Burn multi-CD (WC) games to DVD?...

[Preacher]

Hey, all.

I just did a search here and it turned up bupkus (as have my earlier searches on Google), so I'll ask y'all:

Is it possible to burn multi-CD games (like the latter WC ones, obviously) to a DVD, so as to be able to play thru the game w/o swapping CDs back and forth?

If so, how does one go about doing so? (any weblinks that point to how to do this are appreciated)

Thx.

 

[ChrisReid]

It probably is, but nobody's really looked into it much because it's probably not worth the effort. You can just copy all your discs to the hard drive and mount them in whatever manner is necessary for the game to see them.

 

[Killer]

It seems to me this wouldn't be too difficult for wc3 at all, and I imagine wc4 (cd) either. You'd basically just to dump all of the files into the root of a single dvd. WC4 on the other hand... not so much (this I think would only be feasible with a double layer dvd anyway).

I tried making my own wc4 (dvd) once. Despite the lack of any type of copy protection, I couldn't get the game to start. I wasn't trying to fit the entire game on one dvd though. I just tried making a manual copy of a single side of the dvd, to no avail (if anyone can explain why, I've love to know... I have two copies of wc4 dvd.. both with corrupt movie files, though not the same files).

 

[cff]

I think you'd also have to modify some files as IIRC there are some files that have identical names on different CDs which are not the same file.

 

[ChrisReid]

It seems to me this wouldn't be too difficult for wc3 at all, and I imagine wc4 (cd) either. You'd basically just to dump all of the files into the root of a single dvd. WC4 on the other hand... not so much (this I think would only be feasible with a double layer dvd anyway).

Six maxed out CDs fit fine on one single-sided single-layered DVD. In fact, there is a version of the WC4 DVD which is just that.

I tried making my own wc4 (dvd) once. Despite the lack of any type of copy protection, I couldn't get the game to start. I wasn't trying to fit the entire game on one dvd though. I just tried making a manual copy of a single side of the dvd, to no avail (if anyone can explain why, I've love to know... I have two copies of wc4 dvd.. both with corrupt movie files, though not the same files).

We have to know more about what was going on. The only problems you should have encountered would be related to general incompatibility issues.

 

[Unregistered]

You can just copy all your discs to the hard drive and mount them in whatever manner is necessary for the game to see them.

Yes, but some have not the requisite HDD space free to do so, and may not be able to afford to pick up another HDD for this purpose.

Six maxed out CDs fit fine on one single-sided single-layered DVD. In fact, there is a version of the WC4 DVD which is just that.

True, but we're talking about homebrewing a solution for the *other* multi-CD based WC games: WC3, & Prophecy, mainly

 

[maniac89]

Just thought about this,
If you were to take the PSX version of WC3 for example, and made disc images for all 4 discs, then made a data DVD out of them, would a PS2 be able to read it?

 

[MajorCamKollent]

PSX discs work on a PS2 just fine. You don't have to change them.

 

[ChrisReid]

PSX discs work on a PS2 just fine. You don't have to change them.

If you did try to manipulate stuff like this, I expect there would be problems.

Yes, but some have not the requisite HDD space free to do so, and may not be able to afford to pick up another HDD for this purpose.

This is 2006. That's no longer a valid concern. 250 gigabyte drives cost about $70 these days. WC3, WC4, Prophecy & P2 total less than 10 gigs.

True, but we're talking about homebrewing a solution for the *other* multi-CD based WC games: WC3, & Prophecy, mainly

Read the post. I was directly replying to a WC4 comment by Killer.

 

[AD]

PSX discs work on a PS2 just fine. You don't have to change them.

I don't think that's what he means at all. He's wondering if its possible to put the game all on one disk and still have it play in a PS2. The issue isn't compatability, just whether or not you can eliminate disk changing. Honestly I never had an issue with this in WC except for P2. And even then it was minimal. Other games though were insane, like THe Pandora Directive, or Riven. (though they at least made a DVD version of Riven)

 

[hurleybird]

It probably is, but nobody's really looked into it much because it's probably not worth the effort. You can just copy all your discs to the hard drive and mount them in whatever manner is necessary for the game to see them.

