wackypanda's offers

[wackypanda]

I'll start with two (Windows games), while figuring out what else I have still works. I'll do the reviews and screenies when I get free time.

- Crush! Deluxe (downloaded image and manual)
- Admiral: Sea Battles (downloaded image, should go in ISO Cellar. Marked as sold on AW List, but I can swear I've seen it as an approved request.)

If anyone is into edutainment games, I have a metric ton of those.

[Cluseck]

Crush! Deluxe - approved here (http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/showthread.php?t=1763&highlight=crush+deluxe).
Admiral: Sea Battles - approved here (http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/showthread.php?t=2462&page=2&highlight=admiral).

[wackypanda]

Thank you. I've done a draft review and some screenshots for Crush! Deluxe. Now I just need FTP access. :)

To clarify: The image for Crush! Deluxe is ~64 MB unpacked. Does that go in the ISO Cellar or FTP?

Also, the manual was downloaded from HotU before it died. The resurrected site doesn't offer it and I can't find it on any free site. Is it okay to offer that? If not I'll just offer the image, review, and screenshots.

[marko river]

If the zipped archive is less than 150MB, than it's good for main site, but can be added to ISO as well. Also, zipped archive should be pre-installed so game can run by simple unpacking. If it has to be installed, it's OK too, zip the installation version. But it shouldn't be disc image that requires mounting, that's for ISO cellar. As for manual from HOTU, we prefer that extras are owned and scanned by our members, not taken form other sites.

I'm sending you FTP access right away. Thx for material :)

[wackypanda]

Thanks. The game asks for a CD when run, so to the ISO Cellar it goes, it seems. Re: the manual, is it okay if I write a .txt containing the more important information?

[Paco]

upload the game anyways. we can do something about it, i think.

[wackypanda]

First off, I am so so sorry for borking up the folder names. Now everything is in New Folder > New Folder. :blush:

I've uploaded screenshots, review, the zipped installation directory and an extra (Game Mechanics). I haven't uploaded the ISO anywhere yet. If anything's wrong, please let me know and I'l do my best to fix it. :ouch:

HotU used to have a cracked version, but I've never had it work on anything other than a physical Windows ME machine.

[Paco]

can you also make a Titleshot (one screenshot which has the Title of the game in it) and upload it?

[wackypanda]

Main menu shot should be up.

Re: Admiral Sea Battles, there are four installation modes. Should I submit a minimal install, or should I submit a full install and let you guys decide what to take out? (Full install is ~500 MB, minimal is <30 MB.) Or should I just use the install that is closest to a particular size?

[Japo]

If the game needs the CD to run, and the image is within the size limit for direct hosting, we can fix it the same way we fixed some other titles recently.

[wackypanda]

ISO should be on FTP now.

[wackypanda]

I'm not sure if Admiral Sea Battles can run from an archive. It installs WinG if installed from the ISO and has a config.exe that stores video and audio settings in the registry. I'll put the archive up if you think that can be fixed. :unsure:

Admiral Sea Battles ISO is in the Cellar.

I won't have time to do the review for a while yet, so I'll leave that up for grabs.

[Japo]

I'm not sure if Admiral Sea Battles can run from an archive. It installs WinG if installed from the ISO and has a config.exe that stores video and audio settings in the registry.

I remember a similar problem with Nightmare Creatures (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/26808/Nightmare+Creatures.html). We settled with providing a registry fix. As for WinG, installing it is as simple as copying the DLL to c:\windows\system32\ But still all this means it can't be run directly from an archive.

Personally I think it's obvious that as we start including Windows games, we should, and will have no choice but to host original installers instead zipped program files. But we'll have to discuss it among the staff.

[wackypanda]

For Admiral Sea Battles it would be nice to run it from an archive, even if WinG and the registry entries have to be added manually, because the installer tries to measure free space and won't install if it gets freaked out by today's hard drives. But that route runs up against a CD check anyway. A virtual machine is the only other option.

The archive is about 18.5 MB zipped, so I'll go ahead and put it up first. (That brings up another point - the installer has 4 size settings. This was the largest one which would remain under 150 MB when unzipped.)

I'm guessing the main problem with offering installers is the size of the things?

Crush! Deluxe seems to be 95% functional if run from an archive (there are certain minor things to avoid doing) but for the CD check. I'd like to have a crack for that myself. Is there any news on that? :)

[Expack2]

Personally I think it's obvious that as we start including Windows games, we should, and will have no choice but to host original installers instead zipped program files. But we'll have to discuss it among the staff.I don't think this would be a problem, Japo. None of the Abandonia staff members gave me concerns regarding my zipped archive for the Lost Mind of Dr. Brain (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/28437/Lost+Mind+of+Dr.+Brain%2C+The.html) containing the original installer.

You just might want to have a standard reminder for people that if the game needs to read from the CD, they need to keep the folder with the installer in the exact same spot as when they first installed it. This is because the installer folder is made to be the CD-ROM drive for the game; thus, this means the installer folder is treated like a real CD-ROM drive.

[wackypanda]

That assumes that the game is forgiving enough to read from "CD" that way. Anyway, let me know what to upload and I'll do my best.

[Japo]

I'm guessing the main problem with offering installers is the size of the things?

No necessarily, certainly not in the case of old games that take very little space anyway. It's the custom in abandonware websites, probably because that way the games are easier to play right after download, or because it's easier to find archives that way.

I don't think this would be a problem, Japo. None of the Abandonia staff members gave me concerns regarding my zipped archive for the Lost Mind of Dr. Brain (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/28437/Lost+Mind+of+Dr.+Brain%2C+The.html) containing the original installer.

Yes, up to now, when there's any difficulty, each game has been decided individually, by whichever updater was in charge of any particular case. But nowadays, as more and more of the new additions to the abandonware catalogs will begin to be for Windows in a greater proportion, we need to come up with defined conventions for them.

[wackypanda]

I found some interesting extras for Crush! Deluxe: http://www.cannonade.net/crush.php

The page has two things for download, a stats manager and an "all-star jam" for merging players from different teams into a new team. I don't know whether we can redistribute the installers. The exact conditions for redistribution (as provided in the readmes) are:

1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
3. Redistributions in any form must be accompanied by information on
how to obtain complete source code for the DB software and any
accompanying software that uses the DB software. The source code
must either be included in the distribution or be available for no
more than the cost of distribution plus a nominal fee, and must be
freely redistributable under reasonable conditions. For an
executable file, complete source code means the source code for all
modules it contains. It does not include source code for modules or
files that typically accompany the major components of the operating
system on which the executable file runs.

...but the creator's site itself does not provide source code. :oh: Could we provide a link to the site under extras or something?

[wackypanda]

I'm writing up a review for Admiral: Sea Battles (assuming no one has taken it). I have absolutely no idea how to make it run from an archive, so I don't know what to put under "How to run the game". Any ideas?