Neville
 

Are you guys interested on a PDF manual for "Seal Team"? I'll await for your answer here.

Nice, we don't have it. :) I'll send you the FTP Access.

My Internet connection is a bit naughty. Would a Megaupload link do the trick?

Uhmm, no. I sent you the FTP Access. Use that. It should be as reliable as MU :)

Just uploaded the manual to the FTP using Filezilla. My connection has behaved, but I'm unable to download the file to check everything went OK.

That's because of limited permissions. I just checked it, seems it's corrupted. Can you please upload it again?

I've just uploaded it again, this time saw no error messages on my side.

Yep, looks good. Thanks for your contributions. :)

I have a couple more:

Star Wars - X-Wing - Collector's CD-ROM - Manual

Star Wars - X-Wing - Collector's CD-ROM - Quick Reference Card

They're English PDFs, but they have a "Replacement Docs" watermark. Is that a problem?

Yes, it is, please do not upload if extras is taken from other sites.

Neville - Narcopolice & Hostage manuals
 

I've got TXT manuals for these games. They were taken from pirate disks for the Atari ST / CBM Amiga.

Neville - Strike Commander CD version
 

I'm volunteering to upload the CD version of the game "Strike Commander". It's the CD version, and it has the following improvements over the floppy version found in other websites:

- It's considerably faster and has bugs fixed.

- The copy protection (plane runs out of gas before being able to complete missions) is gone.

- It includes the expansion "Tactical operations".

- Both the main game and the expansion feature full speech.

- Original PDF manuals are included.

The game is a full CD install, we're talking about 80-90 megabytes in a RAR file.

You can upload the Strike Commander stuff. i think you already have FTP Access yes? Also please try to keep all offers in one thread. Thank you :)

Are the manuals good for the PC versions?

I kept the Abandonia FTP settings in Filezilla, and I'm uploading "Strike Commander" as I type this.

As for the manuals of the other two games, they should apply to PC versions. Both games were realeased for both 8 and 16 bits computers of the time and manuals were common for all versions. Whoever typed them (SKIDROW & PARASYTE are credited) omitted the loading instructions for the different systems, so people shouldn't get confused reading about Workbench and stuff, but kept the rest of the info. Both manuals contain a control summary and significant background information that could affect gameplay, specially in the case of "Narcopolice".

Ok, you can upload them.

Just uploaded all the stuff. I had to upload "Strike Commander" twice, overwriting the existing file. I'll wait until you confirm the file is OK before deleting my copy.

Oh, and I forgot to mention one thing. Those "Strike Commander" PDF manuals? They're in Spanish, because I own a Spanish CD-ROM. But I included two TXTs, one from a pirate CD with all controls and another one with my DOSBox settings.

The archive looks ok. :)

Okay, then.

Today I'm offering a soccer game, "PC Fútbol 4.0":

http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/pc-ftbol-40

It is in Spanish only, but I just read elsewhere that non-English games are welcome, so...

As for the game, it is a mixture of managerial / soccer simulation. It includes a complete database of European and Latin American soccer teams, updated to the 1995-96 league.

The series, which spans over 12 titles, is extremely popular in Spain.

Uploaded OK. :rocks:

New offer: Pinball Mania, by Spidersoft. It's part of the 21st Century Entertainment Pinball series:

http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/pinball-mania

Aces of the Pacific: PDF Manual
 

I just happen to own the game manual in PDF format, and I think it would be a great addition to the website.

Mind you, it's not an actual scan of the REAL manual, but a PDF conversion of the electronic copy that someone else linked to in the phorums ages ago.

Since that one is very cumbersome to use (it relies on an old multimedia reader which won't work on 64 bit systems and the format itself has zero portability), I think most people will prefer the PDF copy anyway.

Answer to this message if you want it and I will upload it ASAP.

Just finished PDF-ing the "Aces over Europe" manual, which was in the same obsolete format. I'm also willing to contribute it to the website.

No one interested?

OK, I've uploaded them to a free server, you can take them from here:

Enjoy.

Hi Neville, sorry! The webmaster had changed the FTP settings, so I also had to update the tutorial before sending it to you so you could upload.

