[Project] Ambermoon bugfix patches about ambermoon.net HOT 322 OPEN

Thanks this has never been reported. Is it 100% reproducible?

I only tested with german v1.01 (22-11-1993). But with this version it is reproducible.

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In the NPC data only the existence of the strings is checked. Not the harp. There is no condition event for it. To provide a fix I will need some more time. Adding the condition event is easy but maintaining the correct linked event list is a bit more tricky. Will come back to it soon.

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Whatever is easier. It would be good to prove this is an actual bug in the Amiga version and see what happens when you exceed 32 entries.

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I have testet the this with horses. Indeed after buying 29 horses you won't be able to buy anymore. I simply would leave this issue as it is. I can't think of any scenario where you would buy 29 horses or ships. I never bought more than one, so this should not be a real issue. You can't return to the ship merchant without your ship anyway.

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Map 258 (grandfather's house) has a third NPC inside its character reference section.
I would like to remove the unused data anyway.
Removed unused character data from map 258

Can you please give me some more details about this fix? Which file/sub-file was it in? Presumably one of the *Map_data.amb Thanks.

This is also present in the german version. There is a doc file for german as well with a bit more information: https://github.com/Pyrdacor/Ambermoon/blob/master/Disks/Bugfixing/German/AdditionalFixes.md

For this specific bug it is: 2Map_data.amb (map 258 decimal, I set the following bytes to 0: 0x4A to 0x51).

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• The occurences of PELANI were changed to PELANIS but iirc the real name of him is indeed "PELANI" and not "PELANIS". Am I right?

I don't think it matters as long as all references are the same. There are I believe 6 references in the v1.07 game. 3 are PELANIS and 3 are PELANI.

1. NPC_char.amb : 01C : PELANI
2. 2map_texts.amb : 1A0 : PALACE OF PELANIS
3. 2map_texts.amb : 1A1 : PALACE OF PELANIS
4. 2map_texts.amb : 1A1 : PLEASE ASK PELANIS
5. 2map_texts.amb : 1A3 : PALACE OF PENANI
6. AM2_CPU/BLT : PELANI'S KEY

In Amberstar (german), the character is named PELANIS, his house is "PELANIS? HAUS", where ? is 0xFD in MAP_DATA (I assume it should be an apostophe - but it's not displayed in game - probably a bug). There is also a statue of him with the text " PELANIS - 5. HÜTER DES HORSTES", so I assume the S is part of his name.

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@a1exh About the golem that appears at 00:00 in temple of gala. A little bit more background.

First of all the character has type 'party member' (value 0) and not the random movement bit set. Both is encoded in byte 0x9A in map file 277 (0x115) in 2Map_data.amb.

All other golems are monsters with random movement. This means the byte is 06 instead of 00. So first you have to change byte 0x9A from 00 to 06.

But there is something more to consider. Non-monster characters without the random movement flag use a fixed movement path that has a position for each time slot of a day (every 5 ingame minutes). There are 288 of those slots (24 hours = 24*60 minues, divided by 5 is 288).

So the 'party member' golem has 288 positions stored in the map as well. The first position is indeed the correct map position where the golem should be. And the rest (287 positions) are just 0 (x=0, y=0).

The first time slot is the time at 00:00. This is the reason why the golem appears exactly at midnight as at this timeslot the position value is valid. At every other time the golem will move to x=0, y=0 which is outside the visible map.

This is the background of the mysterious party member golem. It was never intended to add a golem party member. ;) It's only a bug inside the data.

But back to fixing the bug. Changing the character type is not enough. The movement data has to be removed as well. Otherwise all following golems will be bugged! So monsters with random movements only use 1 position (the spawn position) instead of 288. So 287 of those have to be removed. Each position is stored as 2 bytes (x and y). So 574 bytes must be removed. They start at 0x154A. The first slot position at 0x1548 should be kept as it is already correct and is the spawn position.

If you're curious about where the golem spawns at 00:00 in the original. At x=29, y=15. ;)

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I added a floor texture to the town of S'Angrila. To do so you just have to replace byte 0x07 in labdata file 0x22 inside 2Lab_data.amb from 00 to 09.

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I don't know if this was already mentioned but there is a bug in the cellar of Mera's house (the witch house). If you go through the riddlemouth and walk into the large room with the cauldron the wall comes down. The problem is that the player gets often stuck inside the wall.

I think the problem is that the "wall down" event is triggered too close to the wall. To fix this or make it more secure to avoid the bug I guess the position of the events should be moved a bit more further from the wall.

The bug is shown in this german walkthrough: https://youtu.be/9hOzLmXjGnk?t=1347

from ambermoon.net.

NPC_texts.amb : 036.amb (Brog)

1. "YOU KNOW ABOUT MY LOVE FOR MAGIC. WHAT A SHAME THAT SO FEW OF THE PEOPLE HERE FEEL THE SAME!"
2. "HOW HAPPY I WOULD BE IF DORINA RETURNED TO US!"
3. "MY FRIENDS, MY PLEASURE ABOUT DORINA RETURNING TO US IS AT LEAST AS GREAT AS KIRE'S! AND HOW SHE HAS DEVELOPED HER TALENTS! TREMENDOUSLY WELL! AS I HEARD, YOU HAD A FEW PROBLEMS BECAUSE OF THAT ..."

These 3 cannot be triggered in the current state of the game data. So yes they are unused.

Here is the background:

• First of all: They are used in the NPC events of Brog.
• Text 1 would be used when you say the word "MAGIC" and the global variable 48 would be 1.
• Text 2 would be used when you say the word "DORINA" and the global variable 49 would be 1 and Dorina has not received Kire's letter.
• Text 3 would be used when you say the word "DORINA" and the global variable 49 would be 1 and Dorina has received Kire's letter.

The problem now is that there is no event in the entire game which sets either variable 48 or 49 to 1.

From the context of the texts that are used when those variables are not set I am sure that these variables should be set by the Brog events themselves.

