XOR - 15 years on

carolpedder · Post by **carolpedder** » Wed Jan 01, 2003 7:08 pm

After 15 years I am still stuck on "penultimate" (level 14) of XOR. I bought the original (it was on a BBC mag cover and you had to ring up to get an unlock password - the only time I've ever bought a BBC game this way) in 1987 and eventually got stuck on said level. I am now playing it on beebem (cos I can save thank goodness!!) and I'm still stuck - I just can't break in to the part with the door it and I am seriously thinking of giving up (you know I'm only kidding!). Has anyone done this level and if so, can you explain how to get into the bit with the door. I am going CRAZY ! 
 
Many Thanks 
 
Carol

AJH · Post by **AJH** » Sun Jan 05, 2003 5:02 pm

If anyone can point me to the Archimedes port of !XOR 
(that I have now lost) I have a program that will extract 
all the maps.

carolpedder · Post by **carolpedder** » Sun Jan 05, 2003 6:27 pm

Thanks AJH - but I don't think the maps will help. I have the level mapped, but the door is completely enclosed - I need to break in to that area with an exploding bomb or poison thing, but there just don't seem to be enough of them !!! 
 
Carol

carolpedder · Post by **carolpedder** » Sat Feb 15, 2003 8:06 pm

Having downloaded the XOR Designer from here, I've found that playing the game in this package offers the option of "saving moves" on completion - a great way to share solutions - just pass the disc image on. Also, a competitive element may just creep in - "I can do it in less moves than you can" springs to mind !! Anyone interested? I've a disc image with levels 1 & 2 completed (very inelegantly !!!) 
 
Carol 
 
P.S. This is obviously a thinly-veiled attempt to extract the solution for "penultimate" from someone !!

AJH · Post by **AJH** » Fri Mar 14, 2003 9:34 pm

Hi Carol 
I have found my Risc-OS version of !Xor (the maps are the same) 
and can get to the exit door (tested on BBC Xor as well). 
========================================= 
Now the exit door is in the room you transport to: 
From start go down, left, up (blow hole in wall), left and 
enter transporter. 
========================================= 
In the transported to room do: 
Transport in (you will arrive above the transporter). 
Go RIGHT one space, then eat the earth under the duck. 
Push the duck down, then down again until it is above the transporter. 
Push the fish right so it rests on the mask. 
Go through the same mask and transport out. 
Transport back in again, and you will arrive BELOW the transporter. 
========================================= 
If you do complete XOR could let me know how the code works 
(with the letters you get at the end of each level). The last 
level holds a big clue, but even with that I have never been 
able to work it out!

carolpedder · Post by **carolpedder** » Sat Mar 15, 2003 3:38 pm

Brilliant!! I cannot believe after all these years that I have completed that level - thanks so much AJH. I never thought of blocking the way so that I had to come out of the BMUS another way (despite the heavy hint of being blocked by the fish on entry to the first BMUS !!). But --- now what am I going to do with my spare time ?? 
 
I'll let you know when I've finished the game - I wonder if anyone actually won the prize for decoding the message?? 
 
All the best 
 
Carol

carolpedder · Post by **carolpedder** » Tue Mar 18, 2003 9:42 pm

I've finished it!! The codes I got were :- 
 
L?BF?T!HZCZD 
 
With the hints in the DECODER level this gives :- 
 
L?UF?T!IECED 
 
Read this backwards, ignoring ? and ! to give ... 
 
... oh well, I suppose it is appropriate. 
 
I regret to say I had to resort to cheating to get the hints in the decoder level (extracted the map).

AJH · Post by **AJH** » Fri Mar 21, 2003 10:14 pm

Well I dont know. You spend 15 years on level 14, 
then give up on level 15 within a week! 
 
I presume you got stuck in the room transported to 
(you need both men in the corridor to the left). 
It's taken me a week to work it out (I used coins 
on squared paper). 
 
