3D Ultra Pinball Series

3·D Ultra Pinball (Outpost)

Game Install

• ✅ Copy the UPINBALL folder from the CD to your hard drive.
• 🔷 Optional. If you want to see the intro and finale videos (instead of just hear them) you have a few options:
  • (Easiest) Set the compatibility mode for PINBALL.EXE to:
    • Run this program in compatibility mode for: Windows 98 (or earlier)
      • But then you always get that UAC window, each time you launch, asking if you want to allow this app to make changes to your device.
  • (My preference) Install a better Indeo 3 video codec than the Microsoft one, such as ffdshow:
    • Follow this guide: Indeo Video codec install ... but enable Indeo 3 with ffdshow instead of (or in addition to) Indeo 5.
  • (An odd solution) Re-encode to another VFW-compatible format that works better such as Cinepak (at a small loss in quality and a slight color shift). Cinepak is pretty much the only viable option here that Microsoft includes a VFW codec for (MS Video 1 looks bad, and you probably won't find an encoder for MS RLE Video). Hint: If you install ffmpeg and add it to your path, the commands to re-encode the AVIs (copy the audio stream, don't re-encode it) would be:
    • ffmpeg -i FINALE.AVI -vcodec cinepak -acodec copy FINALE.new.AVI
    • ffmpeg -i UPB.AVI -vcodec cinepak -acodec copy UPB.new.AVI
    • Run these commands then rename the files as appropriate to replace the old with the new.
• ⚠️ This game's near-full-screen autosized window can be problematic on later Windows versions with the game failing to stay on top of the taskbar. Your options with this game are:
  • Maximize the window and restart. (This is what 99.999% of you want.)
  • Leave the window normalized and set the compatibility mode for PINBALL.EXE to:
    • Run this program in compatibility mode for: Windows 98 (or earlier)
    • But this is a pain for what you get. There is no full-screen mode and this autosized window assumes a taskbar of a certain height along the bottom of the screen. Thus, you might as well ignore this. If you have the taskbar elsewhere, this will get the window on top of it but you will really get better results with the maximized option.

RBXIT Win7 Patches

(none needed) 👍

Outstanding Issues

• The background music (MIDI) gets stuck in really slooooow play at the start of the second table, Mine. To work around it, keep music off or go to Preferences and toggle music off and back on.
• At program launch, a message box pops up with: ":warning: Running SETUP first, will ensure optimum performance of this demo." Select OK and ignore it. The game runs just fine and not in a demo mode as far as I can tell. (This should be an easy one to solve. Probably just looking for a file somewhere.)
• The help program is 16-bit and will not run on 64-bit era Windows.
• The credits scroll way too fast in the "About" screen. The horror!:scream:

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3·D Ultra Pinball: Creep Night