So for the first time he would say:

"OH, THE MAGIC! THE FASCINATION OF SECRET KNOWLEDGE! AS YOU CAN SEE, I DO NOT SHARE THE OPINION HELD BY MY HONOURED ASSOCIATES: MOST OF THEM THINK ANY KIND OF MAGIC IS NOT A WORTHY ART-FORM AND AT BEST THEY TREAT IT WITH TOTAL DISDAIN.^ HOW I LONG FOR AN EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION WITH COMPETENT SPECIALISTS!"^ INK 30 HE BEGINS AN EXCITED CONVERSATION WITH THE MAGICIANS IN THE GROUP.

And

"DORINA'S DEPARTURE DISTURBED ME DEEPLY, ESPECIALLY AS MY BROTHER, THE HEALER, WENT TO DOR KIREDON AT THE SAME TIME. YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT DORINA HAS AN UNUSUALLY WELL DEVELOPED GIFT FOR MAGIC SPELLS AMONGST OUR PEOPLE.^ HER TALENT EXTENDED SO FAR THAT SHE COULD CREATE CONTINUOUS ILLUSIONS AND IMAGES. AFTER SHE PRACTISED WITH ME IT BECAME CLEAR THAT IF SHE CONCENTRATED TOTALLY SHE COULD ACTUALLY PRODUCE REAL MATERIALS BY MAGIC. KIRE HATED ME FOR THAT BUT SINCE THEY THINK I AM WEIRD ANYWAY, IT WAS DIFFICULT FOR HIM TO PUT PRESSURE ON ME.^ WHAT HAS BECOME OF DORINA NOW? OUR UNHAPPINESS CONTINUES SINCE WE WERE STRANDED ON THIS DAMN PLANET."

And then the global vars are set so that the other texts are used the next time.

I can add those events to the NPC when I got some more time at hands.

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I decided to first add writers for all game objects like monsters, NPCs, texts, etc. I partially need this anyway to save Ambermoon.net games back to original savegames.

With those writers and the existing readers you can then do the following in code very easily:

• Load a monster
• Change a monster value
• Save the monster

Combined with a decompressor/compressor and archive loader/writer this should allow for easy editing whole game files like "Monster_char_data.amb".

The archive loader and writer functionality is already there with decompression and compression support.

So when I finish the game object writers (which isn't too hard), the game data patching should be very easy.

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The implementation of the writers will be tracked here: #53

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@a1exh I will keep you up to date regarding data writer implementation status. Afterwards I'll need your support to fix those bugs and create a patch.

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Sounds good. I'll try to make some diff files for the more obscure bug fixes to help satisfy my curiosity

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@a1exh The character writers are ready (monsters, NPCs, party members) and the text writers too. So we could start fixing. Items will be much harder though, but maybe the first patch version could just fix characters and texts. Map writers are missing too but map texts can be fixed already.

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Object_texts.amb sub-file 001.amb this file has a bug in it where it uses the word "GRANDSON" regardless of the gender of the main character. In my bugfix I change the text to "GRANDCHILD". I think I didn't know if there was a scripting special markup gender specific code e.g. ~ SEX1 ~ (HE/SHE) AND ~ SEX2 ~ (HIS/HER) for things like this. But I don't think there anything as specific as SON/DAUGHTER

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v1.07 has an issue where if you're flying/sailing near the coordinates [0,0] (might be [1,1]) that there is a reference to a missing text block in 1Map_texts.amb that causes the Amiga version to crash. This was patched in two different ways, Metallic fixed it by adding a dummy text block 001.amb into 1Map_texts.amb so that it didn't crash. Meynaf said he removed the reference to the missing text block but he didn't say where or how he did this. The Meynaf patch doesn't modify 1Map_data.amb. I'd be curious to know what the underlaying cause of this is and how Meynaf patch works.

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I've been working for years on the list of bugfix patches for v1.07

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1as5W8gibm-MTb9VEqpkfgtwWviqjQx96A3NmcvzX98A/edit?usp=sharing

The "sub-filename" number is the one produced using the Amiga tool by Metallic "ExtractAmb" to split files into their components.

Most bugs have two sub-files to DIFF to see the changes (however the files sometimes contain fixes for more than one bug)

You can sort the spreadsheet using the filename column to put them into file order.

I'm going through on a file-by-file basis starting with v1.07, Party_char.amb.

If I am going too slow for you then for v1.07 take a look at the modified version by Meynaf

http://meynaf.free.fr/pr/amberpatch.lzx

The patch is not comprehensive (there are known fixable bugs he didn't fix and at least one with a mistake) and it contains fixes not detailed in the list of fixes in the text file included in the archive.

And for v1.05 take a look at the modified versions by Daniel Schulz

http://slothsoft.net/getResource.php/amber/patch/Ambermoon.v1.06.zip

I don't know much about v1.05 as I don't read German but I believe he's fixed most (all?) of the common bugs between v1.07 and v1.05. He has a list v1.05 bugs albeit not down to the specific bytes :

http://slothsoft.net/Ambermoon/EditorHelp/ (look at the section : MIR BEKANNTE BUGS IN AMBERMOON)

from ambermoon.net.

If you don't know in which file a bug may be located, feel free to ask. I am very familiar to the internal data structures and their relations already.

Where are the real opening times of all the shops stored? Lots of them have the wrong opening times in the v1.07 text blocks. Most have patches where people have worked out "in-game" the real opening times, but one or two remain. For example 2Map_texts.amb sub-file 119.amb ALCHEMISTS TOWER - "ALCHEMISTIC ACCESSORIES^ OPEN FROM 8 AM TO 8 PM" but I have bug reports it wasn't open when they visited at 18:45

from ambermoon.net.

