Blood Source Code Release Petition

Apparently a man by the name of Barry Duncan has created an online petition to try and push Atari to release the source code for the 8 year old first person shooter "Blood". I thought Blood was an awesome game and I know alot of people, including myself, would like to atleast be able to play it on a modern Windows OS (apart from all the other features a source port could offer).

Here's an e-mail I recieved from Barry:

Hi,

I've contacted Atari a couple of times. Their reply has always been 'it is our policy to never release the source code for our games'

I was e-mailing Nancy Bushkin in regards to this. They don't really seem interested in chaging that policy :\

The petition was started a few months ago. I'm hoping to print it out and send an actually letter to Atari, as this will probably be taken more seriously than e-mails would be.

If you're keen to see the Blood Source code released, then send an e-mail to Nancy Bushkin just asking if Atari ever have plans to release the source code. If the more people e-mail asking about it, the more they might take notice perhaps..

I'm especially anxious for the Blood source to get released, with the Shadow Warrior code release date getting nearer. I don't want Blood getting forgotten in all the recent Duke3D/Shadow Warrior fanbase rebirth.

We shall keep trying :)

Regards,
Barry

Not sure who Nancy Bushkin is... I'll have to ask him about that.

Sign it. Now! Blood Source code petition

Online petitions never work, but it would be nice for the blood source to be out. I want to actually be able to play blood again.

Please stop, we do not need yet another Blood source code petition.

I'm in the wrong business, since apparently nobody can find a 6-year-old PC rig for chump change. Hell, I can ask any price!

Their reply has always been 'it is our policy to never release the source code for our games'

That sounds like a firm and deliberate policy that they won't waver from. Presumably they perceive a danger in setting any sort of precedent, regardless of the arguments for/against releasing the code in this specific case. I can understand that.

Google is your friend kids...

http://www.deathmask.net/buildxp/

Step 1 - Install the games (use these directories!)
Install the game(s) you want to play if you haven't already. You MUST use the following directories or everything else you do will not matter! The games will NOT work if you do not use these directories.

* Duke Nukem 3D - C:\Games\Duke3D\
* Shadow Warrior - C:\Games\SW\
* Blood - C:\Games\Blood\

This seems bizarre to me. If the software (I assume that it is software doing this) is so rigid and/or sloppy that it hard-codes certain directory structures, then I would not put much trust into it to behave on my computer.

Then again, these ARE the actual directory paths that I WOULD want to use. I would actually complain if I had to use any directory structure OTHER than the ones listed here.

It works perfectly fine Andrew. The paths are not hardcoded; VDMSound runs games via shortcut files which you configure with whatever settings you need get the game working, including the path to the EXE. The guy who put that page together is only forcing people to use specific paths so he can provide VLP files (the VDMSound shortcuts) that don't need tweaking, which is a hell of a lot quicker and easier for everyone than a page of instructions detailing how VDMSound's many options need to be set to ensure success.

If everything works OK you're free to move the game's files elsewhere so long as you update the shortcuts he provides accordingly.

Why would I want to move the files elsewhere?

It depends if you're the lazy type or not.

The petition has been going for AGES, and has never been successful. Just play/contribute to Transfusion instead.

AndrewB said:

Why would I want to move the files elsewhere?

I have no idea. I'm just saying it's possible to do, in case anyone was thinking along the same lines as you.

Damn, another one? FFS, just settle with hacking up the Duke 3d source code to emulate Blood.

BBG said:

Damn, another one? FFS, just settle with hacking up the Duke 3d source code to emulate Blood.

If Strife can be hacked into BOOM (ala SVStrife), I'm pretty sure it's possible to hack Blood into Duke3D, with a little work. I think I remember seeing a project like that in the works a few years ago.

I was lucky enough to get Blood working on my computer. It's still as awesome as I remember.

,

I followed that guide ages ago, hoping for favorable results under Win2K as well. The game ran, minus the sound effects. This was better than Shadow Warrior, though, which crashed whenever I attempted to go underwater. It was apparently related to the sound card, but I never pursued the problem further, so no matter.

