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RE: Parkan The imperial Chronicles

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 8:29 am
by XenonS
I have now polished up for the final release my Installation, Walkthrough & Strategy Guide for the game (English). The file is: Parkan_Walkthrough_v1_00.txt (92,6 KB) 

[EDITED] The file is now ready for download ! Have fun with Parkan !! Guys, you have really made an amazing progress for an English / German release, so this game will have its place in the Space Sims as it deserves. Congrats to anyone :cool:Thanks especially to fadrad for making the Beta version work together with the Videos !!!! Not sure, but it appears that there's no English game manual, but he he... it's very simple: the manual is IN THE GAME. In your Parkan's computer console! Well, sort of manual, but all essentials are there.What is still lacking is a good Strategy Guide for the game, and I hope I have contributed to this one.My latest changes in the Walkthrough covers the installation procedure for Windows 7 which should hopefully lead to a flawless installation and gameplay. Greets,XenonS

RE: Parkan The imperial Chronicles

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 12:50 pm
by XenonS
Wow, there's even an English manual now. It's the first time I can see Hegemount without stress... :) The fixed English version with all the videos and sounds plays perfectly. Oh, Great! Tip: You can considerably light-up all rooms in FP mode by going in the setup.exe > 3D Action > tick the "High details" and "All sounds" and untick the "Accelaration Hardware enable". This will not slow the game, but increase gamma. Very helpful. XenonS

RE: Parkan The imperial Chronicles

Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 1:09 pm
by Guest
…it appears that there's no English game manualMANUAL.DOC in Parkan_ENG_fixed is in english and file with same name in Parkan_GER_fixed is in German. Both files contain information on interface, basic info about Parkan Universe (state of 1997, latest one is in russian and available online), local story line, thorough user’s interface description with screenshots, brief recommendations for novices, description of in-game items.XenonSGreat work!3)For windows 7 users:Create a file parkan_win7.reg somewhere, right-click and chose Edit, insert the following content:[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareWow6432NodeMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionUninstallPARKAN Release]"DisplayName"="PARKAN Release""UninstallString"="D:uninst.exe"[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareWow6432NodeNikitaPARKAN Release]@ ="C:PARKAN"Note: If you want to place the parkan files into another directory, you will have to modify accordingly the last line in the reg file before running it.save & quitIs it for Win7x64 only or Win7x32 too? As i see Wow6432Node seeming to be only at x64. Parkan The Empire ChroniclesOfficial english title Parkan: The Imperial Chronicles - Parkan The Empire Chronicles; released in 1997…- Parkan Iron Strategy; released in ?…In Russia The Imperial Chronicles was first released at September 1997 and re-released at 2001 (with 3d patch included and no copy-protection)Parkan Iron Strategy was released in Russia at February 2001, then upgraded (and with longer story ?) it was released in USA at November 2001 and then Parkan Iron Strategy Part 2 was released in Russia at November 2002 together with re-release Parkan Iron Strategy Part 1 with slightly modified game engine.There is also one forgotten game in Parkan Universe - Safari Biathlon Racer, it was based on the Parkan Iron Strategy game engine and released at 2001. It is racing arcade but the story (kind of) is situated on planets and systems of Parkan Universe (its Iron Strategy part).

RE: Parkan The imperial Chronicles

Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 10:19 am
by sscadmin
I uploaded and added Fadrad's updated versions of Parkan to the download area and the directdl area. If someone can give me the heads up that they download and install ok I can then remove the older versions and have only these.Thanks, and Fadrad if you have any type of description you want to add to the download description? Like what you did to modify them?

