REFERENCE: Ignition vs. Non-Ignition Differences

(Not sure if this should have gone in MBDK or possibly Support. It's general reference info, relevant not necessarily only to modders or people with issues.)

I decided to make a compilation of all of the differences between the non-ignition and ignition versions of MBG. My results are given below, with bold items being the ones I thought people would find important for technical purposes.

Some notes on the parameters of the investigation: This was done using the Windows version of the game. The non-ignition version used is the marbleblast.com installer, so I can't guarantee that it's identical to the original version available through RealOne Arcade. In fact, I know for a fact that one or two files have changed: the INSTALL.LOG seems to be specific to marbleblast.com, while I believe that getdxver.exe was in the original non-ignition version and was later removed. The ignition version used is from an account on GarageGames.com. It was purchased in August of 2003. The modification date is May 21, 2003, and the engine is version 1.4.1. Both versions' file trees were compared without running the game (although I did have to run the non-ignition version at one point to check a GUI; however, WinMerge did not seem to update its results).

• Non-ignition has a common/debugger folder. The only file in it is a file called _, which is empty.
• Non-ignition has a common/help folder. The only file in it is a file called _, which is empty.
• Non-ignition has marble/client/scripts/demo.cs.
• The script marble/client/scripts/helpcredits.cs is different. There are a few lines different involving the $DemoBuild flag. The main difference is that the ignition version has a number of phrases converted into links.
• Non-ignition has a marble/client/ui/choose folder. The only file in it is a file called _, which is empty.
• Non-ignition has a marble/client/ui/rebrands folder. The only file in it is a file called _, which is empty.
• Ignition has a marble/client/ui/register folder, containing the registration GUI files.
• Ignition has the file marble/client/ui/ignitionGui.gui.dso for the registration GUI.
• The GUI marble/client/ui/mainmenugui.gui.dso is different. In-game scrutiny reveals that the non-ignition version has no version number or MOTD button.
• The marble/client/ui/presents.jpg image is a GarageGames BLAST logo in the ignition version, whereas in the non-ignition version it shows the RealOne Arcade logo.
• The marble/client/ui/production.jpg image is the Monster Studios logo in the ignition version. The non-ignition version has a GarageGames.com logo (different from ignition's BLAST logo).
• In marble/client/defaults.cs, the non-ignition version defaults to D3D, while the ignition version defaults to OpenGL.
• Non-ignition has a marble/data/interiors/advanced/texturesource folder. The only file in it is a file called _, which is empty.
• Non-ignition has a marble/data/interiors/levels folder. The only file in it is a file called _, which is empty.
• Non-ignition has a marble/data/interiors/parts/boxes folder. The only file in it is a file called _, which is empty.
• Non-ignition has a marble/data/interiors/parts/jumps folder. The only file in it is a file called _, which is empty.
• Non-ignition has a marble/data/interiors/parts/obstacles folder. The only file in it is a file called _, which is empty.
• Non-ignition has a marble/data/interiors/parts/pads folder. The only file in it is a file called _, which is empty.
• Non-ignition has a marble/data/interiors/parts/platforms folder. The only file in it is a file called _, which is empty.
• Non-ignition has a marble/data/interiors/parts/segments folder. The only file in it is a file called _, which is empty.
• Non-ignition has an empty file called _ in the otherwise empty folder marble/data/interiors/quarksource.
• Non-ignition has a marble/data/interiors/test folder containing a maps subfolder. The only file in it is a file called _, which is empty.
• Non-ignition has an empty file called _ in the otherwise empty folder marble/data/interiors/texturesource.
• Non-ignition has a marble/data/missions/custom folder. The only file in it is a file called _, which is empty.
• Non-ignition has a marble/data/shapes/explosives folder. The only file in it is a file called _, which is empty.
• Non-ignition has a marble/data/shapes/parts folder. The only file in it is a file called _, which is empty.
• Non-ignition has a marble/data/shapes/traps folder. The only file in it is a file called _, which is empty.
• Non-ignition has a marble/data/shapes/trophies folder. The only file in it is a file called _, which is empty.
• Ignition comes with a console.log from the last time the developers ran the game. They ran it from a command prompt and re-compiled all of the GUI files.
• Ignition has a getdxver.exe utility to check the DirectX version.
• Non-ignition creates an INSTALL.LOG file upon installation.
• Non-ignition has a launch.ini file containing info used by the RealOne Arcade launcher.
• Non-ignition contains the RealOne Arcade license agreement for MBG.
• Non-ignition's executable is named marbleblast.exe, whereas the ignition executable is named MarbleBlastGold.exe. The engine is also slightly different: this depends on your OS as well, but the main difference is that the ignition version defines an IgnitionObject object for registration checking. Based on the fact that ignition and non-ignition .rec files are said to be compatible within the same OS, I conclude that there is no difference in the actual game simulation.
• The two versions use slightly different versions of opengl2d3d.dll.
• The readme.txt file is different. The non-ignition version adds a short note about RealNetworks and removes the What's New in the Gold edition of Marble Blast?, Registration, and About GarageGames sections. The Problems and Questions section is called Troubleshooting in the Table of Contents in the ignition version. The non-ignition version adds the word RumblePad to its WingMan controller description and fixes an obvious typo omitting part of the marble/client/scripts/default.bind.cs file path. The non-ignition version omits the question about registration for obvious reasons and the questions about custom levels for not-so-obvious reasons. The non-ignition version assumes Marble Blast is in My Games, while the ignition version uses Program Files. The non-ignition version omits a question about graphics driver crashes. The non-ignition version directs people with further issues to the RealOne Arcade website instead of the GarageGames website.
• Non-ignition has a setup.ini file for RealOne Arcade.
• Non-ignition has two INI files named theUninstallFile.txt and theUninstallFile0.txt, which list all of the game's files to be removed. These assume the game is installed in My Games.
• Ignition has an uninst-mb.exe uninstaller.
• Non-ignition has an Unwise.exe executable. I don't know what this does, but it requires admin access, so it was possibly the uninstaller. In any case, it's incompatible with 64-bit Windows.
• Non-ignition has a version.txt file containing the text "RN Version 1.0 - Initial Release" in it.

