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I posted this question on other forums before but nobody could give me response.

I've got an FM Towns II UX20 with an 8MB RAM extention but though the starting screen counts memory up to 10MB RAM, games still run as if there was only 2MB. Why do games seem to be not affected by the RAM extention? Do I need to activate something in the Towns menu? I really want to play Hand of Fate on the Towns but without the extention it's running unbearably slow.

Thanks in advance

P.S.: Sorry if the thread doesn't belong here but I don't know where else to post it.

Though I have no knowledge of the FM-Towns, I'll suggest an answer based on common sense.

Games are sold with the biggest common factor in mind (see DQ on DS ;), and when it comes down to computers, that common factor is usually the bottom of the bucket (Well, before the PCs came out winning and games were usually a way to force you into buying new hardwares ;).

I have an example, because my engrish sucks.
The Amstrad CPC 464 was a proud tape based computer, with 64KB RAM. Then comes the 664, the same, but with a floppy drive, and the 6128, floppy drive AND 128KB RAM.

Well it turned out it wasn't 128KB, but 64+64. This meant the extra 64KB of RAM had to be "unlocked". Something barely ever any game managed to bother with. Incidently, the 664 barely sold and the 6128 was a big success. Go marketing.

Mm, I got bored writing this although I was so excited to talk about the computer of my youth, guess I'm not much of a tech person ;)
Anyway, less requirements, more sales, less work, to put it blundly?

Now there is quite a probability this doesn't apply at all to the FM-Towns and what I've written is just bullcrap ;)

I'm not so sure if I understood correctly what you mean.

Do you think because the game has lower requirements than 10MB, non of the additional RAM is used? Or do you think I've to activate the extra RAM somehow?

The FM Towns II is quite similiar to the PCs sold in western countries back then. There're probably similiarities in this particular area as well. Unfortunenatly I've absolutely no experience with those 386 or 486 PCs.

Does the game only need 2MB to run? If so that's all it will use no matter how much ram your Towns II has.

Is the game any good btw? My Marty/Towns wants list is getting pretty small now but I'm always on the look out for more stuff.

The game will run also without RAM extention (it will also run on the Marty) but you won't be able to enjoy it this way. The initial loading time takes more than 5 minutes. Besides, there're also long loading times and slowdowns within the game.

I can't imagine that there's no way to make games run faster on an FM Towns II. Otherwise there'd be no other FMT but the MX model which would be able to play games like Samurai Showdown, Super Street Fighter II or Syndicate. Like Danjuro set before, that wouldn't good marketing at all.

Nonetheless, Hand of Fate (second game of the Kyrandia trilogy) is an awesome graphic adventure. I personally think it's one the best non-Japanese games ever made. That's the reason why I'm trying so hard to make it run better.

By the way, didn't I sell you Super Real Mahjong PII/PIII?