[game_preservation] DOOM manifest for PVW project

[Devin Monnens]

Ok, that makes sense. This is an archive for getting the game to play
properly.
The MIDI files are beta tracks. They have context on John Romero's page.
They can shed light into the audio development of the game.

The CD, as you mention it, is not owned by id. However, you can use mp3s or
other audio files generated from recordings you mentioned to test the audio
based on how the midis should sound, but a better emulation test (such as a
numerical output from a uvc-type device, for instance) would verify whether
the audio is playing properly. Midi is a pain to emulate because they use
different sound libraries for each track. Even though we have hardware that
is much better than in 1997, I can't play the Warcraft II midis and have
them sound exactly as they did 10 years ago, for instance, because I don't
have the proper sound libraries. The Konami MIDI Power Pro albums also have
this same issue - they included floppy disks with the actual midi files on
them, but it would not be easily possible to get them to run the same as
they sound on the album:

http://vgmdb.net/album/1276

On Tue, Sep 8, 2009 at 10:45 AM, Henry Lowood <lowood at stanford.edu> wrote:


>  Devin,

>

> It's not a comprehensive DOOM collection.  The idea is to provide context

> information that will be helpful for installing the software, verifying the

> installation, and playing/using the game.   In the case of DOOM, we reach

> the point where the software is as much a technology platform (for mods,

> map-building, demos, speedruns, even some machinima) as a stand-alone game

> (see Lev Manovich on this).

>

> Thus, the few included replays, demos, machinima, mods, etc. represent a

> sampling, only a tiny one in the case of maps, mods and demos. But I did

> want to include a little bit of everything, as far as how the game was used.

>

> I'm all ears, but I don't really see how live performance would function as

> context in this sense.  We have separate gameplay video and performance

> collections at the Internet Archive that could serve as collection points

> for those.   (By the way, your link led to a Mortal Kombat performance.)

>

> The music from Romero's website is, as I understand it, not the same as the

> released music.   So, two responses here: (1) How would these midi files

> provide context for the game software?  Maybe as background on the

> development process?  (2) We are also archiving websites separately as part

> of an archive-it project (Internet Archive), and we have include John

> Romero's site, so the page is archived there.  I'm on the fence here.

> Further thoughts?

>

> As for the soundtrack CD, I suppose it might function as a check for the

> game audio.   Actually, audio is probably the trickiest aspect of

> emulation.  That seems to be what the testing (which RPI is doing) shows.  A

> problem here is that CD you refer to does not seem to be licensed by id

> Software; how would we get permission to archive it?  Another problem is

> that this does not appear to be a complete soundtrack, only selected maps.

> Or is it?  Do you know of a collection of all the music?  Something like

> this arrangement

> http://www.sirgalahad.org/paul/doom/

> Except that we would want to be able to verify the source as being the game

> itself.   With MIDI, of course, it's a little tricky.

> So maybe this one?

> http://www.doomworld.com/classicdoom/info/music.php (which is archived:

> http://web.archive.org/web/20071014012004/http://www.doomworld.com/classicdoom/info/music.php

> )

> I verified that the music files are included.

> So I think I am going to add the doomworld music collection to the next

> version of the manifest.

>

> It's not a research project on DOOM, so we will not create a bibliography,

> but if there is one readily available on-line, yes, we could include that.

> I have not seen anything that is particularly detailed; for example, there

> are as many as a dozen books on DOOM maps, modding, hacking, etc., which

> would be very useful for setting up the game in the future, but these are

> not generally included in bibliographies.  If you can point to something

> on-line, we could include it.

>

> Henry

>

>

>

>

>

> Devin Monnens wrote:

>

> Nice overview, Henry. So you will have a large collection of mods? What

> about the Marine DOOM mod? For others...

>  Is the video collection including Grooveraider's DOOM debut video?

>  Doom performance by actors of Mo...<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYB7-ZgGrfU&feature=channel_page>

>

>  Also, I picked up a zip containing midis from DOOM. I assume you knew

> about these? (Maybe I heard it on this list

> first...) This is from John Romero's website:

>

>  http://rome.ro/2007/06/doom-archaeology.html

>

>  Interesting enough, I also have a collection of Warcraft II midis, but I

> think you can get these off the game disc.

>

>  Also, there was the soundtrack CD:

>

>  http://vgmdb.net/album/2950

>

>  Lastly, a nice bibliography of materials talking about DOOM could be

> added (such as Dungeons and Dreamers and Masters of DOOM). You also can't

> wrench DOOM from its context of violent games.

>

>  The biggest question is I'm not sure based on the documentation what the

> scope of the DOOM collection is or why these particular elements were chosen

> (and why some elements were not included). There will be a writeup on this?

>

>  -Devin

>

> On Tue, Sep 8, 2009 at 12:46 AM, Henry Lowood <lowood at stanford.edu> wrote:

>

>> Attached please find the first draft of the DOOM manifest for Preserving

>> Virtual Worlds.  This is a manifest for the files that will be in the Bag-it

>> "bag."  (some will be fetched from Internet Archive copies)

>>

>> The content section is pretty much done.  I welcome comments/suggestions

>> esp. about the contextual materials.

>>

>> Henry

>>

>> --

>> Henry Lowood

>> Curator for History of Science & Technology Collections;

>>      Film & Media Collections

>> HRG, Green Library

>> 557 Escondido Mall, Stanford University Libraries

>> Stanford CA 94305-6004 USAhttp://www.stanford.edu/~lowood <http://www.stanford.edu/%7Elowood>lowood at stanford.edu; 650-723-4602

>>

>>

>>

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>

>

> --

> Devin Monnens

> www.deserthat.com

>

> The sleep of Reason produces monsters.

>

> ------------------------------

>

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>

>

> --

> Henry Lowood, Ph.D.

> Curator for History of Science & Technology Collections;

>  Film & Media Collections

> HRG, Green Library, 557 Escondido Mall

> Stanford University Libraries

> Stanford CA 94305-6004

> 650-723-4602; lowood at stanford.edu; http://www.stanford.edu/~lowood<http://www.stanford.edu/%7Elowood>

>

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>



-- 
Devin Monnens
www.deserthat.com

The sleep of Reason produces monsters.
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