A custom level for Dune II

[MrFlibble]

Just found it via the Wayback Machine:

http://members.xoom.com/kmcs/GAMES.HTM

This package, KMCSDune, is an entirely new scenario for the game developed by KMCS. The scenario is a replacement for one of the bases in level 4. To use this level, simply unzip the KMCSDune ZIP file into your dune directory. Make sure you don't have a saved game in slot 1 that you want to keep or it will be overwritten. So to play the level, load the supplied savegame and play.

Why was it made? KMCS Dune requires a lot more strategic planning on the player's behalf. Instead of the traditional base or two in globs at one side of the screen and your base at the other, this scenario is completely different. You are splat dab in the center of the map with bases all around you, and structures are not attached together. Different construction yards are in different bases and units come at every direction to your base. You start out with the beginning of your base pre-built, as some of these structures, such as starport, IX etc. are irreplaceable, so you must guard them or lose them forever. This level requires much planning as to where to attack the enemy base as turrets are located at strange spots nowhere near their base and you never know what will be thrown at you. So this level was made to make the game require much more strategy.

[athanasios]

This deserves to go into the downloads section.

[bluehappybyte]

Is anyone able to extract these files without CRC errors? Tried various zip utilities. Probably already a problem with the file stored on the waybackmachine. The file KMCSDUNE.ZIP I downloaded multiple times has always a md5 of bfe4295afecba368f87d8a307912fd7a

[MrFlibble]

You're right, I didn't notice that when I downloaded the file. My archiver gave me an error message but I thought it was about a wrongly appended comment, as is sometimes the case with those DOS ZIP files. But apparently the file is corrupt.

[Nyerguds]

I tried a multitude of zip repair tools on it, but none of them managed to recover anything more than the files list (which I could just see with my hex editor anyway).

 

Even more disappointing: I was a savegame, not an .ini :(

[athanasios]

:-(

Nevermind.

[bluehappybyte]

The good old pkunzip (for DOS) is able to extract it but with CRC errors. I attached the files I got. They are certainly broken!!!

 

FYI: The map used in the save game seems to be a map based on seed number 269.

KMCSDUNE-With-CRC-Errors.zip

[Nyerguds]

Yeeah, looking at that savegame with a hex editor, it clearly has the same repetition error as the text files... not much chance of recovering that.

[bluehappybyte]

I managed to repair the zip file (see attachment). KMCS Dune is a very nice scenario. Have fun!

 

Some word about how I fixed the broken zip file:

At first glance I thought that only a few bits were flipped. Thus I prepared for a brute force approach as this guy here has done on a broken git repository: http://git.661346.n2.nabble.com/pack-corruption-post-mortem-td7597765.html

But then I noticed that if you zip the original ZIP a second time, you achieve about 12% compression. This is rather astonishing for an already compressed file. Inspecting the file even further in a hex editor I noticed that some part of it reoccur. The file seems to be stored or transferred in 512 byte chunks, e.g. HDD sectors size. But some of these blocks repeat. Thus instead of a file ABCDEFG we got ABBCDEFFG. Manually removing those additional blocks restored the original zip as is attached.

KMCSDUNE.ZIP

[Nyerguds]

Wow. You're fricking amazing, blue 

[MrFlibble]

Thanks a lot!!! Perhaps it would be possible to repair other broken files stored by the Wayback Machine the same way.

[bluehappybyte]

Thanks a lot!!! Perhaps it would be possible to repair other broken files stored by the Wayback Machine the same way.

Do you have any example? Was looking for some more Dune II save game (or ini) scenarios but couldn't find any that I did not already know of.

[MrFlibble]

Not at this time. I remember stumbling upon some broken files a while ago though (not those which were not fully archived, but those that are like this saved game thing).

[Dmitri Fatkin]

Re-uploaded yet-again repaired KMCSDUNE.ZIP file.

Thanks for the explanation on how it was done, Blue.

KMCSDUNE.ZIP