Object_texts.amb sub-file 001.amb this file has a bug in it where it uses the word "GRANDSON" regardless of the gender of the main character. In my bugfix I change the text to "GRANDCHILD". I think I didn't know if there was a scripting special markup gender specific code e.g. ~ SEX1 ~ (HE/SHE) AND ~ SEX2 ~ (HIS/HER) for things like this. But I don't think there anything as specific as SON/DAUGHTER

No there is only he/she and his/her. So I guess grandchild is a good solution.

from ambermoon.net.

v1.07 has an issue where if you're flying/sailing near the coordinates [0,0] (might be [1,1]) that there is a reference to a missing text block in 1Map_texts.amb that causes the Amiga version to crash. This was patched in two different ways, Metallic fixed it by adding a dummy text block 001.amb into 1Map_texts.amb so that it didn't crash. Meynaf said he removed the reference to the missing text block but he didn't say where or how he did this. The Meynaf patch doesn't modify 1Map_data.amb. I'd be curious to know what the underlaying cause of this is and how Meynaf patch works.

In general text popups are triggered by specific map events. They are stored inside the map data. It is possible to fix the text index or remove the event. But if Meynaf didn't change the map data file this is strange. Another possibility are NPCs. They also can use map texts in some cases. But I don't think there is an NPC on that map.

from ambermoon.net.

If you don't know in which file a bug may be located, feel free to ask. I am very familiar to the internal data structures and their relations already.

Where are the real opening times of all the shops stored? Lots of them have the wrong opening times in the v1.07 text blocks. Most have patches where people have worked out "in-game" the real opening times, but one or two remain. For example 2Map_texts.amb sub-file 119.amb ALCHEMISTS TOWER - "ALCHEMISTIC ACCESSORIES^ OPEN FROM 8 AM TO 8 PM" but I have bug reports it wasn't open when they visited at 18:45

The opening times are stored in the map events of each map. Only hours are stored. There are two places in Alchemists Tower: a merchant (sells goods) and a library (sells spell scrolls). In my current data the following open times are set for them:

• Merchant: 8-18 (8am to 6pm)
• Library: 8-20 (8am to 8pm)

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Thanks. I can change the text and move this bug to the FIXED page.

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@a1exh I don't know if this bug was reported before but I found something during battle testing in original:

If you choose to attack a nearby monster with a close-ranged weapon (e.g. Scimitar) and then open the inventory and exchange this weapon with a long-ranged weapon (e.g. Crossbow) you will be able to attack with the long-ranged weapon without consuming ammunition. Moreover the symbol for close-ranged attack is displayed near the portrait.

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Thanks this has never been reported. Is it 100% reproducible?

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Daniel Schulz has noted two semi-related things

1. Magic Bolts require 0 hands and so can be combined with a 2-handed weapon to give enchantment bonus of attack +15

2. Sling Knife and Sling Dagger have an attack value even though they are ammunition and therefore you should equip rather than a shield

It is not obvious if these are bugs or as intended.

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@a1exh Found another minor bug. The spell Blink is cast on a friend to teleport him in battle. But if the friend moves before the spell is cast, a message like " has been blinked" is shown. So there is no character name. I guess the game looks at the spot for a character but does not find one anymore. The character is not blinked of course.

I would expect one of the following:

• Blink the moved character
• Let the spell fail and show a message about it

I decided to implement the "fail message" in Ambermoon.net. It is a bit odd but in Ambermoon even support spells like Healing can miss if the character has moved before casting. So I added this behavior to Blink as well to be consistent. It is kind of a game mechanic. You have to consider speed when casting supportive spells and maybe have to increase the Speed attribute of supportive members like Healers and Alchemists.

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@a1exh I wonder if someone already reported this but you can create a character with an empty name. In this case no name is shown in inventory, at the top portrait and in conversations.

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No one has mentioned it. But it is not really a bug unless it causes crashes due to string length errors etc? No?

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True. I don't know if this can cause problems in some situation but even if, this wouldn't be much of a problem as you can just pick a valid name. ;)

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Bug: when the monster ai is determining which spell to cast and on which target, there is a bug in the row spell targeting:

        0023c23a 72 00           moveq      #0x0,D1
        0023c23c 74 00           moveq      #0x0,D2
        0023c23e 76 00           moveq      #0x0,D3
        0023c240 7e 18           moveq      #0x18,D7
                             LAB_0023c242                                    XREF[1]:     0023c258(j)  
        0023c242 0f 00           btst.l     D7,D0
        0023c244 67 0a           beq.b      LAB_0023c250
        0023c246 26 52           movea.l    (A2)=>battlefield.fields[24],A3                  = null
        0023c248 36 2b 00 22     move.w     (0x22,A3),D3w
        0023c24c d2 83           add.l      D3,D1
        0023c24e 52 42           addq.w     #0x1,D2w
                             LAB_0023c250                                    XREF[1]:     0023c244(j)  
        0023c250 58 8a           addq.l     #0x4,A2
        0023c252 52 47           addq.w     #0x1,D7w
        0023c254 be 7c 00 18     cmp.w      #0x18,D7w
        0023c258 6b e8           bmi.b      LAB_0023c242
        0023c25a 4a 42           tst.w      D2w
        0023c25c 67 02           beq.b      LAB_0023c260
        0023c25e 82 c2           divu.w     D2w,D1

The loop ends when D7 is > 0x18, but it is set to that value at the loop's start and then only incremented, so the loop will always exit after 1 pass. 0x18 is 24, the index of the first field in the lowest row on the battlefield. The loop calculates the avarage last damage and is probably copied from a one before it, which does the same for the row above it. Then they forgot to change the exit condition...

I think changing

0023c254 be 7c 00 18     cmp.w      #0x18,D7w

to

0023c254 be 7c 00 1e     cmp.w      #0x1e,D7w

should be enough to fix it.

from ambermoon.net.

Even though this might technically be a bug i would hesitate fixing this in the original Amiga Version as it could change the Gameplay significantly.

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At least we should add it to a bug list so that it is documented. Maybe someone wants to release some advanced version later with better balancing and fixed mechanics. Some things in Ambermoon feel quiet buggy or out of balance. Some of those might just be small bugs in the code like this one.

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@a1exh Found another bug in original. When you buy items you store them in a temporary item grid. This grid has 4x6 slots (same amount as the merchant). But the merchant can stack all items. For example the merchant in Spannenberg sells 15 sandals as one stack. Sandals can't be stacked otherwise (inventory, chests, etc). This is also true for the temporary item grid. Sandals can't be stacked there.

