19 replies to this topic

[Hatta]

Is the original Questron compatible with the IIgs in IIe mode? I tried the TOSEC images on my CFFA3k and it freezes at "Your adventure is about to begin". I checked them with kegs, and I get the same result, along with every other set of Questron images. Load them in AppleWin and they start right up.

Any tips to get this to run on my hardware?

[magnusfalkirk]

Hatta, on Mon Dec 26, 2011 11:31 AM, said:

Is the original Questron compatible with the IIgs in IIe mode? I tried the TOSEC images on my CFFA3k and it freezes at "Your adventure is about to begin". I checked them with kegs, and I get the same result, along with every other set of Questron images. Load them in AppleWin and they start right up.

Any tips to get this to run on my hardware?

I just tried Questron on Sweet16, an Apple IIGS emulator for Mac OS X, and got the same results you did. Then tried it in Virtual II, on my MacBook Air, and got the same results you did. I think Questron is one of the few Apple II games that won't run on the GS.

Dean

Edited by magnusfalkirk, Mon Dec 26, 2011 4:37 PM.

[Blackbag]

Can you point me to the correct images you are using and I'll have a look at it.

Rich

[Tempest]

How did I know you were going to say that?

[Blackbag]

Tempest, on Fri Dec 30, 2011 9:57 AM, said:

How did I know you were going to say that?

I'm on a roll already-- might as well keep it going!

[Blackbag]

Nevermind, I picked up the copy from Asimov and it also locked up on the gs.
Here's a quick and dirty patched version that gets me past the lock up and seems to start the game. Please test this out and see if you have any problems. If so, let me know and I'll take a look.

http://204.16.8.40/o..._gs_patched.dsk

I've done a few IIgs "fixes" lately, and this one was a little different. The original programmer used an undocumented entry point in the Apple II ROM to read values from the paddle/joystick registers. I didn't check why, maybe to generate random values for a seed, would be my guess (I don't think the game uses a joystick).

Anyway, the problem is that because it's an undocumented entry point, the IIgs ROM has different code in the same place, and when this code is encountered it takes the program execution off the rails and into a loop. Apple preserved the documented entry points in the IIgs ROM to maintain compatibility, but the undocumented ones were open to be different and can cause unexpected results (as we see here).

If there does seem to be a problem, there's a cleaner way to fix this. In my patch, I simply bypassed the jumps into the ROM so the IIgs doesn't get looped. The code didn't look to be critical, so it should be ok. If I am wrong, there's a cleaner way to fix it that will work, but it's also more time consuming. Basically, I can copy the code from the Apple II ROM, find a small place to insert it in memory and then have the game code jump to it instead of the ROM entry point. This would create the same results as on an Apple II, without getting looped in the ROM on a IIgs.

Rich

[magnusfalkirk]

Rich,

I just downloaded your patched version of Questron, will give it a try over the weekend, both on Sweet16 and a real GS. Thanks for your work on this.
Hope you have a Happy, and safe, New Year!

Dean

[Blackbag]

Tempest found a problem with the game. It keeps moving in the left direction and is unresponsive to any other input.
Going back today and repatching it with the complete fix i mentioned earlier. Will update soon.

Rich

[magnusfalkirk]

I found that problem myself. Will be waiting for the complete fix release.

Dean

[Blackbag]

Ok, I've got a fix and I played it through a bit to make sure. Essentially, I had to completely disable the Joystick controls in the GS fixed version. I successfully patched in the ROM routine that is missing in the GS, but the GS joystick behavior is different and this ROM code doesn't work right on the GS period. So, instead I patched the routine to always return that the joystick is in a neutral position, so there's no ghost moving. The con is that the joystick control no longer works, but keyboard commands work fine. Who wants to play an RPG with a joystick anyway?

It would take a LOT longer, but I might return to this later and try to figure out the proper joystick calls on the GS and fix it 100%. I'm not a GS guru, so it would require more work than I can put in now...

Please use all 3 disks when playing on the GS. I had to patch the boot and disk 2.

Links here:

http://204.16.8.40/o...x_boot_disk.dsk
http://204.16.8.40/o..._fix_disk_1.dsk
http://204.16.8.40/o..._fix_disk_2.dsk

Please report if anything else is awry.

Thanks,
Rich

[magnusfalkirk]

Just downloaded and tried playing Questron and ran into a problem shortly after starting the game. When I go to Geraldtown and it asks if I will enter the game freezes there. I'm running it on Sweet16 on a Macbook Air. I'll try it on my GS later on.

Dean

[Blackbag]

Strange, I played it on Sweet 16 on my MB Pro and didn't have any issues entering several times. I'll give it a spin again in a moment and check again.

Rich

[Blackbag]

A couple of notes on the game, that might be the cause of an apparent freeze:
Make sure your Caps Lock key is on when you play in Sweet 16. This game expects uppercase only input. If you input a lowercase character, it will be ignored.

When you entered the town, it asks you if you want to enter YES NO. Make sure you enter an uppercase Y or N, a lower case input will be invalid/ignored and you can't hit Enter/Return to accept a default.

Try that-- it might look like a lock up because it's ignoring your lowercase input.

Edited by Blackbag, Sat Dec 31, 2011 8:06 PM.

[Hatta]

Thanks for doing this! I played it all day yesterday, good game. I did encounter one problem with the controls. The dexterity enhancing mini-game in the swamp cathedral to the north east when you start the game relies on the joystick. Fortunately, the joystick button still works, and I was able to get a good score just timing my shots and not aiming. I gather there are other attribute enhancing mini-games, but I haven't found them yet.

[Blackbag]

Hatta,
Thanks for play-testing the game. I was not aware of the mini-games. So they are completely dependent on the joystick? That's an interesting twist.
I'm working on another gs fix for Earth Orbit Station and I'll circle back around to see if I can figure out the proper joystick fix for this.

[Hatta]

Yes, I couldn't find any way to aim or fire with the keyboard, and the game specifically mentions the joystick/paddle. If you pick this up again and want to do some testing, it's the blue table in the north east corner of the cathedral in the swamp to the north east when you start the game. Can't miss it.

I'll let you know if there are any other action sequences that would pose a problem.

[Tempest]

Doesn't Legacy of the Ancients use the same engine as Questron? If the joystick works in that you might want to look and see how they did it. I think Legend of Blacksilver uses the same engine as well (maybe Questron II as well?)

[magnusfalkirk]

I was finally able to get Questron to cooperate on Sweet 16 on my MacBook Air.Now all I need to do is put it on my flash drive and I can load it into my CFFA3000 and play it on a real GS! Woot!

Dean

[Hatta]

Heh, I took a rather long break from this one. I started again tonight and made my way to the island cathedral, where there's supposed to be a game to enhance intelligence. I tried playing it, and nothing happened. Guy took my 250 gold and nothing happened.

Just a heads up if anyone wants to play this game on the IIgs.

[Tempest]

This makes me wonder if there are other games that don't work on the IIgs that we haven't found yet because the problem isn't evident right away.