Whale Voyage 2 Problem
 

This looks like the same one game as the one in the folder "Whale's Voyage II", submitted by Songbird and Smiling Spectre, but this is probably the German version. I'm not sure but it might come from Songbird too.

just great. there is now 3 different WV 2 Folder in Game archive....

One of the submissions was about enabling the English translation, out of an existing archive which is probably another one of those submissions.

For some reason the game was released in German only, but this official release did include English text files, only that there was no other way to use these English files than renaming them around manually.

*bump*

i've read throug various threads here but i'm not sure what the conclusion was?

is there a working WV2 download? (no matter the language)

i have an original cd with WV1 and WV2 here (plus the audio-tracks of WV2) - can anyone use this to get the game running (win 10 64bit would be nice ^^). but i cant get it running. it seems to be a windows game and dosbox won't play it. will try something on win10 with hyperV and xp-mode (http://www.download3k.com/articles/H...yper-V-00770#4). if that works i'll post it here.

the game is so awesome and i haven't played it for at least 15 years... WV1 is nice too but i loved part2 and its soundtrack...

I don't have the game but I guess it's a 16-bit Windows game.
If that's the case then the easiest option to run it is using Windows 3.x in DOSBox. There's even a pre-installed Windows 3.11 archive available at Abandonia:
http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/showthread.php?t=27770

Umm... It was too long ago...
As I suppose, Abandonia have 3 versions of WV2 on site. And it was even approved. But neither was put for the public, and I have no idea, why. :(

I need to check my archives for "my" English version, to understand what exactly am I have...
If it's really 16-bit, then you can try Windows 3 under dosbox. Link must be somewhere around at this forum...

Was it ever reviewed?

wow, that worked quite well. can't get the music running and get error messages until i disable music (i guess because they are audio tracks on that mixed mode disc) but it is playable like a charm and soundfx works fine! thanks for that tip!

tried the hyper-v + win-xp variant too (http://www.download3k.com/articles/H...-Hyper-V-00770). music-error messages too but no sound. there may be a way to get audio from a hyper-v VM mby going on it via remote desktop, but i don't know if thats just valid for win7 or xp too. didn't try it further because the win3-in-dosbox way was working so great.

but its the german version, so i think noone is interested?

Actually, we are interested :)
Is it full CD image, like 700MB or smaller?

i've got the original cd (whales voyage 1 + 2 german, windows version). its a mixed media cd (1st track is data + 15 tracks audio/music).

tried to rip it but still did not get the complete medium: as iso-file i can only rip 1 track per iso, so its data only (=> 130MB). it also works with just the copied data (127MB).

the program i used (CDburnerXP) proposed mdf/mds files which can contain more than 1 track. so i did that and made a 1:1 copy (=> 661MB). when mounting those files (with winCDemu 4.1 since virtual clonedrive can't mount mdf/mds) i don't see the audio-tracks with windows media player (win10 x64) so i guess the audio tracks are not ripped correctly.
last thing i will try out wil be making a physical copy, first copying as an audio cd, then adding the data...

-> any tipps on ripping this mixed medium?

i got it to work quite fine in d-fend/dosbox, starting windows 3.11 (http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/showthread.php?t=27770), and mounting my iso to it. in win3.11 i instelled WV2 and could run it.
the already known "insert cd" msg pops up every few seconds until i deactivated "music" in the upper windows-options. the SFX is played fine but the game is without music.

i may write a review and add screenshots if needed. there is also a manual that could be translated...

the question is, if this variant can be offered on abandonia since it won't work out of the (dos)box

-> i'd like to help translate into english if anyone knows how to export/import text from such games. (i'm native german speaking but speak english quite ok). just found something that may be english text... testing...

edit: got a package now with 104MB. it contains win3.11 and WV2. found the english text in the folders and it seems the whole game is in english! yay!

Win 3.11 is not a problem. We don't host only the games that work out of the box. For old win games, user is required to run win 3.11 somehow, we can only provide instructions like you used yourself, so I guess it is OK.

You got English version? Nice :) Test it, and you can also upload it so Spectre can check it too. We will also offer German version as extra.

I see that user Jokerderio offered review already in that other thread. WE definitely need more screenshots. Do you agree with his review more or less?

Actually, MDF/MDS is most advanced copy method, so they _must_ be copied. My (German) image is made by Nero Burning Rom though, in NRG format, that can contain extra audio tracks too. Question! Can you see audio with the WMP when _original_ disk inserted?

Also, for the most straightforward procedure, I recommend Daemon Tools Lite. It can make MDF/MDS files, and can mount images seamlessly.
Strange. So audio part seems missing really, at least for the game... Again - maybe it's the fault of winCDemu 4.1? Try DT Lite, please?

"My" image (already on site) have .eng files, but game doesn't recognize it, so I propose to rename .eng to .ger. Is your game the same?

