RE: 7DD Version of Monkey Island

[Tyrell]

Originally posted by bgbennyboy

In terms of the compilation it might be unique but in terms of the resource files it'll just be the standard ega version of mi: 5 x lfl files and 8x disk.lec files, these will easily fit onto 7 x dd floppies (720k each). It's unlikely to have been compiled seperately, the interpreter might be different though.

About a fortnight ago I posted about the rarest version of Monkey Island. To me it was a way of ending the search for the 7DD disk version of Monkey Island. Who would have known, but I found someone who still had a copy of the same compilation. He has every disk in the compilation. Furthermore, every disk works. I have now had every file emailed to me, and have paid for the compilation which should be in my possession sometime next week.

 

As I previously stated there were 7 .lec files. Here is a list of all the files and their sizes in bytes:

000.LFL        8,357
901.LFL        2,264
902.LFL        3,335
903.LFL        2,019
904.LFL        4,368
DISK01.LEC   599,209
DISK02.LEC   655,465
DISK03.LEC   641,088
DISK04.LEC   689,124
DISK05.LEC   575,735
DISK06.LEC   615,087
DISK07.LEC   666,332
MONKEY.EXE    69,589
INSTALL.BAT    3,227
_INSTALL.BAT   2,431

It is pretty much the same as the other release of Monkey Island except that 1. it has 7 .LEC files and 2. the Installation program (Install.bat & _install.bat) are written/edited to install off 7 disks. The total size of all 7 .LEC files is 4,442,040 bytes. The total size of the 4 .LEC files from the 4-disk version commonly available is 4,442,001 bytes.

 

I am convinced that this compilation was the only distribution of this version of the game. This is for a number of reasons, but it boils down to the events I believe took place. 1. the Monkey Island team makes 3 versions of Monkey Island 1 VGA. One for distribution on 8DD 5.25" disks, one for distribution on 7DD 3.5" disks and the other for distribution on 4HD 3.5" disks. 2. The marketing department said that it would be confusing and silly to have more "combinations" necessary in the manual. There is already an EGA version that is distributed on 4DD 3.5" disks, so the manual would have to say you should have either: 8 2.25" disks, 4 3.5" disks or 7 3.5" disks.

 

This might make buyers of the 4-disk version think theirs has had some stuff removed from the game, or possibly that the manual has a mistake in it. So they dropped the idea for selling the 7DD 3.5" format because they couldn't drop the 4HD 3.5" format (since the EGA version is distributed on 4DD 3.5" disks). But they did this after selling distribution rights of The Secret of Monkey Island VGA 7DD 3.5" disk version to Atari in Australia.

 

3. They pretended to everyone else like this version never existed. Even the manual never mentions 7 disks - not even the compilation manual Atari used. It was the same standard manual text that everyone received. And Atari did not have the right to change the text, they're a distributor and did not acquire this right/did not bother using it.

 

So there it is. My account on how the 7DD 3.5" disk version of Monkey Island VGA came to be. I am thrilled to finally have the working version back. I had not played it since at the latest 1992. This is without a shadow of a doubt, THE rarest version of The Secret of Monkey Island ever release Worldwide by Lucasfilm/LucasArts. And I cannot tell you how good it feels to have the game back! I was playing it, and it's not as snazzy as my CD-ROM version, but it is the version that introduced me to the game. It is the reason I got the CD-ROM version. It is the reason I got Monkey Island 2. I will close by showing you photos I was sent by the guy who sold me his copy:

 

http://www.zippyimages.com/files/13624/DSC01440.jpg

http://www.zippyimages.com/files/13627/DSC01438.jpg

 

--edit--

Here is the file creation dates for the files:

MONKEY.EXE             69,589 21/02/1991  11:27 AM
DISK01.LEC            599,209 15/02/1991  12:00 PM
000.LFL                 8,357 15/02/1991  12:00 PM
901.LFL                 2,264 15/02/1991  12:00 PM
902.LFL                 3,335 15/02/1991  12:00 PM
903.LFL                 2,019 15/02/1991  12:00 PM
904.LFL                 4,368 15/02/1991  12:00 PM
_INSTALL.BAT            2,431 19/02/1991  03:06 PM
INSTALL.BAT             3,227 15/02/1991  12:00 PM

Not sure about the others lec files since they've only been emailed to me, but I would assume they are all 15/02/1991 12:00.

