But can you escape the bear?
February 11, 2016 6:16 AM   Subscribe

The Internet Archive now has Windows 3.1 emulation running in the browser, including a stock installation of the OS, WinTrek, Tapei, and most importantly SkiFree.

Previously, they brought online emulation for classic microcomputers, arcade games, MS-DOS games, and even cracked Apple ][ software.
posted by timdiggerm (53 comments total) 39 users marked this as a favorite
 
The bear? I always thought it was an Abominable Snowman and/or yeti. HAS MY DIGITAL SKIING LIFE BEEN A LIE???
posted by a fiendish thingy at 6:19 AM on February 11, 2016 [16 favorites]


This is super cool and I will never, ever try it. Windows 3.1 was such a pile of sadness.
posted by selfnoise at 6:20 AM on February 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


I kind of love it; it's like being six years old again.
posted by Kikujiro's Summer at 6:31 AM on February 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


Is Watson there?
posted by divabat at 6:33 AM on February 11, 2016


Definitely a yeti. The bear thing is just what They want you to believe.
posted by nebulawindphone at 6:33 AM on February 11, 2016 [3 favorites]


Useless without Trumpet Winsock
posted by furtive at 6:41 AM on February 11, 2016 [20 favorites]


That's no bear.



...it's a space station.

posted by leotrotsky at 6:42 AM on February 11, 2016


Oh holy crap you can play Castle of the Winds (a great tile-based shareware roguelike) in a browser. That is epic level win.
posted by graymouser at 6:42 AM on February 11, 2016 [7 favorites]


There's an Android phone game called Skiing that is very much like SkiFree to me. No freestyle mode but the feel is good if you like that sort of thing.

That is all.

posted by RolandOfEld at 6:46 AM on February 11, 2016


Wait, is it actually possible to get past the bear/yeti? I never managed, and assumed that that was the end of the game.
posted by tickingclock at 6:47 AM on February 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


Excuse me, this is Windows 3.11.

It's for workgroups!

(OK, how do I reboot this with my custom boot floppy that maximizes free memory and loads himem.sys? I've got me some dos4gw-based games to play!)
posted by tocts at 6:48 AM on February 11, 2016 [6 favorites]


Every good child of the 90s knows you can hit F to ski faster than the yeti.

If they start emulating Microsoft BOB I can recreate my childhood. This is fun.
posted by Wretch729 at 6:49 AM on February 11, 2016 [4 favorites]


I got my first Wintel PC in 1993. It had Windows 3.1 pre-installed. All the cool stuff still ran in DOS (mostly ScreamTracker, QModem, and endless MB of pirated games). The only thing Windows was good for was Encarta (we sprung for the sweet 1x CD-ROM drive), which was also sort of useless.

Also yeah, clearly a Yeti.
posted by uncleozzy at 6:52 AM on February 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


You don't need emulation for skifree. http://ski.ihoc.net
posted by Xoc at 6:54 AM on February 11, 2016 [2 favorites]


Huh, is mouse movement a bit off in the emulator for anyone else? I tried Taipei, and I kept missing tile targets.

Regardless, very nifty.
posted by ignignokt at 6:57 AM on February 11, 2016


Wait, is it actually possible to get past the bear/yeti? I never managed, and assumed that that was the end of the game.

"I've always thought of the SkiFree monster as a metaphor for the inevitability of death."
posted by Johnny Assay at 7:09 AM on February 11, 2016 [3 favorites]


Oh holy crap you can play Castle of the Winds (a great tile-based shareware roguelike) in a browser. That is epic level win.

I loved COTW. Downloaded the shareware version off of Compuserve back however many epochs ago. Maybe I'll finally play the real thing.
posted by curious nu at 7:10 AM on February 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


They've also put together a nice museum of classic MS-DOS malware, if you want to live on the dangerous side.
posted by flatluigi at 7:17 AM on February 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


Related, one of the Dosbox for Internet Archive developers wrote a neat blogpost about how they implemented a filesystem for gamesaves, but choose not to advertise the improvement.
posted by mccarty.tim at 7:19 AM on February 11, 2016 [3 favorites]


Yeah but do they have SimAnt? Or Are You Afraid of the Dark? The Tale of Orpheo's Curse? Or Nickelodeon FX Studio? #notmy3.1
posted by phunniemee at 7:20 AM on February 11, 2016


Yeah but do they have SimAnt?

