Ambermoon

[PiCiJi]

a few things I have seen.

Ambermoon was released in late 1993. There is no PC conversion. The english version of Ambermoon is a fan translation. Ambermoon consists of 9 disks. The tenth is the savegame disk and generated by the game.

Hmm there is a compilation released in 7990 :-)

[robotriot]

The Thalion shrine claims the translation was official:

After years of thinking this classic game was only ever going to be fully playable by gamers able to read German. An English version has emerged. I think this is excellent. It is not a hack/translation but an official product that was never published due to the demise of ThalionTM. It seems to be complete (It was the final version) although I have not played it to the end. As you can see from the picture on the right, it was version 1.07 (The last version of the German Ambermoon I have seen was v1.05)

[PiCiJi]

thanks for info.

Is the version 1.07 related to the english speech only? Because there is an annoying bug in the dungeon on the forest moon. You have to save very carefully or you can't complete the game. Another bug, I can remember, accidently the lady in the house of healer give you the false key.

ok wrong topic :bash

[Marcuz]

Hmm there is a compilation released in 7990 :-)
? what's 7990?

[lopos2000]

7990 = 1990 I think.

[PiCiJi]

In HOL there is the option "year releasd is" 1995, 96 ect. 7990 :confused.

[alexh]

Ambermoon was released in 1993. The English version is NOT a fan translation it is the original. Although never published it was finished by Thalion and lived in the authors disk box for 5 years until it was sent to me in 1998.

The v1.07 has 26 known bugs, non of which prevent you finishing the game. Myself and two other Amiga programmers have produced a patch to fix all these bugs, however with no beta testers I was reluctant to give it out.

I do remember talking to some people about bugs on the Forrest Moon and the Healer thing, however they couldnt be reproduced.

1) Burnville - Map labels in German * FIXED *

2) Snakesign - Map labels in German * FIXED *

3) Newlake - Map labels in German * FIXED *

4) LUMINOR's TOWER 3 - text on the door to Valdyn typo * FIXED *

5) BEAST's CAVE - Skeleton's text typo * FIXED *

6) PALACE OF PELANIS - bad-translated hint, 'WORRYING' changed to 'CONCERNS'

7) TEMPLE OF GALA - crystal ball's text typo * FIXED *

8) TEMPLE OF GALA - ba-translated hint, '' changed to 'GALA MUST STAND IN A BRIGHT GLOW'

9) ILLIEN - riddlemouth in SE corner cannot be answered due to two "ring" in the dictionaryenglish.file one of the 'RING' replaced with 'LOST RING'. * FIXED *

10) WHIRLPOOL - missed textblock * FIXED *

11) LYRAMION [0,0] - bug when sailing/flying near this point * fixed *

12) SAND LIZARD - untranslated 'SANDCHSE' changed to 'SAND LIZARD' * FIXED *

13) SANSRIE'S TUNNEL - SANSRIE'S KEY doesnt open tunnel door * FIXED *

14) PELANIS - Several entries refer to 'PELANIS' as 'PELANI' ( 2Map_texts.amb : 1A0.amb, 1A1,amb )

15) SANSRIES TEMPLE - mismatched textures between 2nd and 3rd and 1st and second floors ( down has stairs going up and up has stairs going down )

16) ILLIEN : 'Lendrai's Magic Weapon: open 9 AM to 7 PM' corrected to '9 AM to 5 PM' ( 2Map_texts.amb : 1A0.amb [22/07/01] )

17) WINDGATES : Bitmap corruption at Gemstone (310;736) and Illien (283;250)

18) ($B4) vs ($27) - All the 'S places i.e. WITCH's HOUSE had a ($B4) instead of a ($27) hence didnt show up as "'S" ( 1-2-3Map_texts.amb, dictionaryenglish.file [12/07/01] )

19) LIBARY - typo in dictionary file, LIBARY changed to LIBRARY [12/07/01]

20) MOP - "Mother-o-pearl chai" changed to "MOTHER OF PEARL CHAIN" (AM2_CPU/AM2_BLT [11/07/01])

21) "CHAMBERS OF THE HEAD PRIEST" : too long for map view, changed to "HEAD PRIST'S CHAMBERS" ( 2Map_texts.amb, 1B0.amb [07/07/01] )

22) Zombie Meister - corrected to 'MASTER' ( Monster_char_data.amb, 008.amb [01/June/01] )

23) Burnville - House of artists now has a CR after the cartographers name ( 2Map_texts.amb 11D.amb [03/June/01] )

24) Thieves' Guild shop : Open from 1PM to 8PM corrected to "1 AM to 8 AM" ( 2Map_texts.amb, 109.amb [3/June/01] )

25) Father Antonius mismatch - One string corrected to Anthony "FATHER ANTONIUS TAKES THE FLOWER AND THE WATER OF LIFE FROM YOU AND MIXES THEM" ( NPC_texts.amb, 002.amb [03/June/01] )

26) Lebab's Tower Brass - "hangs a parchment::" removed one ':' ( 1Map_texts.amb, 0B9.amb [05/jul/01] )

[alexh]

I think whoever created the HOL entry for Ambermoon got confused with Amberstar which does have a PC conversion. There never was a PC version of Ambermoon.

A PC version of ambermoon was in the pipeline, programmed by the same team which did the PC version of Amberstar. Written in a mixture of Turbo Pascal and Assembler. The authors of the "never finished" PC version of Ambermoon were Frank Usner and Gino Fehr.

[alexh]

I notice that HOL has a "magazine review" category. If you need some reviews of Ambermoon feel free to nick them from my site (http://alexh.umcus.org/games/ambermoon/press.html)

[PiCiJi]

uhh a lot of bugs, so I am playing the german version. ok i am german, so its easy said. The two bugs I mentioned earlier are very easy to reproduce in the german version. to solve it, you have to save and load a few times. so no real inconveniences for everybody who knows it.

No, not the lady in the house of the healer can give you the false key, I wrote earlier, but the chest, you can open with her key contains sometimes the false key, if I remember correct

[CodyJarrett]

Thanks alex - I've updated the entry and removed the PC conversion info.

Would you also have screenshots of Ambermoon throughout the game? The entry only has 8 at the moment.

[alexh]

More important than more screenshots would be to have the GameMap and the RUNES table, without which the game is almost unplayable. (Both are available on the Ambermoon section of the Thalion Webshrine)

[alexh]

uhh a lot of bugs

Not really, most are cosmetic due to the game never being beta tested and being migrated from the German version. Non of the bugs prevent the game from being completed, however the English version does have several places where the game will crash if not patched (those areas can be avoided though and have no significance in the game as a whole).

Because no-one was prepared to play the game through from start to finish with the patches in place I have been reluctant to release them just incase they introduced worse side effects.

Michael Bonish, a Thalion fan, has written the webshrine a 100% comprehensive walkthrough of the game (in a text file) documenting every aspect of Ambermoon downto the finest detail. It's truly awesome. Unfortunately it contains too many spoilers in close contact for the average gamer (look for one hint, read 3 others for something you've not got to yet). I keep meaning to convert it to the Universal Hint System (UHS). However you can ask any question about Ambermoon's puzzles to the Thalion Yahoo group and I answer it within 24 hrs.

[PiCiJi]

oh thanks for the walkthrough.txt , I am looking into it. I wonder if there is anything, we didn't find out. We played the game really hard in 1993 or (and) 1994.
looking for illusion walls, getting Tarbos and so on.

[PiCiJi]

My version of Ambermoon is 1.01. So I have downloaded the version 1.05 from Thalion Webshrine. However the game displays version 1.01 too. I don't get it.

Is it possible to have a look in a file of the game which contents all game text. What editor I need? So I can correct a lot of spelling mistakes in german version.

[alexh]

Is it possible to have a look in a file of the game which contents all game text. What editor I need? So I can correct a lot of spelling mistakes in german version.

All of the files are joined, then encrypted then packed. You need the unpacker, the decryptor and a program to split and join the files together. The files are in ASCII with ctrl codes embedded.

All tools are not readily available. It's too easy to screw up and make broken files. All the files have CRC's in them, you change any character and you also have to change the CRC.

If you REALLY REALLY want to have a go, you could start by using the AMBtool of http://amberworld.sourceforge.net/ although I dont think it can put them back together.

Feel free to document all the spelling mistakes you can find and if we ever find time to program a reliable tool for editing amb files (auto unpack / compress / encryption / crc) then the changes will be easy.

[PiCiJi]

ok I have used ambtool in order to read the game texts. Of course the files contain binary. So what editor is usefull in order to save the changes correct and not to change binary. So that someone can make new amb files.

[alexh]

Answer You cannot... you have to change the binary too because it contains (among other things) the string CRC's, formatting (italic, bold, flashing etc.)!, page sizes etc.

There is no simple text edit... fix spelling... save... methodology

If you accidentally remove some important formatting the game WILL crash.
If you change any text and dont update the CRC's or get them wrong the game WILL crash.
If you add more characters so the text window now needs to scroll and you get the page size wrong the game WILL crash.

That said though... if you want to edit any file which contains binary... use a HEX editor.

[dlfrsilver]

i would really love to translate in french the whole game, with the help of a programmer
^^. CFOU! would you like that idea ? i translate, you include the files and work ^^ ?

Mail me interested ^^

[macce2]

It's really a shame if the English version is unstable. The game is really cool, I think.
I am currently playing english version of Amberstar and would like to play more english version of Ambermoon in the future.

[PiCiJi]

The author of the Ambermoon walkthrough wrote he couldn`t find out the riddle on the desert moon Morag in the palace of S'arin. I tried to email him but it doesn't work.

if anyone interested, the answer is:

242 (sum of digits in crystal balls - in the 4 secret rooms just before the first riddle mouth)

102 (sum of digits in crystal balls - in the 4 secret rooms after the first riddle mouth before the second riddle mouth)

8 (sum of all crystal balls)

7 (sum of all pillars, 5 in the first room, 1 in leftmost and 1 in the rightmost room)

based on the speaking of the second riddle mouth the answer is:

((242+102) *7 ) / 8 = 301

[el_paso]

Ambermoon was released in 1993. The English version is NOT a fan translation it is the original. Although never published it was finished by Thalion and lived in the authors disk box for 5 years until it was sent to me in 1998.

The v1.07 has 26 known bugs, non of which prevent you finishing the game. Myself and two other Amiga programmers have produced a patch to fix all these bugs, however with no beta testers I was reluctant to give it out.

I do remember talking to some people about bugs on the Forrest Moon and the Healer thing, however they couldnt be reproduced.

1) Burnville - Map labels in German * FIXED *

2) Snakesign - Map labels in German * FIXED *

3) Newlake - Map labels in German * FIXED *

4) LUMINOR's TOWER 3 - text on the door to Valdyn typo * FIXED *

5) BEAST's CAVE - Skeleton's text typo * FIXED *

6) PALACE OF PELANIS - bad-translated hint, 'WORRYING' changed to 'CONCERNS'

7) TEMPLE OF GALA - crystal ball's text typo * FIXED *

8) TEMPLE OF GALA - ba-translated hint, '' changed to 'GALA MUST STAND IN A BRIGHT GLOW'

9) ILLIEN - riddlemouth in SE corner cannot be answered due to two "ring" in the dictionaryenglish.file one of the 'RING' replaced with 'LOST RING'. * FIXED *

10) WHIRLPOOL - missed textblock * FIXED *

11) LYRAMION [0,0] - bug when sailing/flying near this point * fixed *

12) SAND LIZARD - untranslated 'SANDCHSE' changed to 'SAND LIZARD' * FIXED *

13) SANSRIE'S TUNNEL - SANSRIE'S KEY doesnt open tunnel door * FIXED *

14) PELANIS - Several entries refer to 'PELANIS' as 'PELANI' ( 2Map_texts.amb : 1A0.amb, 1A1,amb )

15) SANSRIES TEMPLE - mismatched textures between 2nd and 3rd and 1st and second floors ( down has stairs going up and up has stairs going down )

16) ILLIEN : 'Lendrai's Magic Weapon: open 9 AM to 7 PM' corrected to '9 AM to 5 PM' ( 2Map_texts.amb : 1A0.amb [22/07/01] )

17) WINDGATES : Bitmap corruption at Gemstone (310;736) and Illien (283;250)

18) ($B4) vs ($27) - All the 'S places i.e. WITCH's HOUSE had a ($B4) instead of a ($27) hence didnt show up as "'S" ( 1-2-3Map_texts.amb, dictionaryenglish.file [12/07/01] )

19) LIBARY - typo in dictionary file, LIBARY changed to LIBRARY [12/07/01]

20) MOP - "Mother-o-pearl chai" changed to "MOTHER OF PEARL CHAIN" (AM2_CPU/AM2_BLT [11/07/01])

21) "CHAMBERS OF THE HEAD PRIEST" : too long for map view, changed to "HEAD PRIST'S CHAMBERS" ( 2Map_texts.amb, 1B0.amb [07/07/01] )

22) Zombie Meister - corrected to 'MASTER' ( Monster_char_data.amb, 008.amb [01/June/01] )

23) Burnville - House of artists now has a CR after the cartographers name ( 2Map_texts.amb 11D.amb [03/June/01] )

24) Thieves' Guild shop : Open from 1PM to 8PM corrected to "1 AM to 8 AM" ( 2Map_texts.amb, 109.amb [3/June/01] )

25) Father Antonius mismatch - One string corrected to Anthony "FATHER ANTONIUS TAKES THE FLOWER AND THE WATER OF LIFE FROM YOU AND MIXES THEM" ( NPC_texts.amb, 002.amb [03/June/01] )

26) Lebab's Tower Brass - "hangs a parchment::" removed one ':' ( 1Map_texts.amb, 0B9.amb [05/jul/01] )




To alexh: Please, send me this patch, because I'm perfectionalist and my games must be perfect. Pleeese.

[alexh]

Not going to happen any time soon.

I need to rework the fixes, ensure that in fixing them we didnt break anything, confirm the structures of the AMB files is correct.

This means working with people like Maynef and Hexxae and getting a couple of beta testers to play all the way through.

I'd hate to release a "fix" that made things worse.

As things stand, you can finish the game with the original v1.07 amb files.

[el_paso]

But, please, remember me.

[alexh]

Like I said I cannot see it happening any time soon. To play the game from start to finish takes several days.

[Thalion]

This means working with people like Maynef and Hexxae and getting a couple of beta testers to play all the way through.



If you still need testers i'm your man. I know this game very very well so i can test everyrhing. :D

[el_paso]

Question: Do you know what is mean by shortcuts M-B-A and M-B-W in detailed description of things?

[alexh]

It's been a long time since I played but I *think* it is "Magical Bonus Armour" and "Magical Bonus Weaponry" but I might be wrong.

[Thalion]

Yeah Alex is right. If your M-B-A is bigger than the M-B-W of the enemy they cannot hit you anymore.

[alexh]

Hmm, I dunno about that. I though M-B-A was an item attribute not character attribute?

[Thalion]

Hmm, I dunno about that. I though M-B-A was an item attribute not character attribute?

Yes it is. But as its magical it is wrapped to your char. Never noticed that you are immune to some attackers attacks when you wear iron rings or parade rings?

[alexh]

What I meant was the M-B-A of an item goes towards your characters armour level and its that which prevents you from getting hit.

[andreas]

This means working with people like Maynef and Hexxae and getting a couple of beta testers to play all the way through.

I'd hate to release a "fix" that made things worse.

I understand.
Besides, meynaf is a very good choice. Skilled guy - even talked with Toni about UAE core bugs on same skill level as if it was nothing. Impressive stuff. :agree

I can wait. :p
"Haste makes waste."

[el_paso]

Question: How can I get into the Lebab's tower? There's long labyrinth full of gargoyles that ends in little valley inside mountains where is tower and windgate. I think that tower must have some sense when windgate is here.

[Thalion]

Have you read the note at the entry of Lebabs Tower? This should give you the answer.

BTW. wrong thread for such problems. Please post your questions here:

http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=21226