Monster Bash preview file and lite version

Xgthug · 03-25-2010, 11:27 PM

After finally hunting down 1mb-pix.zip, (and old Monster Bash preview program) and 1mblite.zip, (a rare shareware version consisting of only 3 levels) I decided to host them on my website, along with any other Monster Bash resources I could find. (Everything on here is shareware... No warez of MB1-3)

http://www.paramultart.comyr.com/monsterbash.html

If anyone knows of any files or resources that should be up there, let me know.

Thanks.

PimPamPet · 03-26-2010, 06:49 AM

Always nice to see this kind of stuff preserved in some manner.

Xgthug · 03-26-2010, 11:35 AM

I was only able to find 1mb-pix.zip in one source, uploaded on some obscure old BBS server, along with various versions of other shareware titles and "pix" previews.
I will most likely make a similar page to this Monster Bash one for every Apogee title, especially for the freeware titles, where I can freely post all information and files without having to omit anything.

Litude · 07-04-2010, 02:47 PM

Sorry to dig up an old thread like this, but thought this was the most relevant one to post this in. I've had that 1MB-PIX.ZIP file for quite long (just googling for the name gives a few download links) and sadly it's nothing too exciting as those pictures were taken after the game was released, but..

I just happened to check through the catalog included with version 1.0 of the game and it mentions this 1MB-PIX.ZIP file despite the fact that the 1.0 shareware was released in April and this picture show in June. So what I'm thinking here is that there was an earlier slide show released with the same name. Now that's something to dig for.

Xgthug · 07-04-2010, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Litude

Sorry to dig up an old thread like this, but thought this was the most relevant one to post this in. I've had that 1MB-PIX.ZIP file for quite long (just googling for the name gives a few download links) and sadly it's nothing too exciting as those pictures were taken after the game was released, but..

I just happened to check through the catalog included with version 1.0 of the game and it mentions this 1MB-PIX.ZIP file despite the fact that the 1.0 shareware was released in April and this picture show in June. So what I'm thinking here is that there was an earlier slide show released with the same name. Now that's something to dig for.

The full game was released in April. What does the April shareware release have to do with 1MB-PIX? It would probably be the same file, and I may have gotten the date wrong.

I know it's not that hard finding the file on Google, but I just wanted to host it to keep it alive, and see what other people thought of these preview programs.

I think they're pretty neat, if just for the fact that it's a Monster Bash related executable released by Apogee.

I'm looking forward to when Monster Bash goes freeware, and I can host every version of the full game.

pjVgt · 07-04-2010, 05:18 PM

Man I love Monster Bash - fluid animation, good physics, great theme. Everything I wish platformer could be - for EGA graphics they are astonishing. Jumping and crouching is weird for a reason but overal one of the best gamees I ever played.

Litude · 07-05-2010, 03:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xgthug

The full game was released in April. What does the April shareware release have to do with 1MB-PIX? It would probably be the same file, and I may have gotten the date wrong.

No, if you check the catalog included in the shareware 1.0 it mentions that 1MB-PIX.ZIP is available as a preview slide show. This shareware was released in April.

Now if you check the 1MB-PIX.ZIP file modify dates, it's clear that the thing was released in June. So I think there's an earlier slide show out there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xgthug

I'm looking forward to when Monster Bash goes freeware, and I can host every version of the full game.

Don't hold your breath, seeing as it's still sold, I can't see it happening.

Malvineous · 07-05-2010, 06:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xgthug

I'm looking forward to when Monster Bash goes freeware, and I can host every version of the full game.

You could always do what the community did with Commander Keen and release a bunch of patches (links currently broken) to convert between the versions. That way people can patch whatever version they have into any of the other versions available. And it's legal because you can't download a complete full version, you already need to have the full version to make use of the downloads.

@Litude: You seem to be archiving a whole bunch of classic games, and the stuff you've done on the Commander Keen wiki is fantastic. Is there a web site or some place where you are documenting everything and making all your discoveries public? If not I'd be more than happy to give you some space on shikadi.net...

Frenkel · 07-05-2010, 06:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Litude

I've had that 1MB-PIX.ZIP file for quite long (just googling for the name gives a few download links) and sadly it's nothing too exciting

Nothing too exciting? It was the only source of the uncompressed version of the title music in IMF format before we had the tools for decompressing Monster Bash's data files. (Not counting memory dumps)

Litude · 07-06-2010, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Malvineous

@Litude: You seem to be archiving a whole bunch of classic games, and the stuff you've done on the Commander Keen wiki is fantastic. Is there a web site or some place where you are documenting everything and making all your discoveries public? If not I'd be more than happy to give you some space on shikadi.net...

