Vanshilar - Dungeon Hack

[Vanshilar]

This is one of the earliest games that I played that I really explored a lot of nooks and crannies about. It came out in 1989 and was by Origin Systems' Paul Neurath. You are basically a space pilot who (eventually) prevent an impending war between us and bugs. How you go about making a living (trading, pirating, bounty hunting) is up to you, there's no pre-selected roles that you have to choose. The game is part real-time first-person space combat, and part overhead adventure/RPG where you walk around and talk to people, although the plot advances purely via the latter part (so that's the part that you're more involved with later on in the game).

The game is pretty open in the sense that it doesn't force you to proceed at any certain pace, so you're free to explore and build up your character and stuff. There's only 9 star systems total so it's not a "thousands of star systems to explore" type game, rather later on it's more about figuring how to advance the plot, like an RPG.

I have the original files for Space Rogue (although the one that's floating around that has copy protection disabled is probably more desirable, I have that too). I also have maps (i.e. compiled from screenshots), and lots of weird tips/cheats like to how play as a Wasp (far better accel etc. than the SunRacer you get), and have it pretty much memorized (still, I hope, it's been many years) so I can write a walkthrough of the game.

Would people be interested in a walkthrough of the game?

[Paco]

of course, we are interested. I will send you a PM with FTP-Info where you can uploads your Stuff on FTP.

[Vanshilar]

I've uploaded the game, a review, screenshots, and the base and star maps.

I'm working on a walkthrough but that'll take a while. In the meantime, if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

By the way, the version that I uploaded has copy protection removed, but if needed, I can also post the answers. Also, I made a slight change to one of the maps, so the maps file I uploaded include that change.

[Chris]

Thank for your contribution! :thumbs:

Also, I made a slight change to one of the maps, so the maps file I uploaded include that change.

What's meant here? Did you modify the content of the game? If you did so, for what reason?

[Vanshilar]

One of the maps had a special item that you couldn't get because it was behind an obstacle. The item was already present, just behind something. I basically just removed that obstacle (these maps are static maps so there's no way to remove obstacles through in-game play). I think there was a bug that the game creator (Paul Neurath) probably didn't count on impeding getting that item, since you don't even know that the item exists when the obstacle is there, so it wasn't a "figure out how to get this item" thing.

I basically just changed the maps data file (a one-byte change) so that the obstacle doesn't impede your path. The maps image files (pictures of each map) that I uploaded include this change.

You can get the item by other means (by doing an unrelated quest), but I figured the item should also be acquirable this way, since quite a few items can be gotten by multiple ways, while there was only one other way to get this item.

[Chris]

Maybe it's narrow-minded, but normally games should be as close to the original as possible. Is this item valuable or powerful? Then it maybe should not be retrieved in other ways than through the quest. If it is not, you might be right and the change is just OK.

Actually, I am not sure about how strict Abandonia's rules on modifications on hosted games are, as we do also host cracked versions. It's an interesting question after all.

[Vanshilar]

Yeah, that's why I made a note of it. The item isn't a super-powerful one (far as I know, those can only be gotten in one way), since it doesn't give you a ship ability, but it is an item that you'll possibly/probably need for the main plot depending on how you do it (then again, you can beat the game without getting the item at all, if you know what you're doing). In fact the item isn't mentioned at all in the walkthrough that I've seen on Space Rogue. But yeah, since a lot of the "second-tier" items can be gotten by several ways, I figured I'd put it in as well, since there's only one other way to get the item.

[Saccade]

OH YES!!!
I LOVE THIS GAME!:clap:

Thank you for uploading the stuff in the box!

I only have the disc and just uploaded that.
The box and stuff, with the "cool" space rogue on the front, got thrown out when I flew the nest years ago.

You are a fecking star my friend!

