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Alas, I can't make this one

All have a good session !

Finally found some time between chaos to progress this a little ! :D I've updated the first post with version 0.2 of the SSD - this now includes load/save game feature ! Just use it similarly to the official release..... In game, press Shift-F9 to relocate the data ready for saving. Press Ctrl-Break...

Thanks sbadger It's an interesting challenge this one !

Work and other issues have slowed progress but hope to get the load/save feature up soon !

That confused me as well..... I'm currently using a somewhat adapted version of this in Pooyan. I've changed it so that I can poke different values into 'playspeed' to vary the music speed, depending on which track I'm playing (ie it's not always a value of 8 ) DEC &09 BNE noplay LDA playspeed: STA ...

Thanks David

Already had a brief look at how the data to be saved/loaded is moved around (and un/encrypted !) in the game and menu programs. Thinking of doing something in the loader to deal with loading/saving games

Another unbeliever ! :lol: Only kidding, thanks David. Only recently read your topic from 4 years ago - https://stardot.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=12158 Excellent stuff ! :D [Edit] - My 'memory issue of the day' - this topic clearly mentions the Elk version having crew members in it !! Yes, a...

Thanks for that, never seen that part of the game before !

I guess one of the main game differences is lack of water colour on the Elk version, just the surface line is displayed. A bit confusing at times !

Not sure at present..... Lets says the BBC version uses memory from &0000-&6000. Electron version uses memory from &0000-&6200, but has about 2 pages of software scrolling. So the memory utilisation should be around the same. Not sure if you get all the end of game stuff on the Elk version, eg: are ...

Thanks VectorEyes :D I had to remind myself how much the standard BBC version (no SWRAM) reduced the playing area. 8k of Mode2 screen memory (&6000-&7FFF) ! Everything below that is definitely in use ! I did chuckle remembering all the write-ups back in the day saying how Exile uses every last byte ...

Thanks trixster :D This was briefly discussed last night. Not sure offhand if the BBC version uses any CRTC screen width restrictions to regain some memory. If it does, then you wouldn't be able to display the helper alongside the gameplay area. Would have to do something similar to Repton2 - Electr...

Ooops,
Just realised there was a couple of collectables displaying the wrong icons !!

All fixed now, have adjusted ssd/uef attachments in first post !

'Must test more. Must test more.'

That had crossed my mind already !

Maybe run through all the cheat options before the game loads, store the values in that 'hidden' Mode6 area, then copy them in after the game loads........

Not sure I'll have enough memory left to use toggles.....
I'll ponder that some more......

Hmmmm......

BiTD I got as far as the lower water caves and messing about with the large block and coronium rocks, but that was it ! Saving/loading the game was too much of a pain !

A vague amount of cheating may be needed if I were going to attempt to complete it now !

Of course not ! :D Now you're just making me paranoid. The random-ish number generator is called all over the place in the game, so I guess there was no thought to reference the already generated values in the wallpaper ! I've been pretty much all over the map and haven't noticed anything out of pla...

That's exactly what I would be thinking if I had seen this topic !

Even if you just disable the wallpaper and have black edges it makes things better as far as I'm concerned (looks as Electron Citadel does, with just the top and bottom code !)

That's what I thought ! Saw this as part of the setup, thinking it was transferring code/data, but no ! :shock: ; 625A - Page Transferred to 6860-6959 .T6860 LDA #&00: STA &02 LDA #&62 LDX #&02 .T6868 STA &03 LDY #&1F .T686C JSR &2671 ; Generate a number for wallpaper CPY #&08: BCS T6877 AND #&77 ; ...

As Demo'd in Weeknight Virtual Dev Session ! Finally got round to doing a compilable disassembly of Electron Exile, and was astonished to find the vertical stripes of code/data down the sides are no such thing ! They're just 'randomish' generated values. EE0.gif Getting rid of them suddenly gives up...

No worries ! 30 minutes to cover both would be great.
Cheers

Thanks Dave, I PM'd you, but could I have a bit longer, as I'd like to go through a bit of new Pooyan stuff, plus what I've done with the Electron Exile sidebars

Looking forward to it

Thanks both :D One of the pains with the intro was adjusting the text printing procedure to deal with the punctuation !! Numbers and Letters fitted quite nicely into a page of memory, but I suddenly needed full stops, commas, exclamations marks etc. Any way, all done and ready for other stuff, and j...

Here's a little update, and SSD below ! Had a family emergency, so progress has been a bit erratic. Decided to have a small break from the main code, so I've done the intro, together with another tune from the original arcade (which all worked out a lot quicker and easier than the previous one ! :D ...

Pretty certain I can make it - hopefully further Pooyan / Electron Exile developments !

This is just one of the most interesting threads I've read, congratulations!

Tend to agree, although Diminished's Citadel Dissection is pretty amazing too !
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=14190

Top work, Ed and tendril !

That's a shame, it'd be quite nice to hide that away !

Thanks Ed, I was just wondering (whilst in the queue at the shops - everyone's panic buying loo roll :roll: ) if a text window would preserve that hidden memory area ! A couple of years ago I was converting a BBC Text Adventure to run on an Electron, Mode 6 - this might give me an extra text display...

Thanks julie_m It all makes sense now (albeit weird, having that 3/5s of a character row)

Seems Mode 3 does similar (the last 384 bytes are hidden off screen !).

Just finding this really handy when struggling to find where to store odd bits of code !

Was intrigued with scrolling, but didn't get what may be expected...... I filled that 'hidden' Mode 6 memory with: 7F40 : 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0A 0B 0C 0D 0E 0F ................ 7F50 : 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1A 1B 1C 1D 1E 1F ................ 7F60 : 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 2A 2...

Of course, scrolling - hadn't even thought of that !

Thanks BigEd

Hi all, It appears Mode 6 doesn't use &7F40-&7FFF for it's screen memory. I've used this space for a small program to shift large amounts of memory around, and it's handy because the code doesn't show on screen as it would with other Modes. I'm just wondering if this is a reasonable thing to do, or ...

Excellent stuff Kelvin, congratulations on your V1 release !