RGB Classic Games Forum

Hallfiry wrote:

MrFlibble wrote: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

Yes, I agree completely! You have created a very powerful tool, especially since the "detective work" as you say can be performed at a single mouse click (on the looking glass icon ).

Of course there's always a chance that the file was published on one CD and another just picked it up. But anyway I thought it was a nice argument to mention.

MrFlibble wrote: Of course there's always a chance that the file was published on one CD and another just picked it up.

It's like comparing ancient manuscripts. You have to sort them by date and location, find connections, find common sources, etc. to get a glimpse of the original work.

Interesting, apparently there are several different (at least two) Descent II demo installers:
http://www.kultcds.com/Catalog/index.ph ... dn=&descr=

MrFlibble wrote:Interesting, apparently there are several different (at least two) Descent II demo installers:
http://www.kultcds.com/Catalog/index.ph ... dn=&descr=

There are three releases, that all differ by some degree:
(1) 1995-12-14: http://www.kultcds.com/Catalog/index.ph ... 32326&o=da
(2) 1995-12-15: http://www.kultcds.com/Catalog/index.ph ... 32314&o=da
(3) 1995-12-21: http://www.kultcds.com/Catalog/index.ph ... 31557&o=da

Version 1 and 2 differ in EREGCARD.EXE and EREGCARD.INI.
Version 2 and 3 differ in D2DEMO.HOG, EREGCARD.INI. 3 does not have ORDERFRM.TXT.
(differences and similarities between 1 and 3 can be deduced form the above)

Hallfiry wrote:There are three releases, that all differ by some degree:
(1) 1995-12-14: http://www.kultcds.com/Catalog/index.ph ... 32326&o=da
(2) 1995-12-15: http://www.kultcds.com/Catalog/index.ph ... 32314&o=da
(3) 1995-12-21: http://www.kultcds.com/Catalog/index.ph ... 31557&o=da

Version 1 and 2 differ in EREGCARD.EXE and EREGCARD.INI.
Version 2 and 3 differ in D2DEMO.HOG, EREGCARD.INI. 3 does not have ORDERFRM.TXT.
(differences and similarities between 1 and 3 can be deduced form the above)

Thanks for the detailed analysis!

ORDERFRM.TXT in the Dec 14 version contains this text:

You liked the demo so much that you've just GOT to have the rest of the
game, hmm? If you're in the United States, call 1-800-INTERPLAY and mention
code DTW1, or return this completed form via fax, mail, or e-mail.

Perhaps this code would grant a discount of sorts, and then they discontinued this.

Anyway, there are online downloads for two of the above versions:

• d2demo10.zip (14.12.1995)
• d2demo10.zip (15.12.1995)

The demo currently on the site here is the Dec 14 version. The Dec 15 version also includes a license file, apparently added at a later date (May 1996). This is, presumably, the latest version from Interplay's FTP. A ZIP with the Dec 15 version without the license file can be found here.

I wonder if this file is the Dec 21 version?

MrFlibble wrote:I wonder if this file is the Dec 21 version?

Luckily I have the image on my PC. It's the 14 version.

Thanks you so much!!!

BTW, apparently there's a CD version of the Descent II demo:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/DESCENT-II-3-LE ... 487a1f5ae4

Perhaps this is actually where the Dec 21 version files come from (maybe).

[Edit] Another CD release, in an even more awesome packaging:
http://geb.ebay.in/g/ImportHubViewItem? ... w-Software

[Edit 2] According to the official Interplay page (scroll to the very bottom of the page), the Dec 15 version should technically be the Dec 18 version (as FILE_ID.DIZ is from Dec 18)

Hallfiry wrote:Version 2 and 3 differ in D2DEMO.HOG, EREGCARD.INI. 3 does not have ORDERFRM.TXT.

MrFlibble wrote:ORDERFRM.TXT in the Dec 14 version contains this text:

You liked the demo so much that you've just GOT to have the rest of the
game, hmm? If you're in the United States, call 1-800-INTERPLAY and mention
code DTW1, or return this completed form via fax, mail, or e-mail.

Perhaps this code would grant a discount of sorts, and then they discontinued this.

It turns out that they removed the reference to ORDERFRM.TXT on the ordering information screen, and just put the code there instead. This accounts for the updated HOG file.

