Riven

[ti_ana]

Hey everyone! Not sure if anyone still reads this community, but I'll give it a go.

I got a sudden urge to play Riven again, but when I inserted the disk, I was sad to find that it's not compatible with Windows 7. I've tried running it in Compatibility Mode, but it still won't play.

Does anyone have any tips on how to get it to run?

Comments

[riumplus]

It depends on which disc pressing you've got (the original-original or one of the re-releases, like the 10th/15th anniversary packs). You can try running it in XP Mode (not the compatibility settings but the full-on Windows XP emulator in Windows 7). I've always been able to get it running in XP.

The main problem is usually that it requires an old version of QuickTime... this can be installed simultaneously to a new version though. Uninstall your current version of QuickTime, running the game's installer and install its version, then reinstall the latest version of QuickTime. It's something else to try.

There's work underway to get Riven added to scummVM and when that's done you'll be able to play it on basically everything (including the Dreamcast, some GPS systems, Android, Wii, and anything you can get to run Linux). It just takes time to add it to scummVM. :(

[luigihann]

If you get the newest daily build of scummVM, Riven basically works. It's not 100%, but the game is allegedly completable (I've wandered around in it but not finished the game). If you've already beaten Riven once, then I'd definitely go with scummVM rather than messing around with your Quicktime versions

[ti_ana]

I'm using the original release, although I've heard of people having issues with the anniversary editions too. How do I run the full-on compatibility mode on Windows? I was trying to figure out how to do that but didn't know how. The most I could manage was changing the settings on the file, but it still wouldn't run.

What's scummVM? An emulator?

[luigihann]

http://www.scummvm.org/ It's technically not an emulator since it's not emulating any particular hardware, but it's the same idea: It takes old PC games and makes them work on whatever modern machine. It was originally designed just for the LucasArts point-and-click adventures, but they expand to support other games from time to time. If you go to the Downloads page, scroll down to the Daily Builds and download the Win32 ScummVM Daily Snapshot, that version should support Riven. Just a heads up you'll have to hit Ctrl+F5 to get to the save menu... took me a while to figure that out

[riumplus]

XP Mode is available if you're using Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise or Ultimate editions - not if you're just using Home so you might be out of luck there. It's ~500mb so it's not included by default in Windows but if you have the right version it's a free download. You can download it here. :)

ScummVM is basically like an emulator but it's designed just for old adventure games. It plays just the games that programmers have manually added to it. There's work underway to get Myst and Riven added to it but they're not quite ready... You can try the latest daily build but the game still has a few bugs and the daily builds aren't always stable.