Game Install

• ✅ You have two options for installing for play without the CD:
  • 1. (Favorite) Copy the UPBALL2 folder from the CD to your hard drive.
    • Then, copy the ENGLISH\HELP folder from the CD to the UPBALL2 folder on your hard drive (it does not need to be under an ENGLISH folder).
  • 2. (Not my favorite) Download and run this 3rd-party installer from any folder (Windows XP and later):
    • The Sierra Help Pages - New Installers for Sierra Games
  • 3. Sierra's installer is 16-bit so this is not an option (it would be similar to The Lost Continent instructions if it were).
• 🔷 Optional. If you want to see the intro and finale videos (instead of just hear them) you have a few options:
  • (Easiest) Set the compatibility mode for PINBALL2.EXE to:
    • Run this program in compatibility mode for: Windows XP (Service Pack 3) (or earlier)
      • But then you always get that UAC window, each time you launch, asking if you want to allow this app to make changes to your device.
  • (My preference) Install a better Indeo 3 video codec than the Microsoft one, such as ffdshow:
    • Follow this guide: Indeo Video codec install ... but enable Indeo 3 with ffdshow instead of (or in addition to) Indeo 5.
  • (An odd solution) Re-encode to another VFW-compatible format that works better such as Cinepak (at a small loss in quality and a slight color shift). Cinepak is pretty much the only viable option here that Microsoft includes a VFW codec for (MS Video 1 looks bad, and you probably won't find an encoder for MS RLE Video). Hint: If you install ffmpeg and add it to your path, the commands to re-encode the AVIs (copy the audio stream, don't re-encode it) would be:
    • ffmpeg -i FINAL1.AVI -vcodec cinepak -acodec copy FINAL1.new.AVI
    • ffmpeg -i FINAL2.AVI -vcodec cinepak -acodec copy FINAL2.new.AVI
    • ffmpeg -i INTRO1.AVI -vcodec cinepak -acodec copy INTRO1.new.AVI
    • ffmpeg -i INTRO2.AVI -vcodec cinepak -acodec copy INTRO2.new.AVI
    • Run these commands then rename the files as appropriate to replace the old with the new.
• 🔷 Optional. 👍 Crank up the audio and visual settings (default turns these on but the 3rd-party installer defaults them off):
  • From in game: Main Menu >> Preferences >> Detail Level:
    • Use Ambient Sounds and Animations
    • Use 22 MHz Sounds
    • Use Multiple Sounds
    • Pre-load Animations
• ⚠️ Full-screen mode can be problematic on later Windows versions with the game failing to stay on top of the taskbar. Your best options with this game are:
  • Run in window mode.
  • Run in window mode and maximize the window to get near-full-screen mode without glitches.
  • Run in full-screen mode and set your taskbar to autohide. (Another PowerShell script?)
• 🔷 Optional. If the help program does not load (and it likely will not on Window Vi and later) try using one of the WinHlp32.exe installers from Microsoft. Attempting to open the help system in-game should take you to the appropriate MS page but, if it does not, look here. Currently, WinHelp32.exe installers are available for Windows Vista through Windows 8.1. Windows 10 appears out of luck so far.

RBXIT Win7 Patches

(none needed) 👍

Outstanding Issues

• The opening video plays at 320x240 instead of 640x480.
• There are 2 audio/music tracks on the CD. Do with them what you will.
• The "Main Menu >> Preferences >> Detail Level >> Use Digital Music" option gives the following message and I don't yet know what it is about:
  • ⚠️ Digital music is not available on your system.
• The full-screen game window does not stay on top of taskbar with Windows 10 (as addressed under Game Install above). Others? This can cause slight alignment problems with dialog windows versus their frames.
• The "Windows >> Normal Window" menu item doesn't ever show as checked on some (any?) systems.
• No help system under Windows 10 (as addressed under Game Install above).

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3·D Ultra Pinball: The Lost Continent

Game Install

• ✅ You have two options for installing for play without the CD:
  • 1. Copy the UPBALL3 folder from the CD to your hard drive.
    • Crazy simple, huh?
  • 2. Run Sierra's installer on the CD:
    • Run Autoplay.exe. Some hints:
      • Choose Small Install (or, whatever, actually).
      • Clear All demo installations.
      • (x) DO NOT Install Bookmarks (they won't do you any good anyway).
      • No, do not check for updates (there aren't any -- that message is based on date and is misleading).
      • Register Later (since it surely won't work).
    • Anyway... after installation, copy these files from the CD UPBALL3 folder to your install folder:
      • RESOURCE.001
      • RESOURCE.MAP
      • final1.avi (you can skip this low-res one)
      • final2.avi (you can skip this if you don't want the videos)
      • intro1.avi (you can skip this low-res one)
      • intro2.avi (you can skip this if you don't want the videos)
    • With the fat RESOURCE.001 in place, this file can now be removed:
      • OVERRIDE.DAT
• ℹ️ The intro and finale videos are already in Cinepak format and should play fine.
• ℹ️ The audio and visual settings are already defaulted at their highest:
  • From in game: Main Menu >> Preferences >> Detail Level:
    • Use Ambient Sounds and Animations
    • Use 22 MHz Sounds
    • Use Multiple Sounds
    • Pre-load Animations
• ⚠️ Full-screen mode can be problematic on later Windows versions with the game failing to stay on top of the taskbar. Your best options with this game are:
  • Run in window mode.
  • Run in window mode and maximize the window to get near-full-screen mode without glitches.
    • Restart after first maximizing to fix the game screen stretch dimensions.
  • Run in full-screen mode and set your taskbar to autohide. (Another PowerShell script?)
• 🔷 Optional. If the help program does not load (and it likely will not on Window Vi and later) try using one of the WinHlp32.exe installers from Microsoft. Attempting to open the help system in-game should take you to the appropriate MS page but, if it does not, look here. Currently, WinHelp32.exe installers are available for Windows Vista through Windows 8.1. Windows 10 appears out of luck so far.

