Take No Prisoners Cover.png

Take No Prisoners (Zomb's Lair)

by: Zombeaver

Publication date: 2020-10-12

Topics: Take No Prisoners, Video Games, Third-Person Shooter, Action, science fiction, Zomb's Lair

Language: English

Welcome to Zomb's Lair!

This is an installer package for the game Take No Prisoners (1997) which will allow it to be played on modern versions of Windows, with easy to use desktop and/or start menu shortcuts and an uninstall option for quick removal. The manual is also included. It uses DOSBox Daum running Windows 95.

Controller support is included via Antimicro (can be disabled or configured via the launcher), with joystick to emulated mouse input as well as a couple additional mappings (based on a 360/XB1 controller):

The keyboard controls are customized (not default) and the controller support settings are based on these controls, so be aware that if you change the keyboard controls, you'll need to change the mappings accordingly in Antimicro. You can do this from the launcher, though be aware that the controller must be connected when starting Antimicro in order to make any changes.

ASuite is a lightweight, open-source, portable launcher which is included to allow you to start the game, choose some configuration options, and access the manual and this readme.

Please note:

I do not recommend installing into your Program Files folder. This can cause write access problems when you need to save your game. C:\Games\Zomb's Lair\Take No Prisoners is the default path, but anywhere other than Program Files/Program Files (x86) is fine.

I've included some soundfonts which improve the music quality (even beyond the CD music in some cases) which can be chosen from the launcher. The MIDI music can be disabled and CD music restored in the game's options menu if so desired, but the benefit of the MIDI music (+ soundfont) is that the CD music doesn't repeat cleanly – i.e. when a track ends it just stops for a bit and then restarts; but to make matters worse, the entire game freezes for a couple seconds when this happens which is actually quite annoying. In some cases the CD audio sounds better, in some cases the soundfonts sound better, so it's kindof a toss-up there, but the fact that the MIDI music repeats cleanly without causing any hiccups makes it the preferred option between the two in my view. The included version of the Timbres of Heaven soundfont (default) has been modified so that the attenuation values (volume) is more balanced accross instruments for the game's soundtrack.

A decent CPU will be needed to run the game at a fast speed. If the game is running poorly, reduce the resolution in the options menu and that should improve it significantly. 640X480 is used by default.

Reshade is included (disabled by default) and can be enabled through the launcher. It should be noted, however, that it has to re-compile the shaders whenever changing resolution, so this will happen a couple times between the time DOSBox is started and the game is running – once it's running it's fine though. That said, that aspect makes it not exactly ideal, so consider it experimental.

When you're ready to quit the game, exit the game normally via the menu, then shut down the computer via the start menu. You'll then be prompted to press Ctrl+F9 to exit. Do not press Ctrl+F9 before this otherwise you'll risk losing data and it will run a scandisk operation the next time the game is started - just like a modern PC, this is like pulling the power vs shutting down properly.

Zomb's Lair is a passion project dedicated to bringing old classics to a modern audience, while eliminating all of the hurdles that that normally entails.

More info below:

Take No Prisoners
DOSBox Daum
Antimicro
ASuite
Installforge
Zomb’s Lair Website
Zomb’s Lair Archive