The registered version of Next Generation Trivia has been found!

[Litude]

I was looking through an old shareware CD for some stuff and found a folder called "NGT". Expecting it to just contain the shareware episode, I was surprised to find out that it also included the files NGT2.EXE and NGT3.EXE. As far as I know, the registered version of this game was thought to have been lost in time. As Apogee no longer owns the copyright on this title, no one should mind it being freely distributed.

Download it here.

[Frenkel]

Awesome!

[PimPamPet]

Yeah, that's a fantastic find! It's got me wondering though... Are there any other "lost" Apogee titles out there that we know of?

[Nacho]

Originally Posted by PimPamPet

Yeah, that's a fantastic find! It's got me wondering though... Are there any other "lost" Apogee titles out there that we know of?

Depends what you count as lost. There's a few lost beta's out there... some of which can't be accessed or can't be found.

[Litude]

Originally Posted by PimPamPet

Yeah, that's a fantastic find! It's got me wondering though... Are there any other "lost" Apogee titles out there that we know of?

I don't think so. The only titles produced/published by Apogee that are no longer sold and did not see a freeware release which I know of are the following:
Next Generation Trivia
Trek Trivia
The Astronomy Quiz
The Computer Quiz
The IBM BASIC Quiz
Jumpman Lives!
Maze Adventures
Super Game Pak
Super Trivia Pak

All of them are available somewhere online (Super Game Pak and Super Trivia Pak are a bit harder to locate, but they are just compilations of the shareware versions of a few games).

[Litude]

Sorry for double posting, but for some reason I can't locate the edit button.

Originally Posted by Nacho

Depends what you count as lost. There's a few lost beta's out there... some of which can't be accessed or can't be found.

Do you know any specific betas that are known to have been leaked but haven't been found?

[Hendricks266]

I know Lon Matero had a number of leaked, non 3DR-sanctioned betas located somewhere on his page of approved betas. I have a copy of every beta he lists.

[Litude]

Yeah but Nacho's comment regarding some not being found sounded to me like there could be some more out there unavailable on any regular website.

[Hendricks266]

These?

[Litude]

I doubt that even a fifth of those betas were leaked or released in some other manner.

[Flaose]

Incredible find! You've found the last piece of the Apogee puzzle!!! You're my hero!

[Exitus]

My collection is now complete! I have the full version of every game Apogee/3Drealms/Pinball Wizards/Scott Miller made from the 80's up until Shadow Warrior!

[Lawstiker]

Originally Posted by Hendricks266

These?

There's a Strife beta?

[Hendricks266]

None of those were ever publicly released, to my knowledge.

[Lawstiker]

I figured as much. Shame to as some of those would have been quite interesting to see.

[Litude]

Originally Posted by Hendricks266

None of those were ever publicly released, to my knowledge.

Duke Nukem 3D was

[Hendricks266]

True, I recall reading in the LameDuke readme that Joe provided the files. Although we have no way of know if there are multiple betas for any of the games.

[Lawstiker]

I know Doom had a few beta releases (v0.2, 0.4, and 0.5), and I believe Wolf has a few as well, but no idea how many.

[moron]

I recall seeing a shadow warrior beta or was it a "lame wang" beta :-) don't remember if it was a 3dr release though

[Joe Siegler]

Originally Posted by Litude

I was looking through an old shareware CD for some stuff and found a folder called "NGT". Expecting it to just contain the shareware episode, I was surprised to find out that it also included the files NGT2.EXE and NGT3.EXE. As far as I know, the registered version of this game was thought to have been lost in time. As Apogee no longer owns the copyright on this title, no one should mind it being freely distributed.

Download it here.

I'm not so sure this is the whole thing. I thought the full registered version had TEN episodes, not just three.

Originally Posted by Litude

I don't think so. The only titles produced/published by Apogee that are no longer sold and did not see a freeware release which I know of are the following:
Next Generation Trivia
Trek Trivia
The Astronomy Quiz
The Computer Quiz
The IBM BASIC Quiz
Jumpman Lives!
Maze Adventures
Super Game Pak
Super Trivia Pak

All of them are available somewhere online (Super Game Pak and Super Trivia Pak are a bit harder to locate, but they are just compilations of the shareware versions of a few games).

Did you look in the freeware releases I put out when I was still at 3DR? http://www.3drealms.com/downloads.html

Originally Posted by Hendricks266

These?

That's a picture *I* posted some years ago. It's of a CD in my archives called "Old Betas". None of that was "leaked".

[Hendricks266]

Originally Posted by Joe Siegler

That's a picture *I* posted some years ago. It's of a CD in my archives called "Old Betas". None of that was "leaked".

Right. I couldn't think what other betas Nacho would be referring to.

[Litude]

Originally Posted by Joe Siegler

I'm not so sure this is the whole thing. I thought the full registered version had TEN episodes, not just three.

The ordering information page in the shareware episode of Next Generation Trivia claims that it has three episodes. Trek Trivia had ten episodes, however.

Originally Posted by Joe Siegler

Did you look in the freeware releases I put out when I was still at 3DR? http://www.3drealms.com/downloads.html

Huh? Didn't I just claim they weren't released as freeware?

[moron]

with apogee the way it is now it seems slapping those betas on a CD and selling it might be a good way to boost income

[pjVgt]

Originally Posted by Hendricks266

These?

Wow! There was a Cyril Cyberpunk beta? Apogee was distributing it?

I wonder if Wolfenstein 3D on this pic is a beta version (which is presumanly lost forever) or the alpha version that leaked? Dark Justice - wasnt that the working title for Max Payne.

