Some missing game versions

[MrFlibble]

Great job, those tables look very nice!

I know this can be very exhausting, so thanks for your hard work on updating the list!

On a somewhat related note, do you know how Epic distributed those installer versions of their shareware titles? Did they send them out to CD publishers or sell on floppies? I have found a few more recently using Hallfiry's CD index, but none seem to be ever zipped, and apparently installer versions were not available from Epic's website/FTP.

[Litude]

Epic MegaGames had two different installer types:
The ones which use multiple files were distributed as bonus discs when registering their titles.
Single file .EXE installers were available on e.g. their registered game CDs.

So yeah, the official BBS/Internet distributions were pretty much files only.

[MrFlibble]

Thanks for clarifying this!

Does the fact that these installers only were handed to owners of registered games impose, theoretically, any restriction on their distribution?

I prefer installers to zipped files, but if they were somehow not supposed to reach general public then of course plain files are the way to go.

[Litude]

Well, I think we should look into the included LICENSE.DOC files to answer any legal questions. Since these documents are 100% identical to the regular shareware releases, I'd say distributing the installers is pretty safe.

[DOSGuy]

Raven Software
CyClones
Demo Version (executable dated 02.07.1994)- Files
Demo Version 1.00 - Files [this is the same file as cycdemo2.zip here on the site]

The cyclones.zip that you found on Raven Software's website (which I have on the site) has a readme.txt that says that it's "Version: 1.00" and gives a date of "November 6, 1994". The executable is dated 1995-01-03, and the last of the help files and the keymap binary are dated 1995-09-22. When you run the executable, the game says:

THIS IS THE DEMO FOR CYCLONES (TM), VERSION 2.

THIS DEMO, WHICH SUPERCEDES ALL PREVIOUS DEMOS, UTILIZES THE MOST CURRENT VERSION OF THE GAME CODE.

Given that it supercedes all previous versions, it looks like Raven Software named the archive cyclones.zip to replace all previous versions, whereas my source for the archive (probably cd.textfiles.com, taken from a CD that took it from a BBS) probably renamed the archive to distinguish it from previous versions. My version, and yours, is version 2.

That other file is the crappy demo where your vision turns to horizontal lines if you take damage, which makes the game so unplayable that I thought my version was corrupted. I already had that one, except that mine says:

Code: Select all

THIS CYCLONES (TM) DEMO DISK WAS SPECIALLY
CREATED FOR PC GAMER FROM A WORK IN PROGRESS.
THE CODE HAS NOT BEEN SPEED OPTIMIZED.

Whereas yours says:

Code: Select all

THIS CYCLONES (TM) DEMO DISK WAS SPECIALLY
CREATED FOR   S S I   FROM A WORK IN PROGRESS.
THE CODE HAS NOT BEEN SPEED OPTIMIZED.

It looks like someone took the PC Gamer demo and used a hex editor to replace "PC GAMER" with "S S I", which necessitated leading and trailing spaces to keep the text the same length. As you pointed out, the executable is dated 1994-07-02, which is earlier than the 1994-11-06 date given for v1.00 in the readme.txt in Version 2, so this isn't my missing v1.00, but a pre-release (work in progress) demo. All of my attempts to find v1.00 have resulted in copies of the PC Gamer WIP demo, taken from an Australian BBS.

[DOSGuy]

Project Two Interactive
Jazz Jackrabbit 2
Found a new version of this game.
Shareware Version 1.20 (with high-quality intro movie) - Installer
Shareware Version 1.21 - Installer

Both of these links have died.

[Hallfiry]

Project Two Interactive
Jazz Jackrabbit 2
Found a new version of this game.
Shareware Version 1.20 (with high-quality intro movie) - Installer
Shareware Version 1.21 - Installer

Both of these links have died.

I assume they are among these:
http://www.kultcds.com/Catalog/index.ph ... dn=&descr=

[MrFlibble]

Not a "version" exactly, but I don't feel like making a separate topic about source code files:

Alongside the patch to v1.1 for Cyberdogs [Added to the site], the source code of the game is also available from the archived game page: dogs_src.zip [Added to the site]

I found an old floppy with the Cyberdogs source on it so I figured I'd release it.
This is Borland Pascal 7.0 code and it will not compile as is (due to use of third-party libraries which are
not included in the archive).

[DOSGuy]

Sweet! Thanks, I love adding source code to the site.

[MrFlibble]

MVP Software
Thor's Hammer
Thor's Hammer v1.77 Registered Version (Windows installer) [Added to the site]

The version found at MVP Software's FTP displays the following message upon exit to DOS:

Thor's Hammer Trilogy v1.77
Copyright (C)1995 Escape Programming, LLC

The same line is found in the shareware version v1.1 executable, but it is not displayed (the shareware splash screen is shown instead). I suppose that this is the most recent version of the game.

Gemini000 has reported some issues with the registered version 1.0 in his review of the game, so a newer version is probably worth adding.

[MrFlibble]

Thanks to Hallfiry's wonderful catalogue version 1.0 of In Pursuit of Greed demo was found on this CD. The files have been unpacked by the magazine editors (who also added their own installer). There might have been an installer originally, since Channel 7 used installers for both the later versions of In Pursuit of Greed and Iron Seed shareware.

I have repacked the files and uploaded the ZIP here: greed.zip

[MrFlibble]

Interplay
Descent
Descent v1.0 Shareware (22.12.1994) - Installer [Added to the site]

There are reasons to believe that this is an authentic distribution:

• the archive of the same size and file name is featured independently on at least two CDs (cd.textfiles.com also supposedly has the file here but the actual CD contents seem to be inaccessible);
• all date stamps on the files are from 22.12.1994.

[Hallfiry]

the archive of the same size and file name is featured independently on at least two CDs (cd.textfiles.com also supposedly has the file here but the actual CD contents seem to be inaccessible);

Everytime I see the catalog being used as it should be used, I'm happy ^_^

[MrFlibble]

Well, I should probably place a "thanks to Hallfiry and his catalogue" in every post which reflects the catalogue's correct use, but this time I kinda thought that the link alone is homage in itself.

BTW, you might probably want to link the CD Zone 04/95 entry to this CD. Apparently this series of publications was called CD Zone and PC Zone at different times (or something).

[Hallfiry]

Well, I should probably place a "thanks to Hallfiry and his catalogue" in every post which reflects the catalogue's correct use, but this time I kinda thought that the link alone is homage in itself.

I meant the comparison detective work, not just finding things
Finding stuff is obviously trivial and you don't have to mention me there everytime. But proving the authenticity by comparing releases of the same demo on multiple media, is the strength of the catalog in my eyes

BTW, you might probably want to link the CD Zone 04/95 entry to this CD. Apparently this series of publications was called CD Zone and PC Zone at different times (or something).

I've got a few hundred to link, actually. I will do that eventually...