Game Downloads

Game Downloads - Frequently Asked Questions

First of all, please consult the Before downloading section.
If you have successfully downloaded a game, please follow the Playing the games section.
If you have problems downloading a game, please follow the Downloading the games section.
If you have problems with payment or billing, please follow the Payment problems section.
If you have paid but can't access the downloads, please follow the Accessing the downloads.
Otherwise please follow the Other questions section of this FAQ.

Before downloading

Will the game xxx work on modern PC with Windows 7/Vista/XP? [top]
Almost all games available on our site can be run on modern PCs with new Windows versions (for example Windows XP or Vista), however some of them require to be run using a (free) special software (called emulator), or some specific steps must be taken in order to successfully run the game. Would you encounter any problems with running and playing a downloaded game, please follow the Playing the games section of this FAQ.

Will the game xxx work on Apple OS/Linux/other non-Windows system? [top]
Unfortunately, at this time only Windows platforms are supported. However if you're comfortable with using some emulation software that enables you to run Windows software on your PC, then most probably you'll be able to download and play the game on your system as well.

There are multiple download links for the game, for example "Source 1 - Download", "Source 2 - Download" etc. Do I need to download all of them? [top]
No. You need to choose just one from the available sources and download from that one. Basically, more download sources mean that there are more download servers from which the game files can be downloaded. This is particularly convenient when some server seems to be slow or temporarily disconnected, whereas the other server (source) is running smoothly.

Playing the games

Unpacking the games

How do I open .zip files? What is the proper way of "unzipping" files? [top]
Almost every game is packed into one file in order to speed up the download process. These are the .zip files and today they're most widespread type of compressed files when it comes to downloading from the Internet.

There are many file compression programs available, with various options and there are many free decompression programs, that will allow you to unzip the downloaded files. Most probably, you already have some unzipping software in your PC. We highly recommend you to use WinZip (download site), which is shareware and could be downloaded for free. It is very popular and it provides a very good user interface.

To properly unzip a file, you need to double-click that file and then choose "Extract", "Decompress", "Unpack" etc. from your favorite unzipping software (eg. WinZip). You can't run the game directly from your unzipping software as this would decompress only the game's executable file and not the other files required to successfully run the game. It is assumed that you have a basic idea of what files and directories are and you can work with them, eg. you can copy, rename, move, delete files & directories. These are truly so essential things you should know that it is far out of scope of this FAQ.

Other free zip/unzip utilities include: FreeZip, ZipItFast, CAM UnZip.

How do I open .rar/.r00/.r01 etc. files? Windows needs to know what program... [top]
RAR files are something like ZIP files. They're not as widespread as ZIPs, but the compression ratio is mostly even better. To "unrar" these files, you need to download a shareware program called WinRar (download site). "Unraring" the files is very similar to "unzipping" so please see the unzipping files section above for guidelines on how to decompress the downloaded files.

Other free rar/unrar utilities include: RarMonkey and others.

How do I open .arj/.a01/.a02/.001/.002 files? Windows needs to know what... [top]
ARJ files are something like ZIP files. They're not as widespread as ZIPs, but the compression ratio is mostly even better. To "unarj" these files, you need to download some freeware/ shareware program that supports decompressing ARJ files. These include: WinRar (download site), WinArj32, and others. "Unarjing" the files is very similar to "unzipping" so please see the unzipping files section above for guidelines on how to decompress the downloaded files.

How do I open .ace/.c01/.c02 etc. files? Windows needs to know what program... [top]
ACE files are something like ZIP files. They're not as widespread as ZIPs, but the compression ratio is mostly even better. To "unace" these files, you need to download a shareware program called WinAce (download site). "Unaceing" the files is very similar to "unzipping" so please see the unzipping files section above for guidelines on how to decompress the downloaded files. Other free ace/unace utilities.

Amiga games

How do I open .adf/.adz/.hdf files? Windows needs to know what program... [top]
You've downloaded an Amiga (version of the) game. For playing Amiga games, you need to download and install an Amiga emulator and Amiga Kickstart ROM too. We highly recommend you to use WinUAE emulator, which is currently probably the best Amiga emulator for Windows and it's free. Please use this download site to download the latest version. However if a particular game doesn't seem to work properly under WinUAE, you should try the different one - WinFellow (download site).

