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1988-03-06
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Subj: Dungeon Master
From: Wayne Holder, FTL Games
Date: Feb 8, 1987
Release Versions
Since its introduction on Dec 15 1987, Dungeon Master has been updated
several times to correct software and graphic bugs. Different release
versions can be distinguished by selecting the save game option and
observing the upper right corner of the save menu box. All versions except
the original release version show the message VER x.x where x.x is 1.0 or
1.1. Ver 1.1 is the latest release version. Version 1.1 is the most
extensive update and corrects a bug which can result in the game freezing
near the end of the game. Note: these problems can only occur while
confronting Lord Chaos and a workaround to this problem is described in an
earlier update release.
Users with an earlier version can receive a free update by returning your
original disk and stamped, self-addressed envelope with sufficient return
postage for the disk to:
FTL Games
6160 Lusk Blvd, Suite C-206
San Diego, CA 92121
Known Problems
Ver 1.1 has only one known bug. When restarting a saved game where
one or more party members are dead the party arraingment box in the upper
right corner of the screen will sometimes not show all of the remaining
party members. If this happens, simply click on the empty squares until
the member is found. The problem is then corrected for the remainder of
the play session. We hope to have this problem corrected in a future
update.
Disk Problems
Several people have reported intermittent problems with the game freezing
(possibly with the game printing an error message such as "SYSTEM ERROR
xx.") As far as we know, these problems are not caused by software bugs.
We suspect that these errors are due to drive misalignment problems and are
compounded by a little known bug in the Atari TOS ROMs.
This bug (corrected in the newer "Blitter" ROMs) prevents TOS from
retrying on certain sector read errors. The result is that TOS returns a
garbage sector and says that it is good. The problem is most likely to
occur if your disk drives are misaligned and your drive misreads a sector.
Normally, TOS will catch these misreads and retry, but sooner or later it
will miss one.
The result is that DM will report a mystery error, bomb, or freeze.
Normally, rebooting "cures" the problem (that is the exact same problem
will not reoccur.)
Alignment problems are hard to spot because disks formatted on the
misaligned drives usually work fine because the misalignment cancels out.
Realignment is a simple process but requires a special alignment disk and
calibration tools. Consult your dealer.
Some users have reported symptoms where game disks suddenly ceased
working. In some cases, these users returned the disks to us and received
replacements which later ceased to work as well. Normally, there should be
no reason for a DM disk to stop working except the disk becoming damaged.
If the write protect is set on (as we recommend for DM) it is impossible
for the software to damage the disk. Problems like this suggest a serious
problem with the disk drive. Double sided drives can have a problem where
the top read head can become bent or detached. We are not sure what causes
the problem, but the result is often improper head contact which wears out
the disk. Consult your dealer at once.
Copy Protection
Users often assume that disk read problems are caused by or related to
copy protection. In our opinion this in unlikely, except that copy
protection checks are just as likely to be affected by drive errors as
other misreads.
Reporting Problems
The above notwithstanding, bugs are an ever present problem with
software. If you experience a problem please let us know. It helps if you
can contrive a way to recreate a problem reliably. Simply reporting a
problem that happened once but you could not recreate is not of much help
to us. If a problem happens periodically, but always in a different
circumstance, please note any distinguishing factors. For example, did you
recently save the game.