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Aroenai

Westwood Monopoly Update: 9/23/11

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Update 9/23/2011:

 

Good news, I finally found a way to copy files directly from the original CD-ROM, I should have checked the Inno Setup newsgroup earlier... oh well, it figures I would find it just after I found a way to compress the whole game down to 98.7 MB. Anyway, here's a list of features:

 

-Windows 64-bit support (32-bit installer)

-Original Installer and Uninstaller icons and splash screen

-Option to choose between 8-bit and 16-bit sounds (like the original installer)

-Game now runs on Windows NT 4.0 and 2000 (game would crash)

-Dialog boxes updated to accommodate the Aero theme on Vista/7

(the original didn't have any consistent size or placement and Aero only made things worse with the border size changes it made so dialog boxes were cut off, huge, or misplaced.)

-Same for XP's theme

-Re-sized icons to avoid the ugly 32x32 to 48x48 scaling that Windows XP and above does

-Can be installed in Program Files without causing problems (though that's not the default installation path)

-No-CD patched (Netbook users rejoice! CD-ROM required once for installation though, just grab a usb or virtual drive)

-Optional Compiled HTML Help (Monopoly.chm) for users without the KB917607 update (Vista/7/2008/etc.)

-Smaller WinG32.dll file compiled from Wine's source code (Doesn't need to be in System32)

 

Note, this only supports the US English version for now... the only other version I have access to is the French version but haven't gotten around to fixing up the dialog boxes yet. I essentially have to start from scratch since a lot of the text is different lengths than the English version. Anyone feeling ambitious? :wacko:

 

Monopoly_32_bit_Installer.zip

 

Edit 9/26/2011:

Fixed a bug with the installer, nothing to see here...

 

Original Post:

Is anyone else interested in patching Westwood's Monopoly game? I'm working on a new installer to replace the original 16-bit installer that doesn't work on x64. So far I've been able to remove the CD check and get the game to run without crashing on Windows 2000 and above.

 

Windows XP, Vista, and 7 use a lazy fix and ignore exceptions produced by trying to run a privileged instruction (in this case, trying to access the video card to detect vertical refresh) so I've essentially done the same thing by NOP'ing out the instruction. The problem is, it seems like the game uses a high number of CPU cycles (task manager shows 55%) this way, so I'd like to find a better way if possible. Also, it'd be nice to fix the bug where the computer players would keep playing if the last human player goes bankrupt since this prevents you from exiting the game.

Edited by Aroenai
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That vert refresh bug is in C&C95 and RA95, another Westwood master piece of code! :P

 

Never dissasembled the Monopoly executable, wonder if that used the WWLib.

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I never got to play their version... but I would have liked too.

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That vert refresh bug is in C&C95 and RA95, another Westwood master piece of code! :P

 

Never dissasembled the Monopoly executable, wonder if that used the WWLib.

 

It doesn't use DirectDraw like C&C95 or RA95, it's one of the few games I know of that uses Microsoft's WinG library (the Windows 3.1 back-port of DirectDraw?). I'm just using wing32.dll compiled from the Wine Project's source since it's smaller and I think the original tries to link to wing.dll which is 16-bit. From what I've gathered it's impossible to detect vertical refresh on Windows NT when you're using the GDI to draw it.

 

The code is really simple, I've been working with the version 1.3 patched exe since it's easier to follow than the one on the CD but I've reached the limit of my disassembly knowledge.

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You know where I can download an iso of this? I've always wanted it...

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Check your PM's ;) Err btw, what's the official forum stance on sharing this game?

 

Also, there are four versions of this game: US English, UK English, German, and French. Each version has different videos and default rules. I only have the US version, so if anyone has any of the others please contact me. Thanks!

Edited by Aroenai

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You're awesome :)

 

Other default rules, you say? Like what?

 

would be neat if you could make a unified version with language selector like I did in C&C95, lol. Though if these "default rules" aren't some external file that might be hard :P

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You're welcome :D

 

Oh, I'm not actually sure what the defaults are, I'm just going off what some of the help files and other documentation has said. They're all rules available under the international options menu, the rules for Monopoly vary by country so depending on the version there are different defaults set. Each version has the option for enabling all the different rules (required for online play against people in those countries) I just don't know which options were set in each version. I'm sure it's just something in either a .TRE file or in the DLG_xxx.dll (ENG, UK, FRE, or GER) file since they all use the same executable.

 

It'd be possible to make translations just with the US version I have, someone would have to help me figure out the format of the .TRE files though since that's where all the text is stored. The only problem is the videos would always show the US game board. I'd like to make a universal language installer but I don't have access to the other versions, I've seen each on ebay but haven't had the money to buy them :(

Edited by Aroenai

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I've done language separation for videos in C&C1... but that was mainly because C&C already contains an inbuilt NoCD system that accepts an alternative path. So I just made te game automatically use a subfolder with the name of the language (ENG/GER/FRE) as CD, and put the correct videos in there.

 

You could always try out if the -cd command line parameter is present inside Monopoly.

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I've done language separation for videos in C&C1... but that was mainly because C&C already contains an inbuilt NoCD system that accepts an alternative path. So I just made te game automatically use a subfolder with the name of the language (ENG/GER/FRE) as CD, and put the correct videos in there.

 

You could always try out if the -cd command line parameter is present inside Monopoly.

 

 

Wait, does the DOS version of C&C have that parameter too? This game came out before Gold and ran on Windows 3.1 with the Win32s addon.

