Big Money! Deluxe

Big Money! Deluxe is a puzzle game that centers around, you guessed it, money. It was about as average as you can imagine.

Sub-Page#

Prerelease Info

Partner.xml File#

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: Investigate the checksum system that partner.xml uses, and figure out if user-made changes can be made without tripping the system.

Present in almost every PopCap game is partner.xml. partner.xml allows PopCap, as well as PopCap's partners, to easily modify small details of the game without the need to recompile the game or access the game's source code. This file has been edited numerous times through multiple partners and PopCap themselves, and later revisions of the PopCap framework added additional features to it. Also present is a checksum check, so not every user can make any changes they want. If the checksum fails, an error message appears, and the game either fails to boot up or boots up with default values, typically enabling the trial or registration system. Below is an attempt to list the features for partner.xml in Big Money! Deluxe. Some features may not be present in earlier revisions. Version 1.0 and 1.11 don't use partner.xml at all.

Development Text#

A few development-related strings can be found in the game's executable.

incompatible version
buffer error
insufficient memory
data error
stream error
file error
stream end

Rather vague-sounding error messages which were likely used for development purposes.

Debugging Material#

Pressing CTRL + ALT + D in-game will play the user's Asterisk sound (c:\windows\media\Windows XP Menu Command.wav) to indicate that the debugging mode has been enabled. Afterwards, the game allows the player to access certain debugging features using various keybinds.

• F2 : Toggle performance timing. When disabled, it will open a message box alerting the user of what was timed.
• F3 : Toggles whether to display the game's FPS or not.
• ⇧ Shift + F3 : Toggles whether to display the player's cursor's coordinates or not.
• F8 : Opens a message box telling the player various video-related statistics.
• ⇧ Shift + F8 : Toggles 3D Acceleration.
• F10 : Enable frame advance mode. Press again to advance one frame, or hold for slow-mo.
• ⇧ Shift + F10 : Resume normal gameplay if frame advance is enabled.
• F11 : Takes a screenshot and saves it to a folder named _screenshots, which is located in the game's directory.
  • ⇧ Shift + F11 : Dumps all the game's images loaded in memory to a folder named _screenshots, which is located in the game's directory. It also, for whatever reason, automatically generates an HTML file named imagelist.html. The HTML file contains a list of the images dumped as well as their properties.

Audio File Oddities#

While most of the game's audio files are in OGG format, two are in AU: explode.au and piecehit.au. AU is what the Java demo of the game used, which has a lower bitrate than Big Money! Deluxe's OGG files.

Revisional Differences#

Version History#

• 1.0 - Initial release!
• 1.10 - Scoring tweaked, minor bug fixes.
• 1.22 - Various bug fixes.
• 1.3 - New music handling, bug fixes.

PopCap created a mess related to the public version history of Big Money! Deluxe. The version numbers are incorrect, some versions are not listed, and changes are vague. This is common for PopCap games, but it's poor for this one.

Game Icon#

v1.0 - v1.22	v1.3

Like Bejeweled, earlier versions of Big Money! Deluxe featured a money bag icon straight from the game. v1.3 changed it to a unique icon.

Title Screen#

May 28, 2002	November 16, 2005	September 10, 2007

Unlike most PopCap games, the second revision logo was already used as early as 2005, and remained for quite a while. In September 2007, the final logo was used, with minor tweaks.

1.0 (Old Installer, PopCap, June 4, 2002)#

• The earliest known available version of the game.
• The Money bag requirements on easy mode are different.
• Normal and Hard are significantly more difficult in Action and Strategy. In particular, the scrolling is much faster. On hard, you only get 2 turns each row in Strategy instead of 3.
• Pausing the game by opening a menu while Mr. Moneybags' head is at the top will keep him at the top, unlike later versions.
• In puzzle mode, the next row is not visible at all. Oddly, this visual oversight was introduced in v1.11 and above.
• Unfocusing or minimising the game does not pause the game nor the music.
• In-game strings seem to suggest there were plans to introduce the ability to submit high scores to the internet. A later PopCap game, Bookworm Deluxe, had this ability.
• The last two rank names are different

1.11 (Old Installer, PopCap, September 16, 2002)#

• Finalised balancing.
• The critical countdown is two small green numbers at the top for some reason. Any other version, including 1.0, uses a big orange number in the middle.

1.22 (Old Installer, PopCap, May 15, 2003)#

• You can no longer open the game multiple times.
• Implemented default.xml and partner.xml found in the properties folder.
• Implemented the Command-Line parameters, such as -version, and an early version of the debug mode.
• Implemented pausing the game using the spacebar or unfocusing the game, with a fadeout graphic mentioning that the game is paused.
• As expected, unfocusing the game now mutes the game audio.
• default.xml is present even in non-localised versions, and contains most of the strings in-game for easy modifications.
• As stated in 1.0, there were plans to support the Internet Hall of Fame, like in Bookworm Deluxe. Present in default.xml is CLICK_HERE_TO_SUBMIT_TO_INTERNET_HIGH_SCORE_LIST
• The website button in the options menu now has a different colour compared to the other buttons, to stand out more.
• Even though there are no Hardware Acceleration settings in the options menu, you can turn it on or off using the appropriate debug command.
• The build information using -version marks version 1.22 as build 21 dated Wednesday, May 14, 17:15:16, 2003

