Mad TV Recompiled 0.4.1

Native port of Mad TV (Rainbow Arts, 1991), translated from the original game code with AI
assistance. Single executable per platform, game data included, no installation.

Fixes

Two freezes that are bugs of the original game:

• Bailiff: when a player in debt only had series left in the archive, the bailiff searched
  forever for a film to seize and the game froze. Now nothing is seized in that case.
• Topic of the day / gifts: when the third player won the topic of the day, the game wrote the
  topics into that computer opponent's gift choice. His next gift to Betty then overwrote other
  game data, and the game froze shortly afterwards (often around the end of the day). The topics
  are now stored where the computer opponents read them; invalid gifts from older savegames are
  discarded.

Under the hood

• The tables and texts of the original data segment (font, click areas, keys, animations,
  prices, text templates) are now part of the source code. Only SOURCE1.RSC and SOURCE2.RSC
  of the original are embedded; MTV.EXE is no longer used.
• Number of films, series, shows, advertisers and news topics defined in one place, and the
  special programmes (NFL, Olympics, "Kultur Heute", viewer poll, start series) named – groundwork
  for mod support.
• Builds without embedded game data are possible (EMBED=0, see README).

Notes

• Savegames are unchanged and work across versions and platforms.
• Windows: savegames in %USERPROFILE%\Saved Games\Mad TV Recompiled. Requires Windows 7 or later.
  The executable is not code-signed; Windows SmartScreen may show a warning on first start.
• Linux (64-bit, glibc 2.34 or later, e.g. Ubuntu 22.04+, Debian 12+, Fedora, SteamOS): make the
  file executable (chmod +x MadTV-Recompiled-0.4.1-linux) and start it. Savegames and settings:
  ~/.local/share/Mad TV Recompiled.

Mad TV is © 1991 Rainbow Arts.

Mad TV Recompiled 0.4.0

Native port of Mad TV (Rainbow Arts, 1991), translated from the original game code with AI
assistance. Single executable per platform, game data included, no installation.

Now based on the release version of Mad TV

The port was translated from an earlier build of the game. All differences to the released
MTV.EXE have been compared function by function and adopted, so the game now plays like the
version that was sold. Highlights:

• Space pauses and resumes the game, like a click on the clock.
• Command line as in the original: D or E selects the language for this start, a second
  argument of up to ten * multiplies the opponents' starting money.
• Auction: unsold films and series return to the market instead of being lost; the auction no
  longer hangs when no titles are left. Prices and bid display as in the release version.
• Computer opponents: many corrections from the release version (studio use, contracts, archive, info
  board, access to other players' bosses, bankruptcy of an opponent).
• Ratings, news value, image, events, production costs and the statistics bars follow the release
  version (the statistics no longer overflow with large values).
• Game data comes completely from the release version.

Smoother display

• The real refresh rate of the monitor is used. On 120/144 Hz monitors, many frames were shown
  twice before, which made scrolling and the elevator stutter.
• Riding the elevator: the cabin now stays fixed while the building scrolls smoothly.

Fixes

• Arrow keys move the visible mouse cursor again (e.g. on the station map).
• Info board: leaving with a sign in hand puts it back in the right place.

Notes

• Windows file is now named MadTV-Recompiled-0.4.0-windows.exe.
• Savegames from earlier versions still load.
• Windows: savegames in %USERPROFILE%\Saved Games\Mad TV Recompiled. Requires Windows 7 or later.
  The executable is not code-signed; Windows SmartScreen may show a warning on first start.
• Linux (64-bit, glibc 2.34 or later, e.g. Ubuntu 22.04+, Debian 12+, Fedora, SteamOS): make the
  file executable (chmod +x MadTV-Recompiled-0.4.0-linux) and start it. Savegames and settings:
  ~/.local/share/Mad TV Recompiled.

Mad TV is © 1991 Rainbow Arts.

Mad TV Recompiled 0.3.1

Native port of Mad TV (Rainbow Arts, 1991), translated from the original game code with AI
assistance. Single executable per platform, game data included, no installation.

Linux: now a 64-bit program

• MadTV-Recompiled-0.3.1-linux no longer needs 32-bit libraries. It runs on distributions from
  Ubuntu 22.04 / Debian 12 on (glibc 2.34 or later), e.g. also current Fedora and SteamOS.
• The 0.3.0 Linux file required a very recent glibc and did not start on most systems.
• Make the file executable (chmod +x MadTV-Recompiled-0.3.1-linux) and start it. Savegames and
  settings: ~/.local/share/Mad TV Recompiled.

Fixes

• Game > New Game: the mouse cursor was missing afterwards.
• Elevator: when arriving from above with the door open, the cabin no longer briefly appears on the
  floor above.
• End of day at the porter: the figure no longer walks out of the building to the left.

Notes

• Savegames are unchanged and work across versions and platforms.
• Windows: savegames in %USERPROFILE%\Saved Games\Mad TV Recompiled. Requires Windows 7 or later.
  The executable is not code-signed; Windows SmartScreen may show a warning on first start.

Mad TV is © 1991 Rainbow Arts.

