erix1

8 hours ago, IRF said:

Mystery solved!  At #8633-#8635 in the Unfixed file, we find three NOPped out bytes.  At #8633 in the Fixed file, there's a XOR A command ('AF'), followed by two NOPs ('00 00').  In the original Manic Miner game at #8633-5 is the CALL to the subroutine which plays the theme tune.

Straight after those addresses, at #8636-38, there is a conditional jump to start the game if the ENTER or fire button was pressed (something which is checked for in the 'Play the theme tune' subroutine).

Now, there is no music in this game (I seem to recall reading that was the author's decision in order to maximise available code for other, gameplay related purposes).  So the CALL to the 'Play the theme tune' subroutine was NOPped out.  But the following conditional jump (a JP NZ) was left in place!  So if the Zero flag is not set when that point is reached in flow of execution, then the game will start automatically.

Just prior to #8633, at #8626-2E, there is a check for whether a Kempston joystick is connected.  If so, then a certain variable is initialised - and in the process, the Zero flag is set.  Otherwise, Z will be reset causing the auto-launch issue.  So Philip Bee may not have had a different version of the game or devised a fix himself (other than plugging a joystick in before loading the game!)

Finally, the fix that (presumably it was) I devised is simple: the XOR A in place of one of the NOPped out bytes sets the Zero flag, so the game doesn't automatically begin. A better fix might have been to NOP out #8636-38 instead, since it's a redundant command (so you would have six bytes NOPped out in total, at #8633-8638, a potentially useful amount).

(N.B. There is another check for whether ENTER or the Fire button is being pressed later on in the Title screen routine, during the loop which prints the scrolling message across the screen - which of course happens as soon as the game is loaded, since there is no title tune.  Without that, with a Kempston joystick plugged in there would be no way to start the game at all!)

P.S. Danny, feel free to use SPECSAISIE to see if there are any other differences between the 'fixed' and 'unfixed' files, other than the single byte at #8633?

P.P.S. Sorry Sendy if this thread has veered somewhat off-topic! EDIT: Although it might be relevant in future: if one of the features of Eric's Hackulator is 'Turn off the title tune'(?), then that is seemingly currently an unsatisfactory patch. 

WOW! Impressive debugging IRF! (And to think you already had it figured out years ago…)
Well, I guess we can label the support-issue “closed” then. 😊
The "Hackulator" is only used for manipulating jsw-games, and do not include the option to turn off the title-tune. Eugene lotb don't really modify the original game engine all that much. It's created using Andy Nobles Manic Miner-editor, and I think the only hacks applied is a few hard-coded extras for three special levels (Jet Set Pac, The Kold Room and The Lab.)  

19 hours ago, jetsetdanny said:

Erix1, welcome to the forum! 🙂 It's really great that you have joined it! 😁

Thank you for your outstanding contributions to the MM/JSW scene! "Manic Miner Mythologies: Eugene - Lord of the Bathroom" and "Maria vs. Some Bastards" are truly amazing games!

1.

Regarding the former, while re-recording it to make a JSW Central YouTube video very recently, I realised it has a problem in that the title screen is displayed only for a split second and then the game starts immediately, as if ENTER has been pressed. I believe your intention was to display the title screen 'normally', as it says on the title screen "PRESS ENTER TO START", so the program is supposed to wait for the player to press ENTER before proceeding to start the gameplay.

In my video linked above I actually stopped the start of the game "artificially" to allow the viewers to appreciate your title screen.

The question arises though: would you consider releasing a fixed version where the game would not launch 'automatically', but allow the player to savour the title screen?

2.

Regarding the latter, I trust you are aware that back in 2019 this forum's team (with the leading role of Ian Rushforth - IRF), frustrated at the prolonged impossibility to complete "MVSB", released a bug-fixed, completable version of your beautiful game. We did try to contact you back then to ask for your 'blessing' for the project, but were not successful. So I would like to kindly ask you now to confirm you are fine with this release. It was a labour of love, a lot of effort went into analysing the game and coming up with solutions that would not distort the original Rev. E in any way or take away from it, only add to it. It was also a delight to record it for the JSW Central YouTube channel.

If you could "officially" approve of this effort, it would be greatly appreciated!

Finally, I will second Sendy's request for releasing Hackulator if you still have it. This would give people a chance to create more Erix1-mode JSW games! 🙂 

Sorry Danny, I replied using the wrong input-field. I'm obviously not a very talented forum-poster. (See reply in post above)

14 hours ago, IRF said:

I've had a quick go at Role Reversal.  Made it as far as The Newsagents before losing my last life.

I recognised some of the features from Erix1 mode (such as the message that gets printed in the top four character rows of the opening room, at the start of the game).

Thanks for the credit in the readme, Sendy! 🙂

Danny's loading screen looks cool.  (I tried to look at Erix's alternative loading screen out of curiosity, but couldn't get it to open - maybe someone could post a screenshot of it on here?)

When free time allows, I'll have a proper go at RR, and see if I can earn Maria a night's rest!

Hi Danny,
Glad you like my Miner Willy-games. It took a few days to develop them, but I loved every second of it (I wish my everyday  job would give me that much pleasure...). 

1. Huh? It's always been like that? I just tested it with the Mac-version of Fuse, and it indeed skips the intro. (Seems like in this recording it does not, though:

Anyways, no doubt a bi-product of some reckless hacking done by me, many many years ago. Testing was never my strong suit. I'll have a look at it. 

2. Yes, I'm aware of the bug-fixed, completable version of MVSB (I saw the award ceremony from Manchester play expo 2019 with Matthew Smith and all… Made me giggle like a Japanese schoolgirl). I think you did a wonderful job – treating it with more respect than it probably deserves. I'm flattered and honoured you put in the hours to fix my mistakes, and what I'm concerned, this is now the official version. In other words: It's very officially approved!

3. I still have the Hackulator, and will release it as soon as I have written a necessary manual that explains how to use it. Loading it for the first time after many years made me realize not every function is all that self-explanatory (and that's an understatement).  
 

Hi Sendy, long time...  😀
I went through my JSW-file-archive and found a RR-loading screen (colorful and naïve looking piece) + other things we did in collaboration (Including a couple of animations for Strangel). There´s a basic-routine there as well, seemingly dealing with an intended day/night-mode for RR(?) (It´s been a long time, so I don´t really remember the details). I´ve attached a zip-file with the content, so you can have a look-through and see if you find anything useful (or if you can make sense of it…)

If you want to spread the “Maria-hackulator” please feel free to do so (I vaguely remember that it´s not the most intuitive piece of software though.).

Erix1s_rr-stuff.zip