Could anyone please tell me when exactly were these originally released.

Was the CD version released after the floppy version, or were they both released simultaneously?

Thanks.

AFAIK floppy version was released in 1994 and CD in 1997.

Interesting. Looks like indeed this was the case. If it appeared as a new release on CD would you have an idea on why the Germany map wasn't included with the floppy? I can understand about voice/sounds, but surely a map file isn't that large and would've fitted on a floppy as well?

I think you forget how small a floppy disk was. 1.45MB, with so much other stuff to include. Compare that to the 650MB that awaited us in CDs. Back then things had to be seriously trimmed down, a map contains images, they were big old things as we didn't have the compression tech back then. They'd probably be .bmp in some form.

EDIT: Thinking about it, there wouldn't be any new images on the map, as the terrain was already separate. Still, there was very little space to ration out.

I grew up with floppy games. Contrary to what it may seem now, 1.45MB could fit a lot. We did have very good compression tech back then (check for example the Run Length Encoding used in pcx file format among others). And they were only 8 or 16 bit images anyway.

That aside, the biggest space hogging was sounds, then images, none of which would be included in the map. At most, the inclusion of Germany map would include 1 more additional floppy, a small price to pay for doubling the amount of maps.


EDIT:
Just as an example, Prince of Persia, which had 12 level fitted on 500kB. Wolfenstein 3D (6 episodes) was one floppy. Surely an additional Germany map would not need more.

I was there too, I remember getting all of Conquests Of The Longbow on just 6 disks (I think back then they might have been LD disks so just 360KB, can't remember) and being amazed by it all. However even if the production process had required one more disk to allow that map to be included. These are physical disks that laid a lot of overhead on the whole physical delivery of a game, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was a simple production saving that caused it to be cut out.

Actually it looks like it's a matter of space. The German map isn't just a map file, but an alternative standalone version of the game with its own executable of 687 KB (at least that's how GOG offers it).

OK, thanks. If anyone can definitely confirm that they were both released together (together with date, or at least month of their release) I'd be grateful.

The manual that came with the original, floppy version of LotR I was dated for July, 1994. Its wikipedia entry list release date as June 15, 1994 through.

http://www.sierragamers.com/uploads/24082/The_Games/Lords_of_the_Realm_1_Manual.pdf

The CD version of LotR I was released as part of original Lords of the Realm: Royal Edition box set in 1997. It came with LotR 1 (cd ver), LotR II, and LotRII: Siege Pack. I actually still own this one. Here's the readme file on the disk, dated September 23, 1997.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bzj_IfkmgvF0UHZBTG5POG13N0U/view?usp=sharing

Thanks primadog! I was looking at the infobox on wikipedia which just says 1994 and missed the text in the very first line!

The CD version though was released by the looks of it before 1997. That's when the Royal Edition box was released. However it was released by itself on CD earlier.

DeMignon's link to worldcast seems to suggest 1994 too, so I wonder if the June date was the date for the simultaneous release of both.

I did a little more digging, and looks like DeMignon might be right! Here's an USETNET message dated to 1994 talking about the CD version and the German map:

David Lindauer
12/19/94
The only other map which I am aware of is the map of Germany which was
one of the features of the CD ROM version of Lords of the Realm.

https://groups.google.com/d/msg/bit.listserv.games-l/SAvYLv1nhfc/jFlRdJNQACwJ

Thanks. This seems to confirm that they were released together.

I'll mark DeMignon's as the solution, being the first post to mention this.