 

Looking at the disassembly I don't think it has any command line parameters, the CD detection relies on detecting the first drive letter with type 5 (CD-ROM) and the only code for setting the CD path is right after it. I was looking at a NoCD hack for the game by another person where they copied the hard drive path string variable to the CD path string variable and it broke the game (all players start with $0 and can't gain any money), you're welcome to take a look at it but the only way I was able to get it working was to replace every instance of the CD path with the one for the hard drive.

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Yeah, the DOS version of C&C has that too. It's always been in there. It's in RA too, though they messed it up in the 3.03 version. (game starts, but asks for CD when starting missions ingame)

 

I know about the DriveType thing; I recently NoCD'd Sole Survivor with that, but that's usually not enough. The CD drive detection is usually a subroutine in the complete file reading system, and unless you make sure all of it is correctly read from the game folder you could end up with it just taking the first hard disk as valid CD and trying to read off C:\ root. If the basic rules files you talked about are on the CD, this could cause that 0$ thing.

 

Still, just substituting the CD drive (typically a "%c:\" in which "%c" is replaced by the CD drive character) by nothing at all usually does the trick, since the default folder to read ANYTHING from is automatically the program's own folder. That's an operating system rule, not a game engine thing.

 

 

Most Westwood games I've seen automatically read the game folder for CD data, and even do that before checking the CD, but if this is from before the CD reading mechanism they incorporated in C&C, it could be.

 

I don't have time to look into that right now though; got exams.

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Is anyone else interested in patching Westwood's Monopoly game? I'm working on a new installer to replace the original 16-bit installer that doesn't work on x64. So far I've been able to remove the CD check and get the game to run without crashing on Windows 2000 and above.

 

Windows XP, Vista, and 7 use a lazy fix and ignore exceptions produced by trying to run a privileged instruction (in this case, trying to access the video card to detect vertical refresh) so I've essentially done the same thing by NOP'ing out the instruction. The problem is, it seems like the game uses a high number of CPU cycles (task manager shows 55%) this way, so I'd like to find a better way if possible. Also, it'd be nice to fix the bug where the computer players would keep playing if the last human player goes bankrupt since this prevents you from exiting the game.

 

 

You say you've managed to remove the CD check on this game? I'm intrigued, I used to have it and loved it as a good distraction for coursework etc. I managed to find the game, but I can't find a way to remove the CD check anywhere, whether it be by crack or by fixed .exe. Can you help me?

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You say you've managed to remove the CD check on this game? I'm intrigued, I used to have it and loved it as a good distraction for coursework etc. I managed to find the game, but I can't find a way to remove the CD check anywhere, whether it be by crack or by fixed .exe. Can you help me?

Not on the forums he can't. We do not allow that kind of discussion.

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...this game is older than C&C1, and there have been tons of newer Monopoly games since that one.

 

Really, Fenring, there's no need to be so uptight about a game that's so clearly forgotten by everyone besides some Westwood fans. This is pretty much equivalent to warning someone for editing the game exe of Dune II. -_-

 

 

whether it be by crack or by fixed .exe.

Umm... that's the same thing. Cracking IS changing the exe.

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Then it's funny how you attack him for that post, while completely ignoring the fact Aroenai and I have been openly discussing the technical details of removing CD protections in general :P

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Rules are rules Nyerguds, Doctor Destiny is simply reminding you and everyone else of them. Admins/Mods will step in when they see fit, up to this point your discussion has been within our boundaries. Someone asked for a crack for a game so Doctor Destiny stepped in. Plus its not cool to question the decisions made by our staff.

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Doctor Destiny and/or Sonic:

 

Would it be alright if I posted the Inno Setup script I've been working on, or something along the lines of an installer that reads and copies all the files off the original cd (like what http://sierrahelp.com/ does)? For the second option I would need some help detecting which cd drive to copy files from since I'm not that familiar with Inno Setup or Pascal scripting.

 

This game has a 16-bit installer (so it won't work on most new computers since they're running 64-bit) and the game's exe would have to be modified to work on Windows NT based OS's (it crashes on start because of a privileged instruction, plus many windows had to be repositioned because of the gui themes in XP/Vista/7). Information about this game is scarce and I'm sure it would help those who own the game, not to mention users on netbook computers.

Edited by Aroenai

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Hi !

I own the French version :)

And I'm very interested about a (one day...) new installer working on Windows 64 bits (even if you can play direct from CD).

I will send you a PM.

Edited by Irv|n3

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A French version? Hehe, cool :)

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I haven't had a chance to work very much on this yet, I've been trying to find an internship and get the homework done for my online class but from playing around with the French version I noticed a few differences. The most noticeable difference so far has been that the board isn't animated in the French version, in other words any spaces that have special animations (ex. water works splashes around like it's printed on water, or the community chest opening and closing) remain static. I suspect it's the same for the other languages.

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bumping... see post 1 for the US English installer using the CD. French version will be posted whenever I get the dialog boxes fixed.

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Hello, Aroenai

 

I downloaded your 32bit installer and it installed the game. It was working fine but I thought the picture was kind of small and thought it might be bc of the small size of your installer (but i don't know how it installed at 21 mb this way) so I deleted the folder in C:\westwood

 

I had a 200mb iso that I installed (weird that it also installs in C:\westwood for only 21mb) but I couldn't get it to work without prompting for a cd and the patch I used wasn't working.

 

I tried to reinstall your 32bit installer but its now telling me "Monopoly CD-ROM is already installed. Setup will now exit"

I deleted everything monopoly and tried to start fro the beginning but everytime I run the installer I get this error.

Help, pls. I loved this version of Monopoly when I was in elementary school. No other monopoly compares!! TY :)

Edited by badrobot

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