1.3 (Installer, PopCap, November 13, 2005)#

• The last known compiled build of the game. Any other versions edit other parts of the game, such as Partner.xml, images, or use a DRM wrapper.
• Finalised debug mode, using a newer version of Popcap's internal framework. Now you can frame advance using F10, or resume gameplay with Shift + F10 Oddly, this is the only known PopCap game that kept frame advance enabled.
• The build information using -version marks 1.3 as build 3 dated Monday, November 14, 11:49:25, 2005

Partner Versions#

Partner versions are setups of the game distributed by other companies that have partnered with PopCap. These setups typically have a similar or special build of the game that utilises the partner.xml file to make minor adjustments to the game. Earlier partner versions, before partner.xml, implemented everything directly in the executable itself, and edited the image mrmoneybags for the company logo. Later partner versions, however, edited partner.xml to enable the Cobranded boolean flag, which enables the image cobrand on the title screen. Oddly, PopCap's own versions have cobrand images as well, usually from Zone.com, but remain unused.

v1.12z Zone.com	1.21 Zylom (Dutch)	1.22 GameHouse	1.3 RealArcade	1.1r RealArcade

Music#

Earlier versions of Big Money! Deluxe had considerably different versions of the intro/main menu themes (especially v1.0). The intro theme from v1.0 and v1.1 is a cover of the intro of "The Big Money" by the Canadian rock band Rush, while the main menu theme from v1.0 is a cover of "Big Time" by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel.

Quality Time - Big Money Mix

The name is a paradox. Modern times dictate that you can
either have big money or quality time, but not both.

Original (C) 1997 (unreleased) - Remix (C) 2002
(C) Peter Hajba - peter.hajba@kolumbus.fi
----> http://www.futurecrew.com/skaven

A nice challenge. How to make it recognizable but not a
"cover"?

Song Parts:

Pos:
00-21 - Puzzle mode music (loops)
23    - Puzzle level complete fanfare, continues to..
24    - Puzzle chill-out / pause (loops)
26-38 - Action mode music (loops)
40    - Action level complete fanfare, continues to..
41-42 - Action chill-out / pause (loops)
44-61 - Strategy mode music (loops)
63    - Strategy level complete fanfare, continues to..
64-65 - Strategy chill-out / pause (loops)
67    - Game Over fanfare, continues to..
68-85 - High Scores music. After it ends, it jumps to Main Menu.
87-88 - Game Intro, continues to Main Menu.
89-97 - Main Menu (loops)
99    - Break / Music Off pattern (loops)

Quality Time - Big Money Mix

The name is a paradox. Modern times dictate that you can
either have big money or quality time, but not both. In other words,
if you are intent on making big money, you hardly have any time left
for anything else. :)

This song is dedicated to people who hold their breath while shaving.

Original (C) 1997 (unreleased) - Remix (C) 2002 (finally put into use)
(C) Peter Hajba - peter.hajba@kolumbus.fi
----> http://www.futurecrew.com/skaven

Song Parts:
(Pos)   (title)
00-21 - Puzzle mode music (loops)
23    - Puzzle level complete fanfare, continues to..
24    - Puzzle chill-out / pause (loops)
26-38 - Action mode music (loops)
40    - Action level complete fanfare, continues to..
41-42 - Action chill-out / pause (loops)
44-61 - Strategy mode music (loops)
63    - Strategy level complete fanfare, continues to..
64-65 - Strategy chill-out / pause (loops)
67    - Game Over fanfare, continues to..
68-85 - High Scores music. After it ends, it jumps to Main Menu.
87-88 - Game Intro, continues to Main Menu.
89-97 - Main Menu (loops)
99    - Break / Music Off pattern (loops)




<clever secret message>
It's interesting how incorrect melody can make a song lawsuit-proof.
</clever secret message>

Quality Time - Big Money Mix

The name is a paradox. Modern times dictate that you can
either have big money or quality time, but not both. In other words,
if you are intent on making big money, you hardly have any time left
for anything else. :)

This song is dedicated to people who hold their breath while shaving.

Original (C) 1997 (unreleased) - Remix (C) 2002 (finally put into use)
(C) Peter Hajba - peter.hajba@kolumbus.fi
----> http://www.iki.fi/skaven

More pummeling applied 12-14 Aug 2002.

Song Parts:
(Pos)   (title)
00-21 - Puzzle mode music (loops)
23    - Puzzle level complete fanfare, continues to..
24    - Puzzle chill-out / pause (loops)
26-38 - Action mode music (loops)
40    - Action level complete fanfare, continues to..
41-42 - Action chill-out / pause (loops)
44-61 - Strategy mode music (loops)
63    - Strategy level complete fanfare, continues to..
64-65 - Strategy chill-out / pause (loops)
67    - Game Over fanfare, continues to..
68-85 - High Scores music. After it ends, it jumps to Main Menu.
87-88 - Game Intro, continues to Main Menu.
89-97 - Main Menu (loops)
99    - Break / Music Off pattern (loops)




<clever secret message>
It's interesting how incorrect melody can make a song lawsuit-proof.
</clever secret message>

The song comment text in the game's Impulse Tracker module file contains a message from the composer Peter Hajba/Skaven. The text in v1.0 (along with the "clever secret message" in v1.1 and v1.11) subtly points out the similarities between the intro theme and "The Big Money" by Rush, and the similarities between the main menu theme and "Big Time" by Peter Gabriel (respectively).

References#