Escape from Colditz bug

Port_H · 24 August 2008, 17:56

Hello, Amiga enthusiasts! I'm a recent user of WinUAE from Portugal. This is my first post in these forums.
I never had an Amiga computer, back in the 80's I only had a ZXSpectrum 128k computer and immensely enjoyed playing many of its games. One of my favourite Spectrum games was The Great Escape. I played with great insistence until I finally managed to escape. One friend of mine had a ZXSpectrum too but then he switched to Amiga. I played a few times with his Amiga in his house , the two things I liked the most was the use of disks instead of tapes (the games loaded much more faster) and the beautiful Amiga graphics. One day he loaded Escape from Colditz, and I immediately liked it, it reminded me of The Great Escape. Unfortunately we kept being shot after a few seconds of starting the game, and my friend who had no patience at all, decided to remove the disk after just a couple of minutes playing. I wanted to play it some more but he didn't, so it was useless to insist, it was his computer afterall.
Back to the present days: I recently installed and setup WinUAE v1.5.1. on my PC, and one of the first games I searched and downloaded was Escape from Colditz. Now I've been playing it always following the maps made by Unnar Elías Björnsson. Yesterday I was having fun playing it: I managed to have the polish prisoner gather a nice collection of items:10 lockpicks, 2 Level 1 keys, 2 Level 2 keys, 3 candles, 1 saw, 1 shovel, 1 guard's uniform, 1 pass, 1 rock, 1 papers. Then I went to the room Officers mess which has the entrance to the T5 tunnel. I used the saw and then 1 candle to enter the tunnel. Soon I stumble upon this awful BUG: Either if I exit the tunnel from the left end returning to the room I was before (screenshot 1), or if I exit the tunnel from the right end by using the shovel (screenshot 2) to end up in the Stores room (screenshot 3), as soon as I leave the tunnel, my character stays stuck, immobile, stops responding to the movements controls, I can't move it anywhere, only can drop objects on the ground!

I loaded over and over again an WinUAE snapshot file made just before entering that tunnel and everytime I try again, same thing happens.

Now I wanted to know if anyone else who played this game has experienced the same bug, and if there's any workaround for it, or rather if there's a way to get rid of it. Perhaps the game .adf file i'm using is bugged and i should try to use a different copy? I searched this bug on Google and found nothing. Any help is appreciated.

Screenshot 1 - Stuck after leaving the tunnel T5 from the left end, returning to Officers mess room

Screenshot 2 - Preparing to leave tunnel T5 from the right end

Screenshot 3 - Stuck after leaving the tunnel T5 from the right end into the Stores room

Retro1234 · 24 August 2008, 18:10

This game is brilliant but fucking hard could you put the saved state in the zone .

Shoonay · 24 August 2008, 18:11

hello and welcome to EAB btw, you're in for some fun nostalgic time

TCD · 24 August 2008, 18:19

Hi Port_H,

like Shoonay said welcome to the EAB

I also would like to have a look at that problem. Here's the info how you can access the zone to upload your file : http://eab.abime.net/faq.php?faq=vb_...ezone_faq_item

Port_H · 24 August 2008, 18:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boo Boo

This game is brilliant but fucking hard could you put the saved state in the zone .

I would gladly upload the savestate made just before entering the tunnel. How do I upload it to "the zone"?

EDIT: Thank you, CyberDruid. I'll read that piece of info.

Port_H · 24 August 2008, 18:42

OK, I just uploaded the savestate to the zone. It is called efc3IC.uss

Graham Humphrey · 24 August 2008, 18:44

Hi Port_H and welcome to EAB

Please can you not post direct links to files in the Zone in future, as it is against forum rules, thanks!

TCD · 24 August 2008, 18:47

Just one question : How do I enter the tunnel?

spajdr · 24 August 2008, 18:53

Welcome

I bet its some copy protection which wasnt properly cracked

Retro1234 · 24 August 2008, 19:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheCyberDruid

Just one question : How do I enter the tunnel?

