Alien Rampage Shareware

[MrFlibble]

When I decided to check out Alien Rampage (which, as you all know, was originally a game developed by Apogee under the title Ravager), it turned out that the shareware demo version is absurdly hard to find. Simple Googling will overwhelm you with links to "abandonware" sites that offer the full version, and there are some old pages with outdated links to the shareware download that no longer work. Apparently, the shareware demo file, called SDRAMP.EXE according to such sources, used to be hosted at FileFront, but it isn't there anymore for some reason.

So far, I've been able to track down two places where the real shareware version of Alien Rampage can be found. First off, Demu.org (previously known as DOS Museum) has the shareware demo v1.0, without the installer. The other is much more obscure. It's the original installer of shareware demo v1.12, which was included on a cover CD of a Polish gaming magazine called CD Action. A copy of this CD got archived at cd.textfiles.com, and this is how the demo got on the net. The files are located here:
http://cd.textfiles.com/cdaction/cdaction07a/RAMTEMP/

You can use a download manager like the Free Download Manager to get the installer files, and even keep the original date stamps too (you'll need to set the FDM to record the file date stamps from the source).

[Litude]

I looked through some CDs of mine and found the installer for v1.0 shareware. You can get it from here (here's also the v1.12 installer zipped up).

[MrFlibble]

Originally Posted by Litude

I looked through some CDs of mine and found the installer for v1.0 shareware. You can get it from here (here's also the v1.12 installer zipped up).

Cool! As always, thanks a lot!

BTW, it is my understanding that the RAMTEMP folder was supposed to be auto-extracted by the SDRAMP.EXE self-extracting file (SD presumably stands for SoftDisk). This is mentioned on several old sites with shareware lists like this one:

Alien Rampage will be downloaded to your computer as a 6.5 megabyte self-extracting executable file named sdramp.exe. Run it and it will create a temporary subdirectory called ramtemp within the current directory. Go there and run install.exe to install the game.

I wonder what archiver they used for that, since IIRC PKZIP SFX modules do not extract file paths unless a special command line parameter is used.

[MrFlibble]

I'm happy to announce that the shareware v1.0 of Alien Rampage is now available from RGB Classic Games. Once again, great thanks to Litude for finding the original installer files!

[KO Gilligan]

Here I am at the first store.


I am getting ready to crouch to shop (the down button is also the crouch and use button)

I seen Scott Miller in the credits
Anyone curious on how to get this running - I have win7 -64bit:

• Used D-Fend Reloaded (DosBox front end) to run the install by selecting the install file as the first setup. It automatically put it on a virtual disk.

• Used D-Fend Reloaded to run the game found in the virtual disk in my documents. Just started a new profile and the explorer browser was already in the virtual disk in my documents

• Had to set the sound card in the game to Soundblaster - No Sound is the default.

It's not hard to set up. D-Fend took care of everything - runs beautifully in full screen!
Can't find a way to save my progress - is that because this is the demo?

[MrFlibble]

Originally Posted by KO Gilligan

It's not hard to set up. D-Fend took care of everything - runs beautifully in full screen!

The shareware version (I've tested v1.0 and v1.12) runs seamlessly in DOSBox without any need for additional frontends.

Originally Posted by KO Gilligan

Can't find a way to save my progress - is that because this is the demo?

You can's save the game anywhere you want to. There are places within a level where the character can be restored if he's killed (e.g. look for a platform up above in the top left corner of the first level, accessible if you go left after the shop), and also between-level saves.

[KO Gilligan]

I'll go with your links instead of stuff I had - great collection of resources!

Also, I'm a lamebrain when it comes to DosBox. As you all learned, I don't RTFM.... We even had that DosBox veteran that used to post here, and I just wasn't getting it. It may be better now, but with D-Fend I've consistantly kept from creating mayhem on my monitor and speakers.

[MrFlibble]

Sure thing, all risky references removed

Oh, and I also realized I wrote "mid-level saves" all the while I was thinking "between-level saves" The only mid-level saves are through the savegame posts in a level. I think I haven't mentioned that restoring a character also subtracts some credits from you (can't tell the exact amount though), and respawns at least some of the enemies. The game is overall quite challenging, but I believe it still doesn't warrant the need to save whenever you need (contrast Realms of Chaos where you really need to save often - or, at least, that's the impression I got ).

[MrFlibble]

Litude at RGB Classic Games Forums has been able to locate the shareware distribution for v1.13 in its original, unaltered form:

Originally Posted by Litude

Softdisk Publishing
Alien Rampage
Found the original sdramp.exe installer for version 1.13 shareware of this game.
Shareware Version 1.13 - Installer

As usual, kudos to Litude! ^_^