Spider

Reply2. I missed your detailed reply above sorry. :) I'll skip the ZX versions out for now then, as I think I basically covered the 'full vs snapshot' save of them in a previous post and if necessary I can always have a new topic about that subject. The 'dual format' tape I have the Amstrad side of it is the 're-release' version of JSW2 minus colour code, or more accurately (if it was done the same way as the ZX) either a snapshot or a bypass.

The SPL tape variant of JSW1 Amstrad on the T.S.A.M compilation does contain the "WHATS THIS THEN" text. That area appears identical to the 'correct' (so I am 99% sure) original disk based release of this title too. Regarding any cheat string, well the only ones I can immediately see assuming they are not obfuscated are: HIJKLMNO RSTUVG I've not yet had chance to look into the above any more as of yet. Regarding the ZX version of JSW2, as previous the loader code is slightly not what you would expect given its call to ROM loader (at not exactly the usual start location of said code) To cut a long story short a suitable breakpoint at 1506 enabled me to catch it at the RET of each 'chunk' of data (three: 1xHeader / 1xBasic data / 1xGame data) to see where it really was going to go to, as the loader if you look at it suggests whereas once it has loaded all the code in and then executes the RET it returns to 24317: 24317 DI 24321 LD SP , 24320 24324 JP 24384 The actual loader code in the Basic however says this (but the above is correct as its overwritten) DI XOR A OUT (254) , A LD HL 22528 LD DE 22529 LD BC 800 LD (HL) , A LDIR ^ Clear the screen to black etc no need to explain that LD SP 63796 , put the stack up the top end out the way DEC A SCF EX AF, AF LD IX,16384 LD DE, 47416 CALL 1378 (really this should usually read 1366) call the loader with in effect a LOAD "" CODE 16384,47416 JP NC,0 , reset if there was a loading error (if carry flag is set then something was amiss with the load) JP 36846 , except this never gets executed

I wonder if one way of doing this might be to alter the starting room to 60 / #3C perhaps. I'd have to find it in the code first mind you although that should not be that difficult given the general similarities between the two versions. My handicap here is I know very little about the AMS 'generally'

Thanks Norman. I've had that band effect too its more likely it seems in Manic Miner where the lower third can turn a shade of pink for some reason. WinApe is about the most sensible AMS one to use followed by CPE95 (it works OK on 64bit Windows7 at least) , the latter has much much better tape control if you're into your loaders etc. In regard to your comment about only two tape versions exist, did you mean for the Amstrad platform ? If so that is correct then as there is the V1 and V2 , the tape re-release was completely remastered to use Speedlock so it is very likely any cheat version that did exist on that no longer does. I'll try to find time to look into this a little bit more (the cheat on the Amstrad) in the coming few days however. :) EDIT... Just this week my 'free online time' is extremely limited.

What I have, I'm excluding 'trained' or otherwise modified (or what I *know* to be modified) versions for the Amstrad: JSW1 disk - Does not appear to be protected (no keypad) although I think this was actually normal for JSW1 Amstrad. No immediate sign of the Cartography Room JSW1 tape - Only existed as part of the T.S.A.M compilation. Speedlock Protected rather than a standard AMS loader. No keypad again. I did actually rebuild this with some cheats and retained the loader but that's another story. JSW2 tapes - V1 and V2. V1 being the original SoftwareProjects release and V2 being the Budget Re-Release. The latter does not ask for a keypad code, the former does. The latter also asks if one is using a 464 or not to no doubt correct the 'issue' otherwise seen. Both use a standard AMS type loader. These are both in the link I posted in my reply in post two. JSW disk - There is afaik only one 'unaltered' image. This asks if you're using a 464 and has no keypad option. To compound matters a little bit more I have a Mastertronic/M.A.D tape here, this is a 'dual format' one in that it has Spectrum one side and Amstrad the other, both are Final Frontier aka JSW2, but I know the ZX version on this is the 'three file' version. I'd have to find time at this upcoming weekend to try the tape out on real hardware to see which actual erm 'version' the Amstrad side of the tape is. EDIT... The pic below shows what I belive to be original release tapes/disks, anything with any sign of tampering or otherwise (its not difficult to spot in most cases given they way they tend to 'sign' them) was excluded:

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!