Playing Lemmings 2 without L2-FIX

[CrystalCore]

Lemmings 2 Refuses to Allow You to Play More Than One Level of Each Tribe and Save Your Progress

Source of this information from the wiki of Dosbox-Staging

After a fresh install of Lemmings 2, if you find yourself unable to play more than the first level of each tribe and unable to save your game, you have triggered Lemmings 2's copy protection. To be able to play the game normally, choose between one of these methods. All methods work both for regular Dosbox 0.74-3 and for Dosbox-Staging.

Edit Simon: Formatting, clarifying that it works regardless of Dosbox variant, add method with L2-FIX for completeness. See also: How to play L2 in Dosbox.



Method 1: Hex-edit L2.RKO

1. Outside Dosbox, in your Lemmings 2 folder, open L2.RKO in a hex editor.

2. Scroll between offsets 69E0 and 69F0, specifically the address range 0x69EF through 0x69F3, then find the hex byte sequence 74 0E C7 06 0B.

3. Replace 74 with EB, then replace 0E with 23. You will now have the hexadecimal sequence EB 23 C7 06 0B.

4. Save L2.RKO in the hex editor.

5. Run Dosbox, navigate to your Lemmings 2 folder, and run the L2.EXE as normal.



Method 2: Edit the Bios and Boot Values in L2.INI

1. Outside Dosbox, in your Lemmings 2 folder, open L2.INI in your text editor of choice.

2. Change the Bios and Boot values:

• If you have Dosbox-Staging, set Bios = 732 and Boot = 63.
  
• If you have Dosbox-X, set Bios = 732 and Boot = 63.
  
• If you have regular Dosbox 0.74-3, set Bios = 732 and Boot = 0.
  

3. Save L2.INI and close the file.

4. Run Dosbox, navigate to your Lemmings 2 folder, and run L2.EXE as normal.



Method 3: Get L2-FIX.COM

1. Outside Dosbox, put L2-FIX.COM in your Lemmings 2 folder, i.e., put it next to L2.EXE.

2. Run Dosbox, navigate to your L2 folder, and run L2-FIX.COM instead of the regular L2.EXE.

[Simon]

Thanks.

I assume that the hex-editing method works also in regular Dosbox? I'm happy to link to Dosbox-Staging, but linking immediately at the beginning isn't perfect if the hex-editing is emulator-agnostic.

-- Simon

[CrystalCore]

Thanks.

I assume that the hex-editing method works also in regular Dosbox? I'm happy to link to Dosbox-Staging, but linking immediately at the beginning isn't perfect if the hex-editing is emulator-agnostic.

-- Simon

The hex-editing method will work for regular Dosbox as well.  I put Staging's link first because I wanted to draw attention to it for people unfamiliar with that variant of Dosbox. 

[Simon]

All right.

Copy-edited the writing, but decided to keep the order of the methods as it is in the wiki. You retain ownership of the post, feel free to update it further.

Topic is now sticky. Thanks for the contribution!

-- Simon

[jkapp76]

I can confirm the process works.

I have 2 different fix files for the game. I won't need either anymore. Thanks!

[WillLem]

Thanks! Is it possible to share a portable with all of this already done, or does the process have to be completed per-user?

[jkapp76]

https://u.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=XZAHhOVZqUmQzmyvPnRJqtcULY4T5L8sNvkX

I just updated my portable version of Lemmings 2 to use the new patched file instead of the old loader fix.
*This also includes Kieran's Level pack, the tribes of steel level pack and the Demo levels all set to auto run with dosbox!