CASA ::

Posted: **Thu Nov 24, 2022 7:13 pm**

Hi, I've just solved this adventure from The Guild, but I could achieve only 80%. The missing points are given for rescuing the boy in the cell, but I didn't manage that because it's not possible to get the boy (after pouring water under the floor plate before night falls). It looks like the CLAM BOY process is not triggered. Can anyone figure out why not?

Posted: **Fri Nov 25, 2022 8:11 am**

Having a quick look before work... I think I'll need to go back to this though.

Here's the code for "CLAM BOY"...

Code: Select all

CLAM  BOY        EQ            28   4
                 EQ             5  50
                 MESSAGE       74
                 LET           28   5

Flag 24 is set to 4 when the WATER has been POURed at location 45.

So, I'm guessing the issue will be with Flag 5 being equal to 50.

Flag 5 is a Quill flag that auto-decreases each turn. In this game it's being used as the DAY/NIGHT timer, and also relates to things like thirst and hunger... It's pretty much used all over the place in the game so it'd probably be inadvisable to mess about with it to much.

It starts the game being set to 56 (I think). Sunrise, for example, is triggered when it is 52.

I did wonder if that EQ 5 50 in the CLAM BOY code should actually be LT 5 50; to check whether the time is after sunrise. However...

Flag 5 is set back to 50 at certain points in the game... these are from the event table, for example (not related to player input, so ignore the proceeding words, they're just aide-memoires by the programmer...

Code: Select all

DAY   _          EQ             5   4
                 ATLT          24
                 MESSAGE       25

DAY   _          EQ             5   0
                 ATLT          24
                 LT            11   4
                 MESSAGE       26
                 MESSAGE       27
                 TURNS       
                 SCORE       
                 END         

DAY   _          EQ             5   0
                 ATLT          24
                 EQ            11   4
                 MESSAGE       26
                 MESSAGE       28
                 PLUS          16   1
                 LET            5  50
                 LET           20   0
                 PAUSE         50
                 MESSAGE       29
                 ANYKEY      
                 DESC        

DAY   _          EQ             5   0
                 ATGT          23
                 ATLT          26
                 MESSAGE       62
                 MESSAGE       63
                 PLUS          16   1
                 LET            5  50
                 LET           20   0
                 PAUSE         50
                 MESSAGE       29
                 ANYKEY      
                 DESC        

DAY   _          EQ             5   0
                 AT            26
                 MESSAGE       62
                 MESSAGE       63
                 PLUS          16   1
                 LET            5  50
                 LET           20   0
                 PAUSE         50
                 MESSAGE       29
                 LET            6   3
                 ANYKEY      
                 DESC        

DAY   _          EQ             5   0
                 ATGT          26
                 MESSAGE       61
                 MESSAGE       63
                 PLUS          16   1
                 LET            5  50
                 LET           20   0
                 PAUSE         50
                 MESSAGE       29
                 ANYKEY      
                 DESC        

DAY   _          EQ             5   4
                 ATGT          23
                 MESSAGE       66

I'd need to look into that code a bit to see if it could possibly help... However, looking quickly, it appears that it might be that you need to run the day timer down, when you're in the cell, to get it to zero which will set it back to 50 so you could potentially quickly type CLAM BOY and trigger that code.

Makes sense, I guess, if the idea is that you have to leave the water overnight to freeze and get it to work.

(Amusingly, CLAM BOY doesn't seem to do a location check, so I guess you could type it anywhere in the game, providing those two conditions are met.)

Posted: **Fri Nov 25, 2022 6:34 pm**

Thanks for your reply, but the problem is: CLAM BOY is not a valid command, it's only the name of the process!

Posted: **Fri Nov 25, 2022 6:45 pm**

Okay... I'll dig deeper tonight... there wasn't much time before work this morning...

Code: Select all

GET   BOY        EQ            28   5
                 PRESENT       57
                 GET           57
                 MINUS          1   1
                 MESSAGE       89
                 DONE

I'll trace the stuff related to GET BOY then and see how it ties into that "CLAMP BOY" event table entry.

Posted: **Fri Nov 25, 2022 7:09 pm**

I wanted to give it a try and at first I didn't understand it, but I learned that on world of spectrum there are two different games called Lost in the desert. The tzx file is adifferent game than the z80 file

I chose the wrong one.

https://worldofspectrum.org/archive/sof ... -the-guild

Posted: **Fri Nov 25, 2022 7:19 pm**

Yeah... I logged that particular error a long, long time ago. Still not fixed.

Very quickly looking... my original comments still stand, I think. Once those conditions are met the flag 28 is set by the CLAM BOY event, so that GET BOY can be used to "pick" the boy up.

Will check more later if there are still issues.

Posted: **Mon Nov 28, 2022 5:17 pm**

It all sounds easy and logical: POURing the WATER sets flag 28 to 4, night is falling, than the CLAM BOY process triggers and set flag 28 to 5, this should allow to GET BOY - but the CLAM BOY process is not triggered!!! I've uploaded a short RZX file to demonstrate the problem (it's in my queued submissions).

Posted: **Mon Nov 28, 2022 6:30 pm**

I'll put some time aside to have a proper look later in the week, then. (You'll probably need to zip up the rzx, as it'll corrupt if attached to the submission form as it is).

Posted: **Tue Nov 29, 2022 1:38 pm**

OK, I've uploaded it again.

Posted: **Sat Dec 17, 2022 6:44 pm**

There must be something wrong with the program; when I'm in the cell with the boy, I can't get him though I have poured the water - when night falls and day breaks and I go N to the corridor with the dead guard and I want to go back to the cell, the door is locked again! I can unlock it and go S - the boy is clamped again and the same procedure has to be done - with the same result.

CASA ::

Lost in the desert

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