[Jimmy]

dwtietz, on 26 April 2021 - 01:18 PM, said:

I'd think that if the Blood shareware beta that you're referring to here was indeed uploaded to their FTP server by accident, then that particular version might not entirely be a fair comparison as it could be speculated that some of the files that accompanied it were supposed to be replaced by others. I guess we don't know for sure so it's kind of hard to say.

Coming back to the Redneck Rampage discs though, it's difficult to define them as a demo for a number of reasons:

1) At least one of the two discs (The Early Years) specifically states that it is an OEM version. Perhaps this was pre-installed on some systems as an incentive to purchase a machine. I've never seen or heard of it coming pre-installed on a system, but that doesn't mean that that wasn't ever done.
2) Neither disc mentions even once in any printed form or within the digital data on the disc that they are demo versions. There is not even a hint to suggest this.
3) Both discs do specifically point the end user to go to Interplay's website to obtain "the demo version" (0.7 Moonshine being the only officially released demo version of RR that I've ever heard of).
4) These discs were specifically sold in retail stores and the argument that publishers often sold demos at cheaper prices so that people would try them out doesn't entirely hold water in the case of these discs... I have these discs, I purchased them myself at a store back in the 90's when they came out, and while I don't recall exactly how much they cost me way back then, I do recall that the price difference was not significantly different than that of the regular full retail game (and I was kind of pissed about that at the time).
5) There's one thing that you'll invariably find with any demo, and that is some form of advertisement and/or promotional discount to purchase the full retail version. To the best of my knowledge, neither of these discs contain a single shred of such information. (I'd need to go double check everything to be 100% certain, but I don't recall anything like that on either disc).
6) I appear to have personally hurt Jimmy's feelings in some way. I hope that he may be able to get over it and recover one day.
7) One thing that Interplay was well known for is having a "demos" folder on the CD of the discs that they sold (these discs being no exception) where demo versions of their other games could be found. I'm willing to bet that you could take any other Interplay published CD in the world and you'll never find a copy of either of these versions in the demos folder on any of their discs.
8) As noted earlier, the grp files may actually include all of the game files from the full version. While obviously a lazy mistake, that would be a pretty glaring oversight for something that was specifically intended to be a demo. Back then there were some programs that were distributed as demos that only allowed access to certain areas of the application, but all of the modules were present - This would typically be unlocked by means of a license key that the end user could obtain, but these two game versions offer no such unlocking mechanism so it does not appear at all that this was ever intended.

1) You're dumb.

[Kain17]

FistMarine, on 24 April 2021 - 02:00 AM, said:

As for RR demo versions, I am also impressed by Interplay's idiocy to not releasing the games correctly on steam, not only charging more than the cheaper GOG version but also putting a supposedly demo version of the game that is still saying "Coming soon" after FOUR fucking years! Why? Anyway, I can confirm what dwtietz has been saying all along. Recently, I managed to finally get these two versions of the game from a place that I'd rather not mention as I don't want to risk a ban or something. I will say the site has been very useful so far, especially for preserving history. Once I downloaded them, I took a look inside and compared the GRP files and game data. The GRP file is nearly identical between the two "demos" with only a tile changed I think (I just loaded the REDNECK.GRP in mapster and took a look at maps and tiles) and although most of the game is identical, only the executable and GRP file are different. Yeah the GRP files are still named REDNECK.GRP. The modified executable restricts access to second episode, I think. I haven't played through these demos yet (the only demo I played was the Early Alpha Demo 0.7, which is the common cut-down first level of the game) but I imagine this is what it does. The full game is still there (as in the rest levels E2L1-E2L7 and ENDGAME.MAP) and the rest levels can be still accessed with command line parameters (I think?) because the devs Xatrix or the publisher Interplay was too greedy and lazy to do a proper cut down shareware episode of the game because they were probably afraid the sales would go down or something. A rather interesting and sad turn of events that turned out RR to be so successful after all, despite the overall "Mixed" feelings of the game. Yes, I read the game was selling very well when I looked at some archived sites and sales data back in mid 1997, there were times when this shit was selling better than both Duke Nukem 3D Atomic Edition AND Quake! At least the games Xatrix made later were good, to justify commercial success (can't comment on Kingpin as I never played it but I enjoyed Quake 2: The Reckoning mission pack despite the stupid "function pointers have moved" error that corrupted the saved games and I heard Return to Castle Wolfenstein was really good, should play it soon since I had the original CD from a while back and installed it recently).

wait...you can load the grp in mapster? I got some errors when it did it, how do you do it? (Was interested in editing some of the maps.)

