About the Beyond Dark Castle Complete Archive
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This archive contains disk images of virgin copies of the original BDC software, as well as scans of the original box and all original contents. It was made from an original, unopened copy of Beyond Dark Castle that was removed from its shrink-wrap in 2012 in honor of the 25th anniversary of the program's original release.

Imaging software: Disk Copy 6.3.3 (Driver 2.0.2 (PPC))
Imaging machine: Wallstreet G3 Powerbook (MacOS 9.2.2); internal SuperDrive module.
Imaging date: Friday, January 6, 2012
Images created by: David J. Lohnes

Archive Contents
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The archive is constructed in several layers and is designed for long-term storage and retrieval. Space-saving concerns were largely ignored, as it is anticipated that in the future reliable copies of very old software will be much harder to find than will be disk space.

Layer 1: The zipped main folder "Beyond Dark Castle Complete Archive"
1. Software files archive (HFS+ .dmg disk image)
2. Documentation images (JPEGs in "Documentation JPEGs" folder)
3. Documentation images in "Documentation" PDF

Layer 2: The HFS+ .dmg disk image "Beyond Dark Castle.dmg"
1. Two folders with contents of original two disks
2. Apple Disk Copy 4.2 compatible HFS images of original disks (.img)
3. Apple Disk Copy 6.3.3 HFS images of original disks (.img with DC633 included in the filename)
4. Text file containing details of imaging process (contents included below).

Layer 3: HFS .img Disk images of the original disks, "BDC 1" and "BDC 2"
Original application and data files and system software

Format Rationale
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LAYER 1: The zipped main folder "Beyond Dark Castle Complete Archive"
The outer layer is a zipped folder called "Beyond Dark Castle Complete Archive." Zipping was chosen as the compression and storage format because of its widespread, cross-platform usage and support by major OSes. There is no need for a proprietary expander, and it is assumed that a zip archive will be readable well into the future.

This zipped folder contains scanned images of the original retail box and all of its print contents. These images are included in both JPEG format and in a PDF. Both formats are included to ensure long-term retrieval. The PDF is preferred for ease of viewing; the JPEGs are included so that in the future as PDF and image standards continue to evolve, a future user can easily update the images to a current format and also create an updated viewing document or PDF. Both the PDF and the JPEGs were created using current generation technology (as of 2012).

The zipped folder also contains a .dmg disk image file in HFS+ format created by Apple's Disk Utility in OS 10.7 (Lion). This disk image acts as an outer shell and forms the second layer.

LAYER 2: The HFS+ .dmg disk image "Beyond Dark Castle.dmg"
1. Two folders with contents of original two disks
2. Apple Disk Copy 4.2 compatible HFS images of original disks (.img)
3. Apple Disk Copy 6.3.3 HFS images of original disks (.img with DC633 included in the filename)
4. Text file containing details of imaging process (contents included below).

The .dmg disk image is the shell in which the actual original disk images (.img files) and copies of the BDC application files reside. The original disk images were created in Mac Classic OS (9.2.2) with Apple's Classic Disk Copy utility to ensure compatibility with vintage systems and emulators. However like most Classic OS files, Disk Copy images (.img files) require special handling, since they follow Apple's Classic file model and contain both a data fork AND a resource fork. In order for these files to be readable, both forks must be kept together. For that reason, none of the files on this .dmg (including either the copies of the original software OR the .img files) should ever be copied to any drive formatted in anything other than HFS or HFS+ as these are the only file systems that preserve both the data and resource forks. (If you're running a vintage machine in Classic OS, you can actually do such a transfer safely, as long as the Classic OS does both the copy-to and the copy-from the drive that is in a non-HFS/HFS+ format. But you're probably not.) If the .img and software files were simply zipped, and the Zip archive were then expanded into a drive not formatted in HFS or HFS+ (for example any PC drive or any Apple drive in the future as HFS+ is on the way out), then the files would immediately be at risk. Keeping the files on an HFS+ disk image of their own ensures their safety.

The original software is provided in three versions. 
The first is a set of folders that have simply had the original disk contents copied to them. These folders and their contents are viewable by any user that can mount an HFS+ drive (any late Class or OSX Mac as well as later Windows with help for now; who knows in the future), but they cannot be mounted by an emulator (like Mini vMac), and they cannot be imported into an emulator (using a utility like ImportFL) because the resource fork is usually lost in the process (see previous paragraph).

The second and third versions are the .img disk images created under MacOS 9.2.2. They form the third layer.

LAYER 3: Layer 3: HFS .img Disk images of the original disks, "BDC 1" and "BDC 2"
There are two images of each disk, Disk Copy 4.2 compatible images entitled "BDC 1.img" and BDC 2.img" and Disk Copy 6.3.3 images entitled "BDC 1 DC633.img" and "BDC 2 DC633.img". These images are in a format that is 20+ years old (as of 2012), and as of MacOS 10.7 are not mountable by a current operating system. That means their contents are not viewable (which is why the folders are included on the .dmg). They are, however, the best formats for use by a vintage MacOS either on a vintage machine or under emulation. Simply drag and top either onto your emulator window to mount. Also, should you wish to not simply mount, but actually copy the .img files onto your vintage hard drive (a process that is becoming increasingly difficult since MacOS 10.6 dropped support for creating or writing to HFS drive images), you will want to use the Disk Copy 4.2 image for systems running System 7.0 or earlier. Use the Disk Copy 6.3.3 image for systems running System 7.01 or later.

Compiled by David Jackson Lohnes
Greer, SC
http://www.facebook.com/Arthegall
Saturday, January 7, 2012