Noone can find the source code to Icewind Dale II.

[JDTAY]

A company wants to release an enhanced edition of Icewind Dale II, but they've hit a snag.

http://kotaku.com/nobody-can-find-the-source-code-for-icewind-dale-ii-1796724450

Makes me appreciate the whole libre software movement more.

 

[Caine]

It would be funny if some group of hobbyists would reverse engineer it and subsequently released an enhanced edition.

 

[Ian J]

Noone can find the source code to Icewind Dale II.

Have they looked down the back of the settee?

Sorry couldn't resist.

 

[canseco]

It would be funny if some group of hobbyists would reverse engineer it and subsequently released an enhanced edition.

They could always contribute back to GemRB project, already better than the original engine,

 

[PowerGod]

In the same site there's also an article about how NOLF could not be re-released either because no one knows who has the licences... and in that case the source are already there for both games...

 

[canseco]

It's a shame because Beamdog did a very good job with the multiplatform ports (Linux, Mac, Win, using SDL2, OpenAL, OpenGL, like GemRB) and the remasters respects the original feeling of those games.

https://www.gamingonlinux.com/artic...about-linux-gaming-they-say-its-worth-it.9483

 

[Xcl4m4t10n]

Search it on the more absurd place, normally is where I lost my stuff...

 

[rygD]

For me "lost" things are sometimes right in front of me. Maybe it was saved as a code name.

 

[Inimuk]

For me "lost" things are sometimes right in front of me. Maybe it was saved as a code name.

One music artist uses whatever comes of conversations, or root directories for files on his computers, as song names. It's kinda funny that, though most people use simple paths than complex buzzwords because it's easy - sometimes files are literally in "New Folder" or "Sample 01" or whatever. If someone was going through to archive or scrub data because disks were EOL then IT guy isn't going to think anything of it if there was no redundant copies elsewhere.

Perhaps, like some of the older concept/prototype consoles, it's just stored in either a warehouse, or a random guy's attic.

 

[PowerGod]

I suppose that the least they could have done was to search the content of the files for some meaningful words, not just filenames

 

[FBnil]

Even MS uses words like "Impala" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Microsoft_codenames

meaningful words

Yup, I agree. My guess is that they will have to put it into Splunk or Elastic Search and find parts of variable names that the sourcecode has... And probably it is all inside a tarball that does not have a proper name, and has other stuff in them too... so they will need to download arc or arj or other compressors that are not used today and find all the "zip" files... from there, extract, search...
for example, pull out all main() routines inside all .c files, and identify them...

 

[edlee]

In an interview of Larry DeMar and Eugene Jarvis, the creators of Robotron: 2084 and Stargate, Eugene Jarvis states that they completed and delivered a game for Atari in the 1980s shortly before Atari imploded and laid off a lot of people. The game was never released by Atari or any other company. The game might never be seen again. I wonder what the name of the game was and what the game play was like.

 

[levi]

Even MS uses words like "Impala" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Microsoft_codenames

I see that they used a lot of whisky brands for their Win CE releases. Explains how they came up with those releases if that's what they were drinking instead of water.

 

[Pocak]

 

[FBnil]

The game might never be seen again. I wonder what the name of the game was and what the game play was like.

I only can find this game that was put on the backburner however, that was during robotron/Williams and not Atari.
So if Atari, it would be pinball games... official last was Atari Superman Pinball which is impressive but not the best, IMHO

 

[edlee]

I had the impression that Larry DeMar and Eugene Jarvis completed and delivered an arcade video game in a contract job for Atari, not an incomplete game, and not a pinball game. I have had the privilege of meeting both Larry DeMar and Eugene Jarvis, and if I ever see them again, I will ask them about this lost game.

 

[rygD]

DAMN IT! I seem to be at the optimal level*, but I am not a code monkey. If only I had ever actually focused on those skills**.



*I rarely drink; maybe a few times a year, and at those times I tend to drink mite than I should. At present I am making up for the holiday (and ma birfday, bitches!!!) that I skipped recently.

**I have had numerous opportunities and courses to help me with those skills, starting in the late 90s. Those weren't enough to make me pay attention. I have tried a few times to work on it on my own, and still it wasn't important enough to stick. Maybe one day C or 6502 assembly will catch my passion (those are the ones that seem to fit my interests the most, and eventually C++). I apologize for drunk posting...luckily I am out of everything except my scotch, which I treat as if it were sacred.