Fallout 2 - Windowed mode (in a virtual machine)

[Wild_qwerty]

Well I though of how to do this ages ago, but only jsut got around to it today.

I havent fully tested it but it seems to work fine so far.

1) Download the *free* Virtual Machine Server (www.vmware.com)
2) Install the VMware server
3) Create a virtual Windows 98 machine
4) Add a soundcard to the VM
5) Install Win98 on the virtual machine
6) Install the VMware tools
7) Install the VMware video card drivers (do not install the VMware mouse drivers or FO2 wont work) http://www.vmware.com/support/reference/common/virtvideo98.html
8/ Download and install the drivers for the audio card http://www.vmware.com/support/ws4/doc/vidsound_soundcfg_ws.html
9) Install FO2 and play


Couldnt be easier, I can now play FO2 in WinXP 64 bit edition through the VM, no slow down required either VMs can also run on most plateforms, though I'm not sure if the free version supports other OS (but they do have a unix version)

 

[Per]

Should this be in gameplay/tech? We have threads on VirtualPC and D3DWindower there already.

 

[Wild_qwerty]

You do? I havent been here much this year. There goes my brilient idea, already done by somebody else

Oh wel, on the bright side with VMware someelse cant connect to any VMs running on your PC, coul dbe the closest thing to FO2 multi player though it will just come down to a mouse war as two people try to move the mouse

If a mod would be so kind as to either move this to the correct area (or vat me)

 

[Per]

You do? I havent been here much this year. There goes my brilient idea, already done by somebody else

Oh, it's useful, make no mistake. I haven't seen a comprehensive set of instructions like these before, only people saying it can be done and showing screenshots. I was just wondering where it should go; we seem to have threads on the subject both here and in G/T, and I thought as long as you don't actually tinker with the game, it counts as T. Do you know how common it is that people want to play the game in a window? Not quite sticky-worthy, perhaps?

Edit: This was in the Troubleshooting FAQ.

 

[Polynikes]

I have a question about running the game in VMware. Is it possible to force the VMWare server to increase the size of the game window? I wouldn't mind the pixelation, as that's fine by me, but since I have a 20" widescreen monitor, lowering the res on it won't help because the game will get stretched out. That's part of the reason I'm playing Fallout on a virtual machine.

 

[Wild_qwerty]

not sure sorry, typically the virtual machine window automatically adjusts itself to the given resolution. So I don't think you can stretch the virtual machine window as such.

You could try some other virtualisation products:

- Xen Source
- Microsoft Virtual Computer (cant remember the exact name for the MS one)

There are likely to be others as well.

 

[Polynikes]

I don't know about MS Virtual PC, I didn't get it working quite properly, though I can't remember now what the problem was. VMWare worked, but I can't change the window size or anything, so I've just been playing it fullscreen. It's a bit stretched, but oh well, it's better than not playing at all.