A walkthrough section could be quite a nice addition to the garden, as im not so sure that it would be that great to have them dotted about in the apps or games lists. If they could get their own section i think it would be pretty neat.

Cracks, im not so sure. There are a few serial/crack programs for classic MacOS stuff available on the net elsewhere, so long as there still reachable it might be better to keep that kinda thing off the garden but they do have their use, i've used a few 'stock' serials to activate a few programs up here that would otherwise have no other method of achieving full function.

The method for creating image files is up here i think but if it proves too time consuming/fiddly for your liking, a .sit file is better than a long wait. One of us can get around to converting it at some point

Personally, I wouldn't say there was anything wrong with shareware uploads, if its still available somewhere else tho a download link to its site would suffice, like whats done with Munchies

Finally, welcome! always superb to see new contributors

Welcome Thu! Always nice to see some new faces around here

As for a walkthrough section, it'd definitely rock. While there is gamefaqs & others, they don't dedicate much time to their Mac section. Quite often it is just copy + paste of the PC stuff, which can be misleading. Same goes for a special "updates" section where updates & patches are stored separately from the original software, connected via an automated link. ("There are updates available for this software. Click here")

As for cracks: The goal of Macintosh Garden is to preserve Mac software in it's original state. It is not about preserving cracks. That is why we always prefer to get images of the original discs above anything else. I think we settled now on the fact that No-CD patches are OK as long as the games are no longer sold. Though I'd really like Maedi to clarify the rules on this whole issue? (including posting serials to old shareware)

Universal Military Simulator II

http://macintoshgarden.org/games/ums-ii-nations-at-war
is version 1.2.6, currently, If you own a newer version, or even a manual which you can scan (and PDF'ing), this would be fine.

Please don't try to create images from that sort of backup. Just stuff the folders, or put related folders together and stuff them. We really don't want people to think that a created image is the same as a retail image -- retail images need to be specially preserved.

Shareware -- only if defunct and no longer available. If still sold, no way.
As for cracks -- don't upload them alone; if a crack is necessary for an old game to work, include it (but separately in the archive; if you created an image from a CD, and also need a crack, just put both together in a .sit).

Thu,

welcome.

Whatever format you have the software in is fine. Although the site may prefer images of original media, if you have a Finder copy of the installed app / game that is not already here, it would be extremely welcome. Just remember to compress it with an early-ish version of Stuffit / DropStuff and explain what it is, ie. This is a Finder copy of the installed application folder, compressed with Stuffit v5.5".

As long as you're clear about the format, no-one gets upset. Some get irked (or maybe it's only me) if someone uploads a home-made disc image claiming it to be an image of the original media. Others may actually have the original media and then not upload it as they're under the impression it's already here. No matter what format, we'll all give our appeciation - we also know the effort involved in uploading stuff (researching release date, looking for patches, sourcing screen shots and a meaningful synopsis, virus checking if it's not original media - and sometimes even if it is).

Shareware is fine too, if you think it is abandonware also.

Some get irked (or maybe it's only me) if someone uploads a home-made disc image claiming it to be an image of the original media.

I strongly agree with this.

Unfortunately, most of my images are home-made. I do have some originals, but they are almost too large to upload... I guess it comes down to a matter of taste - personally, I could do without multimedia presentations and demos, and save ~400MB of downloads.

You can always upload to a free sharing site like MediaFire and put the link in a forum post here and see what everybody thinks should be done with it. Also, all the individual game pages on this site allow for multiple files attached ("add another item" on the edit page) so if there's more than one version of a particular game that seems worth keeping, you can add it without removing the prior one.

Yay, Asimov's robots! I've been looking for those CD's!

Unfortunately, most of my images are home-made.

Of course, home-made images are also extremely welcome as long as the description explains this. Even if it's a warez disc image, just say it is so. I've had to do this with a few titles.

Thanks Thu! And don't give up on those old images; we have a lot of old patch information and such, so it may yet be possible to use what you have.

Please hang on, there is certainly plenty of material you might contribute.
As for Asimov, you can count me too!
The sit file seems to inflate to a creator ID "PNfl", type ID "FLPI". Does this sound familiar to you?

The image for Balance of Power loads when I drag-and-drop it onto Mini vMac, but it doesn't get past some kind of screen that has the Mindscape logo and says "Alert" in big letters. (You have to slow down Mini vMac or it will disappear too quickly to see.) The disk's title is "QC" and can be converted to different image formats by Aladdin's ShrinkWrap but won't mount on any desktop that I've tried. I'm thinking it's a tricky disk format that's meant to work with early Macs and wouldn't work on a Plus, which is possibly why a 1990 edition was made. Since the floating files are also available in the download I'm sure someone can tinker with it enough to make use of it eventually.