Darkmere problem

[manossg]

Hi, fine Amiga people,

I was enjoying Darkmere that I started because of the EAB Leaderboard but the game kept crashing in the second level.

I am using the latest WHDLoad version and I had the problem in my A500 w/ ACA500+, while I tested the save game in emulated Amigas as well and it had the same behavior.

I have attached the savegame file, you just need to extract it and place it in the Data folder.

Maybe there is another version of Darkmere with which the save game works?

Alternatively, maybe you can send me a save game of the 2nd level, so I do not have to restart the game from the beginning?

Thanks!

[jotd]

kept crashing, can you be more accurate? like whdload report/core dump

[manossg]

Originally Posted by jotd

kept crashing, can you be more accurate? like whdload report/core dump

On the emulated Amigas the display gets completely corrupted. In my A500 I actually get an error message, but, due to the lockdown, I am away from the computer at the moment.

[meynaf]

There is a bug with the monsters at the second level. I think it is there regardless of the version.
Sometimes respawned monsters just don't work and mess things up.

[manossg]

Damn...so I guess I would have to find another saved game or just restart the thing and hope it doesn't crash again?

[jotd]

there should be a case of emergency to go out despite the lockdown: reason: "I must visit a real amiga"

[manossg]

Originally Posted by jotd

there should be a case of emergency to go out despite the lockdown: reason: "I must visit a real amiga"

Lol, I don't think I will find any retro-sympathetic greek cops! :S

[manossg]

Originally Posted by jotd

kept crashing, can you be more accurate? like whdload report/core dump

Ok, I ninja-ed my way to my Amiga and took a screenshot of the error message. Any ideas?

[jotd]

it can be anything. I'd say corrupt files/unsupported version as the game runs on whdload from a real amiga.

when are you getting this error? can you post a proper bug report on mantis.whdload.de ?

[manossg]

Originally Posted by jotd

it can be anything. I'd say corrupt files/unsupported version as the game runs on whdload from a real amiga.

when are you getting this error? can you post a proper bug report on mantis.whdload.de ?

On emulated Amigas it still crashes, but I don't get the error message.

I have attached a save file in the OP, in which if you go left it always crashes. I got crashes all the time before that, but this time the crash could be reproduced every time (and I got stuck :S ).

Do I have to make an account for the bug report?

[DamienD]

Are you sing Retroplay's preinstalled packages?

Or did you do yourself with a certain disk set?

[manossg]

Originally Posted by DamienD

Are you sing Retroplay's preinstalled packages?

Or did you do yourself with a certain disk set?

I got this one from the WHDownload site, so I think it is the Retroplay version.

[saimo]

For a few reasons, lately I had to take a forced break from development. I decided to use my free time before going to bed to relax with something I almost never have a chance to do: playing a video game. I remembered that some 20 years ago I could not finish a game because it crashed on the second level - you guessed it, it's Darkmere - so, remembering how I had enjoyed it, I gave it another try (and put to good use the maps I had drawn back then).

I started the game from scratch, played it diligently and... yep, it crashed again, and exactly at the same point, i.e. when it is necessary to go search for Ascomecetes' sisters. I restarted the game from the last savegame and decided to do things differently by first getting the unicorn's horn, and so I have discovered that the crash happens also when going to Ascomecetes (after bringing the horn to Malthar).
The crash happens on a real A1200 and also on A500, A600 and A1200 emulated in UAE, with a wide variety of settings, with both the WHDLoad-installed game and the original game running from IPFs and regardless of the language (I tried them all).

If it's of any help, here are a couple of savegames that allow to cause the crash without any effort:
* SaveDisk-AHBA = After Horn, Before Ascomecetes = the unicorn horn has just been given to Malthar; the next step is to go to Ascomecetes; however, going south from the point the game restarts at crashes everything; that's the only possible path;
* SaveDisk-AUAA = After Unicorn, After Ascomecetes = the unicorn has been met, and it is necessary to return to it after killing the orc(s) that wounded it; Ascomecetes has been met, and it is necessary to find her sisters; however, going east from the point the game restarts at crashes everything; that's the only possible path.

[Gordon]

Are you saving to HDD? I never had a problem saving to it (custom =1 ) with this and I got quite far

[jotd]

@Gordon, update your slave. Default is now save to hard drive. This old save to floppy option is ancient history. Should have been removed

I'm going to have a look at Saimo issue. I love a great reproducer. Would have been better in mantis, but what the hell...

I've found that playing games on my real machine before going to bed is also a good way to relax. Coding is not

[saimo]

@Gordon

Originally Posted by Gordon

Are you saving to HDD? I never had a problem saving to it (custom =1 ) with this and I got quite far

Yes, the same happens also when saving to floppy (real or emulated). Just to be clear: loading/saving works perfectly.


@jotd

Originally Posted by jotd

I'm going to have a look at Saimo issue.

Wow, thanks!

I love a great reproducer. Would have been better in mantis, but what the hell...

Seeing what you had written in a previous post, I actually went there, but honestly having to register put me off.

I've found that playing games on my real machine before going to bed is also a good way to relax. Coding is not

Exactly. One of the reasons why I had to stop developing and I went for some gaming is precisely sleep problems.

[jotd]

@Saimo: bingo: access fault, same error as reported earlier (in the screenshot), different address, but similar.

I know that registering mantis needs some effort, but it's nice because you can discuss the issue, ping people (they get an e-mail), follow your bug. And believe that it's checked by the active whd devs (Bert, Stingray, Psygore, possibly CFou! and me)

I'm taking that one without mantis bug since it was so easy to reproduce.

[retrogamer]

@JOTD if you are going to update the slave please can you change memory requiment to 512kb + 512kb if possible?

[manossg]

It would be great if the game gets fixed, thanks jotd for the effort!

[jotd]

just found a loop that clears all memory on Saimo saves... a good start

Then I'll handle manossg save that seems to be a different issue.

Wepl updated the very old slave, but Mick didn't provide source (and disappeared from the face of earth after that...) so Wepl had to resource it... I'm going to upgrade it properly, with 512k chip only too (currently needs 1MB chip so A500 users with the new turbo cards can't use whdload, oh just saw retrogamer post that asks exactly that )