In the meantime I have uploaded the two manuals in your name, they're already in our own server. Muchas gracias

Cool.

Also thx for contributing :)

Aaand... they're published now :-)

http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/26...e+Pacific.html
http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/15...er+Europe.html

Wonderful. Thank you very much.

BTW, I didn't mention it, but I think it's the first time these manuals are available online in a format other than the cumbersome electronic originals.

Brilliant :clap:

Every little bit helps :D

IndyCar Racing Manuals
 

I've been looking for these for years... turns out they were in the CD-ROM edition of the game, in PDF format:

The one identified as "MANUAL" is the manual, obviously.

The one identified as "ADDENDUM" is an appendix detailing the changes introduced with the IndyCar Circuits Expansion Pack, which the CD-ROM version included.

Both the floppy and the CD-ROM version are missing the Indianapolis track, which was available separately.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IndyCar_Racing#Tracks for details.

If you want a version of the game with ALL tracks included, just ask. I have it.

Thank you, I have just sent you a PM with instructions how to upload :-)

Just uploaded the manuals and the game with all tracks. Enjoy.

You probably are thinking what has gotten into me... OK, I've spent the whole morning uploading game documentations.

What happens is, you have plenty of games that could benefit from a manual, and being a collector of sorts I have manuals to stop a flood. This is what you get after years searching the web, tons of PDFs and the urge to share them.

Anyway, when you go through them you'll see several that have comments like HOTUD or Replacement Docs. That means they were taken from there and are watermarked. I don't know what your policy is regarding those, so I took the time to mark them.

The rest should be unmarked.

We will probably keep them even if they come from other sites, in case those sites go down. So upload away! :)

Alright. Today I've gone through the Racing, Simulation, RPG and Strategy sections of your available games. If I have the time I'll check the remaining ones during the next days.

Thank you! Though the FTP seems to be down so I can't see yet. We don't publish watermarked material, thank you for classifying them.

Today I've gone through the board, puzzle and adventure games.

I've had some internet trouble while I was uploading the "Battle Chess" manual. If it is corrupted, download the other file in the folder.

Oh, and I accidentally made two "Spellcasting 201 - The Sorcerers Appliance" folders. Feel free to delete the empty one.

I have contacted Abovo anyway about the server being down (intermittently or not). Game downloads aren't working for me either.

...And I'm done. As I type this I'm uploading my final contributions.

Notes: There are a couple of lost files in Incoming\Neville. Feel free to delete them.

And there are two "Super Street Fighter II Turbo" manuals. The good one is the multi-language one. The other I created for personal use by removing the non-English languages. And it seems I did a poor job of it, because there are a few left.

It's been a few days... I'm aware that I exceeded myself with so many uploads, but I was wondering if anybody has already gone through them and if they found any stuff worthy of publication.

Hi Neville, sorry not yet...

Question, if I were able to give you the necessary permissions on the website (I would have to look into it) would you be interested in publishing them yourself?

Depends. I'd love to help, but if the process to link those manuals is too complex I may not be the man for the job.

No, it'd be just going to the game page and clicking on a new "add extra" button/link. The difficult thing for me is giving you the permission required for this and no more... I'd like to look into it when I have time

Isn't there an "apprentice updater" group?

Yes but I want to make a new, more restricted one. Basically only add extras, to already existing games.

Anyone interested pls let me know so I have some motivation to explore the horrible admin controls ;-)

Have fun with that XD

Sorry, Japo, I would be glad to help you here, but right now I have quite heated worktime, and rarely have enough free time at home at all. I hope, it will change somewhere... but it's about 3rd year in row when I hope for that...

Wish Abovo would assign an updater of their own :dislike:

I just added 221 Baker Street and A-Train manuals, test purposes :) I added them unpacked since it is not a big difference in sizes.
Will add more and make a newspost. Sorry I'm so rarely active, it seems I'll keep being swamped for quite some time.

Neville, please please please keep uploading them. I know it's slow around here, but once you upload them there are surely to be preserved and will be online to stay. Thank you for your contributions, it's pretty amazing so far.

