For 9 years stuck in Leander

[Tim Janssen]

I really hope someone can help me with this problem. Last weekend I have played Psygnosis' Leander again after a long time. The problem with this game is that I cannot get past level 4 in the first world.

The purpose of this level is to retrieve a silver bow in the caves in the east and travel to the portal in the west.
When I enter the cave, I jump to several platforms, retrieve the bow and.. cannot get back! The problem is you have to jump your way up to the top. At the bottom there are three moving platforms (1 diagonally, 1 vertically and 1 horizontally). Jumping on them will get you to a very high rock. On the right of it you see a platform you cannot stand on but which is necessary to get out of the cave.
I have tried everything to get past that platform but it all failed. Please can anyone help? Many thanks in advance..

[Unregistered]

My God! Someone else who is stuck on this game! In the very same spot, too!

Leander is a beautiful platformer, and I have always lamented the fact that I never was able to complete it.

If ANYONE can help us, it would be greatly appreciated.

[ptrchiappe]

Well, I tried the game on my a1200 and after having entered the cave in the world 1_4 and taken the teleport key in the box, i found no problem to exit the cave.

All you have to do is take the diagonally moving platform to the top, then jump on the platforms until you reach the one which has a spike coming out from the ground.

From there you have to jump left to the platform attached to a chain and then to the one which is close.

Walk left and just go down and you'll reach the exit of the cave.

I've taken some screenshots in WinUAE of the way back and i can send them to you if my explanations are not clear enough, just let me know.

[Tim Janssen]

Hi Ptrchiappe,
I am puzzled. You wrote:
(...) then jump on the platforms until you reach the one which has a spike coming out from the ground.
Problem is that one of the two platforms nearby the spiked-platform does not have a solid underground. I can only stand on the lower platform.

Please can you provide some screenshots of that part of the cave? More and more I get the suspicion I have some unfinished version of Leander for my Amiga. I got this crack back in December 1991 when the game wasn't even officially released.
Many thanks in advance.

[ptrchiappe]

I have taken 9 screenshots of the path inside the cave, after you use the diagonal moving platform, and zipped.

If they don't appear here, I'll send it to you by email.

[Tim Janssen]

Ptrchiappe,
Many thanks for the pictures you have mailed me. To my horror I have discovered that the third screen (Leander3.jpg) is different in my version! The platform which the soldier jumps on does not exist in my version of Leander! No wonder I have not completed this level the past nine years.
I am very shocked by this fact. This means I have a beta version of Leander in my possesion which may also explain why I cannot use the levelcodes and other different cheats. Aaargh! :scream

Edit: Oi, It seems I could not attach Leander3.jpg to this message. Download the zip-file to see the image.

[ptrchiappe]

Now this explains why it has been so easy for me to exit the cave ;) .

Tim, what i have is a 2.265KB HD installed version of Leander (lzx file), which has all the files already put in the correct place (that is no adfs).

If you want i can send it to you by mail, but you can only play on a real amiga (or at least i didn't succeed to make the collisions work on WinUAE - i didn't try very much anyway).

Let me know.

P.S. my monitor is malfunctioning because i didn't see your attachment :laugh

[Tim Janssen]

Hi Ptrchiappe,
Thanks for your offer, but at the moment my PC is broken and I cannot bother converting files to my original Miggy. In the near future I will download Leander for an Amiga emulator on a new PC.

I always knew there was something wrong with my version of this game. Now I have the proof I can rest again.;)
This weekend when I am at my parents' home I will play the notorious crack of Leander on my Amiga. I am curious who cracked this version.

By the way, there is nothing wrong with your monitor. ;) I also tried to attach an image from my C-directory to that message but it was not displayed.

[ptrchiappe]

I was beginning to suspect this (you can only attach ONE file with one new post), so now i'll try it and see.

I probably misread the instructions and thought that there was no limitation apart from the size.

[Tim Janssen]

For your information, I have checked my notorious version of Leander. It is a crack by Skid Row in 1991. The cracktro shows only a blue border with their name written in it.

