Book of the Dead CRL AMstrad VS c64/spectrum

Games for Spectrum, C64, Amstrad, Amiga, Apple ][ and the rest of the 8-bit and 16-bit platforms. Pleas for help, puzzles, bug reports etc.

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Alex
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Book of the Dead CRL AMstrad VS c64/spectrum

#1 Post by Alex » Sat Jul 03, 2021 8:52 pm

I wanted to play Book of the Dead. A game I used to own years ago for the c64 but never actually played before. I wanted it to play on the Amstrad CPC but I noticed it starts in another room (inside the town on a market) than the c64 and Spectrum version (inside the egg). I used Grackle to obtain the code and compared the games and noticed that there are a few differences.


Amstrad version:

Number of verbs: 103
Number of nouns: 95
Number of adverbs: 8
Number of objects: 30
Number of rooms: 45
Number of messages: 175
Number of high priority conditions: 53
Number of room conditions: 101
Number of low priority conditions: 66
Starting room: 33 (Inside the town a market is being held. Exits: north, south and east or west into shops)

Spectrum version:

Number of verbs: 102
Number of nouns: 92
Number of adverbs: 8
Number of objects: 30
Number of rooms: 46
Number of messages: 167
Number of high priority conditions: 40
Number of room conditions: 100
Number of low priority conditions: 60
Starting room: 14 (You are in a spheroid,swimming in gooey albumen)


The Amstrad version looks older as it contains some typos which have been corrected in the spectrum version and also has other things which are missing in the spectrum version (which has some noun and message numbers missing).
Does anyone know why the Amstrad version skips the first part and starts after entering the town? Or are the versions found on the internet incorrect?

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Alex
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Re: Book of the Dead CRL AMstrad VS c64/spectrum

#2 Post by Alex » Sat Jul 03, 2021 9:32 pm

I changed the starting room for the Amstrad version from room 33 to 14 and the first part of the game is playable on the Amstrad version as well. Strange the versions found on the internet start in room 33.

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Strident
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Re: Book of the Dead CRL AMstrad VS c64/spectrum

#3 Post by Strident » Sat Jul 03, 2021 10:24 pm

Very strange, but yes it's the same in both the commonly archived tape and disk versions.

Interestingly, Recreation Re-creation, an indie/homebrew company who ended up re-publishing the Amstrad version at one point were offering a bug-fixed version... Perhaps this was to fix the starting location bug you've encountered...
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Re: Book of the Dead CRL AMstrad VS c64/spectrum

#4 Post by Strident » Sun Jul 04, 2021 9:42 am

I've asked around, in various places, to see if anyone has the Recreation Re-Creation/The Guild/Adventure Workshop re-released version of the Amstrad Book of the Dead.

Just a note regarding your first post... The Spectrum version of the game is the original... Essential Myth self-published the game originally so any typos that appear in the Amstrad version are new typos created when the port to the Amstrad was being produced. I am presuming, because I can't remember the details, that CRL would've ported the game themselves to the other platforms... although given that they provided Mark at Rec-Rec with a bug-fixed version, perhaps they were involved at some point.

The original Spectrum Essential Myth version wasn't free from glitches itself... but it was a testing ground for their GACPAC tool... and it was also sold by them for £3.95 so £5 cheaper than when CRL sold it!

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Re: Book of the Dead CRL AMstrad VS c64/spectrum

#5 Post by Alex » Sun Jul 04, 2021 11:35 am

Strident wrote:
Sat Jul 03, 2021 10:24 pm
Perhaps this was to fix the starting location bug you've encountered
Could be. There are a few more bugs also in the Spectrum version. Also there are some differences between the 3 versions and I noticed a small error in the solution from Dorothy. I will write a hint file explaining all.

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Re: Book of the Dead CRL AMstrad VS c64/spectrum

#6 Post by Strident » Sun Jul 04, 2021 11:38 am

Alex wrote:
Sun Jul 04, 2021 11:35 am
There are a few more bugs also in the Spectrum version.
There were definitely some bug-fixes made in the Spectrum version between the Essential Myth release and the CRL version; according to a review of the CRL version. I'm not sure if there are any differences in the version that The Guild later re-published but I believe all three releases are archived for the Spectrum... so I'll have a look at doing a side-by side comparison of the database later.

(EDIT: There are no differences, in the database, between part 1 of the archived Essential Myth version and part 1 of the CRL release... It's possible that there was an earlier bugged Essential Myth version (probably an early review copy) that isn't archived, of course)

For reference, there's a Spectrum solution here... https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.ph ... 84&page=52

which is reproduced here (along with some other bits and bobs) Tipshop

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Re: Book of the Dead CRL AMstrad VS c64/spectrum

#7 Post by Alex » Sun Jul 04, 2021 12:32 pm

I've uploaded the file. The bugs I found in the Spectrum version I have are 2 room connections in the second part to non existing locations.

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Re: Book of the Dead CRL AMstrad VS c64/spectrum

#8 Post by Alex » Sun Jul 04, 2021 12:41 pm

Strident wrote:
Sun Jul 04, 2021 11:38 am
For reference, there's a Spectrum solution here... https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.ph ... 84&page=52
This solution does include getting the rope after climbing down (something forgotten in the solution from Dorothy, but it does make the same "error" regarding the tome thinking page 1 is one of the six pages. There is another page, number 42 which has a hint on how to kill the amphisbaena: "A fragment from the Book of the Dead!It reads " Ware the amphisbaena-ward the word."

It also mentions the two room connection errors I noticed and some more bugs I did not notice.

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Re: Book of the Dead CRL AMstrad VS c64/spectrum

#9 Post by Strident » Tue Jul 06, 2021 4:15 pm

Had a chat to the guys on the Amstrad forums, and Nich has let me know that he has a copy in his NVG archives where the first part has been replaced with the bug-fixed Rec Rec one. Download - http://ftp.nvg.ntnu.no/pub/cpc/games/ad ... okdead.zip

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Re: Book of the Dead CRL AMstrad VS c64/spectrum

#10 Post by Alex » Wed Jul 07, 2021 1:00 pm

Thanks :thumb: , I didn't check the whole game, but it does start in the right location and also the error which occurs when you climb down the rope has been solved.

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