[GUIDE] Obtaining and Playing UrW first version 1.00b from 1992 on a modern PC

[ineedcords]

Summary
This is a guide to obtaining Unreal World version 1.00b (1992) and running it on your modern PC.

Background Information
9 years ago, in July 2012, Sami has got the flu and posted this on the old forums:

Summer flu - that's evil, but I've been touched by one.
Five days of coughing and sneezing - no stamina for more than handling e-mails....and browsing archives for ancient UrW versions!
The very first UrW version - 1.00b from 1992 is now available for download as a full version. Get it from here: (website to be updated later)
(editor's note this URL is no longer working --> ) http://material.lahnarecords.fi/urw/urw100b-full.zip

Remember to view and follow the readme file.

--

It's been so long that I'm no expert in gameplay questions so good luck and have fun! Achoo.

source: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/urwforum/i-39-ve-got-flu-you-39-ve-got-version-1-00b-for-dl-t2521.html

To be clear he has included a registration code in the archive file and thus gifted the very first version of the game to the Internet. I would like to thank Sami for the registration code gift and for utilising his down time beneficial to the masses.


Step by Step Guide
Here is what you need to do to successfully run UrW1.00b on a modern PC.

1. Download and install DOSBox (or any other emulator you prefer such as dosemu although this guide mentions only DOSBox)
If you have never heard of it before here is a description from Wikipedia: "DOSBox is a free and open-source emulator which runs software for MS-DOS compatible disk operating systems".
It runs on many modern operating systems including the big three (Windows, Linux, macOS). Download it from the official website here: https://www.dosbox.com
If you have issues with setting up DOSBox, please refer to the online documentation here https://www.dosbox.com/DOSBoxManual.html
Or if you are a video learner perhaps check YouTube for one of the step by step tutorials.

2. (Before getting into URW at all) First launch DOSBox and ensure you can boot into it successfully and reach the C:\> prompt. Then, exit DOSBox return to your normal O/S.

3. (Only once you have confirmed that your DOSBox is healthy) Download URW100b from reference #2 at the bottom of this post, then extract (unZIP) it on to your DOSBox C:\ volume's root thus you should have "C:\URW100B" and all game files under that directory.

4. DOSBox steps
4a. Launch DOSBox.
4b. (Do this only if you are not using DOSBox auto-mount feature) Manually mount the volume which holds URW100b so that it becomes visible to DOSBox.
4c. In DOSBox command prompt, go into the UrW1.00 directory with the command: CD \URW100B
4d. Use DOSBox special key combinations (listed in reference #3 at the bottom of this post) to speed up the emulation, set it to maximum cycles you can based on your actual PC hardware.
Note: that the purpose of using MAX EMULATION SPEED at this stage is to complete the next step as soon as possible because it is a heavy computation step and takes several minutes to complete (waiting patiently is incompatible with most modern people).

5. (Before creating a new character, one need to run world randomiser) To run the UnrealWorld1.00 World-Randomiser mini program execute this: RNDWORLD then wait patiently 2-5 minutes (or a few seconds if you are using MAX EMULATION SPEED).
Note: Sami provides information on this, in Reference #1 (at the bottom of this post).

6. Prepare for launching game: Use DOSBox special key combinations (listed in reference #3 at the bottom of this post) to slow down/speed up the emulation and try to set it to about 3750 cycles.
Note: If you do not do this, you might get lucky and it might work but the most likely outcome is you will get 'stuck' at the URW game main screen where it lists F1, F2 keys etc. - will look like your key presses are ignored.

7. Finally, launch the game with: URW
You will see that the on-screen instructions list;
F1 show story
F2 create a new character
F3 exit the game (back to DOS)
F4 will 'Enter to Ankhyrnia'

If you need help , please REPLY to this thread and I -and probably others too- will try to help.
If you spot missing steps or errors, likewise please REPLY and report so that we can improve the guide.


REFERENCES


Reference #1: README for UnReal World 1.00b - full, registered version

UnReal World 1.00b - full, registered version
---------------------------------------------

This is the very first version of UnReal World RPG (UrW) released in 1992.
You may be able to run the game from command prompt in Windows systems, but sometimes
DosBox emulator (www.dosbox.com) may be needed to play this ancient MS-DOS version.

IMPORTANT:

This version is pre-configured to run in C:\URW100B directory.
For easy installation, extract contents of URW100B.ZiP to C:\URW100B folder.
(If you prefer to use alternate path you need to CONFIG.EXE after
 installation to change settings.)

Before starting the game you should run RNDWORLD.EXE. Rndworld needs to be
run EVERY TIME your character dies and you wish to create a new one - otherwise the
game maps won't renew. After running RNDWORLD you can start the game by
running URW.EXE. If you can't get the game running after creating the
character, you should exit the game and try to run it like URW CHARACTER
where CHARACTER is savefile name of the character you created. And once
more, when your character dies remember to run RNDWORLD before you start the 
game again.

All of this (and more) has been explained also in URW.DOC.

 
Have fun,

-Sami
UrW author
Jul-6th-2012, celebrating 20th year of development of UrW
http://www.iki.fi/urw

Reference #2: Unreal World version 1.00b (1992) download URL
https://www.unrealworld.fi/dl/urw100b-full.zip   (linked with permission from Sami)

File signatures (if you would like to check to be safe) are listed below. If you have not used this file signature concept before, here is a guide for MD5 signature verification on Windows: https://onthefencedevelopment.com/2017/08/15/windows-10-builtin-md5-checksum-calculator/

     MD5: 38826fb600db8fdcb7fd738340310a28
   SHA-1: 3f3f5738b1a79ddd0fe79e698e87b1bafa258906
 SHA-256: 992fbbc90003f332c01fc785343acf85e0ebb6ce6df23a624f1e4d12e502385a
 SHA-512: 83fec8de5d6be51fbd7b355e0e9006b5345b972970b8ec6693eb1dc54b25e73770c2d43b8a9e7d69e5c3fd9dd3800bf2bfcc6b14829319fbff661410bf80c659

Reference #3: DOSBox Special Keys
CTRL-F11   Decrease DOSBox cycles (slows down the emulation).
CTRL-F12   Increase DOSBox cycles (speeds up the emulation).
Note: more special keys are listed here: https://www.dosbox.com/wiki/Special_Keys


Edit 20211003: Received Sami's approval & added unrealworld.fi fileserver link to the file urw100b-full.zip. Removed MediaFire link.