This way you can fill the temporary item grid with more than the 24 items. And when you do so the game stops to react to any input. The only thing that still works is the mouse cursor.

So to reproduce the bug go to the merchant in Spannenberg and buy more than 24 non-stackable items (e.g. Robe, Leather shoes and sandals). Then the game should stop reacting.

A possible fix would be to steps:

• Disable the "buy" button when the temporary item grid already has 24 items
• Limit the amount you can choose from the "amount input box" for unstackable items to the amount of free slots in the temporary item grid

This is also the way I implement it in Ambermoon.net.

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Another bug or feature? is about the elven harp. When you give the 7 crystal strings to Matthias the harper you get the crystal harp even without having bought the elven harp before. I guess this is a bug as the conversation states that he takes the strings AND the elven harp from you to make the crytal harp.

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This can be fixed easily inside the NPC data by adjusting the conversation events.

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I also think this is a bug. @a1exh should add this to the bug list. I can analyze the bugged data and provide a fix instruction.

from ambermoon.net.

Thanks. I've added it to the bug database. The location is ILLIEN, HOUSE OF THE HARPER. The associated text is NPC_texts.amb sub-file 01D.amb

Please let me know if this affects both v1.07(Eng) and V1.01(Ger) and the exact details on the fix when you have them.

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A save-game with the 7 crystal harp strings nearby would be good for testing if anyone has one.

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I will take the strings from the Thalion office and fly there with an eagle to test it. But I guess I can already see the cause inside the NPC data.

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I found another very serious bug in Ambermoon. If you cast "Repair item" on any item and it fails due to bad "Use magic" ability the item breaks. The problem now is that this also happens if the item isn't broken and even if the item is important.

For example you can destroy the Flute with it. You can destroy all items this way and break the game.

The problem here is that the check if the item is broken should come before the "spell success" check.

Edit: This is also true for "Charge item" and "Duplicate item".

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Another very minor issue. In Newlake Inn you wake up on a table. :D Every Inn teleports you to the bedroom while resting. This is represented by a map index and the position (x, y). Both stored inside Place_data.

The fix would be to change byte at offset 0x725 from 0x16 to 0x15 in Place_data. This way you will stand next to the table instead of on top of it. But maybe this was on purpose and you had a pleasureful night with loads of alcohol and really woke up on that table ...

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Another possible bug. Has to be tested first but I'm too busy for it.

It seems that you can buy horses or boats as long as there is none at the target location. So if you buy a horse and move it away afterwards, you can buy another one. There are only 32 slots for horses, rafts and ships in the savegame. So I wonder what will happen if you buy more than 32 horses/ships. And if you buy too many horses, can't you buy the first Ship from Torle anymore?

@Thallyrion @kermitfrog @a1exh How should I implement this in the rework? Limit to just 1 Horse/Ship? Or limit to the 32 possible slots and leave room for at least 1 ship and 1 horse? Other ideas?

Can someone test the described bug please?

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A wrapping queue would be best. Overwrite the 1st entry with the 33rd entry

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The problem is that these 32 entries do not only contain bought transports but also those that are initially placed (like the raft at the second island). So these ones should not be overwritten at all imo as it would break the game.

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More precisely there are 3 initial transports in the savegame: 2 ships and 1 raft. Afaik there is only 1 horse seller and 1 ship seller and no raft seller. So in theory there are 29 slots for the use of bought horses and ships. As there are already 2 initial ships (1 in the main ocean), I would suggest to allow 15 total horses and 16 total ships (1 is inside the Twinlake water ring).

Another option would be to allow 10 of each of the 3 types (horse, raft, ship). This could be useful if the game is modded later (e.g. adding a raft seller -> the game has texts/images for it). Nobody will need more than 10 horses or ships I guess.

My favorite solution is to allow 12 ships, 10 rafts and 10 horses. This leaves room for game modifications, won't really affect the original game experience and I guess the ocean is the biggest part of the world map (ship), rafts can only be used around some isles and horses only on islands (in original on a single one).

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Agree. It takes some time to move to Tolimar, leave Spannenberg and so on for 29 times. Maybe someone can help me out.

If someone will do, please also provide a savegame with 32 slots filled so I can also test the implementation in the rework. Thanks.

from ambermoon.net.

Is it not possible to edit the savegame? I don't have any free time for 2 weeks but I will set aside time for this and the other bug you asked for help with 13th&14th March.

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Yeah should work. It isn't that urgent. I have used a temporary solution now. But I want to focus on getting things implemented. ;) Just finished implementing the 3 sellers for horses, ships and rafts. Will adjust the code when testing is done.

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Looks funny with all those horses. Ok at least the game won't crash and disallows further buying. I guess it's ok to leave the bug unfixed. But I will limit it a bit in the rework as I want to keep the opportunity open to extend the game later and maybe add some new NPCs etc.

Thanks for testing!

from ambermoon.net.

Rarely occurring, minor bug in battle AI:

on a battlefield setup like this, with O = empty, M = monster, P = party member, x possible attack spot

OOOOOO
OOOOOO
OOOMMM
OMOxPO
OOOOOP

The leftmost monster could arrive at a position x in two turns, but will instead just sit in place.

This is caused somewhere in FUN_0023c5d0 or FUN_0023c674 (English version, Function names by Ghidra) and in my opinion very difficult to fix in original Ambermoon - so I'm posting this here for completeness.

See this comment for a little more info:
#64 (comment)

from ambermoon.net.

@a1exh I started a small project which allows patching the game data files. The patcher takes a patch file which provides the information about the fixes. Fixes can use data replacements, insertions and deletions and can combine them. You can specify multiple fixes per patch file. Each patch file represents a game patch.

I wrote a small readme here: https://github.com/Pyrdacor/Ambermoon/blob/master/AmbermoonTools/AmbermoonPatcher/README.md

The project already works as far I can tell. I will release it soon.

It interprets a simple script language I created today.

Let me know what you think about it?

from ambermoon.net.