[Kain17]

oasiz, on 22 April 2021 - 08:23 AM, said:

This again makes me want to do a sort of "patch" for the game that balances things out in script while editing some of the maps and other annoyances... If only map mods could be distributed as binary patches.
Maybe sharing maps like it was done with duke3 user maps isn't that bad... just make sure it doesn't work with shareware and you're good to go.

While I joke about Tekwar, RR is really beatiful for a Build title and I think it pulls off many crazy tricks that still aren't too common in user maps today.
Like mentioned there, atmosphere is awesome. To me RR has top immersion out of the classic titles, probably due to the good lighting, realistic art style and ambitious large areas with loads of nature.

It's really a shame that gun balance is somewhere between duke3d and NAM while having some terrible progression decisions.
I haven't put thought to it before but it's kind of clear that they really have quite a bit of unfinished areas & polish left to do in the main game.. Too bad that the sequel didn't go around fixing these.

I also have the urge to patch this game...especially with the maps. Mostly cause this game needs the polish and love a lot more than the other build engine games.

[FistMarine]

Kain17, on 26 April 2021 - 09:34 PM, said:

wait...you can load the grp in mapster? I got some errors when it did it, how do you do it? (Was interested in editing some of the maps.)

Yeah, you can load pretty much any GRP file in Mapster. Create a shortcut and add the desired GRP file to target line with /g command, something like:
D:\EDuke32\mapster32.exe /gREDNECK.GRP

When you load Mapster from the shortcut created, you will have REDNECK.GRP loaded. When loading maps, hold CTRL + F to load the maps from inside the GRP file. Note that the Duke3D maps will always be loaded (I don't know how to make Mapster not load DUKE3D.GRP file when loading other BUILD games) and the redneck maps will replace the Duke3D maps, meaning if you want to look at Redneck maps, look at E1L1-E1L7, E2L1-E2L7, E3L1-E3L7 (the DM levels) and ENDGAME (the final map of the game). I forgot to mention earlier that Early Years and Possum Bayou ALSO include the DM levels inside (E3L1-E3L7), not just the SP levels.
You can do the same to Shadow Warrior and many Duke3D mods that come packed in GRP files, load them up in Mapster and explore the levels that come with the GRP file. To look at replaced art, in 3D mode I point at an object or texture and I press V and look at all the tiles. Hope this helps!

[Phredreeke]

For merely viewing the level I'd suggest using Noesis instead, it's much easier for the novice user

[dwtietz]

And if you want to extract the contents of the grp file, I find that Dragon UnPACKer (as well as other tools) works well and is really user friendly.

[gemeaux333]

Last time I played Redneck Rampage was to try the dos version on dosbox, I wasn't really motivated to go very far and the dynamite crates being vulnerable to fires and instakilling you if you're too close was the last straw/blow, and it was at the drive-in...

[gemeaux333]

I wondered, which key is the "piss button" ?

[Aristotle Gumball]

gemeaux333, on 02 May 2021 - 05:13 PM, said:

I wondered, which key is the "piss button" ?

Alt + F4

[gemeaux333]

Is it possible to change the volume for the "country punk"/"psychobilly" musics on the GOG version (dos version) ?

[Phredreeke]

Yes, you have to edit the BAT file that launches the game. Use MIXER before starting the game to adjust CD volume

https://www.dosbox.com/wiki/MIXER

[gemeaux333]

I tried to edit the music volume in the redneck.cfg but to no vain... can the bat file be edited with a text editor ?

[Aristotle Gumball]

gemeaux333, on 03 May 2021 - 02:03 PM, said:

can the bat file be edited with a text editor ?

YES

[gemeaux333]

ah yes, my bad, its the dosbox config file, and I have to add a line in the "command lines" section at the end of it

https://www.gog.com/...es/music_volume

[Truck Stop Santa Claus]

Yeah, it's shit
but I kinda love it
The music really helps I guess

[gemeaux333]

[Mark]

I installed the game. Ran it and went to the menu to set up controls. I didn't see anything for player controls other than mouse sensitivity and invert. The game uses WASD for movement. Thats a deal breaker for me. I'll look around for a few minutes to marvel at the graphics and then uninstall it.