My wife got this for me back in 1997 for Christmas (yeah, she's the best) but somehow I never got around to playing it. I drooled over the box, read all about it, etc. I did have my first kid then, so was a bit pre-occupied I guess (but managed to play a hell of a lot of other games.)

Anyway, just wondering if I really needed to buy this version (and advantages), or could I use ScumVMM with my original discs? Although, to be honest, they are probably DISKS and NOT DISCS ... i,e, probably 3.5" floppies and not CD-ROMs give this was 1997.

Any insight on this would be appreciated. Either way I have to use the Scum emulator correcT?

Thanks!

The game comes in 4 CD-ROM discs. You will need to have a CD (probably DVD) drive in order to copy the required data files in a folder on your hard disk (and you will need to rename 4 of those files).

So, the answer is yes, you can run the game with ScummVM if you own the original box, with some minimal effort on your part and following simple instructions as in this post:
https://forums.scummvm.org/viewtopic.php?p=87200#p87200

You will miss out on the multiple audio dubbings that GOG offers (English, German, French, Italian, Spanish) and the extra goodies (your box will contain the manual though, so you should be set).

By the way, a small technical correction, ScummVM is not an emulator. We implement the complete game engines to support the games, we don't emulate the environment to run them in.

I did buy a copy back then and I did use it a lot. The game came on several CDs (I think 4 is the correct number) and took more than 1 gigabyte (I remember because my drive was only 2 gigabytes at that time). In fact I used to do a full installation in order not to switch CDS but it meant I couldn't play any other big game.

It's good to know the old boxed edition is still playable. Mine was in French which is a bit annoying and my CDs are definitely not in pristine condition as they've been used a lot.

Great, thanks for that detailed info! Was hoping they were discs and not disks, but just couldn't remember. But now that I think about, in `97 I believe I had my first CD-Writer, so CD readers had been around a while by then. IIRC, CD-ROM drives started to get into the public's hands in the early 90's. Yeah, a gig was (beyond) a huge sacrifice back then, lol! Although I wonder why it took 4 of them, as CD-ROMs held about 700MB. So 4 (at max) would be over 2 gigs. Faster access if the data was not written close to the inside? But would it be faster with having to switch discs? Hmmm.

I got the original CD version too! Mint condition! The good ole days, with the big box full of stuff. It looks great on my bookshelf in my nerd cave.

The movie is one of my all-time favorites. It was a great experience playing this game. The game developers really got this title right.

And now I got the GOG version. Cheers!

So, any particular reason you went ahead and bought since you have the original? Just for the lack of "hassle" of dealing with the original CD's, something else? Just curious.

Obviously can't speak for CFM, but in my case (owning a copy of the physical retail version too) I got the GoG version:

- to support DRM-free, pro-costumer gaming, and to thank GoG for those 10 years of pestering and eventually persuading the rights holders to digitally re-release Blade Runner
- to support CDProjektRED (GoG and CDProjektRED are sister companies), again for the "games from gamers, for gamers" philosophy (also broke the no-preorder rule and got me a copy of Cyberpunk2077 on the same day Blade Runner was released on GoG)
- to support the ScummVM team, responsible for the technical side of things of the Blade Runner re-release (make sure to use their affiliate link when eventually purchasing Blade Runner to send a commission from the purchase their way)
- for the restored content the ScummVM team is gradually excavating from the game's innards, which will be added to the GoG version through future updates
- because there's no such thing as owning too many copies of Blade Runner

Everything Swedrami said, but mostly to not deal with CDs. Also, not sure if the CD version works with current Windows OS, while I'm confident the GOG version does. Just a minor convenience, for ten bucks, for a wonderful game.

Got it, good points all around. Thanks for your insights guys, really appreciate it! Weird thing happened tonight, I just found a blade runner patch when going through some stuff in boxes tonight. Weird timing, lol.

Take care, and happy running,

Yeah that's part of it too, I assume the GOG version's got any official patches included.

And your wife is cool. If I asked mine to get me a PC game, I'd end up with LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean or some such.

LOL, yeah I would never ask her to get me any electronics without specifying exactly which one, but she was probably well aware of my obsession with all-things Blade Runner, and saw the game and grabbed it.

Oh, and by patch, I meant like a patch you put on a denim jacket or the like (LMAO!!) ... sorry, should have been more specific, especially in this instance. It's black and silver ... I'll try to post a pic.