[idi0t]

Please, give us some MD5 checksums.

And say what's diffrent in this rare version.

[idi0t]

Also, try ScummVM ( http://www.scummvm.org ) and post, if it works/gets detected, and as what.

[Tyrell]

I don't need ScummVM to play the game (though I'm using the "PC Gamer" monkey.exe because it's fixed for faster comuters - so I can have sound). I have an original soundblaster in my PC so even in XP I can play with music (using the adlib option). ScummVM is giving me these choices (in this order):

 

Monkey Island 1 (EGA)

Passport to Adventure

Monkey Island 1 (256 color Floppy version)

Loom (256 color CD version)

 

It does run the game (I expected as much since it's obviously compatible with both the 8 and 4 disk versions). Hmm, opening/closing the SCUMM door doesn't sound right... it sounds the same in the 4 disk VGA version though. I haven't tested enough to say it goes from one disk's .lec file to the next but I'd assume it would.

MD5 (DISK01.LEC) = 7c7bd8b42622e45909250c4d79a89759
MD5 (DISK02.LEC) = a8cc170323b532e47016934efcda9975
MD5 (DISK03.LEC) = 38d3b8e0cb445c088814865316e53c96
MD5 (DISK04.LEC) = f98109c4fea670f8b25d90455e49f0e7
MD5 (DISK05.LEC) = eb67fc5e033c0a2cb3fffce6b989f077
MD5 (DISK06.LEC) = 6f163d6b9fc13a969a1949898d2e90dc
MD5 (DISK07.LEC) = 3d1296f136683fec576438447b1dfd7d

[Tyrell]

If you like I'll make some of the files downloadable. Not all of them, maybe the first 3 disk .lec files or something. The savegames are interchangeable both between different loader files (monkey.exe) and different versions (tested with the 4-disk VGA and the 7-disk VGA). Using the original monkey.exe means I cannot have music (using "monkey a" crashes straight back to "DOS"), and the game runs noticeably too fast (as if Guybrush is running).

 

I never realised how little music there is in the original game. Maybe because I'm used to the CD version. The game was fully completable using the loader file from the "PC Gamer" release (same as the 4-disk version, except with a patched monkey.exe to run on faster PCs and to bypass the copy protection). Basically this means that it was compiled in the same way that the 4 and 8 disk versions were, except as a 7-disk version.

 

I still wonder why Atari was sold distribution rights to this version, rather than one of the others (4 or 8 disk). Perhaps Atari just had loads of 3.5" DD disks that they wanted to use as they were beginning to go out of fashion in favour of HD disks.. who knows? Can anyone email me the disk.lec files from the 8-disk version? I used to have them... but I think I deleted them.

 

--edit--

 

I've done some more tests in ScummVM, and I got to Part 2 fine. I know that is using disk02.lec so it must be fully compatible. The stump joke also works fine, everything in it works the same as the 4-disk version.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Run it in DOSBOX and press CTRL-V -- then we'll know the EXACT version.

 

Thanks.

[Udvarnoky]

The VGA floppy version had more music tracks than the EGA version.

[Tyrell]

The interpreter verson it comes with is 5.0.16. The PC-Gamer int. ver. is 5.0.19. Ctrl-V says "The Secret of Monkey Island (VGA) -- 1.1 2-15-91". The 4-disk version says "The Secret of Monkey Island (VGA) -- 1.0 12-3-90". Intersting. Anyone know what version the 8-disk is? Cursed be me for deleting it, can't find it to download anywhere... Can someone send it me? pretty please?

