RON Archaeology: Tracking down games' non-final versions

Denzil Quixode · Wed 31/12/2014 15:03:04

I'm trying to track down as many earlier versions of Reality-on-the-Norm games as I can, particularly the original releases of games that got updated later.

If you are someone who has a long history of downloading RON games as soon as they were released, and you still have access to the computer you did it on, you could be the one to help!

(The one that I would personally really, really like to see again is the original DOS version of Cabbages and Kings...)

Here are some that I know about, there may be more:

~~Cabbages and Kings v1~~ - found!! thanks to Renegade Implementor

~~RON Beach Party (incomplete)~~ - found!! thanks to Renegade Implementor

~~Reality Check v1~~ - found!! thanks to Retro Wolf

~~Night and Day v1~~ - found!! thanks to HandsFree

~~Night and Day v1.1~~ - found!! thanks to HandsFree

I Spy 1 v1
Date: April 9th, 2001
Filename: ispy.zip
Filesize: (unknown)

~~The Postman Only Dies Once v1~~ - found!! thanks to Renegade Implementor

~~I Spy II v1~~ - found!! thanks to Renegade Implementor

~~The First Stitch v1~~ - found!! thanks to Renegade Implementor

~~Disappearance Time v1~~ - found!! thanks to Renegade Implementor

I'd be hugely thankful for any help!

Renegade Implementor · Wed 31/12/2014 23:16:27

After having a look through the files on my machine, I've only been able to find RoN Beach Party, which I've added to the demos page on the RoN site for future download. For now, here's a direct link.

I'm going to keep looking through my backups but they're on CD and so will take longer to go through but I'll be wearing by fedora while I do this because hey, why not? At least I'm assured no ancient traps from long dead civilizations

As an aside to anyone else watching this thread, I also came across Edmundo's beta version Ron Movie Maker program and put it on the RoN site in the fiction section if anyone wants to check it out.

Retro Wolf · Wed 31/12/2014 23:57:32

http://games.softpedia.com/get/Freeware-Games/Reality-on-the-Norm-Reality-Check.shtml
Softpedia stole my reality check trilogy, I believe them to be the original versions.

Denzil Quixode · Thu 01/01/2015 15:13:17

Thanks guys! I've edited my original post to remove those two, and add a few more.

Quote from: Renegade Implementor on Wed 31/12/2014 23:16:27
I'm going to keep looking through my backups but they're on CD and so will take longer to go through but I'll be wearing by fedora while I do this because hey, why not? At least I'm assured no ancient traps from long dead civilizations

Thanks so much for doing that!! I really appreciate it.

Renegade Implementor · Sat 03/01/2015 01:00:18

Did more digging, here's the earliest versions of the following that I have:

Disappearance Time: link

Cabbages & Kings: link

Dead Man's Political Party (v1): link
While you didn't ask for this, I've included it just in case you didn't know there was a version 1/had the version 1.

I Spy 2: link

The Postman Only Dies Once: link
Link on the website now works as well.

The First Stitch: link
Best I could find was the game files which I've recompiled using ags 2.7 as whatever version I originally used to make it was cast into the wind long ago. This will have to suffice unless someone else can come forward with an original compile.

HandsFree · Sat 03/01/2015 01:14:32

Why would you want the earlier versions of Night and Day? The upgrades were just bugfixes. I still have them though...

Denzil Quixode · Sat 03/01/2015 12:06:53

Quote from: Renegade Implementor on Sat 03/01/2015 01:00:18
Did more digging, here's the earliest versions of the following that I have:

Amazing!!! I'm so glad these still existed somewhere. Particularly Cabbages and Kings - it was playing that original version that led me to meet Creed Malay and a friendship that's lasted over a decade now. I can't thank you enough!

Quote from: Renegade Implementor on Sat 03/01/2015 01:00:18
Dead Man's Political Party (v1): link
While you didn't ask for this, I've included it just in case you didn't know there was a version 1/had the version 1.

Oh, sure - don't take my list too seriously, it wasn't meant to be exhaustive, just the ones I'd noticed from poking around.

Quote from: HandsFree on Sat 03/01/2015 01:14:32
Why would you want the earlier versions of Night and Day? The upgrades were just bugfixes. I still have them though...

I know there are surely cases where a revision was done purely for bugfixing (or even just to run on Windows instead of DOS, for those really old games!) but I'm still interested, I admit, purely out of a purist/completist streak to preserve a (tiny) bit of history. I was only slightly exaggerating when I used the word "archaeology" in the thread title, these are historical artifacts to me

Having said that, I'm not going to pressure you if you're not comfortable with it. I do realise it's a weird thing to say to someone: "Thanks for all your hard work - now give me the crappier, more broken version please!"

But hopefully you can see where I'm coming from.

HandsFree · Sat 03/01/2015 14:18:05

Well, as long as you realize these are indeed the crappier versions:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/1jgirjuyp5gugdd/Night_and_Day_v10.zip
http://www.mediafire.com/download/4l2ldq64i49vdr7/Night_and_Day_v11.zip

Denzil Quixode · Sat 03/01/2015 14:59:22

Thank you!! Wow, this thread is a great success - I had no idea if I'd get any replies at all, let alone all this so quickly. Amazing!

DeviantGent · Sat 03/01/2015 17:35:53

Your meticulous collecting of each and every version is admirable! It's happymaking to know that someone somewhere is keeping guard of a little piece of gaming history.