work with 64-bit versions of Windows.)

Then, you can also install QuickTime 3 and QuickTime 7, too, if you need them. They are not backwards compatible, because they use different APIs. Having all four installed together is not a problem. If QT7 is too heavy, you can always install QT Lite or QT Alternative instead of using original installer.