Trouble Running Venus The Fly Trap

[Paul Westphal]

I cannot get Venus The Fly Trap to run on either of my systems. I have tried running Peter's HD adaptation and also off floppy.

 

My systems : Mega ST2 4mb / TOS 1.4 - I Tried Peter's HD version with ASC2STF( Peter's Driver ) AND Floppy version - No joy.

                     1040STe 4mb / TOS 2.06 - Same.

 

Any suggestions are welcome.

 

 

Edited April 23, 2022 by Paul Westphal

[Christos]

I never had an issue with the d-bug patch. Try that.

[ParanoidLittleMan]

This game was well tested by me, there is YT video of running it under TOS 2.06, and I even played it until end.

So, something else is the problem. As on my site says: keep system clean - no ACC-essories, AUTO run programs on C  . 

You may test reliability of hard disk/Flash card/adapter with this: http://atari.8bitchip.info/ahpt.html

 

And to add that machines are very old, so that can be problem too - not so reliable work .

[Atariforce]

On 4/23/2022 at 7:00 PM, Paul Westphal said:

I cannot get Venus The Fly Trap to run on either of my systems. I have tried running Peter's HD adaptation and also off floppy.

 

My systems : Mega ST2 4mb / TOS 1.4 - I Tried Peter's HD version with ASC2STF( Peter's Driver ) AND Floppy version - No joy.

                     1040STe 4mb / TOS 2.06 - Same.

 

Any suggestions are welcome.

 

 

Does the floppy version run without any hard drive attached? And which version (cracked or original)?

Also, as a general rule, 4 MB + TOS 2.0x is the worst possible combination when it comes to games: some will crash because of too much RAM, others because of that particular TOS version. But not that game, it should run on both.

[ParanoidLittleMan]

Actually that "too much RAM" problem is not related with TOS version. It exists in plenty of games, maybe around 100, and the reason is bad code and that programmers did not have so much RAM in their Ataris in 80-es. Code just try to access over ST RAM area (4 MB), and it causes bus error.  Example: testing RAM size (despite TOS did it and it is in system variable), by trying to access RAM at diverse locations - if it fails at address $80000 then there is only half MB. If it fails at $100000 then there is 1 MB ... And they continue .... until 4MB point - and crash. Just not good approach. 

Here to add that my game adaptations serve TOS 1.04 in RAM for games as OS - right because compatibility problems. And set system vars like there is only 512 KB RAM (or 1 MB if game needs so much) - that self prevents above mentioned 4 MB crash. Or even 1 MB crash (yes, some don't like even that) .

 

[Atariforce]

Of course the 4 MB RAM bug is not related to TOS v2, but both 4 MB + TOS 2.0x is the least compatible setup you can get when it comes to games.

[ParanoidLittleMan]

4 MB in Atari ST(E) is very good for gaming in 21-st Century. What means not using floppy disks, of course ?

But even for people using them I made lot of corrected floppy versions too: http://atari.8bitchip.info/ASTGA/astgam.php

[eightbit]

I have never had Venus the Flytrap work on any of my ST machines. Not my 520STe, 1040ST, 520STfm. Various memory configurations, various TOS revisions. I reported it back in Nov of 2021. Not even the floppy version not to mention the HDD adaptation. No accessories, nothing else loaded. 

 

I don't know what it is at this point. Highly doubtful all of those machines have just aged to a point where this one game just does not function

 

I noticed people who run this game successfully are all using PAL Atari ST models. Maybe some PAL hardware revision on those boards provides the special sauce to allow the game to work...just a theory.

 

 

[.mad.]

PPHD version works for me.

2MB TOS 1.04

 

it just one of those games that needs a blank disk in drive to load past intro.

Hold Fire button and move Joystick Diagonal Left/Right for weapon select.

[ParanoidLittleMan]

OK, I checked it at 60 Hz refresh rate (NTSC) and it then just does not start . Some regional restriction, it seems. And I made launcher for that case in 2011, but it somehow missing in ZIP on site. I updated it there.

And here is launcher file only: STARTU.ZIP

Just unpack/copy it in game's DIR and start with it.

[Paul Westphal]

When I try the Floppy version, the ASC2STF is always powered off as I do not want any conflicts.

 

Thanks for all the replies. I'll get to this and report back - Thanks again Peter !

[Paul Westphal]

PLM's fix did the trick!

 

The only problem I have with the MegaST2 is that it won't recognize the joystick fire button so I have to fire with the mouse. It is a conflict with the Eiffel3 that I have had in the past. Switching joystick ports on the Eiffel3 does not help. Sometimes I can bypass the problem by switching controller settings within the game.

 

I'll just play it on the STe. It's certainly nice to have two systems to bounce off..

Edited April 25, 2022 by Paul Westphal

[ParanoidLittleMan]

Here to add that at atarimania: http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-st-venus-the-flytrap_10764.html

this has US flag too, and it (STX images) just freezes when start at 60 Hz (NTSC) - so I need to add it there in comments.

[TheNightOwl]

Nice find Paul and well done PP in resolving it. ??

 

Was really curious about this issue when I first saw the forum post as it's been one of my regular "go to" games on my 2.06 STE with PP's driver and it had been running perfectly. Would not have even thought about PAL/NTSC... been so long since I had to think about that being an issue. Modern displays have really spoiled us a lot! ?