Infocom Head Scratcher

[+dhe]

I have this disk.

 

'lost treasures of infocom'

 

It says it has been hacked for the Geneve to run in 80-columns.

 

I tried MAME + Geneve + GPL + XB.

  the loader gives an option 8, for 80-columns.

   typing 8 results in further disk activity, with a return to the gpl main screen.

 

I also tried Classic99 + F18A - I get a corrupt display.

 

That got me to thinking. Is there an 'easy' way in either mame or classic99 to tell if software is trying to do a F18A or 9938/9958 'thing'?

 

Of course, the obvious answer would be file corruption.

hithike.dsk

[+mizapf]

4 hours ago, dhe said:

I tried MAME + Geneve + GPL + XB.

  the loader gives an option 8, for 80-columns.

   typing 8 results in further disk activity, with a return to the gpl main screen.

No, this actually worked for me. I used the normal Extended Basic in GPL mode, put the disk in floppy drive 1, and let Extended Basic run the LOAD file. I typed 8, and then it said at some time that I should insert disk 2, where I just hit Return.

 

 

 

My Geneve configuration is speech, TI RS232, WHTSCSI, and the DDCC1 disk controller.

 

[+dhe]

@mizapf  Hum... I did the same.

 

Mystery solved!

 

1) was running GPL 7.3, upgraded to 7.4.

2) GPL - Had to F6 - DSK1 emulation OFF.

 

Thanks - having someone else try something is very helpful.

 

 

[+mizapf]

Could it be that you have some files in the DSK1 folder that were loaded instead of the files from the floppy disk? Since I was using the WHTech SCSI controller, the DSK1 emulation is not available, so no need for me to turn it off.

[+dhe]

Yea - I was using an HFDC.

mame -window -oslog geneve -bios 1.00 -mouse -colorbus busmouse -peb:slot3 horizon -peb:slot4 speech -peb:slot5 tirs232 -peb:slot8 hfdc -peb:slot8:hfdc:h1 generic -peb:slot8:hfdc:h2 generic -peb:slot8:hfdc:h3 generic -peb:slot8:hfdc:f3 525dd -peb:slot8:hfdc:f4 525dd -hard1 genos7boot.HD -hard2 Bootdisk2.HD -hard3 Bootdisk3.HD -flop1 hithike.dsk -flop2 DSDD2.hfe -flop3 DSDD3.dsk -flop4 DSDD4.dsk -serl1 socket.localhost:10000

[+Torrax]

Are you using an image from my "Lost Treasures of Infocom Refresh" release?

As I updated the XB-OPT5 loader and cleaned up the menu selection screen.

Making it easier to tell which 80 column interpreter to pick.

 

Classic99 will run the 40C and the 80C F18A Interpreters.

 

Here is the thread with the latest release.

 

Also near the end are files for Classic99 with a new lowercase font and white text on a blue background.

 

 

 

[+dhe]

Hi @Torrax

   A friend sent me a disk image with just - doesn't work.

 

  I read the notes that it had been modded for the geneve.

 

  Initially I had problems loading, and in the end, it ended up being an issue related to the HFDC and DSK1 emulation, once sorted it works fine.

 

  Pretty sure the image I received is related to your work.

 

thanks for following up.

 

[+mizapf]

As for Infocom adventures in general ...

 

For the last years I've been replaying all sorts of adventures (starting with the Scott Adams series during the Corona lockdown). I'm currently playing Stationfall which I remember having solved decades ago, somehow.

 

So now, after drawing detailed maps and having some good progress, I had a stall for three weeks. So I gave in and looked for a walkthrough. And actually, not for the first time but happening to me over and over, the reason was that I missed a room, and this one was a dead end room (no other exit) reachable via direction southeast, containing an object that I really needed.

 

I also remember when I played Zork I the first time that I got stuck for months until I found a northeast direction in the underground maze.

 

Is it only me, or did you have similar issues with Infocom games?

[+MarkB]

I don't remember being stuck because I missed an exit, but I have absolutely resorted to googling for a walkthrough when I just couldn't make progress.  Getting the babel fish in hitch-hiker was the most recent example.  And I played that game to completion many years ago!

[CapitanClassic]

I seem to remember that in Suspended, where you control each of the robot senses, that at least one of the rooms was not the normal cadinal directions. It was a diagonal (NE, SE, NW, SW) or was some variation of Up/Down and a direction.  I think for a while I got stuck until I revisited all the rooms with a LOOK EXITS  and found I had missed something. Maybe it was a different game though, all the rooms seem to be aschew.

 

Edited July 29 by CapitanClassic

[+dhe]

I'm reading:

and they just mentioned adding 8 directions to their games, where as before, everything had been four directions.  The above is a really good book that walks you through the evolution of games at Sierra, from the most basic of games like you would (and did find) find on the TI early, to later games incorporating VGA, music cards, hard drives, synthesizers, etc.
 

  Cannonball Blitz, CrossFire, Jawbreaker II - Unfortunately, arcade like games, none of the adventure series.

 

  Of course we also have a mostly faithful reproduction of Space Quest, another Sierra property.