3D Realms Online Store overhaul

[Babe]

Noticed that the 3DR new store is up and running. My question is what hppens to the money that we pay? Does it end up being a fund to finish up DNF or ends up in the laps of strippers in Vegas and poker tables ? What will 3DR do with the money any one knows ?

[TJR]

If financing DNF were possible, I doubt Apogee would've laid off the development team.

[Joe Siegler]

Originally Posted by EternalSonata

The Death Rally CD IS 575MB, most of it being taken up by the 488MB "CINEM" folder. I'm guessing those are cinematics? And what is the purpose of the huge "DR.IDF" file? Some sort of copy protection? I think Duke Nukem 3D: Atomic Edition had something like that too.

DR.IDF was a copy protection file. Nothing else. It was a random file of gibberish - constructed in such a way that it wouldn't compress.

Originally Posted by Babe

Noticed that the 3DR new store is up and running. My question is what hppens to the money that we pay? Does it end up being a fund to finish up DNF or ends up in the laps of strippers in Vegas and poker tables ? What will 3DR do with the money any one knows ?

3D Realms will continue to exist, as far as I know - just not as a studio with inhouse development (aka what DNF was). But given I don't work there anymore, I can't guarantee what will happen, so I'll stop there.

[Kalki]

I take it the old gift coupons aren't valid anymore?

[marzsyndrome]

Sounds nitpicky I know, but I wonder if the original datestamps on all the games' files were preserved during this transition to DOSBoxifying?

[Joe Siegler]

Originally Posted by Kalki

I take it the old gift coupons aren't valid anymore?

I would say not.

Originally Posted by marzsyndrome

Sounds nitpicky I know, but I wonder if the original datestamps on all the games' files were preserved during this transition to DOSBoxifying?

If the files didn't change, yeah. I didn't update time stamps on the files.

[Flaose]

To whom it may concern (probably Bryan), it appears that the "Online Store" tab on the 3drealms.com sidebar still links to the Yahoo store on every page but the main one.

FYI

[mental stampede]

Balls of Steel is great. Unfortunately my corei7 windows7 machine doesn't like it. For some reason, there's graphical artifacts on all the tables. Works great on the several windows XP machines I've tried it on. I guess that's what I get for running a non-supported O/S... It's also way too stupidly fast on that machine to really be playable though, so I guess that's just the way it'll have to be.

Thanks again for your work on this Joe. It's great to play this stuff again.

For any current or former 3dr guys: Was there/is there any thoughts about bringing any of your back catalog to the PSN? I know the Xbox guys have duke, but id's recent release of Wolfenstein 3d for the PS3 makes me wish I could play ROTT on there....

[EternalSonata]

Originally Posted by mental stampede

Balls of Steel is great. Unfortunately my corei7 windows7 machine doesn't like it. For some reason, there's graphical artifacts on all the tables. Works great on the several windows XP machines I've tried it on. I guess that's what I get for running a non-supported O/S... It's also way too stupidly fast on that machine to really be playable though, so I guess that's just the way it'll have to be.

Have you tried any compatibility modes? I ask because I'm running the Windows 7 RC as well, and every game I've tried has worked so far.

Also to any of the current 3DR cats: Any chances in the near future for a Steam package or at least a discount of you buy ALL the games in your online store? I'm interested in the entire back catalogue you have for sale, and it's hard to justify it when you guys can't at least offer like a "Complete Catalogue" $99.99 total for all the games when id Software has a great 22-game pack on Steam for $69.99.

[marzsyndrome]

Originally Posted by Joe Siegler

If the files didn't change, yeah. I didn't update time stamps on the files.

It's just I ask because most versions of DOSBox - including the official build - are known (by me at least) to lose datestamp data when creating/extracting new files, be it from an installation program or new dummy files, whatever. I only know of one unofficial CVS build which doesn't do such a thing.

