Does anyone know if there's a download out there somewhere of Bionic Command that includes the CGA graphics files? All the ones I can find are missing the .CGA files so they crash on my PCjr. I'm guessing whoever ripped the files left off the CGA files to save space.
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I don't think we can help you in abandonware related issues, mate 🙁
pcjr is no longer abandonware, it is too old, it is free for everyone now. all the rights to it expired.
Yeah I realize that it might not be OK to point out where to get something. That being the case, can someone confirm that Bionic Commando does indeed have a .CGA file in it (I see a .EGA file)? I *think* that's the reason it's not working on my PCjr, but I may be barking up the wrong tree here.
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For when excellence and burnished fineries need to gently visit the warmth of your tablery
wrote:pcjr is no longer abandonware, it is too old, it is free for everyone now. all the rights to it expired.
Mind you, international copyright laws don't say exactly so, although they are an unholy mess.
This is the only version of the original Bionic Commando I have. It has the following files:
01/09/2006 19:05 91.696 Bion.exe 01/09/2006 19:05 8.316 Bionic16.iqg 01/09/2006 19:05 173.94 […]
01/09/2006 19:05 91.696 Bion.exe
01/09/2006 19:05 8.316 Bionic16.iqg
01/09/2006 19:05 173.949 Egafonts.bqn
01/09/2006 19:05 260 Hscore.bin
01/09/2006 19:05 2.307 Intro1.iqg
01/09/2006 19:05 4.098 Intro216.iqg
01/09/2006 19:05 11.006 Ttlbc16.iqg
No CGA files anywhere 🙁
wrote:pcjr is no longer abandonware, it is too old, it is free for everyone now. all the rights to it expired.
...
Bionic Commando didn't release 75 years ago and CAPCOM are sitll around having its rights kept up through the Capcom Arcade Cabinet. Just because this is a 1980's release for an obsolete platform doesn't make it right to pirate copyrighted works for it.
bionic commando only came out in 1987 there is no way the rights have expired
Guardian of the Sacred Five Terabyte's of Gaming Goodness
The copies of BC I can find also seem to be missing CGA files/capability, unless there's a command line option for such I'm missing. There are CGA shots on Moby games though, so someone has a working CGA copy.
wrote:pcjr is no longer abandonware, it is too old, it is free for everyone now. all the rights to it expired.
PCjr Release date: March 1984
Copyright terms on works from 1984: "70 years after the death of author. If a work of corporate authorship, 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever expires first"
So something seems off. Was all PCjr software licensed in some way that could cause an early expiry of copyright terms?
Tempest is from Marshall Islands.
Copyright legislation is not known to exist there 😀
wrote:pcjr is no longer abandonware, it is too old, it is free for everyone now. all the rights to it expired.
You are wrong. Copyright terms run for a long time and have nothing to do with whether or not the system the game was written for is still available for sale. No video game or piece of computer software ever written has passed out of copyright protection yet UNLESS the owner of the copyright specifically took steps to place it in the public domain at some point.
P.S. You really, REALLY do not want to get me started on this issue. Just ask anyone. 😁
Hmm... Maybe there's two releases? One that had CGA and one that didn't? The one my friend had as a kid was a copy so who knows where he got it from?
--- AtariProtos.com ---
For when excellence and burnished fineries need to gently visit the warmth of your tablery
To provide a bit more detail...
• Things will start with Dosbox in EGA mode.
• /w DOSBox in CGA/PCjr mode starting results in just a linefeed and a continuously blinking cursor
• /w some command line switch in any mode (i.e. "bion.exe /?") the loading screen shows but then there is an immediate crash "Run-time error R6000 - Stack Overflow"
Per GameFaq there were two releases of the game one in 1988, the other in 1989. Unclear if that's related to what we are seeing.
According to this, the game had an EGA disk and CGA disk :
http://www.mobygames.com/game/bionic-commando/cover-art
Apparently no one ever dumped the CGA disk, dumping the inferior version probably didn't garner much garner much credit in the warez scene back in the day.
http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/ - Nerdly Pleasures - My Retro Gaming, Computing & Tech Blog
Ahh! That explains it. No wonder I've never found the CGA version on any of the sites. Thanks for clearing that one up. I guess I'll have to find a copy on ebay or something. 😀
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Post it here if you do 😉
There's one up for sale now, but I'm not sure I want to blow $20 on this.
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$20 sounds cheap for an old game like that. These aren't made anymore.