[Vanshilar]

I've uploaded a walkthrough for Space Rogue. It covers ships, trading, the plots, and even how to win at the game-within-a-game, "HIVE!". I also have some tips and tricks such as how to play as other ships, removing walls and obstacles (i.e. in the way that you remove walls in DOOM), and how to get the items in the game, as well as many other things.

I've also updated the base maps. I've marked out where items are, which doors need the key card or need to be picked, and the initial start positions of all the characters.

Thirdly, I've uploaded a save file, OETA.SAV. This was the file I used to play as any ship many years ago, but I find I can't reproduce the cheat now in Windows XP nor Dosbox, so I've included it for people who might want to use this method instead of save file editing.

I'm now working on a save file and game file editing walkthrough, such as how to change how many credits you have or what items you have, how to edit the maps, and so forth. However, it may take a while; I have most of the MAPS file mapped out, but don't know much about how to decode the text used when you're on a base (they're in the STRINGS file). Also, there's possibly a plot (or more) that's missing, since I couldn't figure out how to toggle a couple of the RPG plot toggles, so if you know of any plots that I didn't mention, please let me know.

Oh by the way, I didn't upload the stuff in the box, the maps are based on what's actually in the game, not what came in the box. I've lost those many many years back. However, they're readily available on replacementdocs.com.

[Vanshilar]

Something that I just noticed, because I'm planning on putting my walkthrough on GameFaqs as well. I didn't particularly format the walkthrough, in particular I didn't word wrap the text to any particular number of characters, so they'll all really long sentences. Do I need to reformat the file?

[Vanshilar]

I've uploaded an updated version of the general walkthrough for Space Rogue (v 1.02). I've also uploaded a file editing walkthrough, basically how to hex edit the savefile as well as the data files that the game uses (such as MAPS).

The file editing walkthrough covers:
- How to change which ship you use
- How to get a super-powerful laser that you can't normally get (about triple the most powerful laser in the game)
- How to get practically instant accel/decel
- How to give yourself a lot of credits, armor, items, repute rating, relations with others (including the Manchi), etc.
- How to toggle the different RPG plots.

It also covers the MAPS file, which encodes all the base and star system information. From there, you can change the layout of the bases, or the cargo prices, or how often or which type of ship you'll encounter, and so forth.

Lastly, I also cover how the game displays the text, so that you can read through all the text that the game has, although I haven't been able to decode the actual text file (STRINGS).

[Chris]

The game is on site, please receive your reward:

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/1701/cbpoe.png

Thanks again for your contribution, Vanshilar! :)

[Saccade]

:D
Yay! Finally..!

Thanks Vanshilar!

[Vanshilar]

Just wanted someone to check that Dungeon Hack is now considered abandonware. If so, I can upload it. I don't have any particular extras for it, though, just the game, and my version still has the copy protection on it.

[Saccade]

Paco says this:

Dungeon Hack

http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/showthread.php?t=3129

Sold (http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B000MENKMY/ref=sr_1_olp_1?ie=UTF8&s=software&qid=1232042975&sr=1-1) at amazon marketplace
[APPROVED] Amazon marketplace dont count anymore

I think that the protection codes are around somewhere too, Vanshilar.

Good job on Space Rogue!
I love that game.

One thing that I do when trying to find out if a game is going to be accepted here is to check the oldwarez list.
Some of the games aren't on there, but that's usually cos I'm searching for one that's a conversion or something - it's a good list:

http://www.abandonia.com/en/oldwarez

Its got a legend to let you know what the status of the game is, as considered by Abandonia.
If you're unsure how to use it, the "click here" button doesn't work for me - it's pretty simple, though.

[Vanshilar]

Yeah it's listed in oldwarez as "sold", though, so wanted to make sure it should be listed as "abandonware".

[Saccade]

In that case, matey, I just work my way through the List of Special Games in Offers and Candidates for Unprotecion in Requests.

It's easier to ask, though, eh?

