I naively suggested he try using the solution at CASA. He replied:In an email, Fr Grant Gorddard wrote:i am wondering if anyone has completed Savage Island Part 1 on your archive? When on the raft, there should be four possible random locations: tidepool, ocean, atoll and beach. Only the first three locations seem to come up when I play it. Unless there is a game condition that needs to be met first? Otherwise it is a possible bug in the software? Please let me know either way.
I investigated, and I discovered that Fr Grant Gorddard appeared to be correct. Here's the walkthrough I constructed to get you to the point in the game where you build the raft and sail it. (Note that the walkthrough can't be typed in verbatim because the game has loads of randomness in it and you are constantly at risk of having to start again from square one because you've randomly been killed by the weather or the bear!):In an email, Fr Grant Gorddard wrote:I have tried Savage Island 1 on another emulator [presumably emulating a different machine]. On this emulator, the game does work where paddling on the raft randomly takes you to all four locations: Tidepool, Ocean, Atoll, and Beach. I have just returned to this BBCMicro version of the game, and using a saved game as a starting point, and have just tried paddling until the raft falls to pieces (12 paddles) approximately 20 times. After 240 random events (plus many other opportunities when playing in the past), the Beach location has not once appeared, but the remaining three have all appeared many times. I’m sorry, but I’m thinking that this is indeed a bug on the BBCMicro version.
Code: Select all
EXAM HEAD
DIG
WITH HANDS
EXAM SAND
EXAM HOLE
GET BOTT
S
CLIMB VOLC
ENTER VOLC if not already in
ENTER CAVE
EMPTY BOTT
E
DROP BOTT
DROP WATCH
ENTER LAKE
SWIM WEST
WAIT till hurricane hits if it hasn't already
ENTER CREV
JUMP
E
E
GET LOG
W
S
CLIMB VOLC
ENTER VOLC if not already in
GET BOTT
ENTER LAKE
SWIM WEST
DROP BOTT
E
DROP LOG
HOLD BREATH
SWIM DOWN
SWIM NORTH
GET KNIFE
SWIM EAST
GET BLOCK
SWIM UP
GET LOG
SWIM WEST
DROP BLOCK
DROP KNIFE
DROP LOG
GET BOTT
ENTER CREV
JUMP
E
D
GET WATER
S
S
CLIMB VOLC
ENTER VOLC if not already in
ENTER CAVE
ENTER CREV
EMPTY BOTT
enter and re-enter CREV and do INVE or something till puddle turns into salt
GET SALT
ENTER CREV
DROP SALT
GET RUM
E
DROP BOTT
ENTER LAKE
SWIM WEST
GET LOG
E
SWIM EAST
GET BOTT
ENTER LAKE
SWIM WEST
DROP BOTT
E
SWIM EAST
U
ENTER LAKE
SWIM WEST
SLEEP
GET KNIFE
GET BLOCK
GET BOTT
GO CREV
JUMP
E
E
GET LOG
W
D
DROP LOG
S
S
GET LOG
N
CUT VINES
GET VINES
D
MAKE RAFT
ENTER RAFT
SAIL in random direction till you reach atoll
GO ATOLL
Stardotter fuzzel then chimed in and pointed out an article (attached) in the May 1990 issue of the magazine Electron User, which discusses the raft/beach problem in the original version of Savage Island 1 for the Electron or the Beeb. (If there was a separate Acorn Electron version of the game, it probably used the same codebase as the BBC Micro version.) The article is from the regular text adventure column in Electron User, written by "Pendragon":
So, it looks like the original Electron/Beeb version of Savage Island 1 made it very difficult to reach the beach via the raft. This probably still counts as a bug -- or at least as a "sub-optimal" port of the game to the Beeb/Elk.Pendragon wrote:Making the raft isn't such a chore, providing you are patient and scrupulous in your search for building materials ... However, sailing it is another matter entirely. Four ocean locations are randomly accessible by paddling the raft. An atoll, a tidepool and a beach may all also be reached. But the random factor operating for the latter [presumably he means the beach] is so high that it makes success almost impossible.
Anyone have any thoughts on any of this? Anyone able to debug the original Beeb version of the game and fix the randomness to make it easier to reach the beach..?!