The Attic Bug Seen In Action

[Spider]

The well known "attic bug" caused by invalid arrow data. By applying a couple of extra pokes in addition to the usual lives / fall height to remove some collision detection...

POKE 37982,0
POKE 37994,0

...its possible to carry on in a fashion as the game continues to deteriorate. :) Eventually it is likely to crash though. It does seem to vary each time as well depending on the route taken and how long sometimes you stay in a room. Its also required at some stage to alter the start room as the Bathroom can become an unsuitable start location due to fire cells:

POKE 34795.X

Where it all starts



Notice the nasty has gone from above Willy and is now making its way across from the bottom of the screen:



Its also moved here too:



Esmeralda (Esmerelda?) is also awol:



At this stage, the text for items collected starts to get corrupted as well. Notice the dancing mouse making its way right across the screen:



Bit of corruption here too:



One nasty gone from here although there is the occasional pixel flicker:

 

Both gone from here. Around this stage the ingame tune becomes corrupted slightly as well:



West Wing Roof does not look too good:



Chapel empty (as is immediately apparent when the attic bug is "initialised") no other apparent damage though:



Kitchen chefs, two are missing and one is moving horizontally:



Same here too, although one is making its way right off the screen to return on the far right soon:



Text message starting to get quite bad now:



More corruption inside the MegaTrunk:

 

Over The Drive does not look too bad if you ignore the flickering sprites:



Off Licence has gained a few more cells:



MegaTree is starting to look a bit unwell:



Bridge sprites have slightly changed and (usefully!) something has appeared to make Willy's bridge crossing a bit easier:



Too much wine ?

 

 

More Tree damage:

 

Bathroom has been "restyled":



Top landing is not looking brilliant either:



Willy's mansion is really starting to fall apart now:

 

Stuff of (bug) nightmares:



The attic is in full swing:



Halfway up the corrupted wall:

 

Chapel guardian visiting Cuckoo's Nest:



Dr Jones may not believe it, although I would:



Even room 47 (the unused "[" room) is effected:



West Bedroom looks decidedly uncomfortable:



The Yacht:



The Bow:
 

 

Tool Shed:



Above The West Bedroom:

 

Back Stairway is broken:

 

Well, Maria has gone but there's too many fire cells (the pillow) for that to be any comfort:

 

Conservatory Roof has seen better days:



To the kitchens is quite interesting, its almost normal. Note the three fire cells to make it difficult to jump across:



Security has deteriorated further, compare to earlier screenshot:



Messy underground:

 

Tree roots have spread a bit:



Generator is broken:



A bit of (bugs)



Watch Tower:



Top of house is quite messy:



West Wing:



West Wing Roof, an excess of fire cells. Compare to earlier screenshot:


 

[Scott James Barber]

Thanks for the screenshots. I didn't realise how messy the game would get the longer you play with the Attic Bug doing its magic.

[Spider]

Thanks for the screenshots. I didn't realise how messy the game would get the longer you play with the Attic Bug doing its magic.

 

The corruption will vary a bit depending on what rooms you visit and in some cases how long you stay in them. For 'best' effect hang around in 'Inside the MegaTrunk' and 'West of Kitchen' :)

[Metalmickey]

During my early days playing this i used to think the Attic bug actually started in the kitchens because for me it always seemed to be the first room affected. Some kid at school came up with a theory in that, possibly on the count of them going missing from the kitchen the chefs were supposedly upset at being disturbed and would cause havoc all round the house by way of revenge... I reckon if Matthew Smith heard that one he would possibly have got away with it...

Edited March 8, 2016 by Metalmickey

[Spider]

During my early days playing this i used to think the Attic bug actually started in the kitchens because for me it always seemed to be the first room affected. Some kid at school came up with a theory in that, possibly on the count of them going missing from the kitchen the chefs were supposedly upset at being disturbed and would cause havoc all round the house by way of revenge... I reckon if Matthew Smith heard that one he would possibly have got away with it...

:lol: Well I may have to agree.

 

From what I can remember we used to realise it was "going funny" as The Chapel was empty.

[Metalmickey]

a few years back i had a go at completing the pre-production version with all but one of the official pokes and left the Attic bug in place just to see if it could be done, it does seem possible but you have to 'cheat' a bit by using one of Matthew's unintended easter eggs, i'll post an RZX in the speccy archive later if they're interested in looking at it

Edited March 9, 2016 by Metalmickey

[Spider]

I'd suggest it was the 'exit to the ballroom' easter egg ? As that seems a sensible way to avoid certain screens.

[Metalmickey]

 Of course what these screenshots don't show is the increasingly erratic behaviour of the sprites which start to change orientation going sideways instead of up and down or vice versa .. and even diagonal, eventually they completely freak out and jump all over the screen, also try entering a 'rope' room such as the swimming pool, during the advanced stages of bugginess Willy gets completely snagged in the rope and it's nigh on impossible to escape the room, yet in spite of all the carnage the game engine itself remains functional, try as i might i have not yet got it to completely lock up or reset

[Spider]

Yes it can get very um 'wild' :D

 

You can end up with things like the static chandelier moving about.

 

Regarding the lockup: Once its started visit the Kitchen screens, either will do. Stay on it for about 30 seconds, enough time for the 'Chef's to move across and back. Now head to 'Under the MegaTree'. Climb the tree to 'Inside the MegaTrunk'

 

This screen will really set it off. Watch the room description / time / item counter start to go a bit odd as it starts to get out of place and 'count' other characters. The in game tune will also fall apart around this time too.

 

Quick method is just to go to 'Inside the MegaTrunk' and stay there for a minute but visiting the Kitchen first usually helps, also Quirkafleeg can do it, generally any room where the sprite pattern is now well out such as moving horizontally instead of vertically (Kitchen etc) can 'trigger' it.

 

Once you've finished just move around a few more screens too.

[Metalmickey]

I'd suggest it was the 'exit to the ballroom' easter egg ? As that seems a sensible way to avoid certain screens.

Actually i considered this to be more of bug, the easter egg i'm referring to is the built in 'WRITETYPER' cheat  :) only used to bypass the Attic which i thought might be acceptable as there's no items to collect in there

Edited June 11, 2016 by Metalmickey