Hi, I doubt anyone will read this but here it goes. I bought  the engine and donated for years and cant seem to get it running. I know  I missed something easy but it is what it is I did check YouTube for  installation videos but alas no. Anyway  if anyone  knows where a video is or wishes to make on thanks other wise the game will stay in my  itch.io library. You can consider  the money  a donation for  a good cause. Thanks in advance.

After Maelstrom and ERAS download, make a Windows shortcut:

Target: is your computer's path to Maelstrom.exe

Start in: is your computer's path to the ERAS folder where you downloaded the ERAS mod and contains Program and RESOURCE directories and start.ini

there is no exe in eras Ii that I can find that is similar  to the screenshot 

I know how to create shortcuts  but not setting targets 

The target is the path on your machine to wherever you downloaded Maelstrom.

Open a Windows file explorer and find the directory where you put the Maelstrom download:

In my example, it is E:\Maelstrom.  There you will see several versions of Maelstrom:  DirectX8_32bit, DirectX9_32bit, and DirectX9_64bit.  If you have a 64 bit OS, like Windows 10, then double-click that directory and you will see this:

The Maelstrom.exe is in E:\Maelstrom\DirectX9_64bit directory, so the Target is E:\Maelstrom\DirectX9_64bit\Maelstrom.exe that you can see highlighted.  If you have spaces in your directory names, you will have to put double quotes around it:  "E:\Maelstrom\DirectX9_64bit\Maelstrom.exe"

Okay, so how do I link Eras2 so that when I click the DirectX9 exe the game will actually start.

Do the same thing for the Start in: value.  Find where you downloaded ERAS, copy that path in the shortcut Start in:

The ERAS files should include the Program directory, RESOURCE directory, start.ini, etc.  The Start In: for this example would be E:\ERAS2.8

okay, I'm  lost again 

You know I have delt with  mods before  Xcom, Jagged alliance 2 or Civ 4. I am sure GOF is awesome.  The thought of a 3D piratesI can't  recommend it because  I can't  get it started  but I also believe had me really  excited  but it has been quite awhile and still I cant sem to get  the game up and going. I am sure  it is something small and I'm  sure if I was willing to put more  then  4 days into  maybe I'd  figure out but am not. I also figure  I'm  probably  not the only  one having problems with GOF. I don't  consider myself that unique. I  a visual learner and I guess I really  do need a video.  It seems to me we're running  in circles. really appreciate you trying to help me figure  this out but I have to  consider the ROI in time. I have even  had other family members tried to understand the directions to no avail. It is time  for me to consider  this a wash and a waste  in both money and time which is is sad but I have games  in my library and 20 GIGS is a lot of space to go to waste and there are  more deserving  games that don't  take this much effort to get up and going. If you ever do I video let me know  but otherwise I'm  moving on. Thanks again for taking the time.

If it is too difficult to make a short cut where Target = <path to where Maelstrom.exe is on your computer> and Start in = <path to where you downloaded the mod>, then you can just copy everything inside the DirectX9_64bit directory and paste it into the ERAS directory and just launch Maelstrom.exe directly by double-clicking.

However, that also means that if Maelstrom is updated with a future fix or feature, you will have to again copy it, every time.

I got it to wor Thank You but the resolution is such that the screen cuts off the tio and the bottom.  I read how to change engine. Initially but cannot fine that file do you know any other  ways around this.

Hi after I select my pirate and start new game  I get a black screen l. I cant seem to find engine.ini to change the resolution. Do you have  any suggestions of which  folder  it might be in since the search  box was no help or what it is called  in the recent  version of the engine. Thanks in advance.

I just wanted to thank you for the help. I think I've got it now. It took awhile to set the game up fix the resolution and get iit going  bet I think I got it now thank you all for  being  patient with the newbie.