Thanks for the generous offer, but I've planned a website a few times and always lose interest once I actually start making the website.

If I find something that I actually think would interest someone, I try to contribute the stuff to an appropriate already existing website.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frenkel

Nothing too exciting? It was the only source of the uncompressed version of the title music in IMF format before we had the tools for decompressing Monster Bash's data files. (Not counting memory dumps)

Well, by interesting I mean stuff like the Mystic Towers preview slide show having screenshots of Shadow Warrior that are from a build three years before the game was actually released.

Malvineous · 07-07-2010, 05:48 AM

That's fair enough, it's just it'd be nice to have a central place where all the different game versions are documented. I've been wondering whether another KeenWiki style wiki would work, but with the focus on classic games in general. Many games don't have enough of a fan following to warrant their own entire wiki like Commander Keen does, but would cramming many games into the same wiki make it too confusing?

It would be kinda nice though to have one central resource to go to for game info, versions, mods, etc. for your favourite 90's games...

Xgthug · 07-07-2010, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Malvineous

That's fair enough, it's just it'd be nice to have a central place where all the different game versions are documented. I've been wondering whether another KeenWiki style wiki would work, but with the focus on classic games in general. Many games don't have enough of a fan following to warrant their own entire wiki like Commander Keen does, but would cramming many games into the same wiki make it too confusing?

It would be kinda nice though to have one central resource to go to for game info, versions, mods, etc. for your favourite 90's games...

I think this is a fantastic idea, and I would be willing to contribute in any way I could. I absolutely love Apogee and classic PC titles, as that's what I grew up with... Never had an interest in consoles, to be honest.

But yeah... A wiki would rock. Maybe a forum for classic gamers, too... since there's not to many of them on the 3DRealms forums.

Litude · 07-07-2010, 03:13 PM

You know, it doesn't sound like a bad idea at all to have a wiki like that. Actually, it sounds great!

There are really no good gaming databases that I have any interest in contributing to. MobyGames is just terrible (I've had several things waiting to be approved for almost a year now.

Seriously, they should just make it open, it's not like Wikipedia doesn't work), GiantBomb rips stuff of MobyGames and then the already existing wiki-like solution (which I forgot the name of) has hardly anything on it. One focused on just classic games would be heaps easier to organize.

Xgthug · 07-07-2010, 03:34 PM

When you say "Classic Games", do you mean "Classic PC Games"? Or "DOS Games"?

Malvineous · 07-07-2010, 05:30 PM

I don't, and never did, have much of an interest in console games either, since I only had access to DOS machines when I grew up too. So I guess for me it would be most interesting if it were a "DOS games wiki". This would cover most of the Apogee/id/Epic games from the 90's we all love, plus the odd obscure title from the 80's.

A forum would be great too - it'd be nice to have a single place to discuss a whole bunch of different games from the era, my only question would be how many people would bother signing up for yet another forum...? But the ModdingWiki would benefit from a place to discuss reverse engineering attempts, so a DOS games forum could always have subforums for modding and reverse engineering. Of course there are already forums like RGB Classic Games so perhaps it would be best to make use of these existing forums first.

Litude · 07-27-2010, 06:30 AM

After some digging I finally came across the "earlier" Monster Bash slide show. You can find it from here. Disappointingly the only difference between the two is the title screen screenshot (it just lacks the text "Apogee"), all other screenshots are exactly the same.

Litude · 06-06-2011, 09:23 AM

By the way, in case you're still looking for Monster Bash 1.01 I thought I'd just mention that the version you are currently distributing as 1.0 is actually 1.01. It's not mentioned anywhere in the game files themselves but I eventually figured it out when I noticed that the modify dates of the files are 1:01 PM (the modify date of later Apogee releases always corresponds to the version number) and since I found the 1.01 patch and noticed that it matched the EXE I already had.

You can get the actual version 1.0 from here.

03-25-2010, 11:27 PM	#1
Xgthug	Monster Bash preview file and lite version After finally hunting down 1mb-pix.zip, (and old Monster Bash preview program) and 1mblite.zip, (a rare shareware version consisting of only 3 levels) I decided to host them on my website, along with any other Monster Bash resources I could find. (Everything on here is shareware... No warez of MB1-3) http://www.paramultart.comyr.com/monsterbash.html If anyone knows of any files or resources that should be up there, let me know. Thanks.

