Non-Sierra Installers and Patches

[Collector]

The experimental patch was not intended for the 4 CD version. I was trying to crate a patch for the other version without a copy with only input from someone who did. The DLL package should be enough for the 4 CD version.

[Collector]

I updated the first post with some new installers. Please read the included note with the new entries.

[Tawmis]

That sir, is a long list! And even installers that now support MUNT for the Sierra games! More awesome than awesome, all together!

Even if there's game installers there for games I don't have, I still want to say thanks for doing this type of stuff!

[dotkel50]

I updated the first post with some new installers. Please read the included note with the new entries.

Collector,
I clicked on the Discworld Noir patch link and got the following:

Internal Server Error
The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.

Please contact the server administrator, webmaster@sierrahelp.com and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error.

More information about this error may be available in the server error log.

Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.

[Collector]

I have been fighting with the hosting service again. There has to be another site on the server that is abusing the database server. The database server keeps getting brought to its knees. There is nothing wrong with the link itself. Try it again.

[dotkel50]

It's ok now.

[Collector]

Toonstruck added.

[Collector]

Added The Neverhood

[adeyke]

From the original post:

Sierra games with Munt:
A little misplaced for the non-Sierra installer thread, but I did not want to add the following to the installer page because of their extra requirement. These are new installers for a few Sierra games that include a Munt enabled build of DOSBox. They require the "MT32_CONTROL.ROM" and "MT32_PCM.ROM" ROMs be present on installation. Because of questionable status of the their IP, please do not publicly ask for these here. Remember, Google is your friend.

[Collector]

There are several versions of Sierra's first SCI game, "King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella". In addition to revisions of the PC version, there were ports for other platforms. These ports often had different features based on what the abilities of the target platform. The Amiga port had digital sound effects for environmental sounds, which was missing from the PC version. NewRisingSun, famous for his timer bug patches for several problematic SCI games and SCI sound driver hacks has created a patch to add these environmental sounds from the Amiga version to the PC version.

In my view, there is no "perfect" version of KQ4:
[*]PC version 1.000.106 and 1.000.111 are the only ones with the original detailed graphics. For later versions (1.003.006 onwards), Sierra would simplify the background graphics to make the game fit on one 5.25 inch diskette, removing background detail and separate night pictures.

See http://queststudios.com/smf/index.php/topic,2802.0.html

[*]PC version 1.006.004 is the latest PC version and has the main character walking faster diagonally. It also changes the arrangement for the Fisherman's theme (for the better), and replaces "Lolotte's death" music with a completely different (more appropriate) tune.
[*]Amiga Version 1.023 is the only one with environmental sound effects, and a few additional incidental sound effects as well. The music is horrendous on the other hand.
[*]AGI version 2.0 is the only one with the "beam me" Easter egg.

I therefore tried to combine the best from all versions. So far, I have succeeded combining the first three. I am releasing this as a preliminary patch in the event that someone wants to try it.

The end result is a version that combines all of the best features from the various versions and can be played in DOSBox with the higher detailed graphics, improved sprite movement, Roland MT-32 music with the Amiga sound effects and the AGI "beam me" Easter egg.



The original NRS KQ4 patch only worked with the PC version 1.000.111 and required the extracted files from the Amiga version 1.023. You had to install the Amiga version in an emulator like WinUAE to get the files for his patch to extract the Amiga audio resources. This can be involved if you do not already have an emulator setup. It also used some DOS based tools to modify the files, so his patch had to be run in DOSBox for anyone on x64 Windows.

This installer uses a binary level difference patch that automatically patches the game. It will work with PC versions 1.000.111 and 1.006.004 with no need to extract the audio resources from the Amiga version. This is all done completely from Windows, even x64. This installer also takes advantage of a special build of DOSBox with Munt for Roland sound.

The link can be found at the end of the first post.

[adeyke]

I tried that KQ4 patcher, and it might not be so ultimate after all. See the attached image.

My starting version was from the King's Quest Collection.

[adeyke]

I decided to just play through the rest, anyways, and did so successfully. The only other glitch I noticed is that a zombie on the south edge of the west graveyard screen would flicker when going past the big tree (as if it's sometimes behind the tree?). I don't know if that could also happen in the unpatched game, but either way, it's a much smaller issue than whatever happened to that witch screen.

[Collector]

I don't particularly remember any flickering before. I have not had time to play through with the patch.

[adeyke]

Okay, I checked. My unpatched game doesn't have the problem. The zombies would just be in front of the tree there. In the patched game, they'll sometimes flicker and sometimes blatantly go through the tree (visually) when they're walking around south of it. I'm guessing it has something to do with the priority or control data for that scene. And it does appear that the control data for 16 (day) is subtly different from that of 116 (night). I'm not sure if that's significant. The unpatched game doesn't have any control data for 116 because of the weird "draw the night parts over the day screen" thing.

For witch screen (57), the unpatched version has a much smaller and lower shelf, and also smaller witches. I'm attaching a screenshot for comparison purposes. So some kind of incompatibility between the two assets must be causing that bug.

[Collector]

Do you have a save at the point of the flicker?