Games missing graphic modes
 

I've been taking a look at my collection, and noticed some of my games are missing graphic modes such as Hercules or CGA. It seems to be the norm in the web that many games have been truncated, probably to keep sizes small in the early days of the web.

Anyway, after some searching I got these with all graphic modes available:

- Golden Axe

- Out Run

- Test Drive

And I'm still looking for these:

- Sim City (1989 release) -> Missing Hercules and Tandy graphics.

- The Duel: Test Drive II -> My version only has EGA graphics.

I thought the full versions could be valuable additions to the website, so if anyone is interested just answer to this post and I'll upload them.

OK, after some searching and testing I think I got them all. Whereas the versions in many sites are missing functions, I think these are complete.

I'm attaching them for those interested:

http://www42.zippyshare.com/v/w6mcq6t6/file.html

The games are:

- Golden Axe (includes the VOGONS fix for Hercules)

- OutRun (a.k.a. Out Run)

- SimCity (1989 release, several versions included)

- Test Drive (revised)

- The Duel - Test Drive II (Includes all expansion disks)

Merged to your old topic (one topic per user in Offers)...

Thank you, this is interesting material :) And you are right, we should get out hands on proper versions of all games. The most of visitors will probably be interested only in the best grapics modes, but for the sake of preservation, we need these ones as well.

Keep that link online for a while please :)

Today I bring you the Reference Guide for "Sabre Team". I've taken it from Hall Of Light – The database of Amiga games, which in turn seems to have taken it from a docs disk. I've tidied it a bit with Word and exported it as PDF. Until a real scanned manual appears it will have to do.

http://www85.zippyshare.com/v/s48ya61k/file.html

Today I re-uploaded my second-to-last offering, the one with several "full" versions of some games, after noticing a nasty crash in "Test Drive" when selecting the Countax.

The games are:

- Golden Axe (includes the VOGONS fix for Hercules)

- OutRun (a.k.a. Out Run)

- SimCity (1989 release, several versions included)

- Test Drive (revised)

- The Duel - Test Drive II (Includes all expansion disks)

Also added a version of SimCity (1989) with its expansion graphics.

Added manual for "Powerdrift" and updated "Pirates!" docs.

EDIT: They are in the FTP, for those who might want them.

Tonight I'm uploading a few games I've been searching for this week... the common denominator is, they all have PCjr / Tandy support, with extra colors and improved speaker sounds if run under DOSBox with the adequate settings.

They are:

- Alley Cat (supports PCjr out of the box, applied VOGONS patch for Tandy support)

- Falcon (yes, the almost impossible to find release with both CGA and Tandy graphics)

- Montezuma's Revenge (PC Booter) (16 color mode if run in PCjr mode)

- Shanghai (16 color mode if run in Tandy mode)

- Super Boulder Dash (re-release of both "Boulder Dash" games with separate EXEs for PC, PCjr and Tandy)

Manuals included, just for this once ;-)

Of all these games, the "Falcon" dual version must be the one which could benefit more from the exposure, it's very rare.

Wow, thanks :OK: Interesting picks :)

By now I have a pretty big DOS collection, so my searches are increasingly for more obscure games and versions.

It is in DOS Collection, so not _extremely_ rare. Still, I am impressed with manuals and such. Thank you!

Wish I had known that, I've been searching for that version for years.

The manuals are included because I took the games from my DBGL installation, and I like having the manuals around just in case. I didn't scan any of them, they come from all over the Internet.

DOS Collection (and I mean "Total Dos Collection") have quite a lot of very rare versions already, so it would be my first stop in any case. :)

Other source is eXo collections. While most (if not all) older DOS games are in DOS collection, CD-versions and Win3 games are quite unique.

I know of eXo's collection, I've browsed it a few times looking for games. Total DOS Collection, however, I've never download it. I'll check it in the future if I can't find a certain game / version.

Thanks for the tip.

Today I bring you a nice extra... there are a number of games that only work under DOSBox with the need of a patch, usually a TSR that helps bypass a DOSBox limitation and needs to be run before the game.