Use the cursor keys and select Candle move to the tunnel and press fire.You would know but im pretty sure this game was band in germany although I was in Germany not that long ago and in a museum they had some artifacts with swas stickers on?

TCD · 24 August 2008, 19:05

Thanks for the info Boo Boo!
Well in a museum the swas is no problem, but if they use it in a game it is. There are quite a lot of movies with it which are not banned in germany. I guess it's about how the swas is shown and in which context.

Port_H · 24 August 2008, 19:11

OK, GH, thanks for the warning. Sorry about that, my mistake.
CyberDruid, to enter the tunnel, move over to the pit on the floor, press the left arrow key twice to select the candle item in the inventory and press the fire button. In WinUAE 'Game & I/O ports' tab, you should NOT have select Keyboard Layout B (Cursor Keys, Right CTRL and ALT = Fire) on Port 1, I have Keyboard Layout C (W=Up S=Down A=Left D=Right, Left ALT = Fire) selected to play this game.

TCD · 24 August 2008, 19:13

Okay I've checked it and it also happens here. Which version do you use Port_H? (filename of the disk)

Port_H · 24 August 2008, 19:29

CyberDruid, the file i'm using is escape_from_colditz_(1990)(digital_magic)(m4)-amiga.zip. Do you guys think that the problem lies in the .adf file used when the savestate was made?
Can you try to enter the same tunnel using a different version of the .adf file (it must be different than the one i'm using) and see if the problem disappears?
Well, If that is the cause of the problem I could always try to find another .adf file of the same game and see if the problem persists...
But if I try to use another .adf, can the savestates made with the old .adf still be used, or are they useless and I have to start a new game?

TCD · 24 August 2008, 19:35

The statefile is useless if you use another disk, sorry. It seems like you use the uncracked version. Have a look here : http://www.planetemu.net/?section=re...&rubrique=roms
Download one of the versions with '[cr' at the end. I have the 'SKR' version, but I have not much time to test it until there. Maybe with a cracked version it works.

Retro1234 · 24 August 2008, 19:40

What a pain to play it through again. I wouldnt bother with another ADF id use the WHDload version or IPF When I get a chance ill play it through but it takes ages to find the Saw,Candle E.t.c
I also have the original floppy somewhere I can test.

Port_H · 24 August 2008, 20:42

Boo Boo, it's not that much of a pain to play it through again, playing alongside with the maps that is, as long as it is worth it and the bug disappears. It shouldn't take more than 1 hour maximum to get a similar savestate, as long as you go to the right places. I only had to play a little during an afternoon with the american and the polish character to reach that savestate. The polish can get most of those items by himself, the american only has to give him the candles: After exploring the rooms accessible through the Polish Quarters (including the rooms accessible through the S12 stairs, where he can get the saw and the pass) and getting important items, during the exercise period (when all the prisoners are allowed to be in the Inner Courtyard and Open Access areas) the polish character goes to the Level 1, collects some more items (including keys and lockpicks in locked rooms) and goes to S10 stairs, goes up to level 2 where he can get the papers in a locked room and meet the american, who gives him his items. Then one of them stalemate the guards by standing in the middle of an open access corridor which blocks guards from passing through while the other goes through the unlocked doors leading to the restricted area close to the american quarters to get the shovel and the uniform. He has to enter stairs S17 and go up to get the uniform. Then, the polish receives those items and returns to Level 1 through the S10 stairs, and goes to the room of my savestate.
It's much easier to play if you play in Windowed mode while you have another window opened next to WinUAE window, showing the maps! You HAVE to use the maps, they're essential in this game, or else you waste a lot of keys opening doors that lead to no items at all. Also to get to a room, you have several ways, some of them requiring you to use few or no keys, and others requiring you to waste a lot of keys!
Boo Boo, I do not know what WHDload or IPF are, remember, I'm new to Amiga emulation!

Retro1234 · 24 August 2008, 20:52

Ok Ive got the maps - I hadnt read TCD post and hes got a point if its a copy protection fault a cracked ADF version might be better - But once I get a chance Ill give the WHDload version a go this is a HD installed and patched version - If your intrested many people here will help you set it up.But give me a few days and ill give it a go

I not realy into gameing at mo but this is a great game.

