Post your I-War (1) resources here!
(Try here for I-War 2: Edge of Chaos)
* The original readme files are not included in this GOG version. Not all the information will be relevant, but they include handy info like the command-line arguments for IWar.exe. I don't know why GOG only allows image attachments, but that being the case, I've attached zip archives of the originals (from the Deluxe Edition CDs) as readme1.png and readme2.png. Please rename the file extensions to "zip" after downloading, and then unpack as usual. They include the HTML version with images for Defiance. I had to split it into two files due to the 500K maximum attachment size. (I hope that works.)
* The modding development tools are still hosted at the Buda5 site, and at i-war2.com:
http://mods.firstones.com/buda5/iwar/recource.htm
http://www.i-war2.com/downloads_2.htm
Perhaps GOG could also provide them as (unsupported) downloadable extras for the game?
* Next, due (I can only presume) to some unfortunate timing, the official Atari forums for this series appear to have been locked for new posts extremely recently. There is a lot of useful information there from over the years, however:
http://www.ataricommunity.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=137
* Does anyone have a copy of this?:
http://www.ataricommunity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=445021
* There are a handful of images of note in the psg\resource\art directory. In particular: LOADSCRN.PCX, OPTBACKP.PCX, keylist.PCX, pause.PCX. Similarly, loadscrn.pcx, and pause.PCX under Defiance\psg\resource\art. You'll also find stills of the bridge station animations in these directories.
* I can't remember any details, but keybind.ini in the psg\resource directory for each game may be of interest to some players.
* And just in case the readme attachments are broken, here are those command-line options. Note that they are not accepted by iwar_start.exe (GOG, how about fixing that?), but they can be used with IWar.exe.
NOTE: don't be surprised if running IWar.exe directly causes problems. I rather suspect that iwar_start.exe is instrumental in fixing issues like the SHIFT-Q audio bug/crash. EDIT (3/6/2010): Hamsfarthing reports that this is not the case, so it may well be safe to bypass the GOG loader after all.
-w - Run Independence War in a window (Software mode only; 256 color desktop recommended). This option is useful if the game is crashing without any error message being displayed. Enabling this option will run the game in a window on your desktop, and any error messages and dialog boxes will be visible.
-b -16 - Run the game in 3Dfx Mode
-800x600 - Run the game in 800x600 resolution (3Dfx Voodoo2 only)
-xsound - Disable the sound. Useful when the game is crashing to find out if it's a sound related problem. If the game runs fine with the sound disabled then it's a sound problem.
-hardstars - Changes the stars in 3Dfx mode into a special hardware mode. The stars will flicker, but game frame rate and performance will be increased on slower PCs. May also help with graphic glitches on Voodoo Rush cards.
-norudder - Disable rudder
-noslab - Use if you have deslabbed the .slb files
-nologos - Disable intro logos (intro movie for Defiance)
-nozlock - If you get corrupted screenshots in 3Dfx mode, then use this option to output screenshots correctly.
-disk - Run without CD-ROM. See also dreadnaught.ini
VIDEODIR "<install directory>\psg\resource\video"
DIALOGUEDIR "<install directory>\psg\resource\audio"
-start1 - Start from savepoint 1*
-start2 - Start from savepoint 2*
-start3 - Start from savepoint 3*
-start4 - Start from savepoint 4*
-slot0 - Use save slot 0
-slot1 - Use save slot 1
-slot2 - Use save slot 2
-slot3 - Use save slot 3
-slot4 - Use save slot 4
-slot5 - Use Save slot 5
WARNING: Using the savepoint command line options can cause serious gameplay problems or even crash the game if used incorrectly.
-lagrange
Enables a SELECT LAGRANGE button on the Command Workstation's GSV view (F1). Select a system, click the "Select LaGrange" button, and the next time you pass through a LaGrange point you will travel to the selected system.
Originally the game was designed so that you could select your own jump destination, but we removed the Select LaGrange button during testing, as having players ignore the mission objectives and go off exploring made the game almost impossible to test, and frequently caused problems in the missions.
Normally the Navigator automatically selects your Capsule Space jump destination, but enabling this button allows you to select your own LaGrange point destination, and jump to any place in the star map you wish.
We've created this option to re-enable the button because we know many players would like to do some exploring and see some of the universe we've created that you don't normally get a chance to see.
Ravenger adds:
* Remember: The following 'png' attachments are actually zip archives.

This one can be a bit involved, and is probably of little use to most people, but it's possible to run the original campaign within the Defiance game engine:
http://www.ataricommunity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=480197

(edit: Shamefully, the ataricommunity site has been completely eradicated... I managed to locate a wayback machine archive of that thread under a different URL, however! https://web.archive.org/web/20060926151212/http://www.ataricommunity.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-480197.html )

Do note Dreadnaught's comment further down that thread which suggests a much easier way to make this work: One of my intentions at the time was to try adding mission save points to some of the original mission scripts. Sadly I never actually got anywhere with that part of it (the scripting for save points was a little more involved than I had hoped for, and I didn't stick at it), but it would certainly be possible.

Some beautiful high-res renders:
http://www.ataricommunity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=582158

Hi, I'm unable to use -lagrange function i GOG I-WAR.

I can't find IWar.exe file in the GOG's Iwar folder.

Is there any way to use the free roam in GOG's version of I-war?

It should work, but the radar colours will be reversed, i.e. friendly will be red, blue will be enemies.