Download Original MicroProse & ManaLink Game Files!

[stassy]

Try to set the executable into xp compatible mode.

[cherubino]

thanxs for the answer but i dont'know how to set executable in xp compatible mode. Anyway i found an alerady saved game when i downloaded shandalar and here the portait of the character is correct. when i begin a new game an error occourred when i have to chose the image for my charcater so it remain an unrecoignizable square (i can see it when i'm walking in the world in the left side the first on bottom), in the saved game the image is a woman and i try when i took damnege it dont crash.
so to solve the problem (whitout play whit the game already finished) i think i could exchange the portrait of the saved character in to my saved game...
Or anyone can be so gentle to send me an already beginned game

[cherubino]

Ok done i beginned a new game in another pc ^^

[Huggybaby]

Like the instructions say, you have to create and save a character at the beginning of the game or you'll have trouble. Now that I know the game can crash if you don't I'll update the instructions.

[Sacrificia]

Hey there, thanks so much for getting this up and running. I absolutely love this original game. I'm sad they didn't include Shandalar in the new game that came out the previous year.

Anyway, I am running Vista and installed the HoTU version with the 2.01 patch. Things were working great. Started magic.exe file and popped up the game. I clicked to enter Shandalar and it moves SO SLOW. I can barely move my cursor anywhere. It's 3:30am and I'm a bit too tired to figure out why its doing this.

Any suggestions?

edit: Attempted basic duel, noticed I have no text on anything whatsoever

[Aswan jaguar]

Sacrificia if you want to play shandalar try the :
Microprose Magic the Gathering 2010 Custom Installer ISO

[Ignas192]

i play the original Mtg game, everything was fine. yesterday i added magic.reg to my registry and now i don't have text in the game, pls help

[CirothUngol]

Hiya, guys!
I haven't checked out the forum much in 2010; it's nice to see that development of Manalink is still in full swing. Earlier this year (Jan-Feb) I downloaded an update that knocked out some of my many Gauntlet Decks due to the inevitable removal/replacement of old cards to make way for the newly coded ones. Since Gauntlet is about 50% of everything I do with Manalink, and I have hundreds of decks to play with, I back-tracked the updates to try and find the last one that doesn't mangle the old-skool Gauntlet Decks. As far as I can tell, the update for January 9, 2010 was the last one before the start of the purging of older cards, so that's the one I've been using ever since. I did a clean build, added all the updates, and archived it for transport to the few computers I play it on. One of these is a disfigured multi-colored 800Mhz Franken-puter I play with at work and I recently discovered, much to my surprise, that a couple of my customers were MtG players back in the mid-late '90s. When they saw me playing Manalink, they remembered the original Microprose game and were excited to get a chance to check out the newer version. I told them I'd hook 'em up with the version I was playing (already had the archive burned onto CD and everything)... but alas, they are not Computer Geeks, such as myself, and are in fact computer illiterate. After trying to explain how to Un7zip something to little effect, I told them I'd make a self-extracting executable (since they didn't know what "archives" were), but quickly realised that an executable would also be insufficient, since there wouldn't be any Desktop/Start Menu shortcuts for them to start the program (did I mention they're computer illiterate?). I told them I'd look online for a free Windows Installer Creator that would make the shortcuts... and I found one!
ClickTeam's Install Creator is FREE, makes shortcuts, is full-featured, versatile, easy to use, and has really good compression... and it's FREE. Of course, never to do anything without excess, I wound up getting Install Creator Pro that offers more advanced features and removes the obligatory ClickTeam ad at the end of the install. I combined my archived build of Manalink 2.x 20100109 with the original HomeOfTheUnderdogs install of Manalink 1.3.2 (for Shandalar) as well as a few extras (like 700+ PlayDecks for Gauntlet and an AutoToggler to turn Sounds & Animations On/Off). The installer has been tested on Windows 95/98SE/ME/NT4/2KSP4/XPSP2/XPSP3 and seems to work flawlessly (of course Manalink 2.x will only run on WinXP+, but Manalink 1.3.2 and the installer work fine). I can't say for Vista/7, as I don't have access to those OSes. The installer offers choices between Manalink 2.x and/or 1.3.2, with or without Sound and/or Animations. The installer is 428 Mb and comes packed with an autorun.ini and manalink.ico for friendly CD Burning. A full install requires ~975 Mb and the most minimal requires ~140 Mb. I've personally been using this build of the 20100109 update on a daily basis for over 6 months now, and it seems to be very stable on Windows XP SP2/SP3. Hopefully, someone other than my customers and myself will find this installer useful. Great to use if you want to play with old decks, wish to preserve the backwards-compatibility of your new decks, or want to play a 50 opponent Gauntlet without hitting the same deck twice. ^_^

