Mario Forever (old versions)

I just made this account so I could reply to your thread!

I recently came across a copy of Mario Forever 1.16.1 on an old Toshiba Satellite laptop which had not been switched on since 2004. I managed to transfer the game onto one of my USB flash drives safely (laptop was running Windows 98 SE)

Cutting to the chase, I recently discovered that my version of Mario Forever 1.16.1 is slightly different to the "same" version found on the Softendo website (1.16.1)

My version, when started, has no extra background music playing on the Buziol Games logo or in the main menu either. There is also no background music when accessing the credits menu. All other sounds remain intact on mine, nothing to do with compatibility issues either. Mine plays the same on both Windows 98 SE, Windows 7 AND Windows 10! No issues.

Whereas, with the Softendo version, the theme-tune background music is there. I say background music because after playing mine, it appears as if this was added later into Softendo's 1.16.1 and I believe this was not originally there before? Whether there are any other differences at this stage remains to be seen, I have not played much of the game to tell.

Now, I have contacted Softendo about this and only got 1 response thanking me for this "feedback" as he calls it. But he refuses to confirm nor deny that my version of this game is any different to his. He will not confirm or deny that my copy is or is not different and now he refuses to reply to my emails altogether. I even went as far as sending him all my original files (except the game itself) which are dated back to 1990 for some reason, and he still refuses to answer me.

So, his continuing silence only suggests to me that I do possess the "lost version" of this game and I believe that 1.16.1 is the earliest in existence. But why this extra music was added, I have no idea.

I will of course post any updates if or when I do discover them, but don't hold your breath. I won't be holding mine.

I am more than willing to send the files to anybody else for verification, but I will keep the game file itself for now until I know of anyone else having this exact same version in their possession as mine.

Perhaps you could get Michal/Softendo to explain what exactly we are dealing with here? I am more than happy to send the extra files included if you provide me with your email, but until I get some kind of acknowledgement, the game has to stay with me for the time being. I am starting to think that an act of plagiarism has taken place with this game. I have the earliest known version of Mario Forever, the original, and I simply wish to know why its different to his version.

My "version" still has all 11 files (13.8 MB total size) inside the main folder itself, exactly the same layout as what you get when you download the one from the Softendo website. So I see your logic, but I firmly believe the .exe file itself is still different to the Softendo one in that respect. Like I said, I am more than happy to send over the other 10 files for comparison to see if there are any differences etc but the actual game itself stays in my possession for the time being until if or when we hear from Michal about this.

Okay, I have sent 10 of the files to your email via Wetransfer which includes the "Info MF" application. You should be able to do some research with these and please do publish any of your discoveries on here. I still don't want to send the game itself at the moment, as I believe I am the only person who has it. (You are the only other known person who has *those* files at this stage) But if you got what it takes to expose Michal (Softendo) as a hoaxer, I might eventually think about sending you the game itself too but we'll see what you can do with the files first though..

How do you know this is "circulated", without running the game file itself? Did you mix my files with your 1.16.1 .exe file all in the same folder and see what happened? Did music still play at the very beginning like the circulated version, or did it not, like my version? That way we will know if its the files themselves causing the differences or the game app. I know all the sent files have the same names/numbers etc, I can figure that out myself..

I don't think you understand what I said before, I *did* copy all the files at the same time and they are all in the same folder. Just like what you get when you download it from the Softendo website! NO music files or anything else are in "another place" away from the game file itself. Everything is together. All 11 files in the same folder and I run the game from that folder too, not any other way. So the only discovery you have made is that my files date back to 2004, nothing more and nothing less. You will need my game file to do a proper test to see exactly what I mean, my game is not missing music, it just does not feature the "extra" background music on startup (as explained in my very first post) and I am not yet willing to release this to you or anyone else as you are unidentified and could well be Michal himself posting on here. So the smoking gun has still not been found. Thank you for providing me with your email, and I invite anyone else to do the same if they wish.

The files were simply copied and pasted straight from the old Toshiba laptop onto my newer laptop via USB, nothing had to be installed like the Softendo version. So, can I rest my case or do you have any other theories to discuss?