Pinball Dreams: Ignition bug - Page 2

RichL · 29 June 2021, 17:09

Haha, do it - see if they reply

john4p · 29 June 2021, 18:14

Maybe they'd really fix it since it was their first major release.
On the other hand they never bothered to fix the buggy Stones 'n Bones table.

kriz · 29 June 2021, 19:10

That would be close to a miracle lol

My bet goes to the whdload guys ..

john4p · 29 June 2021, 20:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by kriz

My bet goes to the whdload guys ..

Mine, too, but I'm still waiting for my Mantis WHDLoad activation mail. If someone of you already has an account feel free to report the bug yourself there: http://mantis.whdload.de/view_all_bug_page.php

jotd · 29 June 2021, 23:03

destination: uranus

why does that always make me smile inside

Bugreport or not, this is a top notch game and we'll investigate the crash

john4p · 29 June 2021, 23:16

Thank you!

jotd · 30 June 2021, 00:19

can you test this version (slave in the zone) ? I have fixed a wrong address read (also could go further in your savestate and get 1 million points and the game still running)

rsn8887 · 30 June 2021, 00:23

Since you fixed it, can you confirm this was really a bug in the original game?

john4p · 30 June 2021, 09:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by jotd

can you test this version (slave in the zone) ? I have fixed a wrong address read (also could go further in your savestate and get 1 million points and the game still running)

Yep, you've fixed it. When you reach Pluto a new tune is played now. And when you then lit the FUEL-letters again and go up the ramp you're awarded the current jackpot:

I just had gotten a jackpot before this thus it's the minimum amount of 5M.

When you light FUEL again and go up the ramp for the 11th time the planet is back to Mercury.

This is great! Thanks a bunch jotd!

jotd · 30 June 2021, 10:26

that's just great!! I was afraid that the bug was just postponed to the next ramp.

I couldn't just hack the game like I usually do. Pinball programs are pretty different from platformers etc... so I couldn't advance planets, etc... not in one evening.

It's an original game bug all right. Maybe on some configurations it doesn't crash but it's sheer luck as the game reads to some bogus location and then tries maybe to read more pointers from there or whatever...
The bogus location always start by $2920xxxx so if this is found, just zero it and the game continues.

john4p · 30 June 2021, 11:11

Glad it works that way - great job!

tomcat666 · 30 June 2021, 13:54

Great times on amiga lately, and many of those come from jotd. Thank you !

retrogamer · 01 July 2021, 18:32

Is it possible to apply this bugfix for the floppy version as well?

kriz · 01 July 2021, 19:01

Thx jotd, this rocks !!

jotd · 01 July 2021, 21:55

hmm the floppy version has non-standard MFM encoding that could be possible but on a cracked version then. But it doesn't interest me to do it. Maybe ross could be interested.

I wonder how they tested their table. I suppose that it worked at some point, then they made unrelated changes and that broke the feature. Because floppy doesn't work on ANY config apparently.

Forgot to thanks john4p for testing / providing savestate before the crash and playing the game so greatly that he could reproduce the problem again and again (I think I didn't even advance 2 planets...)

john4p · 01 July 2021, 22:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by jotd

Forgot to thanks john4p for testing / providing savestate before the crash and playing the game so greatly that he could reproduce the problem again and again (I think I didn't even advance 2 planets...)

Nah, I used savestates to quickly test your fix. Getting to Pluto legitimately again will take a while...

capehorn · 02 July 2021, 00:10

I have absolutely no knowledge of these kind of things, as may well be apparent by this post! But I also tested this issue using savestates a few years ago. Having opened the savestate in notepad, I came across this section which seemingly contains the text that appears at the top of the table.

Quote:

>>>DESTINATION MERCURY ÿ >>>DESTINATION MARS ÿ >>>DESTINATION EARTH ÿ >>>DESTINATION VENUS ÿ >>>DESTINATION JUPITER ÿ >>>DESTINATION SATURN ÿ >>>DESTINATION URANUS ÿ >>>DESTINATION NEPTUNE ÿ >>>DESTINATION PLUTO ÿ Protection By Goofy/SILENTS GAME PAUSED ÿ-REALLY QUIT (Y/N) -ÿ 1 BALL 3 ÿPLAYER 1 ÿ)))RELAUNCH PLAYER 1ÿ SHOOT THE BALL PL ÿ *** GAME OVER ***

That 'Protection By Goofy/SILENTS' sure seems out of place, right at the point where the bug would take place. I wonder if that has anything to do with what causes the issue?

redblade · 02 July 2021, 00:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by capehorn

That 'Protection By Goofy/SILENTS' sure seems out of place, right at the point where the bug would take place. I wonder if that has anything to do with what causes the issue?

