As I Understand It ...

Sam.

For some reason the Micro User site http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/themicrouser/indexes.htm is not opening up all of 1989. Is there a URL for STH for Micro User cover discs and tapes?

Actually, the site you linked does open up indexes up to August 1989, but all the ones after haven't been finished (all the ones in italics). The unfinished italiced ones were links to the cover scans on 8bs.com - but that site has been down for quite some time. There is a mirror available of the 8bs static content (not the scripts), if you want to search through it.

The index of all the Micro User disk images temporarily hosted on STH is just:

http://www.stairwaytohell.com/temporary/pool/tmu

Sam.

Just dug out all the old (comp!) mags from Dad's loft... inc. two copies of that original Exile cheat issue of TMU - I remember asking Dad to pick up a copy for me as well as going and buying one myself, only to be disappointed it wasn't my name in print!

...also found my AU Parasoft Logo & Sprites mention - July 1987 p15 - will be keeping that one safe!

EXILEL was on all versions AFAIK.

It's loading the protected !BOOT from the original disk, then decrypting it and getting to the stage where it would usually load !B to show the loading screen with lines 280 - 520.

So long as EXILEMC has an exec address of &7E8F and EXILEB &79AD then it should be possible to get them working somehow...

Having laid my hands on TMUs whilst having a tidy up yesterday, I found that April 1991 issue where they had the 2nd instalments of the Bonfield cheats. From the very quick glance, AIUI , the existence of this file is one of the things the updated cheat checks for to determine version of the disc. Seems that he also changed all the EQUx statements to OPTFNequx. to deal with Basic I which it looks like I catered for in my vers.

Because my cheat requires a saved game, don't expect that the addresses it JMPs to are necessarily the EXEC addresses of the original binaries. I suspect it starts running the original game code perhaps at the point just after you load in a saved game.

The saved game, and initial starting point are handled by the supervisor program, EXILEL. I'm trying to run the cheat on BeebEM using Watford DFS and the cheat code, assembled at 1000 onwards, stopping somewhere before 1200 where the saved game is loaded, is getting overwritten.

EDIT: Have just tried the modified cheat with BeebEM in Master 128 mode and the game works fine! I have all the weapons from the start, i guess i'm immortal. Not sure what other things it cheats at
It doesn't bypass the password though, and i don't have the novella to hand

Good news you got it working! Intrigued however - when you say 'the modified cheat', what do you mean? And you've got it working using which Exile - the Exile.ssd off the STH site? Because that didn't ask for a password from the novella when I tried it the other day.

Did you try it with both standard and enhanced versions?

Interesting observation about the overwriting from 1000 - makes sense, though I wonder if there was another version of this that I sent to TMU which relocated the code... I say that because my Model B that I used in those days was fitted with Watford DFS 1.44

In terms of what the cheat does, just literally opened the SSD in Notepad (thank God ASCII has remained a standard!) and ripped this text out of it - from the article I wrote for TMU - includes a bit about passwords:

"Enter the program into your BBC Micro as printed - being careful to avoid typing mistakes, which are all too easy to make - and save it onto a disc by typing SAVE "UPGRADE"

After saving, RUN the program. You should receive a message on the screen announcing the upgrade and you will be asked to select between the standard game and the enhanced version. You will then be prompted to enter a filename of a saved game after inserting a game file disc.

The program needs to load a saved game position itself as it does not use the Exile supervisor program. If you do not have a saved game position, load Exile and choose the SAVE GAME option from the supervisor menu. Enter a suitable filename for the file and save it onto a disc - this is the default (starting) position.

If all goes well, the program will load the file using the name you have entered. You will then be asked to insert your Exile disc, from which the game will be subsequently loaded. After the game has loaded you will, as usual, be asked for the password from the novella. After entering this, you will receive an announcement of the upgrade and the game will run with the enhanced features.

If any of the above sequence of events go wrong, or if you receive a message saying CHECKSUM ERROR, you will need to check your program for typing errors.

Armed with this upgrade, you can now look forward to many happy hours of adventuring into the caverns deep down, and discovering Exile properly.

Welcome to the easy world of Exile!

The upgrade adds the following list of features to Exile.