Also, I'd originally planned to make an updated version of the Manalink 2.0 VMWare Appliance available at the top of this thread, but Mok's 2.0 is the last version I could get to run on Win95/98. Without 98micro's tiny footprint a VMWare appliance can grow unweildly very quickly. A bare WinXP Pro install is 2Gb+ before you add hundreds of Mb worth of card images. That's a no-go. However...
I recently laid my hands on a tiny OEM install of WinXP SP2 whose bare install clocks in at under 250Mb! After wrestling with VMWare driver issues for half a Saturday (as an OEM disc, none are included) I was able to get Graphics, Audio, Network and Indeo Video working, and the Manalink Install runs just fine. I've been using the appliance for over a week now and feel secure that its stable. After loading the necessary WinXP updates and adding the Full Manalink 2.x 20100109 Install (~975 Mb) the Appliance starts at 1.37 Gb, and the 6-part 7zip archive is 596 Mb. It was created using the new VMWare Player 3.1.1 which now allows creating as well as executing appliances, making VMWare Workstation obsolete unless you're creating business applications, network simulations, server distributions or the like. Well worth the upgrade, and probably necessary to use this appliance (faster than MS Virtual PC, too).

I've uploaded all of the files to MediaFire, re-downloaded them, ran .par2 checks and binary comparison with Beyond Compare, so these are good to go. Archives are 7zip.

Manalink 2.x 20100109 Windows Installer (~428 Mb)
This is the installer with a few files for friendly CD Burning
Manalink 2.x 20100109 Installer part 1
Manalink 2.x 20100109 Installer part 2
Manalink 2.x 20100109 Installer part 3
Manalink 2.x 20100109 Installer part 4
Manalink 2.x 20100109 Installer part 5
Manalink 2.x 20100109 Installer .par2 Check File

Manalink 2.x 20100109 VMWare Appliance (~596 Mb)
Manalink 2.x 20100109 installed on a WinXP SP2 Appliance for VMWare Player 3.1.1+
Manalink 2.x 20100109 VMWare part 1
Manalink 2.x 20100109 VMWare part 2
Manalink 2.x 20100109 VMWare part 3
Manalink 2.x 20100109 VMWare part 4
Manalink 2.x 20100109 VMWare part 5
Manalink 2.x 20100109 VMWare part 6
Manalink 2.x 20100109 VMWare .par2 Check File

...and a MediaFire link to VMWare Player 3.1.1 for Windows
VMWare Player 3.1.1

I've also attached an archive below containing the ReadMe and my EZ DuelSound Toggler. Just drop the DuelSound.cmd file into your Manalink install (same directory as "Magic.exe") and double-click. It'll move and rename all of the Sounds and Animations, and then put them back if you double-click it again. Nice and Easy. ^_^

Please report any problems you have with downloading the files or using the Installer/Appliance.

<Previous Attachment Removed>

[Aswan jaguar]

Great work CirothUngol,but we already have the iso2010,with all old cards plus newer cards,with autorun,desktop icons,etc.see the iso2010 thread.

[CirothUngol]

Yea, I fell off the forum after the first of the year, so I missed the ISO coming out (and I'd anxiously awaited it, too). I didn't visit the forum again until a few weeks ago... a couple of months after I'd already built and handed-out the first version of the installer. I really dig the new MtG 2010 ISO, it's kinda like "Uber Manalink 2.0" with 400+ more cards than Mok's Manalink 2.0 (and 700+ more cards than Manalink 1.3.2). Beautiful installer, very professional and nearly the same as the original. I've loaded it on all of the computers I use; a true Blast from the Past, as it plays exactly as the original. If I'd have known at the time that the ISO was out, I would've probably just burned 'em a copy of that and been done with it.
However, the update from 20100109 is much more modern, while still retaining it's compatibility with all previously made decks. See, I'm a rather casual MtG player, usually a Solo and Gauntlet type of guy. After I noticed the Gauntlet Decks having wrong cards I slowly backed-up to this version, where I've observed no abnormalities with the decks after many months of play. On top of that, it's got most of the perks we've come to know and love...
SPAT
Momir Basic
Draft Tournaments
Vanguard Play
Challenge Mode
Elder Dragon Highlander (if you can get it)
MagicLimited with full Zendikar set
New Graphics/Backgrounds
900+ more cards (2345 as opposed to 1384)
700+ PlayDecks
...all with full backwards compatibility (I think) and all in an easy to install (and hand out) package. I wrote the DuelSound Toggler and spruced up the release a little before offering it for download, but it is by no means a nice, full-featured installer like the MtG 2010 ISO. It essentially just allows you to choose how much stuff to extract and where to extract it, and then it makes the appropriate shortcuts. For all I know, this version may be WinXP only (however, the Manalink 1.3.2 runs on everything before WinXP), as I don't have Vista/7 to test it on. Although I was hoping that others might find it as useful and stable as I have, it was kind of an afterthough (hence the big backstory... hrm, I guess I am rather verbose ^_^).
The post is really about the new VMWare Appliance, which I'm sure someone will find useful since Manalink won't run on everything... but VMWare Player probably will.