[CaliMonk]

Originally posted by Xippion

The interpreter verson it comes with is 5.0.16. The PC-Gamer int. ver. is 5.0.19. Ctrl-V says "The Secret of Monkey Island (VGA) -- 1.1 2-15-91". The 4-disk version says "The Secret of Monkey Island (VGA) -- 1.0 12-3-90". Intersting. Anyone know what version the 8-disk is? Cursed be me for deleting it, can't find it to download anywhere... Can someone send it me? pretty please?

 

You really need to stop asking for downloads, if i recall correctly thats what got you banned previously.

 

Also i don't believe your version is "Mega rare" or "Mega Wanted".

 

Not more then the FM Towns version anyway, unless you can name some "Great new additions", this is just another Monkey Island version in some budget type mixed game box. (There are thousands of those...)

[Tyrell]

No, I was banned because a couple of the moderators/admins here don't like me. It's really not too concerning they can do as they wish, it's their forum so to speak (well Metallus' forum anyway). Asking for a download on the Mojo forum is how I originally got the 8-disk version. I mean come on, I'm not pirating software - I do legally own it, and more than 1 copy too. I have an original MI CD, a Madness CD, and the compilation 7-disk version. Pending negotiations to acquire additional versions.

 

And as I've now discovered the 7-disk version is 1.1, so if anything asking for the 8-disk ver which is almost certainly ver 1.0, is at best getting my hands on a previous version. Or was 1.1 released with 4 or 8 .lec files? Anyway, I don't think you're seeing my point, "CaliMonk", this wasn't just "another release" like say the KIXX on 3HD disks. For all I know Kixx may be the sole distributor of Monkey1 VGA on 3HD 3.5" disks, but that release uses the standard 4 .LEC files (the most common release). And so there's nothing truly unique about it, except maybe that it was (possibly) the sole release that did not allow playing the game off the original disks.

 

This is different, it is not 4 or 8 .LEC files, it is 7. We're not talking about some insignificantly different interpreter or something (though monkey.exe may be unique), nor are we talking about "essentially the same resource files" like say the Kixx release of MI2 which has exactly the same files as the standard disk version except that monkey2.001 had 2 bytes "patched". We are talking about different resource files. Files compiled differently. Obviously if the Kixx release of MI2's files had been compiled differently they would have completely removed the copy protection screen.

 

But they didn't, it was a "cheap-and-nasty" modification. Same goes for PC Gamer's MI1 except that it isn't one of the resource files that was edited, it was the interpreter.

[CaliMonk]

Everyone can say they own 50 copies of Monkey Island, the point remains, if you do why do you ask for a copy of files. Besides, warez is offering files you normally have to pay for to others for free.

 

As you 'want' them its clear you don't own them yourself, thus your asking for something for free while you normally have to pay for it. (MI isn't abandonware.)

 

As for your version, untill you list some "Great" diffrences and advantages of your 7 disk version i fail to see why its so great, it still came with a Mixed pack of others games.

 

There are alot of diffrent versions of these games, alot of translated versions, they might be 1.1 too. Imho its just a newer version of MI with some bugfixes perhaps, nothing thats noticable for anyone playing it.

 

Anyway thats just my opinion.

[Tyrell]

Abandonware is a matter of oppinion. Name one place that doesn't deal in second hand goods where I can buy Monkey Island 1? You can't, don't even think about saying LEC's company store since it doesn't sell outside of the US/Canada.

 

Besides, I didn't ask to be judged. You have to be pretty hard and thick to think that this would equate to piracy. Furthermore piracy is a breach of copyright, not setealing. But go ahead and think however you want. By the way I'm 90% sure that the "mixed pack" as you call it was released in 1991 - possibly less than a year after the initial release of Monkey1 in the USA.

 

You may not think so. You may think LEC wouldn't allow two of their games to be in a 4-game compilation with 2 Disney games so quickly after their initial release, but keep in mind this was among the first compilation releases. Atari probably thought that chances are people are only ever going to buy 1 of the 4 games anyway, so if they put it in a compilation and stick it with the regular price for any of the singular games then they would reap more sales... or something like that. Makes sense to me.

