uMIA: Smoog

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Ralf
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uMIA: Smoog

Post by Ralf »

I believe a lot of work was done with uploaded MIAs recently so now I can upload some more ;)

Have a look at "Smoog":
Image

I believe it's an unkown MIA.

Some Info:
-------------------
Name: Smoog
Year: 1984
Genre: Arcade action
Country: UK
Authors: J. Theakston, S.C. Richards (taken from the loading screen and high score table)
Publisher: AD Software (maybe this one ??? https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... bel_id=177 )
Inspired by: Hunchback (I guess so)

The problem is that all I have is .scl tape image with the game altered by Russian hackers. But it's better than nothing I guess.
When you just run the file in the emulator the effect is as shown on the picture. It must run in 48 kB mode so you have to use USR 0
trick which is quite frequent in Eastern Spectrum scene.

If anybody had problems with running it, I included also .z80 snapshot. Everybody is welcomed to create tape image as well :)

The download:
https://www.sendspace.com/file/xot480

Edit: it looks like you have the authors here: https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 96&id=5401
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R-Tape
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Re: uMIA: Smoog

Post by R-Tape »

Ralf wrote: Thu Jun 20, 2019 4:43 pm If anybody had problems with running it, I included also .z80 snapshot. Everybody is welcomed to create tape image as well :)
Cheers Ralf,

I bet someone the unhacked version is floating around digitally somewhere.

I couldn't get the snapshot to work. Could someone try making a tape image so it can be loaded as 48k (thus avoiding the "SPECTRUMSPECTRUM" image? (I tried but failed!)
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djnzx48
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Re: uMIA: Smoog

Post by djnzx48 »

Looks like the same release is on Virtual TR-DOS here. It's a crack made by Triumph in the year 2000.

I also found another version of the game on this compilation, which lacks the loading screen and has some other differences. Here's a .tap file based on that version.

If you look inside the game data, there's a message stating the game was compiled with ZX COMPILER V2.0, © 1983 THRELFALL and HODGSON. I guess this refers to MCoder II.
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Re: uMIA: Smoog

Post by Ralf »

Could someone try making a tape image so it can be loaded as 48k (thus avoiding the "SPECTRUMSPECTRUM" image? (I tried but failed!)
I tried too and failed too. They are using some packer or something like that. When you run .scl file you'll see some symbols first, before the acutual loading screen, I guess some decompression may be going on then.

What emulator are you using to open the .z80 file? It worked for me in Spectaculator.

And maybe I'll give info how to run .scl file correctly. I'm writing totally off my head so maybe it's not 100% accurate but anyway:

1) Open .scl file
2) Reset emulator
3) Choose 128 Basic
4) Type usr 0 [Enter], the emulator will reset and go to 48 kB Basic
5) Run RANDOMIZE USR 15616 to get into Tr-Dos
6) Type RUN "SmOog" (letter case is important, you may use LIST to see actual file name)
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Ast A. Moore
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Re: uMIA: Smoog

Post by Ast A. Moore »

Ralf wrote: Fri Jun 21, 2019 9:58 am 6) Type RUN "SmOog" (letter case is important, you may use LIST to see actual file name)
No need to. Simply type RUN. TR-DOS will automatically load and run the file named “boot.”

Incidentally, I don’t get the SPECTRUM SPECTRUM stuff if I just autoload it under 128K BASIC with USR15616. The TAP version is the only one that gives me that. I’ll see what could be done about it.
Every man should plant a tree, build a house, and write a ZX Spectrum game.

Author of A Yankee in Iraq, a 50 fps shoot-’em-up—the first game to utilize the floating bus on the +2A/+3,
and zasm Z80 Assembler syntax highlighter.
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djnzx48
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Re: uMIA: Smoog

Post by djnzx48 »

Which disk are you using? The one Ralf posted doesn't have a boot.B file. And I still get the SPECTRUM keywords displaying in 128 mode.
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Ast A. Moore
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Re: uMIA: Smoog

Post by Ast A. Moore »

M’kay. I put the fixed version up on my website. Kept it as a TAP, rather than a TZX, since the source was clearly not from the original tape.
Every man should plant a tree, build a house, and write a ZX Spectrum game.

Author of A Yankee in Iraq, a 50 fps shoot-’em-up—the first game to utilize the floating bus on the +2A/+3,
and zasm Z80 Assembler syntax highlighter.
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Re: uMIA: Smoog

Post by djnzx48 »

"Fully compatible with all Spectrums"? So 16K Spectrums don't count then? ;)
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Re: uMIA: Smoog

Post by Ralf »

M’kay. I put the fixed version up on my website. Kept it as a TAP, rather than a TZX, since the source was clearly not from the original tape.
Thanks!

I believe we can now add Ast's version to the database and forget about .scl.
I also agree about using .tap and not .tzx. It was a subtle distinction used on WOS when Martijn still ran the website. Having only a .tap
meant that we're have only some copy, maybe altered and are still looking for the original version. Why not follow this convention here?

And here's the direct link if someone got lost:
http://sky.relative-path.com/zx/misc/Th ... Moore).zip
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Ast A. Moore
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Re: uMIA: Smoog

Post by Ast A. Moore »

djnzx48 wrote: Sat Jun 22, 2019 5:44 am "Fully compatible with all Spectrums"? So 16K Spectrums don't count then? ;)
Nah. Screw ’em.