TCD · 24 August 2008, 20:56

Short explanation of WHDLoad and IPF :
WHDLoad stands for 'Working HD Load'. That is a program that enables you to install games on the HD of an Amiga which have no installer and/or wouldn't run on newer Amigas. The installers for WHDLoad often fix bugs in the game. With WinUAE you need a virtual HD set up with the Workbench installed. I think since you never owned a real Amiga that will require a longer learning time to set that up, but I must say it's woth the time

IPF's are disk images that include all information from the disk including copy protections. They are 100% images of that game. They can only be used with WinUAE. Since it is not allowed to post links to sites that have IPF images on them, I'm afraid for now you should check the cracks on planetemu

Port_H · 24 August 2008, 21:55

TheCyberDruid:
Soon after I installed WinUAE, I learned how to create a virtual HD, how to install Workbench 3.1 and how to setup WinUAE for a A1200 configuration. I also setup another configuration for older games, the so called "ecs13" configuration, although I believe it was conceived for older versions of WinUAE. I also think I managed to install WB1.3 for the ecs13 configuration, although the instructions I followed were confusing and left me with a useless file called fastfilesystem in my ROMs directory: see http://jambo.abime.net/howto.php?view=20.
Perhaps I'll try to learn how to install, setup and use WHDLoad when I have the chance.
BTW, I also found this site -GameBase Amiga project. It looks very interesting! What do you guys think of it? Is it worth it to learn more about it?

Now I have to go offline, there are RL things to do! I hope i can return to this forum today still. I'm enjoying being part of this forum!

24 August 2008, 17:56	#1
Port_H Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Portugal Posts: 47	Escape from Colditz bug Hello, Amiga enthusiasts! I'm a recent user of WinUAE from Portugal. This is my first post in these forums. I never had an Amiga computer, back in the 80's I only had a ZXSpectrum 128k computer and immensely enjoyed playing many of its games. One of my favourite Spectrum games was The Great Escape. I played with great insistence until I finally managed to escape. One friend of mine had a ZXSpectrum too but then he switched to Amiga. I played a few times with his Amiga in his house , the two things I liked the most was the use of disks instead of tapes (the games loaded much more faster) and the beautiful Amiga graphics. One day he loaded Escape from Colditz, and I immediately liked it, it reminded me of The Great Escape. Unfortunately we kept being shot after a few seconds of starting the game, and my friend who had no patience at all, decided to remove the disk after just a couple of minutes playing. I wanted to play it some more but he didn't, so it was useless to insist, it was his computer afterall. Back to the present days: I recently installed and setup WinUAE v1.5.1. on my PC, and one of the first games I searched and downloaded was Escape from Colditz. Now I've been playing it always following the maps made by Unnar Elías Björnsson. Yesterday I was having fun playing it: I managed to have the polish prisoner gather a nice collection of items:10 lockpicks, 2 Level 1 keys, 2 Level 2 keys, 3 candles, 1 saw, 1 shovel, 1 guard's uniform, 1 pass, 1 rock, 1 papers. Then I went to the room Officers mess which has the entrance to the T5 tunnel. I used the saw and then 1 candle to enter the tunnel. Soon I stumble upon this awful BUG: Either if I exit the tunnel from the left end returning to the room I was before (screenshot 1), or if I exit the tunnel from the right end by using the shovel (screenshot 2) to end up in the Stores room (screenshot 3), as soon as I leave the tunnel, my character stays stuck, immobile, stops responding to the movements controls, I can't move it anywhere, only can drop objects on the ground! I loaded over and over again an WinUAE snapshot file made just before entering that tunnel and everytime I try again, same thing happens. Now I wanted to know if anyone else who played this game has experienced the same bug, and if there's any workaround for it, or rather if there's a way to get rid of it. Perhaps the game .adf file i'm using is bugged and i should try to use a different copy? I searched this bug on Google and found nothing. Any help is appreciated. Screenshot 1 - Stuck after leaving the tunnel T5 from the left end, returning to Officers mess room Screenshot 2 - Preparing to leave tunnel T5 from the right end Screenshot 3 - Stuck after leaving the tunnel T5 from the right end into the Stores room Last edited by Port_H; 24 August 2008 at 18:13.

