Snakes!

I just wanted to say that's it's great to see that people still enjoy this Amiga game, it sure brings back memories
I don't think I have an Amiga copy left unfortunately

But we also made a PC version of the SNAKES game with the same Amiga mods and graphics but you probably have to run it in a tool called DOSbox if you have Windows 7.

If someone knows a programmer who would like to convert the SNAKES game to another system e.g. PS3 or do a SNAKES 2 version let me know.

Have fun!

Kind regards,

Marco
Victrix software

[prowler]

Thanks for getting in touch via this thread, Marco!

Originally Posted by victrix

I don't think I have an Amiga copy left unfortunately

If I succeed in restoring pickaweapon's disk, there will be an Amiga copy for everyone if that's okay with you.

[prowler]

As from today, I have exhausted the possibililies of salvaging this disk with my PC equipment using Disk2FDI Registered version, and my Catweasel MK4 and KryoFlux floppy disk controllers with all PC compatible 3½-inch floppy drives I own.

Tomorrow, I shall continue this work using all my Amiga compatible floppy drives fitted to the A1200 I purchased this week from DaveMB running TSGui v2.5b15 and DiskMonTools v3.14 Registered.

The Amiga would have been my first choice for this task, but the recent worsening of the video fault on my Commodore A1200 meant that this option was not available until now.

[Paul_s]

Any news Mr. P?

Your efforts should win you the Nobel Peace Prize (can't keep a man (or woman) away from SNAKES!)

[prowler]

Originally Posted by Paul_s

Any news Mr. P?

This work is underway on my new Amiga setup, but I'm at the point of diminishing returns as far as salvaging the data from the disk is concerned. However, I won't stop until I have exhausted every possibility because this will give greater certainty than trying to reconstruct the missing data.

Even if I don't actually manage to salvage anything new from the disk, it will increase my confidence in what has already been recovered.

As soon as I make any progress, I'll be uploading a new WIP disk image.

[clenched]

Prowler is within one bit, not byte mind you, but bit of having that screen fixed.

[prowler]

Originally Posted by clenched

Prowler is within one bit, not byte mind you, but bit of having that screen fixed.

Do you have a good copy of this disk, clenched? Or maybe you've fixed that screen?

I seem to have fixed another bad sector this evening, but I've not yet had a chance to fix up the WIP disk image.

[clenched]

I spent the better part of Saturday afternoon on WIP and the DEMO and made a few interesting discoveries. I didn't want to blab them all over and bias what you're doing. At the same time, I wanted to give others a glimmer of hope. The short answer is yes, I think so. If you want me to write it all up then say the word.

[prowler]

Yes please, mate!

This thread is open to all who would like to contribute to the effort of preserving this game. That's why I have been regularly updating and sharing the WIP disk images.

It had occurred to me that I might find code in the demo version to patch up some of the missing or damaged parts of the full version disk, but I would have investigated that only after I had exhausted the possibilities of salvaging everything the disk contains, because that is by far my greater skill.

I'm still making progress on that, but I would certainly welcome a parallel contribution from yourself to fix what I have already salvaged by working with the images I have uploaded - especially if you can provide some explanatory notes to go with it.

In the meantime, I'll try to get an updated WIP disk image uploaded ASAP.

[clenched]

Give me half an hour. If there are no intervening posts then it will be here.

EDIT:
Prowler - Here are four changes for you to have a look at. Made with wip6. Original byte on left, new on right.

00005DAA: FA FF Look closely at the last S on the snakes logo when first booting. See the two lighter pixels? This change is the new data after repainting.

00007529: DC 5C Fix keyboard selector that caused selector to spring back and also some wrong data to be blitted. Arrived at by comparing DEMO code to WIP code.

0000C268: 05 07 Unscramble opening picture. Arrived at by comparing DEMO data to WIP data.

00051ED8: 30 08 This is just hack of level 15 that replaces the blue mine with another harmless tile. I did transplant the entire level 15 data into the DEMO (300 bytes 20*15 tiles) and it locked up too. So there is a possibility that bug could have always been there.

So #1 is a guess but reasonable I think. #2,#3 99% sure. #4 doubtful but better than it was.

[prowler]

Originally Posted by clenched

Give me half an hour. If there are no intervening posts then it will be here.

Thanks for your effort on this, mate.

Originally Posted by clenched

Prowler - Here are four changes for you to have a look at. Made with wip6. Original byte on left, new on right.

00005DAA: FA FF Look closely at the last S on the snakes logo when first booting. See the two lighter pixels? This change is the new data after repainting.

Yes, I had noticed that. Thanks for fixing it!

Originally Posted by clenched

00007529: DC 5C Fix keyboard selector that caused selector to spring back and also some wrong data to be blitted. Arrived at by comparing DEMO code to WIP code.

Thanks again!

Originally Posted by clenched

0000C268: 05 07 Unscramble opening picture. Arrived at by comparing DEMO data to WIP data.

I can confirm this change, which fixes the bad sector I mentioned in my last but one post, so this fix appears in the WIP7 image I have attached below.

Originally Posted by clenched

00051ED8: 30 08 This is just hack of level 15 that replaces the blue mine with another harmless tile. I did transplant the entire level 15 data into the DEMO (300 bytes 20*15 tiles) and it locked up too. So there is a possibility that bug could have always been there.

Good work!

Originally Posted by clenched

So #1 is a guess but reasonable I think. #2,#3 99% sure. #4 doubtful but better than it was.

I agree with your reasoning for changes #1 and #2, and I can confirm change #3 fixes a bad sector which I recovered earlier this evening.

Because change #4 comprises a 3-bit change, I don't think it will reverse disk corruption of the type I am seeing on this disk, so your theory that this bug could always have been there may be a good one.

Apart from change #3, which is already included in WIP7, and fixes the title screen at last, I would first like to test the effect of introducing these other changes on the status of the 8 remaining bad sectors before I include them in the next WIP.

[clenched]

I have placed the tile data in the Zone for you in case a PC copy ever turns up and a level needs changing.

[Retro1234]

Originally Posted by prowler

Could you upload the raw data for the highscore table for me please, or tell me the range of offsets where it can be found in the ADF? Thanks.

First Sorry for my late reply ive not been able to get at my PC stuff and dont know if you still need the info but try from !291,766 to 298,433
Maybe the game doesnt save high scores.

Second well done guys keep going prowler

@clenched I like your style seem to be working quickly finding those addresses especially the level data addresses - make a little Map editor at the end

Pc Version
http://www.download-central.ws/DOS/Games/S/Snakes!/

I wouldnt be surprise if it was a bug within the game - a lot of levels to test, similar have happend with other games in the past.

Originally Posted by victrix

I just wanted to say that's it's great to see that people still enjoy this Amiga game, it sure brings back memories
I don't think I have an Amiga copy left unfortunately

Welcome Dude and BIG THANKS! for a nice game

[clenched]

Originally Posted by Boo Boo

make a little Map editor at the end

I grabbed one off Aminet called Maper that works nicely. Just load the IFF in the Zone into it. When asked for tile dimension give 16x16 and Map dimension 20x15. Build level, Save map, replace the appropriate 300 bytes on the ADF and there you go. I forget exactly where levels start on disk or if they are contiguous or even in sequence. The only reason I bothered was because I noticed the Jolly Roger tile and wondered if it had any special surprises

[Retro1234]

Originally Posted by clenched

I grabbed one off Aminet called Maper that works nicely.

Youve been there and done that - Nice One looks like a good Map Editor

[prowler]

Originally Posted by Boo Boo

First Sorry for my late reply ive not been able to get at my PC stuff and dont know if you still need the info but try from !291,766 to 298,433

Thanks, Boo Boo. I'm just trying to map where everything is on the disk to increase my confidence in which blocks are okay. There is no other reliable check for an NDOS disk.

Originally Posted by Boo Boo

Maybe the game doesnt save high scores.

I'm beginning to think it doesn't, unless it's prevented from doing so by some missing data or corruption in the first two tracks.

Originally Posted by clenched

I have placed the tile data in the Zone for you in case a PC copy ever turns up and a level needs changing.

Thanks, mate!

I've had the WIP7 disk image running in WinUAE this evening, and the title screen is now as clean as a whistle! (New screenshot attached.) In fact, it exactly matches that of the Demo version!

I've incorporated all the changes you contributed into the new WIP8 version. Those two fixes you derived from the Demo version code each fix a bad sector as far as I can tell, but the sector containing the Level 15 bug was good anyway, so it appears that the bug has been there all along, as you suggested. I wonder whether pickaweapon will be able to tell us. I'll leave the change in for now. We might as well fix the bug while we're fixing everything else.

I'm assuming you unpacked the Demo code to find those fixes. Can I ask what tool you used to do that?

Hey, there are now only six bad sectors to go!

[Paul_s]

Great work guys

This game brings back memories in certain ways as it explains why I swore a lot at my Amiga. Gah that sodding computer player who makes me crash into him on purpose

[clenched]

I didn't take the trouble to unpack the demo. It was just visual inspection using WinUAE's debugger and running them both side-by-side.

[prowler]

This evening, I managed to salvage the Snakes disk Cylinder 0 intact to fix another bad sector. Only five to go now!

I'm not sure that this will make any noticeable difference to the game. However, I'm still a little concerned that Highscores are not saved to the disk. If this is caused by disk corruption, then I think that if I could just salvage Cylinder 1 intact as well, then it might well fix that problem.

Here for your enjoyment is the WIP9 disk image. All comments and bug reports are welcome as usual. I haven't tested it myself yet.

[prowler]

This evening, using another disk drive and TSGui, I managed to salvage both Cylinders 0 and 1 intact. However, for the first time in my experience, there are discrepancies between the apparently valid data captured yesterday and today for Cylinder 0, and these discrepancies can clearly be attributed to corruption of the data in both captures.

Furthermore, there are similar discrepancies between the apparently valid data captured for Cylinder 1 today using TSGui and previously using my KryoFlux setup on my PC.

These two cylinders have repeatedly shown this sort of behaviour which gives seemingly valid data captures which turn out to be different from day to day.

Using this collection of information, I have tried to construct authentic data to fill the flaky sectors in this region of the disk, and these are the only changes in the WIPA disk image, which I really must get around to testing next...

There are still 5 known bad sectors in this disk image, none of which are in the first 15 cylinders, and all of which I suspect will require only trivial changes to fix them but, at this point, I've still not finished trying to salvage this information from the disk.