I think that Paco and Luchsen are pretty clued up, but anyone here seems to know their stuff or where to find out.
I still get lost and can't find things that I was looking at a few hours ago.

eg - I'm sure I saw the protection codes and now I can't find them again...

[Vanshilar]

Oh it's more that I want an official confirmation that it's okay, because I'm not sure if the candidates for unprotection thread or the oldwarez function has a higher precedence.

By the way, the copy protection can be found in the walkthrough on GameFAQs, as well as a very handy cheat.

[Paco]

The Candidate Thread check for Games that lost the Protection in Year 2009. then i have to check again if its sold, but some Site dont count anymore.

Amazon Marketplace and even CD Access dont count anymore.

Oldwarez is outdated. Its has a List from over 4000 Games these Status has to checked manually and thus edited from us Staff. With over 4000 Games one can lost the will to update the Oldwarez regulary.

@Vashilar i though the rules is ONE Thread for the Submitter? You have now 2 Thread (Dungeon Hack and Space Rogue). I will merge it, but please post in Future only in your Thread and not create a new Thread.

anyway you can Upload Dungeon Hack, while Saccade search for Copy Protection and upload it. ^_^

[Vanshilar]

Oops, sorry! For some reason I read it as a thread per game, not per submitter. Making it per submitter makes more sense, though, so that the forum isn't spammed by too many games.

Anyhow, I'll upload Dungeon Hack soon as I figure out what files aren't needed (the directory in its current form has a bunch of extraneous save files etc.). I probably won't get around to writing a review any time soon though, if anyone's willing to help with that.

[Vanshilar]

Okay, I've uploaded Dungeon Hack. Hope I didn't delete too many extraneous files.

I've included the copy protection answers as a text file within the zipfile.

[Vanshilar]

By the way, I've put up screenshots for Star Control.

(This is for the help needed thread that said apparently Star Control needs new screenshots)

http://abandonia.com/vbullet/showthread.php?t=18706

[TotalAnarchy]

Screens replaced. Thank you. :)

[Vanshilar]

I've put up new screenshots for Star Control 2.

(This is in response to the help needed thread).

http://abandonia.com/vbullet/showthread.php?t=18706

[Vanshilar]

I've found the original version of JetFighter by Velocity Development (1988) on my old hard drive. This game isn't on Abandonia yet, and I was going to add it. However, I haven't been able to get it to work in Dosbox nor Windows XP, as the game freezes after the title screen. The helpfile for JetFighter says that if this occurs, then to boot the computer from an original DOS diskette, since it requires three files, COMMAND.COM being one of them, and JetFighter does not run on "impure" versions of DOS. Unfortunately, I'm a Dosbox newbie (most advanced thing I've done with it is take screenshots), so does anyone know how I might get it to work, or what I should try to reconfigure?

Although this game isn't on Abandonia yet, I can upload it at any time if any Abandonia guys want to take a whack.

[TotalAnarchy]

Uploaded screens. (except the title screen, which is not needed)

[Vanshilar]

By the way, I noticed someone already uploaded Curse of the Azure Bonds (I recently found my original 5.25" floppies!), so to whoever is reviewing and playing through it, I just wanted to recommend googling "start STING Wooden" (with the quotes) if that'll make things easier.

[TotalAnarchy]

By the way, I noticed someone already uploaded Curse of the Azure Bonds (I recently found my original 5.25" floppies!), so to whoever is reviewing and playing through it, I just wanted to recommend googling "start STING Wooden" (with the quotes) if that'll make things easier.

Funny thing is that BentleyVA never actually uploaded it. So if it's not a problem you can upload it to the FTP.

About JetFighter. I don't know if someone will respond to your question but if it's original and has nothing changed then you could also put it on FTP. If you really want to know how to run it I'd suggest opening a thread in Troubleshooting. There's a greater chance you'll get a response there. :)

[Vanshilar]

I've uploaded Curse of the Azure Bonds and Jetfighter.