03-26-2010, 06:49 AM	#2
PimPamPet	Re: Monster Bash preview file and lite version Always nice to see this kind of stuff preserved in some manner.

03-26-2010, 11:35 AM	#3
Xgthug	Re: Monster Bash preview file and lite version I was only able to find 1mb-pix.zip in one source, uploaded on some obscure old BBS server, along with various versions of other shareware titles and "pix" previews. I will most likely make a similar page to this Monster Bash one for every Apogee title, especially for the freeware titles, where I can freely post all information and files without having to omit anything.

07-04-2010, 02:47 PM	#4
Litude	Re: Monster Bash preview file and lite version Sorry to dig up an old thread like this, but thought this was the most relevant one to post this in. I've had that 1MB-PIX.ZIP file for quite long (just googling for the name gives a few download links) and sadly it's nothing too exciting as those pictures were taken after the game was released, but.. I just happened to check through the catalog included with version 1.0 of the game and it mentions this 1MB-PIX.ZIP file despite the fact that the 1.0 shareware was released in April and this picture show in June. So what I'm thinking here is that there was an earlier slide show released with the same name. Now that's something to dig for.

07-04-2010, 05:18 PM	#6
pjVgt	Re: Monster Bash preview file and lite version Man I love Monster Bash - fluid animation, good physics, great theme. Everything I wish platformer could be - for EGA graphics they are astonishing. Jumping and crouching is weird for a reason but overal one of the best gamees I ever played.

07-07-2010, 05:48 AM	#11
Malvineous	Re: Monster Bash preview file and lite version That's fair enough, it's just it'd be nice to have a central place where all the different game versions are documented. I've been wondering whether another KeenWiki style wiki would work, but with the focus on classic games in general. Many games don't have enough of a fan following to warrant their own entire wiki like Commander Keen does, but would cramming many games into the same wiki make it too confusing? It would be kinda nice though to have one central resource to go to for game info, versions, mods, etc. for your favourite 90's games...

07-07-2010, 03:13 PM	#13
Litude	Re: Monster Bash preview file and lite version You know, it doesn't sound like a bad idea at all to have a wiki like that. Actually, it sounds great! There are really no good gaming databases that I have any interest in contributing to. MobyGames is just terrible (I've had several things waiting to be approved for almost a year now. Seriously, they should just make it open, it's not like Wikipedia doesn't work), GiantBomb rips stuff of MobyGames and then the already existing wiki-like solution (which I forgot the name of) has hardly anything on it. One focused on just classic games would be heaps easier to organize.

07-07-2010, 03:34 PM	#14
Xgthug	Re: Monster Bash preview file and lite version When you say "Classic Games", do you mean "Classic PC Games"? Or "DOS Games"?

07-07-2010, 05:30 PM	#15
Malvineous	Re: Monster Bash preview file and lite version I don't, and never did, have much of an interest in console games either, since I only had access to DOS machines when I grew up too. So I guess for me it would be most interesting if it were a "DOS games wiki". This would cover most of the Apogee/id/Epic games from the 90's we all love, plus the odd obscure title from the 80's. A forum would be great too - it'd be nice to have a single place to discuss a whole bunch of different games from the era, my only question would be how many people would bother signing up for yet another forum...? But the ModdingWiki would benefit from a place to discuss reverse engineering attempts, so a DOS games forum could always have subforums for modding and reverse engineering. Of course there are already forums like RGB Classic Games so perhaps it would be best to make use of these existing forums first.

07-27-2010, 06:30 AM	#16
Litude	Re: Monster Bash preview file and lite version After some digging I finally came across the "earlier" Monster Bash slide show. You can find it from here. Disappointingly the only difference between the two is the title screen screenshot (it just lacks the text "Apogee"), all other screenshots are exactly the same. Last edited by Litude; 07-27-2010 at 12:29 PM.

06-06-2011, 09:23 AM	#17
Litude	Re: Monster Bash preview file and lite version By the way, in case you're still looking for Monster Bash 1.01 I thought I'd just mention that the version you are currently distributing as 1.0 is actually 1.01. It's not mentioned anywhere in the game files themselves but I eventually figured it out when I noticed that the modify dates of the files are 1:01 PM (the modify date of later Apogee releases always corresponds to the version number) and since I found the 1.01 patch and noticed that it matched the EXE I already had. You can get the actual version 1.0 from here.