Darwinia on Steam

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n3r0
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Darwinia on Steam

Postby n3r0 » Sun Apr 01, 2012 10:01 pm

I've bought Darwinia on Steam. But why it's only version 1.5.10.0 instead of 1.5.11?
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bert_the_turtle
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Postby bert_the_turtle » Mon Apr 02, 2012 8:41 am

Do you know of any significant changes between those versions?
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Postby n3r0 » Fri Apr 06, 2012 6:30 pm

"The latest patch (1.5.11) provides additional content with Windows Vista users."

I like to play the latest versions of games which I buy. And I cant understand why when friend brought me his Darwinia for free on flash drive - it was latest version, and when I liked playing it and decided to buy - I got older version than I had for free?
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Postby bert_the_turtle » Fri Apr 06, 2012 10:31 pm

IIRC, 'new content' is an overstatement there. There are no new levels or anything, it was just a fix for Windows Vista (possibly bits of fancy eye candy, though it still uses DX9, not DX10). Odd, though; the support page claims the patch is live on steam. I'm four days away from any Windows boxes I could use to check. Either way, I have to admit I'm no Darwinia Version Historian and someone will probably have to swoop in to correct me.

And just on general principle, you can feel entitled to get a version that works if you buy it. New features may be platform specific for any number of reasons (though that sucks). Specifically, if you want a DRM free version you can carry around on an USB stick without problems and where you decide which patches you install, don't buy from Steam. Assuming that was not in fact a pirated copy, of course.
(Though, again, caveat: the non-Steam versions of DEFCON were missing additional languages for quite a bit because apparently updating all distribution channels is too difficult.)
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Postby n3r0 » Mon Apr 09, 2012 12:38 am

Well, I've already bought it on Steam, and now want to have the latest version.

And I cant understant, if this is an official forum - why developers don't answer my question and you are the only person who replies my topic?
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Postby xander » Mon Apr 09, 2012 5:12 pm

n3r0 wrote:Well, I've already bought it on Steam, and now want to have the latest version.

Why? What feature or benefit do you derive from having the "latest" version? Can you name even one change that was made between the version that you have and the "latest" version which would make any difference to your gameplay experience? Or is having the "latest" version simply a way of measuring the size of your penis?

As bert has pointed out, there really weren't any significant changes in 1.5.11, and the Steam version 1.5.10.0 is basically identical to 1.5.11. If it really bugs you so very much to have a slightly different version number from the highest possible version number, why not grab the files out of your Steam directory and apply the patch available on IV's support website?

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Postby bert_the_turtle » Mon Apr 09, 2012 7:50 pm

n3r0 wrote:Well, I've already bought it on Steam
The suggestion that a different version would have been better was just for the advantage of having it on a stick. For all I know, you already have the latest version and are not missing out on anything. The patch download page says so.

n3r0 wrote:And I cant understant, if this is an official forum - why developers don't answer my question and you are the only person who replies my topic?
That is quite simple. Basically NO developer trawls their own forums. It's poor time management, you just get caught up in things other people can handle better and that pull you out of what you actually need to do, which is to develop new software. Bigger studios can afford dedicated community managers and support personnel, but smaller developers have only one good choice, and that is to leave menial support tasks to the community itself. There are two downsides, one is the quality of support, and the other is the attitude. *Good* paid support staff will always be friendly no matter how customers treat them (to a limit), while community support will call them out on unreasonable expectations and their own rudeness. Which they not always take well.
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Postby NeatNit » Mon Apr 09, 2012 7:57 pm

Just a quick fix:
bert_the_turtle wrote:Basically NO developer should trawl their own forums.

Sadly, many do. Just not around here :)
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Postby bert_the_turtle » Wed Apr 11, 2012 5:02 pm

Back home now. I can confirm xander's method works. Finding the difference between the latest steam version and 1.5.11 yields (after unraring the dat files):