They have the MS-DOS version
posted by timdiggerm at 7:24 AM on February 11, 2016


Castle of the Winds was incredible. I played it for hours on end. I think I've tracked it down as a retro free download before now though.
posted by mbd1mbd1 at 7:25 AM on February 11, 2016


Shit, I'm gonna need SoftRAM for some of these games to run.
posted by ardgedee at 7:25 AM on February 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


Do they have Balance of Power with its embedded windows 1.0? Man, I gotta check
posted by GuyZero at 7:29 AM on February 11, 2016


So far as I can tell, none of this is done with the permission of the program creators (or even an acknowledgement of their copyright). Despite this being a community that is protective of their own created content and which contains a large number of creative professionals, I am unfortunately not surprised that copyright is conveniently sidelined in favor of nostalgia here.
posted by saeculorum at 7:36 AM on February 11, 2016


Oh holy crap you can play Castle of the Winds (a great tile-based shareware roguelike) in a browser. That is epic level win.

Ah cool! I can... [clickity clickity click]

Castle of the Winds
Part One
"A Question of Vengance"
Version 1.1A
Copyright 1989-1993 by SaadaSoft
Published by Epic Megagames

Castle of the Winds is a shareware product, it is not freeware. This means that if you enjoy and continue to use this product you should become a registered user. You can register and order Castle of the Winds volume I and II (which is not available ash shareware) for $25, and get a sheet of hints and tips on how to play. For more information on how to become a registered user, see Order Informantion under the Help menu.
You may distribute this program to your friends, as long as you distribute all the files that came inthe original packagge. thanks for playing, and good luck!


...ok, so let's check out that help file....

Castle of the Winds is a shareware product. This means you can use the product for a trial period without payment, but if you continue to use the product you must become a registerd user. the registration fee is $25.00 + $4.00 postage and handling. For this fee you receive a registerd copy of A Question of Vengance, plus the sequel Lifthransir's Bane.

The second game has almost twice as many levels as the first, plus a final confrontation with the malevolent god who has been after your head! You can even carry forward your character from the first game, and continue your adventures in a quest to reclaim the throne that is rightfully yours!. The second game has new monsters who will attempt to thwart your quest,including fire-breathing dragons, boulder-lobbing giants, elementals, devils, and foul undead creatures from beyond the grave! But of course there are also new and more powerful enchanted objects to help you, such as Swords of Dragon Slaying, Giant Slaying, and Wound Healing, wands of Fireball and Transmogrify Monster, Staves of Healing and Identify, and dozens more items you'll discovedr as you play! It's well worth the $25 registration fee, and in addition, you'll get a hint sheet with tips and tricks on how to defeat the evil denizens of the lower realms. As a special bonus you'll also get a free disk of the latest releases from Epic Megagames!

Yoo may distribute the first game freely, provided you agree to distribute allthe files included in the original package (castle1.exe, castle1.hlp, foreign.doc, install.txt, order.txt, vendor.txt, and sysop.txt). The second game, Castle2.exe, is NOT a shareware package. Duplication and distribution of the second game beyond the registered owner is expressly prohibited.

To order by mail:
Send $25.00 (Maryland residents add 5% sales tax) + $4.00 postage and handling to:

Epic Megagames
10406 Holbrook Drive
Potomac, Md. 20854

To order by phone using your Visa or Mastercard
Call 1-(800)972-7434. This number should be used for orders only (see below for technical support)

To order on Compuserve:
You can place your order for Castle of the Winds and other Epic games on Compuserv - just GO SWREG.

International Orders:
If you live outside the USA or Canada, order conveniently from one of our distributors.

If we don't have a distributor in your country, order from your nearest distributor or order direct from Epic.


[skip]

Technical Support:
Free technical support for registerd users is available by calling (301)983-9771, faxing your question to (301)299-9771, writing to the address above, or send email to Rick Saada (User ID 70702,3316 on Compuserve).

Call Epic's BBS:
If you have a modem, call Software Creations BBS to get all of Epic's latest games and news.

2400 Baud: 508-365-2359
9600 Baud: 508-365-9825
14.4K Baud: 508-365-9668


Order options by mail... credit card by phone... BBS speeds at different baud... $25.00 checks... shipping and handling... ah the 90s... How I miss state of the art!
posted by Nanukthedog at 7:39 AM on February 11, 2016 [2 favorites]


The author of Castle of the Winds released it for free, and you can get it here.
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:43 AM on February 11, 2016 [6 favorites]


Speaking of Rick Saada.

Epic Megagames
10406 Holbrook Drive
Potomac, Md. 20854


LOL, I think this may have just been Tim Sweeney's house.
posted by selfnoise at 7:45 AM on February 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


Excuse me but Windows for Workgroups is awesome. It came on my first computer, a Packard Bell. With PB Navigator, with Navigator Kidspace.
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 7:46 AM on February 11, 2016


It's not an OS. It's a graphical front end for MS-DOS, the latter being the OS.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 7:48 AM on February 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


Relevant xkcd.
posted by Hactar at 7:57 AM on February 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


I notice that by following the instructions for DOS uploads and setting "Dosbox_drive_d" to "emularity_win31/win31.zip" you can make any software uploaded to the Internet Archive Windows 3.1-enabled.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 7:58 AM on February 11, 2016


When did we decide to ignore copyright on abandonware?
I mean, I love it, I just don't get how these sites aren't afraid of getting sued.
posted by miyabo at 8:02 AM on February 11, 2016


LOL, I think this may have just been Tim Sweeney's house.

