VOGONS


First post, by Gambit37

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Is it possible to copy everything from my Tomb Raider CD to the hard-disk and play it using Glidos? It's becoming a real chore testing the new textures having to wait for the CD all the time.

I searched for various no-cd patches on the web but couldn't find anything with a valid link.

Reply 2 of 19, by Gambit37

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Hmm.. that one doesn't work. Glidos starts up, but then bombs with the following error message:

No PCI bus detected
Glidos VESA support stopping

The file is a lot larger than the TOMB.EXE I've been using. The existing one (which was installed by the Advanced Windows Installer) is 854Kb. This no-cd version I found is 1.114Mb.

If I turn off VESA support in the glidos.ini file, the error disappears but Tomb raider still bombs out, dumping me back to Windows. I'm running on WinXP Home.

Any ideas???

Reply 3 of 19, by robertmo

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I think you could just make an image of the cd by WinISO or any other virtual cd program, and mount the image in Alcohol 120% or any other cd image mounting program. The result will be that virtual cd will be placed on your HDD and will work fast (thought you will still have to skip movies).

Reply 4 of 19, by Gambit37

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Thanks for the suggestion. I'll give it a go -- but it's the movies that slow everything down, so ideally I'm looking for a solution that will bypass them completely.

Perhaps simply removing the movies from a disc image would work? I'll give it a go!

Reply 5 of 19, by Snover

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Just do what the warezd00ds do and make them zero-byte files.

Yes, it’s my fault.

Reply 6 of 19, by robertmo

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873739 - this file is for voodoo rush
1140735, 1121791 - these files are for voodoo
Glide works only with 873739 which means that it emulates VoodooRush not Voodoo.

Empty FMV folder or 0 byte files results in this way:

ERROR: Cannot initialise FMV player
Glidos VESA support stopping

Reply 7 of 19, by Snover

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Rip the headers out of one of the files, then.

Yes, it’s my fault.

Reply 8 of 19, by Gambit37

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I have no idea how to 'rip the headers from one of the files' -- doesn't that involve clever programmy type things? 😉

I tried a CD image and mounting it, but TombRaider expects the disc(image) to be in the lowest lettered drive, and Daemon tools will only mount drives on letters higher than the actual drives.

I found some web pages discussing the existence of a Voodoo Rush No-CD patch, but unfortunately no valid links....

Reply 9 of 19, by robertmo

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That's why i suggested Alcohol 120% which makes cd letters changing very easy. But you still can change your cd drive letter in Control Panel ->Administration Tools -> Computer Management -> Disk Management (translating from other language win version so it might be a bit different)

I have made a VoodooRush nocd nofmv patch (by comparing by content Voodoo patches) and It even works with glidos in win98se, but doesn't want to in winxp. At least for me...

Reply 10 of 19, by Gambit37

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Yup, I tried reassigning the drive letters using the admin tool and that worked OK. But it doesn't solve the problem of the movies...

...so I tried your patch which didn't work for me in Win98 or WinXP. 🙁

I get the Eidos logo on Win98, but then it crashes out.

Reply 11 of 19, by robertmo

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Actually only nocd works in win98, you still need to have FMV folder in c:\tombraid
I guess Glidos should take a look at this nocd nofmv patch ;)

Reply 12 of 19, by Glidos

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Actually TR doesn't mind the CD in a drive that is not the lowest lettered,just so long as none below it are empty.

Reply 13 of 19, by Gambit37

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I'm sure Paul is busy enough, without trying to add even more features to Glidos! Though it would be cool if the nocd nofmv patch might work under WinXP... 😀 😀

Thanks for your help Robert. 😀

Reply 14 of 19, by robertmo

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Glidos wrote:

Actually TR doesn't mind the CD in a drive that is not the lowest lettered,just so long as none below it are empty.

Yes, I forgot to say I am always inserting a dictionary into that empty slot 😉

Reply 15 of 19, by Gambit37

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A found a partial solution, which has the benefit that I can use modified levels!

Unfinished Business plays levels from the HD, so I converted The Caves level from .PHD to .TUB format using the excellent Rview tool. Then I simply renamed it EGYPT.TUB, started a new Unfinished Business game in Glidos, and there was the level in all it's hi-res replacement texture glory! Using UB instead of TR cuts down on one intro movie so it's a bit quicker to load.

Additoinally, I have got hold of a different version of Tomb Raider, and using this method I can test out different texture packs for different versions. But the best thing is that using some custom TR utilities, I can modify the levels to do things I really need -- for example, getting the camera to do a close-up view of Lara. This is essential for getting all the textures to work properly.

Finally, you can see that this opens up the possibility of custom Tomb raider 1 levels having custom high-res graphics.... 😀 😀 😁

Reply 16 of 19, by Guest

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As a note, Alcohol 120 is made by the same guys that make Daemon Tools. And it's very easy to change he drive letters of any drive in NT/2000/XP. Just use Disk Administrator.

And don't change your C drive to something else.

Reply 17 of 19, by Snover

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Dj'ya learn that last one the hard way, Guest? 😉

Yes, it’s my fault.

Reply 18 of 19, by Guest

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Heh. Alcohol 120% is very cool indeed I wouldn't be without it. But it's impossible to change the C: drive letter using admin tools or anything else for that matter.

Reply 19 of 19, by ableeker

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Gambit37, I used to have three hacks, years ago, when I had a TR1-rip, no-cd hacks for 3dfx TR1, and 3dfx Unfinished Business, and a hack containing empty movie files. It was actually quite hard to find the empty movies back then, and I'm not sure if they're still around on the internet. I don't use them anymore, because nowadays I have official, legal versions of all six TR games. I just wish the Sold Out TR1 included the original sound tracks! (Could anybody please post these as WAV files?)

Anyway, I could dig out and post the empty files, if anybody wants them...

Aldo Bleeker