[MrFlibble]

Thanks to Hallfiry's gaming magazine cover CD index an early demo version of In Pursuit of Greed was found which was released somewhere in late August (a month earlier than v2.0): folder contents on the CD. The CD itself can be found here.

The editors have unpacked the files and added their own installer (it is possible that the demo was distributed with Channel 7's installer, like later versions), so the distribution is not original. I have repacked the files and uploaded them here: greed.zip

An internal string in the executable identifies this version as 1.016. There are three levels from the city-temple episode, as in demo v2.0, but they use different music tracks. The level warp cheat, contrary to what the readme states, is simply GO# (where # is the level number), just like in the final version.

There are some quite noticeable differences compared to v2.0. Some textures and possibly the palette have been changed between v1.0 and v2.0. One notable feature is that sliding doors open automatically when the player approaches them. However, this seems to crash the game sometimes, and perhaps this is why that feature was removed. Also, monsters seem to get stuck in these doors.

The priest and archer (Veek Warrior according to the internal strings) have slightly different sprites and/or animations compared to v2.0. There is no giant head monster. Instead, there's another enemy type, possibly called a Veek Lord:


The player's clones (created with the Clone item) will attack the player but seemingly ignore monsters:


Some more screenshots can be found here:
http://imgur.com/a/BRN2q

[MrBlackCat]

HOLY HELL!
After all this time and not having this game in my collection... the eBay bomb drops.
Dirt Cheap, new, multiple copies. Bought two myself. This kind of stuff makes game collecting great!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/291379675751

Thank you Lunick for starting this thread.

MrBlackCat

[Marphy Black]

Hot damn, that deal seems too good to be true. I sure hope it is true, because I'm biting the bullet on that one.

[Lunick]

Holy shit, leave one for me please!

Edit:
Do you offer international shipping?
This seller doesn't offer international shipping.

[Malgon]

^I think that might be more of a default thing that sellers have in place when they set the listing up, as in my experience whenever I've asked if they will ship international when it says that they don't, they've always been happy to do it. Unless you've already double-checked and they definitely said they won't, I would ask them just in case.

[Daedolon]

"May not ship to Finland"

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFf.

[Blzut3]

Nice find, might have to add it to my own collection as well.

Quick update: As of today, Robert hasn't had time to seek clarification on the license issue yet.

[Lunick]

It's showing a price now for international shipping and...

[MrBlackCat]

Ouchy... international shipping is rather high. Wonder why...
PM me your postal code and I will see what it would cost to ship it to you.

MrBlackCat

[Marphy Black]

This arrived in the mail today:



It does not appear to be a cleverly disguised IED as of yet, so great success!

It shall now join my pantheon of legendary first person shooters that have defined today's generation:

Spoiler

[Lunick]

[MrBlackCat]

Mine got here today also!



MrBlackCat

Edit: Sorry for the large photo. The forum seems to be defeating my thumbnail code for some reason. Any suggestions? This is the first time I have seen this happen here, and it doesn't do it on other forums I am using.

[MrFlibble]

Another early demo was found on the InterActive Entertainment Episode 18 CD (CD image @ archive.org). The internal version number is 1.020, and the date stamp on the game executable is from Sep 8, 1995. I've repacked the files and uploaded it here: greed102.zip

The earlier demo version's number is 1.016, and the files are from August 1995. Version 1.020 is much closer to v2.0. The "Veek Lord" monster is no longer present, and the "Big Head" monster is added in this version. Version 1.020 also added what seems to be a multiplayer level with space station textures and no monsters.

[MrFlibble]

I made some further comparisons between the pre-release demo versions, and it turns out that I have provided some incorrect information previously.

MrFlibble, on 26 January 2015 - 09:19 AM, said:

One notable feature is that sliding doors open automatically when the player approaches them. However, this seems to crash the game sometimes, and perhaps this is why that feature was removed. Also, monsters seem to get stuck in these doors.

The doors open automatically not only in the earliest demo, but in versions up to v2.0 (and possibly later) as well. The rear view camera screen is also positioned in the top right corner in all versions. Not sure why I thought otherwise.

[MrFlibble]

Apparently this CD has the original ZIP of the demo v1.016 (which was found earlier here in unpacked form):
http://www.kultcds.c...ax=3341335&o=da

The CD is available from archive.org. It seems to contain ZIPs for every featured game, although these files were all renamed into original.zip. At least the files are hopefully authentic.

[Edit] Nope, most zips on that CD aren't in the least original, with modified game configuration files from 1998.

[Lunick]

I assume no one made a proper Windows port then yet?

[MrFlibble]

I'm thinking maybe suggest this as an addition to the XL Engine, but it certainly won't be a top priority even if luciusDXL agrees to do that.

[MrFlibble]

MrFlibble, on 12 March 2016 - 03:56 AM, said:

Apparently this CD has the original ZIP of the demo v1.016 (which was found earlier here in unpacked form):
http://www.kultcds.c...ax=3341335&o=da

Sadly this turned out to be not the case. The "original" zips on that CD are repacks from 1998. No idea why they were left on the disk.

[MrFlibble]

I wonder if anyone tried to do anything with the source and/or the incomplete Win32 port uploaded at the Red Shadow Software page?

[Daedolon]

Good point. Wish I had time.

[MetHy]

MrBlackCat, on 20 February 2015 - 07:25 PM, said:

Edit: Sorry for the large photo. The forum seems to be defeating my thumbnail code for some reason. Any suggestions? This is the first time I have seen this happen here, and it doesn't do it on other forums I am using.

Goddamn, those Powerslave and Exhumed boxes, I want them.

[MrFlibble]

I just found a Dutch gaming website from 1997 which has a review of In Pursuit of Greed:
http://www.pi.net/game/msdos/schieten/greed.html


I haven't encountered either image anywhere before, and it's not among screenshots from the back of the game's box (which uses images found here) the website in question generally used screenshots from official sources (like these nicely preserved images from The Terminator: Future Shock), so I'm tentatively assuming that these screenshots are official too. The Softdisk website had a screenshots page separate from the Mind Shear Software subpages, but no images (which were apparently in full resolution) had not been preserved. The images in question might well come from this source.

The DownloadStore page of the In Pursuit of Greed demo has a completely different image:

[MrFlibble]

I just discovered that the Iron Seed source page (Iron Seed was an earlier game by Channel 7) contains a PDF with concept art scans for IPoG.

[Fantinaikos]

Question: Who wish for GreedGDX?

[Lunick]

I don't want another Java source port ever.

[MrFlibble]

Apparently the first episode of the game was included with Simuleyes 2 alongside Rise of the Triad and some other titles.

[MrFlibble]

MrFlibble, on 06 December 2016 - 08:53 AM, said:

I wonder if anyone tried to do anything with the source and/or the incomplete Win32 port uploaded at the Red Shadow Software page?

Well guys, someone did:
xGreed is a source port of the game "In Pursuit of Greed"

[Gambini]

It originally included support for VR helmet, i wonder if it now includes oculus rift!

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