Date   : Sun, 11 Apr 2010 20:42:09 -0700
From   : kieran@... (Kieran Mockford)
Subject: Lord of the Rings: Game One.. with graphics.

After I posted about The Hobbit and the "Universal version" that I created,
the good master samwise made the following suggestion:

>
> On to the Lord of the Rings: Game One next?  :)
>

I took up the challenge, and the tale of getting the disc images to me "over
here" is almost as good a tale as the one of the ring-bearer himself!

Anyway, I may have taken things a bit far.. :)

Following many hours of re-engineering of the original game code (it gets 
live patched from the code in sideways ram, just as in The Hobbit), and hacking
of the MSDOS version of the game to get at its location graphics; 83 of them
(and re-colouring them because the CGA colours were awful!)..

The result is the "Universal disc, with graphics" version of: The Lord Of
the Rings: Game 1 for the BBC Micro:

http://home.kindredintellect.com/beeb/Software/LordOfTheRings 

1. It will now run on almost any BBC Micro model (with any disc controller)
providing it has at least 16K of sideways RAM.
   
2. Full location graphics have been retro-fitted to the game!

The graphic version is rather large and as such needs to be run from an 
ADFS disc (either floppy or hard drive/CF), or the version that has been 
split over several SSDs. The game play of the graphic version is designed 
to be very close to The Hobbit. Location graphics can optionally be shown
automatically as you move from location to location. Or alternatively only
when you press TAB at the input prompt (that also works when auto-pictures
are on).

Also added is the ability to save games as files to the drive that it is
running from (this includes DFS, ADFS, CF etc.). Just use the normal save
feature in-game and it will create and load the appropriate file.

The intro screens are from the Amstrad CPC version, and the location graphics
are from the PC/MSDOS version, but the horrible original CGA colours have
been fixed! 

The code to make it work is all new :)

It has been tested on:

- A real BBC Master 128 (using DFS, ADFS, RetroClinic CF, MMBeeb)
- The same Master 128 running in 1770 'B' mode using Vine's Replay

- All the emulators I could lay my hands on for PC and OSX including BeebEm
and B-Em. In BBC, BBC B+ and Master and Compact incarnations, using DFS and ADFS.

There are three versions here:

1. lotr_ADFS_graphics.zip contains a bootable 640K ADFS image that contains 
all parts of the newly re-engineered edition which includes full location
graphics and very pretty intro screens! This version requires at least 16K
of Sideways RAM (32K makes it faster) and ADFS.

2. lotr_SSD_graphics.zip contains 5 (!) bootable single sided 80 track disc 
images that should work on any BBC with 16K of Sideways RAM (32K makes it 
faster). Each is dedicated to one of the parts of the game. Enough space
for saved games has been left on these images. These are ideal for running
from an MMBeeb (or DataCentre once I figure out the "known issue" described
below).
 
3. lotr_SSD_no_graphics.zip contains a bootable single sided 80 track disc
image that should work on any BBC with 16K of Sideways RAM. It contains all
parts of the game, but with no graphics. (should be able fit a couple of
save games on there too)

Let me know if you find any problems, and I'll do my best to fix them.

Happy keeping away from the Nazguls-ing! :)

Kieran Mockford

Known issue:

For some reason the SSD images won't work correctly from a DataCentre *IMPORT. 
The game appears to load, but is then stuck solid at the point where one
chooses which character to play. Investigations are ongoing.. It does, however,
work perfectly from a RetroClinic or DataCentre CF ADFS hard drive, so all
is not lost..!

Credits where credits are due:
samwise:  for laying the challenge before me and for orchestrating a trans-Atlantic
bit-shipping of the appropriate disc images.
         
billcarr: wrestling the images off the original floppies and getting them
beaten into some kind of shape for surgery. He also did some pretty deep
investigation that helped head me in the right direction for getting off
the 8271.

Steven Flintham: for his splendid LZSSC and accompanying utilities for LZSS
compression and decompression.
          
The original 8271/Model B only disc images can be found here:

http://www.stairwaytohell.com/bbc/archive/diskimages/MelbourneHouse/LordOfTheRings-disc.zip
          
          Thanks chaps.