RE: Parkan The imperial Chronicles

Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 4:06 pm
by fadrad
I uploaded and added Fadrad's updated versions of Parkan to the download area and the directdl area. If someone can give me the heads up that they download and install ok I can then remove the older versions and have only these.Thanks, and Fadrad if you have any type of description you want to add to the download description? Like what you did to modify them? While I was initially messing around with Hex-editing, in the end all I had to do was fix the CD-images and edit cd_rom.cfg accordingly. As far as the images are concerned: Parkan's CD-detection absolutely needs subchannel data, so the easy fix was to simply convert the english .bin to .ccd, .img and. sub (apparently, it doesn't matter which subchannel data, as long as there is any at all).The german image had incorrect audio information but was otherwise ok. This meant that it was playable with videos and everything, but would always play that horrible datatrack noise over one of the intro screens and didn't play one of the tracks at all. The fix was to simply clone it again from the original disc with a newer version of CloneCD. Other than that I included two game directories that include all the files the game needs on your harddrive and only those (this saves discspace since videos and music aren't needed on the HDD + you won't go insane trying to fruitlessly copy the bloated [for copyright reasons] but ultimately unnecessary installer files + cntr.nav to your harddrive), a copy of VirtualCloneDrive (freeware; can mount images with subchannel data), the game manuals + info about compatibility settings and cd_rom.cfg. So for a brief description I would write something like: "Fixed disc image, preinstalled game directory and mounting/configuration instructions." EDIT: I've just seen your walkthrough, XenonS, great job! One thing though: I don't think those registry settings apply to any non-russian version, since I've never had to do that with the English or German one and they always ran fine. Did you perchance get that info from a russian website (perhaps regarding the updated (russian only) Gold version)?

RE: Parkan The imperial Chronicles

Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 10:32 pm
by JAM
Wow! So much activity about this game. I dreamed about it. You are all in luck, as I am currently playing the Ad JAM: I, too, have difficulties with the downloads on this site. DarkOne was nice enough, however, to put up a direct-dl section with some of the most frequently requested files (Parkan being among those). You can find it under [url="[url]http://spacesimcentral.com/directdl%5D%5B/url%5D[/url] Yes, I know. It works perfectly now. How to conduct neo-colonization? 1. Destroy all the orbiter pay special attention to the T-Orbiter, if one is available. 2. To land on the planet. 3. Destroy all the robots. 4. Take off from the planet. If the take-off of the number of robots and orbiters is zero, then the planet will automatically become yours. If it does not become your ships in orbit and no, repeat from step 2. If the attack is hopeless, it is likely that the planet is protected and can not capture it. This also occurs in order to curb the ambitions of the pilots. If you can not capture the planet without robots, it would be nice to think if there's not robots survived another clan, will survive if your robots. Hello! Nice to see you there. Small addition to the FAQ. As for me, I can capture every planet. Except of station in Anomaly Zone. Some planets just harder to capture than others. It maybe called "protection". There are 3 types of it: 1. Overpopulation 2. Pirate base 3. Empty mine Overpopulation is when some planets have more robots that spawn points. Let's say, planet have 100 robots and only 25 places where they can appear. If you kill all the robots, there'll be 75 left and 25 robots will spawn again giving you illusion of incaptuarable planet. Solution: clean the whole planet at least 3 times. Don't forget about subway. It may lead to small room or even to second city. If the are still the same amount of robots on your 4th land, it maybe the other type of protection. Pirate base type is when some of the robots were captured and reprogrammed by pirates. Even if they are not at planet, they are counting as they'd were on it. So, you just can't defeat them all. You'll see the message about it in computer. Solution: clean the pirate base and then try to clean the planet again. Empty mine type is planet with only 1 mine that you can't access. Mine #1 simply leads to small empty room. Computer give you information about 2 workers in mine but you can't get them. Solution: make a frienship with that clan, sell Geologist cartridge and pair of mecho embryons. Planet will have 2 mines with 4 working robots in second mine. Sometimes you maybe lucky to see a mecho embryon and Geologist cartrige laying in main hall. In that case, all you need to do is take off and land. Not sure, but it appears that there's no English game manual, but he he... it's very simple: the manual is IN THE GAME. In your Parkan's computer console! Well, sort of manual, but all essentials are there. Manual is the file Parkanr.hlp (or whatever it is in english version). Open it in notepad and look at it.