This weekend I have played the game again and I am still stuck in Level 4's cave. However, I have noticed I have some "Rune Bombs" in my possesion. How do I use them? I have tried all keys on my keyboard.

[Overdoc]

Phew, this thread is quite old, but anyway, just for info here is what I have heard:

Skid Row didn't actually crack this game, but it was given to a member of Skid Row by the programmers/company themselves.
What Skid Row didn't know was that the game had this intentional bug, which acts like a copyprotection which isn't easy to detect.
Skid Row didn't notice that, put their name before, and released the game.

If you want a fully working Leander you either have to get a HD installed version or get the 4 disk Company crack.

[ptrchiappe]

Originally posted by Tim Janssen
I have noticed I have some "Rune Bombs" in my possesion. How do I use them? I have tried all keys on my keyboard.

If i remember well to use the bombs you have to crouch, press fire and keep it pressed until the arrow you see in the lower part of the screen reaches the end. At that point leave the fire button and the bomb will explode.

I also believe that the original came on three disks, because on the documentation of my HD install there's a mention to "all three original disks".

[Overdoc]

Cracks are often longer than originals.
I think this has something to do with the fact that some originals have tracks with more sectors as usual or use tracks 80 and 81 or have the code compressed, which has to be uncompressed to remove e.g. a password protection.
Cracks are also done in a format that can be easily read by copyprograms, so the code on these overlenght tracks and tracks above 79 is put on another disk.

[Tim Janssen]

Ptrchiappe,
I already knew that trick with the pressed firebutton. I always called it the ‘self-destruct mode’. The hero heats up until he explodes and kills all other enemies on the screen. After this action you have lost a life and no rune bombs are used.

This game really causes me a headache.. ;)

[Overdoc]

@Tim:

Get the instructions for Leander from LSD doc Disk 25.
I think the runebombs are just for some ghost which appears from time to time in higher levels. I think runebombs are then used automatically and you won't loose a life.

@Akira:

If your Leander is an original then I think it's ok, because the original only has 3 Disks.
But if you have the Skid Row crack, or trainers of it ( Goonies, Zenith, maybe others as well ), then it will have the bug.

Better download the company crack as I know it's ok.

[ptrchiappe]

I made a comparison a few weeks ago between the HD-installed version i had and the cracked version.

Well i found out that, in this cave, the cracked version has the platform "painted" on the background, that is you can see where it is but you aren't allowed to step on it.

My guess is that if someone takes the time and effort to edit the map (which judging by the list of files in the HD version should be called Level3), that platform could be restored to the original state; now if any of you wish to do it please don't push and kick all together :D .

[Dalai]

If I recall correctly, the runebombs are only used against the bosses. I think they're activated by one of they keys on the keyboard (space, alt, shift or something like that), when you use one it fires a projectile that homes in on the boss and does him some damage. Hurrah.

[sopia]

I figured it was probably a form of copy protection, nice to see that I'm right. You will also note that the level skip cheats do not work in this version so you can't even skip the level.

[Ironclaw]

Haven't read any of the posts here except the first one, and I have never completed stage 4 either. Tried it many times, stuck at the same place.

But guess if I read it all I will find the answer, but not eiger to complete it now anyway...

[jotd]

I figured it was probably a form of copy protection, nice to see that I'm right. You will also note that the level skip cheats do not work in this version so you can't even skip the level.

Not likely to be an intricate copy protection: When I created the JST install for Leander (later converted to WHDload) I removed some disk access irrelevant with the loading routine, but did not notice it was a copy protection!! And you're telling me the game works fine, so I don't think there are any code checksums like in Lemmings.
Could be a bug in the cracks (happens all the time)... But could be that I'm (I was, since install was released in 1997) so good I bypassed a very complex protection without even noticing :crazy

[Overdoc]

As far as I know it was something like a preview which was given to one member of Skid Row, and they thaught it was the full version. The bug perhaps just was there because the game wasn't finished yet, or because the programmers knew it would get spread as a crack and thaught there wouldn't be a 2nd crack later, and therefore bringing more people to buy the game ;)

[Dalai]

Does the version of Leander on the Amiga In A Box site work properly? I notice it has a readme from Skid Row in there, so probably not. :/

[blade002]

Yeah i had the exact same problem all those years ago when Leander was released!. i just couldnt get out of the #@$@# cave!. but then someone told me that is "was" a bug, and that he had a better version, but i never got a hold of it!.