[Joe Siegler]

Originally Posted by marzsyndrome

It's just I ask because most versions of DOSBox - including the official build - are known (by me at least) to lose datestamp data when creating/extracting new files, be it from an installation program or new dummy files, whatever. I only know of one unofficial CVS build which doesn't do such a thing.

Well, when I built these, I didn't exact or create anything (save for a few config files for a few of the games) inside DOSBox.

[gt1750]

Among other games, I bought Balls of Steel and it runs too fast on my system (quad core, Vista-64). I've tried compatibility modes and the supplied reprofiler with no success. I've tried to search the forums for solution, but it didn't come with anything particularly helpful. The unofficial 1.3 patch I found says the game was already updated.

Can anyone help me, please?

[Exitus]

I have a feeling that most of the money made from the store is going to go to fighting the lawsuit.

Which is why I'm more than happy to buy five games from store. Ultimate ROTT is definitely the first...

[mental stampede]

Originally Posted by gt1750

Among other games, I bought Balls of Steel and it runs too fast on my system (quad core, Vista-64). I've tried compatibility modes and the supplied reprofiler with no success. I've tried to search the forums for solution, but it didn't come with anything particularly helpful. The unofficial 1.3 patch I found says the game was already updated.

Can anyone help me, please?

I'm in the same boat as you on my quad core.

[Jeffpiatt]

http://www.cpukiller.com/
try this program.

[marzsyndrome]

I just read elsewhere that the new ROTT download supposedly includes everything related to the game, ever. Is this a different package to the GOG release I take it?

---------- Post added at 01:27 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:16 AM ----------

Originally Posted by Joe Siegler

Well, when I built these, I didn't exact or create anything (save for a few config files for a few of the games) inside DOSBox.

Well I purchased and downloaded Death Rally earlier, and it seems the game files are dated 22/05/2009. Oh well.

I assume you used a crack to disable the game's CD-check protection, btw? XD

[Joe Siegler]

Originally Posted by marzsyndrome

I just read elsewhere that the new ROTT download supposedly includes everything related to the game, ever. Is this a different package to the GOG release I take it?

The game itself is the same, but I have a bit more extras wise in the one I built vs the one Gog sells, but the game itself is the same, yeah.

[Sang]

I'm a little bit confused as to how you guys can sell Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project. Weren't the rights held by a court following the bankrupcy of Arush? (I think that was the whole issue with it coming out on XBox Live wasn't it?)

[Kristian Joensen]

I believe the rights issues where cleared just prior to the release on GOG.

[gt1750]

Originally Posted by Jeffpiatt

http://www.cpukiller.com/
try this program.

I've tried CPUKiller, the game is stuttering and pretty much unplayable when it's activated.

[marzsyndrome]

Originally Posted by Joe Siegler

The game itself is the same, but I have a bit more extras wise in the one I built vs the one Gog sells, but the game itself is the same, yeah.

Thanks for the explanation.


Well seeing as I already shelled out twice for ROTT from this place in the past, and what with EROTT, Goodies etc still being freely grabbable from these corners, I'm debating whether it's worth me chucking bucks in its direction a third time. Anyone care to divulge what extra bits and bobs Joe decided to include this time round? If it's information that shouldn't be made public, then a PM will suffice.

[MegaMustaine]

Anybody that even remotely enjoys pinball needs to pick up Balls of Steel now! It is a blast!

[BadScout]

Originally Posted by gt1750

I've tried CPUKiller, the game is stuttering and pretty much unplayable when it's activated.

On a multicore system, you could try to set the process's affinity so that it only runs on one core.
IIRC, there's a commandline tool available, or you can just open Task Manager, go to the Processes Tab, right-click the dosbox process and choose "Set Affinity", then only select one core. This might help with timing issues. I can't try it myself right now, cause I'm in the office right now. YMMV.

[Rellik66]

IIRC, sometimes processor throttling
(ie AMD's Cool n' Quiet) will have a negative effect on older windows games.

I know that Unreal Tournament and Morrowind will run at high speeds until you set the power management to Maximum Performance instead of balanced or minimum.

