LFL files of NES Maniac Mansion, Uncensored

[zlb]

Hello everyone. Great to be here. I want to share this with everyone. I spent a lot of time get the LFL conversion correct, and it be great if people could help test it make sure nothing slipped by during the long process.

I have compiled an uncensored version of the NES version of Maniac Mansion into LFL files that can be used in most Scumm engine source ports (tested in SVM 2.5.0)

This version is very close to the computer versions (especially the DOS/V2 release), pretty much the same dialog and imagery that was removed in the original NES versions because of how Nintendo would censor all their games.

Link is below (this forum does not give me the option to attach it here, which would have been nice, since the zip file [containing the LFL files and a README file explaining how to properly add them to SVM] is only 164 KiB.)

Enjoy
Go to https://gofile.io/d/Av7MwL and click on Maniac-Mansion_NES-Uncensored-LFL.zip (164 KiB)
https://filebin.net/jocvtvvg3h2muhox/Maniac-Mansion_NES-Uncensored-LFL.zip (164 KiB)

Edit, 2202-05-06: Didn't realize that filebin.net links expire. I put a new one above and will see if I can find a more permanent place for it. Thanks for the PMs letting me know

[Jorpho]

That's nice of you, and it's generous of you to share – but that's pretty much a ROM, and links to ROMs are not allowed here.

Perhaps you could produce a script or set of patches that can be applied to the Maniac Mansion ROM and produces the LFL files?

(Is this just an approximation of the uncensored NES version? I had the impression that the prototype ROM was never released to the public.)

[zlb]

Is this just an approximation of the uncensored NES version?

I based this on an "uncensored" NES ROM that I've had in my collection for at least the last 20 years, which I had always assumed was a fan edit/rom hack.

I had the impression that the prototype ROM was never released to the public.

Not quite sure what you mean here, but no ROM file was ever officially released to the public that I'm aware of (other than homebrew and fan edits/rom hacks), yet places like The Internet Archive have complete collections of them.

that's pretty much a ROM

I thought sharing ROMs of things like fan edits/rom hacks was perfectly fine and even encouraged? LFL files are what SCUMM engine games used. For NES Maniac Mansion, the data needs to be extracted and recompiled into LFL files that source ports like SVM can use. SVM is actually able to read the PRG of the ROMs of the original releases, but not custom versions like this, due to the differences (like dialog or images) that require the right offset and length to be read properly. This is why I had to do it all by hand, which took me quite some time but it was a fun and rewarding pet project for me

[KingMike]

I thought sharing ROMs of things like fan edits/rom hacks was perfectly fine and even encouraged?

You may need to re-read the rules.
PATCHES are fine, NOT ROMs.

I'm not familiar enough to know if these LFLs can be considered an equivalent violation as a ROM link or not.
Other mods now?

[zlb]

I can see why patches would be preferable, though this isn't something you can make an IPS for. Converting to LFL (the scumm engine language) results in something very different from an NES game, and much closer to the DOS or similar versions, especially the scripting, which is almost identical.

I would like to think that this could just be considered a fan effort for the benefit of the community at large, as that's what I had intended since I started, like something that I could give back as a small thank you to all the efforts of so many out there that have given so much.

[Pennywise]

You may need to re-read the rules.
PATCHES are fine, NOT ROMs.

I'm not familiar enough to know if these LFLs can be considered an equivalent violation as a ROM link or not.
Other mods now?

Neither am I. I'm guessing the ROM was deconstructed into various smaller files, so technically it's a ROM?

[Jorpho]

I based this on an "uncensored" NES ROM that I've had in my collection for at least the last 20 years, which I had always assumed was a fan edit/rom hack.

Well, there was absolutely* a prototype that originated within Lucasarts that someone purchased at some point, and I had the impression that at the time that the purchaser was resolutely against ever dumping it.

But that was a very long time ago, and I see TCRF has the dump available, so clearly something changed at some point when I wasn't paying attention.  (What TCRF chooses to make available is their business, of course.)

*as much as anything on the Internet can be imagined to be absolute, anyway

SVM is actually able to read the PRG of the ROMs of the original releases, but not custom versions like this, due to the differences (like dialog or images) that require the right offset and length to be read properly. This is why I had to do it all by hand, which took me quite some time but it was a fun and rewarding pet project for me

And your efforts are appreciated, to be sure.

I'm not sure what you were using exactly, but aside from using ScummVM directly, ScummVM has a specific external tool for generating those LFL files.  Would it be straightforward to make a patch for the source code of that tool with the relevant offsets and lengths..?

Unfortunately I expect the ScummVM team would not be interested in such a source code patch, but they have their own criteria for what they think is acceptable and I'm sure other people would still like to see it. (I recall there was quite the nasty debate a while ago about combining the floppy and CD versions of some of the Space Quest games to make a superior version. The Steam versions of the Lucasarts games also deliberately shuffled some data around to make them incompatible with ScummVM – but it looks like ScummVM got official support for the Steam versions a while ago too.  These things are weird.)