Posted on 12/08/24
Previously, for Random Floppies - Volume 1, I wrote about how I’ve looked through a lot of second hand floppy disks and occasionally found some fun things still on them. Last time we looked at wallpapers, icons and screensavers, but for Volume 2 I’ve got some games!
Let’s play!!
Game 2
The floppy disks I’ll look at today were all sold by the same seller, which is why they all are labelled similarly. We’ll be starting with the “Game 2” disk because, sadly, “Game 1” couldn’t be read any more... RIP! I guess these are from the late 90s, it’s amazing any still work at all...
“Game 2” had two folders on it titled Carpaint and puzzle2. I’m interested!
The Carpaint folder had a game called CARPAINTERS, as well as some promising looking files and amazing music (which we’ll get to later). It made me really want to play it... But it kept giving me an error on launch before crashing and closing!
I tried so hard to get CARPAINTERS to run! The error I’d get would say a file was missing, so I tried extracting the files from the .exe with UniExtract and editing the game’s code to ignore the missing file...
I tried it on multiple computers and multiple operating systems and it wouldn’t run... But then, a friend tried to play it and got it to run first time!
Computers! So mysterious sometimes.
They recorded a video for me, so let’s take a look at CARPAINTERS:
Wonderful! An absolutely amazing find for a floppy disk!!
CARPAINTERS definitely has the vibe of some friends trying to make a game together for fun. The music and sound effects are kind of crazy, and the gameplay is basically just Snake or Tron, but, they did it! They made a game!
If we take a look at the readme file, we can see that this game was indeed made by two friends, and they were clearly having fun with it:
CARPAINTERS hasega-design Instructions
This game is about controlling the movement of a car by pressing the mouse left button or the Enter key. Your goal is to get the car to the goal as quickly as possible.
In the menu screen, press the “Start” button on the lower left to begin. For those unfamiliar with the game, it is recommended to first read the instructions.
To clear the game, you must fulfil the requirements for each stage. The specific details will be explained in the respective stages.
The speed of the car in this game is extremely fast. It starts at level 5, so be cautious and try to adjust your speed according to the situation.
The game’s feature is to enhance your spatial awareness by instinctively identifying the characteristics of roads and walls. Naturally, mastering “CARPAINTERS” will require practice.
The entire game is designed to be enjoyed with a single finger. When playing with friends, try playing with one hand while the other hand is occupied.
World Setting
The world of this game is slightly different from reality. Cars in this world can turn corners at breakneck speeds and walls are sturdy and unyielding. As you get used to these differences, you will naturally start thinking like a “CARPAINTERS” master.
The main character’s name is Sabu-chan. He is a skilled driver who can navigate this unique world.
He likes to enjoy his favorite routes with his car, and he always aims to drive smoothly without any accidents.
Imagine Sabu-chan’s journey as you play, and feel free to add your own narrative to the gameplay.
Created by hasega-design (me) and tkdada (friend)
The program and graphics were made by me. The ideas and concept were devised together with my friend.
Looking at the extracted files, we can appreciate some of the art of CARPAINTERS:
Finally, let’s listen to the music, which really does just sound like this and doesn’t seem to be an error with MIDI conversion. I think my favourite is OP3, but it’s hard to choose.
OP1
OP2
OP3
START
STAGE1
STAGE2
STAGE3
STAGE4
STAGE5
GAMEOVER
While I was trying to get CARPAINTERS to work, I tried looking it up online with the Wayback Machine and actually could still find a working download of it!
It’s fun to think that a game made for fun by friends was shared around online, put on a floppy disk by someone for safe keeping and still exists somewhere online today...
The other game of “Game 2” in the puzzle2 folder was called LASER. Here’s a video!
It’s a puzzle game where you move around pieces on a board to direct a laser from a starting point to an end point. I wasn’t very good at it!
Nevertheless, it’s a real game that works, so I respect it. Looking at the files, we can see Stage.Dat (which is probably the data for all the different level setups) and then the sound effects and music.
I really liked the music! I’m not sure if the person who made the game also made the music, bought it from someone else or just found the files and used them, but I was really suprised the main song (MainBGM1) was so long...12:33!
The help file for LASER only mentions that there is music at all, but not who made the included tracks...
LASER is a puzzle game where you use mirrors and prisms to guide the laser to the goal. Additionally, it comes with background music (BGM) that supports Sound and Midi (GM).
Here, take a listen!
Opening1
MainBGM1
Game 3
“Game 2” was such a strong start! I usually have pretty low expectations for files found on floppy disks because they can store so little, but after the successes of “Game 2”, I was excited for “Game 3”...
There was one folder on the disk named “lk4”, and, in that, a game called Legend Keiichi 4... There was also a readme file!
- How to Play Press the Space key to start. Control the hero, defeat enemies, and proceed. When you defeat an enemy, you gain experience, and when your experience reaches a certain amount, your level increases. Sometimes, when you defeat an enemy, you will obtain items or gold.
When you level up, your HP and MP will recover slightly, and you will become stronger. If your HP or MP runs out, it’s game over. If you defeat enemies with the sword (Ctrl key), they will drop items or gold occasionally.
Shops: When you have gathered enough gold, enter a shop (Shift key) to purchase items or magic. The items you purchase will help you in your adventure, so buy them wisely. Inns: You can fully recover your HP and MP by staying at an inn (Shift key).
Continue the adventure by defeating enemies, collecting items, and levelling up. If you can defeat the final boss, you will have cleared the game.
I hadn’t read this before trying the game, which is why my first run of Legend Keiichi 4 is so short:
After actually looking through the readme and learning the controls, I gave it another shot:
It’s honestly pretty fun! I was tempted to try and beat the whole game... Maybe I can go back to it one day.
The music sound like actual game music, but, I kind of miss the CARPAINTERS OST...
OPENING1
MAINBGM1
battle1
Ending1
Game 4
Alright, time for the “Game 4” floppy disk! Who knows what games would be contained within...
Not many files to be seen here, but we do have a game named BORKOV. Here’s a video of me trying to play it for the first time:
Oh...! Is this... Just an actual game named BORKOV made by SEGA?
The SEGA logo appears at the start, and searching for “BORKOV SEGA” brings up this article on segaretro.org, but I couldn’t find any images or footage of the game online...
Looking at the (very short) help file, we can see that it does indeed seem to be made by SEGA:
*(C)SEGA ENTERPRISES, LTD., 1997 All rights reserved.
Reproduction, alteration, public transmission, or transfer of this software without the copyright holder’s permission is prohibited.
“Borkov” is a trademark of Sega Enterprises, Ltd.
SEGA is a registered trademark of Sega Enterprises, Ltd.
“Windows95” is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries.
“Pentium” is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation.
Interesting! I guess it’s most likely a PC port of the game they made for mobile mentioned in the segaretro.org article. Fun to find! I wonder if anyone is actually looking for BORKOV, though...
There we have it! A few more found files from floppy disks. A pretty good haul! I’ve still got quite a few floppy disks to cover, so I’ll see you again in the future for Random Floppies - Volume 3! * If you’d like to download backups of the three floppy disks we looked at in this article, I’ve uploaded them to the FilesFound! google drive and they can be downloaded here: