Old Gruntz-related website on Wayback Machine

[swietymiki]

While browsing through the old Monolith Forum for Gruntz, I found a link to an old webpage about the game, different from the ones known to the Gruntz Affiliates thread. Of course it's no longer available on the internet in a normal way, however it's been archived and is available from Wayback Machine: Link

This is how it looks like: (click on the image for full size)

This specific page is of most interest for the purposes of this thread, though you might also want to read what is under "Too Much Gruntz" and "Guestbook" links - messages from visitors dating back to the year 2000!
Either on the picture or in the website directly, you will see a list of 16 custom maps. All of these are still available from the forum today, but with two differences in their designer names, which is interesting:

First, the file "Pyramid.zip", which is labeled under "Unknown" designers by our forum, has the author's name provided - "Mokalus of Borg".

Second, the file "High_on_Swordz.zip", which by the way was released on the forum in 2003 despite being present on this page since late 2000 (date of the earliest archived version of the page). The authorship of this map on the site is given to the user "bcmel2" (called "bemel2" on our forum, has to be a typo either way). The other nickname of the same user, according to our forum's records, is "Colin". But this same level on our forum was published under a different name - a previously unknown "Nathan". The level itself looks extremely similar to the 2000 tryout releases, so I am convinced that it is the same map we are talking about, and Nathan is either Colin's family member or a random guy who downloaded an old map and reposted it under his own nickname.

What do you think?

[Zu]

Mokalus of Borg definitely could be fixed. That second one is confusing though. What would you suggest?

[swietymiki]

I tried to find any traces of this map on the Monolith Forum, both under "General Discussion" and "Gruntz Editor Discussion", to no avail. It must've been distributed by e-mail only (along with many other levels that were released at this time and I couldn't come across them). Perhaps GooRoo knows something more.

[GooRoo]

I agree that Pyramid should be given a folder under Mokalus of Borg ... credit where credit is due. The "Bcmel2" is obviously a typo on PattyCake's original web site (replaced by "Gruntz - The Journey Home"), since there is another Custom Level attributed to "Bemel2". And I also agree that Bemel2 is aka "Colin".

I will take on the task of attributing credit where due in the various indices (including the thread on this Forum) for Mokalus.

[swietymiki]

I noticed the similarity of background and images used but I didn't draw such conclusion at first... So this is just the old PattyCake's site "before the download section was removed", got it. I have another question though...

Were there any other sites like this? Or was e-mail THE distribution method between known Gruntz fans? Because the sources I have leave me with holes on some levels, like "High on Swordz" brought up earlier.

[GooRoo]

Dec 27, 2018 13:26:53 GMT -8 swietymiki said:

I noticed the similarity of background and images used but I didn't draw such conclusion at first... So this is just the old PattyCake's site "before the download section was removed", got it. I have another question though...

Were there any other sites like this? Or was e-mail THE distribution method between known Gruntz fans? Because the sources I have leave me with holes on some levels, like "High on Swordz" brought up earlier.

What is the problem with "High On Swordz"? Paul's Gruntz Page (I believe) still has the original unmodified version of the map available for download (in ZIPped format).

[swietymiki]

Dec 27, 2018 13:42:43 GMT -8 GooRoo said:

Dec 27, 2018 13:26:53 GMT -8 swietymiki said:

I noticed the similarity of background and images used but I didn't draw such conclusion at first... So this is just the old PattyCake's site "before the download section was removed", got it. I have another question though...

Were there any other sites like this? Or was e-mail THE distribution method between known Gruntz fans? Because the sources I have leave me with holes on some levels, like "High on Swordz" brought up earlier.

What is the problem with "High On Swordz"? Paul's Gruntz Page (I believe) still has the original unmodified version of the map available for download (in ZIPped format).

Paul's Gruntz Page doesn't have it. Just checked.

[GooRoo]

It definitely would NOT be under "Mokalus of Borg", but under "Unknown" there. And unlike most of the early 'Very Easy' puzzles that I modified, I did not SAVE the original map in its own folder. Actually, saving the original unmodified map was only something I began doing when the possibility of Paul's web site being shut down. He gave me his assurance that he has no plans to shut it down, removing the need for "belts and suspenders". So if "Pyramid" is not on Paul's site, it never was, and it is my error that the original was not SAVEd for posterity.

[GooRoo]

Dec 27, 2018 13:26:53 GMT -8 swietymiki said:

I noticed the similarity of background and images used but I didn't draw such conclusion at first... So this is just the old PattyCake's site "before the download section was removed", got it. I have another question though...

Were there any other sites like this? Or was e-mail THE distribution method between known Gruntz fans? Because the sources I have leave me with holes on some levels, like "High on Swordz" brought up earlier.

"Mad Lady" (from Australia, I believe) was the first person I am aware of to distribute Gruntz Custom Levelz. That is, other than Monolith Productions, Inc. from their own web site, allowing downloads. I only learned about Gruntz from my wife, who showed it to me. Where she acquired (and how) the Custom Levelz that caused me to comment that "I can do better than that!" ... and she disgustedly gave me the game, telling me to "prove it". I will ask her about it, but doubt she will remember how she acquired maps such as "Alevel" and "Pyramid".

