In chapter 5, when I pick up the firecracker, it explodes immediately. As far as I can tell this is some kind of timer bug (something that plagues a lot of Sierra games).

Due to that bug, I cannot move forward in the last half of Chapter 5. The game does have a feature which allows you to start a game in any chapter, so I was able to play Chapter 6 and complete it, but feel incomplete.

Windows XP Pro, SP2 2.2 GHZ Pentium 4, 1 gig of RAM, NVidia GeForce FC G05200

I didn't have any problem running this game under XP. There are different versions (DOS and Windows) but the one I ran (Windows version 2.00b) worked fine. The computer may need to be set to 256 colors and 640x480 resolution (either with compatibility mode or manually) for it to work properly.

The issue posted above, involving the firecracker, is a timing bug that's related to the speed of your processor, not the operating system you're using. It has two simple workarounds. You can use a program like MoSlo or Turbo (both available for free download) to slow down the processor and get past that point. Or, you can just select the "try again" option when Valanice dies. The firecracker will explode quickly again but you'll have an opportunity to take a few steps before it does. Each time you "try again" you can get closer to where you need to bring the firecracker, until you finally make it. Sounds tedious but it only takes a couple of minutes... by no means a showstopping bug. :)

My original game does not run in windows XP, even using compatibility mode.