Installing RT3 on Win8.1
Re: Installing RT3 on Win8.1
AOL's browser is based on Internet Explorer so that would explain the problem with the AOL browser. Good to hear you were finally able to download it.
Re: Installing RT3 on Win8.1
Glad to hear that's what the problem was, although I sort'a figured it. 
Hawk
Re: Installing RT3 on Win8.1
"Warning": The goal if this post is to show how I got RT3 running on Windows 8.1 
First of all, I beat the 65 and it's really a great feeling having retired! Ok, this way I'm now a "young oldie", but that's peanuts in contrast to the fact that I have now the time to do all those things that I had retarded. These are: building the long awaited model railway layout, once again playing saxophon and clarinet (and hopefully make some progress with the bassoon) as well as - big surpise - play all the RT3 maps I didn't complete before.
One of the first steps I made was to buy a new PC (HP ENVY PHOENIX). Here are the facts:
Intel Core i7-4790 (3.6 GHz)
32 GB RAM
Harddisk 1 TB and 256 GB SSD
NVidia GeForce GTX 980, 4 GB
4 x USB 3.0, 4 x USB 2.0, ...
... and, unfortunately, this horrible Windows 8.1 (64 Bit)
and the screen I'm using is an acer one with a resolution of
2560 x 1440.
AND YES! This PC is a rocket! (Concerning software development, I felt - at least - thrown back to the "Turbo Pascal" days (e.g. 1987)! Means: working with Visual Studio is really fast, and with Java and Eclipse - incredible!)
But back to the interesting things, here's my way to run RT3 on Windows 8.1
(1) I installed RT3 from the original CD (CD1 "Install") to E:\Games\Railroad Tycoon 3
The installation completed but the desktop icon was "neutral" (i.e. a default icon, but not the RT3 one). Nevertheless, the game started - with CD2 "Play" inserted - without any problem. Of course, I switched the screen resolution immediately from 1024x768 to 1600x1200. First I enjoyed (once more after about 12 years) the introduction and successfully
completed (again) the tutorial. No problems. Everything as expected.
Before going on, of course, I made a full copy
----> E:\Games\Railroad Tycoon 3 Original
(2) Next I installed the Coast-to-Coast Expansion, i.e.
rt3_coast_to_coast_eng.exe 125'237'248 26.09.2009 10:53
followed by
(3) the patch 1.05, i.e.
RT3_Patch_105_deu.exe 2'203'136 23.09.2004 13:05
(in principal the same as RT3_Patch_105_eng.exe)
The Intro played well but there was no success to play the game at this point --> forget it!
(4) Now I istalled both the "Vista fix" and the "no CD crack"
Data\Configuration\engine.cfg 980 02.10.2009 18:09
RT3.exe 2'330'624 08.09.2004 10:33
and switched the resolution (once more) from 800x600 to 1600x1200. Yet, RT3 was working as long as a had a CD in the related drive. (Interesting: totally irrelevant what kind of CD! Worked also with a black one!)
Before going on, of course, I made full copies
----> E:\Games\Railroad Tycoon 3 P105
----> E:\Games\Railroad Tycoon 3 TM (for later use)
(5) As a last RT3 step, I installed the patch 1.06, i.e.
setup06.exe 25'374'310 28.10.2007 11:31
and renamed the directory
----> E:\Games\Railroad Tycoon 3 P106
Of course, I created the related desktop shortcuts and assigned icons with different colors. I really don't know why, but now, both P105 and P106 run without any CD inserted ...
Last but not least I'll mention again an alternative way: the usage of a VMware image. From earlier days I have such an image, i.e. an XP SP3 image with an RT3 P106 installation in it. And all I can say is: On my new PC this virtual variant runs incredibly good (both speed and graphics)!
I hope to have shown, that we still can look forward to a hassle-free future with our beloved game.
First of all, I beat the 65 and it's really a great feeling having retired! Ok, this way I'm now a "young oldie", but that's peanuts in contrast to the fact that I have now the time to do all those things that I had retarded. These are: building the long awaited model railway layout, once again playing saxophon and clarinet (and hopefully make some progress with the bassoon) as well as - big surpise - play all the RT3 maps I didn't complete before.