[GooRoo]

What search key did you use to find this one? Just using "Gruntz" did not return any hits at all. I will try "Monolith Productions, Inc." to see if that gives me any results.

[swietymiki]

Dec 27, 2018 14:52:00 GMT -8 GooRoo said:

What search key did you use to find this one? Just using "Gruntz" did not return any hits at all. I will try "Monolith Productions, Inc." to see if that gives me any results.

On Wayback Machine? You need to type in the exact website you want to open. To find the page from the first post, use "gruntz.calcon.net". I found it by going to "gruntz.com" first and from there to the forum, where it was in a reply by Bea. While you can view all the created thread titles and their authors on the Monolith Site, sadly most details, files and images weren't archived.

[GooRoo]

I just spent about an hour with a Gruntz related Google search.

One thing is obvious: most of the world considers Gruntz to be abandonware.

Another thing seems to be just as obvious: most of the world is unaware of Custom Levelz!!!

So I am willing to provide a CD-ROM of Gruntz with a DVD of Gruntz Extraz for little more than my cost of materials. I (once again) have a LightScribe enabled drive (only usable on my XP computer) so can label discs without any adhesive. My main problem is the reduced availability of LightScribe discs, themselves, and the cost of obtaining them because one individual has "cornered the market" and charges several times more for the discs than Hewlett Packard originally charged. My supply of CDs is down to about 20, and DVDs is better at about 50 (but I use more DVDs for other things).

I encourage suggestions from staff as to what to charge, and how to 'advertise' availability.

[swietymiki]

Well, that was a topic I wanted to raise sometime in the future. I will not reveal what I wanted to write just yet, all in good time, and it deserves a thread of its own.

About "Pyramid" we know for sure that it came before your first levels were made, as I saw Gamer's post from 2001 about "Temple", which is a remake of the level. But the registered release date of "High on Swordz" is in October 2003, shortly before the creation of this forum. I assume the date wasn't just taken from nowhere, and if not from a post on the Monolith forum (cause I didn't find one), then it was from an e-mail.

[GooRoo]

Has anyone (else) noticed that the shortcut link to MPI on the Gruntz CD still works? I just tried it, and they list 17 games ... none of them Gruntz, Claw or Medieval! So I wonder if using the current URL in the Wayback Machine will show us any of the now defunct discussion site?

Well, I did ... and was very disappointed. None of the links showed me any part of the old discussion forum, so no info about any Custom Levelz from 1998 through 2002. I saw no sense in trying 2003, because by then the site was nothing but a haven for SPAMmers, with no moderation at all.

On a positive note, several of the sites I found in my previous Gruntz Google search prominently had external links to THIS SITE and to GooRoo's Gruntz - The Journey Home. But the last activity in comments seemed to end in 2014.

[swietymiki]

Welp, you got me, that was exactly what I noticed. Monolith no longer displays these 3 games to the visitors, unless you have a direct link: www.lith.com/games/gruntz
If the company doesn't even officially recognize Gruntz as theirs, perhaps because it doesn't fit their modern game themes and standards, then I say we should remove our brakes from spreading links to abandonware sites that host it, at the very least.

About the old Monolith forum, you must've used a wrong link. This one should take you directly to the site: web.archive.org/web/20030203172332/http://www.gruntz.com:80/forum/

And would you look at that! I just randomly opened the snapshot with Nathan's post on the top!

[GooRoo]

That page was about the last one without a flood of SPAM ... and very early in my 'career' with Gruntz. The first link was disappointing, since there seems to be nowhere to go from there. But your second link was priceless! MPI had just announced around that time (February, 2003) that it was considering dropping the Gruntz discussion web site. That was cause enough for interested Gruntzerz to look into creating a replacement discussion forum. Blaze, the movie fan actually started one, but sort of blew it by (as a prank) banning me from the forum. Other (at the time) prominent Gruntzerz took action that resulted in THIS forum's birth on December 3, 2003.

What surprised me in my Google search was to find only a few reference links to other Gruntz sites; Paul's Gruntz Page, and Pattycake's. External links to this site were about 4 to 1 other links. Something to be said for longevity, I guess.

[GooRoo]

While doing some searching for ideas for a new High Rollerz graphics set puzzle, (tentatively named "Easy Money") I rediscovered this post and clicked on the link provided on December 27, 2018 by swietymiki. And found a few usable links to images, 3 of 9 screenshots actually worked. One of the three was apparently from a Battlez CL, of no use to me. The High Rollerz screenshot has some possibilities, though.

Of course, this makes me wonder if GooRoosGrunt.Proboards has been captured in wayback. I'll have to try that after dinner.

[swietymiki]

Where did you find the screenshots? I don't seem to be able to locate any on that site.

[GooRoo]

Apr 9, 2023 5:42:50 GMT -8 swietymiki said:

Where did you find the screenshots? I don't seem to be able to locate any on that site.

It is really hard to miss them! Almost every screen has a link image with "Screenshots", and clicking on the link brings up 9 partial screen shots, one of them of "The Intersection", the others I did not recognize. But at least three of the 9 boxes just return a blank box the size of those containing real images.

[GooRoo]

LINK to the archived Monolith site with many working links, including screenshots.