Unfortunately at this time we don't have Amiga Kickstart ROM's available for download, however there is a number of sites that offer it for free download. Please follow this link to search for it using Google. Almost all games featured on our site can be run using Amiga Kickstart version 1.3. This file is exactly 524.288 bytes long (which is 512 kB) and it is usually called kick.rom, kick13.rom, kickstart13.rom, etc. When you find this file available to download on the Internet (eg. using Google as previously mentioned), it'll be most probably placed in a ZIP or RAR file and it will be about 130-280kB in size. For further information about unpacking ZIP and RAR files, please follow the Unpacking the games section of this FAQ.

How do I use the WinUAE emulator? [top]
First, please download, install & run the WinUAE emulator. Then go to "Configurations" section and choose "Load From..." button to load a UAE configuration file (.uae). For more information about UAE files or in case you don't have such file available, please proceed to What is a UAE configuration file? section below. Once you've successfully loaded proper .uae file or you've manually adjusted the WinUAE settings, please go to "Hardware - ROM" section and by pressing "..." button next to "Boot ROM File:" text edit, locate the Kickstart ROM file you've downloaded and decompressed (for more information, please see this section above). Then go to "Hardware - Disk Drives" section and "insert" proper disk into drive by clicking the "..." button and locating an ADF file you've previously downloaded and decompressed. There are 4 (virtual) drives available (DF0-DF3), however only the first two (DF0 and DF1) seem to reliably work in majority of the games. It is important, that "disk" (.adf file) marked 1 (one), 0 (zero), boot, or similarly, is "inserted" into "drive" DF0. Finally, save your configuration in "Configurations" section and click Start button to run the game. You can always return back to the menu by pressing F12 key. For further and detailed information on how to use the WinUAE emulator, please see the Docs\Readme.txt file of WinUAE program directory.

ADZ files are compressed ADF files and you run them with the WinUAE emulator as well. However you may also need a gzip.exe utility to run them. HDF files are harddisk (not floppy) versions of the games. Please go to "Hardware - Hard Drives" tab and click "Add Hardfile..." button. In the appearing window, click the "..." button next to "Path:" text field and locate the .hdf file.

It may be also helpful to explain how Amiga controls (eg. joystick) are emulated in WinUAE: This depends on "Host - Game & I/O Ports" settings in WinUAE. For more information, please see the What is a UAE configuration file? section below. Basically, there are 3 keysets used to emulate Amiga joystick, marked as keyboard layout A, B, and C (see Docs\Readme.txt file of WinUAE program directory):

Layout A: up - keypad 8, down - keypad 2, left - keypad 4, right - keypad 6, fire - keypad 0
Layout B: up - cursor up, down - cursor down, left - cursor left, right - cursor right, fire - right Ctrl
Layout C: up - T, down - B, left - F, right - H, fire - left Alt

What is a UAE configuration file? [top]
UAE configuration file (.uae) is a file that contains many configuration settings for the previously mentioned WinUAE emulator (please see above). If you don't have this file, you can obtain one for Amiga 1200 here. If neither of these work for you, then we highly recommend you to create one manually, using the default settings in WinUAE.

Latest versions of WinUAE emulator come conveniently preconfigured, so you won't probably need to edit any technical settings. You should save your configuration (in "Configurations" tab). For more information, please proceed to How do I use the WinUAE emulator? section.

C64 games

How do I open .d64/.t64/.tap files? Windows needs to know what program... [top]
You've downloaded a C64 (version of the) game. For playing C64 games, you need to download and install a C64 emulator. We highly recommend you to use WinVICE emulator (download the latest version here), which is currently probably the best C64 emulator for Windows and it's free. However if a particular game doesn't seem to work properly under WinVICE, you should try the different one - CCS64.

How do I use the WinVice emulator? [top]
First, please download, install & run the WinVICE emulator (run it by clicking x64.exe icon in the program's directory). Then please make sure that items "Double size" and "Double scan" in Options menu are checked. Then go to "Joystick settings..." in Settings menu and in "Joystick in port#2" section choose "Numpad + RCtrl" and then click OK. Now you should be able to control the game with numeric keyboard and right Ctrl key. To run the game, please choose "Autostart disk/tape image..." from File menu, locate .d64/.t64/.tap file (please alter the "Files of type" listbox so the files you're trying to locate are displayed) and finally click the "Attach" button to start the game.

