From: tanida@forseti.css.gov (Tom Tanida)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games
Subject: Re: Strike Commander demo SCREWUP
Date: 25 Sep 92 23:04:32 GMT
Reply-To: tanida@forseti.css.gov (Tom Tanida)
In-reply-to: rmg53668@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Ryan M. Grant)

In article <Bv3zyD.MDs@news.cso.uiuc.edu>, rmg53668@uxa (Ryan M. Grant) writes:
>I like Origin.  I like Wing Commander.  I might like Strike Commander, but
>I havn't had the chance to find out yet.
>
>I don't like the method used to upload Strike Commander.  I don't like the
>program used to compress Strike Commander.  I don't like the setup chosen
>for me to run Strike Commander.  I dont like the UNIX filenames chosen for 
>Strike Commander files meant for my PC.  Most importantly, my computer
>doesn't like the end result of all this hastle, and has decided not to run
>the garbage fed into it.

For anybody considering D/Ling the demo:

I sincerely doubt that this demo has been released into the public
domain by Origin.  My reasons for this would be for all
of the reasons listed above.  So in this case, I'd recommend only
getting it if you have an SB, or a Roland and an SB.

>I figured Strike Commander would be worth finding.  So I hopped over to
>wuarchive and ftp'd it (another bad experience altogether with the crappy
>malfunctioning clones in the dorm's basement).  Then I figured out which
>rewritten, unsupported, and incompatable ("updated"?!?) compression
>program to use.  It produced the output it was made to, (what was fed into it)
>but not the output necessary for a functional program.  Glaring omissions
>include the already mentioned INSTALL.EXE. Instead, I found a setup made for
>me, by someone who obviously did NOT have me, the general user, in mind.
>DEMO.EXE told me "Sound hardware for sbdig.adv not found."  I'm not suprised,
>since I don't OWN a soundblaster.  But if I had the entire program, including
>the means for configuring said system, I might be able to handle such simple
>procedures myself - instead of bugging the entire net to upload a fix.
>Of course, a fix has already been uploaded, to make SB people happy.  In the
>off chance that configurations got reversed, I tried this.  It didn't work.
>I'm sure they went through many of the same thoughts before they got their fix.

Again, I don't believe this demo was made for the general user.
It was most likely made purely to run on Origin's computers for the
purpose of demo-ing at trade shows, just like the WC2DEMO that was
floating around before the release of WC2.

I'd expect the INSTALL to do some quick and dirty reconfiguring for
individual machines, but I wouldn't expect even that (if it had been
included) to have been indicative of the final product.

If you don't believe me, go on CompuServe's GAMPUB forum and ask
Marie (Origin's Customer Service rep) yourself.  There is no
formally released demo of SC on CompuServe or Origin's BBS.  The compression is
definitely PKZ193A.  The person who created the archive probably would have
done better to use something like ARJ or normal ZIP 1.1.

In addition, the "fix" to work with the SB is probably just some hack 
of the demo to kludge it to run without griping about the lack of a
Roland.  It worked for me just fine.  (Just like the WC2 "demo" that
leaked out too.)

>I now have a directory full of Strike Commander files sitting idle.
>Turns out there's another delay in distribution for Strike Commander....

Why don't you erase them?  And last I heard, SC is still on target for
an approximate Thanksgiving release.

-Tom
tanida@esosun.css.gov
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