Multiple game CDs to 1 DVD guide?

[Kyle2k]

Hi everybody (sorry for my bad english)

i want to create dvd games from multiple game CDs in order to save storage space.
some games fit well in a single dvd, when you simply copy all the contents of the multiple CDs to one temp dir in your hdd. this is the case when you have only .cab files to add in your TEMP folder (the only trick maybe is the dvd volume name, or editing .msi files)
however, some other games cannot work this way, because:

1. the volume name is wrong, and the game setup asks for the correct volume to continue the install procedure (you cannot burn a single dvd with multiple volume names!)

2. or worse: there is a conflict with the contents of the CDs: duplicated files with different sizes, forcing me to choose witch one i want to put in the TEMP folder.

That is my problem, guys. I found this issue when i tryed to backup Emperor: Battle for Dune 4 CDs to one DVD: the files does not match.

My question is: is there a guide or something explaining how to solve this issue? i want badly to backup this game to a single dvd (and a few more)

thanks for your help
Kyle2k

[Joe Forster/STA]

Hi Kyle,

Yes, there are several general and game-specific guides on this issue, so use the "Search" button. Good luck,

Joe

[noscript]

maybe you can join the files?

There is a simple command line. But I forgot. It was something with xcopy I think.

In some game setups you can edit ini or dat files with notepad

[Kyle2k]

hey joe

thanks for your reply.....but no luck w/ the search button. no luck at all.

i'm stuck with two issues:

the files MOVIES0001.RFD and MOVIES0001.RFH - both are present in the #2, #3 and #4 volume, with major different sizes! i don't know how to workaround (merge them, maybe)

maybe the volume name issue (EMPEROR1, EMPEROR2, and so on...)

Maybe i can use Alcohol 120 to do the job, but i don't know how to use it...

Kyle2k

[reddragon105]

sounds like you're refering specifically to Emperor: Battle for Dune then

it may not be possible in this case, as there is 1 install CD for this game, and the other 3 CDs are for the 3 houses, Atreides, Harkonnen and Ordos.

obviously, each house has their own movies on their own CD. obviously the first movie file is called MOVIES0001.RFD for each house. the file sizes are different because they are different movies. putting a second or third of these files into the same folder would overwrite the file already there, so you would end up with only one movie for one house, and that same movie would play for every house (so the Atreides movie would play for the Harkonnen and Ordos houses too, not good)

if you renamed the files, the game will not be able to find them, so without extensive reprogramming of the game, you cant put this one onto DVD
________
Honda CBR400RR

[Kyle2k]

So, i'm totally out of luck. I thought the same thing. but i wonder if i could find a batch file or something to edit in order to rename in a proper way the movie files... do you think it is possible, reddragon105?

Kyle2k

[Kyle2k]

Well guys,

The only solution to my problem seems to be the old way... I managed to workaround, but not the way i expected (or desired):

1. create images w/ alcohol 120%, using .bin and .cue images (had no success using the native .mds, .mdf);
2. create a virtual drive w/ Daemon Tools, mount the images, and;
3. patch the game to version 1.08 and apply the 1.09 no-cd fix - read the instructions (at this point y r not able to play without the original CDs nor the DVD w/ the images yet);
4. Now make 3 new folders and name them "CD2" "CD3" and "CD4" then copy CD2 into CD2 etc.
5. now you can play without the CDs (or DVD).
6. since the job is done and worked well, you can now COPY the images (w/ the patch and the no-cd, for convenience) to a DVD. Do not BURN the images, just create a data DVD and copy the files!

Kyle2k

[Grumpy]

@ kyle2k

[Joe Forster/STA]

Hi Kyle2k,

Yeah, yeah, I was a bit afraid of telling you this method, thinking you might say it's lame... Well, but it, at least, works!

Joe