Actually it is, and his dad still lives there.
posted by zabuni at 8:12 AM on February 11, 2016 [5 favorites]


Archive.org has a (very, very) good case (supported by the Hathi trust ruling) for a fair-use library/archive purpose, if a lawsuit every comes their direction. And individual users aren't worth tracking down... yeah, deliberate breaking of copyright law can be hit for up to $150k, but getting a ruling for that is only useful if the target actually has $150k; if they don't, it's just wasted lawyer fees.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 8:13 AM on February 11, 2016 [4 favorites]


There are three kinds of people.
posted by jscott at 8:45 AM on February 11, 2016 [3 favorites]


If you're interested in learning more, I recommend poking through Jason Scott's blog and/or some of his fantastic talks; I've been going through a few of the latter over the past few days and they've all been fantastic. To start, there's the most recent one with the fantastic title And You Shall Know Me By My Trail Of Documentation about emptying a giant warehouse of manuals + this older one about crack screens and the constant infighting documented within (warning: nudity partway through)
posted by flatluigi at 8:54 AM on February 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


Oh hi, jscott!
posted by ardgedee at 9:20 AM on February 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


THEY HAVE SIMEARTH?!
*never leaves house again*
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 9:28 AM on February 11, 2016 [2 favorites]


I really should have checked if jscott had a username here before posting, so I could say "From metafilter's own..."
posted by timdiggerm at 9:46 AM on February 11, 2016


I really should have checked if jscott had a username here before posting, so I could say "From metafilter's own..."

Well his profile specifically implores you not to do that, so it worked out fine!
posted by selfnoise at 10:03 AM on February 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


I really should have checked if jscott had a username here before posting, so I could say "From metafilter's own..."

My bio on this site specifically requests you not do that, so I actually appreciate you didn't.
posted by jscott at 10:04 AM on February 11, 2016 [3 favorites]


My kids played SkiFree a lot. A whole lot. It was most definitely a yeti. I'm old.
posted by holist at 10:04 AM on February 11, 2016


JINX
posted by jscott at 10:04 AM on February 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


I don't see why anyone would get bent out of shape over breaching the copyright of decades-old software that's no longer available for purchase, especially when the institution making it available is doing so in an effort to keep that software from vanishing off the face of the earth entirely.
posted by One Second Before Awakening at 12:04 PM on February 11, 2016 [2 favorites]


Also, I'm not 100% certain about the Internet Archive's copyright policy, but it is not uncommon practice these days for archival institutions to make works of uncertain copyright status available online as the default, taking them down immediately if the current copyright holder makes a request. There are a whole lot of orphaned works with unknown copyright holders, and it's prohibitively expensive and time-consuming for an archive to do the significant detective work it takes to try and find out who owns them. This policy allows an institution to provide access to their collection while protecting themselves from legal challenge and respecting the rights of copyright holders.
posted by One Second Before Awakening at 12:21 PM on February 11, 2016 [1 favorite]


Can verify that the emulated Solitaire card cascade is pretty snappy.
posted by tss at 12:57 PM on February 11, 2016


When did we decide to ignore copyright on abandonware?

Archive.org's entire premise is based on copyright violation at a massive scale. Gods bless them.

Yes, I know they have a good fair use defense and take down things at request and all that. Still, it's a "better forgiveness than permission" strategy.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 12:58 PM on February 11, 2016 [2 favorites]


Archival is incredibly, incredibly important and I would much rather some overly restrictive copyright laws get bent over things getting completely lost to the ages.

And I mean get bent in every sense of the phrase.
posted by flatluigi at 3:04 PM on February 11, 2016 [4 favorites]


I have MS Dos 4, DR Dos 5, And MS Dos 6.
Also WFWG 3.11 running on a Laptop here.
I need them to support old machine tools still in use locally.
posted by Burn_IT at 3:32 PM on February 11, 2016


IMPORTANT INFO:

THE SHOWCASE IS TINY.
HERE ARE ALL THE WINDOWS 3.1 COLLECTIONS.
OVER ONE THOUSAND GAMES.
YOUR FREE TIME IS FORFEIT.
posted by BiggerJ at 4:19 PM on February 11, 2016 [2 favorites]


ALL HAIL JSCOTT
posted by Pope Guilty at 8:14 PM on February 11, 2016


Oh my god they do actually have an .iso of MS BOB you can download, though I don't see it in the online emulator. I wonder how hard it would be to make a virtual machine to inflict it on. Bless the Internet Archive.
posted by Wretch729 at 5:56 AM on February 12, 2016 [1 favorite]


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