Need help with Lutris and Abandonware

[Brohands McSmooth]

I am trying to install Midtown Madness. Lutris has an install script that asks for an .iso. I've never used Lutris before.

I own Midtown Madness on a disk but it is not near me, so I downloaded the game files from abandonwaregames but it isn't a .iso

Is there a way to make this work or should I go dig up my disk and rip the .iso? If I do that how do I mount the .iso as a disk?

Is there a better forum for this question?

[Prezidentas]

archive.org might have it as an ISO

[tfk]

If the game has been re-released by for instance gog then the downloads are removed. It's a legal thingy.

If the files were there then it could just as well be another disk image format. There are conversion methods but for that we need to know what's in the archive.

Another option is that it's a rip I.e. the installed game being zipped up.

Usually the site indicates what the download entails.

[Prezidentas]

Originally posted by tfk:

If the game has been re-released by for instance gog then the downloads are removed. It's a legal thingy.

you mean archive.org? did a few searches for games on GOG and archive.org had them

[derram]

To mount an iso all you need is an empty directory.

mkdir /home/deck/disc
sudo mount /path/to/ISO /home/deck/disc/

Anything you point at the directory you used will see it as a cd.

[Prezidentas]

Originally posted by derram:

To mount an iso all you need is an empty directory.

mkdir /home/deck/disc
sudo mount /path/to/ISO /home/deck/disc/

Anything you point at the directory you used will see it as a cd.

i believe lutris already takes iso files without mounting anything

[derram]

Originally posted by Red Star Gopnik:

i believe lutris already takes iso files without mounting anything

Might be different per install script, I just installed Freelancer a few days ago and the installer said to mount the ISO.

[tfk]

There is a site called myabandonware.

[Taktloss]

Since the game uses Safedisc DRM i recommend using Open1560
https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Midtown_Madness#Open1560
and maybe use DosBox-X (you still need to install WinXP thought) if Lutris doesnt work.

[Brohands McSmooth]

Originally posted by tfk:

If the game has been re-released by for instance gog then the downloads are removed. It's a legal thingy.

If the files were there then it could just as well be another disk image format. There are conversion methods but for that we need to know what's in the archive.

Another option is that it's a rip I.e. the installed game being zipped up.

Usually the site indicates what the download entails.

From abandonwaregames.net I believe it was a rip zip. Files are .dll, .ttf, .nec, a .csv, Indeo folder, players folder, and a few others. I had found another download on archive that had a .cue, .ccd, .img, and .sub.

[tfk]

The cue and bin, img, etc files are cd images. The command line tool bchunk is very handy in case you need an iso.

https://simpler-website.pages.dev/2021/08/how-to-convert-bin-to-iso-on-linux/

There is also an iso version btw

[Prezidentas]

keep in mind that bin/cue will have CD audio (if game uses CD audio) and ISO will not.

[Brohands McSmooth]

Originally posted by Red Star Gopnik:

keep in mind that bin/cue will have CD audio (if game uses CD audio) and ISO will not.

Really? Back in the day I used daemontools to rip and mount isos and as far as I remember they still had sound. I'll keep that in mind too though. I've actually made plans to go and get the disks today as a backup plan. I'll comment this post when/if I make progress.

[tfk]

Just checked BTW, myabandonware has an iso download and its bin/cue.

[Prezidentas]

Originally posted by Brohands McSmooth:

Originally posted by Red Star Gopnik:

keep in mind that bin/cue will have CD audio (if game uses CD audio) and ISO will not.

Really? Back in the day I used daemontools to rip and mount isos and as far as I remember they still had sound. I'll keep that in mind too though. I've actually made plans to go and get the disks today as a backup plan. I'll comment this post when/if I make progress.

sound doesn't mean CD Audio. Newer games used wav as their soundtracks, but older titles might use CD Audio.

[Brohands McSmooth]

Alright, I downloaded the ISO version (Midtown_Madness_ISO) from myabandonware, I used PowerISO to convert the .img to .iso, mounted it with a tool in the Discover store called "Mount Unmount ISO" and eventually convinced Lutris to install it.

Now it launches and starts playing the opening video with the studio logos and such, then closes and a Wine popup appears (labelled "Midtown Madness!") which says "Please switch your desktop to High Color (16-bit) mode before starting Midtown Madness."

Any tips here? It feels like I am super close to this working.