The non-ignition version on the site is sort of a hacked version.
If it was a true RealArcade version you'd never been able to run MBG. Thankfully the RealArcade version is stupid enough that it's a simple hack to make it work. Yahoo/Shockwave are nastier, with one of them not even allowing you to mod MBG in any way (it didn't run MBP, literally). Basically the "I hate you" version that no one liked.

To explain further on RA/Y/SW version: it comes with a launcher of sorts, some additional DLL files(don't quote me), demo.cs specifically says the versions and stuff to load, and there are registry keys the launcher checks and if they don't exist = don't run the game. This is also why RA says 'My Games' because that is the directory it makes for all games you purchased through RA. Seizure22 can explain further since he has an authentic RA version (afaik, I could be wrong!).

All non-ignition versions were also released with a slight different engine build which is why the $DemoBuild doesn't exist. I can tell you it's different because the filesize of each of the three was different. RA is 2.8MB, GG (ignition) is 1.1. Yahoo or Shockwave was 2.2MBs and the other was 2.78MB.

I don't have copies of Yahoo/SW versions at all, so don't ask me for them

Re: installation files in root directory: these are because whoever installed RA version already installed it. Those are leftovers that the person didn't delete when he deleted/removed whatever else was needed.

Also Unwise.exe is a common uninstaller name for uninstallers in the old days. Probably still used in programs today.


I need to check my inbox on proboards now to show you messages about the Yahoo/SW versions whenever people asked me. 65 pages of 2500+ messages. Fun times.


Edit: Yahoo is the build that hates you to hell.

I'm not even sure if this is a smart idea to even post this, but a version I used (some might think it's unethical to get a game you already have a license for) was a RealArcade version with the MBG demo installer as a replacement. It created problems with 'showing code' on font shadowing, but less than that it worked fine and could even be used on MBP. This might get me some hate for that part, but if there's some kind of version of MB gotten like this, I don't think many people are going to be disclosing it.

This seems to to be applicable mostly to Windows. Any way you could consider posting something for Mac or Linux (assuming they have multiple versions...)?

I have both ignition(yahoo & shockwave both) and non-ignition version sitting in my computer, yahoo ignition marble blast doesn't work as when I try to execute the exe, no results, even if it gives results and I press the play button, nothing happens. Shockwave version just works.

Yahoo version probably lost configuration or something, it'll leave something in the application event log.