I'm not sure if that topic is allowed to be discussed here due to piracy concerns. I could be wrong though.

rodimus80 wrote:

I'm not sure if that topic is allowed to be discussed here due to piracy concerns. I could be wrong though.

As far as I know, there's no protection on the game, it was simply written to expect to find some of the files on the disc. All that's required to make the game play without the disc is to change the letter in the file DRIVE.ID from "D" to "C" and copy CD.ID from the disc to the C: drive. Unless I'm mistaken, it was just a check to make sure that the contents of the disc were available, rather than a protection check.

As far as piracy is concerned, I've already got the game running without the disc, it's just that the setup program doesn't work properly. It seems to me that if this was a form of protection, it would be the game itself that wouldn't work.

1. get rid of your current install
2. install normally make sure it works and the setup program works
3. delete the dark forces folder (do not uninstall)
4. install it again the no cd way make sure you use the same location

Try that

ps: if the no cd way really is just changing 1 file before you delete the dark forces folder (step 3.) make a backup

Davros wrote:

1. get rid of your current install 2. install normally make sure it works and the setup program works 3. delete the dark forces […]
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1. get rid of your current install
2. install normally make sure it works and the setup program works
3. delete the dark forces folder (do not uninstall)
4. install it again the no cd way make sure you use the same location

Try that

ps: if the no cd way really is just changing 1 file before you delete the dark forces folder (step 3.) make a backup

No difference. The game will happily run without the disc, but Setup acts like the game hasn't been installed yet and won't let you change any of the options.

Is there an imuse.exe? If there is, run that and you will get a usable setup program IIRC.

That will allow you to configure sound/music settings, but the control configuration is handled by the main setup program.

I tried it with the Dark Forces v1.0 cdrom in DOSBox 0.74, and this method worked for me:

1) Copy the entire file and directory structure of the cdrom to a folder on your HD, but you can omit the LECDEMOS directory and the stuff in it. For this example I copied to C:\DOS\DF.

2) Move INSTALL.EXE from the base directory into the DARK subdirectory.

3) Mount C and D drives:
mount c c:\dos\df\dark
mount d c:\dos\df -t cdrom

All options (except "Install") are available when running INSTALL.EXE on the C: drive, and the game itself automatically finds the CD.ID file on the D: drive.

I'm sorry it's taken so long to reply.

ripsaw8080 wrote:

I tried it with the Dark Forces v1.0 cdrom in DOSBox 0.74, and this method worked for me:

Unfortunately, it didn't work for me.

Yes, the setup program runs perfectly, but the game doesn't play with this configuration. It says it can't find the game disc. If I copy CD.ID to the Dark directory and create a Drive.cd file with the letter "C" in it, then the game runs, but the setup program is back to only offering me the Install option.

I followed your instructions exactly. I even tried creating the exact same directory structure (C:\dos\df\) just to be sure, but I got the same results. I can get either the game or the setup to run without the disc, but not both.

Are you sure you didn't do anything else?

Think about this for a moment: the configuration I detailed sets up the emulated D: drive as a copy of the cdrom. If the game won't recognize it as the cdrom then you have a different version of the game than I do, because it's apparently checking for something other than just files and directories.

What is the volume label of your Dark Forces cdrom? What are the contents of your CD.ID file?

ripsaw8080 wrote:

Think about this for a moment: the configuration I detailed sets up the emulated D: drive as a copy of the cdrom. If the game won't recognize it as the cdrom then you have a different version of the game than I do, because it's apparently checking for something other than just files and directories.

What is the volume label of your Dark Forces cdrom? What are the contents of your CD.ID file?

The volume label is "102RA" and CD.ID says "Dark Forces Version 1.0 (Build 1)". As far as I know, it's the normal retail release, full box with storm troopers on the cover, jewel case inside with the same image and ugly disc art with a Gamorrean guard.

I just tried it again and this time it worked. As far as I know I did the same thing, so I have no idea why it didn't work the first time. I could have sworn I did something similar when I was trying to figure it out myself.

Sometimes I think computers have a mind of their own.

Anyway, thanks for the help. 😀

Well, it's the same version after all. I wonder about the volume label, though... it would make more sense on Rebel Assault than it does on Dark Forces.

ripsaw8080 wrote:

Well, it's the same version after all. I wonder about the volume label, though... it would make more sense on Rebel Assault than it does on Dark Forces.

Does yours have the same volume label?

Yes, it's 102RA on my disc. I'll have to find my Rebel Assault disc to check its label.

Some fans of Dark Forces use Dark XLhttp://xlengine.com/ to run the game. The settings are controlled by the DarkXL engine, and therein a CD is not needed after the first install.

pjpsyco wrote:

Some fans of Dark Forces use Dark XLhttp://xlengine.com/ to run the game. The settings are controlled by the DarkXL engine, and therein a CD is not needed after the first install.

Yes, DarkXL looks great, but unfortunately, it's a bug-ridden alpha, and you may or may not be able to actually complete the game. For one thing, the mouse droids don't move and you can't destroy them. Not that the mousedroids are that big of a deal, but it shows that the game doesn't work properly.

I wish DarkXL would get more focus instead of that incredibly complex DaggerXL that he got distracted by....

I wish DaggerXL was just... Daggerfall without the stupidly retarded bugs, the terrain it should of had, and ran on Windows with proper timing and framerate.

On topic, has anyone reverse engineered Dark Forces setup file? You might beable to change what you want with just a hex editor and not have to worry about a hardcoded SETUP file giving you so much trouble.

swaaye wrote:

I wish DarkXL would get more focus instead of that incredibly complex DaggerXL that he got distracted by....

I agree. Of the games that the XL engine will support, I'd put Dark Forces and Blood at the top of the list, then Outlaws and finally Daggerfall. Not that I have anything against Daggerfall, I've just never been into RPGs.

DracoNihil wrote:

On topic, has anyone reverse engineered Dark Forces setup file? You might beable to change what you want with just a hex editor and not have to worry about a hardcoded SETUP file giving you so much trouble.

I figured out where the keys for Look Up/Down were stored and how to change them to whatever I wanted. I was using GlovePIE to simulate mouselook and the default keys are bound to Page Up/Down. While this is no problem while playing the game, if you move the mouse on the briefing screen, it sends the Page Up/Down keys and the briefing text jumps up and down. I changed the keys to L & P so that it didn't interfere with the briefing, but then if you moved the mouse after entering a new player name, it would print lllpppllpppp after the name. I thought if I changed it to F11/F12, that wouldn't interfere with anything, but the setup program won't let you map the functions keys. So I figured out which bytes were for them and changed the values to the scan codes for those keys. 😀