Mad TV Recompiled 0.3.0

Native port of Mad TV (Rainbow Arts, 1991), translated from the original game code with AI
assistance. Single executable per platform, game data included, no installation.

New: Linux version

• MadTV-Recompiled-0.3.0-linux: one 32-bit executable with the game data embedded and SDL linked
  statically. X11 or Wayland, OpenGL and PipeWire/PulseAudio/ALSA are loaded at runtime, so the
  system needs the 32-bit (i386/i686) versions of these libraries.
• The menu bar is drawn by the game itself (no toolkit needed) and follows the desktop scaling.
• In fullscreen the mouse moves with the desktop's speed and acceleration.
• Savegames and settings: ~/.local/share/Mad TV Recompiled.

Menu

• Game > New Game: after a confirmation, returns to the new-game screen (player, names,
  difficulty), as after losing a game.
• Game > Pause (also key P): same as clicking the clock field; a click also ends the pause.
• Game > Speed / TV family / TV picture / Music: the same as the buttons and switches in the
  Control Center of the programme planner; if it is open, it shows the change. Like in the
  original, these are stored in the savegame.
• Disabled entries are greyed out (e.g. New Game while on the new-game screen).

Changes

• The music switch takes effect immediately instead of at the next room change. Rooms that keep
  the previous room's music (e.g. the elevator board) have no piece of their own; there the music
  starts in the next room.

Notes

• Windows: savegames in %USERPROFILE%\Saved Games\Mad TV Recompiled, unchanged from 0.2.0.
  Requires Windows 7 or later. The executable is not code-signed; Windows SmartScreen may show a
  warning on first start.
• Linux: make the file executable (chmod +x MadTV-Recompiled-0.3.0-linux) and start it.

Mad TV is © 1991 Rainbow Arts.

Mad TV Recompiled 0.2.0

Native Windows port of Mad TV (Rainbow Arts, 1991), translated from the original game code with
AI assistance. Single executable, game data included, no installation.

Fixes

• Hovering over the money display no longer hangs the game when the balance is very large.
  Text wider than its box wrote past the bitmap and corrupted the heap; glyph drawing is now
  clipped to the target bitmap.
• The money tooltip keeps "Credit" inside the box for balances with ten or more digits
  (office and building view, English and German).
• Hover labels no longer show artifacts while the elevator is moving.

Changes

• Menu bar: Game > Quit, Settings > Language / Fullscreen, Help > About. Hidden in
  fullscreen; press Alt to show it.
• No language prompt at startup. The first start uses the system language (German or English);
  the language can be switched at any time via the menu or F10 and the current screen is redrawn.
• First start is windowed; afterwards the last used mode (window/fullscreen) is restored.
  Settings are stored in settings.ini in the savegame folder.
• Rendering uses Direct3D 11 (falls back to other renderers if unavailable).
• The in-game quit dialog (ESC in the building view) was removed again, as in the original.

Size

The executable shrank from 3.9 MB to 2.0 MB: SDL is now built with only the parts the port
uses, and the embedded game data is Deflate-compressed and unpacked at startup.

Notes

• Savegames: %USERPROFILE%\Saved Games\Mad TV Recompiled. Savegames from 0.1.0 work
  unchanged.
• Requires Windows 7 or later (tested on Windows 11).
• The executable is not code-signed; Windows SmartScreen may show a warning on first start.

Mad TV is © 1991 Rainbow Arts.

Mad TV Recompiled 0.1.0

First public build of Mad TV Recompiled, a native Windows port of the DOS game Mad TV (Rainbow Arts, 1991).

The game logic is a function-by-function C translation of the original MTV.EXE. Graphics, input, timing and the AdLib sound driver are reimplemented on SDL2; music is synthesized with the Nuked-OPL3 emulator.

Download

MadTV-Recompiled-0.1.0.exe – single self-contained executable. It includes the game data of the revised release of Mad TV and a statically linked SDL2. No installation required.

Requirements: Windows 10 or 11.

The executable is not code-signed. Windows SmartScreen may warn on first start ("More info" → "Run anyway").

Usage

• Starts in fullscreen; -window for windowed mode, Alt+Enter / F11 to toggle.
• ESC leaves rooms as in the original; in the building view it opens a quit confirmation.
• Savegames are written to %USERPROFILE%\Saved Games\Mad TV Recompiled and use the original format.

Differences from the DOS version

Game logic, including known bugs of the original (e.g. in the computer players' AI), is unchanged. Presentation differs:

• Frames are presented at the display refresh rate, synchronized to V-Sync; game timing stays at the original rate.
• Mouse cursor and dragged objects are drawn as an overlay; relative mouse input in fullscreen.
• Elevator, building scroll, parallax background and the TV shutter animation are interpolated between game steps with sub-pixel positioning; total durations are unchanged.
• Sharp-bilinear scaling of the 320×200 image to the 4:3 output area.

See the README for the complete list.

Known limitations

• No settings menu; audio and display options are fixed.
• Only tested on Windows 11 at 60 Hz.

Mad TV is © 1991 Rainbow Arts.