[MrFlibble]

This is an attempt to catalogue known demo/shareware versions of Build engine games.

Shareware Episodes

Blood

• v0.99 (1997-03-05): blood.exe
  
• v0.99b (1997-03-14?): blood.exe (file not found yet)
  
• v0.99b - Retail Shareware (1997-03-11): distributed on CD
  
• v0.99c (1997-03-26?): blood.exe (file not found yet)
  
• v1.0 (1997-04-24): blood.exe
  
• v1.0 - TEN version (1997-??-??): blood10.exe (link not working, historical reference only)
  
• v1.01 (1997-06-13): blood.exe
  
• v1.02 (1997-07-01): blood.exe
  
• v1.10 (1997-08-12): blood.exe
  
• v1.10 - TEN version (1997-??-??): blood11.exe (link not working, historical reference only)
  
• v1.11 (1997-09-23): blood.exe
  Patches:
  
  • v0.99 to v0.99b update: bloodpat.exe
    
  • v0.99b to v0.99c update: sw99b99c.exe
    
  • v.099c to v1.0 update: 99C10.EXE
    
  • v1.0 to v1.01 update: sw0001.exe
    
  • v1.01 to v1.02 update: sw0102.exe
    
  • v1.02 to v1.10 update: sw0210.exe
    
  • v1.10 to v1.11 update: sw1011.exe

Duke Nukem 3D

• v1.0 (1996-01-29): 3dduke.zip
  
• v1.1 (1996-02-20): 3dduke11.zip
  
• v1.3d (1996-04-24): 3dduke13.zip
  Patches:
  
  • v1.0 to v1.1: dn3d11pt.zip
    
  • v1.1. to v1.3d: dnsw13pt.zip

Shadow Warrior

• v1.0 (1997-05-13): 3dsw10.zip
  
• v1.1 (1997-05-26): 3dsw11.zip
  
• v1.2 (1997-08-25): 3dsw12.zip
  Patches:
  
  • v1.0 to v1.1: sw11swpt.zip
    
  • v1.1 to v1.2: sw12swpt.exe

Demo Versions

Blood

• v0.91 (1997-01-11): published on PC Gamer #3.02 CD (folder contents)

Duke Nukem 3D

• demo v1.1 - one level (DUKE3D.EXE 1996-03-05): published on Computer Gaming World Magazine #142 CD (folder contents)

Exhumed/Powerslave

• public beta (PS.EXE 1995-10-31): pwrslave.zip
  
• demo - two levels (PS.EXE 1996-01-05): pslave.zip
  
• demo - four levels, tutorial (PS.EXE 1996-08-22): published on PC Gamer #2.13 CD (folder contents)
  
• demo - four levels, tutorial, one multiplayer level (PS.EXE 1996-12-12): pwrslave.zip
  
• demo - one level (EX.EXE 1997-04-11): exwebdem.zip

Fate

• demo (FATE.EXE 1996-10-11): fate.zip

Legend of Seven Paladins 3D

• demo (1994-09-22): 7PALADIN.ZIP

Redneck Rampage

• alpha v0.7 (REDNECK.EXE 1997-01-20): redneckd.zip

William Shatner's TekWar

• v0.90 (TEKD1.EXE 1995-08-15): tekwar.zip
  
• v0.90 (TEKD1.EXE 1995-08-25) w/ Smacker video sequences: published on PC Gamer #12 CD (folder contents)
  
• demo (TEKD1.EXE 1995-08-07): published on Electronic Entertainment (US) 12/95 CD (folder contents)

Witchaven

• v0.1 (WH.EXE 1995-07-18): whaven.zip
  
• v0.1 (WH.EXE 1995-07-21): whaven.zip
  
• v1.0 (WH.EXE 1995-07-31): published on multiple CDs, available as patch
  Patches:
  
  • v1.0 demo update (WH.EXE 1995-07-29): witchfix.zip
    
  • v1.0 demo update (WH.EXE 1995-07-31): wtchfix2.zip

Demo Versions of Add-Ons (require full versions of respective games)

Cryptic Passage

• teaser level 'Lost Monastery': cpteaser.zip

Duke it Out in D.C.

