Spider

Thanks Norman. What you say does make sense. The Spectrum version (I'm not really familiar enough with the Amstrad hardware to be able to make many sensible comments unfortunately, although I do have a real CPC464 here now) ZX: The original loader is an 'all in one' as you are aware, that being it starts at the screen memory and runs almost all the way to the end. There is a small JP instruction in the code in the Basic itself once its called the loader however this value is never used as the 'call the rom loader' code is overwritten with zero's during the initial loading. Without looking in detail it would be a reasonable guess once the loader has finished and executed a RET it will return to a value. I do note an EX 'AF in the actual 'loader code' and the call to the loader is not at the usual address and its a JP as well. I need to put a breakpoint into the ROM loader to stop it when its finished actually loading all the code in to see where it is really trying to go to. Sidenote: Actually Turmoil (Bug Byte) also did this slight 'trick' too. Anyway back on topic: The 're-release' versions are slightly different, I think J.E mentioned to me they were really loading a 'snapshot' as such rather than the whole original code perhaps. Certainly the loader itself is in three code sections although the header load addresses are incorrect as the Basic loads them elsewhere. The last section of 2048 bytes is loaded into the screen memory, which is then USR'ed into. I'm not sure on the '60 room' version for the Amstrad having the Cartography Room although it would make quite logical sense to do this actually, even if it was only ever visible via the cheat code in this case. I should mention regarding tape Amstrad versions, as far as I can tell there were tape and disk versions of JSW2/Final Frontier however there was never a 'stand alone' release of JSW1 on tape for the Amstrad, the version I have here I carefully extracted from the compilation you mention. This is SpeedLock protected which is a subject in itself actually. It is very likely indeed this SPL version would not have the cheat code given the way they are 'built and saved' at least going from memory on how early Spectrum Speedlocks were created. It may be easier to look at JSW1 Amstrad tape or disk file via a hexeditor or similar as the room names are visible usually and see if there are any erm 'signs' of the cheat room, certainly searching for part of a text string would be initially quicker. My thought here is if any research is done on JSW1 Amstrad it would be best to do this on the disk release not the tape re-release given the loader type. I do not know exactly how this was done on the Amstrad however given the actual loader code is near identical complete with clicking leader tones, I would suspect it is built in a similar way. Early SPL on the ZX were usually where space permitted 'built' from Basic in that the game code would be loaded into a lower address than intended, the appropriate saver code changed so it "knew" what was meant to be where then it was loaded (via microdrive) and the 'loader and code' would be saved out, unfortunately it never intentionally saved itself. You may note on most SPL1 and some SPL2 loaders once its actually done any decryption and finished loading one of the first instructions is an LDIR to actually put the 'game code' where it should be. Last quick comment, if you would like me to post up some comments / images of the ZX versions for comparison with the loader types I can do this later, although a hexed or similar text search with an original JSW1 Amstrad release would be a quick initial check. As time permits later during the week itself, I will go through my 'collection' to see what I actually have although it is likely only the disk based AMS JSW1 would of likely retained the Cartography room.

Thanks Norman. I was vaguely aware of this erm 'feature' in that version, but not the actual specifics of it other than a comment 'back then' I think that third party authors had gone to the trouble of writing teleporter type code when something already existed*** I was aware of the fact it started as 'Final Frontier' rather than 'JSW' and then was ported across to the Spectrum. Indeed there is no such thing (afaik) as an Amstrad *tape* version of JSW, rather than 'Final Frontier' , I managed to build one actually in the downloads here but that's another story in itself. Regarding the model difference, this also explains why some variants ask if you're using a 464 or not. I am aware earlier (first release) of Manic Miner had a bug / concern in it too if it was loaded on a 6128 (not tried on the 664) although it loaded up fine M.W would constantly jump. Later releases did not have this, as far as I can tell all Amsoft releases of MM are 'all version' and its about a 50/50 on the SoftwareProjects release being OK or not. The manual fix is not complicated though just two pokes if I recall correctly. I may have them somewhere. *** This is slightly related to TechTed MegaMix as that has a well hidden built in Teleporter too although again afaik no 'poke authors' back then noted it and wrote their own. The built in one in this is quite crude but it did work with care, it was certainly adequate for its purpose during game development I expect. EDIT... I have the original tapes: JSW-FF and later re-released JSW-FF versions here , V1 requires keypad code entry whereas V2 does not, this actually mirrors in a way the re-release of JSW2 (aka FF) on the Spectrum as the re-release versions did not ask for a keycode either. There are a few more details in the link I provided, along with the rather large code sheet too.

Amstrad CPC (JSW2) POKE &8482 , &00 + POKE &83FB , &00 = Fall Any Height POKE &855D , &00 + POKE &8515 , &00 = Fire Cell Immunity (partial)

Thank you for the update, appreciated. :) Regarding updates you should not have any issue 'editing' your existing download submission here if you wished to place it there instead of into this thread.

Comment source here

Thanks Ian! :) :)

Just wishing everyone a happy holiday, regardless of if you're celebrating or not. Small seasonal pic tape file attached: snowman.tap

Indeed! :D

Does sound quite uniquely different. :) It does make the 'harsh' tones stand out more though but that's expected (not a negative thing) just they are more apparent now.

Welcome. :) The immunity version does not offer any options as such. The level select one as above does not offer anything other than a level select, entering during game load as indicated in this pic: Naturally, invalid values are not accepted.