Someone said the rune bombs are only used for the End bosses!, but the actually fact is that they can be used "Anywhere" in the game ( i dont remember a projectile flying around and homing in though?? ), but as someone else also said.. you lose 1 life when you do!.

Leander is one of those psygnosis games that should have got 10 times more the amount of praise than Shadow Of The Beast 3 did!. Other than the game Awesome, i think Leander is one their finest releases!.

[Dexther]

remeber leander are a protection to if you ave a version of crack on intro in a parte of the game the platform are disable end not able to continue in the adventure
most probaly your version of sky row NOT WORK
I'M REMEBER FOR GAME IN LEANDE YOU NEED A ORIGINAL DISK
go to the reach a whdload compilation or cd32 com are a work end tested leander
in 888 comp are leander work end the varius pack of whdload com (are in site on htm the link dont remember woodlowith site)

to verify your version are corect get a code to pass screen end edit
if in this case not appare this write "hello haker"(or similiar) you copy are perfcly work
end this chase if you are able to continued in the level ,if not work you not go to the select stage

i'm whish i'm a esauted your desire

[Ironclaw]

remeber leander are a protection to if you ave a version of crack on intro in a parte of the game the platform are disable end not able to continue in the adventure
most probaly your version of sky row NOT WORK
I'M REMEBER FOR GAME IN LEANDE YOU NEED A ORIGINAL DISK
go to the reach a whdload compilation or cd32 com are a work end tested leander
in 888 comp are leander work end the varius pack of whdload com (are in site on htm the link dont remember woodlowith site)

to verify your version are corect get a code to pass screen end edit
if in this case not appare this write "hello haker"(or similiar) you copy are perfcly work
end this chase if you are able to continued in the level ,if not work you not go to the select stage

i'm whish i'm a esauted your desire

Seems like he wrote in Italian and used Bable Fish to translate :)


kidding....

[Dexther]

bable fish is a shit traslator
but i'm not a perfect

just you are a sage ?
try to get a kidding at your brother not at my

[demoniac]

Many people don't seem to like trainers, but here's a case where having a trainer is beneficial.

In the original trainer patch...
LEGEND! 'THE HOLY QUALITY TRAINER MAKERS'
+-------------------------------------------+

PRESENTS : LEANDER +8 AND 7 INGAME OPTIONS

FOR THE SKID ROW CRACK
DONE BY THE EVER LASTING /\/.S.C.

NOTE : THIS CRACK IS -NOT- 100% COZ AFTER LEVEL 1.4 THE SPRITE JUST
KEEP FALLING WE ANYHOW MADE A TRAINER SO SKID ROW CAN FIX THIZ
IT'S NOT A FAULT OF US OR WHAT COZ IT WORKS 100% ON THE COMPANY VERSION

GREETZ TO FFC (PLEASE FIX IT IT SAVES 1 DISK) & S.S.R. FROM SKID ROW.

Apparently, later on a fix was provided by SKR...
LEGEND PRESENTS : LEANDER +8 FOR THE SKID ROW VERSION

THIS VERSION ALSO INCLUDES THE FIX FILE!


CREDITS : TRAINED BY /\/.S.C.
FIXED BY F.F.C/SKID ROW

Thus, this problem was known and later fixed on the SKR version. (I was able to just complete it.) Having said that, the SKR version is still missing the Traveller's Tale logo screen. It also seems there might be still some beta level design differences remaining. The Company version is still better.

[andreas]

Maybe it would be a good thing to re-rename the TOSEC files, at least to apply [b level 1.4] to the unpatched versions ...

[demoniac]

Maybe it would be a good thing to re-rename the TOSEC files, at least to apply [b level 1.4] to the unpatched versions ...

It's not just 1-4, but the subsequent levels after.