• teaser level 'Hell to the Chief': dcteaser.zip

Wanton Destruction

• shareware version: wdteaser.zip

Original message follows:

Spoiler

I was wondering where all the demo versions of various games (except the obvious shareware versions of Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow Warrior and Blood) came from? I mean, were they downloadable from official websites, various BBS's or distributed on CDs? E.g. I know there are two demo versions of Powerslave that can be found in the cd.textfiles.com collection, but both are early/beta releases, while the four-level demo (which comes as an 11 Mb zip archive) is nowhere to be seen there. Same for the Redneck Rampage demo, which is also around 11 megs. I mean, these were more or less large files to download back then, right? So were they made for electronic distribution, or were they taken off CDs like this enhanced demo of TekWar? On the other hand, the demo of Witchaven even came split into 3.5" disk-sized parts, like it was done here.

[Edit] Apparently, the demo of Redneck Rampage was available from PC Gamer cover disk #3.2 (May 1997)

[Corvin]

I really don't recall where they came from, unless i noted that in there archive. I know some of what I got I DL from FTPs with dial-up back then, 11 megs where probably 1 and 30 min download. I got some of them from perhaps AOL too. I'd have to say most must have been on the likes of pcgamer cds.

Its clear you been doing a lot of research with this and I wish I could help more, maybe somebody else has the details.

[MrFlibble]

He, it's just that it seemed to me that some of the demos are for some reason much more widespread than others. Obviously it's not surprising for the demo/shareware versions of such undoubtedly popular "front row" games like Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow Warrior and Blood to be found everywhere, but some of the others seem rather rare, e.g. the aforementioned Powerslave demo. Maybe I'm a bit biased about this (I like that game because of the Egyptian setting), but it's still kind of noticeable that some demo/shareware files are much more widespread than others (perhaps proportionally to the overall popularity of respective games).

I wonder if there was a CD release of the Powerslave akin to the CD shareware releases of Duke Nukem 3D, Blood and Shadow Warrior.

[Corvin]

Well the first beta of powerslave I had to search for very vigorously. A lot of the released files used the same file name as there shareware counterparts as did the powerslave first beta. I had to go by file size primarily to find it assuming it would be smaller in size than the shareware, which it was of course. Back then in 1997 FTP sites housed a lot of the old BBS (places you call with your modem) files on the internet. They where very popular, if I didn't search for files back then, I wouldn't have found so many that I have on the site.

As far as Commercial Shareware CDs, I highly doubt that these other company's used them, I never read anything about them at least. I think most shareware was available directly from the distributors web sites, some might have even come from the developers sites. Before I even knew what the BUILD engine was I played a shareware version of Witchaven, and that was from the likes of a pc game cd.

[Hendricks266]

When I was a kid my first experiences with Duke, Commander Keen, and other Apogee-published games came from a CD called "Apogee's Greatest Hits" which contained the shareware versions of 15 of their games.

Since they are shareware I have no qualms with uploading it here. http://www.mediafire...2b0cxc9a5ld6k65

[MrFlibble]

This is awesome, thanks for sharing! If you don't mind, I've posted the info about it here and here (those threads are pretty much clones, but anyway ).

[Jimmy]

Demos and shareware were common on shovelware discs back in the day. There was a big business for taking larger files (and even smaller ones) off of FTPs/BBSes and putting them on a disc and selling them.

[MrFlibble]

Haha, that's what cd.textfiles.com is all about But apparently there's a lapse in the archives or whatever, but you won't find the demo versions of, for example, Redneck Rampage or Powerslave (the four-level demo that is) there.

Magazine cover disks are also a nice source of demo and shareware stuff, but many old ones aren't easy to get a hold of these days.

[MrFlibble]

Hmm, I kind of expected the shareware CD to have a nifty graphical interface akin to the Duke Nukem 3D shareware CD (the design resembles that of Rise of the Triad menu interface), but anyway. BTW, does anyone know of or have other officially licensed shareware CD compilations of Apogee/3D Realms games? (I'm not talking about those shovelware CDs here )

[MrFlibble]

I've dug into archive.org, and they have an intact page of Redneck Rampage in the Wayback Machine (complete with preview screenshots and other stuff).

The official Interplay downloads don't work though, since they're all from ftp.interplay.com and ftp1.interplay.com.