An example patch file could look like this:

# Fix 123: Gryban waiting location
- Replace Party_char.amb[15]:0x1C 'ff ff'

# Fix 124: Some other fix
- Delete 2Map_texts.amb[$3C]:$5 20 // Delete 20 bytes at offset 5 from map text subfile 0x3C
- Insert 2Map_data.amb[258]:1000 2Map_data[259]:1000,100 // Copy 100 bytes from map 259 to 258

I think you get the picture.

You can store this file as an example with the name "Ambermoon_Patch1.08.amp" and the patcher will apply all fixes to a given game version.

The lines starting with # mark single fixes and also are a good documentation about the content of a patch. Humans can easily read and understand those patch files I hope.

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I will also add commands to replace, insert and delete texts and parts of texts.

The plan behind this is to provide patches in form of a script file or at least parts of a patch. This way you could patch a given version to a new version with several fixes. Moreover it will be easier to create new patches in the future and to track which fixes belong to a specific patch.

You can also generate some excel, HTML or markdown output from such patch files so that you get some kind of changelog.

I could also add more possibilities for meta data like "bug reporter", "version the patch should be applied to", "detailed bug description" and so on. I could mimic parts of your excel bug list with the script in a way you could produce the excel file from the script and also use the script to patch a game version.

from ambermoon.net.

Found another bug in Ambermoon. If you use "word of marking" to save your location on the lyramion world map, then call the eagle and cast "word of returning" from the eagle, you will have positioning bugs when moving around. Maybe someone can test and confirm this. Maybe this is also true for other transports like the witch's broom etc.

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Next bug found: There is an award event in Ambermoon. It is used to grant Exp, LP, SP, Attribute increases and so on. It can increase (value or percentage), decrease (value or percentage), fill, remove, add and toggle (last 3 for ailments, languages and spell classes).

Actually there are 10 different affected stats (Attribute, Ability, LP, SP, SLP, Ailment, Usable spell types, Spoken languages, Exp and TP). But Ambermoon only handles the first 9. So the TP change events have no effect. But they are actually used. For example after giving the TARBOS amulet to Tar or giving Alkem's ring back. In addition to the Exp, there would normally be TP increases of rand(0 to 25) and rand(0 to 15) but they are not processed.

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I had another look, with new knowledge, at the first function I analyzed - the one that determines attack damage - to see if I missed something. Back then, I discovered that the defense buff (e.g. Magick barrier) increases armor strength for monsters too.

This was not completely correct: in fact the attack and defense buffs are applied only if the attacker is a player character.
So in the normal case only monsters will get any benefit from to their armor strength from that buff. The only exception would be the case when a player character is attacked by a crazy commarade.

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@a1exh The first release is coming closer. It would be awesome if we could create an updated version of the original data (most importantly the english one) so that most data-related bugs are fixed also for the rework.

I know your time is very limited but how are your plans on this? Maybe I can do some of the work as well.

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The English v1.07 bugs we know about are still in this spreadsheet

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1as5W8gibm-MTb9VEqpkfgtwWviqjQx96A3NmcvzX98A/edit?usp=sharing

I can provide you with the patches in the first sheet that already exist. And I can have a go at the ones in the first sheet that are understood but no patch exists yet.

The ones on the second sheet, which are not fully understood, I think three of them I could probably have a go at, 1 (and 50 which are probably the same) , 44, 55b

Perhaps some of them on the 2nd sheet contain enough debug that you might be able to deduce what is wrong now you understand the inner workings of the code? 24, 32, 33, 41, 43, 46, 53

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Most of these bugs should be reproduced in Ambermoon.net just as they are in the Amiga version because they are due to incorrect data files as opposed to the game engine itself.

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Yes we can test many of them in the remake with the teleport cheat quickly.

I also know a very well-documented and complete german walkthrough on YouTube that I can use as a reference to compare the english version behaviour.

About the hangar duplicate map stuff. I guess we can just choose one of the map text files and then copy and rename it.

Can you provide the already patched version? I will add it to the Ambermoon GitHub repo so it gets version controlled. Then I can add documented updates via commits and it automatically gets a history. This also allows an easy reversing of wrong fixes. I could do the same with the excel sheet. So that both files are in sync and reflect the current state.

Beta testers could then also use the current version and copy it into the remake so that testing isn't only our responsibility.

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Here is a link to the Meynaf patch http://meynaf.free.fr/pr/amberpatch.lzx. It is a collection of patches by many people. (The spreadsheet has an accurate list of who reported the bug and who made the patches). Because Meynaf didn't have a LOB packer any .amb file he modified is not re-compressed.

On the first sheet of the Ambermoon bugs spreadsheet there is a column with Meynaf Patch? and Y/N. That indicates whether this bug is patched or not in the Meynaf patch. There are quite a few that are not. The worst bugs are patched in the Meynaf patch.

There are also two columns (v1.07 ORIGINAL / PATCHED) which contain links to the original v1.07 datafile (decrypted, decompressed, split) and the patched version which you can HEX DIFF to see the changes. (Some links are missing, the files are not on the server or the links have typos in them, I'll clean that up tonight).

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Ok I started to fix the things missing in first sheet. Already fixed 6, 8 and 13. Two were texts and 13 is the wrong key index on sansrie's door in the tunnel. Also fixed. I will progress through the list as I have time.

I couldn't find 11 though. There is no text event on map 001. So I don't quiet understand when and if that really happens.

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Nephilim stumbled into a crash in gala's temple when he approached a specific golem. I checked and that golem is flagged as "party member". I remember reports about a golem NPC that occurs only for 5 minutes at exactly midnight. There he is.

Basically it is a bug in the data. NPC 14 (0-based) of map 277 (gala's temple) is marked as "PartyMember" (0) instead of "Monster" (2). The monster group index (24) is then interpreted as the party member index which is of course not present.

We should add this to the list and fix as this crashes also the remake. :D

Maybe there are 288 positions for this golem which we have to remove as well then. Will take care of it then.

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Ok I fixed the golem locally.

