Dune 2 Unofficial patch v1.07c [discontinued]

[Nyerguds]

I threw the setup exe files in my disassembler, and after tracing the string IDs used to read from the DIP file, I found the section in the 3-language setup where it called the unused strings of the full setup.

That part of the code is indeed unused, but it's there! :O

I was actually looking for the string reading code in the sound patch setup, to fix the special characters bug, but this is loads better.

After checking the rest of the code, it seems that instead of showing the selection list for the other sound options, it just copies its received value to some other memory locations (which is indeed what the simple setup does - duplicate the one received value).

However, the fact the code is there means that with some work I might be able to enable the full sound selection.

If this works out, we'll have a fully functioning 3-language setup, which even makes my language changer obsolete :)

[Nyerguds]

It works! I unlocked it completely! :O

http://nyerguds.arsaneus-design.com/dune2edit/d2setup_3lan.zip

Hmm... we could still add my language changer anyway, so you can change the language without needing to go through the entire setup ;D

(oh, in case you already downloaded the language changer, I updated it to show the "Save successful" string in the language you selected)

[edit]

Wow, even more bizarre. I just disassembled the setup from Dune II v1.0, and it seems that the code for selecting 3 different sound devices was actually there from the very beginning! :O

This means the "sound patch" wasn't a patch at all, it was in fact an OLDER version of the setup program.

[MrFlibble]

Good news indeed :) 8) I think the developers included this feature from the start, but they were not sure if it would work correctly. That's why in the readme of the sound patch, it is said it's beta stuff. Perhaps it didn't work as it should have to on some systems during the testing stage, and they disabled this option (although telling the users to select the same device for all three options if different devices didn't work would be a solution too).

[Nyerguds]

nah, it was prolly just to make it easier for people who didn't know much about that stuff. The 3 devices all get saved separately anyway, so the game treats them as separate. It's just that this way it's probably possible to save combinations that will never, ever work.

[MrFlibble]

I have updated the European patch (now called d2107bCD) to add the multiple sound device setup and created a separate patch for the HitSquad version.

I've finally decided not to make a patch that would upgrade the European version to the HitSquad one, since I'm not sure the latter is inherently better. As far as I can tell, it is in some aspects closer to the earlier version (the patched US one, which, as I have mentioned above, can also act as a three-language version, given that the language files and setup are present) and, for example, lacks diacritics (like the German umlauts) in some fonts. This is why I have simply made the patches to improve each version, not to upgrade EU CD to HS.

[Nyerguds]

Hm... I was more thinking of making one ultimate compleye 3-language version with all the material we had :P

[XTF]

There are separate patches for the US release, European CD version and the HitSquad release.

What is the HitSquad release?

[ArrakisResearchCo]

The HitSquad release seems to be the last release ever made of Dune 2. It's a EU version of the game containing English, French and German localizations - includes some voice fixes and a few spelling error fixes.

There are a number of different versions out there. I used to have the original EU 1.0 version on floppies and later on I got the HitSquad version 1.07 EU - now codenamed "HS" here. I've given Nyerguds and MrFlibble a copy of my HitSquad CD. I wanted to publish this version on my site but due to bandwidth problems I have not yet been able to do so - however Nyerguds has stripped down his copy and is hosting it at his site :

Nyerguds is very kindly hosting a copy of the HitSquad version :

http://nyerguds.arsaneus-design.com/dune2/

I've ordered a new domain for my project and I'm awaiting activation of the domain. Once it's active I'll move my site to the new domain and start hosting the HitSquad version from my site - since I'm the "original" source of the HitSquad version.

Abandonia.com has a different version of Dune 2 and Nahoo seems to have a third version.

[MrFlibble]

Hm... I was more thinking of making one ultimate compleye 3-language version with all the material we had :P

I think that the patched HitSquad version is the best candidate for the "ultimate" one. I haven't tested the other languages thoroughly, but I really think the language files from the HS version are somehow "better" :)

[Nyerguds]

hm... but you said something about the HS one missing some special characters?

[MrFlibble]

Yes, but I don't like the font in the European CD version, which is narrower (I mean the one on the Mentat screen and sidebar). Perhaps we could edit the HS font to add the special characters - Siberian_Gremlin once gave me a Westwood font editor which might be compatible with the Dune II font format (haven't tested it though).

[MrFlibble]

I have modified the HitSquad font to add the umlauts - it works perfectly. I've attached the resulting file. However, looking deeper into the French and German files of the HS font made me doubt that they're better than those used in the European release. First, look at the dates: these are definitely earlier versions than those on the EU CD (January '93 compared to February '93). Also, my French might be poor, but I have identified some mistakes and misspellings in the German files that have been fixed in the European version. So my previous statement about HS version beingclosest to the "ultimate" one must be corrected.

new6p_new.zip

[Nyerguds]

Nice.. my complete version is coming along nicely.