Softdisk
Alien Rampage
Shareware v1.10 - Installer

IMPORTANT NOTE: This is actually a repacked file, not an original distribution. I've found the installer files packed in an ARJ archive on a Polish magazine cover CD, and attempted to restore the original LHA SFX archive by using LHA v2.13. First I attempted to recreate the original version of shareware v1.11 that was found earlier and is known to be authentic. Using LHA produced a self-extracting archive of the same size as the original, and I repacked the installer from v1.10 the same way and uploaded it.

However, later I made a byte-by-byte comparison of the original sdramp.exe v1.11 and its recreated counterpart, and the files turned out to be different in spite of identical length. It appears that DOSBox sorts files differently than original DOS, and they are packed into an archive in a different order. Moreover, when I checked the order of the files in the original archive and packaged the files in the same order, the resulting files were still different by 10 bytes. I have not investigated this further so far, but I think that it would not be a good idea to include the above recreated v1.10 with the site at this point.

MrFlibble wrote:MVP Software
Thor's Hammer
Thor's Hammer v1.77 Registered Version (Windows installer)

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

Argh, a Win16 installer! The Win64 user's kryptonite! Still DOS once you get it installed, if you can get it installed, though. Thanks MrFlibble!

MrFlibble wrote:Interplay
Descent
Descent v1.0 Shareware (22.12.1994) - Installer

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.

I've actually had the files DESCENT1.ZIP and DESCENT2.ZIP since I started the site in 2005, but I never added them because I had an irrational fear of having multiple downloads per version. The two archives in DESCENT.ZIP are an exact match for the ones I already had and considered authentic, and this single archive containing both of them seems to also have been an authentic online version, so problem solved!

DOSGuy wrote:Argh, a Win16 installer! The Win64 user's kryptonite!

DOSGuy wrote:I've actually had the files DESCENT1.ZIP and DESCENT2.ZIP since I started the site in 2005, but I never added them because I had an irrational fear of having multiple downloads per version. The two archives in DESCENT.ZIP are an exact match for the ones I already had and considered authentic, and this single archive containing both of them seems to also have been an authentic online version, so problem solved!

Yeah, I noticed that split versions of shareware distributions are better avoided. However it seems that Parallax never really bothered making a single file download for shareware Descent below v1.4. This is discussed in more detail here.

On the other hand, it should be noted that some respectable video gaming sites back then would compress multiple file distributions into a single archive for download. For example, the Gamesmania Demo Depot had a download of the early Daggerfall demo (dagrfall.zip) which was actually only distributed by Bethesda in two files, DAGDEM1.zip and DAGDEM2.ZIP. The Gamesmania version has both ZIP files compressed into a single "second-tier" ZIP archive.

The distribution of the Daggerfall demo in two files is mentioned in the old Daggerfall FAQ. Also the Wayback Machine preserved the old Daggerfall demo download page at Happy Puppy:
http://www.happypuppy.com/games/link/daggerfa.htm

MrFlibble wrote: The distribution of the Daggerfall demo in two files is mentioned in the old Daggerfall FAQ. Also the Wayback Machine preserved the old Daggerfall demo download page at Happy Puppy:
http://www.happypuppy.com/games/link/daggerfa.htm

And we actually have that demo distribution on one of the CDs from my shelf:
http://www.kultcds.com/Catalog/index.ph ... $2FDagdemo

While browsing the archived copy of Origin's website, I stumbled upon some potentially interesting information about Abuse. On the tech support page, it says among other things:

Versions
Abuse CD (v2.00)
Abuse Demo (v1.31, & v2.00)
Abuse Shareware (v1.00)

The Abuse Demo v2.00 is presumably the same thing as the shareware v2.00 on the site (it's called "Shareware Demo" on the Origin download page). However, they also felt the need to distinguish between the post-v1.00 demo versions and the v1.00 shareware, which may or may not be the same thing as beta v1.00 Hallfiry discovered earlier here. There's also this demo v1.31 which I don't think anyone ever mentioned before.

This page mentions Abuse shareware v1.01, the file supposedly being abuse101.zip.

Here the same file is simply called v1.0 (meaning it's probably the same thing as v1.0 mentioned above). This version was released both as a single file and split into smaller parts.

Thanks for the info. BTW, I know personally I like to be kept up to date on my favourite softwares and such. For instance, I like to here news from time to time about what is happening in the DOS scene. So softwares especially if it is freeware I really enjoy hearing what is happening.

I just installed Borland C++ 2.0 which is supposed to make me a professional developer of C and C++ softwares. hehe It is installed on VirtualBox within Microsoft Windows XP Home with Service Pack 2. That is installed within a VirtualBox that is within Snow Leopard. hehe