Beneath a Steel Sky
Released: 1994
Published by: Virgin Interactive Entertainment
Developed by: Revolution Software
Author(s): Charles Cecil, Dave Cummins, Dave Gibbons, Daniel Marchant, Tony Warriner, David Sykes, James Long, Les Pace, Steve Ince, Stephen Oades, Adam Tween, Paul Humphreys
** This page is a work in progress **
Game Audio Samples Sound Blaster (OPL3SAx) OGG, FLAC Roland MT-32 OGG, FLAC |
Game Introduction (video) w/ OPL3SAx |
System Requirements
System Requirements | Intel 80386 CPU, 2 MB RAM. Graphics support for MCGA or VGA only (320x200 max. resolution). Audio support for Ad Lib, Sound Blaster, Roland MT-32, CM32L, and General MIDI. Keyboard and Mouse supported. |
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Original Media | Six 3.5" high-density (DS/HD) floppy disks, or one CD-ROM ("talkie" version) |
Installed Size (MB) | 8.9 MB (Floppy disk version) or 93 MB (CD-ROM version) |
From where can it be run?
The game must be installed to your hard disk. Run A:\INSTALL to begin the installation from Disk 1.
Copy Protection
BASS has no copy protection.
How to Setup
Insert the first floppy disk and run INSTALL.EXE:
1) Game installation:
2) Other Configuration Options:
Note that the 'Port Addresses' option only allows you to configure settings for a Sound Blaster. For Roland MT-32 the game is hard-wired to I/O Address 330h. Also worth mentioning is that BASS supports the additional sound effects of a Roland CM-32L.You can change the configuration at any time by re-running INSTALL.EXE (it skips the game installation portion and jumps straight to the 'Setup Menu').
Once installed and configured, run the game by executing SKY.EXE in the game directory.
The main executable has the following command-line options which will override what is in the non text-editable file SKY.CFG:
R = to force Roland MT-32 sound mode (by default it will use Ad Lib/SB)
m = to force music and sound effects OFF.
Problems
Symptom: When I start the game I receive this error: "Fatal Error
Previously installed software is neither VCPI not DPMI compatible".
Cause: You are running an Expanded Memory Manager such as EMM386 but with the NOEMS option to give you XMS memory. BASS uses a custom memory manager which scans your memory automatically and in theory you should not need to run any memory manager at all.
Resolution: Change your CONFIG.SYS line where you load EMM386 and remove the "NOEMS" option. Then retry running the game.
Symptom: I am running the CD-ROM "talkie" version of BASS with the Roland MT-32 sound option, but I only hear music - there is no speech.
Cause: This is not possible, sadly. If you want both sound and speech you must run the game using the Sound Blaster option instead.
To Quit the Game
Press F5 at any time, then move the mouse to the button to the left of 'C:\DOS'. Then click the green tick box to confirm.
Supporting Documents
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Save Games
.
Versions of the game known to exist
Version | Date | Comments |
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1.0 | 1994 | Initial public release on floppy disk. |
1995? | CD-ROM "talkie" version. |
Original Floppy Disk Contents
The six floppy disks have no specific volume label. BASS uses a compression system from Rob Northern Computing called Pro-Pack. Pro-Pack is a cross-platform compression tool most commonly found on the Amiga. This creates files with a .RNC extension. The most recent release of Pro-Pack is v2.08. Here are each of the game disk's contents:
Disk 1 (3.5" 1.44 MB DS/HD, English): Directory of A:\ |
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Disk 2 (3.5" 1.44 MB DS/HD, English): Directory of A:\ SKY_2 RNC 1,457,664 08-17-94 4:32p 1 file(s) 1,457,664 bytes 0 bytes free |
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Disk 3 (3.5" 1.44 MB DS/HD,English): Directory of A:\ SKY_3 RNC 1,457,664 08-17-94 4:32p 1 file(s) 1,457,664 bytes 0 bytes free |
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Disk 4 (3.5" 1.44 MB DS/HD,English): Directory of A:\ SKY_4 RNC 1,457,664 08-17-94 4:32p 1 file(s) 1,457,664 bytes 0 bytes free |
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Disk 5 (3.5" 1.44 MB DS/HD,English): Directory of A:\ SKY_5 RNC 1,457,664 08-17-94 4:32p 1 file(s) 1,457,664 bytes 0 bytes free |
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Disk 6 (3.5" 1.44 MB DS/HD,English): Directory of A:\ SKY_6 RNC 674,051 08-17-94 4:32p 1 file(s) 674,051 bytes 783,360 bytes free |
Installed Directory Contents
Once installed, the following directory structure exists in the game directory:
Directory of D:\GAMES\BASS . <DIR> 11-09-21 4:54p .. <DIR> 11-09-21 4:54p INSTALL EXE 28,925 11-09-21 4:54p SKY DNR 11,564 11-09-21 4:54p SKY DSK 8,829,811 11-09-21 5:01p SKY EXE 402,642 11-09-21 5:01p SKY RST 53,720 11-09-21 5:01p SKY CFG 5 11-09-21 6:56p 8 file(s) 9,326,667 bytes 52,166,656 bytes free |