The Quest for the Staff of the First Moon

[Andre Leao]

A very old game found and preserved by his author...



https://planetasinclair.blogspot.com/20 ... -moon.html

✓ PROCESSED

DH 08/02/24

[druellan]

Love how it instantly feels like a classic adventure game. Giving a try for sure!

[Joefish]

I heard the staff of the first moon all quit when they learned the staff of the second moon were getting paid more for shorter hours...

[R-Tape]

It's great to see these old attic recoveries

Is anyone in touch with the author? I'd like to ask some questions if so.

[Elegor]

Hi, I'm the author of the game and would be more than happy to answer any questions you have!

[R-Tape]

Welcome @Elegor! PM sent.

[Andre Leao]

Hi, I'm the author of the game and would be more than happy to answer any questions you have!

If you send me the wav file (you can record the audio with Audacity), I can preerve a .tzx version. Does the game has a loading screen?

[Elegor]

If you send me the wav file (you can record the audio with Audacity), I can preerve a .tzx version. Does the game has a loading screen?

I didn't create a .wav file - I loaded the tape directly into my Spectrum Next and then created a .z80 snapshot using the built-in NMI tools.

When I get time though, I'll see if I can record a .wav and then let you know.

There's no loading screen I'm afraid - I don't think that was an option in The Quill. And even if there was, it I don't think I'd have been able to create a worthwhile one back then :⁠-⁠)

[Elegor]

For anyone who might be interested, I've now added a .tzx version to the itch.io page.

[R-Tape]

For anyone who might be interested, I've now added a .tzx version to the itch.io page.

Cheers - that's a 1Mb direct recording. Does anyone know how to convert that into a simple cleaned-up TZX? (I'm ashamed to say that after all these years... I still don't).

Here's the link to the itch page.

[equinox]

For anyone who might be interested, I've now added a .tzx version to the itch.io page.

Have you got the Quill source for your game?

[Elegor]

Have you got the Quill source for your game?

I'm still trying to recover it I'm afraid, but if I do manage it I'll upload it to my itch.io page.

[Elegor]

Cheers - that's a 1Mb direct recording. Does anyone know how to convert that into a simple cleaned-up TZX? (I'm ashamed to say that after all these years... I still don't).

Here's the link to the itch page.

Ah, I'm very new to these file formats, so I just assumed that was normal! I'll research it a bit more to see if I can improve it.

[ParadigmShifter]

I'm still trying to recover it I'm afraid, but if I do manage it I'll upload it to my itch.io page.

Pretty sure there's a utility which can extract the Quill source from a compiled database? (Unquill rings a bell?). Maybe not if it also uses The Press compression thing though, dunno...

[R-Tape]

Ah, I'm very new to these file formats, so I just assumed that was normal! I'll research it a bit more to see if I can improve it.

Most TZX and TAP files are Speccy-sized (<40Kb in your case). I've managed to convert it into a WAV, but I can't find a WAV to TZX/TAP converter that works on a PC - can anyone advise?

I'm afraid I haven't got round to playing this properly yet, but it's on the list!

[equinox]

Pretty sure there's a utility which can extract the Quill source from a compiled database? (Unquill rings a bell?). Maybe not if it also uses The Press compression thing though, dunno...

Yes, UnQuill and other tools are here: https://www.seasip.info/Unix/UnQuill/
This may be the easiest route to create a "clean" tape file. I don't know if it would be 100% identical but I don't see why not.

[Elegor]

Yes, UnQuill and other tools are here: https://www.seasip.info/Unix/UnQuill/
This may be the easiest route to create a "clean" tape file. I don't know if it would be 100% identical but I don't see why not.

That's great, thanks for finding this out! I'll have a go at extracting the original data using it.

[Andre Leao]

Send me the .wav, I will convert it

[8BitAG]

UnQuill is more for extracting the game's database to a text file. I don't think it will do what people are suggesting it will. (I use UnQuill & UnPAWs all the time)

What do you have of the original game? Does it exist on tape? You could make a nice clean version of it by loading the game file back into the Quill and saving it out as a standalone adventure, but that's probably what you have anyway. The issue seems to be saving it as a proper TZX/TAP file.

If you've got a suitable wave file of the tape then it would be easy to turn it into a TZX. I can see André has volunteered to do this above.

[Elegor]

Okay, I'm learning a bit more about what is possible with the Spectrum Next (a lot!) and have now been able to add two .tap files to the itch.io page:

TQFTSOTFM.tap is a .tap version of the original game, which I think should be compatible with most emulators.

TSOTFM.tap is the actual game database. It is compatible with version A03 of The Quill.​ I've only been able to test it on the ZX Spectrum Next, loading it by setting the NMI tape input to be this file. I imagine similar functionality is available in emulators, but haven't tested it.

[Supamax]

Cheers - that's a 1Mb direct recording. Does anyone know how to convert that into a simple cleaned-up TZX?[/url]

Hi ,
here's the correctly interpreted .tzx file.
The content is different from the .tap file (I compared them with Tapir). They are slightly different releases, but I cannot tell which is more recent...

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/938fk6ga ... jowtf&dl=1

[R-Tape]

here's the correctly interpreted .tzx file.

Cheers! Added

✓ PROCESSED

DH 20/02/24