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There is also something that doesn't really affect the original but caused problems in the remake. Map 258 (grandfather's house) has a third NPC inside its character reference section. But it isn't really associated to an existing NPC and there is also no movement data (normally NPCs have 288 positions (1 per time slot) if they don't move randomly). This 3rd NPC would move randomly. Moreover the 3rd NPC isn't exactly at the 3rd position inside the data. There are 0-bytes in-between. I guess this is the reason why it works in original (it ends for checking when encountering 0-bytes).

I would like to remove the unused data anyway.

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You can access the current version here: https://github.com/Pyrdacor/Ambermoon/tree/master/Disks/Bugfixing/English

In https://github.com/Pyrdacor/Ambermoon/blob/master/Disks/Bugfixing/English/AdditionalFixes.md I documented what I fixed on top of the meynaf patch.

The files are located in the subfolder Amberfiles.

I tested all the fixed bugs in the remake and it all works fine. For safety someone could check in original as well but I doubt there will be issues.

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I replaced all occurences of HE and HIS where the active party member is meant by ~SEX1~ and ~SEX2~.

I have a question about english translation:

• There are some "issues" where the text "dwarves" should be changed to "dwarfs" but my understanding of the english language is, that "dwarves" is correct and not "dwarfs".
• The occurences of PELANI were changed to PELANIS but iirc the real name of him is indeed "PELANI" and not "PELANIS". Am I right?

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• There are some "issues" where the text "dwarves" should be changed to "dwarfs" but my understanding of the english language is, that "dwarves" is correct and not "dwarfs".

Dwarfs is the correct spelling in English. Dwarves is something that J.R.R. Tolkien adopted in his books.

https://jakubmarian.com/dwarves-or-dwarfs-which-spelling-is-correct/

I personally don't mind as long as the game only uses one of the two spellings.

The original v1.07 uses both Dwarfs (27 occurrences) and Dwarves (2 occurrences). So you can see why Dwarves was changed to Dwarfs and not the other way around :-)

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• The occurences of PELANI were changed to PELANIS but iirc the real name of him is indeed "PELANI" and not "PELANIS". Am I right?

I don't think it matters as long as all references are the same. There are I believe 6 references in the v1.07 game. 3 are PELANIS and 3 are PELANI.

1. NPC_char.amb : 01C : PELANI
2. 2map_texts.amb : 1A0 : PALACE OF PELANIS
3. 2map_texts.amb : 1A1 : PALACE OF PELANIS
4. 2map_texts.amb : 1A1 : PLEASE ASK PELANIS
5. 2map_texts.amb : 1A3 : PALACE OF PENANI
6. AM2_CPU/BLT : PELANI'S KEY

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I replaced all occurrences of HE and HIS where the active party member is meant by SEX1 and SEX2.

Cool. That was a bug on Sheet 2 (unfixed) number 34.

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Map 258 (grandfather's house) has a third NPC inside its character reference section.
I would like to remove the unused data anyway.
Removed unused character data from map 258

Can you please give me some more details about this fix? Which file/sub-file was it in? Presumably one of the *Map_data.amb Thanks.

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sheet 2 : 24 added a new teleport event from map 362 to map 361 (9,11) facing north

Which file & sub-file was this (presumably another *Map_data.amb?) and what changed? Thanks

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I couldn't find 11 though. There is no text event on map 001. So I don't quiet understand when and if that really happens.

I believe you. Very strange.

Two different contributors (MetalliC and Meynaf) both reported it and both found different solutions

http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=890976&postcount=493
http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=533428&postcount=175

I did wonder about this "fix" as I always wondered where the text in the MetalliC fix came from?

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I couldn't find 11 though. There is no text event on map 001. So I don't quiet understand when and if that really happens.
I don't know. There were several reports that said something breaks v1.07 when you approach coordinates [1,1] (or [0,0]) by boat or flying. "(incomplete read on 1map_texts)"

I believe you. Very strange.

Two different contributors (MetalliC and Meynaf) both reported it and both found different solutions

http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=890976&postcount=493
http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=533428&postcount=175

I did wonder about this "fix" as I always wondered where the text in the MetalliC fix came from?

Both in german and english I sailed to 0,0 (or 1,1 ingame) without problems. Also moved around the spot a bit. But maybe I already used the meynaf patch and it was fixed already?

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sheet 2 : 24 added a new teleport event from map 362 to map 361 (9,11) facing north

Which file & sub-file was this (presumably another *Map_data.amb?) and what changed? Thanks

3Map_data.amb.

I copied your excel file to my repo and added columns for new notes and fix state: https://github.com/Pyrdacor/Ambermoon/blob/master/Disks/Bugfixing/AmbermoonPatches.xlsx

I added detailed notes for my fixes there.

I only found a completely missing teleport event on map 362. The stair triggers event 15 (0-based) but there are only 15 events. I added a new teleport event to map 362 which teleports to map 361 at 9,11 facing up. This feels natural in game. Located in 3Map_data.amb

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I also fixed two wind gates (wrong images) and the button in bandit's cellar.

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3Map_data.amb

Subfile 362 decimal? (16A hex?) which bytes? Nevermind I will diff against the original.

I copied your excel file to my repo and added columns for new notes and fix state

Yes I noticed. I saw you added lots of details for other bugs. Map_data changes are the hardest for me write up how to fix. The notes ideally need to include file : subfile : offset : data. Thanks

I also fixed two wind gates (wrong images) and the button in bandit's cellar.

Yes I enjoyed reading your fix notes. It seems you know this game better than anyone ever has. Perhaps even more than Jurie.

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Is it worth looking at the Fan-made Ambermoon French translation by Dennis Lechevalier? He has done most of the work.

https://app.box.com/s/7908yy26qi12axbwga7v

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3Map_data.amb

Subfile 362 decimal? (16A hex?) which bytes? Nevermind I will diff against the original.

I copied your excel file to my repo and added columns for new notes and fix state

Yes I noticed. I saw you added lots of details for other bugs. Map_data changes are the hardest for me write up how to fix. The notes ideally need to include file : subfile : offset : data. Thanks

I also fixed two wind gates (wrong images) and the button in bandit's cellar.

Yes I enjoyed reading your fix notes. It seems you know this game better than anyone ever has. Perhaps even more than Jurie.