One of the first steps I made was to buy a new PC (HP ENVY PHOENIX). Here are the facts:
Intel Core i7-4790 (3.6 GHz)
32 GB RAM
Harddisk 1 TB and 256 GB SSD
NVidia GeForce GTX 980, 4 GB
4 x USB 3.0, 4 x USB 2.0, ...
... and, unfortunately, this horrible Windows 8.1 (64 Bit)
and the screen I'm using is an acer one with a resolution of
2560 x 1440.
AND YES! This PC is a rocket! (Concerning software development, I felt - at least - thrown back to the "Turbo Pascal" days (e.g. 1987)! Means: working with Visual Studio is really fast, and with Java and Eclipse - incredible!)
But back to the interesting things, here's my way to run RT3 on Windows 8.1
(1) I installed RT3 from the original CD (CD1 "Install") to E:\Games\Railroad Tycoon 3
The installation completed but the desktop icon was "neutral" (i.e. a default icon, but not the RT3 one). Nevertheless, the game started - with CD2 "Play" inserted - without any problem. Of course, I switched the screen resolution immediately from 1024x768 to 1600x1200. First I enjoyed (once more after about 12 years) the introduction and successfully
completed (again) the tutorial. No problems. Everything as expected.Before going on, of course, I made a full copy
----> E:\Games\Railroad Tycoon 3 Original
(2) Next I installed the Coast-to-Coast Expansion, i.e.
rt3_coast_to_coast_eng.exe 125'237'248 26.09.2009 10:53
followed by
(3) the patch 1.05, i.e.
RT3_Patch_105_deu.exe 2'203'136 23.09.2004 13:05
(in principal the same as RT3_Patch_105_eng.exe)
The Intro played well but there was no success to play the game at this point --> forget it!
(4) Now I istalled both the "Vista fix" and the "no CD crack"
Data\Configuration\engine.cfg 980 02.10.2009 18:09
RT3.exe 2'330'624 08.09.2004 10:33
and switched the resolution (once more) from 800x600 to 1600x1200. Yet, RT3 was working as long as a had a CD in the related drive. (Interesting: totally irrelevant what kind of CD! Worked also with a black one!)
Before going on, of course, I made full copies
----> E:\Games\Railroad Tycoon 3 P105
----> E:\Games\Railroad Tycoon 3 TM (for later use)
(5) As a last RT3 step, I installed the patch 1.06, i.e.
setup06.exe 25'374'310 28.10.2007 11:31
and renamed the directory
----> E:\Games\Railroad Tycoon 3 P106
Of course, I created the related desktop shortcuts and assigned icons with different colors. I really don't know why, but now, both P105 and P106 run without any CD inserted ...
Last but not least I'll mention again an alternative way: the usage of a VMware image. From earlier days I have such an image, i.e. an XP SP3 image with an RT3 P106 installation in it. And all I can say is: On my new PC this virtual variant runs incredibly good (both speed and graphics)!
I hope to have shown, that we still can look forward to a hassle-free future with our beloved game.
There's no business like RT business ...
Re: Installing RT3 on Win8.1
Typically, once you install the no-cd patch, the game will still ask for a cd (any cd will do) until you reboot the computer. That wipes out the memory of the original install requiring the cd.
Hawk
Re: Installing RT3 on Win8.1
BTW! Welcome back. I forgot to mention that in my previous post. 
Does this mean we'll be seeing some German versions of a lot of the new maps?
Does this mean we'll be seeing some German versions of a lot of the new maps?
Hawk
Re: Installing RT3 on Win8.1
Goodness me! NO!Hawk wrote:Does this mean we'll be seeing some German versions of a lot of the new maps?
Seriously: due to the fact there is no German RT3 forum at all, it simply makes no more sense to translate any maps. And believe me, I'm not sad about that!
There's no business like RT business ...
Re: Installing RT3 on Win8.1
Meanwhile I have upgraded from Win 8.1 to Win 10. No (RT3 specific) problems seen until now ... 
So, I assume that the installation procedure under Win 10 would be the same as described above.
So, I assume that the installation procedure under Win 10 would be the same as described above.
There's no business like RT business ...