Tiny differences between CSBWin DM and Atari ST DM

Discuss anything about the original Dungeon Master on any of the original platforms (Amiga, Atari, etc.).
This forum may contain spoilers.

Moderator: Ameena

Forum rules
Please read the Forum rules and policies before posting. You may Image to help finance the hosting costs of this forum.
Post Reply
denesis
Neophyte
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Dec 15, 2003 4:33 pm

Tiny differences between CSBWin DM and Atari ST DM

Post by denesis »

I much prefer this version to RTC cos I can set the speed and play in a window as opposed to full screen. Here are some little quirks of CSBWin that differ from old the ST version:

When you gain a level in CSBWin, the messages lacks the exclamation point that the ST version had.

When you press a button that is hidden in a low wall crevice, the wall suddenly changes to a high crevice. This seems to be a minor bug.

That's all I've noticed so far...has anybody noticed any others?

Dennis
User avatar
beowuuf
Archmastiff
Posts: 20686
Joined: Sat Sep 16, 2000 2:00 pm
Location: Basingstoke, UK

Post by beowuuf »

Windowed RTC - in the config file:

FULLSCREEN<tab>NO

It's worked in all the versions so far, but George has never made it official, for whatever reasons...

Interetsing about the differences, i thought that the dungeon/graphics.dat files were directly taken from the atari ST version...
User avatar
Paul Stevens
CSBwin Guru
Posts: 4322
Joined: Sun Apr 08, 2001 6:00 pm
Location: Madison, Wisconsin, USA

Post by Paul Stevens »

The runtime engine is from Chaos Strikes Back.
I was quite amazed that it ran at all when using the
Dungeon Master graphics files and dungeon files.
I never suspected that it would work until someone
tried it and told me that it worked. About all I had
to fix was the ending sequence and put in the DM Rules
for reincarnation/resurrection.

So the fact that there are a couple of differences when
playing DM is not at all surprising to me. I am happy
that it even comes close to being the same. I have
investigated the Crack Switch and, indeed, the DM graphics
file is wrong. The ST DM runtime engine must have been a
little different and compensated for the error somehow.
The Crack Switch is correctly specified in the CSB graphics.
User avatar
Charlatan75
Apprentice
Posts: 59
Joined: Mon Nov 10, 2003 2:32 pm

Post by Charlatan75 »

Hello! :)

As Paul Stevens said, the bug with the "button hidden in a hole" is just a small error in the "graphics.dat" file. This error appears in some Atari ST versions of Dungeon Master... but not in all of them! ^^

For example, I've just looked into the "graphics.dat" file of an english Atari ST version and it contains this error. And also another fun bug : the wrong picture is used when you put a torch on the floor (you see some kind of staff instead of the real picture of the torch).

Then I looked into the "graphics.dat" file of a french Atari ST version, and in this one, these two mistakes were corrected.

- Charlatan75 -
User avatar
beowuuf
Archmastiff
Posts: 20686
Joined: Sat Sep 16, 2000 2:00 pm
Location: Basingstoke, UK

Post by beowuuf »

good point, i actually noticed that one and forgot!

interesting, so can the french version be adapted?
User avatar
Charlatan75
Apprentice
Posts: 59
Joined: Mon Nov 10, 2003 2:32 pm

Post by Charlatan75 »

Oops! The thing with the torch is not really a bug... in fact, the graphic 0396 is simply different in the two versions I checked! In the english version, which is probably older, it looks more like a staff, that's probably why this graphic has been changed and really looks like a torch in the french version...
User avatar
Charlatan75
Apprentice
Posts: 59
Joined: Mon Nov 10, 2003 2:32 pm

Post by Charlatan75 »

The bug with the "button in the hole" can be easily corrected. We just need to extract the content of the graphics.dat file using Rain's tool DMExtract, then open the file 0558 and change the value of the byte 3202 (the correct value is 02 instead of 00) (NB: I consider the first byte of the file is byte nuber 1).

I can do that if you want, and also change the picture of the torch, but the size of the final "graphics.dat" file will be bigger, because I think DMExtract does not compress the data when creating a new "graphics.dat" file.

- Charlatan75 -
User avatar
Charlatan75
Apprentice
Posts: 59
Joined: Mon Nov 10, 2003 2:32 pm

Post by Charlatan75 »

Hello! :)

I think I found a better solution. ^^

I looked into the various Atari ST versions of Dungeon Master that you can download at the Encyclopaedia and found an english version (v1.1) in which the bug with the "button in the hole" wad corrected and where the
"good" picture is used for the torch.

You can find the "Graphics.dat" file extracted from this version here :

http://pageperso.aol.fr/TheCharlatan75/ ... aphics.zip

- Charlatan75 -
User avatar
Paul Stevens
CSBwin Guru
Posts: 4322
Joined: Sun Apr 08, 2001 6:00 pm
Location: Madison, Wisconsin, USA

Post by Paul Stevens »

Thanks for the work. If a couple of people try this
and agree that it is a good idea, i will use this in future
releases of CSBwin.
Post Reply