Sorry yes the decimal 362 map.

I just fixed the plants on Kire's moon. This was pretty hard as I had to fix a lot of events in a lot of maps. I tried to document it a bit in the excel and german doc file.

Here is the essence of it:

The event which disables the plant event chain uses the wrong index and therefore disables the plant on the wrong map. Mostly map 306, 314 and 322 are target maps. There are 1 to 4 incorrect events on many moon maps. To find the location go through map files 300 to 335 (3Map_data.amb) with a hex editor and search for hex 0E 01. This sequence starts an action event which disables a specific event afterwards. 6 bytes after the found offset there is a word (2 bytes) which gives the event bit index. Leave the last nibble (hex digit) as it is. Adjust the first 3 hex digits to the first 3 hex digits of ((MapIndex-1)*0x40) in hex. Example for map 308: (308-1)*0x40 = 4CC0. So if you find 4C42 you replace it by 4CC2.

I fixed it in these maps (decimal map ids again, sorry):

- Map 308: Event 012
- Map 309: Event 012
- Map 310: Event 012
- Map 312: Event 012
- Map 313: Event 012 and 017
- Map 315: Event 012 and 017
- Map 316: Event 012 and 017
- Map 317: Event 017
- Map 318: Event 012 and 017
- Map 319: Event 012 and 017
- Map 320: Event 012 and 017
- Map 321: Event 012 and 017
- Map 323: Event 012, 017, 022 and 027
- Map 324: Event 012, 017, 022 and 027
- Map 325: Event 014, 019, 024 and 029
- Map 326: Event 014, 019, 024 and 029
- Map 327: Event 014, 019, 024 and 029
- Map 328: Event 014, 019, 024 and 029
- Map 329: Event 014, 019, 024 and 029
- Map 330: Event 014, 019, 024 and 029
- Map 331: Event 014, 019, 024 and 029
- Map 332: Event 014, 019, 024 and 029
- Map 333: Event 014, 019, 024 and 029
- Map 334: Event 014, 019, 024 and 029
- Map 335: Event 014, 019, 024 and 029

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Is it worth looking at the Fan-made Ambermoon French translation by Dennis Lechevalier? He has done most of the work.

https://app.box.com/s/7908yy26qi12axbwga7v

I would love to include a french version but do you know what he changed and what (possibly new) bugs there are in this version?

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He will have changed every string in every file. Mainly *_texts.amb but also Monster_char_data.amb, Chest_data.amb etc.

He will also have changed the strings in AM2_* executable (which I presume is now in Ambermoon.net code?)

Yes it is likely he may have inadvertently added more bugs.

Possibly if the editor had rudimentary error checking you (or I or Dennis) could check them?

Dennis would also contribute by checking his work directly in Ambermoon.net I am sure.

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3Map_data.amb

Subfile 362 decimal? (16A hex?) which bytes? Nevermind I will diff against the original.

This is a bit more complex to document. I had to do some things:

This time all values in hex:

• Increase the amount of event chains (you will see this inside the diff as a change from 0F to 10)
• Add an offset for the new event chain (this is the 48 entry, as this was previously the total amount of events by luck, this value didn't even change)
• By adding the offset above, the "amount of events" has become 49 (48 before) but has moved 1 byte of course so you will see a new byte with value 49.
• There will be 12 new bytes that should start 2E before the end of the file. This is the new teleport event. It starts with 01 and ends with FF FF. Inside the 12 bytes you find the map index in hex and the x and y coordinates 9, 11.

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He will also have changed the strings in AM2_* executable (which I presume is now in Ambermoon.net code?)

No I use the strings from AM2_* as well.

Possibly if the editor had rudimentary error checking you (or I or Dennis) could check them?

You could just try it in the remake and look if something crashes.

Dennis would also contribute by checking his work directly in Ambermoon.net I am sure.

Would be nice.

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While checking over old emails I noticed two bug reports from 2000 which never made it into in my spreadsheet :

1. The ANTI-MAGIC SPHERE spell scroll weighing 0 grams, while all the other 100+ spell scrolls weigh 150 grams (chest_data.amb?)
2. MURDERBLADE or DAGGER SLING display "Hands: 0" in the status window, even though they actually require a hand to be used. (AM2_*?)

Because I missed this report I never validated if either were true.

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A question related to unfixed 43 (thalion office). I checked and indeed there are 2 additional texts. But there is no event whatsoever to show them. I could theoretically add two text popup events to show them. What do you think?

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I think that would be a good idea. The strings (at least in English) don't include anything that important but I think they were intended to be triggered.

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Ok will fix Pelani to Pelanis and Dwarves to Dwarfs. And add the two text popups in the Thalion office. ;)

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New bug found: In Nalven's magical school in burnville there are 3 doors (2 trainers and the library). If you approach the trainer doors there is a one-time text popup which informs you how much a train would cost. The third door on the far right (the library) has such text popup event as well but the text index is set to 255 instead of 3.

In the original the text is just ignored but the remake crashes. This is how we found the issue.

It should be fixed to text index 3 to show the popup. I will do so. Map index is 290 (hex 122). The flawed event has index 7 (0-based). Map is part of 2Map_data.amb.

To fix it replace the byte at offset 0x07f7 with 03 (before it is ff).

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So I fixed the Nalven bug and also added the two text events to the Thalion office which works quiet nice.

I will create a temporary version of the game data now which I integrate into Ambermoon.net. This is important to allow further game testing.

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I've found another set of bugs(?) that I had reported but couldn't confirm them as real bugs and never added them to my spreadsheet (until now sheet 2 : 61). The reporter was asking how to trigger certain NPC texts, what events or words made the NPC say the text. I wasn't sure if these were bugs or if the reporter wasn't very good at playing the game. Now you understand the datafiles maybe you can answer them? Or prove them to be bugs?