The above was updated to include a much better description and also a newer, separate version which provides the ability to select a starting cavern very easily. :)

Thank you. :) :) The information is appreciated and welcome.

I'm sorry to hear that. I'll send you a quick PM about this rather than clutter up the topic, there's a few "choices" to prevent this happening.

Good point! :) Please feel free to update the descriptor to reflect this, or I can do it later today if needed.

I am pleased to post that an original tape image has been sourced and added into the .zip, along with the 'slightly hard to find' codesheet for this version which is required for the original tape. :) The game controls are: Z / X / RETURN = Left / Right / Jump S / Q = In-Game Tune On / Off DELETE / COPY = Pause / Continue ESCAPE = Abort Game Regarding the code entry itself for the tape version, use the following keys for each colour on the codesheet Blue = 1 Red = 2 Green = 3 Orange = 4 Note that orange will display as yellow on the machine itself during the code entry. As per other versions you have two attempts before a reload is required.

A minor update was performed on the disc image (thank you to BillCarr2005 on the stardot forum for this) :) The small update was to both split JSW into its own sub-directory to avoid renaming the files within and also perhaps more importantly restore its loading screen shown briefly during load as this was not being rendered on JSW1: Should be noted that there was no issue with the JSW2 loading screens, these were correctly shown during load. Nothing else has changed 'code wise' it was merely a cosmetic fix.

Thinking again, this would be 'more work' on MM than JSW if for instance the cavern had already both vertical and horizontal guardians in use as there would not be any easily available definition to use, but I can see how it would work in JSW easily enough...

:D Yes. I think I've overlooked the obvious here of using a guardian for it, the thought never occured to me! :blush: Then again, the same as I almost did with the 'flagpole' in the (as yet unfinished) port for another platform variant, the one with the diagonal guardian ;)

Or possibly for JSW as well ? I'm thinking Spectrum platform for adding this obviously... A few levels are different on the BBC Micro version, unfortunately the demo does not extend to show all the levels. To cut a long story short here: Manually altering the code on this to do that can cause a crash. A bit of tweaking (thanks billcarr2005 on their forum) with the debugger allowed me to change the cavern start to be able to view them properly without having to play though the entire game. Two video's are provided: The Meteor Storm (replaces Solar Power Generator) The Final Barrier (completely different layout to most other versions) The primary reason for this topic is in both of these caverns you can see what appears to be an 'electrical discharge' effect which turns on / off. Contact with it is fatal as expected. Although the "The Meteor Storm" has four of them, "The Final Barrier" uses two of them to better effect. Please take a moment to watch the short video's to demonstrate these, both are Final_Barrier.avi Meteor_Storm.avi Note these have sound but its slightly out of sync, so it may be prudent to turn the volume down or off temporarily. Any thoughts ? :)

Amstrad CPC: POKE &713E , &00 = Fall Any Height POKE &79C1 , &00 + POKE &79C2 , &00 + POKE &79C3 , &00 = Portal Always Active!

I had chance to play this Sunday evening, once I'd figured out the very strange way disk images are accepted in Steem (its not explained that well in the emulator readme, or I missed it!) and got a suitable TOS for it as the higher version one did not play nice. :) , none of that is related to the game however. The game plays quite nicely, it has the feel of the SamCoupe version to it in that the movement is more fluid than the Amstrad/Spectrum versions. I sent you a PM reply about the text (you have that already) The sound is very good and I like the effects of the Portal too. The air supply decrements quite slowly although this may or may not be a concern. There are some interesting novelties too such as Willy dancing on the title page with his erm 'partner' as well as the arcade style left/right to enter a name into a high score table. A+ for this addition! The cavern design particularly the 'pac man' wall effect is also excellent. The only real concern I had in my short playtesting time (so far) was the boot takes a while to initially start to descend on the Game Over page. :) Summary is this is so far an excellent piece of work imo. :thumbsup: I'm attaching a few screenshots too! Finally a few screenshots I took 'mid play' :) Proof in the pudding as they say with my Hi-Score, unfortunately emulation did not pause in Eugene so I lost a life taking a screenshot!

The solution is so obvious when I saw it. :blush: I stayed on the righthand side of the wall and then tried various tricks to jump/land safely, with a vague idea of passing his head through a cell. Come to think of it I'm not quite sure how well those kind of 'quirks' are in JSW64 / JSW128 if at all... The extra fire cell is about where I would of placed it too, to prevent an 'unintended escape' :)

Yes it by default removes four "units" of air: Any more than four is quite difficult, sometimes just two can be if the player is a bit slow to manoeuvre around

That's quite good. The change is very easy to see. Regarding the small challenge: I was not able to survive the jump down after the wall had gone, despite trying! I suspect the correct method may involve a quirky manoeuvre, possibly by allowing his head to pass into a solid cell :unsure: However I managed to *ahem* cheat my way out ;) I don't (think) this was intended escape route as its possible in both versions ? , one extra fire cell could prevent this though. Attaching two very small .rzx's of the escape, the 'fixed version' one is slightly quicker... Unfixed_Escape.rzx Fixed_Escape.rzx

I fixed the math results, although they did "pass" when I tried them, but I could see a potential problem especially for those for whom English is not their primary language. :) This time there's no doubt as its not shown. I registered correctly with a normal combination, FB and TW register can be slightly off sometimes but its due to external factors unfortunately, I might actually disable those. At least you're here now! :thumbsup: Downloaded. :) :) Will try it out later today all being well.