Castle Of Fear error

[ahope1]

It looks like the "Fixed game" link on the Castle Of Fear page is broken:

• http://solutionarchive.com/game/id%2C39 ... +Fear.html

The link itself points to the following URL:

• http://solutionarchive.com/file/id%2C10880/

Does anyone have a non-broken version of the file "Castle_of_Fear.ssd" (the disc-image containing the game)?

[Garry]

I've got a BASIC listing and a scan of the magazine article. I'll check it during the weekend and get back to you...unless someone else beats me to it.

[ahope1]

I've got a BASIC listing and a scan of the magazine article. I'll check it during the weekend and get back to you...unless someone else beats me to it.

Thanks, Garry. Could you please check the listing against the version that's on bbcmicro.co.uk?:

• http://bbcmicro.co.uk/game.php?id=2050

❡

[Tinker]

Hi,

Hmm, the image must have become corrupted somehow when I originally uploaded it.

I've resubmitted it through the site, so hopefully it should be updated soon!

I remember this was the first adventure I ever typed in, but it wasn't until many years later (after examining the code again) that I understood how you were actually supposed to beat it.

[leenew]

Just tried re-downloading but it still seems broken.
I will wait a while and try later.

Lee.

[Garry]

The listing in The Micro User has been printed using some sort of pretty printer, so that there's automatic word wrap, spaces after certain keywords and carriage return/line feeds before the colon command separators. This makes it easy to read, but hard to type up and get the spacing right. I checked my listing so that it was EXACTLY the same as the original listing, except for the extra carriage return/line feeds.

I have played the game through to the end and THERE ARE NO BUGS, so why do we need a bug-fixed version? The game is nearly impossible to beat because of all the random factors and the real-time aspect, but it is possible. The secret is to travel as short a distance as possible while you've got any coins in your possession, then, once you've got all three, drop them in 3 adjacent rooms. You must do all this as quickly as possible to minimise the likelihood of random events getting you killed. If the sprite steals one of the coins, it's easiest just to start again rather than retracing all your footsteps in search of the stolen coin and risk getting others stolen in the process. I came up with a map that is almost identical to the one on CASA and a solution that's one move shorter than the one on CASA, so it's not really worth submitting those.

The listing on bbcmicro.co.uk has been modified so extensively that it's hard to work out whether the changes are significant or not. It may well have been changed to reduce the impact of the random factors, but I haven't got the patience to check it line by line. Nearly every line is different, primarily because of the spacing. (I'll send a copy of the original listing to ahope1 by email.)

Incidentally, this isn't really an adventure. It's basically a 3D noughts and crosses (or tic-tac-toe for our American friends) that plays like a role-playing game with single-letter input played in real-time with lots of sudden-death scenarios and random events that you've got no control over. Avoid it unless you're extremely patient and prepared to play it dozens of times, even if you know the solution.

[Alastair]

I've resubmitted it through the site, so hopefully it should be updated soon!

Tinker, I have a feeling that the site is treating SSD files as text files which is why the disc images become corrupt. Since zip files should upload/download without problem would you please try zipping up both "CastleOfFear.ssd" and "Adventure-Micropower-patched.ssd" (in two separate zip files) and uploading the zips?

[Garry]

I had similar problems with Atari disk images many years ago, so I support Alastair's recommendation. Always send everything in a zip file.

[Garry]

Incidentally, the original, unadalterated, bug-free listing is now available at bbcmicro.co.uk.