It all rotates around the two files the game creates, scordos.bin and hiscores.bin. The game also does not save your high scores even though it asks for your initials. I checked those files data via a text editor and it is definitely updating the files, but for some reason the game is not reading them properly because it defaults back to its original settings and high scores. I am wondering if this is a game glitch or a DOSBox glitch. I have tried many mount location scenarios and even tried installing the game on a pure FAT environment. Nothing works for me. At least the game runs fine otherwise, but you're right, the game wont store or possibly read its own data properly at least under DOSBox.

By the way...

I have had success getting the game settings to stick which is the scordos.bin file. When you initially install the game and then run it might throw scordos.bin and hiscores.bin into your c:\windows\temp directory. Delete those two files in that directory and run the game again and it should create the files in the game directory from there. Then set your options in the game and exit and see if it does not stick. As for the high scores sticking I have yet to find a solution for that.

Apparently the high scores not recording in this game was a bug in the actual game and not an emulation thing from what I have read.

The DOS version of Scorcher (SCORDOS.EXE) does write the user config and high scores, but it later overwrites them with defaults. I don't know if the Windows 95 version (SCORWIN.EXE) has the same problem, but it wouldn't surprise me if it got preferential treatment in quality assurance.

The game tries to read the user config and score files at startup by opening them in read-only mode, and uses defaults if the files are missing. When it later wants to write the files it tries to open them in read-write mode, and if the open fails it creates them. The user data is written (good) to a created file, but the defaults are written (bad) to an existing file that is opened. This seemingly clear-cut behavior can be exploited to make a workaround for the problem: simply cause read-write mode open calls to fail so the file gets created. Actually, an existing file will be truncated to zero length by the create call, but the game doesn't care about that distinction.

Place the attached workaround program where Scorcher is installed. It's named SCORDOS.COM so you can start the game by typing "scordos" as usual; but the name is also good to prevent the mistake of running SCORDOS.EXE directly, because that would result in the defaults being written to the files!

Wow! Thanks for the file. Yeah, I noticed both scordos.bin (config save file) and hiscores.bin were both writing properly, but the game was not reading those results. So you have resolved the mystery. I was never able to get the Windows 95 launcher working due to 32bit only issues and Windows 95 compat mode not helping. When I did the initial install of the game from a CUE/BIN file that I created from the original CD in Windows 7 the game would create those files in c:\windows\temp and if you deleted those files the game on relaunch would then correctly write them to the game folder. Once the bin files are in the game folder that is when the config settings in the options menu OP was talking about will stick properly. The high scores issue had me stumped though. I really dig this racer (later tracks are nasty hard), so thanks again!

ripsaw8080 wrote:

The DOS version of Scorcher (SCORDOS.EXE) does write the user config and high scores, but it later overwrites them with defaults. I don't know if the Windows 95 version (SCORWIN.EXE) has the same problem, but it wouldn't surprise me if it got preferential treatment in quality assurance.

The game tries to read the user config and score files at startup by opening them in read-only mode, and uses defaults if the files are missing. When it later wants to write the files it tries to open them in read-write mode, and if the open fails it creates them. The user data is written (good) to a created file, but the defaults are written (bad) to an existing file that is opened. This seemingly clear-cut behavior can be exploited to make a workaround for the problem: simply cause read-write mode open calls to fail so the file gets created. Actually, an existing file will be truncated to zero length by the create call, but the game doesn't care about that distinction.

Place the attached workaround program where Scorcher is installed. It's named SCORDOS.COM so you can start the game by typing "scordos" as usual; but the name is also good to prevent the mistake of running SCORDOS.EXE directly, because that would result in the defaults being written to the files!

liqmat wrote:

Once the bin files are in the game folder that is when the config settings in the options menu OP was talking about will stick properly.

Not quite properly. The settings that are written to the config file when it is created, whatever they are, will keep coming back no matter what changes you make subsequently. Of course you can delete the config file and redo all of the settings, but that is not convenient. The workaround program takes care of the config problem as well, so that any changes to the settings are correctly written when the game exits.

You are quite right. I went back and tested what you said and it wont change after the first time. Wow, buggy for sure. Thanks again for the fix.