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Dozens of Vintage Space Games Now Available Online (MSDOS Archive)

FWIW, we just released TDC #9 last month, so the stuff on archive.org is now pretty stale.
Each release supersedes each previous release as files get renamed due to typos and other fixes happen to the collection.
You'll need to look on other sites to locate the download though.

Please keep an eye open for that shoebox of floppies in the back of the closet for me- there may be undiscovered gems out there that haven't yet made it into the collection.
 
There is a windows based tool called DOSCenter (ironic to have a windows tool to sort DOS games, but whatever!)
http://nugnugnug.com/

There's a reference manual available there too. Anyone who has ever worked with console rom collections and renaming/sorting/identification tools should instantly familiar with what DOSCenter does. For anyone not familiar with working with renaming tools, DOSCenter loads in a .dat file which is generated off the collection's contents. You can then use it to compare zip files of games you have against what is in that .dat file. If DC recognizes the game, it will suggest the correct zip filename for it, and that basically means that game is in the collection. If DOSCenter says "no good matches" then that game is not in the collection, and we're interested in it.*

.dat files for each of the past few TDC releases are here:
http://nugnugnug.com/pc/master/

When I was a younger whippersnapper, having my DOS games named as "IJ3THG-1.ZIP" never seemed to bother me- I could remember what the heck that meant. Nowadays, I need a full title to be able to locate the game I want to play. DOSCenter totally helps with this task.


* = we want everything with some exceptions- self extracting .exe files of a game aren't wanted. Likewise, things like a .rar file inside a .zip file doesn't make sense to include in the collection either. It also has to be a game! Obviously there are commonly available games that we haven't yet had a chance to archive- there's probably no need to send me something already on the internet. The real gems are going to be found by going through personal collections of games obtained pre-internet.
 
Hi,

Looking at nugnugnug.com/pc/master/ALLMISS.TEXT - I might have a 3.5 floppy image of Math Blaster Mystery (1991).

I do not know of the image 'quality' as it's acquired "second-hand" from other unknown sources but it does play in dosbox. Cannot PM you a tinyupload link to check it until my post count goes up. :mrgreen:

Also your "Starflight (1987)(Electronic Arts, Inc.) [Role-Playing (RPG)]" is uncracked - I have that cracked. And an alternate crack for Starflight 1986 that doesn't complain you entered a bad passcode.

I really like your project and hope to help in any tiny way. Thanks!
 
Have a floppy image of Mike Ditka Ultimate Football game that does not match your database - readme seems newer version. It's uncracked and I also have a crackfix. Also have a few other disks that you might be looking for.

There's also several games in the allmiss list that I could give you direct weblinks for - they are usually trusted clean dumps from original media.

Just waiting for PM ability to activate. ;)
 
Does DOSCenter have a web page or forum anywhere?

I downloaded a Doom 1.1 shareware from http://www.doomworld.com/pageofdoom/shareware.html . This file contains a file_id.diz with a contemporary 1990's date on it, while DOSCenter's database has a different file_id.diz dated 2011. My guess is that the one in the shareware is the original file_id.diz. I haven't tried the others (except 1.0, which is broken) but wouldn't be surprised if they had such a file too.

Several years ago I got some games on CD at 49 cents each at closeout at an EB Games. I just tried using DOSCenter on one of them, Out Of This World. DOSCenter shows that the files are the same as Out Of This World (1991), *except* that the CD version contains an additional install.bat file dated 1995. I haven't checked the others but wouldn't be surprised if they also contained extra files.

Also, I suggest that DOScenter have an option to ignore case in .zip file contents (so I don't get lots of "misnamed" files because I created the .zip on something other than a DOS machine) and an option to look at a directory instead of a .zip.
 
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