RBXIT Win7 Patches

(none needed) 👍

Outstanding Issues

• The "Main Menu >> Preferences >> Detail Level >> Use Digital Music" option gives the following message and I don't yet know what it is about:
  • ⚠️ Digital music is not available on your system.
• The full-screen game window does not stay on top of taskbar with Windows 10 (as addressed under Game Install above). Others? This can cause slight alignment problems with dialog windows versus their frames.
• The "Windows >> Normal Window" menu item doesn't ever show as checked on some (any?) systems.
• No help system under Windows 10 (as addressed under Game Install above).

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3·D Ultra Pinball: NASCAR®

coming eventually

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3·D Ultra Pinball: Thrillride

Game Install

• ✅ Copy the Thrillride folder from the CD to your hard drive.
  • Note: The CD must be in the drive to verify and play the game. This is not a cracks project so I can't help you there. Albeit, because this project is about running old games on new machines, and because some new machines don't have CD drives, if you have the CD and another machine with a CD drive, this application might be able to help you create a mountable virtual CD to help your situation.
  • Then read Mount and unmount disk image on demand.
    • For example, I have a file in my Thrillride folder called PinballNoCD.cmd with these lines:
      • PowerShell Mount-DiskImage \"%CD%\Thrillride.iso\"
      • Pinball
      • PowerShell Dismount-DiskImage \"%CD%\Thrillride.iso\"
• 🔷 Optional. 👍 Download (linked below) and run Sierra's v1.0.1 update (from any folder).
• 🔷 Optional. If you want to see the intro video and the Pinball Vault videos, you need to install an Indeo 5 video codec. The installer on the CD will likely not work on later systems.
  • Indeo Video codec install
  • (I tried re-encoding the AVIs but it seems the game wants to load them from the CD. Hint, in case someone finds an easy way around this: ffmpeg -i Intro.old.avi -vcodec h264 -acodec aac Intro.avi -- Scratch that, this is Video for Windows, not DirectShow, so this is your best [less than great] option among the old default VFW codecs that still work: ffmpeg -i Intro.old.avi -vcodec cinepak -acodec copy Intro.avi)
• 🔷 Optional. 👍 Turn on 16-bit audio.
  • From in game: Main Menu >> Preferences >> Advanced >> Sound Quality.
• 🔹 Very optional. Turn on windowed mode (to get around errors when exiting the game).
  • From in game: Main Menu >> Preferences >> Display mode.
• 🔹 Very optional. Some dirt from the top menu can be seen in full-screen mode on Windows 10 (others?). A small rectangle of pixels on the upper right outside of the game screen. To get rid of it set the compatibility mode for Pinball.exe to:
  • Run this program in compatibility mode for Windows 8 (any pre-10 version will do to change the look and feel of the top menu)

Sierra Updates

✅ v1.0 to v1.0.1: The Sierra Help Pages - 3-D Ultra Series Updates

RBXIT Win7 Patches

(none needed) 👍

Outstanding Issues

• Two crash messages on Windows 10 (others?) when exiting from in full-screen mode. We're exiting! Not a big deal. Run in windowed mode if you wan to get around them.