Stunts 1.1 Mod 1.0 | A new original | an other STUNTS 30 years edition.

[Daniel3D]

STUNTS 1.1 MODIFICATION 1.0
IS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD

You can find it on my mega,
link below.
-- UPDATE 24 OCT --  Zipfile added to first post ---

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While reading up on Restunts and reengineering of the game files, some things caught my attention.

• Load.exe builds an executable in memory with the chosen graphics mode.
• The above-mentioned process hurts performance and is not done in favor of gameplay
• 4D boxing had a later edition without load.exe but separate executables per video mode
• The separate executables take up more space and Stunts would not have fit on 2 disks that way
• The separate executables are very much like the restunts executable
• Load.exe is likely a post-production/marketing decision to use fewer disk to favor sales
• Copy protection is by now an obsolete part of the game that also is part of marketing/sales and not game development.

Because the game runs a bit better without load.exe (at least, it has a quicker startup and takes up less ram)
I can run on old hardware better than with load.exe.
It will not make your lap times faster, but it may be able to run at the higher frame rate or with more scenery.

With a lot of help from llm and CAS we have now the executables for all graphic modes except Hercules.
We also have a new setup program that creates STUNTS.BAT to start the game.
I want to have an installation feature working in setup to have a new original version that is equal to Stunts 1.1

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Why do I want it?
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Restunts is basically working on the same basis. So if modifications (like the Ferrari edition) are made they will never work in combination with load.exe. I think it's a good idea to have a baseline to build form.
En other thing is the before-mentioned better support of old hardware for the purists among us. (except for Hercules monitors for now)

If new modifications are made, we can use new version numbers (1.1.2 and so on as long as it is still compatible with 1.1) so if someone has trouble we know the mod based on the version number for better support and understanding.

A new version to tamper with in order to leave the originals as they are. Beautiful in their own way..
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I plan to release STUNTS 1.1.1 later this month.
@those running old hardware 286, 386 and 486 computers. Will you test it please?

Also. We can modify setup as it is newly written.
We have plans for a dos based car manager (carswapper) to 'setup' the car list that is available in game.

So without touching the game itself (working on that, is quite difficult and the game engine can probably not be changed)
What dos based feature would you like included in the Setup?
- it may take a while because the programming bit falls mostly on the shoulders of CAS, and he currently has a limited amount of time to work on this.

[llm]

The above-mentioned process hurts performance and is not done in favor of gameplay

game start performance is much slower with the loader
and there are problems under pure real DOS on nowerdays hardware (due to microsoft-exepack bugs in loader related code) <- that would be described in detail in the release-logs

removing the loader and cleanly cracking the game (just one byte - not a complete crack exe that hooks into the load.exe process)  also removes the need to the non-official stunts_k.com,stunts.com etc. cracks that were
never part of the official release

and there is also the open question if we should use the better working MT32 sound driver from Stunts 1.0 for this package
i've got the reversed source code (in ASM and C) of both versions - with tiny differences in timing and MIDI msg generation

[Daniel3D]

I think we should better drivers if they are available.
The idea is to have a version with the cars, tracks and game original.
But also better if possible.
(what the developers themselves would have made given a bit more time and fewer limitations)
things I have done that are not necessarily needed
(and can be reversed by taking the original files of stunts 1.1)
I edited sdtitle.pvs to have two alternate intro screens at startup.
I edited sdmain.pvs to have 'stunts' in the background of the main menu.
I added OTTOS.trk to the list. It is a mirror of default.trk because i felt that was missing.

• Sidenote: maybe VANCOUVR should be default and default should be OTTOS. But I like the idea of a secret track

These are personal taste adaptations. No other changes are made.
I link the screens below.

[Daniel3D]

and there is also the open question if we should use the better working MT32 sound driver from Stunts 1.0 for this package
i've got the reversed source code (in ASM and C) of both versions - with tiny differences in timing and MIDI msg generation

Could you provide me with the driver for testing? If it's better, I would like to include it.

[KyLiE]

While the alternate artwork looks nice, I think the game assets should remain as close to the original as possible, including the track selection.  Similar to how a source port like EDuke32 works for Duke Nukem 3D.  That is the impression I got from your original description of the project.

[Daniel3D]

 

While the alternate artwork looks nice, I think the game assets should remain as close to the original as possible, including the track selection.  Similar to how a source port like EDuke32 works for Duke Nukem 3D.  That is the impression I got from your original description of the project.

You are not the only one that says that.
And I had doubts myself. So I will restore it.
I will post the edited versions here for those who do like it.

[alanrotoi]

Default is inverted

[Daniel3D]

Default is inverted

Yes. I believe the Default track was actually otto's track. but because there was no space left on disk for the 7th track they removed the intended default track and made otto's track default.

But because the track is been known as default for 30 years, I decided to mirror default to create otto's track.
I will add it here as custom content.

Currently all files that are not affected by the new executables are original. (only misc.res had the new version number)

[dreadnaut]

A suggestion: I would name this work something else than "Stunts 1.1.1".

The dot-dot version number puts the whole thing in a corner, from which it would have trouble growing, and calling it just "Stunts" is bound to cause confusion — and in the very unlikely situation that someone takes legal interest in the thing, trouble.

A clearly different name (I don't know, "Stunts - something edition", "Stunts[/i] mod", "Stunts Enhanced", "Patchy Stunts" ?) with its own version numbering, would let you create your own, clear path.

[Daniel3D]

Ehmm. Good point. I don't think we have to fear legal action but a good point anyway.
How about;
ReStunts 1.0
Or
New Stunts 1.0

[llm]

Its more or less just repackaging, so ReStunts or New Stunts is maybe too much

[llm]

and there is also the open question if we should use the better working MT32 sound driver from Stunts 1.0 for this package
i've got the reversed source code (in ASM and C) of both versions - with tiny differences in timing and MIDI msg generation

Could you provide me with the driver for testing? If it's better, I would like to include it.

My ReMT15 driver project is just a 1:1 port of the 1.0 and 1.1 version to find the reason for better sounding of the stunts 1.0 driver with stunts 1.1
I didn't fixed the reversed driver nay further so far, so you can just use the 1.0 mt15.drv for your package

[Daniel3D]

Its more or less just repackaging, so ReStunts or New Stunts is maybe too much

It's also a byproduct of the re-engineering project.
So ReStunts is fitting.
Also I agree that there is not really a change to the game itself.
It is usable in competition.
Maybe then STUNTS 1.1A ?

I don't know.
Opinions are welcome until September 20th.

[KyLiE]

Since the project is mainly focused on executables, what about "ExStunts" or "XStunts"?

[llm]

It's also a byproduct of the re-engineering proje?ct.
So ReStunts is fitting.

But ReStunts implies that stunts itself was reversed engineered in some way but that did not happen, no game related code in your package was reverse engineered

Btw: i like your Stunts 1.1.1 idea, because its repackaging + better setup and fewer problems

Stunts 2, XStunts etc imply to much a real game change - my feeling