Any of the weapons, including the protection suit, are available at any time, whether they have or have not been collected. These are simply selected as in the normal game using the function keys, as detailed in the instruction booklet. These keys also have an additional function of topping up the weapon's energy. Because of this, the energy transfer function utilising the SHIFT key has been disabled. An indication of the amount of energy left in the weapon is not given, as you effectively have infinite energy, only recharging the weapon when you need to!

You have the status of immortality as you cannot be harmed by grenades, bolts from robots, fires, etc. Therefore you never get transported automatically, and you do not lose points for death. It is important to remember though, that the physical effects of blasts, etc. still affect you and so, for example, you will be blown backwards if you stand near a grenade as it explodes.

Keys are not required during the game. You automatically gain possession of the relevant key when you attempt to open a door - note that the remote activator is still required to actually open the doors.

Transporters may be switched on and off using the remote activator. This is useful in situations when you are trapped and your only way to progress is to bypass a transporter.

The password required to enter the game is now dependant on the particular game file loaded rather than being randomly selected, for example, the password for the default game position is SHOUTED.

It is worth noting that the features allowing access to all the weapons and keys do NOT do the equivalent to collecting the particular object, and so the object still exists within the game and can be collected. However, collecting the object will not do any harm and you will in fact gain extra points!"

Have fun!

Modified in the sense I deleted the lines that decode !BOOT and get the virtual catalogue in memory (280 - 520)
I got it working using a copy of Exile i transferred from the original release. The Exile.ssd from the STH site has been hacked in some way to remove the password, which is possibly why the exec addresses are different.
Both standard and enhanced versions work.
I think there are only 2 bytes to change to remove the password check/allow SHIFT-F9 to exit the game, so it wouldn't be hard to add them to the cheat.

Great work Bill - thanks for proving my sanity if nothing else... I was starting to doubt it! I dare say this was probably one of the first full-on cheats that was developed for the game, and you'll understand why I was so irritated that it didn't end up in print! I had a vague memory come back about a telephone conversation with Steve Turnbull too about the cheat, having seen his name in the magazines yesterday... and I think it was he that acknowledged the screw-up / mix-up and arranged for some cash. I wonder if he's still around! Should get Sherlock Moore on the case...

So you think that your cheat was on the subscription tape?

Not any more. Looks like they never put it out despite accepting the submission.

Sorry to hear that. They took long enough as well didn't they ? Given that you wrote it in Arpil 1989. Did you ever see the Elk cheat published?

I've seen a few versions of Exile - one from RetroBBC called "exileAlt" which features a modified version of the James Bonfield cheat. The other is a RISC OS-style application which contains the version that has been hacked to remove the password/novella. The third is the disc image off STH.

Yes that's what I talked about at the beginning. My memory on this is a bit clearer having found the magazines, opened up the unearthed files on those discs DaveM managed to image, and seen the names of their editorial teams printed on the insides. From what I remember now it was something like this (but I could still be wrong on some points, and therefore don't take this to represent fact):

I had a reply pretty soon after the cheats were sent in to say they (can't remember if just TMU or EU or both) would be happy to publish them, but there was a competition on so they didn't want to spoil it, so they'd hold off. I did get a cheque for £150.

When the Bonfield cheats then got published - I assume after the competition ended - I remember a phone conversation with Steve Turnbull, who apologised for the confusion and mix up. I can't remember exactly what was said, but I think that was the end of the line for my cheats, unfortunately.

There was obviously no need to publish my cheats as well after having one set out there. Ho hum.

In terms of versions of Exile for the purposes of my cheat, we are talking only about official versions from Superior - and as has been mentioned before, there are four known BBC disc ones.

I'm surprised EU didn't publish it.

Btw, Steve Turnbull is still around and occasionally used RISC OS to my knowledge.

Yeah I thought the same - hence my looking through all the mags last weekend only to find some unattributed cheat in one of the issues... way, way, way after I'd written mine.

If anyone's in contact with Steve, it might be worth asking if he has any recollection of what went on!

It's a bit weird to read this thread knowing it's been up for some time and I think I had the answer all along but didn't see it...!

The very last issue of Electron User (EU 7.10) carried the EXILE cheat in its entirety and it is right there on the EU 7.10 covertape and companion disc. However, they forgot to print the listing in the magazine in print format. I noticed this about twelve years ago.