I'm a bit confused on the Xdelta3 software. I'm using line command mode, and i've shortened the files names to make it less likely of a typo. Here's what i've tried, unsuccessfully at the MS-DOS prompt...

xdelta3 -d -s tom_15c.xd3 -f tom_v3.040

(where "tom_15c.xd3" is the Xdelta3 mod file provided by Soren, and "tom_v3.040" is the original ROM file for Theater of magic.) The "-d" parameter is for decompress. The "-s" parameter is the source file. The "-f" parameter is the overright feature (will overwrite the original TOM rom file.)

This info is from the Xdelta web site:
==========================

The command-line syntax is like gzip, with the additional option -s SOURCE.
Like gzip, -d means to decompress. The default mode (-e) is to compress.
For output, -c and -f flags behave likewise (use standard output, force overwrite).
Unlike gzip, xdelta3 defaults to stdout (instead of having an automatic extension).
Without -s SOURCE, xdelta3 behaves like gzip for stdin/stdout purposes.

Compress examples:

xdelta3 -s SOURCE TARGET > OUT
xdelta3 -s SOURCE TARGET OUT
xdelta3 -s SOURCE < TARGET > OUT

Decompress examples:

xdelta3 -d -s SOURCE OUT > TARGET
xdelta3 -d -s SOURCE OUT TARGET
xdelta3 -d -s SOURCE < OUT > TARGET

There are several special command names, such as xdelta3 printdelta and xdelta3 test.

usage: xdelta3 [command/options] [input [output]]
special command names:
. . config prints xdelta3 configuration
. . decode decompress the input
. . encode compress the input
. . test run the builtin tests
special commands for VCDIFF inputs:
. . printdelta print information about the entire delta
. . printhdr print information about the first window
. . printhdrs print information about all windows
standard options:
-0 .. -9 compression level
-c use stdout
-d decompress
-e compress
-f force overwrite
-h show help
-q be quiet
-v be verbose (max 2)
-V show version
memory options:
-B bytes source window size
-W bytes input window size
compression options:
-s source source file to copy from (if any)
-S [djw|fgk] enable/disable secondary compression
-N disable small string-matching compression
-D disable external decompression (encode/decode)
-R disable external recompression (decode)
-n disable checksum (encode/decode)
-C soft config (encode, undocumented)
-A [apphead] disable/provide application header (encode)

The -A flag may be used to set application-specific data in the VCDIFF header (you may view with xdelta3 printhdr). By default, the application-specific data includes the source and input filenames, as well as descriptors to help with ExternalCompression. You can disable the application header with -A=.

anyone?

thanks better but now says...
---
not a VCDIFF input: xd3_invalid_input
Normally this indicates that the source file is incorrect
please verify the source file with sha1sum or equivalent
---
All the file names are correct too. can't figure out what i'm doing wrong here...

Ok i did that and they check out fine. any other ideas maybe? thanks!
or does someone just want to email me the patch TOM rom file?
[email protected]

bingo thanks mark!

using your syntax and my files, at the DOS prompt, i used:
C:\tom_rom>xdelta3 -d -s tom_v13.040 tom_v15c.xd3 tom_v15c.040

this created the new "tom_v15c.040" file from the original "tom_v13.040" file using the "tom_v15c.xd3" patch file.
thank you!

the windows xdelta3.exe for windows came from the xdelta website.

On the PIC issue you can run "anypic.exe" on the ROM and it will run with any PIC chip (even from another game title.) I do this on most of my roms as a default, so i can switch CPU boards between games without having to change the PIC chip.