Rage of Mages II: Necromancer demo

New, nonpublic candidate selected2026-10-12 after Rage I core gameplay reached review. No existing candidate/app/task match found before selection.

Original source https://archive.org/details/RageofMagesIINecromancer_1020, rom2demo.zip40,427,687bytes SHA1 6657c4937e2be41497ce8f944ad15d86b71ad7ce, downloaded and verified remotely. Outer ZIP extracts successfully to rom2demo.exe40,551,863bytes. Nested ZIP SFX fails 7-Zip with headers/data errors; only partial main.res/world.res result. Do not launch or reuse those partial files. Byte audit counts150,021LF but only4CRLF pairs, strongly consistent with destructive text conversion in compressed data, without proving the historical cause. No emulator run yet.

Independent source https://archive.org/details/gsscda1999, 1999-09/GS0999.iso662,108,160bytes. Archive metadata SHA1 74d2f13d0ccb0e0a4091606b0771bb07ddf7bc44 is not a locally verified whole-disc hash. Direct range source: https://ia801500.us.archive.org/4/items/gsscda1999/1999-09/GS0999.iso ISO9660 directory DEMOS/RAGE2 contains already unpacked game assets, ROM2.EXE2,116,608bytes at sector190545, SCENARIO.DLL and SMACKW32.DLL, resources, README and EULA. Recover these exact extents into a separate independent directory; preserve originals. No installer execution needed.

Evidence scratch/runs/20261012T0406Z-rage-of-mages2-preflight includes source identity, extraction failures, byte audit and directory-reader source/ output. Remote fixture /home/user/rage-of-mages2-demo-preflight on temporary bx_yuwwama5. Next verify recovered PE/imports and bundled instructions, then bounded launch with complete companion-file mounting. Do not assert gameplay, audio/FPS, registration or public distribution rights from source acquisition.

Recovery completed04:12Z:17 selected game/data/readme/EULA files downloaded in1MB ranges with exact length checks, per-file SHA256 recorded in independent-files.json (complete:true). Installer support files were not needed for this directly runnable payload. README identifies demo15May99, Win95/98/DirectX5, and warns against dots in the install directory name. It explicitly lists no sound until the mission starts as a known behavior; do not report silent menus alone as a new audio bug. Ordinary keys include M move, A attack, E select mercenaries, Esc menu, F2 save/F3 load and Space inventory/spellbook. First runtime launch remains untested. Use ROM2.EXE with all companion files and both SCENARIO.DLL/SMACKW32.DLL available.

CLI player movement verified (2026-10-12 04:21 UTC)

Fresh fork bx_dc8nntjd, restored stdole2.tlb and rebuilt the preserved source. Module SHA256 9e835f75dfe5d2fcfb91f592641e945f91baadcd20f6751460777f4dba888cd6; ROM2.EXE SHA256 c163964fca7f15958c53c29cef2fe4db4add639a95a3936453f87ccda874ae4b. Use --exe=<independent>/ROM2.EXE --vfs-include=**/* --quiet-api --batch-size=100000. The3000-batch baseline reaches a rendered icon menu. Ordinary click(250,90) batch3100 starts New Game and reaches the opening world/dialogue. Click(316,310) at7100,8100,9100 clears the introduction.

Movement route: click character(110,73)11100, screenshot12000; then click destination(170,145)12100, final screenshot17000. Reviewed selected.png shows the character near(110,73), health bar, portrait and action buttons. Final.png shows the selected character near(174,132), farther down the road; terrain landmarks stay fixed and additional map area/enemies are revealed. This establishes ordinary selection and commanded movement, not just a menu or cinematic. All four bounded runs exit0, no guest-state patch or emulator source change. No inference of FPS from batches/s.

Evidence:0417Z-rage2-first,0418Z-rage2-newgame,0419Z-rage2-world, 0420Z-rage2-movement under scratch/runs/20261012T*. Exact commands, logs, exit receipts, environment/module/EXE hashes and reviewed images preserved. The harness warns missing real ole32/shell32/comctl32 DLL files; available WAT handlers were used, no ordinal trap occurred. Keep that fixture limit explicit. Browser, touch, audio and qualified FPS remain unverified. Next local-only candidate/app registration using the recovered GameStar layout, then browser/direct-touch route. Runtime boat stopped with fixtures retained in its snapshot; main integration remains ops-owned.

Registered Chromium direct-touch gameplay (2026-10-12 04:31 UTC)

Local-only registration 77f25049f on codex/dr2-registration adds candidate rage-of-mages2-demo, app rage_of_mages2_demo, both companion DLLs and direct-touch strategy controls (Esc/keyboard). Production DESKTOP_APPS stays unchanged. Preparation uses the17 recovered files in game/; manual source instructions pin the disc metadata hash and verified EXE hash. Prepare/build/ registry-local-only/path checks pass. No fresh automated full-disc fetch claim.

0427Z-rage2-browser: Chrome155, same module9e835f75..8cd6, worker threads. Actual touch taps open New Game at(268,323), clear dialogue at(336,550), select at(124,305) then order(185,380). Reviewed step3/4 show the selected character move from about(124,305) to(190,365), revealing more map, with fixed terrain landmarks. This establishes registered browser touch gameplay. At844x390, the full game and Esc/keyboard affordances remain visible; touch (340,185) opens a new in-world NPC conversation. That last dialogue obscures the character, so it proves touch interaction, not a separate measured displacement at the narrow viewport. Desktop Chromium touch emulation is not Safari or physical-device validation. Audio, qualified FPS and broader combat/save/load remain unverified.

Exact probe/command1..6, screenshots, logs, environment and stage preserved. Stage complete04:31:02; browser/server closed despite outer transport141. No guest crash inferred from that transport status. Core task moves to ops review; Outcast demo refills the new-game lane alongside Dark Reign2.

Integration reconciliation, 2026-10-13

Recovered from origin/codex/wsasocket-capability at 15b37458e during the release merge audit. The local-only registration and its required runtime fixes are now on main. Earlier statements that integration is pending describe the historical run, not the current branch. This recovery adds no fresh gameplay, audio, performance, Safari, or physical-device qualification; retain the recorded run IDs, module hashes, limitations, and failed attempts above.