Maes
I like big butts!
Posts: 8664
Registered: 07-06 |
Swiss_Cheeseman said:
Could it be possible to load wad data directly from the original shareware zip file?
It's made complicated by the fact that the "original .zip file" actually contains a DOS-based installer program, which uses a custom compression system (ICE/DEICE) to decompress and install the game.
So making a conveniently automated (from the total dummy user point of view) would require making a system that can decompress ICE files found inside a ZIP archive, That is, assuming that id doesn't give further grief when reverse-engineering the format (which appears to be a derivative of the older freeware LHA format anyway).
This ridiculous workaround would only need to be used for ports that "get" their IWADs online from a fixed source anyway. Any desktop port can reasonably ignore this stick-up-the-ass procedure, and just assume that the user has half-a-brain, functional enough to provide unpacked IWADs.
fraggle said:
This is the most insightful post I've seen so far. That actually sort of makes sense. Thanks.
Only that the wording of the takedown notice doesn't clearly put a line where the "data" ends, and where the "engine" starts. If it was enough to just remove doom1.wad from the bundle, why didn't they just do that and leave the engine online?
(OK, I can sort of guess the answer to this one: because it would require implementing a whole binary IWAD getter/loader, which would require some extra work to attach to a -mostly automatically converted- program, probably longer than it took to cross-compile the whole thing. Without that part, if would be futile to keep it online).
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07-23-11 10:36 
