zirkoni wrote on 2025-01-17, 15:23:

Why is the binary stored in the git repo? https://github.com/joelek/wc-refurbished/tree/master/dist […]
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Why is the binary stored in the git repo?
https://github.com/joelek/wc-refurbished/tree/master/dist

Generally you don't want to store binaries in git. The "releases" menu in github is for sharing the release binaries.

Anyway, great work.

Thanks!

The reason for storing the binary in the repo and not using the releases feature is because it's a GitHub-specific feature. My workflow involves multiple upstreams and I prefer to be able to sync all state between them. I can only do this if I limit myself to using only core git features such as tags which is similar to releases. The only downside with this approach is that build artifacts have to be checked in but I can live with that 😀

I tested it with GOG release and since GOG use unaltered 1.22h release, the Refurbished patch works on it as it just fine (tho their DOSBox settings are just bad, so I run it with Pixel perfect scaling).

Srandista wrote on 2025-01-18, 14:11:

I tested it with GOG release and since GOG use unaltered 1.22h release, the Refurbished patch works on it as it just fine (tho their DOSBox settings are just bad, so I run it with Pixel perfect scaling).

Nice! Thanks for testing.

One question or request as all my computers are packed away at the moment.
Does this remove the CD-Check.
I always No-CD my games and guessing applying existing NO-CD patches would also patch over your modifications?

1.22h has no CD check. Pre-1.21 might, according to PCGW. Not sure about 1.21.
A no-CD patch might either work as is, or refuse to work at all because file hashes don't match, or overwrite existing patches. All depends on how the no-CD patch was implemented.

dr_st wrote on 2025-01-20, 11:16:

1.22h has no CD check. Pre-1.21 might, according to PCGW. Not sure about 1.21.
A no-CD patch might either work as is, or refuse to work at all because file hashes don't match, or overwrite existing patches. All depends on how the no-CD patch was implemented.

Ah thats right, forgot the 1.22h removed the CD check, perfect 😀

genomelak wrote on 2025-01-15, 06:54:

Hello! […]
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Hello!

I recently tested the remastered version of WarCraft: Orcs & Humans and was pleased to learn that it contained several Quality of Life (QoL) improvements. Most notably, units can be selected through simplified drag select and commands can be issued through right clicks. It did however not run on MS-DOS nor have an animated war room so naturally I had to refund it.

Since I have absolutely no respect for my own time, I decided to implement the QoL improvements in the original MS-DOS release, which I purchased on CD-ROM back in the 90’s and still own. I’ve named this project WarCraft: Refurbished. So far it features simplified drag select, contextual command dispatch, health bars for damaged units, unit grouping and a bunch of other things making its interaction model similar to the one in the remastered version.

The work is published through the GitHub platform through which the MS-DOS patch can be downloaded. It's currently compatible with the original CD-ROM retail release version 1.21 and version 1.22h. It has not been tested with the GOG release or the Battle.net release and I'd appreciate help testing compatibility with those versions.

Hope that you find this interesting!

Fantastic work! I've played a few minutes of the game with your patch and I'm frankly blown away!!! I know there are ports like wargus, and I know about the remastered version, but it's not not the same as playing the game on original hardware... this will surely give me hours of enjoyment, thank you!

Would you by chance be willing to do the same to Dune 2? I know about Dune 2 ports for windows, but I'd love to get the game running on DOS with enhanced controls (multiple unit selection and maybe unit grouping)...

Socket3 wrote on 2025-02-14, 15:37:

genomelak wrote on 2025-01-15, 06:54:

Hello! […]
Show full quote

Hello!

I recently tested the remastered version of WarCraft: Orcs & Humans and was pleased to learn that it contained several Quality of Life (QoL) improvements. Most notably, units can be selected through simplified drag select and commands can be issued through right clicks. It did however not run on MS-DOS nor have an animated war room so naturally I had to refund it.

Since I have absolutely no respect for my own time, I decided to implement the QoL improvements in the original MS-DOS release, which I purchased on CD-ROM back in the 90’s and still own. I’ve named this project WarCraft: Refurbished. So far it features simplified drag select, contextual command dispatch, health bars for damaged units, unit grouping and a bunch of other things making its interaction model similar to the one in the remastered version.

The work is published through the GitHub platform through which the MS-DOS patch can be downloaded. It's currently compatible with the original CD-ROM retail release version 1.21 and version 1.22h. It has not been tested with the GOG release or the Battle.net release and I'd appreciate help testing compatibility with those versions.

Hope that you find this interesting!

Fantastic work! I've played a few minutes of the game with your patch and I'm frankly blown away!!! I know there are ports like wargus, and I know about the remastered version, but it's not not the same as playing the game on original hardware... this will surely give me hours of enjoyment, thank you!

Would you by chance be willing to do the same to Dune 2? I know about Dune 2 ports for windows, but I'd love to get the game running on DOS with enhanced controls (multiple unit selection and maybe unit grouping)...

Thank you!

I completely agree. Remastered and War1gus are great but they feel like completely different games. That's the reason for me deciding to make this patch.

WarCraft: Refurbished has taken me several hundred hours to make of which most of the time was spent disassembling the original executable and mapping out its functionality. Disassembling and mapping is very much process of qualified guessing, which can be very rewarding when you manage to figure out how something works. It can also be incredibly frustrating when you make no progress whatsoever for long stretches of time.

I will not be making another patch like this for the time being due to it being way more time-consuming than I initially anticipated. I'm very satisfied with the results though and am glad to see that I'm not the only one! 😀

dr_st wrote on 2025-01-20, 11:16:

1.22h has no CD check. Pre-1.21 might, according to PCGW. Not sure about 1.21.
A no-CD patch might either work as is, or refuse to work at all because file hashes don't match, or overwrite existing patches. All depends on how the no-CD patch was implemented.

Other patches may be applied before applying the Refurbished patch as long as they don't change the size of the executable. The wcrpatch utility only looks at the executable size to determine where to patch the exe.

A no-CD patch should not be required for 1.21 as far as I know. I believe that you can make a full install and the game will load all game data and movies from the hard drive instead of the CD. But don't take my word for it, I'm playing with the original CD.