24 August 2008, 18:42	#6
Port_H Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Portugal Posts: 47	OK, I just uploaded the savestate to the zone. It is called efc3IC.uss Last edited by Port_H; 24 August 2008 at 18:56. Reason: Let thread readers know the name of the file I uploaded to the zone, after the link i posted was removed by Moderator

24 August 2008, 19:11	#12
Port_H Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Portugal Posts: 47	OK, GH, thanks for the warning. Sorry about that, my mistake. CyberDruid, to enter the tunnel, move over to the pit on the floor, press the left arrow key twice to select the candle item in the inventory and press the fire button. In WinUAE 'Game & I/O ports' tab, you should NOT have select Keyboard Layout B (Cursor Keys, Right CTRL and ALT = Fire) on Port 1, I have Keyboard Layout C (W=Up S=Down A=Left D=Right, Left ALT = Fire) selected to play this game. Last edited by Port_H; 24 August 2008 at 19:37.

24 August 2008, 20:42	#17
Port_H Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Portugal Posts: 47	Boo Boo, it's not that much of a pain to play it through again, playing alongside with the maps that is, as long as it is worth it and the bug disappears. It shouldn't take more than 1 hour maximum to get a similar savestate, as long as you go to the right places. I only had to play a little during an afternoon with the american and the polish character to reach that savestate. The polish can get most of those items by himself, the american only has to give him the candles: After exploring the rooms accessible through the Polish Quarters (including the rooms accessible through the S12 stairs, where he can get the saw and the pass) and getting important items, during the exercise period (when all the prisoners are allowed to be in the Inner Courtyard and Open Access areas) the polish character goes to the Level 1, collects some more items (including keys and lockpicks in locked rooms) and goes to S10 stairs, goes up to level 2 where he can get the papers in a locked room and meet the american, who gives him his items. Then one of them stalemate the guards by standing in the middle of an open access corridor which blocks guards from passing through while the other goes through the unlocked doors leading to the restricted area close to the american quarters to get the shovel and the uniform. He has to enter stairs S17 and go up to get the uniform. Then, the polish receives those items and returns to Level 1 through the S10 stairs, and goes to the room of my savestate. It's much easier to play if you play in Windowed mode while you have another window opened next to WinUAE window, showing the maps! You HAVE to use the maps, they're essential in this game, or else you waste a lot of keys opening doors that lead to no items at all. Also to get to a room, you have several ways, some of them requiring you to use few or no keys, and others requiring you to waste a lot of keys! Boo Boo, I do not know what WHDload or IPF are, remember, I'm new to Amiga emulation! Last edited by Port_H; 24 August 2008 at 20:50.

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24 August 2008, 18:10	#2
Retro1234 Phone Homer Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: 5150 Posts: 5,789	This game is brilliant but fucking hard could you put the saved state in the zone .

24 August 2008, 18:11	#3
Shoonay Global Caturator Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Porando Age: 43 Posts: 6,107	hello and welcome to EAB btw, you're in for some fun nostalgic time

24 August 2008, 18:19	#4
TCD HOL/FTP busy bee Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Germany Age: 46 Posts: 31,730	Hi Port_H, like Shoonay said welcome to the EAB I also would like to have a look at that problem. Here's the info how you can access the zone to upload your file : http://eab.abime.net/faq.php?faq=vb_...ezone_faq_item

24 August 2008, 18:44	#7
Graham Humphrey Moderator Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Norwich, Norfolk, UK Age: 37 Posts: 11,167	Hi Port_H and welcome to EAB Please can you not post direct links to files in the Zone in future, as it is against forum rules, thanks!

24 August 2008, 18:47	#8
TCD HOL/FTP busy bee Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Germany Age: 46 Posts: 31,730	Just one question : How do I enter the tunnel?