Well here goes (As you need to swap between the two 
men, I will prefix the instructions with A or B): 
 
============================================= 
A: Transport into room 
A: Push the fish Right, and eat the Earth 
A: Move man A above the two Rock squares 
============================================= 
B: Transport into room 
B: Push the Duck Up until it rests against the Dolly 
============================================= 
A: Move under the Bomb 
============================================= 
B: Move under the Duck 
============================================= 
A: Push the Bomb Up until it rests against the Duck 
============================================= 
B: Move man (L,D) so it is 2 squares below the Dolly 
============================================= 
A: Push Dolly Down (covers Transporter) 
============================================= 
B: Push Duck Down 
============================================= 
A: Push Bomb Down one square (rests against Duck) 
A: Push Dolly Down 
A: Transport Out and Transport back into corridor 
============================================= 
B: Push the Duck Down 
B: Transport out and Transport back into corridor 
============================================= 
Compared to all that the rest is easy! 
 
P.S. 
As far as me not being able to read backwards text: 
Doh!

carolpedder · Post by **carolpedder** » Sat Mar 22, 2003 10:09 pm

Thanks AJH, perfectly explained - and such dedication!! It's almost unbelievable now that there was no SAVE feature in XOR on the BBC and a wrong move spelt disaster! 
 
I did give up a bit prematurely didn't I? Especially given my persistence up till then! I was stuck where you presumed I was and now I can say I really have finished it fairly(ish!) I liked the touch at the end with the walls disappearing (a real twist). 
 
I was just regretting the end of an era when I remembered the hidden level (Hidden Cavern), so I'm off to have a go at that! 
 
Regards Carol

AJH · Post by **AJH** » Mon Apr 07, 2003 8:08 pm

I don't know if this can be accessed by another method 
but if you load XORdesigner in drive 0, 
your Data disk in drive 1 (write enabled) and do: 
 
*Load BB 1100 
*Save :1.M.Wheel 1100+284 
 
Then you can try the 'Wheel of Fortune'!

carolpedder · Post by **carolpedder** » Tue Apr 08, 2003 9:15 pm

This just gets better - I wonder if there are any more levels hiding out there?

JohnFearns · Post by **JohnFearns** » Mon Apr 21, 2003 1:21 am

I just got BeebEm and am loving playing the old games I used to like 15 years ago. But I can't find the disc image for XOR for the BBC anywhere on the net, and it was one of my favourites. 
 
Can any of you please email it to me? johnfearns@hotmail.com. I would be most grateful!! 
 
John 
 
PS: Carol you sound so happy!

AJH · Post by **AJH** » Mon Apr 21, 2003 10:13 am

The image is on this site. In the panel on the left click: 
 
Software > BBC Micro 
Disk Images 
Sort by Filename 
 
XOR is near the bottom. Note that the sort is Case sensitive, 
so XOR appears before Xadam.

carolpedder · Post by **carolpedder** » Mon Jul 21, 2003 6:23 pm

All the map data is in files which are included in the "XOR designer" package (available in the disc archive on this site). The extra ones were extracted from the program file and it was just a case of people being curious enough to find whereabouts in the program they were stored (in fact all the map screens were embedded in the program). Any missing from the designer package I can provide you with if you would like. 
 
The password was for a competition - I never heard of anyone winning it, but it was a LONG time ago!!! 
 
As far as I know Hidden Cavern and Wheel of Fortune were only in BBC and Archimedes versions - but I have been known to be wrong !! 
 
Regards 
 
Carol

Mick Waites · Post by **Mick Waites** » Mon Jul 21, 2003 7:57 pm

Thanks for your info. Since posting the message, I have been in touch with AJH and he has helped me find and extract the map data from Xor so I now have all levels including the two extra. I appreciate the offer of help. 
 
All I need to do now is try to work out where and how the viewport information is stored within those data files, but it's easy enough information to get from the game by playing it. 
 
Thanks again. I'll post a message when my conversion is complete, although it will be a while as I rarely get time for programming these days. 
 
Mick Waites.

nudelooney · Post by **nudelooney** » Tue Sep 23, 2003 9:41 pm

Just to let people know - I've begged the source code for the RISC OS port of XOR from the original author, who hasn't worked on it for quite a while. I've done a website, hosting the original version (and my in-progress Iyonix conversion) and various bits of material at <a href="http://www.danceswithferrets.org.">www.danceswithferrets.org.</a> 
 
If anyone here reckons they can complete the BBC version, and would be willing to rig their Beeb to their video and record themselves doing it, I'd love it if you could get in contact. I need a solution, and need to know it's all completable. I'll gladly pay for the postage and the video tape, and there's a box of chocolates in it for ya! 
 