This is a compilation of a number of such patches released in the VOGONS message boards over the years. They fix issues in games such as Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, Bruce Lee Lives, Contra, Dragon Spirit, Fatman, Ghostbusters II, Hired Guns, Kick Off 98, NBA Jam Tournament Edition, Soccer Kid, Ultimate Body Blows and Wayne Gretzky Hockey II, to name a few.

Note that I did not create any of those patches, they are the creation of VOGONS regulars with programming skills.

Another game that too often has been "relieved" of its lesser graphic modes, "Arkanoid II: Revenge of Doh":

http://www11.zippyshare.com/v/OvrV2M6r/file.html

This version has Hercules, CGA, Tandy and EGA / VGA graphics available.

Just uploaded a Transarctica PDF manual. It's a French-English-German version taken from the Atari ST docs, but it covers all 16 bit versions of the game.

It can be found at Neville\Transarctica.

Thank you!

Uploaded the manual for "The Simpsons - Bart vs Space Mutants". It's an ENG-FR-GER-ITA version.

Been fiddling with the game as well trying to access the Tandy mode under DOSBox. Turns out you need to skip the intro file, otherwise it hangs. The game also supports the Roland MT-32, which gets you a fairly improved rendition of the Simpsons' theme.

Thank you :)

Can you explain this? In case someone wants it in Tandy mode, I would like to add a noet how to do it.

Sure. It's one of those games that auto-detects the specifications of the system. In my copy, SIMPSONS.BAT runs first INTROSEQ.EXE (the intro), then SIMPSONS.EXE (the game).

If you set DOSBox to Tandy, INTROSEQ.EXE won't work, you need to run SIMPSONS.EXE directly.

I've just uploaded my copy of the game, I made a TANDY.BAT to make things easier.

Found a real PDF manual and codes for "Sabre Team" at atarimania.com. Just uploaded them to Neville\Sabre Team.

I've been looking for this one for ages!

Keep 'em coming :)

I've uploaded to your server the files that previously I had uploaded to Zippyshare only. This includes a lot of DOSBox patches for specific games developed by VOGONS members and several games (Out Run, Test Drive I-II, SimCity) with all graphic modes available.

I have a question for Abandonia.. are you interested in ISO+OGG games? They're games that had their music stored in audio tracks which have been now compressed into OGG. DOSBox supports them directly, but in order to use them in areal PC you need to uncompress the audio back to WAV and edit the CUE.

As I said, I have plenty of those, and they could be an interesting upload because you get the full CD game for 100-200 Mb. of disk space.

So, they need to be mounted in DOSBox to play but without uncompressing? I like the small size which makes it good for main site, but we will have to put note how to run the game.

Yes, under DOSBox they behave just like any other CD image. But they need to be manipulated in order to use them in other emulators or on a real PC.

The manipulation process itself is easy:

1) Uncompress OGG files into WAV.

2) Edit the CUE file, change every instance of ".ogg" to ".wav" and "MP3" to "WAV".

I'll make a Neville\ISO+OGG folder and upload a few ones so you can test them, alright?

OK, done. The only mistake I've made is when trying to upload "Wipeout", I've aborted the upload and can't delete the partial file. The rest should be all OK.

Just uploaded the ISO+OGG version of "Bust-A-Move 2 - Arcade Edition" to Neville\ISO+OGG. Between that and the other games I've been uploading recently I hope there's enough for you guys to test and play.

Enjoy!

Just reconsidered... here is another bunch of ISO+OGG games...

Absolute Pinball
Pinball 3D-VCR (a.k.a. Total Pinball 3D)
Pinball Dreams Deluxe (a.k.a. Pinball Arcade) - Includes Pinball Dreams I-II
Pinball Fantasies Deluxe- Includes Pinball Fantasies and Pinball Mania
Pinball Illusions
Pinball World - Needs to be installed using DOSBox SVN, but plays with v0.74

All of them have their music stored in audio tracks.

Enjoy!

Just uploaded manuals for these:

Cisco Heat
Lombard RAC Rally
Micro Machines
Stunt Driver

All PDF found around the web.