Seems like a sneaky piece of code to put in, especially cause the cracker wouldn't spend ages play testing the game so they could be first. But the experts will tell us.

rsn8887 · 02 July 2021, 03:39

You mean the bug could be a copy protection in disguise? Then it shouldn't happen with .ipf disk version. But @john4td said in an earlier post the bug happens even with the .ipf.

jotd · 02 July 2021, 07:44

well spotted. maybe this text was added after the game was tested & completed and it shifted data and is responsible for the bug...

if game has programming error that makes it read zeroes, then most of the time it gets away with it because a 0 value usually marks the end of something (string, sequence of pointers..). If you change code or data, then this programming error can read something else than zero.

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29 June 2021, 17:09	#21
RichL Registered User Join Date: Jul 2020 Location: Birmingham, UK Age: 50 Posts: 214	Haha, do it - see if they reply

29 June 2021, 18:14	#22
john4p Competition Moderator Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Germany Posts: 4,756	Maybe they'd really fix it since it was their first major release. On the other hand they never bothered to fix the buggy Stones 'n Bones table.

29 June 2021, 19:10	#23
kriz Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: No(R)Way Age: 41 Posts: 3,200	That would be close to a miracle lol My bet goes to the whdload guys ..

29 June 2021, 23:03	#25
jotd This cat is no more Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: FRANCE Age: 52 Posts: 8,201	destination: uranus why does that always make me smile inside Bugreport or not, this is a top notch game and we'll investigate the crash

29 June 2021, 23:16	#26
john4p Competition Moderator Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Germany Posts: 4,756	Thank you!

30 June 2021, 00:19	#27
jotd This cat is no more Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: FRANCE Age: 52 Posts: 8,201	can you test this version (slave in the zone) ? I have fixed a wrong address read (also could go further in your savestate and get 1 million points and the game still running)

30 June 2021, 00:23	#28
rsn8887 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: USA Posts: 1,058	Since you fixed it, can you confirm this was really a bug in the original game?

30 June 2021, 10:26	#30
jotd This cat is no more Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: FRANCE Age: 52 Posts: 8,201	that's just great!! I was afraid that the bug was just postponed to the next ramp. I couldn't just hack the game like I usually do. Pinball programs are pretty different from platformers etc... so I couldn't advance planets, etc... not in one evening. It's an original game bug all right. Maybe on some configurations it doesn't crash but it's sheer luck as the game reads to some bogus location and then tries maybe to read more pointers from there or whatever... The bogus location always start by $2920xxxx so if this is found, just zero it and the game continues.

30 June 2021, 11:11	#31
john4p Competition Moderator Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Germany Posts: 4,756	Glad it works that way - great job!

30 June 2021, 13:54	#32
tomcat666 Retro Freak Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Slovenia Age: 51 Posts: 1,648	Great times on amiga lately, and many of those come from jotd. Thank you !

01 July 2021, 18:32	#33
retrogamer Zone Friend Join Date: May 2006 Location: Sweden Age: 44 Posts: 320	Is it possible to apply this bugfix for the floppy version as well?

01 July 2021, 19:01	#34
kriz Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: No(R)Way Age: 41 Posts: 3,200	Thx jotd, this rocks !!

01 July 2021, 21:55	#35
jotd This cat is no more Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: FRANCE Age: 52 Posts: 8,201	hmm the floppy version has non-standard MFM encoding that could be possible but on a cracked version then. But it doesn't interest me to do it. Maybe ross could be interested. I wonder how they tested their table. I suppose that it worked at some point, then they made unrelated changes and that broke the feature. Because floppy doesn't work on ANY config apparently. Forgot to thanks john4p for testing / providing savestate before the crash and playing the game so greatly that he could reproduce the problem again and again (I think I didn't even advance 2 planets...)

02 July 2021, 03:39	#39
rsn8887 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: USA Posts: 1,058	You mean the bug could be a copy protection in disguise? Then it shouldn't happen with .ipf disk version. But @john4td said in an earlier post the bug happens even with the .ipf.

02 July 2021, 07:44	#40
jotd This cat is no more Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: FRANCE Age: 52 Posts: 8,201	well spotted. maybe this text was added after the game was tested & completed and it shifted data and is responsible for the bug... if game has programming error that makes it read zeroes, then most of the time it gets away with it because a 0 value usually marks the end of something (string, sequence of pointers..). If you change code or data, then this programming error can read something else than zero.

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