A way to run a pre-Slayer edition Gauntlet

[Mr. n]

I have found a way. Finally.

Using only Steam and Windows' Explorer. No dodgy downloads involved. You don't even have to have notepad installed.


I need to contact with ArrowHead's ForeverAPeon or another ArrowHead's community-known employee before I make it public, though.

If any ArrowHead employee could add me for a private chat regarding the method, ethics and law aspects of it, it would be very welcome.

[Mikaela's #1 Squeeze]

edit:
apparently he does have a method, hes just extremely ignorant to the legality of mods and non cheat related stuff, like version revisions.

[Mr. n]

I want to disclose the way in a responsible manner and without hurting the ArrowHead Studios.
I don't care about WB as long as they don't sue me.

When I posted this, I was not entirely sure about VAC-enabled status of Gauntlet. Now I am nearly positive it is not VAC-enabled (searching in Steam for VAC-enabled games does not show Gauntlet), but I have no idea if there is any other anti-cheat or actually how legal is getting old versions running. Law is sometimes weird and I would like a confirmation that I would not be sued before I post it.

If you had observed the forums for past two years, you might have seen me trying to bring the pre-Slayer Edition back in any shape or form. I would never joke about such method if I hadn't found it.

[Mr. n]

This is not a mod, nor a cheat.

Though, I admit that I have no idea if the old version doesn't breach Steam, ArrowHead's or WB's EULA or TOS.

[Fatmagic]

Aww man, cmon, you shouldn't get us excited over something like this unless you can actually tell us. I don't want to hear "oh, there's a way to play classic Gauntlet, but I can't tell you yet, sorry bruh."

Now I'm sitting here with an addiction that I can't feed.

I do wonder why WB didn't just leave the original game intact for people that want to play it though. Gimme back my healing Siren's Lute and my mastery bonuses for Unfair mode.

[Mr. n]

Calypso, I added you on Steam a few days ago. If you want, I could check if the fix works for you as well.

I have to tell you now that there is a single downside to the method:
You lose the in-game progress of "We have to go Deeper!" achievement - because the Endless mode was not in the original game. Otherwise, you can switch between the two games as easily as renaming two folders.

[Venuminostrates]

Do you just lose the progress on your achievement, or does it forget all of your saved levels? Could you still climb the leaderboards?

[ChevyNoel]

Originally posted by Venuminostrates:

Do you just lose the progress on your achievement, or does it forget all of your saved levels? Could you still climb the leaderboards?

Endless wasn't part of the original game, so I'm not sure what you mean by still being able to climb the leaderboards. You can probably keep achievement and floor progress if you just make a backup of your saves before switching and revert to that backup when you decide to switch back to slayer edition.

[Venuminostrates]

I meant for Slayer Edition leaderboards and checkpoints. It sounds like it would be pretty cool to check out the old game (I never played it), but I wouldn't want to lose my progress in the current edition of the game.

[Mr. n]

Actually, I have no idea. I know I had 50 floors on, but I don't now - I'll check it for you. I definitely can access all the levels both through the Slayer Edition 2D map and via Classic 3D Hubworld... though, to be fair, I have finished the game multiple times in both versions. Does the Classic->SE transition unlock the levels, or does it remember the unlocked levels "per version"? No idea. No good idea on how to test it without losing the unlocked levels myself...

I'm going to check how does the Endless mode behave after playing the classic version for a bit. Stay tuned.

Also, I'm not sure about backing up save files and if that's even possible (how exactly does the Steam Cloud work for this game?). That being said - kill count for monsters has transferred between versions flawlessly (both directions) which brings me to conclusion that probably all counters are saved, but since there was no Endless mode in the Classic version, either the field gets overwritten with 0 or ignored and when running SE again, it's dropped as wrong data or something functionally undistinguishable.

[Venuminostrates]

Well cool! Thank you for taking time out of your day to check it.

[Mr. n]

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh crap!

The good:
The relics are transferred 1:1 between versions.
Though not the in-game achievement, you keep the actual level count for Endless (I've been able to go to 73rd floor as I had it unlocked).


The ugly:
You lose talismans and weapons. You have to unlock them again probably using coins you don't have, since you have already spent them on unlocking.


All that said, it is clear for me now - I will just play the classic version and ignore the Slayer Edition.

Unfair difficulty, golden food, relics using potions (no freebies!), Masteries, kiting, combos (required for getting respawn coins, no freebies) and only one weapon set to master.


No problem mate. I love the pre-Slayer Edition and, even given the negative aspects listed above, would advise you to play instead of the console-driven easy mode that Gauntlet is nowadays.

[Venuminostrates]

Haha, I probably will. I like the Endless mode type of gameplay, even though I'm interested in seeing what the old game was like. Thanks again for checking.

[Mr. n]

I've kinda-finished my guide about the differences between the game versions: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=952426137

I will probably keep adding to it, but at least not for a few days (may stretch, as I have hectic work schedule). Cheers!

[Fatmagic]

Why not just make an identical copy of the Steam install to another directory and make that the classic version? Then the Steam Slayer Edition version will remain untainted.

[Mr. n]

I have done that and I'm dynamically renaming the two folders to switch between versions.

Originally posted by Calypso:

Then the Steam Slayer Edition version will remain untainted.

It will not. And it's not the SE that gets tainted in my opinion.

Unless you're capable of 100% foolproof way of backing up, savegames (how does the Cloud work for Gauntlet?) and keeping them separate, there is hardly coming back from going back to the classic version.

(I don't regret going back to Classic - not for a second :))