How likely is it that 16-bit Windows 3.1 & earlier games are going to get digital rereleases on Steam via OTVDM? Any chances?

[wadmodder1999]

In the early days of Microsoft Windows during the late-1980s & early-1990a there wasn't a whole lot of software and games being made for it, with many companies still releasing games & software on the aging MS-DOS until the release of Windows 95 in 1995. There were a couple of 16-bit Windows games designed for Windows 3.1 and earlier that were released, but many of these were released on BBS, AOL or other pre-WorldWideWeb services at the time, and they were very primitive even back then.

Many 16-bit Windows games that did make it to retail stores were very few and far between, with releases on 5.25 or 3.5 floppy disks, although CD-ROMs were introduced around this time. Later during Windows 3.1's lifestyle,  Microsoft introduced WinG to expand the graphical capabilities of Windows 3.1, but unlike the later DirectX, it wasn't very successful and saw very little use in games & software.

Despite the shortcomings of 16-bit Windows games and the demise of the Windows 9x family, Microsoft continued to support NTVDM for backward compatibility for 32-bit Windows NT systems with Windows NT 3.1 up until its final appearance in Windows 10, the last version of Windows with a 32-bit edition.

With the release of Windows 11, Microsoft chose not to provide a 32-bit version for any edition for the OS (Heck, not even to the enterprise edition either), which effectively discontinued and killed off NTVDM after 28 years of being included in Windows NT-based systems. RIP NTVDM 1993-2021

With that backstory addendum out of the way, how likely is it that there would be chances of 16-bit Windows 3.1 & earlier games being rereleased through digital distribution platforms like Steam (and maybe GOG) via OTVDM? (which is a port of the 16-bit Windows subsystem found in Wine to 64-bit Windows NT-based systems). We've already had DOSBox become widely used for digital distribution platforms with MS-DOS games since the late-2000s so now we need OTVDM to do the same for 16-bit Windows games on digital distribution platforms as well. Feel free to provide thoughts and comments for this thread.

[davidb11]

Mordor? The game that is the grandfather of Demise: Rise of the Kutan?! Or another Mordor.

[adz]

well steam already has ms-dos games and have been enhanced/re-release i own a few of them,
doom,blood,duke nukem, shadow warrior. i got more but i think these are the most popular.

[wadmodder1999]

Oh come on, quit ignoring the existence of OTVDM. With the release of OTVDM, it is the only way to use 16-bit Windows games &software made during the Windows 3.1-era, meaning no longer do you have to rely on VirtualBox, VMWare, and the hassle of installing Windows 3.1 in DOSBox.

[davidb11]

Since I've never heard of OTVDM before, and have no clue what it is, I don't think it's fair to complain that people don't bring it up at all.

Seriously, What the heck is it?
I mean, it's also obviously not the only way to use 16-bit Windows games, so that makes no sense to claim period.

And there is literally no hassle to install Windows 3.1 into DosBox.

[wadmodder1999]

Here's stuff that I know.

Emulation Gametech wiki: WineVDM is an open-source compatibility layer that emulates kernel/user/GDI calls with other aspects like windowing being passed off to the host OS. It's a fork of Wine using MAME's 80386 CPU core and MS-DOS Player. As of January 2022, WineVDM is still in its early stages but can run simple games like SkiFree, older Microsoft Office versions, and SimCity.

WikiPedia: a 16-bit app compatibility layer for 64-bit Windows, and a 16-bit Windows interpreter based on MAME's i386 emulation and the 16-bit part of the popular Windows compatibility layer Wine.

So there that's what OTVDM is supposed to be.

[crunchyfrog]

Damp Wizard Sleeve の投稿を引用：

As you've been told that's up to the rights holders. If they've been essentially abandoned it's extremely unlikely that anyone would waste their time picking up the rights to 30+ year old pc games.

This.

It always remains down to the IP holders. Valve can't do anything about this as it's nothing to do with them. They're a shop and can only "stock" what is offered to them.

Anywho, a lot of these older games are pretty much dead, as some even turn up on abandonware sites (legit ones). Becaise even the IP holders have chucked in any possible chance of making money off them.

So your first port of call might be there.

Other than that it's going to be EXTREMELY slim as the rewards are slim to none. The best bet would be if at some point some developer acquisition caused a new owner to bundle a load under a compilation with DOSBox or something as a wrapper.

[IFIYGD]

wadmodder1999 の投稿を引用：

Here's stuff that I know.

Emulation Gametech wiki: WineVDM is an open-source compatibility layer that emulates kernel/user/GDI calls with other aspects like windowing being passed off to the host OS. It's a fork of Wine using MAME's 80386 CPU core and MS-DOS Player. As of January 2022, WineVDM is still in its early stages but can run simple games like SkiFree, older Microsoft Office versions, and SimCity.

WikiPedia: a 16-bit app compatibility layer for 64-bit Windows, and a 16-bit Windows interpreter based on MAME's i386 emulation and the 16-bit part of the popular Windows compatibility layer Wine.

So there that's what OTVDM is supposed to be.

So, you don;t know enough about it to describe it in your own words to people, but have to copy-pasta a Wiki page and a Wikipedia page?

What do you know about the devs/modders who authored the code, and how well do you know them (asking, since you are basically trying to advertise their little-known emulation SW, but can't seem to tell anyone details about it without quoting someone else's description of it...)?