Code: Select all

manuel@kermit:/mnt/D/Program Files/Games$ diff -ur darwinia-steam-1.5.10 darwinia-1.5.11/
Binary files darwinia-steam-1.5.10/darwinia.exe and darwinia-1.5.11/darwinia.exe differ
diff -ur darwinia-steam-1.5.10/data/scripts/launchpad_victory.txt darwinia-1.5.11/data/scripts/launchpad_victory.txt
--- darwinia-steam-1.5.10/data/scripts/launchpad_victory.txt    2007-02-26 10:48:36.000000000 +0100
+++ darwinia-1.5.11/data/scripts/launchpad_victory.txt  2007-03-26 13:18:01.000000000 +0200
@@ -38,4 +38,5 @@
 ShowDemoEndSequence
 Wait                    13
 Say                     launchpad_success_2
-Say                     launchpad_success_5
+Say                     launchpad_success_3
+Say                     launchpad_success_4
diff -ur darwinia-steam-1.5.10/data/shaders/deformDiamond.ps darwinia-1.5.11/data/shaders/deformDiamond.ps
--- darwinia-steam-1.5.10/data/shaders/deformDiamond.ps 2006-11-29 01:11:12.000000000 +0100
+++ darwinia-1.5.11/data/shaders/deformDiamond.ps       2007-04-10 18:19:19.000000000 +0200
@@ -14,5 +14,6 @@
        float dist = abs(dir.x)*aspect+abs(dir.y);
        float2 delta = -tex2D(deformSampler,float2(time,1-dist*invSize)).x*height/dist*dir;
        delta *= DEFORM_PRECISION;
+       if(!any(delta)) clip(-1);
        return float4(delta.x,delta.y,-delta.x,-delta.y);
 }
Only in darwinia-steam-1.5.10/data/textures: deform10.bmp
Only in darwinia-1.5.11/data/textures: deform36c.bmp

Relevant language strings:

Code: Select all

manuel@kermit:/mnt/D/Program Files/Games$ grep launchpad_success_ darwinia-1.5.11/data/language/english.txt
launchpad_success_1                    We've done it!
launchpad_success_2                    I want to thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
launchpad_success_3                    If you want to see more of this world and learn about the Great War, please buy the full game now.
launchpad_success_4                    Goodbye, my friend!
launchpad_success_5                    Come, I will show you how this all began, when Darwinia was changed forever...

Vanilla 1.5.10 is no longer available anywhere I could look, so I can't say how much difference there is between that and steam 1.5.10, and I obviously can't look into the executable (with reasonable effort). Either way, there is definitely no 'new content' the patch added to the steam version. One or two deformation effects changed and in the steam version, the Launchpad end message doesn't tell you to buy the game.
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Postby n3r0 » Tue May 15, 2012 4:45 pm

xander
Answering your question about my penis, it is quit big and comfortable for my girlfrien, so i like it and do not have to measure it ;)

Answering ur question about benefit I derive from having the latest version - i like and want to have the latest version of all software I buy.

bert_the_turtle
"Basically NO developer trawls their own forums"
But developers have to provide support for their products, either via forum or via e-mail or any other way.
Darwinia does not have any links to support, so forum lefts as single way to start.
If support is not here, the reasonable question is - where is the Introversion's support provided?

bert_the_turtle, except deformatiom bmps, what do other differences in code section mean?
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Postby bert_the_turtle » Wed May 16, 2012 7:38 pm

You are getting support. Community support according to the priority of your request, which is very low. Actual issues (especially recurring ones) are handled by the developers all right.

I don't know any more about the changes than I already told you.
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Postby xander » Thu May 17, 2012 4:56 pm

n3r0 wrote:Answering ur question about benefit I derive from having the latest version - i like and want to have the latest version of all software I buy.

You have the latest version for the platform that you chose to purchase on. If you want a different version with a different number, you need to buy for a different platform (i.e. Windows Vista rather than Steam).

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Postby n3r0 » Sun Mar 10, 2013 11:21 pm

How can you call Windows Vista and Steam different platforms? O_o
These are different, uncomparisonable things.

Windows Vista - is a platform.
Steam - is a distribution software, compatible with many different platforms, including Vista.
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Postby xander » Thu Mar 14, 2013 3:51 pm

n3r0 wrote:How can you call Windows Vista and Steam different platforms? O_o
These are different, uncomparisonable things.

Windows Vista - is a platform.
Steam - is a distribution software, compatible with many different platforms, including Vista.

Aside from the fact that you are bumping a year old topic to nitpick, the use of "platform" is not incorrect. In order to be integrated with Steam, certain modifications to the code need to be made. Hooks need to be added in order for Steam authentication to work, there is code for achievements, and so on. From a development standpoint, Steam and Vista represent different platforms.

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Re: Darwinia on Steam

Postby n3r0 » Mon Jul 21, 2014 10:24 pm

Just came to say thanks for all explanations -_-

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