Spectrum/SEGA/other non-PC games

How do I open .tzx/.tap/.sna/.z80 files? Windows needs to know what program... [top]
You've downloaded a ZX Spectrum (version of the) game. For playing Spectrum games, you need to download and install a Spectrum emulator. We highly recommend you to use ZX32 emulator (download the latest version here), which is currently probably the best Spectrum emulator for Windows and it's free.

How do I open .bin/.iso files? Windows needs to know what program created it. [top]
We're sorry but during rebuild of our game databases, some Sega games were mistakenly added into the PC section, and this is the case. However it is easily possible to play Sega games on your PC by using a Sega emulator. You can download it here (download site) for free.

How do I open .img files? Windows needs to know what program created it. [top]
You've downloaded a very old game that requires special software called Flopper to be run. You can download it for free here.

How do I open .z5 files? Windows needs to know what program created it. [top]
The game requires special software called Frotz to be run. You can download it for free here (please be sure to download the Windows version - the file is called WindowsFrotz2002.zip).

PC games

The game doesn't work! How do I make it run? [top]
First, please make sure that you've successfully downloaded and unpacked the game. Then please carefully browse the whole game's directory and search for readme.*, manual.*, *.nfo (open these files using Windows notepad, not by simple double-clicking), *.txt and similar files, which should contain necessary information. Further you should try all *.exe, *.com, *.bat files. Note that file extensions (eg. .exe) are hidden in Windows by default, so you probably don't see them. In Windows Explorer, these files' icons look like empty white windows with blue headings.

If you're still encountering problems with running old DOS games, then probably the best option is to use free DOSBox utility (download site - please be sure to download Win32 installer version) to run them on your new computer. Using this program, you'll be able to run almost every old DOS game, so it's really worth downloading and installing.

How do I use the DOSBox emulator? [top]
First, please make sure that you've successfully downloaded and installed the DOSBox emulator (download site - please be sure to download Win32 installer version), and that you've successfully downloaded and unpacked the game. Please note that old DOS programs and games use only short (8 characters) file names, so unpack the game to some short location, eg. "C:\Games".

1. Run the DOSBox utility (most probably from menu Start -> Programs -> DOSBox-0.62 -> DOSBox). Black window with "Z:\>" should appear. 2. Then type "MOUNT C: <game directory>" (substitute <game directory> with full pathname to where you unpacked game files, eg. if the game directory is "C:\Games\mygame", you'll need to type "MOUNT C: C:\Games\mygame") and hit enter. 3. Type "C:" and hit enter. 4. Use Ctrl+F11 and Ctrl+F12 key kombinations to adjust emulation speed. Please see "Cpu Cycles:" at the title of the DOSBox window. This requires a little bit of testing because whereas some very old games require the speed setting to be low (about 1000 or even less), some "newer" games will not run smoothly unless it's 25000 or even more. 5. By using Alt+Enter key combination, you can toggle fullscreen mode on/off at any time. 6. Type "dir *.exe" or "dir *.com" or "dir *.bat" and hit enter to list all game's executable files (.exe, .com & .bat respectively), or better use Windows Explorer to list these files and to read manual/info/readme files as described in the above section. 7. Finally, type the executable file's name and hit enter. For more details, please see the section about running the games above.

The game asks me to insert installation disks/installation doesn't work. What to... [top]
Most probably the game is already "pre-installed" so you don't need to install it, just run other executable files as described above. Otherwise please go to Command Prompt (menu Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> Command Prompt) and type "subst A: <game directory>" (substitute <game directory> with full pathname to where you unpacked game files, eg. "C:\Games\mygame") and hit enter. Now please run the installation from your A: drive (which is not real A: floppy drive now, but the virtual substituted one).

The game says not enough conventional/base/EMS memory. What to do? [top]
Please right-click the game file you're trying to execute and choose "Properties". Go to "Memory" tab and try adjusting conventional/expanded (EMS)/extended (XMS) memory settings and click OK.

Windows 98 include a nice feature, that enables you to use different startup settings for particular game's executable file. Right-click the executable file, choose "Properties", tab "Program", then "Advanced..." button, then check the "MS-DOS mode" box and then check "Specify a new MS-DOS configuration". Insert the following text into "CONFIG.SYS for MS-DOS mode" field:

DOS=HIGH,UMB
Device=C:\WINDOWS\Himem.Sys
DeviceHigh=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.Exe

If it still doesn't work for you, then you'll probably need to use DOSBox, please follow How do I use the DOSBox emulator? section.