Over at the 3DRealms forums, there was talk of a Blood port being developed using the Duke3D source, but no new posts have been made in nearly half a year.

http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB7&Number=512454&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=93&fpart=1

Too bad. :/

I want ZBlood. Now.

AndrewB said:

Why would I want to move the files elsewhere?

Maybe because they order their files differently? Or they prefer to have their games on d: , not c: ? There are many reasons.

Blood... What a game... I spent last summer slaughtering evil with our old family computer at home. Blood has got to be one of the best pre-3d FPSs out there (aside from Doom, of course). Of course, frankly, I'd be just as happy to get my hands on an old computer capable of playing Blood as I would to have an XP-compatible source port. Old computers are great... Just a couple weeks ago my friends practically had to hold me back to stop me from ordering an Apple II from half.com for $100.

Who cares?

Isn't that game like 10 years old now?

Fredrik said:

Who cares?

Isn't that game like 10 years old now?

Good point.

Fredrik said:

Who cares?

Isn't that game like 10 years old now?

I'm sure there's a joke in this response somewhere...

Fredrik

Bingo.

I'd be just as happy to get my hands on an old computer capable of playing Blood as I would to have an XP-compatible source port.

A port is not needed. Just follow the instructions in the page I linked to above. I've tried it on two computers and it worked flawlessly both times.

Fredrik said:

Who cares?

Isn't that game like 10 years old now?

That's what people would be saying if the Doom source never was released. Also, there's no Win/Lin/Mac solution for Blood itself, so the source code is indeed needed for a release.

Who cares my arse; it's a kick-ass game.

JoelMurdoch said:

I'm sure there's a joke in this response somewhere...

JoelMurdoch said:

A port is not needed. Just follow the instructions in the page I linked to above. I've tried it on two computers and it worked flawlessly both times.

Flawlessly?! I think your about the only person who can claim that. I think a port for NT/2000/XP systems is as much "needed" as it was for DooM or Duke3D and theres really no reason for Atari not to release the source code. Where would the Doom or Duke3d community be without the source code releases? Probably long dead. Duke3D was pretty much extinct until the source came out, and walla, instant community + opengl, tcp/ip, better controls, and a whole crap load of other stuff not to mention new maps.

Why should the Blood fans be left out?

Ohhhhkaaaay....

Allow me to rephrase - if all you want to do is play the game, follow the instructions in the page I linked to above. I was able to get flawless results on two very different computers, where previously the game worked on neither. The instructions involve downloading a special piece of software which acts, I suppose, as an emulator for the sound and other settings which Blood is used to.

Calm the hell down and stop reading conspiracy theories in my words please.

I think I came off a little to harsh, I apologize. My point is you are one of the very few lucky people that is able to attain flawless game play and can enjoy the original game as it was intended to be played. The rest of us have tried everything (yes, vdmsound, dosbox and everything else) with disappointing and mostly barely playable results.

JoelMurdoch said:

I was able to get flawless results on two very different computers, where previously the game worked on neither. The instructions involve downloading a special piece of software which acts, I suppose, as an emulator for the sound and other settings which Blood is used to.

VDMSound?

These guys don't think so

The only way you could really get the source code for Blood is if you recreated it yourself, and if you did I'm sure there would be legal issues; Atari does reserve the right to keep the source code to themselves, as previously stated.

Lord FlatHead said:

I want ZBlood. Now.

Check the ZDoom.org forums for "ZDuke". Randy made a port of Duke3D using ZDoom source, maybe with some delicate hacks you can get Blood to work. Map headers for Blood and Duke3D should be identical... Format 7...?

gargoylol said:

VDMSound?

These guys don't think so

/joel loses will to live

If you'd read the instructions on the buildxp page, you'd see that one step involves running CLIP2NOP, which kills CLI calls in the EXE, thus solving the problem TX refers to in the topic you've linked.

TX's knowledge is either incomplete or outdated by quite a while, as VDMSound actually has a built in CLI killer. It just makes more sense to run CLI2NOP as the changes are permanent.