Hmmm. I suppose you could also copy all the image files onto a DVD and mount them from there. Still not an ideal solution, but possible.

 

[Killer]

Six maxed out CDs fit fine on one single-sided single-layered DVD. In fact, there is a version of the WC4 DVD which is just that.



We have to know more about what was going on. The only problems you should have encountered would be related to general incompatibility issues.

Sorry for the vagueness, it's been awhile. I'll repeat the experiment later this week if I have the opportunity. IIRC, the issue was that WC4 was not recognizing my 'homebrew' dvd at all. The error message was the same as you would receive if you tried to launch the game without the dvd in the drive (again, its been a long time- the last time I tried this was when the patch for playing wc4 without a dxr2 was released).

 

[Killer]

Just thought about this,
If you were to take the PSX version of WC3 for example, and made disc images for all 4 discs, then made a data DVD out of them, would a PS2 be able to read it?

Wow, that's a mishmash of ideas.. heh. Unfortunately, there's no possible way that'd work. Both the PSX and PS2 utilize very strong copy protection. They won't recognize a cdr or dvdr at all (without a 'modchip' which of course introduces further complexity, not to mention being a precursor to illegal activity not to be discussed here).

 

[Killer]

Hmmm. I suppose you could also copy all the image files onto a DVD and mount them from there. Still not an ideal solution, but possible.

That works rather well, actually. I did this for KS for example. It doesn't *really* save disc swapping (one would say minimizing the application and re-mounting the next cd image with your favorite mounting program is harder than physically swapping a disc) but it allows me to play KS without taking my original cds out of their cases... and it saves disc media (which isn't much of a concern with the price of blank cds these days.. but still)

 

[ChrisReid]

That works rather well, actually. I did this for KS for example. It doesn't *really* save disc swapping (one would say minimizing the application and re-mounting the next cd image with your favorite mounting program is harder than physically swapping a disc) but it allows me to play KS without taking my original cds out of their cases... and it saves disc media (which isn't much of a concern with the price of blank cds these days.. but still)

It's a bit of a creative idea at least. If you have a program that will let you mount multiple disc images at once, I think KS will see them all.

 

[maniac89]

Wow, that's a mishmash of ideas.. heh. Unfortunately, there's no possible way that'd work. Both the PSX and PS2 utilize very strong copy protection. They won't recognize a cdr or dvdr at all (without a 'modchip' which of course introduces further complexity, not to mention being a precursor to illegal activity not to be discussed here).

Whoa, thanks for the heads-up.

 

[Unregistered]

That works rather well, actually. I did this for KS for example. It doesn't *really* save disc swapping (one would say minimizing the application and re-mounting the next cd image with your favorite mounting program is harder than physically swapping a disc) but it allows me to play KS without taking my original cds out of their cases... and it saves disc media

Now see, dat *there* is what I'm talkin' 'bout...

So tell us, Killer, how did you go about doing this for KS?
What's the strastegy used, what caveats are there to be aware of, etc.?
Give us the lowdown, por favor....

 

[Mincemeat]

If somebody has the required disk space, here's something they can try for WC3 or WC4:

Burn a DVD image comprising of all the CDs of the game. But modify the WC3.CON or WC4.CON file with a text editor - there is a list of which files go on to which CD. Change it so that all files belong to CD1. (This file may also be present in the actual installation directory of the game)

Mount that image and see if that DVD will be recognised throughout the entire game without prompting for a swap.

 

[hurleybird]

Or, if that doesen't work, copy all of the images to a dvd, mount those images as different drive letters, and modify the .CON files to point each CD path to point to the respective drive letter that each image is mounted to.

 

[Mincemeat]

You'll probably find that the .CON files only lists file names under different headings rather than the full paths.