Blue Force file size question

[notbobsmith]

This might be a silly question, but... why does the CD version of Blue Force have a 60 Meg file? It would make sense if it was a "talkie", but there are no voices and it doesn't seem to have enough content to justify 60 Megs worth of data. The CD itself had some audio that's an interview with Jim Walls, but I'm pretty sure the audio is separate from the data. Anyway, just curious and wondering if anyone knew.

[Tawmis]

This might be a silly question, but... why does the CD version of Blue Force have a 60 Meg file? It would make sense if it was a "talkie", but there are no voices and it doesn't seem to have enough content to justify 60 Megs worth of data. The CD itself had some audio that's an interview with Jim Walls, but I'm pretty sure the audio is separate from the data. Anyway, just curious and wondering if anyone knew.

I have the CD version of Blue Force and the disk version. There are 8 disks. (I'd need to dig up my CD to see how big the file is). But 8 disks is a lot - each of them is about 1.37MB of data which is about 10.96MB... so not even close to 60MB.

Although the .ISO file I ripped of my Blue Force CD is 407MB.

[Collector]

A few strings from that file:

Code: Select all

calendar is small enough to carry in your pocket.
The note reads: SKIP DIXON! I have something of yours. Bring this note to Mr. Carter to claim your property.
A mug shot of Richard 
Snowman
 Cobb.
A newspaper article about your parent's murder.
A sheet of Microfiche.
These are the keys to the Future Wave.
These are the keys to the rental boat.
Kate Prittchard wrote 
WEASEL
 on this napkin.
This is the police printout on Richard Cobb.
This is a fishing net.
This is your ID.
These are from the box of government 9mm ANG rounds taken from the trailer.
The note, initialled 
, is a list of dates for arms shipments from a Marble Head Island warehouse.
This is a hand grenade.
This is a 110 volt extension cord.
This is a 110 volt extension cord.
This is a 220 volt extension cord.
This is a 220 volt extension cord.
This is a 220 volt extension cord.
An official looking document.
A red sweater.
A common jackknife.
It appears to be a whistle of some sort.
Your ammunition belt
This is the key you got from the Alley Cat's manager
o
o

Unknown Inventory Item
Remember, your weapon is not a toy!
Ammo Magazines are for your gun.
Ammo Magazines are for your gun.
Your handcuffs are for official use only.
This weapon is evidence, not a plaything.
There's no reason to write a ticket here.
've already memorized the Miranda Card.
Forest Follet's RAP sheet is useless here.
Bradford Green's ID is evidence, not a plaything.
Be careful with Skip's baseball card.
Green's booking slip is evidence, not a plaything.
You had better be careful with that flare.
Cobb's rap sheet is of no use here.
These cartridges are evidence, not playthings.
This rifle evidence, not a plaything.

[Rath Darkblade]

"This rifle evidence, not a plaything"? I guess someone forgot the 'is'?

Same thing with this (someone forgot the 'you'):

've already memorized the Miranda Card.

Sorry to be pedantic. I've worked as an editor for some years, so ...

[notbobsmith]

This might be a silly question, but... why does the CD version of Blue Force have a 60 Meg file? It would make sense if it was a "talkie", but there are no voices and it doesn't seem to have enough content to justify 60 Megs worth of data. The CD itself had some audio that's an interview with Jim Walls, but I'm pretty sure the audio is separate from the data. Anyway, just curious and wondering if anyone knew.

I have the CD version of Blue Force and the disk version. There are 8 disks. (I'd need to dig up my CD to see how big the file is). But 8 disks is a lot - each of them is about 1.37MB of data which is about 10.96MB... so not even close to 60MB.

Although the .ISO file I ripped of my Blue Force CD is 407MB.

The size of the ISO image makes sense since it includes the audio from the Jim Walls interview. Otherwise there are 3 files in the game directory: the CFG file, a 1 Meg EXE and BLUE.RLB which is 62 Megs. So how does the BLUE.RLB file look like on the floppy version? I can't think of a reason for the extra bulk.

A few strings from that file:

Code: Select all

calendar is small enough to carry in your pocket.
The note reads: SKIP DIXON! I have something of yours. Bring this note to Mr. Carter to claim your property.
A mug shot of Richard 
Snowman
 Cobb.
A newspaper article about your parent's murder.
A sheet of Microfiche.
These are the keys to the Future Wave.
These are the keys to the rental boat.
Kate Prittchard wrote 
WEASEL
 on this napkin.
This is the police printout on Richard Cobb.
This is a fishing net.
This is your ID.
These are from the box of government 9mm ANG rounds taken from the trailer.
The note, initialled 
, is a list of dates for arms shipments from a Marble Head Island warehouse.
This is a hand grenade.
This is a 110 volt extension cord.
This is a 110 volt extension cord.
This is a 220 volt extension cord.
This is a 220 volt extension cord.
This is a 220 volt extension cord.
An official looking document.
A red sweater.
A common jackknife.
It appears to be a whistle of some sort.
Your ammunition belt
This is the key you got from the Alley Cat's manager
o
o

Unknown Inventory Item
Remember, your weapon is not a toy!
Ammo Magazines are for your gun.
Ammo Magazines are for your gun.
Your handcuffs are for official use only.
This weapon is evidence, not a plaything.
There's no reason to write a ticket here.
've already memorized the Miranda Card.
Forest Follet's RAP sheet is useless here.
Bradford Green's ID is evidence, not a plaything.
Be careful with Skip's baseball card.
Green's booking slip is evidence, not a plaything.
You had better be careful with that flare.
Cobb's rap sheet is of no use here.
These cartridges are evidence, not playthings.
This rifle evidence, not a plaything.

I did play around with a hex viewer (I don't actually know what I am doing but was curious) and found bits of text from the game like this.

On an unrelated note, I do find it amusing that modern EXEs have text in them that says "This program cannot be run in DOS mode." After all these years...

[Tawmis]

On an unrelated note, I do find it amusing that modern EXEs have text in them that says "This program cannot be run in DOS mode." After all these years...

Isn't that the DOS error message if someone attempts to run it in DOS?

[notbobsmith]

On an unrelated note, I do find it amusing that modern EXEs have text in them that says "This program cannot be run in DOS mode." After all these years...

Isn't that the DOS error message if someone attempts to run it in DOS?

Exactly. That bit of code is there in case someone tries to run it in a long defunct OS.

[Tawmis]

On an unrelated note, I do find it amusing that modern EXEs have text in them that says "This program cannot be run in DOS mode." After all these years...

Isn't that the DOS error message if someone attempts to run it in DOS?

Exactly. That bit of code is there in case someone tries to run it in a long defunct OS.

Gotta cover all the bases. Set the bar for the lowest intelligence, and you will catch'em all.