Bugman

I was curious if anyone has another copy of Beneath Apple Manor
besides the two that are available on the web. There are two versions
commonly available. The original 1978 integer basic version, and a
special edition that was binary with hi-res graphics.
The reason for my inquiry is because in the special edition, when you
take a brain scan in the game "save game feature" it is also supposed
to save to disk for later use. This feature appears to be broken.
Not a big deal, but I thought I'd ask.

N.N. Thayer

On Oct 15, 11:40*pm, Bugman <btt071...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I was curious if anyone has another copy of Beneath Apple Manor
> besides the two that are available on the web. *There are two versions
> commonly available. *The original 1978 integer basic version, and a
> special edition that was binary with hi-res graphics.
> The reason for my inquiry is because in the special edition, when you
> take a brain scan in the game "save game feature" it is also supposed
> to save to disk for later use. *This feature appears to be broken.
> Not a big deal, but I thought I'd ask.

If there's one thing that bugs me, it's a broken disk image, so I went
ahead and tested both versions of Beneath Apple Manor (original '78 lo-
res and '83 hi-res) in emulation and real hardware.

In AppleWin, the hi-res version dumped me into the monitor when I
tried the scan:

http://tinyurl.com/3mdd66o

BUT I transferred the image to a real floppy and tested on a II Plus,
and there, it worked fine:

http://tinyurl.com/4ylmtvb

What I'm confused about, though, is how the scan is supposed to work.
The game manual seems to indicate that it saves to disk, and that
you'll be prompted to restore your game on your next boot. The scan
saved my stats, but only to memory, not to disk. When I died later in
the game, it retrieved them fine. But I never saw disk access of any
kind.

So, for comparison, I looked at the original lo-res version. In both
emulation and real hardware, it committed my stats to memory, but not
to disk.

I've looked over the game manual, and I can't find anything that says
extra steps are needed to save your game to disk... but I have my
suspicions.

Bugman

My investigation has turned up exactly the same facts as yours. The
manual appears to be talking about the Apple II version too. It seems
as though the Apple version may never have had this feature. The fact
that it doesn’t even ask to restore game upon boot makes that likely.
I've actually begun a dialog with Mr. Worth (the creator) via email as
he was kind enough to respond. He pointed me to the IBM version on
his site and it does have the features as described in the manual. I
just replied to him indicating that I was really hoping to find the
Apple version that saves (if it exists). I'll report back what I find
out.

N.N. Thayer

On Oct 16, 10:03Â*am, Bugman <btt071...@gmail.com> wrote:
> My investigation has turned up exactly the same facts as yours. Â*The
> manual appears to be talking about the Apple II version too. Â*It seems
> as though the Apple version may never have had this feature. Â*The fact
> that it doesn’t even ask to restore game upon boot makes that likely.
> I've actually begun a dialog with Mr. Worth (the creator) via email as
> he was kind enough to respond. Â*He pointed me to the IBM version on
> his site and it does have the features as described in the manual. Â*I
> just replied to him indicating that I was really hoping to find the
> Apple version that saves (if it exists). Â*I'll report back what I find
> out.

I'm not sure he's aware that these Apple versions were ever archived.
The hi-res one was already on Asimov, but the original lo-res one
wasn't, so I uploaded it last year. Happily, it's now been mirrored
and copied everywhere. I seem to recall that Dirk Backenköhl​er was
looking for it a few years back.

Bugman

I think we might have the answer. Don remembers that when the game
tried to save to disk, that is when it would check for appropriate
copy protection. I used a sector editor and did find text for the
question at the beginning of the game "enter game number (0-15)". It
seems that Don might be right in that this feature was broken
(possibly deliberately) when it was cracked. In the apple II
emulator, this can be worked around by saving emulator state. No
solution for a real apple....