RE: Parkan The imperial Chronicles

Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 11:14 pm
by JAM
Well, that english beta version is not that perfect. Some details was cropped if compare it with russian version. For example, Astrons with neutral relationship will say something like: "You can't get something without payment." in english version when you land on thier planet. In russian version they are saying (translation): "Don't touch anything here. And give your money". Last phrase was on jargon. From english most of jargon was removed. Some phrases were translated with different sence. Another example. During friendship with Astrons: "You are welcome! Deal with our computer.". Translation from russian version: "Walk to computer! We'll not kill you for now". See the difference? And also, Hegemount have lost a lot of dialog strings. Mostly for Neutral and Good relationship.

RE: Parkan The imperial Chronicles

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 11:47 am
by XenonS
fatrad wrote:EDIT: I've just seen your walkthrough, XenonS, great job! One thing though: I don't think those registry settings apply to any non-russian version, since I've never had to do that with the English or German one and they always ran fine. Did you perchance get that info from a russian website (perhaps regarding the updated (russian only) Gold version)? Hi fadrad,first, congrats for your great effort and your fixed English version, awesome work :nyam:I will soon update my Walkthrough to correct things about Win 7: these reg entries are only necessary to run setup.exe without having any mounted version, otherwise you won't be able to change keyboard commands and other things.Also, the "parkan_win7.reg" mentioned only makes sense for 64 Bit systems.In your fixed version, this is all NOT necessary: you can just go in the "mounted" drive, start Setup.exe, make changes, and a file CTRL_E.SET will be saved in your install dir. (e.g. C:Parkan). Your save games are also there. I will mention all this in my Walkthrough. In 2005 or so, Adger44 has published an English version of Parkan where he used the Russian patched version as a base and translated the in-game dialogs, and also patched various things, changed the 3D Walker to make movements smoother and the rooms more light-up. His version will work with the videos and doesn't need any virtual mounting. The robot dialogs are good and the game has kept a russian flair :). I have made various changes in the Music and sound to complete his work. I will upload it as: Parkan_ENG_Adger44 For copyright reasons, I will present these files as a mod without the videos (to save upload space too!) [Edited]Just for not getting confused:The best English version is Parkan_ENG_fixed (comes in 4 parts arranged by fadrad). It will contain the Parkan author's original english dialogs and is based on the English Beta release.Adger44's version instead plays better in the 3D Walker with fun dialogs, but the upper ship console and ship status (F5, F6) still in Russian (cannot be changed). Other goodies...You can now make MODs for the game. I'll upload Parkan_MOD_Package It includes a tool to decompress LIB files and Lib them again. So you can change music, sounds, even game mission scripts. If the game is too easy for you, just add some ships, change their distance etc. The scripts are located in the SPSCENAR.LIB, it contains 1 generic mission and all special missions. Ok, to prepare all that I'll have something to do.. Stay tuned. XenonS

RE: Parkan The imperial Chronicles

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 12:02 pm
by XenonS
Well, that english beta version is not that perfect. Some details was cropped if compare it with russian version. For example, Astrons with neutral relationship will say something like: "You can't get something without payment." in english version when you land on thier planet. In russian version they are saying (translation): "Don't touch anything here. And give your money". Last phrase was on jargon. From english most of jargon was removed. Some phrases were translated with different sence. Another example. During friendship with Astrons: "You are welcome! Deal with our computer.". Translation from russian version: "Walk to computer! We'll not kill you for now". See the difference? And also, Hegemount have lost a lot of dialog strings. Mostly for Neutral and Good relationship.Hey JAM, how do you manage to keep Astrons or Hegemount neutral or friendly, is there really a way ????? :mole:You may try the Adger44 English version: the robot dialogs are way better, the only quirk is: the upper ship consoles (drones, system damages, ship status) are still in Russian , cannot be changed because in Parkan.exe, but If you mouse over you get description in English. Also, no music for neutral situation in space (can be activated probably, I'm just looking at fadrad's files). XenonS