What happens I think, is the game will do a CPU clock check before using the CPU full force, as a result the game will run faster when the CPU clock goes up because of increased demand.

[Phayzon]

Ah I had that problem with UT in school a few months back, never figured it out... Thanks for the info!

[The Carnage Man]

Just want to thank Bryan for helping me getting the correct files from the store for the games i ordered.
Can finally play the games on my PC!

Thanks Bryan!!

[Glyrion]

Hmm..I must be missing something. I bought a couple of them and I can't get any of them to run at all. Of course, I get the same error everytime that the game cannot run in fullscreen and I have to close the popup. I tried running from the Dosbox command window but I can't mount my c: drive for some reasons so I'm stuck in the z: one.

I'm on windows Vista 32bit..no idea what do to :|

[gt1750]

Originally Posted by BadScout

On a multicore system, you could try to set the process's affinity so that it only runs on one core.
IIRC, there's a commandline tool available, or you can just open Task Manager, go to the Processes Tab, right-click the dosbox process and choose "Set Affinity", then only select one core. This might help with timing issues. I can't try it myself right now, cause I'm in the office right now. YMMV.

Tried that with no success, both on control center and active table

Originally Posted by Rellik66

IIRC, sometimes processor throttling
(ie AMD's Cool n' Quiet) will have a negative effect on older windows games.

I know that Unreal Tournament and Morrowind will run at high speeds until you set the power management to Maximum Performance instead of balanced or minimum.

What happens I think, is the game will do a CPU clock check before using the CPU full force, as a result the game will run faster when the CPU clock goes up because of increased demand.

It looks like I don't have AMD Cool n' Quiet installed and AMD pages don't have a version for Vista x64.

[Phayzon]

AMD Cool n' Quiet (as well as Intel SpeedStep), are controlled from the BIOS usually. Disable them and your CPU goes full-speed all the time.

[Joe Siegler]

Originally Posted by Glyrion

Hmm..I must be missing something. I bought a couple of them and I can't get any of them to run at all. Of course, I get the same error everytime that the game cannot run in fullscreen and I have to close the popup. I tried running from the Dosbox command window but I can't mount my c: drive for some reasons so I'm stuck in the z: one.

I'm on windows Vista 32bit..no idea what do to :|

These just "run". There's nothing you have to do as such.

Except of course if you changed the default install directory. If you tried to install inside C:\Program Files, it won't work on Vista. Forget it. Vista doesn't let you do that. You have to accept the default install directory, or pick somewhere else like your Documents Directory, but it's best to just leave it alone, and let it install where it wants to.

These were all tested on Vista 32-bit at home. They work. I know, I tested them personally.

[Rellik66]

Originally Posted by gt1750

It looks like I don't have AMD Cool n' Quiet installed and AMD pages don't have a version for Vista x64.

Cool n' quiet/Speedstep is built into Vista and 7, so you dont need to install any special drivers.

Originally Posted by Phayzon

AMD Cool n' Quiet (as well as Intel SpeedStep), are controlled from the BIOS usually. Disable them and your CPU goes full-speed all the time.

That may not be necessary, just open the Power Options Control panel and select "High Performance" that will set the CPU to run at it's rated clock speed without any throttling. you can check this by getting CPU-Z, it will tell you the current clock speed.

Unfortunately, cool n' quiet may not be the problem I just tested BoS and it does indeed seem to be a bit quick regardless of cool n' quiet, and the processor affinity is only set to one core by default...

[gt1750]

I have the High Performance setting selected since this rig was built, I just thought there was more to it Thanks for the help anyway.

So I guess I'll search for my old Win98 CD and set up a virtual machine just to play BoS.

[ChrisM85]

Originally Posted by Joe Siegler

These were all tested on Vista 32-bit at home. They work. I know, I tested them personally.

Hmm... I'm having trouble running them with Vista 32-bit personally. Perhaps your OS likes you better than me? When I first installed it from the online store file, it ran the same as my old retail version - too fast and the graphics were pretty choppy.