I'm afraid both "Lemmings" and "Oh No! More Lemmings" in this website are missing graphic modes. In "Lemmings" this is fixed by the "alternate version" download, but there's none for ONML. I've found this different version in another website and de-protected it with Locksmith, it should work fine:

Can anyone test it more thoroughly?

Today, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles".

Not a great game, I think we all agree. Plus the US version (which I think is the one currently available at the site) can't be finished without cheating. Others did found out much before me:

However, the same user who posted the video notes that the UK version (titled "Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles" because of censorship) should work fine. And after some searching I managed to get a copy of that one:

I'd recommend that the TMNT blurb on the site acknowledges the bug and offers this other version as an alternate download.

IIRC this is european version. I played it and finished the game. It is also slightly different in title screen, because of different companies or something.

It also came with list of codes so I put those as extras, regardles of game being cracked so codes are not needed.

I wanted to put USA version as Extras as well for preservation purposes, but obviously never got around to do it.

Then the version on the website is the European one? Nothing to worry about, then. Thanks for the quick response.

DOS Collection has both versions. Which one is needed for site?

I'd upload "Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles" (the UK version) because it's the only one that can be finished.

Like I said, European version is the main download. I managed to beat the game when writing the review.

Checking myself: yes, it's European (hero turtle) version.

Checked against USA version: they are mostly identical, surprisingly. Only found major difference is replacing "Ninja" with "Hero" in files... and slightly different L3-06 file pair in DATA subdir. I suppose, this is named glitchy level.

So, basically, US version can be easily fixed by replacement this two files. If anyone wants it. :)

P.S. US version from DOS-collection included.

Today it's the turn of "Best of the Best: Championship karate":

https://i.imgur.com/coZWvL4.jpg

I wasn't happy with the versions of the game I've found so far. Either they are password protected or for some reason they take forever to show the main menu.

I'm attaching both an unprotected version by Darkness and the closest I've found to an unaltered original, plus a PDF manual (in French only, I'm afraid) and a PDF with the copy protection codes. This latest I've made it myself, and I think it's easier to use than the manual, which features the fighters' faces in B/W only.

The game has some issues under DOSBox: it tries to reproduce digital samples using either the PC speaker or the AdLib. The PC speaker sounds OK, but the AdLib option is not recommended. It also supports the Roland MT-32 for both music and FX, which I think it's rare.

Ages ago I contributed these two TXT manuals. Are you guys interested in PDF upgrades?

If that's so:

They're also multilingual, although "Hostages" only comes in English - French.

Cool, thank you, Neville!

It's been a while... here's another offer, "Fighter Bomber" with all video modes available. Copies I had found so far only allowed for VGA.

https://i.imgur.com/saDGpPo.png

Seems like a cool little sim, in the vein of "Chuck Yeager's Air Combat". Manuals are also easy to find, as the game had 8 bit versions.

This is again about the TXT manuals for "Hostages" and "Narco Police". Just noticed CPC-Power has PDFs in English available. You should upgrade them.

Now... the early SimCity games.

Meaning:

https://i.imgur.com/Ah3aYtz.png

- SimCity + Addons (Terrain Editor, Graphic Sets 1 & 2) for all graphic cards. No matter what mode you choose from SETTINGS.EXE you won't be asked to insert more floppies. Everything sits now on the harddrive. Load the game as is with SIMCITY.EXE or an unprotected version (Locksmith) with CRACK.COM.


https://i.imgur.com/qKMrBWu.png

- SimCity + Add-ons (Tandy) - The same thing, but only Tandy graphics and sound are installed. Which means you can now enjoy the Tandy sound (with DOSBox or similar) because these early builds of the game only support PC Speaker, Tandy 3-voice sound or the Covox Sound Master, which is still unemulated.


https://i.imgur.com/BzqOlLY.png

- SimCity Classic + Addons (The Terrain Editor is already included, so, Graphic Sets 1 & 2 and Classic Graphics, which only works with this version of the game). This is an updated version of the game, which drops Tandy support. In exchange, it doesn't have any copy protection and supports plenty of soundcards.

Everything is available here for limited time:

absolutely love simcity!

If you want the versions I made, I can upload them again for you.