In case anyone other then me is still playing this game and having trouble, maybe this will help.
A few weeks ago I decided to have one more run through. At first, Pharaoh was running without problems, but then I added Cleopatra and patched it - which is when the trouble started.
At first the game kept locking up the PC, to the extent that I had to log out just to get access to task manager so I could kill the process.
Various posts, here and elsewhere, pointed me towards trying things without success. Eventually, I tracked down and installed the widescreen mod, which improved the display (big thumbs up here), but did not resolve the problem. However something had changed. The game still stopped at random intervals, usually after no more than a few minutes, but now it crashed to desktop.
Checking the event log flagged the MP3dec.ASI file as the cause of the error, which tied in with other posts citing problems with audio. Luckily, I had a more recent version of this file in the EmperorRotMK game directory (yep-I’ve got every one of the Sierra city games). I copied the file over and everything seems okay. I've now played Pharaoh for over 6 hours without a crash.
A few weeks ago I decided to have one more run through. At first, Pharaoh was running without problems, but then I added Cleopatra and patched it - which is when the trouble started.
At first the game kept locking up the PC, to the extent that I had to log out just to get access to task manager so I could kill the process.
Various posts, here and elsewhere, pointed me towards trying things without success. Eventually, I tracked down and installed the widescreen mod, which improved the display (big thumbs up here), but did not resolve the problem. However something had changed. The game still stopped at random intervals, usually after no more than a few minutes, but now it crashed to desktop.
Checking the event log flagged the MP3dec.ASI file as the cause of the error, which tied in with other posts citing problems with audio. Luckily, I had a more recent version of this file in the EmperorRotMK game directory (yep-I’ve got every one of the Sierra city games). I copied the file over and everything seems okay. I've now played Pharaoh for over 6 hours without a crash.