IIRC, WinCDEmu does not support mixed mode CDs. So, if you use it to mount a mixed mode CD image you will only see the data track. Not 100% sure though.

OK guys, I'm counting on you here: I want to upload this game with all this attention it gets now, so please prepare these archives. We can have both German and English versions online as far as I'm concerned. If renaming the files is the way to run it in English, then feel free to do it and we will offer both archives separately although it is a small difference. Running it from Win 3.11 is enough bother for visitors IMO.

You can also prepare smaller and bigger versions if it makes sense, so if full with audio tracks is 600MB, we'll add it in ISO Cellar and link from review page, while offering data package on review page. I am fine with either solution.

We have review, we need few more screenshots, you can change review if you want, it's all OK. As for credits, we can split among who provided which archive and review and so on. I'm not sure what we have on FTP already, any manual and box or any other scan is welcome too.

Spectre, just let me know what is what when you have everything ready to go. Oh, and one square pic for news please :)

phew, tinkered the whole evening but i got a lot done...
- Whale's Voyage II - EN.zip (53MB)
- Whale's Voyage II - EN - FULLMEDIA.zip (270MB)
- Whale's Voyage II - DE.zip (53MB)
- Whale's Voyage II - DE - FULLMEDIA.zip (270MB)

Those packets include:
- LIESMICH.odt / README.odt
(i wrote a little instruction in german / english)
- WHALE'S VOYAGE II MANUAL.odt / WHALE'S VOYAGE II MANUAL EN.odt
(the original german manual and a translation (google translator))
- Whale's Voyage II.bat
(file to start with d-fend)

-> it will start windows 3.11 and WV2 is in autostart.
-> it's not fullscreen inside windows
-> no ingame music
-> you have to quit the game and then windows 3.11

The "FULLMEDIA" packets additionally include a Folder "MEDIA" with:
- Whales Voyage 2 OST (15 MP3s @ 320kbps)
- Improved Intro.mp4 (113MB)
- Original Intro.AVI (18MB)

Also got additional 37 screenshots:
- WV2 screenshots.zip (7MB)

-> Would upload, please tell me where
-> Would read the review, please tell me where it is
-> any ideas how to improve (start game in fullscreen inside win3.11 or quit win3.11 when game quits) (music won't work since it wants the audio cd tracks... or can that be faked somehow with the mp3-files?)

Wait... does this means you included win 3.11 in the zip? If yes, then that's not good, even though it would be simpler for visitors.

It is in the other thread about this game.... here.

Hopefully our guru master Spectre may be of some assistance :)

You are slightly over-estimating me, marko river. :) I have no idea how to exit Win 3.1 with command prompt... if it's possible at all. I usually use "File-Exit Windows" menu. :)

Speaking about fullscreen - isn't it starts as is by default? I.e., you need to set _DOSBox_ to the fullscreen, but otherwise you must be fine, no? (I don't remember, and have time right now to test).

Also, I have no idea where is my version _now_, but I uploaded full german version (with soundtracks) when I had it, in the .nrg format, so it must be there, somewhere in the Abandonia admin files. :)
If you _really_ insist, it can be faked. One of CD-format includes CUE/BIN pair, where BIN is binary file in recognizable format (ISO will work), and CUE is the list of all tracks - binary or sound - and tracks can be in the any format, including MP3. But I hate this sort of setup, and always prefer single BIN/NRG/MDF over it. So I again insist for you to try Daemon Tools Lite for burning and mounting, and check if anything changed about music. :)

uh, yes i included all stuff in one package, ready to extract, import to d-fend and run...

is that not good? how do you want the files then? a plain copy of the cd as image? can do that in no time. but everyone has to tinker around to switch to english and get it to run in windows without errors...

i don't really know how things work here. just a user/fan/some years contributor of abandonia. so please tell me exactly what you need and what i have to do. ;)

It's so lovely that with a little bit of voodoo and tech knowhow, old games can be brought back to life :)

Umm... Did you hear anything I said, spamalot? :(

ISO is no good. It haven't audio-tracks, obviously, at all. Almost any OTHER format will do. And I, personally, recommend MDS/MDF.

yes i did, but did you read what i posted on page 1 already? :P
even an mdf/mds image won't function corretly as an audio cd when mounting it.

and even with the original cd in my dvd-drive mounted as D: to the windows 3.11 i won't get any music, just an error. i think there is no way to get music into this version...

Why? mds/mdf is not supported by DOSBox, bin/cue is.

is bin/cue able to contain multiple tracks (data & audio)?

what program can i copy a mixed mode cd 1:1 (bitwise would be the best) to bin/cue?

Here's thing: I don't exactly feel confortable providing windows as the normal download of the game. Could be I'm overreacting since we already offer this download from our server and it is no longer supported. Next thing would be: why offering standalone DOS games att all, why not provide every game with DOSBox at least... so I suppose some tweaking is mandatory.

