hi again, been away a while, got an issue with larry

[Aaron]

ok l actually have a few collections of leisure suit larry, l had the ultimate pleasure pack but l don't have it anymore, so l downloaded most old larry games from the internet, sites and l have larry 7 cause l made 'multiple' copies of the ultimate pleasure pack. Now l want to run these games on DOSBox on windows xp which l got from my parents. I'm already pretty much familiar with alot of the dos commands cause l used dos years ago before windows came about. But i'm having a problem with the install files, or batch files hmm are they both the same thing? l think i'm missing them, in the game files. I did some research and asked someone and from my understanding l have to create a 'batch' file for each larry game so that l can run it in DOSBox. Upon research on batch files and all you apparently have to write are some lines like echo off. ? ? ? ? .bat? (have no clue).
I came to this site a few days ago, and saw the larry installers, would that be the same thing as a batch file? If anyone has any ideas, or step by step clues then good. What do l type etc?

Take care

[Collector]

No batch files are needed. Just run the games' main executable in DOSBox. If the install files are missing, you will need to manually edit the config files. I make no guarantees as to whether the SHP installers will work with abandonware rips of the games. They were written based on legitimate copies of the games and abandonware games are often altered/cracked/ripped in ways that needlessly complicate troubleshooting.

[Tawmis]

And not to mention, not supported here really.

So rather than use crack/hacked/downloaded versions - please do the right thing and purchase the games again. Vivdendi recently re-released the games again.

You can order your copy, for example from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Leisure-Suit-Larr ... 751&sr=8-1

(or click here.)

Or you may even find copies (for pretty cheap) in your local software stores.

Hope you can understand our position on supporting hacked/downloaded versions of the games (since these games, despite what some websites claim - are not officially considered "Abandonware").

[DeadPoolX]

ok l actually have a few collections of leisure suit larry, l had the ultimate pleasure pack but l don't have it anymore, so l downloaded most old larry games from the internet, sites and l have larry 7 cause l made 'multiple' copies of the ultimate pleasure pack.

I really don't see a problem with this. He claims to have owned the Ultimate Pleasure Pack. That means he paid to own the original games. Why should he have to pay again?

I know I wouldn't. In fact, I own nearly every Sierra game, but most of them aren't available to me right now. They're at my dad's house in Texas. Would I go out about buy new copies? Of course not. I've already paid for my games, therefore I see nothing wrong with downloading copies. You're not stealing if you've paid for the game.

[Tawmis]

ok l actually have a few collections of leisure suit larry, l had the ultimate pleasure pack but l don't have it anymore, so l downloaded most old larry games from the internet, sites and l have larry 7 cause l made 'multiple' copies of the ultimate pleasure pack.

I really don't see a problem with this. He claims to have owned the Ultimate Pleasure Pack. That means he paid to own the original games. Why should he have to pay again?

I know I wouldn't. In fact, I own nearly every Sierra game, but most of them aren't available to me right now. They're at my dad's house in Texas. Would I go out about buy new copies? Of course not. I've already paid for my games, therefore I see nothing wrong with downloading copies. You're not stealing if you've paid for the game.

Collector has given him some advice on the batch files (they're not needed, simply run the executable files or batch files whether is LSL2.EXE or LSL2.COM or LSL2.BAT - I can't remember off the top of my head). I, however, just want to make it clear that downloaded versions of these games aren't exactly supported here - because the executable files may have been altered in order to remove specific copyright information or make it so that the same question pops up - so you only need to know one copyright protection answer) - and once the executable of the file is changed, that may completely render any of the patches that Collector has made for the games, completely useless.

That said - I agree, one shouldn't have to pay again. But then how would we verify that he owns the games if he's lost the packaging - say, if he needed some of the copy protection material - say like the Maze for LSL3, or the passport codes for LSL5. (Well - okay, granted this is a bad example - as all of that is actually available right from Al Lowe's website - but say this was like Colonel's Bequest - and he said he lost the game that he owned, but needs the finger prints again?)

[Collector]

I don't have any problem with the concept of abandonware. On the contrary, I think that copyright law is far too long. Almost any advance is built on what has gone before and holding IP in perpetuity stifles progress. Creators should be able to reap the rewards of their achievements, but there needs to be time limits.

The length of copyright protection may, in fact, be even more ridiculously so with software, given the limited usable life span of anything concerning computers. It would be great if companies would offer their hopelessly outdated products for free download.

That said, there are still legal issues. Abandonware is a meaningless term, legally. The likelihood that Activision will notice abandonware links here or even do much about it is fairly remote, but why chance it. This is why I don't want abandonware links posted here. I don't censor talk about it, even for citing any abandonware sites. If people want to give links they can do so through PMs.

Lastly, The main reason that I don't support abandonware is that far too often many of the problems that people have with the old games arises from the alterations that have been made to them. Time and time again people seeking help with games on VOGONS that cannot be duplicated by others turns out to be an issue with the rip. Most abandonware started life out as "warez", which have been cracked to overcome copyright protection, ripped to make the download smaller, repackaged with nonstandard installers and perhaps had worthless additions, like some animated ASCII program.

Some of these "releases" have become infamous. If someone complains that the buyer for the family home in Gold Rush! never arrives, you know that they have the cracked warez copy. If someone keeps experiencing a fatal crash in the AGI version of KQ4 while swimming out into the ocean, you know that they downloaded a copy form some abandonware site. The copy that most of these sites have is missing one of the disks. More often than not, these alterations or flaws are unpredictable. and are completely absent from legitimate copies. Troubleshooting them remotely is nearly impossible at worst and hit or miss at best.

In summary, there are only two guidelines about abandonware on SHP. No public links to abandonware and don't expect any in depth help with it.