Kid Works 2 - text to speech not working on DOS version

[Accuser06]

Are you using the latest Dosbox-Staging Version?

• I have checked releases and am using the latest release.

Different version than latest?

No response

What Operating System are you using?

macOS (Intel)

If Other OS, please describe

No response

Relevant hardware info

MacBook Pro 13-inch, 2020

Have you checked that no other similar issue already exists?

• I have searched and not found similar issues.

A clear and concise description of what the bug is.

Trying to use a silly old program called Kid Works 2. The text to speech function doesn't work. The error message is "Not enough Memory to Speak." The only other thing I can see is "Open Speech failed with error -100."

Steps to reproduce the behaviour.

Explain how to reproduce

1. Download game files
2. Mount c drive
3. Run .exe, go to Story Writer
4. Type something, click the icon of the man saying the word "cat"

Download URL of affected game or software

https://www.myabandonware.com/game/kid-works-2-3er/play-3er

Your configuration

No response

Provide a Log

No response

Code of Conduct & Contributing Guidelines

• Yes, I agree.

[johnnovak]

@Accuser06 Try starting it with LOADFIX <exe-name>. If that doesn't work, try LOADFIX -32 ..., LOADFIX -96, etc. Play around with the number, maybe it will help 😄

[Accuser06]

thanks john, tried that but no dice!

[MX9000]

@Accuser06 here you can find the CD-ROM edition for Windows: https://archive.org/details/kid-works-2.
The text to speech function works correctly in the pre-configured Windows 3.1 environment of eXoWin3x.

[johnnovak]

@Accuser06 Can you please confirm that using the version from archive.org fixes the issue? Then we can conclude that abandonware site simply just hosts a botched version (which is not uncommon).

[Grounded0]

@johnnovak

Apparently DOS version is bugged while Win16 version works fine.

[johnnovak]

@johnnovak

Apparently DOS version is bugged while Win16 version works fine.

I see, okay. Well, that's some good info!

[Grounded0]

If anyone comes up with alternate source for DOS version of Kid Works 2 then we could be more confident its not a botched release of the game on an abandonware site.

[johnnovak]

Ok, leaving it open then. I guess I could test on hardware, I just have very low inclination to look into these obscure titles 😄

[johnnovak]

If anyone comes up with alternate source for DOS version of Kid Works 2 then we could be more confident its not a botched release of the game on an abandonware site.

Leaving open until someone tests this.

[Accuser06]

As an update, I finally got this to work in a roundabout way. The text-to-speech function didn't work anywhere using the abandonware files. The CD-ROM version that MX9000 dropped in here worked. I had to export it onto an external hard drive and fire up an old Windows laptop running XP and run it in actual DOS to make it work. Thanks all!

[Grounded0]

Not a game but an edutainment title so taking out game compatibility Issues related to a specific game .

[Grounded0]

Current workaround for this title is to use the Windows 3.x version:

https://archive.org/details/kid-works-2

[johnnovak]

Not a game but an edutainment title so taking out game compatibility Issues related to a specific game .

Fair point, we need to draw the line somewhere.