While we're at it, Leander (1991)(Psygnosis)[cr SKR][t +3 Goonies](Disk 2 of 3)
-> Leander (1991)(Psygnosis)[cr SKR](Disk 2 of 3).

Leander (1991)(Psygnosis)[cr SKR][t +3 Goonies](Disk 3 of 3)[a]
-> Leander (1991)(Psygnosis)[cr SKR][t +3 Goonies](Disk 3 of 3)[b]
as it crashes.

And "ESPR"_________________????? on the HOL Cheatcodes should follow the WHDLoad entry of "ESPR"______________cancel "LTUS" cheat.

[apachacha]

And yet this same version is still up for download at LA -_-

Sorry to bump this, but just.........sigh.

[Vollldo]

I opened a thread for Leander a long time ago concerning a 100% version for this reason (the missing platforms due to game protection) and StingRay confirmed that the version in 4 disks by LGD are 100% working. I never experienced a problem with them. I cant copy paste the link now, i will do this tomorow. But i think you can find the thread by typing "leander 100%" in the search box here :).

@demoniac : it is the version which you are talking yes.

[musashi9]

I made a 3 disk version of this a few years ago, please feel free to test it.
(it is now in the zone)

[clauddio]

the best way to play Leander is playing the megadrive version
it's called legend of galahad
much better than the amiga version,more colours,3d sky effects,much better sound effects and the posibility to play with music+sound effects

[s2325]

Please, generated MegaDrive music is nothing compared to Amiga.

[Vollldo]

Yes i cant play this one on the megadrive, it is really not the same game, and the sound is simply awfull in comparison with the amiga version.

@clauddio : The amiga version is for me the best, not only concerning the sound. The amiga version has a such general feeling, i love the so smooth controls, the little inertia, and plenty of details that make it THE version. It is like to compare the amiga and megadrive versions of shadow of the beast i think. But it is nice to have all the points of view like always, especially for those who didnt know that there was a megadrive version. They can try it and have their own opinion so :).

@musashi9 : i didnt know that you cracked this one (or i forgot lol). Thanks to have uploaded it !

[wanderer]

I made a 3 disk version of this a few years ago, please feel free to test it.(it is now in the zone)I can't get past the title screen. It asks for disk 2, but it won't accept/recognize it.

[musashi9]

Try putting it in df0:

[wanderer]

Try putting it in df0:Yes, I remember this issue with some games refusing to work on anything else than df0:... ;) - still doesn't work.

[mai]

Yes, I remember this issue with some games refusing to work on anything else than df0:... ;) - still doesn't work.

Works here using WinUAE 2.3.2.

[wanderer]

Sorry, it just won't accept disk 2. Re-downloaded it and tried WinUAE 2.3.2 and 2.3.3 with the 1.3 most common configuration. The 4-disk version works fine. Weird.

[Vollldo]

@mai : you should put your WinUAE configuration for this one maybe for wanderer.

[musashi9]

This may sound silly but try disk 3 as disk 2. There was a flashtro version floating around with a mix up in the zip file, if you didn't get the flashtro version from THE ZONE but elsewhere then this could be your problem.

[wanderer]

No, I've tried that just in case. It's The Zone files. Also tried write/non-write protected disks and various configurations. Even tried my "official" Amiga Forever 1.3 ROM. :p - (not using AF at all now). Also renamed filenames to simply 1.adf etc. Sometimes long Window paths cause problems, but that's not it.

[StingRay]

Musashi's version works fine for me, just checked it. Disk 2 is recognised without any problem.

[Retroplay]

It works fine here too.

[wanderer]

Could you please reupload just disk 2?

[Retroplay]

I tried the version already in the zone.
"Leander (1991)(Psygnosis)(cr Flashtro]"

Oh and btw, the Melnok crack in latest TOSEC seems to be bad, well at least disk 2.
Disk 2 is suspiciously small when compressed and it also gave me a guru when I inserted the disk.
That was using a standard A500 config with extra drive, A1200 was a no go.

Musashi's version works fine with A1200 config.

Melnok version zoned if anybody wants to investigate further.