[stassy]

Is this version multiplayer compatible? I think you just nailed the last update before the beginning of cards replacement, though in this state there were many fixes that weren't done on the last new cards.

[Diz]

I dunno how, but Ciroth's gigantic post somehow gets the full Manalink working for me, via this Virtual Station thingy. This is probably the largest work-around I've ever had to use for any game to get what I want out of it, but it works. And that's what matters.

Ciroth, this looks like it took you some time to do, and you said it might not be useful to anyone - well, it's useful to me, and I have been trying to get a version similar to this on my PC for 2 days straight.

THANK YOU! Now I can Force of Will the computer!!! -_-

[CirothUngol]

@stassy
Well, this version is past the one labled "last version compatible with multiplayer" on the Wiki, but the link to that version is dead, and although I probably have it archived, the Wiki doesn't say which version it is (date) so I can't tell. If multiplayer can be made to work in a stable fasion, it might be best on a VirtualMachine, since those can be made exactly alike. I did get the network enabled on the tiny WinXP install, but I'd already spent too much time on the project. If anyone knows which version (date) is listed as the last MultiPlayer version, please say. Perhaps the next version on VMWare could fix some of the MultiPlayer issues by assuring that everyone is using the exact same copy.
And yes, there are still plenty of glitches, but at least it almost never crashes. ^_^

@Diz
Great! That means that the VMWare Appliance is doing it's job... running the software correctly in a box on an OS it wasn't really designed for. I'm really glad you found it useful (and did you ever get that Mana Drain working as well?)

[Diz]

Oh yeah man, I'm countering the AI like a mad man now, haha!

Also, everything in this version seems more stable. Like for example, in the 2010 ISO version, the AI would sometimes apparently freeze or get stuck making a decision... or change a Mishra's Factory to a worker over and over and over for no reason. This version doesn't seem to hang up on any of that stuff, however a few cards like Cursed Scroll for example seem to be stuck in some weird Challenge lock mode or something. Thx again Ciroth.

[CirothUngol]

I love Mana Drain! I can remember getting caught in the bad-collation that happened on the initial shipment of the Legends expansion. I bought 3 boxes and was still missing well over 50 cards... but only 12 of those were rare! I was missing 30+ uncommons and received extras of the others. One of those was Mana Drain, I must've had 25-30 of 'em... and I tried to trade 'em for all the missing uncommons (could you imagine, trading a Mana Drain for a Kobold Task Master ?).
Yea, I don't know if they altered something in the AI or the Card Info that tends to make the game not glitch-up as much, but it'll still do it from time to time. Certain bugs, like the "Blocking Juggernaught", have persisted ever since the initial MtG 1.0 release, where as others, like the "Mana Vault Suicide", have been corrected. Apparently, there is some control over the AI's thought processes; or maybe it's the inclusion of the "Rules Engine" card that has this effect. I dunno.
...and Yes, you are correct! If you haven't checked out Challenge Mode yet, you probably should. Several kick-ass cards can only be unlocked for use by completing a series of Challenges (you can blame jatill for this ^_^). Look at the saved webpage "Salbei's Challenge Decks" located on the 20100109 Install or VMWare Appliance (Start\Manalink\Docs\ on the Start Menu, or \Magic\Challenge Decks\ on the HardDrive). Ever notice how the Computer AI is a really, really crappy player? Well, the Challenge Mode gives the AI a boost... by cheating. Imagine trying to fight the AI if it was given a free creature at the beginning of every turn. Now imagine if that creature was a Meddling Mage, or Relentless Rats! You also have to win 8-12 games in a row, with the same deck. Not for the faight of heart, it's really an exercise in hard-core creative deck building, and it's actually the only way to get some of the newest and coolest cards (again, blame jatill)... a reward for all your days (and nights) of toil in the Deck Maker. Premade challenge decks are available in \Magic\Challenge Decks\ courtesy of Salbei (although he might not know it yet). Check out his website for newer info, and check the ReadMe from the 20100109 Install/VMWare App.