As for the HS version... yeah, you're right. There are loads of mistakes; I'm using the EU files for the language.

Right now I'm using the HitSquad version as exe, but it seems that the EU one is much better in its support for other languages. The ugly smaller font was made to make the commands fit on the command buttons better, and the ingame menus have bigger buttons to get the german texts on them. Also, in case strings of sidebar commands aren't unique it seems to take the second letter of the command as keyboard shortcut.

But one thing that looks kinda bad is that the EU version doesn't center the text on the ingame main menus. This was done because the German and French main menu (whose options don't have unique starting letters) get numbers 1. 2. 3. etc. before the options, so you can control the menu without the mouse, but it still looks better when centered IMO. I might look into fixing that by disassembling it.

Oh, and once Ultraq finds a way to make working colour-adapting interface SHPs we REALLY need to fix the german buttons... the button font looks awful.

[MrFlibble]

Have you considered using the US 1.07 EXE? Maybe it'll work better or something?

Oh, and once Ultraq finds a way to make working colour-adapting interface SHPs we REALLY need to fix the german buttons... the button font looks awful.

Definitely. I can try doing the new buttons using the small letters (like those in the word "Credits) to fit the German text into the buttons.

I might look into fixing that by disassembling it.

If you stumble upon the code that is responsible for the "concrete bug" by chance, let me know ;)

[Nyerguds]

Heh. The concrete bug is probably a loop that goes through the owner bits that is executed only 4 times instead of 6.

The US exe? Why would I use that? It most probably doesn't have ANY support for these other language problems. No, the EU version is fine, I just want that text centered.

oh, btw, what exactly is it that your patch modifies in the harkonnen mentat-help strings file?

[MrFlibble]

I mentioned before that the US 1.07 EXE also works in the German and French, given that DUNE.CFG is set for those languages. So you might want to try that.

The HK Mentat file had two obsolete strings - namely the Sardaukar and Frigate one - with German text in them. I replaced it with the US HK file where these strings are absent.

[XTF]

Heh. The concrete bug is probably a loop that goes through the owner bits that is executed only 4 times instead of 6.

What is the concrete bug?

[Nyerguds]

Well normally you can build concrete next to concrete to pave the area for structures before placing down a structure on it. However, for the Mercenary and Sardaukar sides this doesn't work. Apparently the concrete isn't seen as a valid building of their side, and they can't build any more structures or concrete next to it.

[XTF]

Ah. How did those other sides get into the game BTW? Did WS intend to add them at some point?

[Nyerguds]

Ehh... they ARE used. Fremen are called from the Atreides palace, as a squad of uncontrollable allies roaming the map and attacking enemies (and they're also used for the sandworms, whih causes the annoying bug that Atreides don't automatically attack sandworms). Sardaukar are the imperial side you fight at the end, and which harass you with dropoffs throughout the campaign. The Mercenary are unused as a side, but the Bene Gesserit that tells you about the 3 sides when starting a new game is technically the Mercenary side mentat.

[MrFlibble]

I've tested the US 1.07 EXE with other languages, it works well save for the sound which remains English in all cases. So I guess the US EXE won't be of too much use to you.

I've also found another interesting thing. There are files called #NEXT.VOC and #NEXT2.VOC (where # is the House name first letter) in each of the Houses' voice packages. These are the Mentats saying "Select your next conquest", but the game doesn't "see" these files because they're not listed among the voice packages' contents for some reason. However, if you put these files into the Dune II directory, the game will read them from there. It plays only #NEXT.VOC though, so I'm going to combine the two parts of each utterance into a single file.

[Nyerguds]

The main reason I'm not even considering the US exe is that that one definitely won't have the adaptation that allows keyboard control of all unit commands despite them having the same starting letter. And these shortcuts are kinda vital for playing Dune II. It takes priority over any minor graphical or sound issues.

I'm sticking with the EU version, even if I can't re-enable the text centering. I can always just adapt the strings file to make it center :P

[MrFlibble]

I have updated the US and CD patches to fix the missing building frames, and also added the multiple sound device setup for the US version (with some text errors fixed in the SETUPENG.DIP string file). The patch was given a new number, 1.07c.

Download the new versions of the patch from the first post.

[Nyerguds]

neat :)

Added the multiple sound device setup... you do mean the one WW released then, right? not my 3-lang version...

[MrFlibble]

Right, the one from the official D2SOUND.EXE patch. I have fixed some errors in SETUPENG.DIP though, mostly because of the the confusing "Play sound from:" instead of "Play music scores from:"