[Forge]

try here:

http://archive.org/s...ck%20rampage%29

http://archive.org/d...ls/cdbbsarchive

i'm not sure if it's demo or shareware on the pc gamer 3.2 cd

edit: checked & the demo from Xatrix Entertainment is a good link, but i don't know if it's the same demo from the wayback page you posted up

[Devil Master]

MrFlibble, on 05 May 2012 - 03:30 AM, said:

Haha, that's what cd.textfiles.com is all about But apparently there's a lapse in the archives or whatever, but you won't find the demo versions of, for example, Redneck Rampage or Powerslave (the four-level demo that is) there.

Magazine cover disks are also a nice source of demo and shareware stuff, but many old ones aren't easy to get a hold of these days.

I still have magazine coverdisks with the demos of Powerslave (though it's called Exhumed in that demo) and Redneck Rampage. I uploaded the Powerslave demo here and the Redneck Rampage demo here.

[Forge]

i couldn't find the pc gamer disc for powerslave

you can go through these and see if it's there:
http://archive.org/s...pc%20gamer%20cd

here's the powerslave demo:
http://archive.org/d.../PowerslaveDemo

[MrFlibble]

Well if you want magazine coverdisks then Hallfiry's collection is possibly your best bet. The CDs themselves are hosted by archive.org, and you can browse individual CD contents in the catalogue (you'll need a programme called WhereIsIt? Lite to open the catalogue file).

Although generally, I don't think there are other demo versions apart from what R.T.C.M. or JonoF's site have.

Here's the official Powerslave page from 1997:
http://web.archive.o...ie/pwrslave.htm

The demo (same as on JonoF's site or at Classic PC Games) was also hosted at Playmates FTP. The archived page has some old screenshots, although some are even smaller than 320x200.

[MrFlibble]

There were possibly more demo versions of Powerslave than those three that are known (plus the one-level Exhumed demo that is). The Daily News section at the old PIE website suggests that an updated demo was released on Nov 25, 1996, and an earlier demo version was uploaded at 3D Action Gamers' Archive with a date stamp of Apr 09, 1996 (the file itself was not preserved though).

[Corvin]

It looks like the 3D action gamers' archive has the first beta and shareware, the psdemo.zip is the shareware and the pwerslave.zip is the first beta.

Most sites used the same file names for the two files; pwerslave.zip

Could be wrong but that's what was kicking around back then.

[MrFlibble]

It should be noted that not only the 11 MiB demo is called psdemo.zip instead of pwrslave.zip as it was called on Playmates FTP, but also the date stamp at 3D Action Gamers' Archive is Dec 12, 1996, whereas the official Powerslave page at PIE's website suggests that the final 4-level demo was released on Dec 18, 1996. On the new 3D Gamers' website, the file is already called pwrslave.zip but the date remains Dec 12, 1996.

[MetHy]

I had a 3 level demo of the shareware version of Duke3D as well as a 1 level demo of Powerslave and Redneck Rampage, all from the same french PC magazine special issue that used to come out every 3 months. I probably still have the CDs at my parents.

[Hendricks266]

^Do share.

[MrFlibble]

MetHy, on 14 March 2014 - 08:19 AM, said:

I had a 3 level demo of the shareware version of Duke3D as well as a 1 level demo of Powerslave and Redneck Rampage

Is the 1-level Powerslave demo the same as the BMG Interactive Exhumed demo that can be found here?

I wonder what the 3-level Duke3D demo could be. I only know of an early (supposedly leaked) 3-level demo of Blood (a working download link should be in this post), and also the "exclusive" 1-level demo of Duke Nukem 3D that was made for the Computer Gaming World Magazine. Apparently the CGW staff asked for an exclusive 1-level demo, meaning that there'd be a completely new level (CGW would quite often publish exclusive content demo versions back then), but due to some misunderstanding they just got a cut-down shareware v1.1 that allows to play E1L1, and has a self-running "attract mode" demo of E1L2 (the level is present in the files but can't be played).

[MetHy]

I remember I already shared that 3 demo level here. It was simply the Shareware version cut short to be honest, nothing more. As for the Powerslave demo I don't remember. It might be MONTHS before I go to my parents and be able to fetch those CDs with demos on them though.

