Keep in mind that holding CTRL simply resulted in the VN running as fast as possible to the point of maxing out a CPU core. With this out of the way, I noticed that PC-DL RN is much more efficient when CTRLing than the 2004 Trial version - it takes only ~20 seconds to skip through the entire prologue for PC-DL RN, but more like ~70 seconds for the 2004 Trial version (which presumably would also apply to the full 2004 VN).
So I would say to simply CTRL through the prologue and compare it to the 2004 Trial and full versions in windowed while having Windows' "date and time" settings open so you can see how many seconds it takes. As long as it's not slower than those, then I don't think it's really an issue (I'd also appreciate confirmation that CTRLing through the prologue takes the same amount of time in both the trial and full 2004 version).
Speaking of the Trial version, looky what I found on one of my backup hard drives - a copy of Insani's English-translated Trial version!: ****************************open?id=1Xo...f0du32evQ820ve
For reference, when completing the Trial version (which consists of nothing but the prologue), it lets you access the Trailer-like ending on-demand via a "Demo" option on the main menu. One could always make a screen recording of this "trailer" while in fullscreen and turn it into a video that could be included as a bonus in this elusive "merge project".
(heck, if such a screen recording was saved as lossless, one could even waifu2x it and get a nice crisp 1600x1200 HD version - I've been in touch with a guy on Doom9 that's provided computational power for mass waifu2x-ing F/sn graphics if you need the computational help, though I myself have found a version that supports AMD GPUs so I myself might be able to try it on my HTPC with a Xeon X3470 + Radeon HD5870)
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Correct, but the VN was also able to render at 640x480 if your desktop resolution was set to that when toggling fullscreen.
This is most easily confirmed by launching the VN, enabling fullscreen, exiting the VN, right-clicking the VN's EXE, going to "Properties", clicking the "Compatibility" tab, and checking the box next to "Run in 640 x 480 screen resolution", re-launching the VN, and then switching the VN windowed mode - you'll notice that the program window will now only take up roughly a 640x480 area.