Zookeeper's Lounge

**As this is a plea for help regarding a game OTHER than Zoo Tycoon (gasp!), I am posting it here, in the General Discussion Forum**

WANTED: Somebody...ANYBODY...who considers themselves to be an expert in the fine "art" of finding/understanding/de-coding hidden computer files!!!

THE PROBLEM: One of the (gasp!) OTHER games I've been known to house on my trusty computer is CULTURES 2 : The Gates of Asgard. If you've never heard of it, that's not suprising, as alot of moronic game reviewers here in the USA don't seem to give it high marks (probably because it doesn't feature prostitutes, guns or stolen cars) so it's not well known outside the UK. (This is actually quite a shame, as it's a VERY fun game to play, in my humble opinion! But I digress...) If you ARE familuar with it (or any of the other titels in the Cultures series) then cool! If not, it's really not a big deal...just as long as you're a "computer-tweak-geek"! Anyway, here's my delema:

Recently, my 4-year old (but still alive!) computer started giving me some grief (it seems to like attention every now and again) and the up-shot was I ended up uninstalling/re-installing some of my games as part of my "lets-make-the-computer-happy" plan. One of these games was Cultures 2. The problem is, it's one of those games (like ZT) that requires you to enter a CD "activation" code in order to finish the installing process. However unlike ZT and the other "code" games I have, instead of printing the code INSIDE the CD case, Cultures 2 had it's code on a sticker OUTSIDE the CD case...right on the back...where I put my thumb in order to open it...over and over and over again. (Like I said, I love this game!)

Long story short (yeah, I know, too late!) I have managed to completely wear off the first half of the code digits. Of coarse I didn't realize this lil problem untill I was right in the middle of my re-installation. So now I have a game on my computer that I can't access.

Why am I posting here? Because:

A) I have already contacted "Tech Support" (via email) and still no response.
B ) I have already posted on the Cultures 2 game-site (JoWood is the maker/sponser) and lets just say it's not the most active site anymore...
C) I have already "responded" to two different "threads" (on the JoWood site) regarding the same type of problem I'm having (the last dates on these threads were 2002 and 2003) and still no response.
D) I have already posted a plea on the GMX board (GMX owns the rights to the 2 most rescent Cultures games) and- while they haven't pulled my post yet- the advice I got didn't seem to work for me (it was in regards to a SIMS serial number problem).

So, if ANYONE READING THIS knows/thinks they know how I can ferret-out the CD code (which has GOT to be burried on the CD or in a hidden file somewhere, I have to belive) please, please, please, please PLEASE let me know!

Ethier post a reply here or- if you perfer- PM me, or even send me an email at "home" via my addy: zirconiawolf@netzero.net

Thankyou in advance for any help at all!!!

P.S. Just in case you were wondering, the "Cultures" games are kind of like a "city-building-meets-adventure-meets-stratagey" type things. Basicly, you are in charge of a tribe of Vikings who are forever getting caught up in various quests/etc, which take them around the globe. There are currently 4 games in the series: Cultures, Cultures 2 The Gates of Asgard, Northland and 8th Wonder of the World. They are not "add-ons", so it's not like you have to have the first one in order to play/understand the others. In fact the AI system in the original Cultures game is rather primitive compared to the other 3. So, if the idea of leading a lil tribe of people- down to naming, assigning jobs, building houses and even telling them when to reproduce (don't panic! It involves a cute animated stork...it's a family friendly game series!)- then you may want to consider checking out this under-rated and often over-looked series of games!

Since this is your first post, welcome to the Lounge!

I don't have any of the Cultures games, but it is unlikely that the activation code is on the CD, otherwise there would be no need to enter the code during installation. As part of their copy protection, many games encrypt at least one of the files. If the wrong code is entered during installation, then the files do not decrypt properly, which the installation procedure will recognize.

It is a good idea for people to include game folders and files when they make backups of their hard disks. Then, when situations like this occurs, one can go to their backups.

If you use intense light from behind, maybe you can read the code. (Some scanners have intense light and allow setting the contrast levels.) A magnifying glass or microscope might also help.

In other words, the code you need won't be findable in the files on the CD, as it is what your computer needs to make sense of it, not in the sense of a password sort of thing. So all we can say is you would have to get the code from the case somehow or from their tech support (the people who made the game would have codes you can use, assuming you can get them to help you)... or (God forbid) illegally from some worm-making miscreant (whom I don't think you'll find here)...

Then again you may be able to get a new copy of the game fairly cheaply, if it means so much to you.

You can probably find a working code also by googling or something to that effect. There are a lot of sites that pirate archive those sort of things...and since you already bought the game, it wouldn't be illegal to look one up.

Hope that helps.