RE: Parkan The imperial Chronicles

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 12:59 pm
by Guest
Parkan_MOD_Package It would be great to have also a tool to recreate NAV files or to pack/unpack. Seems that they are stripped of some headers avi files of video coded by old Indeo Video Codec, some are FullScreen (640x480) others are only for upper part but with some mask to 640x480. As developers from Nikita said couple of years ago, they've lost all sources of Parkan with some server HDD crash...They had level editor:  (look at 1:02)

RE: Parkan The imperial Chronicles

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 1:38 pm
by Pinback
I have the German language game running is there any way to replace the German text with English text without downloading the whole game?.Ie just the English text files if it's possible.

RE: Parkan The imperial Chronicles

Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2012 2:27 am
by JAM

XenonS wrote:
Hey JAM, how do you manage to keep Astrons or Hegemount neutral or friendly, is there really a way ????? :mole:

You have reminded myself from 10 years ago... =)Yes, there is. But it's hard. You can even get missions in red sector when Astrons are looking for protection from pirates (but shooting pirates leads to bad relationship). Transferring items on a neutral planet works like a trading with Astrons in game. But the more trouble you did to Astrons, the more transfer operations will be needed. You can restore relationship even if all you did in 15 game days was killing pirates. In my case, I did about 140000 transfer operations to restore neutral relationship. All I did is lay 393 missiles on planet, exit console, take 393 missiles, exit console, repeat 180 times. It took about 2 weeks. Yes, I'm pervert. =)
XenonS wrote:
You may try the Adger44 English version: the robot dialogs are way better, the only quirk is: the upper ship consoles (drones, system damages, ship status) are still in Russian , cannot be changed because in Parkan.exe, but If you mouse over you get description in English.

Thanks, I've already checked it. It's very badly translated. And I doubt that cockpit menus are packed in exe file.I guess, I'll do a few edits on original english beta version by adding jargon phrases, but I'll need a help. I don't know english/american jargon at all. I can translate from jargon russian to normal english but I'll need a help to translate from normal english to jargon english.
PINBACK wrote:
I have the German language game running is there any way to replace the German text with English text without downloading the whole game?.Ie just the English text files if it's possible.
You'll need to replace these files:Ctrl_r.setSpscenar.libSpdialog.libSpvoicr.libWalk3d.dllParkanr.hlpParkan.exeStarsec1.dbnI can pack them and post somewhere and give you a link later. If there'll be a german menu in the cockpit, then prorably 1 more lib should be replaced

RE: Parkan The imperial Chronicles

Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2012 7:40 am
by Pinback
 You'll need to replace these files: Ctrl_r.set Spscenar.lib Spdialog.lib Spvoicr.lib Walk3d.dll Parkanr.hlp Parkan.exe Starsec1.dbn I can pack them and post somewhere and give you a link later. If there'll be a german menu in the cockpit, then prorably 1 more lib should be replaced Sorry for the late reply Jam, missed your post.That would be great if you could upload these files

RE: Parkan The imperial Chronicles

Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2012 10:48 am
by XenonS
PINBACK; JAM, some files slightly differ in the File Name, depending on the Russian version or the English Beta Release. For the first 2 ones below, you can just change the file names accordingly in order for the game to work. These files are: CTRL_R.SET (Russian) > CTRL_E.SET (English)SPVOICR.LIB (Russian) > SPVOICE.LIB (English)Parkanr.hlp (Russian) > Parkane.hlp (English) Soon I will upload the things I told before. Also an update Walkthrough. I'm currently busy with the game The Precursors and Parkan 2 which I can both highly recommend for anyone liking Parkan :cool: These games have a similar gameplay, what's to say: both space combat + 1st person actions on planets. Another similar game you may want to try is Salvation Prophecy which has a 3rd person view, but you almost won't see the difference in gameplay because of the very good AI. The Precursors was last seen on Gamersgate for about 10-12 $, you'll have to update to v. 1.6 (unofficial patch) to play decently. If you are interested, see game section on this forum. As for Parkan 2, this seems very difficult to find, I'm proud to have gathered it on Amazon.de in the past, you may find it on eBay, please always look at the shipping expenses !! The best English patched version of Parkan 2 is 1.3.0B XenonS