Turns out that I had the previous retail version still installed, so I removed it and reinstalled the downloaded version and the graphics problem was fixed but the game was still running too fast to play. I read through here looking for a solution but didn't seem to find anything that worked. I thought perhaps running it in compatibility mode would do the trick but unfortunately not.

If anyone can think of any other solution for not so technically inclined individuals like myself, I would greatly appreciate it! Although I won't be too upset if I can't get it to work. I mostly bought the game just to support 3DRealms. Afterall, when I bought the original retail version, I got it at an expo for like $12 when it was still selling for $24.95 and 3DRealm's telephone order system was still announcing it as "new" so I can jsut tell myself I finally paid the other half of the original price that I should have paid years ago

[Joe Siegler]

Originally Posted by ChrisM85

Turns out that I had the previous retail version still installed, so I removed it and reinstalled the downloaded version and the graphics problem was fixed but the game was still running too fast to play. I read through here looking for a solution but didn't seem to find anything that worked. I thought perhaps running it in compatibility mode would do the trick but unfortunately not.

Play with the DOSBox settings. There's really only one variable you need to mess with. Ultimately, the configs are mostly set for DOSBox default, so it is always possible you need to mess with them.

[ChrisM85]

Originally Posted by Joe Siegler

Play with the DOSBox settings. There's really only one variable you need to mess with. Ultimately, the configs are mostly set for DOSBox default, so it is always possible you need to mess with them.

Sounds like a good plan. Problem is I can't seem to find it. It was included in the installer yes? When I alt-tab while running the game I can't find anything for dosbox, and I went looking for it in the install directory and whatnot and couldn't seem to find anything on it. (You may now call me a noob!)

[Jeffpiatt]

the config files are in the install dir the dos games install to "c:\" instead for the now normal "c:\ program files" for vista you need to run the games as an admin since vista thinks dosbox is harmful to its stableity since full screen mode drops you res to 640x480.

[ChrisM85]

Originally Posted by Jeffpiatt

the config files are in the install dir the dos games install to "c:\" instead for the now normal "c:\ program files" for vista you need to run the games as an admin since vista thinks dosbox is harmful to its stableity since full screen mode drops you res to 640x480.

I thought thats where the config files were, but alas, they are not.



Unless they are there and I'm blind as a bat? Thats from the online store installer. I did run the install and the game itself as an administrator, still the same problem. Graphics are fine, just way too fast!

[Litude]

Balls of Steel doesn't use DOSBox. Other than trying to install the unofficial patch (here), you're out of luck unless you find an older computer to play the game on.

[NY00123]

Hmm...

If files are written by the game, in DOSBox, somewhere within "Program Files", then yes it may cause issues if you're not an admin. Or even as an admin on Vista.
Regarding the dosbox.conf file, up to version 0.72, the DOSBox installer from http://www.dosbox.com/ has set everything up so the conf file is somewhere in Program Files, and may be edited in there. Similar privilege issues as before.
Since version 0.73, this is not the case anymore (although untested by me). It now writes a conf file and some other stuff to a user-specific dir, like %APPDATA%\... (on Windows)

ChrisM85, is the DOSBox emulator even running? It should appear right before the game is launched within it.
I guess that no, as DOSBox seems to be missing.

[Joe Siegler]

Originally Posted by NY00123

Hmm...

If files are written by the game, in DOSBox, somewhere within "Program Files", then yes it may cause issues if you're not an admin. Or even as an admin on Vista.
Regarding the dosbox.conf file, up to version 0.72, the DOSBox installer from http://www.dosbox.com/ has set everything up so the conf file is somewhere in Program Files, and may be edited in there. Similar privilege issues as before.

In the installs I made, the respective config file is in the GAME DIRECTORY, not the same as DOSBox. They're in directories like C:\duke3d, c:\sw, etc..

And yeah, BOS doesn't use DOSBox, since it's not a DOS program.