My notes for this say: "To install the CD-ROM version to the hard drive run HITSQUAD.BAT"

Do you know if that is available somewhere, or should it be on the disc? Here's the sum total of files on my version:

1nas /mnt/md0/Game Images/PC/Dune # find /mnt/tmp
2/mnt/tmp
3/mnt/tmp/dune2.exe
4/mnt/tmp/readme.exe
5/mnt/tmp/readme.txt
6/mnt/tmp/sn.exe
7/mnt/tmp/swt
8/mnt/tmp/swt/product
9/mnt/tmp/swt/product/copyfile.swt
10/mnt/tmp/swt/product/democntl.swt
11/mnt/tmp/swt/rv241
12/mnt/tmp/swt/swrt.cfg
13/mnt/tmp/swt/swrt.grx
14/mnt/tmp/swt/swrt.prt
15/mnt/tmp/swt/swrt.txt

I forgot about there actually being three EXE files, so let me correct my original statement by saying: The readme.exe is obviously just that - a very large and fancy readme-er. AFAICT, dune2.exe is just a stub that runs sn.exe. It's 2.9KB and contains mostly blocks of 0x00.

The readme just tells you the normal stuff... requires a 286-16 or better, supports AdLib, SB, MT-32... make sure you have enough conventional memory. To install, change to your CD drive and run dune2.exe.

Right, we have different versions. I have the Hit Squad version:

http://dunelegacy.sourceforge.net/website/pakfilelist.html

I don't see any PAK files in your file listing. Which version do you have?

Here's the photo from the auction. The takeaway being a 1992 copyright date, "MS-DOS Version" by Westwood Studios / Virgin, catalog # MQ 13-004-112.

The data is obviously all packed in the file /swt/product/copyfile.swt. It's 7.3MB, and opening it with a hex editor results in a list of filenames at the top, and a banner for "SelectWare Technologies" -- swt. It doesn't even look like it's compressed, because I can see VOC file headers later in the file. My best bet might be to try and reverse-engineer the header to see if it's a simple filename / offset / size structure or something. If I can extract the files, I could just burn a new CD without the stupid front-end.

According to this it's from something called the "Gold Medal 12 CD Pack"

There's one on sale here. Maybe message the seller and ask nicely if he can give you a copy of any instructions?

Interesting. Cursory Google search doesn't reveal much about that ... what I assume is a compilation set? (Oh, duh, yeah it is -- missed the sale link the first time.)

I decided to take matters into my own hands. 😁 After looking at the file checksum page linked above (thanks for that, BTW -- it was quite helpful!), I dug into the SelectWare archive file with a hex editor and managed to deduce enough of its format to write a parser that could extract the files from it. The resulting files match the MD5 sums from the page.

I'll attach my C source code here in case it's useful to anyone else. To use (from *nix -- YMMV):

1$ gcc -o swt swt.c && ./swt copyfile.swt
2Examining copyfile.swt...
3Extracting file [2]: ATRE.PAK (flags=0x19)...
4Copied 411391 bytes
5
6Extracting file [3]: DUNE.PAK (flags=0x1a)...
7Copied 404716 bytes
8
9Extracting file [4]: DUNE2.ICO (flags=0x19)...
10Copied 1792 bytes
11
12Extracting file [5]: DUNE2.PIF (flags=0x19)...
13Copied 545 bytes
14
15Extracting file [6]: ENGLISH.PAK (flags=0x1a)...
16Copied 89218 bytes
17
18Extracting file [7]: FINALE.PAK (flags=0x19)...
19Copied 582276 bytes
20
21Extracting file [8]: HARK.PAK (flags=0x19)...
22Copied 434162 bytes
23
24Extracting file [9]: INTRO.PAK (flags=0x1a)...
25Copied 1224553 bytes
26
27Extracting file [10]: INTROVOC.PAK (flags=0x19)...
28Copied 975460 bytes
29
30Extracting file [11]: MENTAT.PAK (flags=0x1a)...
31Copied 567236 bytes
32
33Extracting file [12]: MERC.PAK (flags=0x19)...
34Copied 45589 bytes
35
36Extracting file [13]: ORDOS.PAK (flags=0x19)...
37Copied 462480 bytes
38
39Extracting file [14]: SCENARIO.PAK (flags=0x1a)...
40Copied 317356 bytes
41
42Extracting file [15]: SETUP.EXE (flags=0x1a)...
43Copied 90992 bytes
44
45Extracting file [16]: SETUPENG.DIP (flags=0x1a)...
46Copied 2978 bytes
47
48Extracting file [17]: SOUND.PAK (flags=0x19)...
49Copied 1310138 bytes
50
51Extracting file [18]: VOC.PAK (flags=0x19)...
52Copied 262738 bytes
53
54Extracting file [19]: DUNE2.EXE (flags=0x1e)...
55Copied 367794 bytes
56
57Extracting file [20]: SWTGAME.BAT (flags=0x1e)...
58Copied 598 bytes
59
60Extracting file [21]: QUERY.EXE (flags=0x15)...

61Copied 2581 bytes
62
63Found 20 files
64
65$

You got it to run? Good work.

I'm guessing that CD 1 of that compilation contains the installer for all the other disks.

I've seen this CD on ebay but wondered what it was all about. What actually baffles me most is that the file size of the exe (367794 bytes) does not match any of the known Dune II versions I researched alongside MrFlibble:

• Gameplay demo with recorded actions played back in the game engine: (found on the Westwood FTP)
  • Exe size: 338768 bytes
• US v1.00:
  • Exe size: 365504 bytes
• US v1.07: (patched from v1.00)
  • Exe size: 367760 bytes
• EU v1.07:
  • Exe size: 371616 bytes
• EU v1.07-HS: (HitSquad release. Other companies seem to have distributed this too but we called it this to distinguish the two different EU 1.07 versions)
  • Exe size: 371474 bytes
• Intro-looping demo:
  • Exe size: 374178 bytes

All the other file sizes match US v1.07 though, which is peculiar, since I've never actually seen a pre-patched release of that.

I'm assuming the version on the main menu says 1.07?

MrFlibble told me that there was indeed some 1.07 US version going around that mysteriously had 34 extra bytes appended at the end for no reason. Seems we found the source of that version 😀

Hmm, got my own copy now, and I tested the application in DOSBox, but there is no "print" button on the main menu, and both clicking the button with the mouse and pressing "P" both work fine for actually running it.

Also, the folder created on hard disc contains the entire game, not just savegames. I did specifically select the option to keep the files on hard disc after playing.

SirNickity wrote on 2019-01-25, 00:40:

I'll attach my C source code here in case it's useful to anyone else. To use (from *nix -- YMMV):

Just a note... I've been digging into this format, and identified the entries you indicated as chksum and flags in the file entries.

1    uint8_t     cksum[3];   // I think...
2    uint8_t     flags;      // Usually either 0x25 or 0x26

They are actually a DOS Date/Time stamp, in the format described here:
https://web.archive.org/web/20080408211043/ht … hal/dostime.htm

I put my findings so far on the Shikadi modding wiki.