[CaliMonk]

Originally posted by Xippion

Abandonware is a matter of oppinion. Name one place that doesn't deal in second hand goods where I can buy Monkey Island 1? You can't, don't even think about saying LEC's company store since it doesn't sell outside of the US/Canada.

 

Its not a matter of oppinion. You download files which you could otherwise buy, there's lots of stores that have the Adventure Game collection, also eBay is loaded with these games. As long as LucasArts doesn't say "Hey download it for free here" you cannot download it for free. It stays warez no matter how you put it.

 

Originally posted by Xippion

Besides, I didn't ask to be judged. You have to be pretty hard and thick to think that this would equate to piracy. Furthermore piracy is a breach of copyright, not setealing. But go ahead and think however you want. By the way I'm 90% sure that the "mixed pack" as you call it was released in 1991 - possibly less than a year after the initial release of Monkey1 in the USA.

 

You may not think so. You may think LEC wouldn't allow two of their games to be in a 4-game compilation with 2 Disney games so quickly after their initial release, but keep in mind this was among the first compilation releases. Atari probably thought that chances are people are only ever going to buy 1 of the 4 games anyway, so if they put it in a compilation and stick it with the regular price for any of the singular games then they would reap more sales... or something like that. Makes sense to me. [/b]

 

You seem to like "Pushing your opinion" onto people, (as noted from several other threads), this to me really makes it pretty obvious people are going to judge you, it comes with the additude.

 

Anyway as for the Compilation, i'm sure they thought it was a great way to sell more of their games but i still fail to see whats so special about it. If you'd talk about the CD-ROM version which was the 256 version then i'd say hey great the graphics really offer a new experience. Just a 1.1 release of a game hold nothing more then some bugfixes, nothing biggie.

 

Thats just how i think about it anyway...

[Tyrell]

Originally posted by CaliMonk

Its not a matter of oppinion. You download files which you could otherwise buy, there's lots of stores that have the Adventure Game collection, also eBay is loaded with these games. As long as LucasArts doesn't say "Hey download it for free here" you cannot download it for free. It stays warez no matter how you put it.

But I DO own it firstly. Secondly I will not be harming LEC or any other distributer by downloading the files. Thirdly buying second-hand games doesn't help developers anymore than piracy.

Originally posted by CaliMonk

Anyway as for the Compilation, i'm sure they thought it was a great way to sell more of their games but i still fail to see whats so special about it. If you'd talk about the CD-ROM version which was the 256 version then i'd say hey great the graphics really offer a new experience. Just a 1.1 release of a game hold nothing more then some bugfixes, nothing biggie.

 

Thats just how i think about it anyway...

You just assume that's what the difference is. Besides if you think it's "the same thing" then why on earth don't you think I should be allowed to download the same thing?

 

I can't work it out. First you say it's the same thing, then you say I shouldn't download it, then you say it's the same thing, and again you go in the other direction and say I don't own it and shouldn't download it, and to conclude you state that it's the same thing. My head is spinning! But it's not spinning as much as CaliMonk's head, who must be very confused right now. He can't seem to make up his mind for more than two sentances.

[CaliMonk]

Originally posted by Xippion

<bla>.

 

My point is, you ask for others to offer you files.

The interpreter verson it comes with is 5.0.16. The PC-Gamer int. ver. is 5.0.19. Ctrl-V says "The Secret of Monkey Island (VGA) -- 1.1 2-15-91". The 4-disk version says "The Secret of Monkey Island (VGA) -- 1.0 12-3-90". Intersting. Anyone know what version the 8-disk is? Cursed be me for deleting it, can't find it to download anywhere... Can someone send it me? pretty please?

 

If you own it (like you claim) why the hell would you need someone else to offer it to you.

 

Also my opinion has and will be thats its just a sightly updated version with some bugfixes.

 

moo.

[freddie]

I *really* should post the email you sent me asking me to have my Monkey Island poster scanned and then your very insane reaction when I told you to buy the poster if you wanted it.

[BooJaka]

I'm intrigued...