24 August 2008, 18:53	#9
spajdr Old fart Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Ostrava/Czech Republic Age: 46 Posts: 315	Welcome I bet its some copy protection which wasnt properly cracked

24 August 2008, 19:05	#11
TCD HOL/FTP busy bee Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Germany Age: 46 Posts: 31,730	Thanks for the info Boo Boo! Well in a museum the swas is no problem, but if they use it in a game it is. There are quite a lot of movies with it which are not banned in germany. I guess it's about how the swas is shown and in which context.

24 August 2008, 19:13	#13
TCD HOL/FTP busy bee Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Germany Age: 46 Posts: 31,730	Okay I've checked it and it also happens here. Which version do you use Port_H? (filename of the disk)

24 August 2008, 19:29	#14
Port_H Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Portugal Posts: 47	CyberDruid, the file i'm using is escape_from_colditz_(1990)(digital_magic)(m4)-amiga.zip. Do you guys think that the problem lies in the .adf file used when the savestate was made? Can you try to enter the same tunnel using a different version of the .adf file (it must be different than the one i'm using) and see if the problem disappears? Well, If that is the cause of the problem I could always try to find another .adf file of the same game and see if the problem persists... But if I try to use another .adf, can the savestates made with the old .adf still be used, or are they useless and I have to start a new game?

24 August 2008, 19:35	#15
TCD HOL/FTP busy bee Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Germany Age: 46 Posts: 31,730	The statefile is useless if you use another disk, sorry. It seems like you use the uncracked version. Have a look here : http://www.planetemu.net/?section=re...&rubrique=roms Download one of the versions with '[cr' at the end. I have the 'SKR' version, but I have not much time to test it until there. Maybe with a cracked version it works.

24 August 2008, 19:40	#16
Retro1234 Phone Homer Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: 5150 Posts: 5,789	What a pain to play it through again. I wouldnt bother with another ADF id use the WHDload version or IPF When I get a chance ill play it through but it takes ages to find the Saw,Candle E.t.c I also have the original floppy somewhere I can test.

24 August 2008, 20:52	#18
Retro1234 Phone Homer Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: 5150 Posts: 5,789	Ok Ive got the maps - I hadnt read TCD post and hes got a point if its a copy protection fault a cracked ADF version might be better - But once I get a chance Ill give the WHDload version a go this is a HD installed and patched version - If your intrested many people here will help you set it up.But give me a few days and ill give it a go I not realy into gameing at mo but this is a great game.

24 August 2008, 20:56	#19
TCD HOL/FTP busy bee Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Germany Age: 46 Posts: 31,730	Short explanation of WHDLoad and IPF : WHDLoad stands for 'Working HD Load'. That is a program that enables you to install games on the HD of an Amiga which have no installer and/or wouldn't run on newer Amigas. The installers for WHDLoad often fix bugs in the game. With WinUAE you need a virtual HD set up with the Workbench installed. I think since you never owned a real Amiga that will require a longer learning time to set that up, but I must say it's woth the time IPF's are disk images that include all information from the disk including copy protections. They are 100% images of that game. They can only be used with WinUAE. Since it is not allowed to post links to sites that have IPF images on them, I'm afraid for now you should check the cracks on planetemu

24 August 2008, 21:55	#20
Port_H Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Portugal Posts: 47	TheCyberDruid: Soon after I installed WinUAE, I learned how to create a virtual HD, how to install Workbench 3.1 and how to setup WinUAE for a A1200 configuration. I also setup another configuration for older games, the so called "ecs13" configuration, although I believe it was conceived for older versions of WinUAE. I also think I managed to install WB1.3 for the ecs13 configuration, although the instructions I followed were confusing and left me with a useless file called fastfilesystem in my ROMs directory: see http://jambo.abime.net/howto.php?view=20. Perhaps I'll try to learn how to install, setup and use WHDLoad when I have the chance. BTW, I also found this site -GameBase Amiga project. It looks very interesting! What do you guys think of it? Is it worth it to learn more about it? Now I have to go offline, there are RL things to do! I hope i can return to this forum today still. I'm enjoying being part of this forum!

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