NPC_texts.amb : 036.amb (Brog)

1. "YOU KNOW ABOUT MY LOVE FOR MAGIC. WHAT A SHAME THAT SO FEW OF THE PEOPLE HERE FEEL THE SAME!"
2. "HOW HAPPY I WOULD BE IF DORINA RETURNED TO US!"
3. "MY FRIENDS, MY PLEASURE ABOUT DORINA RETURNING TO US IS AT LEAST AS GREAT AS KIRE'S! AND HOW SHE HAS DEVELOPED HER TALENTS! TREMENDOUSLY WELL! AS I HEARD, YOU HAD A FEW PROBLEMS BECAUSE OF THAT ..."

NPC_texts.amb : 03B.amb (Drongeb)

1. "DOREB, THE LANDLORD OF DOR KIREDON, ACTUALLY SUCCEEDED IN BREWING AN ENJOYABLE TYPE OF ALE FROM THE PLANTS GROWING AROUND HERE. WHAT ELSE DO WE NEED?"

NPC_texts.amb 03A.amb (Ketnar)

1. "LOOK AROUND HERE! REMEMBER THAT YOU WILL LIVE ON THIS WORLD FOR THE REST OF YOUR DAYS! NEW PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS WELCOME HERE IF THEY ARE PREPARED TO LEARN INSTEAD OF FIGHTING BLINDLY."

NPC_texts.amb 043.amb (Gorban)

1. "I OWE HIM MY LIFE! I AND MY FAMILY ARE DEEP IN HIS DEBT."

NPC_texts.amb 005.amb (Sandra)

1. "I CANNOT THANK YOU ENOUGH FOR RELEASING MY DAUGHTER FROM THE CLAWS OF LUMINOR. SO I HAVE ASKED FATHER ANTHONY TO SUPPLY YOU AT HALF THE NORMAL RATES."

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The same bug reporter asked what event was associated with the word "TEST" in dictionary.english

I was sure it was written on a plate somewhere and you asked it in Spannenburg through the cellar of the Limping Rogue Inn at the Thieves Guild. That it was related to asking questions about "The test of Thieves".

But the reporter was certain the only person in the Thieves Guild who could talk was "Aman" and he did not respond to the word TEST.

I had every intention of trying this and confirming but never did and never added the bug to the spreadsheet (until today)

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And another from the same reporter. He couldn't find how to trigger these texts in the House of the Healers (Burnville). The text seems to imply it is triggered after completing Luminor's Tower? But he was certain it didn't.

2Map_texts.amb : 11E.amb (HOUSE OF THE HEALERS, BURNVILLE)

1. IN THE BED BEFORE YOU LIES A MAN WITH SEVERE BURNS. HE MURMURS:^ "HOW CAN I EVER THANK YOU FOR FREEING ME FROM LUMINOR'S PRISON? A FEW DAYS LONGER AND I WOULD HAVE JUST BEEN A PILE OF ASH."

2. BEFORE YOU LIES AN OLD WOMAN IN BED. ALMOST ALL OF HER BODY IS WRAPPED IN BANDAGES. HER FOREHEAD IS WET WITH PERSPIRATION AND SHE JABBERS AND CRIES DELIRIOUSLY:^ "NO, PLEASE, NOT THE RED HOT HOOK, NO, NO, NO!" PLEASE, YOU CAN TELL LUMINOR THAT I WILL NEVER SPEAK AGAINST HIM EVER AGAIN AND WILL ALWAYS BE HIS SLAVE, IF YOU JUST STOP THIS TORTURE." PLEASE, PLEASE.....!!"^^ A YOUNG HEALER COMES RUNNING TO HER BED AND TAKES THE WOMAN'S HEAD LOVINGLY IN HER HANDS. SHORTLY AFTERWARDS THE OLD WOMAN QUIETENS DOWN AND APPARENTLY FALLS ASLEEP. THE HEALER SMILES AT YOU AND SAYS:^ "OLD MERIL SUFFERED BADLY IN LUMINOR'S PRISON. IT WILL TAKE A LITTLE LONGER FOR HER TO BE ABLE TO LEAD A NORMAL LIFE AGAIN. BUT THAT IS STILL BETTER THAN DYING AT THE HANDS OF LUMINOR.^ THANK YOU AGAIN FOR RELEASING US."

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I found a strange difference between the german and english original data: Mando's sword has magic weapon and armor level 0 in german but level 10 in english version. I would expect such a unique sword to have a higher level than 0 as it is quiet useless otherwise. But 10 is very high.

And here is where it becomes interesting: The guard demon which is normally untouchable seems to be only guarded by the high magic protection level. But in the english version Mando's sword seems to break through it. I only tested this in the remake (this is how I stumbled onto this).

Can someone please test this in the original version? If this is true you can defeat the guard demon with Mando's sword in the english version. But it would be hard as the guard demon has 8000 hitpoints.

Another interesting fact is, that the developers seem to have considered defeating the guard demon. Because if you successfully kill him, there will be some events triggered that disable the guard demon and the demon sleep event. This would not be added if the guard demon could not be killed imo.

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Out of curiosity are game saves compatible? Can you teleport in the remake with the Mando sword. Save and then transfer to the save file to the Amiga version?

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Yes you can. They are compatible.

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@a1exh New bug found (german and english): The wind gate at x=271 y=564 can be used even when it is broken. Of course you need the wind chain. Maybe this is also true for other wind gates (needs testing) but I confirmed it for the one I mentioned.

You won't be able to use the other end though (on the isle of winds) before repairing.

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To fix this you have to set byte 0xAAC from 00 to 01 in Party_data.sav. Best fix it in the initial savegame (Save.00 and/or Initial folder).

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That is interesting because there was a bug report about that wind gate having corrupted gfx after they had been repaired (but you discovered that it wasn't). Perhaps the bug report should have been this wind-gate works before you repair them?

I don't know the game well enough, but is there anything special about this gate? Is this the one gate that should not be broken and work before they are repaired? (Because the destination is the isle of winds)

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There are wind gates with wrong gfx. I found 2 and fixed them. This bug is a data error. The wind gate is not special. But it should not be usable when it is broken of course. This is controlled by a bit inside the savegame which disables the teleport event. But it is enabled in the initial savegame so you can teleport even if it is broken.

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