Post by MrFlibble on Nov 3, 2014 7:09:18 GMT -5
A while ago I found a shareware version of a DOS FPS called Alien Cabal. While being essentially a 2.5D first-person game typical of early-mid nineties, it tried to take a more realistic approach to level design, similar to Duke Nukem 3D and later games. However, Alien Cabal was released in late 1997, and this is probably the main reason why the game became obscure.
Back then I Googled a bit and found a website called Old School DOS which claimed that the game went freeware, and offered the full version for download:
However, I was not able to verify this, and the download does not include any kind of free release statement, license or such.
Recently though, I have found an archived copy of the games official website (www.aliencabal.com/), nearly completely preserved by the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. And it turns out that starting from late July 2000, the full version of the game was available from the main page of the site:
The Wayback Machine has not preserved the file properly (only about one megabyte or so was stored), but its name and size match exactly the version available at Old School DOS.
This full version package includes both DOS and Windows versions of the game, updated to v1.2, and the game editor. What's more, from the archived copy of the official website it is possible to get the game update to v2.00 (Ver200.zip) for both the Windows version and the level editor.
Curiously, there was no free release announcement on the site. But the game apparently did not enjoy much commercial success, so the developers might have decided to make it free to incite more interest in it.
Also there's an interesting message preserved by Google Groups which lends some additional credibility to the Old School DOS maintainer's statement cited above. Greg Taylor, one of the developers, offered another user to send a free copy of the game (link). The message was posted on My 28, 1998.
Back then I Googled a bit and found a website called Old School DOS which claimed that the game went freeware, and offered the full version for download:
The final part of the update is the change in the download for Alien Cabal. The creator of the game has emailed me to inform that he is generously offering the full version for download, so the download link on the game page is now the full version. Not only that, but the download includes the Windows version, which looks better and runs without any extra programs. Big thanks to the maker.
However, I was not able to verify this, and the download does not include any kind of free release statement, license or such.
Recently though, I have found an archived copy of the games official website (www.aliencabal.com/), nearly completely preserved by the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. And it turns out that starting from late July 2000, the full version of the game was available from the main page of the site:
Download Full DOS Version 1.2 and DirectX Version (12.9MB)
(Requires Pentium 100MHz, 16MB Ram, 60MB Hard disk space )
(Requires Pentium 100MHz, 16MB Ram, 60MB Hard disk space )
The Wayback Machine has not preserved the file properly (only about one megabyte or so was stored), but its name and size match exactly the version available at Old School DOS.
This full version package includes both DOS and Windows versions of the game, updated to v1.2, and the game editor. What's more, from the archived copy of the official website it is possible to get the game update to v2.00 (Ver200.zip) for both the Windows version and the level editor.
Curiously, there was no free release announcement on the site. But the game apparently did not enjoy much commercial success, so the developers might have decided to make it free to incite more interest in it.
Also there's an interesting message preserved by Google Groups which lends some additional credibility to the Old School DOS maintainer's statement cited above. Greg Taylor, one of the developers, offered another user to send a free copy of the game (link). The message was posted on My 28, 1998.