Why is the map not included in the full game run? I think the run should show the correct location on the map being chosen, even if it's the version that skips this. The map not being in the video was very jarring.

Two reasons, really. The first is that the map isn't really a puzzle, it's just an ancient form of DRM protection disguised as part of the game. Second, because most abandonware sites I looked into have hacked versions that will bypass this section no matter where you click. I didn't want to have to rule out free versions simply because they bypass the no longer necessary DRM tools (I believe earlier installments of the Dr Brain series are considered abandoned as far as copyrights are concerned).

Here's an example:

http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/224/Island+of+Dr.+Brain%2C+The.html

I understand that. I've always been aware of what that part of the game represents, it's a huge part of many games and almost everyone that remembers playing it 'back in the day' brings this up, in fact during a small era, most games had a DRM protected moment. To me, that is no less a part of the game than any puzzle.

I'm a bit saddened by all these hacked versions becoming common use for the game. I fully understand how it makes it more accessible and that people won't remember the locations, or be able to find a manual or whatever. I must say though that the free version isn't stopping me from choosing the correct location based on the manual, even if it's possible to skip. I'm likely to continue using the browser instances of DOSbox versions rather than open my own, so even when I do attempts the map section will be purely symbolic.

I won't ask you to change any rule or adjust any leaderboard, but expect my submissions to include the map for posterity, we'll just adjust time to match this ruleset if you don't want to adjust the ruleset.

OK I didn't realize that it's impossible to find a version with all the map levels, and that the new version removed intermediate and expert levels. Interestingly you can still make the island appear on novice difficulty if you read the map correctly.

On harder modes, the castle moves and gets offset with the lat/long indicators so there was legitimate orienteering required beyond the copy protection.

I guess there really is no point in including it in any category where score or difficulty would matter beyond novice, and because of that, it doesn't really make sense to include it in any% or novice only runs even for symbolic reasons. Maybe I will in fact just do it on novice only and any% runs cause what the hey. :( The ingame info even says how you get max points for navigation and can start to build your file score from there. Oh well, I'll probably just make a highlight talking about it so people can remember what it was like.

My mind is kind of going back and forth on this, getting max points for beating novice mode every time still somehow seems more fun than getting max points for clicking as fast as possible and just not counting that part of the game at all. Plus, the island appears when you do it right.

Can you give me a link to the newer version? I didn't realize there was one.

I also didn't realize that the map was included in scoring. As far as I'm aware, extra credits are awarded up to four completions for each puzzle on every difficulty after the first time (and I think it's up to seven on the word search). I was going to go for a high score run, but it was kinda boring with all the redundancy.

Well, no. I can't find any version that has the map puzzle intact. I suppose if someone had a physical copy of the game that would be it.

It's too bad it can't be included, I haven't tried yet, but I hope for any potential full score attempts case that you can still get max points. There's a secret ending and some kind of autosolving animations you can watch if you get it. I could be remembering wrong I was very young, but as I test I hope that max points can be achieved.

Just to share more feelings, I don't mind that a speedrun skips it, even if it were still in the online/downloadable versions. It's easy to move past that and focus on the puzzles, the current category, and one not yet done with no hints used both seem fine the way they are. This would only matter in full score runs, and if they're still possible that's fine.