I hope those betas are in safe storage - it would be pity if those gems would be lost (even if we never see a screenshot of them).

Apogee still amazes me how little I knew about them .

[Hendricks266]

Originally Posted by pjVgt

Apogee was distributing it?

No. Like Joe said earlier, these are betas that are in his possession, and his possession only.

I'm regretting posting that pic now.

[IceColdDuke]

Its disappointing how many people didn't know what this pic was of, its not a CD thats in Joe's possession and hes with holding it from you to be mean and nasty, A LOT of those games don't work anyway and won't ever work without a serious amount of hacking.

A lot of them use a key doggle, some crazy environment variable or something else that was designed to make the game not work if you werent authorized to run the beta, and the developers just forgot what they were.

[Nimoy]

Originally Posted by Lawstiker

I know Doom had a few beta releases (v0.2, 0.4, and 0.5), and I believe Wolf has a few as well, but no idea how many.

Doom had numerous more leaks than that. Games have many working beta versions, it's just that most don't get leaked.

[Darkman 4]

Originally Posted by moron

I recall seeing a shadow warrior beta or was it a "lame wang" beta :-) don't remember if it was a 3dr release though

There's a leaked proto out there, which can be found over at Hendrick's site. The big draw is that it is filled to the brim with unused art, including a title screen from way back when 3DR still used the name Apogee.

[Hendricks266]

Darkman, don't link to that here.

[Darkman 4]

Originally Posted by Hendricks266

Darkman, don't link to that here.

Fixed. Sorry.

[Videogamer555]

Originally Posted by Hendricks266

None of those were ever publicly released, to my knowledge.

Then how did he get all those betas? Download an illegal copy that was illegally released by one of the Apogee employees?

---------- Post added at 06:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:16 AM ----------

Originally Posted by IceColdDuke

Its disappointing how many people didn't know what this pic was of, its not a CD thats in Joe's possession and hes with holding it from you to be mean and nasty, A LOT of those games don't work anyway and won't ever work without a serious amount of hacking.

A lot of them use a key doggle, some crazy environment variable or something else that was designed to make the game not work if you werent authorized to run the beta, and the developers just forgot what they were.

First of all Apogee games (like Wolf3d etc) came before 3DRealms, and therefore started WELL In the DOS era which is LONG before there were USB ports. Hardware lockouts via dongles are USB devices. Sorry, but while some 3DR beta games from the Windows era may use dongle lockouts, none of the DOS games from Apogee could POSSIBLY have used a USB dongle to lockout the beta from public distribution. USB ports literally had not been invented yet back in the days of DOS games.

[Frenkel]

Parallel port dongles do exist.

[Hendricks266]

Originally Posted by Videogamer555

Then how did he get all those betas? Download an illegal copy that was illegally released by one of the Apogee employees?

Joe owns those betas. Joe collected them as part of his employment at 3D Realms.

[Videogamer555]

Originally Posted by Frenkel

Parallel port dongles do exist.

And how do you Know Apogee used them?
It wouldn't make sense on betas anyway as they are meant as testing versions, not a final playable product that is likely to be pirated. In fact I wouldn't even consider sharing a beta to be piracy as the more people who can test a game the more feedback a game company can get to improve the game.

[Frenkel]

How I know Apogee used dongles? Because Joe says so.

[Bryan3DR]

Originally Posted by Videogamer555

First of all Apogee games (like Wolf3d etc) came before 3DRealms, and therefore started WELL In the DOS era which is LONG before there were USB ports. Hardware lockouts via dongles are USB devices.

Before there were USB dongles, there was Parallel port dongles, And before that there was Keyboard Dongles. Trust me I still have alot of them in my desk.

[crunchy superman]

Originally Posted by Videogamer555

Hardware lockouts via dongles are USB devices.

Hell, there were hardware dongles for Commodore 64 games that plugged into the joystick port back in the mid 80's.

[MrBlackCat]

Originally Posted by Videogamer555

First of all Apogee games (like Wolf3d etc) came before 3DRealms, and therefore started WELL In the DOS era which is LONG before there were USB ports. Hardware lockouts via dongles are USB devices. Sorry, but while some 3DR beta games from the Windows era may use dongle lockouts, none of the DOS games from Apogee could POSSIBLY have used a USB dongle to lockout the beta from public distribution. USB ports literally had not been invented yet back in the days of DOS games.

Originally Posted by crunchy superman

Hell, there were hardware dongles for Commodore 64 games that plugged into the joystick port back in the mid 80's.

Exactly... dongles were in major use pre-USB.

Videogamer555... you really need to focus on research before correcting people incorrectly with a smart-ass tone. "Hardware lockouts via dongles are USB devices." I realize everyone can't know "everything" about computers, which is why THOSE people (like you) don't need to worry about correcting others... incorrectly.
I have used custom/individually built dongles made in the 70's. I still own a commercial dongle made in the late 70's... and you didn't know that... which is why you shouldn't worry about correcting people. Besides that, a few seconds spent on Google Search could have prevented this post and kept you from sounding like a uninformed jerk. In the information age, laziness is about the only excuse for being uninformed.

More on topic... I keep everything relative to computer hardware and software that I possible can, even dongles from my jobs, but this is not all that common in my experience. It is sad in a way, but lots of people don't carry much of their past with them. I would like to look at more of the old code, to preserve the old programs, or at least have it released so programmers can have their way with it... like so much amazing stuff I have seen with Duke Nukem 3D, DooM, Quake, etc.

MrBlackCat