Earthsiege 2 media and reference version

The main reference is version 1.1, Windows 95, English, from the disc mastered on 11 September 1997. Its VERSION.TXT identifies it as 1.1; SIERRA.INF calls the package 110 Gamer's Pack. A later mastering date does not imply a newer game executable.

The data-only disc has no mastering timestamp or volume name. It also contains a Windows swap file. These facts suggest a reconstructed disc, but do not establish who made it or when. Its unique setup and documents are preserved.

Duplicates

The DIC RAR's seven tracks match the September disc byte for byte. Its unsplit .img is precisely those tracks concatenated. Descrambling the data sectors in its .scm also produces the same bytes. Its logs and subchannel/C2 metadata are retained under analysis/media/provenance.

The standalone Earthsiege2.iso exactly matches the user-data sector prefix of the December disc. All 542 extracted files match too. The duplicate extractions, original compressed containers and standalone ISO have now been removed. A fresh check verified all 42 ordinary archive members against the retained tracks, original CUE files and dump metadata. It also recreated the DIC concatenated image, scrambled image and ISO sector prefix. The four removed containers occupied 2,389,878,095 bytes. Their original hashes and the verification proof remain in analysis/media/retained-container-recheck.json.

Original filenames, hashes and sizes are in analysis/media/original-inputs.json; sector and file comparisons are in duplicate-audit.json and the per-disc filesystem manifests. Normalized CUE files retain the original track indices and pregaps.

Installs

tools/build_installs.py follows each disc's SIERRA.INF maximum-install selection and writes the path/language files normally produced by BATCH.EXE. Each install has a manifest. The interactive installer has not yet been exercised.

The 1.1 disc has separate Windows 95 and Windows 3.1/Win32s builds. All three language selections are prepared for each. Version 1.0 has English comparison installs for both media variants. The demo is installed separately.

Earthsiege 2 requires Windows. DOSBox without Windows cannot run these PE executables. Original executable testing uses a private Wine prefix; the Win32s launcher will require a suitable Windows 3.1 environment for a complete historical launch test. The presence of an install directory alone does not establish successful runtime validation.

Short D:\ (disc) and I:\ (install) paths avoid spaces and the original program's small fixed path buffers. Saves and generated files live only in the install, separate from the retained disc files.

Second demo on the Earthsiege disc

The retained Earthsiege 1 disc contains a distinct ES2 demo. It shares 28 files with the downloadable demo, but ES.EXE and DATA/RESULTS.DAT differ and it has an additional DEMO2.VOL at the directory root. The download instead includes DDRAW.DLL. Unique payloads are in install media/demo_cd_1996_10; its extracted payload shares identical files with the download through symlinks. Its writable install is a full separate copy. The date label identifies the host CD, not the build date of the demo executable. PROVENANCE.json records the source and hashes.

Running a comparison install

Run ./run_earthsiege2.py from a graphical Linux session to choose a Win95 installation or either demo. With no terminal input it prints the choices. --list lists them explicitly. Each installation gets its own interactive 32-bit Wine prefix, separate from automated reference captures, and uses the original windowed display preference. An 800 x 600 Wine desktop is available with --wine-desktop. The script follows the original supervisor's shell and simulator handoff. --program shell and --program simulator select the individual program for targeted inspection.

--no-sound, --no-movies and --developer are optional inspection controls; the default enables the original presentation. --dry-run prints the exact command and drive mappings. Wine's directory-backed D: mapping supplies game files but is not a mounted Red Book audio CD, so original CD playback needs separate drive support. The extracted FLACs remain available in the audio browser.

Original-game launcher on current Linux

run_earthsiege2.py lists the comparison installs by default. The default run uses the original VSHELL/DBSIM process sequence, including language, return codes and the CD selection counter. The script supervises those unmodified binaries because ES.EXE's old memory check rejects this Wine host. Use --program original-launcher to exercise ES.EXE itself.

Each install has its own 32-bit Wine prefix. A Wine desktop keeps the game inside a window when --wine-desktop is selected. The default leaves desktop management to Wine and retains the game's own display preference. Forcing its fullscreen option failed to create a usable DirectDraw surface under this host's Xvfb configuration; windowed mode was used for the successful check. Direct Wine launches preserve the child's exit status. wine explorer /desktop=... program returns Explorer's status, which cannot drive this loop. The script can complete an interrupted prefix bootstrap with the host Wine package's own i386 zlib and Winsock DLLs; it does not download replacements.

The reference install completed main menu -> practice briefing -> original simulator -> quit mission -> main menu through this script. Captures and the VSHELL -X1, DBSIM -X2 -R0, VSHELL -X3 handoff log are retained in analysis/reference/interactive-launcher. Wine's Explorer emitted a host D-Bus assertion during startup; the game sequence completed despite that message. Mounted extracted directories still do not expose the CD's audio tracks as a physical Red Book device.