[game_preservation] Kotaku: Videogame History MuseumKickstartershort on funds

[István Fábián]

Originally (10+ years ago by now!) we could have used simple raw disk dumps, like all other tools and projects used and still use apart from SPS.
In fact, we had a prototype system working within a few weeks including using the raw images under emulation.
It was fairly tempting as people could just use the images straight away without an analysation process involved, but we (at the time Kieron and I mostly) were aware that it wouldn't do much good for real world preservation, especially since I had some idea how disks were duplicated in the first place having worked on commercial games before.
It was actually a difficult decision not to go with the raw dumps and to develop our first toolchain instead, which meant a very intense, initial 2 years development cycle, but I think it paid off at the end. 
Right now our tools have 10 years worth of R&D in them.
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Devin Monnens 
  To: IGDA Game Preservation SIG 
  Cc: IGDA Game Preservation SIG 
  Sent: Wednesday, August 24, 2011 3:36 PM
  Subject: Re: [game_preservation] Kotaku: Videogame History MuseumKickstartershort on funds


  One lesson that I think is good to learn and easy to find out if you learn as you go is the equivalent of measure twice, cut once: do it right the first time so you don have to do it again later. This has happened to me with everything from CD backup (using MP3 rather than lossless, so I had to do it again this past year), scanning, and audio recording. So I learned the hard way to do lots of tests and verification before making backups :-) and of course wish I'd known all this in the first place...


  As a result, I can seriously appreciate all the research that has gone into these tools. 

  The sleep of Reason produces monsters.

  On Aug 24, 2011, at 6:03 AM, "Christian Bartsch | softpres.org" <cb at softpres.org> wrote:




    On 24 Aug 2011, at 00:41, Vincent Joguin wrote:


      http://www.oldskool.org/disk2fdi
      Has been available for almost a decade and has been used for over 5 years for professional preservation of floppy disks. The associated FDI format is able to accurately store all information from a floppy, and is supported by a number of emulators.





    I would like quote a post by you made to the Software Collectors list (SWcollect on Google) on the 4th of August 2011 ("Re: [SWcollect] So, "that" Akalabeth..."):




      Unfortunately, no analysis tool exists for FDI files, and this is indeed the strong point of the CAPS/SPS solution, although more information can be derived from an FDI.


    I always look at things from two perspectives: data ingestion and preservation. I can accept people doing this for their own private collection, but not analysing data ingested and checking for authenticity and integrity to me feels grossly negligent in a professional environment meant to deal with preservation. If you don't know an asset is good, what will you do when you find out two decades later?



    Again, I can understand that casual user going after disk2fdi for budgetary reasons, but I feel preservation needs to be done right. This would - to my understanding - include storing data as it was meant to be written (which only can be done after analysation). Otherwise you can't write it back to a disk (to e.g. create a clone for use in an exhibition) or simulate the effects certain protections have in emulation.

    I would like to add that this is nothing personal, and also not meant as an attack on your tech. I just feel the word "preservation" is being used inflationary recently.





    --
    Christian Bartsch
    The Software Preservation Society
    http://www.softpres.org
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