I have no sound/music in DOS game! How do I get it to work? [top]
Please browse to your sound card vendor's website and try searching for some utility or manual for configuring the card to work in DOS. If you don't know your sound card vendor website's address, try searching the web. You can also check out VDMSound (download site), a free utility that provides SoundBlaster support for DOS box games.

If it still doesn't work for you, then you'll probably need to use DOSBox, please follow How do I use the DOSBox emulator? section.

I have no mouse in DOS game! How do I get it to work? [top]
Many DOS games require a mouse driver to run, however this driver doesn't come with new Windows versions. Please download the mouse driver here or here or here and run it prior to running the game.

If it still doesn't work for you, then you'll probably need to use DOSBox, please follow How do I use the DOSBox emulator? section.

How to get around the "Runtime Error 200" message? [top]
Please use DOSBox.

The game is too fast. What do I do? [top]
You can try to download and run the game with a slow-down utility called Moslo. You may download the latest version (shareware) here. If it still doesn't work for you, then you'll probably need to use DOSBox which has built-in emulation speed setting and you'll use it for running many old games so it's really worth downloading, please follow How do I use the DOSBox emulator? section.

A copy protection screen asks me something (from manual) I can't answer... [top]
Most probably the game has been already "cracked" or modified in some way, so you don't need to enter that information, or you can enter whatever. Please try simply hitting Enter, or type something and hit Enter, or run the game using another executable file (.exe, .com, .bat). Some games can also have their manuals available, either as a separate download, or it may appear somewhere among the game files. Please follow this section for details.

Downloading the games

Working with Downloader

I can't download/open your Downloader application. What's wrong? [top]
It has been reported to us that some people are unable to download or run our Downloader because they have some download manager installed, that doesn't download our Downloader properly. Our Downloader should be exactly 267788 bytes long, some people report that it is 267809 bytes long or different, which means error. Please switch your current download manager temporarily off. The other cause could be too "paranoidly" configured firewall/security software, that prevents our Downloader from being downloaded or run. Please switch this software off, or configure it to be less restrictive. Last but not least there could be some temporary network outage that corrupted the download. Please download it again.

Downloader says "your client must be updated", however I've just downloaded... [top]
This generally means that the "downloader.exe" file is corrupted. Please check that its size is 267788 bytes exactly. If it is smaller, then there was an error during the download - please redownload it. If it is bigger, then check it by your AV software, as this could mean, that your PC is infected by virus and the virus body was appended to the Downloader's file. In either case, for more details please follow the previous section.

Downloader says "wrong file ID, check typing!". What am I doing wrong? [top]
You're entering wrong file download ID into our Downloader. You find the file download ID on the page from which you also download the Downloader. It is written in big font, right below the "Your file download ID is:" text. To avoid typing errors, please select this code (e.g. by double-clicking) and copy it to clipboard (using Ctrl+C key combination). Then paste it into the Downloader (using Ctrl+V). Please note, that there are not any spaces or special characters in file download ID, just numbers and lower case letters.

My internet connection dropped. How do I continue the downloading? [top]
After an interrupted or untimely finished download, press the "Download It!" button again. Please make sure that the same file download ID and the same folder are used. If Downloader detects the file to be downloaded in the chosen directory, it'll ask you, whether it should continue downloading, or start from zero.

Where do I find the downloaded file once the download is finished? [top]
When downloading, please see the "Save to folder" text field in Downloader. Then browse to this folder, there should be the downloaded file. Basically if you download the Downloader to Desktop and you don't alter the "Save to folder" field when downloading, then the downloaded file will also appear on your Desktop.

It says the downloaded file is an invalid archive/corrupted/empty/missing files... [top]
It seems that the file has not been downloaded successfully. Either it is incomplete and you should continue downloading (please see this section), or it is corrupted and needs to be re-downloaded. Maybe you're using some old or incompatible unpacking software, so please also discuss the Unpacking the games section of this FAQ. If the problem persists, then most probably you're located behind some very restrictive firewall, that doesn't let the download to be finished. Please follow the guidelines in Proxy server/firewall issues section below.

Proxy server/firewall issues

Downloader says "Getting file download info... failed". What's wrong? [top]
It seems that you don't enter proxy/firewall settings into our Downloader correctly. These settings are necessary for whatever Internet application that uses Internet connection with firewall/proxy server in place. For example Norton Security or Windows XP SP2 firewall are examples of such proxies.