As for ENG files, well, is it possible to provide english prepared isntallation as one zip and german as another? We can have link for original CD image for preservation purposes.

@spamalot: what do you mean by fullscreen? Is Dosbox not in full screen or when you run the game in Win (inside DOSBox), it runs in windowed mode?
Still, I suppose that's OK if that's how the game works.

I second this. Maybe your images are OK but mounting program doesn't recognize music files. Try Daemon Tools Lite (Lite package is free I think) and see if it is better.

Ok, here are Spectre's version (RAR and Spectre's message :) ), so please check if audio files work on his version.

@spamalot: you said you have original cd with both WV1 and WV2. Is that like some special release of both games?

Yes, and you should use the imgmount command in DOSBox to mount the cue-file.

Linux:
http://www.dosbox.com/wiki/Cuesheet

THIS was the info that I needed. So it doesn't work for you, right. But it doesn't mean that MDS was wrong - only that your system doesn't recognize it. I vaguely remember that being a general issue for all Windowses wince Win8, but I cannot remember exactly what is the reason of it.

Anyway, it doesn't mean that MDS was wrong - but ISO is definitely bad choice. :)
Problem is, making MDF is possible with the free DT Lite. Making CUE/BIN requires paid tools that I cannot assume for the spamalot. And mounting in DOSBox possible for the both versions - only with BIN/CUE it could work better, as it will be native DOSBox emulation, and with MDF it was like mounting "real" CD (and can be bugged. Or not. I cannot remember, as I said).
Well, I have no idea. :( Actually, DT Lite _can_ do that, but I know that at least several years ago there was the error in the generated CUE - offset was wrong, so all tracks was started/ended in the wrong places. I have no idea if it fixed now, but cannot recommend that because of that.

Well, most simple way is to surgically replace .ger files with .eng right in the CD-image. It's possible, even if I am don't like it. :) Still, I need original CD for that, as "my" CD is the same cadaver, made from pirated ISO, and real image can be somewhat different from the pirated version.

Aha - so if spamalot has original CD of WV2, we're there right? :smile2:

There are some free (shareware -> missing some features) programs for Windows that can make bin/cue images:
IsoBuster (I've used this one)
ImgBurn (this one is 100% freeware)
MagicISO

@marko river:
i understand that usually the plain dos-game is provided. you may do that but i fear that the "common" user won't be able to play the game then. maybe the should be a step-by-step-guide?

the fullscreen-thing: i start d-fend, in it i start windows(emulated with dosbox). i can tell d-fend to start it fullscreen, so win 3.11 is fullscreen. then, inside of windows 3.11 the game starts in a window. not really bad, but not perfect ;)

and yes, its a kind of special edition from a magazine or so. bought it from ebay.

i'll give demon tools a shot now.

it should be possible to provide an english and a german version, since the *.GER and *.ENG files are lying on the original cd under E:\WV2WIN\TEXT so hard renaming the ENG to GER should do the trick.

edit: here's the image:
http://www.4shared.com/zip/tU23KIn3c...2_Windows.html

http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/att...1&d=1477416633

Checked your image, spamalot.

1. It's real multi-session disc. One data track, and 15 music tracks. Thank you!
2. It really doesn't play in the emulated Win3.1. It says "driver MCI is missing", and I fear it means that this assembly simply doesn't support CD-audio playing. :|
3. I tried direct mounting of CUE/BIN (that I made with ISO Buster), and yes, it doesn't work too. I would be surprised, actually, if it would.

So... for working sound, you need to do something with Windows. CD itself is perfect. :)

---addition---
After some research I found that CD-audio driver (that is MCICDA.DRV) definitely missing in my Win3.1. Also, I found that lzexpand.dll (that must install everything) is broken - instead expanding driver from my Win3.1 floppies, it simply copied it. But... even installing correct lzexpand, and adding MCICDA.DRV didn't solve the problem - game still says about wrong device. :/ Maybe I need something else, but I have no idea what.

I think, I need more consulting from the real Win3.1 experts.

Yes I understand common user will have hard time, but I guess it can't be helped. We already host some win games that require this win3.11 on dosbox solution. And yes, surely there must be guide how to run the game. We include at the end of review How to run the game section and afterwards give support in game discussion and in troubleshooting forum. It is not perfect but gets the job done and games played :)

I see your CD. Please try to scan it, like really put it in the scanner and get picture of CD. We should add it as boxshot.

As for full screen - do you remember could it be played in full screen back in days? Not sure what's wrong there.

OK, I think I'll have more time next week, so if you agree on which archives to offer, let me know :)

scanned cd in high quality. don't know what size would fit best so i took maximum :)
http://imgur.com/a/wp4BP

edit: WTF imgur... 893,96 KB? next try...

http://i.cubeupload.com/DO0cWU.jpg

It starts in window by default. Nothing too bad, it takes almost full screen and can be maximized additionally.

There is no "Full Screen" mode (without menu) in this game, it seems.