Cheers!

Mick Waites · Post by **Mick Waites** » Fri Sep 26, 2003 11:47 am

As mentioned above, I have been looking in to Xor in anticipation of starting a conversion to GameBoy Advance (I want to finish my Repton conversions first) and may be able to offer some info to you. 
 
I don't plan to do any video hooking up, but I do have an Electron emulator with snapshot saves at the end of levels 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14 and 15. You can choose to quit the level and watch replays to see how they are done. I can zip this up and mail it to you along with the emulator if you like. 
 
When I told a friend at work that I was planning to do a conversion of Xor, he got all inspired and knocked out a PC conversion in 2 days by disassembling the BBC original version. He's been quite useful in answering questions about those extra bytes of data stored with each map and I am happy to pass on this info if you like. 
 
Mick Waites.

darkcircles · Post by **darkcircles** » Fri Sep 26, 2003 11:55 pm

Great site at danceswithferrets (!) So happy to see the inspiration the Beeb continues to produce.

Critter · Post by **Critter** » Mon Sep 29, 2003 12:32 am

Wow, a thread on XOR... cool! 
 
I've managed to access "The Hidden Cavern" from the Xor Designer disk (hitting Ctrl-Q, I think), and I managed to finish that one off in a few hours - anyone know how to access "Wheel of Fortune"? <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/happy.gif ALT=":D">

Mick Waites · Post by **Mick Waites** » Wed Apr 07, 2004 8:39 am

This message is in referance to carolpedder's comment about extracting the map for the decoder level. 
 
I'm currently about to start working on a GameBoy Advance port of Xor (home project, not commercial) and am curious as to how you extracted the maps. 
 
AJH has kindly produced bitmap versions of all the maps but being able to get hold of the map data would save me a lot of time as well as satisfying my pedantic paranoia about having any mistakes in the data. 
 
Also, while I'm on the subject... 
What were you supposed to do with the decoded password? Did you use it to access any further levels? 
 
Where did the Hidden Cavern and Wheel Of Fortune maps come into play? Were they in all versions (It was the Electron version for me)? How do you access them? 
 
Thanks for any info.

Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub36.ezboard.com/bthestairwayto ... aites>Mick Waites</A> at: 7/16/03 8:45 am

bbcfan2002 · Post by **bbcfan2002** » Sun Jul 11, 2004 7:07 pm

Can you access levels 11 - RAZOR EDGE, 13 - DEJA VU and 15 - THE DECODER from the word go on the BBC version of the game? Or do you need to finish the level prior to that to give you access? 
If that was the case, would you need to complete the level the next time the game was played to give you access to the level again?<img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/eyes.gif ALT=":rolleyes">

carolpedder · Post by **carolpedder** » Sun Jul 11, 2004 9:12 pm

Yes - I'm afraid that is the case on the original BBC game, I think other versions (including commodore and even electron) could access these levels directly. Needless to say it drove you almost CRAZY!! 
 
However, now it can be played on emulators - choose one with a save option (eg Beebem) and you don't need to go through that trauma ever again !! 
 
Regards, Carol

bbcfan2002 · Post by **bbcfan2002** » Sun Jul 11, 2004 10:28 pm

Thanks for the quick reply. I asked because I wondered whether there was some kind of copy protection method at work - as if it wasn't protected enough already! - which still excluded some levels from play, therefore prevently completion of the game. I found a version of XOR in the TOSEC archives which changes 1 byte of the code and allows all levels to be played from the start and had wondered whether this was a fudged fix, or just a cheat.

carolpedder · Post by **carolpedder** » Mon Jul 12, 2004 3:55 pm

I think that must have been a cheat. I think making certain levels unavailable until you had completed the previous level was just a way of making a difficult game even harder! 
 
Regards, Carol

stardot.org.uk

XOR - 15 years on

XOR - 15 years on

Archimedes !XOR

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XOR Game Maps & Solutions

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XOR - 15 years on

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The Wheel of Fortune

The Wheel of Fortune

XOR Image

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XOR lives!

Hidden XOR levels

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Unavailable XOR levels

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