By default, our Downloader tries to recover these settings from the system configuration. These settings include: proxy server address, proxy server port (8080 is default setting), and optionally proxy server user ID and proxy server user password. If the Downloader fails to recover these settings from the system configuration, please do it manually. This info should be available here: Internet Explorer > menu Tools > Internet Options... > Connections > LAN Settings... > Proxy server. If the settings can't be found here, please contact your network administrator in order to find out these settings. You can also turn the firewall temporarily off, if possible.

Downloader says "Downloading xxx.xxx, failed". What's wrong? [top]
Most probably you're located behind some very restrictive firewall, that doesn't let the download to be finished. Please switch the firewall temporarily off if you have this option. For example Norton Security or Windows XP SP2 have built-in firewall. Other common sources of problems are:

Norton Internet Security
This is what we have received from one of our customers: "I finally was successful. For your info the problem in downloading was part of Norton, but not the firewall. They have a protect personal information program. When I turned that off, there was no problem downloading."

Web accelerators
This is what we have received from one of our customers: "The 'discount ISPs' offer web accelerators to increase browsing speed (doesn't do anything for download speed). Anyway, I turned off the "web accelerator" (with all other firewall stuff off, too), and successfully downloaded the game and manual."

My firewall still prevents me from downloading, can I receive the game on a CD... [top]
Unfortunately we don't provide this service. If you still encounter problems, please contact us.

Payment problems

Can I send you money directly from PayPal instead of using the website payment button? [top]
Yes. Our PayPal email address is: . The amount will be $5.95 or $8.95 depending on the length of your membership. Your PayPal email address will then be used as your order number. Please note that your account will be activated instantly only if you send the payment in USD.

Do you accept money orders/wire transfers? [top]
Yes, as a last resort we can accept a money order/wire transfer from you. Please understand that because of the nature of this type of payment, your payment will have to be manually verified by us, so there might be a few days delay between paying and gaining an access to our service. Also only 30 day ($8.95) payments can be accepted this way. Also please see your bank's fees for international money transfer, unless you're located in Germany (Deutschland), Latvia (Latvija) or Czech Republic (Ceska republika), where we can accept your payment locally. For banking details, please contact us at and include your country name.

Are there any other payment options? Do you accept checks? [top]
Unfortunately we don't accept checks as clearing them would cost us too much.

Accessing the downloads

How do I enter the downloads once I have paid for the access? [top]
Simply find a game and click a download link. If you see a screen with a file download ID in a big font, you can download immediately (using the Downloader - please follow instructions on that site). If you see a "payment screen", then please fill in your order number into the field under the "Already paid?" text and press Enter. Then you'll be taken to the download screen.

You have to enter your order number as described above once a day, or whenever you change your Internet connection. We respect your privacy and we don't use permanent cookies to identify your computer, please see our privacy policy for details.

After typing my order number into "Already paid?" box, it says that the entered... [top]
Most probably you're entering order number incorrectly. Once you successfully complete your order, you'll see your order number on the screen and it will be also sent to your email address. It has the following form: number hyphen number dot number dot number dot number (for example 1234-56.78.90.123). Please type this order number into the field under the "Already paid?" text exactly as you receive it. You can also use your email address instead.

After typing my order number into "Already paid?" box, nothing happens... [top]
First, please make sure that you're entering the order number correctly, as described in the above section. If entering your order number into the "Already paid?" text field directs you back to the same page (the payment screen), then it seems that both these conditions are met: you have cookies (we use only session cookies) disabled and your IP address dynamically changes.

This often happens with AOL connection. From one of our users: "I found out the problem lies with the interaction between your site and AOL. When I use IE through the AOL connection instead of just using AOL's system, your site works."

Solution: Please either enable cookies (we use only session cookies, these are deleted once you close your browser - please see our privacy policy), or use another Internet connection if possible, or just click Reload/Refresh button, as it may solve the problem.

I haven't received an email receipt/I don't remember my order number. How do... [top]
You can also use your email instead. Otherwise, you'll need to contact us. Please provide your name and email used for the order so we can quickly respond. Please DO NOT send the card number via email as it is not safe and we don't have access to card details, so we can't use it for matching at all.

I see a screen with some "file download ID" and some "Downloader". How do I... [top]
Please follow instructions on that screen, it's easy.