Here is the demo :
http://forums.duke4....424#entry140424

As for Powerslave, I'm too lazy to set that up on Dosbox just to check

Also from the same source I had a 1 level demo of Duke It Out In DC, the good thing is that IIRC they didn't cut the art so I had all the art file from Duke It Out In DC to fuck around in Build even though I didn't have the full episode.

[MrFlibble]

MetHy, on 15 March 2014 - 04:10 AM, said:

I remember I already shared that 3 demo level here. It was simply the Shareware version cut short to be honest, nothing more. As for the Powerslave demo I don't remember. It might be MONTHS before I go to my parents and be able to fetch those CDs with demos on them though.

Here is the demo :
http://forums.duke4....424#entry140424

Cool, thanks for sharing! ^_^ BTW, what magazine was that published in?

MetHy, on 15 March 2014 - 04:10 AM, said:

As for Powerslave, I'm too lazy to set that up on Dosbox just to check :P

The Exhumed demo is just the tutorial and the first level (and obviously the title screen is different). For some reason there are actually the first three levels included in the data files but it will drop to DOS after completing level 1.

MetHy, on 15 March 2014 - 04:10 AM, said:

Also from the same source I had a 1 level demo of Duke It Out In DC, the good thing is that IIRC they didn't cut the art so I had all the art file from Duke It Out In DC to fuck around in Build even though I didn't have the full episode.

SunStorm Interactive had a one-level demo available from the Duke It Out in DC page (Wayback Machine copy). They had similar one-level "teasers" for Cryptic Passage and Wanton Destruction.

[MetHy]

The Duke Demo was in PC Collector Magazine Issue #02 May 1996

http://www.abandonwa...=3587&album=oui

Check the part about Duke, it's in French though but there are screenshots and interview

For the other demos further investigation is needed

Edit : - you can see the freezer but the reviewer/tester says it's a flamethrower, 'not fun to use but efficient against big waves'
reading the interview, the composer claims that in duke3D musics don't loop, that they can are interactive with the level (stop in a calm moment then start again)
- Greg Malone says that they are making a sequel of Duke3D using the same engine (probably actually Atomic Edition) and then 'another one' (DNF?)

[MrFlibble]

Thanks again for the info!

[High Treason]

Unless I am mistaken, you can cheat the restrictions on the Duke 3D demos without modifying anything. Basically wait for the demo to start and hit ESC so the menu disappears, assuming the level isn't a playable one hit F2 and you will be able to save a game - be quick! You can then load that game and pick up where the demo left off, you may notice the game saved where the demo was up to behind the menu and the screenshot is mismatched. This certainly worked in the distribution of V1.1 that you could download from 3D Realms or get on CDs although the levels were playable in that one.

Edit; the last duke page in that magazine appears to show a level I was always curious about from the opposite angle, that area with the garage doors, I'd always wanted to see the other side of that room to figure out what level it belonged too, I am still not sure but it seems to be E1L1, as far as I am aware that area is this one;

[MetHy]

High Treason, on 15 March 2014 - 04:23 PM, said:

Edit; the last duke page in that magazine appears to show a level I was always curious about from the opposite angle, that area with the garage doors, I'd always wanted to see the other side of that room to figure out what level it belonged too, I am still not sure but it seems to be E1L1, as far as I am aware that area is this one;

Indeed, I also fail to recognize the level used to show the tripmine.

[High Treason]

I think that is behind the screen in the cinema, the window that leads to the level exit area is behind the player in that shot.

[Fox]

All screens are from Hollywood Holocaust.

The garage is where the player starts, and there is a crack that connects it to the men's bathroom. Also you can see a screenshot of the "upper arcade" in that magazine.

[MrFlibble]

It's not the first time these plans for the early version of E1L1 are mentioned, when exactly was this version of the level used? The leaked beta v0.99 already has a more or less similar layout to what is found in the public releases. I vaguely remember some vidoe footage showing Duke jumping over a chain link fence into the street though.

Also, please remind me if some of the available versions of E1L1 still have traces of the old design.

[Fox]

Naturally, v0.99 is slightly closer to that (mostly the main cinema hall with the bar), but not much.