copy-protection codes on Lemmings ! for macintosh

[Ben]

Hey y'all, I have a query that seemed insoluble til I saw this forum...

I recently dragged the family's old 1993 Mac Quadra 610 out of the attic, where it has been shunted away for the last fifteen or so years, and found to our delight it actually still works!

The reason for even trying it out again was really just to play the lemmings games we (me and my dad) knew were on the machine.

However, when trying to play Lemmings now, a message pops up that shows a picture of a lemming doing something like playing a guitar or surfing etc., and asking us to enter in the 27th number from the page featuring said lemming.

Well, we bought this game legally, but we probably threw out that manual the better part of two decades ago.

Any help getting those numbers would be AWESOME, if one of y'all still has the original macintosh lemmings manual lying around; the manuals I've been able to find online do not have that same system of pictures-of-lemmings, and the numbers in them don't work

Thanks in advance!

[NaOH]

I'm sure someone on this forum has that manual, but I was able to get Lemmings running using DOSBOX, although I had the a floppy disk with the DOS version of Lemmings. DOSBOX has a mac port, but you might have trouble getting access to a copy of Lemmings for DOS legally. (There are, however, plenty of websites offering it for free nonetheless.)

You might have some luck guessing the number -- it might be something obvious like 1 or 20, 80 or 99. (I believe 80 is the maximum count for Lemmings on DOS, and the other numbers have similar in-game meanings.) I remember installing my old copy of WarCraft: Orcs & Humans and it asked me for a word from the manual. I just guessed it was "ORC" and that turned out to be exactly correct.

But for now, I'm bumping this thread just in case somebody who has that manual sees this.

[Ben]

Thank you for the help and the bump, NaOH!

yeah, I imagine there are some work-around ways involving the DOS version, but I've kind of gotten quest-driven to find this elusive manual! If memory serves (and I was like... nine in the mid-90's), the numbers are kind of arbitrary strings of digits, of a piece with the numbers found in later manuals for the game... It's kind of nice to have a thing not readily available on the internet (I guess; I'm probably too young to be that nostalgic), and the thrill of the hunt is sort of still got ahold of me...

Also, and I don't know forum etiquette about names, but do you mind if I ask about how you came be named after lye?

-Ben

[NaOH]

yeah, I imagine there are some work-around ways involving the DOS version, but I've kind of gotten quest-driven to find this elusive manual!

I understand. The same thing drove me to search for my Lemmings floppy-disk six or seven years ago. I ended up using e-bay, hehe.

Also, and I don't know forum etiquette about names, but do you mind if I ask about how you came be named after lye?

Haha, actually it derives from my first name, Noa. (Yes, it is a real name without the h.) Ironically enough, I go by my middle name far more often now, so it's kind of lost its zing.

To my chagrin, though, somebody not long ago made a multi-player level with this title.

[ccexplore]

Finlay and Proxima are the only two people around here that I know have actually owned the Mac version, but Finlay's no longer active here, and judging by his silence Proxima probably does not have the manual anymore.  (Then again, sounds like even if he does, it may not be the same manual anyway, judging from what you've found online so far.)

I do know it's possible to download a version of Mac Lemmings w/o such copy protection from the Internet, but sounds like that's besides the point for you anyway (ie. you really want the manual)?

Sorry and best of luck with your search!

[Prob Lem]

I found this page about disabling the protection, but the problem is, it, too, requires the manual!

I'm afraid I don't know anyone who owns the Mac version, myself, so I can only echo ccexplore here and wish you good luck.

[Ben]

@ccexplore and @Prob Lem:

Thanks! Yeah, it's sort of becoming a labor of (masochistic?) love now, this whole search. Hopefully just leaving this post up with cause it to come to some sort of fruition! Thanks again for the ideas and responses.

@NaOH: as well, thank you! I can see that this forum has the unfortunate possibility of making me realize there are beaucoup styles of Lemmings here of which I had no idea  Oo  Gonna have to be careful lest I find myself spending even more Lemmings-fueled time avoiding homework

Definitely a cool place. Glad I found all of y'all

[Proxima]

You mention Lemmings games, plural. Would the codes for Oh No! More Lemmings be any use to you? I too lost my manual for the original Lemmings years ago 

[Ben]

@Proxima

Alas, they aren't the same; I tried putting them in when I first started this mishegas :/ It really does seem as though the mac had its own idiosyncratic manual-writer who made their system as weird as possible; no other lemmings manual that I've come across (not a huge number, admittedly) has the same kind of picture-based prompts requesting the various numbers.

re: the plural lemmings, I was surprised (and gratified!) to find the '93 holiday lemmings on the Quadra as well when I fired it up, and ran through that pretty quickly, ha. No pesky numbers therein!

[Proxima]

Yeah, I know the codes aren't the same; I was asking whether ONML was one of the games you had, in which case I could help. Sorry that I can't 

[Ben]

oop, gotcha! No, no longer have ONML, that one was lost to the ravages of time/shortsighted throwing-away-of-old-things years ago. Thanks anyways though, Proxima!

[VulcanJohn]

Hi everyone, I can see this is a fairly old trail, but I may be able to help if anyone still needs these security codes to activate your games. I'm in the process of bringing an old Apple G4 iMac back to life with one of the early operating systems (OS9) just so I can play some of the games I used to enjoy. I have the manuals and codes for 2 versions of the game; Lemmings and Oh No! More Lemmings, along with some other generic paperwork about installing and playing the games. The books were all copyright of Psygnosis, but since they no longer exist I'm not sure what the rules are about distributing the info. Happy to discuss/chat with anyone who needs this info.

[namida]

Welcome to the forums!

I'd say for a game this old, you're very unlikely to run into any legal trouble for it, even though it may technically be illegal. If you're really worried, just private mesasge it to the people who are interested rather than posting it publicly.

[ccexplore]

I'm not a lawyer, but I believe as long as you're not republishing the entire contents of the manual verbatim, merely quoting small parts of it (ie. the security codes) should mostly fall under fair use doctrine and should be legal.  [Age really doesn't matter (I think most types of copyrights last something ridiculous like 50+ years); lack of circulation may matter in terms of arguing about the amount of potential damage from an infringement, but I don't think it affects the legal determination of whether infringement occurred.]

Speaking more practically, I'd say feel free to even upload hi-res scans of the entire manual.  You can always take it down later if you actually manage to receive a cease-and-desist order from the copyright owner.  I think Essman was the only one here who had encountered something like that with his "Copycat Lemmings" clone, and clearly he survived just fine.

[namida]

I'm not a lawyer, but I believe as long as you're not republishing the entire contents of the manual verbatim, merely quoting small parts of it (ie. the security codes) should mostly fall under fair use doctrine and should be legal.  [Age really doesn't matter (I think most types of copyrights last something ridiculous like 50+ years); lack of circulation may matter in terms of arguing about the amount of potential damage from an infringement, but I don't think it affects the legal determination of whether infringement occurred.]

It wouldn't affect whether something is an infringement, but I'd say it has a strong impact on whether or not anyone is likely to care, or bother chasing it up.

Speaking more practically, I'd say feel free to even upload hi-res scans of the entire manual.  You can always take it down later if you actually manage to receive a cease-and-desist order from the copyright owner.  I think Essman was the only one here who had encountered something like that with his "Copycat Lemmings" clone, and clearly he survived just fine.

Indeed - and it must be considered this was back when Lemmings was much newer and more popular than it is now; and that he made an entire fangame, not just posted a few manual scans / quotes.