Curse runs okay in Win XP but the battles will move too quickly, so I'd recommend Dosbox. It's critically important that every time you play, you mount the directory in the same way as the first time you run the game, otherwise you'll get an "Unexpected error during save: 3" and be unable to create characters or load saved games. If this happens, you can edit the curse.cfg file manually to be the right directory. For example, if the game is in c:\games\curse\, so the savegames are in c:\games\curse\save\, and you did "mount c c:\games\curse", then the third line of the curse.cfg file should be "C:\SAVE\" since that's the proper directory that the game recognizes. The reason why I'm going over this is that this one detail alone made me unable to play the game for many years!

And of course, to whichever editor reviews the game, know that there's a lot of walkthroughs already available on the web, and of course, google "start STING Wooden" to save yourself some trouble if need be. :mhh:

For JetFighter, again, it currently hangs at the title screen. The helpfile that came with the game said that if this happens, then use a "pure" version of DOS, so apparently this was an issue even when the game came out. However, I don't know how to set that up in Dosbox. I'll post in the troubleshooting forum to see if someone might know how to get it to work.

Edit: Success! Japo pointed the way to this thread:

http://vogons.zetafleet.com/viewtopic.php?t=12963

which gives a modified build of Dosbox that emulates some "prefetch queue" stuff of older processors, which makes this game work.

Apparently this game was written for 80386 and older, but more modern 80486 and later processors use different prefetch opcodes or whatnot, so the game doesn't work on those. Dosbox apparently emulates an 80486 so it doesn't work on the standard version of Dosbox.

[Saccade]

Who's got the review of Dungeon Hack?
Are you doing it Vanshilar?

If I run some of the old Norton Utils stuff, etc. in DosBox, my PC's and Mac's both come up as Pentium type CPU.

[ed]
kk Paco - I have TimeQuest and some IF games left to do first. If Vanshilar doesn't take it and it is still unclaimed by then, I'll stake it out in offers.
Mind, it isn't a massive game to review and discuss - especailly as there is a play-guide.

I have a folder for DungeonHack for the walkthru, protect and cheatcodes (I think that a better boxshot can be found, if no-one has one to scan) already, so I may as well make it complete for the documentation, I guess.

[Paco]

according to games needing Review nobody, but Romano prepared on FTP Review and Screenshots submitted by Anonymous, if nobody will write a Review. We will then take that and add it to AB.

[Vanshilar]

I probably won't have time to do any reviews any time soon, on account of prelims in June and then traveling until sometime in July :embarassed: so if anyone wants to take them for the games I recently submitted (Curse of the Azure Bonds, Dungeon Hack, JetFighter) feel free to go ahead. I certainly wouldn't want a lack of review to be why these games are delayed, since I enjoyed playing all of them and hope everyone does too :)

On the other hand these are games which I used to play a lot so if anyone needed help or tips I could readily dispense.

[Saccade]

There're usually more reasons than just reviews-to-come as to why some games don't make it up...
I don't think that games like the Text Adventures are high on the list of priorities. Spy vs Spy series, for example, is also another one that may not be as popular.
But Dungeon Hack certainly needs a home here.

I don't know how many people go through the submission threads looking for games to review. I use both people's threads and the main list of games needing review along with browsing other discussions.

It seems that there are loads of great games waiting to go up that are waiting for a review before the updaters can work their magic.

btw, Vanshilar - do you have the original box for Dungeon Hack?
Just the boxshots I've found are very low quality... I don't think they'd be very good to use.
Geezer's (happy birthday, Geezer!) usually the person who's best at hunting down good quality images and boxshots from the web, but you may have the original to scan..?

[TotalAnarchy]

There're usually more reasons than just reviews-to-come as to why some games don't make it up...
I don't think that games like the Text Adventures are high on the list of priorities, but Dungeon Hack certainly needs a home here.

In case you're wondering about those text-adventures, I think Chris plans an update in which he'll upload them all in one day. Though, I'm not sure.