RE: Parkan The imperial Chronicles

Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2012 1:57 pm
by fadrad
Ha, and there I thought adger44's translation was lost to the depths of the Internet when parkanfan went offline. It's great to see so many things (omg, a mod package!) come together all of a sudden! As for Parkan 2, there's a DRM-free and fully patched version available on Gamersgate: [url]http://www.gamersgate.com/DD-PARKAN2/parkan-2[/url] DVD release is significantly more difficult to find but every once in a while a copy does turn up on ebay (I got mine from there).

RE: Parkan The imperial Chronicles

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2012 1:39 am
by JAM

PINBACK wrote:
Sorry for the late reply Jam, missed your post.That would be great if you could upload these files

Actaully, I was able to run english version (NOT fixed one) under WinXP using Deamon Tools to mount CD without problems. Well, almost. Try to do what I did. If it will not works, I'll upload these files.
fadrad wrote:
1. Mount the English .iso and copy all the files to a folder of your choice.2. Mount the german .ccd image.3. Create a textfile in the folder you copied the english files to.4. Write the path to the german CD-image in the textfile (in my case I wrote 'G:' [without the quotation marks, of course]).5. Rename said textfile to 'Cd_rom.cfg'6. Set Compatibility of Parkan.exe to Win95 and run it.

I really don't know what's wrong with your english version. It works for me. I did the same you've listed except number 2.So, it's only cd_rom.cfg required to run the game.But this version is a little buggy:1. Wrong track is playing for 2 seconds when looping the music.2. Objects in radar sphere are sometimes jumping in place with no reasons.3. File Starsec1.dbn is not translated. It's requred to complete the game. You can finish it, but you'll see the russian text in last space battleOne more thing:3D mode will work very fast and you'll walk very slow. It needs a little fix. Open file "CTRL_E.set" in your Parkan folder and scroll to the very end. Last 4 lines (under [Options] line) need to be tweaked.You'll see the string and "0 0" or "1 1" after it.Set digits in first 2 lines to 1.Set digits in last line to 0 (to disable acceleration).Third line is optional set digits to 1 if you need mouse invert.

RE: Parkan The imperial Chronicles

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2012 2:27 am
by Pinback
I have a go JAM and see if it will work. Speaking about Parkan 2 I have the English disk version of the game but it crashes on the first or second mission, I tried using the German patch but all it did was install Starforce on the computer and stopped the game from working.IIRC some one mentioned about not using the quick save as a why to get around the bug?.

RE: Parkan The imperial Chronicles

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2012 9:42 am
by Guest
when parkanfan went offlineDid you mean parkanclub actually? fadrad, PINBACK, i think all Parkan II talks should be in a separate topic somewhere like [url]http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/forum/6-standalone-spacescifi-combat-and-simulation-games/[/url] just to help other readers to find information they want while not to be confused.

RE: Parkan The imperial Chronicles

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2012 12:05 pm
by CaptainKal
IIRC some one mentioned about not using the quick save as a why to get around the bug?. Yes. But there is a newer version, 1.3 Ithink from GG. (The disk version is 1.2)

RE: Parkan The imperial Chronicles

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2012 12:36 pm
by XenonS
Pinback,my version is the English 1.3.0B and it plays fine. I have added a MOD to free the limit of having 12 colonies.However, in the few forums where I was able to track information about the game, it was told that previous versions had some serious trouble in gameplay. Try to get your hands on this patch! [ EDITED !! ]I was now able to get important stuff for the game and put together a description, the Parkan 2 FAQ comming from the archieved Website, some tips and a MOD package where it's possible to edit the game scripts. In order not to mix things, I will post a Parkan 2 thread (if not already there). It's here...[url]http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/topic/3196-parkan-2/[/url] Cheers,XenonS