The Dink Network

Hello everyone!

I also enjoyed playing Dink as a child way back in 2000 and was really fascinated by it. Only recently I found the long lost CD and was wondering which version it could be.

I had received the CD-ROM as part of a promotional bundled game pack of 15 games along with my desktop computer (Compaq Presario 5000). All the CDs were provided in a single carton casing.

Here's a frontal snap of the CD:
https://imgur.com/hTguPZ7

The disc contains all the original intros (in AVI format) which are playable on Windows 7, however I've been unsuccessful in getting the game started.

What I am unable to determine is whether this is the first version of the game, the rarest one, because I read somewhere Seth clarifying on the fact that the first burn had a few music tracks credited to Shaurri Whyte on the back of the CD.

I also noted that the README file stated the date as Apr 21st, 1998. Here's the entire file for scrutiny:
README.txt

Is there any way to confirm which version it is?

there any warcraft music on there?

Hey that's pretty cool! I think this is the post you're talking about. Seth talks about Shaurri Whyte there. Have a look on the back of the CD and the credits!

Otherwise I think the version number (which might give you a good idea of which iteration it is) would be on the title screen once you've booted the game. Try using DxWnd to get it started.

@Skurn
I am not sure how to check for Warcraft music.

@DinkDude95
Like I said, the disc came bundled with other games, there isn't any CD cover but thanks for the tip, I got it running and the version displayed on the menu screen is 1.04 But again, there isn't any option in the game to view the Credits.

Ah true, for some reason I thought "back of the CD" literally meant the "back of the CD". Silly me.

v1.04 definitely would not be the original CD, so that answers that question. Still a very cool relic to have!

I thought so. Most probably my CD is from the second burn because the third burns were the boxed variants I guess. And you're right DinkDude95, it's still a cool relic to own.

Also, I read on the forum about someone sharing his first-hand account dating back to 1998 of playing Dink demo and subsequently impressed by it, ordered the full edition. He has also specified the version as either being 1.03 or 1.04, which should mean that even if one ordered the game in 1998, he would most likely have received a copy from the second burn. This also implies that the first burn is v1.02 (or v1.01?)

This is getting more interesting. Needless to say, the first burn is the rarest and certainly more valuable as well. Does anyone know how many copies of the first burn were sold? And is there anybody on the forum who really owns it (apart from Seth & Dan)? Could he share a picture of the same including the back of the CD cover?

One last thing that lingers on my mind is, if Dinkers were to bid on a copy of the CD from the first burn, what would the highest bid be?

i'd be the only one who comes across it and wouldn't tell anyone until i can take a picture of it being held by a pony plushie.

The first demo was v1.01, and it was released before the main game was complete. Some differences compared to the full version are pretty interesting. My favorite part is Martridge admitting he's too old and feeble to defeat the bonca, whereas in later versions he says it's to test Dink's abilities or something to that effect.

This is from whatsnew.txt:

Major changes in V1.03:

* Removed all references to Shaurrie Whyte's music, turns out she did not
own the copyright to the songs she 'composed', the REAL copyright holders
are allowing us to fix it by issuing this patch, which replaces all of
her songs. (4)

That makes me think the first shipped version was most likely v1.02.

@Skurn LOL, is it so hard to find?

@scratcher That clears the versioning part. Now the question arises how many people today own v1.02? Hasn't someone already posted about it in the forum?

Just to give you info, the v1.02 is obsolete today due to some gameplay problems, such as hardness errors, (being stuck on certain areas), unable to move after interacting with an NPC, and crashing.

Volunteers with a golden heart fixed the code of the engine for better mod support, and additional scripting commands and features, (for development purposes). The v1.08, and the GNU freedink versions today are the most reliable versions imao.

1.08 ain't reliable anymore due to the incompatibility with modern Windows.

Thanks for providing further info. Even with all the bugs I was actually referring to the antiqueness of v1.02 and how much collectible it must be today because I haven't seen anyone claiming to own it, let alone a picture of the disc or its cover.

At the most, there's a thread about Mike Snyder whom Seth had sent a complimentary copy of the original CD (first public release) containing v1.02

Another with a reference to v1.05a, which was the last version burned to CD. Here's the low-quality pic if you haven't already seen it:
http://www.dinknetwork.com/images/contest_prize1.jpg

And that's all I've been able to find, which is why I am intrigued and would like to hear from those who still have it.