On a more serious note, guys, I wrote my own loader in machine code, compressed the loading screen, and removed the header blocks, too. I wouldn’t have done that if I’d been working off of a TZX made from the original tape (and, frankly, I’m not sure of the source of the loading screen itself, either). In my bug fixes, I try to preserve the original tape format as much as I can.
Every man should plant a tree, build a house, and write a ZX Spectrum game.

Author of A Yankee in Iraq, a 50 fps shoot-’em-up—the first game to utilize the floating bus on the +2A/+3,
and zasm Z80 Assembler syntax highlighter.
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Re: uMIA: Smoog

Post by R-Tape »

Cheers Ast, and all.
Ast A. Moore wrote: Sat Jun 22, 2019 8:30 am (and, frankly, I’m not sure of the source of the loading screen itself, either)
What aren't you sure about? Do you think it's been tinkered with? The naff* loading screen and cursive effect fit an early 80's game perfectly for me. It's certainly not the kind of thing I'd expect from a Slavic crack.

*=skillo
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R-Tape
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Re: uMIA: Smoog

Post by R-Tape »

The game is actually pretty good too!
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Ast A. Moore
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Re: uMIA: Smoog

Post by Ast A. Moore »

R-Tape wrote: Sun Jun 23, 2019 9:08 pm Cheers Ast, and all.
Ast A. Moore wrote: Sat Jun 22, 2019 8:30 am (and, frankly, I’m not sure of the source of the loading screen itself, either)
What aren't you sure about? Do you think it's been tinkered with? The naff* loading screen and cursive effect fit an early 80's game perfectly for me. It's certainly not the kind of thing I'd expect from a Slavic crack.

*=skillo
You may be right. It’s just that I worked off the version djnzx48 had found on a compilation tape. It didn’t have a loading screen to begin with, so I thought maybe someone had added the one that was later used in the TR-DOS version. I wouldn’t put it past whoever was doing the disk conversion, too. Maybe that’s just me being paranoid. WAIT, WHO SAID THAT? :shock:

Yeah, the game is pretty cute. I got stuck on the second raising pillar screen, though.
Every man should plant a tree, build a house, and write a ZX Spectrum game.

Author of A Yankee in Iraq, a 50 fps shoot-’em-up—the first game to utilize the floating bus on the +2A/+3,
and zasm Z80 Assembler syntax highlighter.
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R-Tape
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Re: uMIA: Smoog

Post by R-Tape »

I'm really surprised a game like this is uMIA, and resurfaces only as a crack. Still—great to be able to add it.
Ast A. Moore wrote: Sun Jun 23, 2019 9:36 pm You may be right. It’s just that I worked off the version djnzx48 had found on a compilation tape. It didn’t have a loading screen to begin with, so I thought maybe someone had added the one that was later used in the TR-DOS version. I wouldn’t put it past whoever was doing the disk conversion, too.
Aye it's not impossible, but the cursive effect fits it and that uses full-on old-school ROM routines. There's a chance the load screen was just nabbed from an after-load intro screen; the style does fit pretty well with the original authors' other work though.

I'm a naturally suspicious chap too, but in this case it'd take something like this to get my spidey senses twitching :mrgreen: :

Image
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djnzx48
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Re: uMIA: Smoog

Post by djnzx48 »

By the way, I checked both disk versions of the game and they were identical. But I don't know if they were both obtained from the tape or if one was based on the other.

The loading screen is probably legit. The handwriting is part of the game itself, and I doubt that it was added on later. It looks like compiled BASIC, as does the rest of the game.
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Ast A. Moore
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Re: uMIA: Smoog

Post by Ast A. Moore »

R-Tape wrote: Sun Jun 23, 2019 10:12 pm the cursive effect fits it and that uses full-on old-school ROM routines.
The cursive effect was one of the reasons I rewrote the loader and made all the blocks headerless. The effect doesn’t seem to force the attributes, so you need to leave that area unchanged. The loader on the compilation tape forced black ink on black paper to hide the block names, which left a black stripe running though the cursive after the load.
R-Tape wrote: Sun Jun 23, 2019 10:12 pmthe style does fit pretty well with the original authors' other work though.
Jeepers, that’s quite some naïve art! :o
R-Tape wrote: Sun Jun 23, 2019 10:12 pmI'm a naturally suspicious chap too, but in this case it'd take something like this to get my spidey senses twitching :mrgreen: :

Image
Heh, yeah, that’s more like what they’d do.
djnzx48 wrote: Sun Jun 23, 2019 11:24 pm It looks like compiled BASIC, as does the rest of the game.
I came to the same conclusion. I even had to set the RAMTOP to the same value as the original BASIC; otherwise the game would crash, even though it never technically returns to BASIC while loading or before running.
Every man should plant a tree, build a house, and write a ZX Spectrum game.

Author of A Yankee in Iraq, a 50 fps shoot-’em-up—the first game to utilize the floating bus on the +2A/+3,
and zasm Z80 Assembler syntax highlighter.
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