[comp.sys.amiga.games] Their Finest Hour on A3000

sutela@polaris.utu.fi (Kari Sutela) (04/25/91)

Dear gamers,

I have noticed that running _Their Finest Hour_ by Lucasfilm Games produces
some graphics glitches (`flashing' disturbance patterns on the screen) on my
brand new A3000 (with a 1950 monitor).  Is my Amber mistuned or is this a
compatibility problem?  I suspect the latter as no other software produces
graphic glitches.  However, there were identical glitches with other software
before I finetuned my Amber.

BTW, using the mouse as a controller for this game seems to be too slow on
the A3000.  It has been a long time since I played it on my A500, but I
remember no problems with using the mouse (currently it's unusable).  Anyone
else notice this problem?  If it matters the OS release is 2.01 (2.02 hasn't
reached Finnish dealers, yet).

Thanks in advance,

-- 
Kari Sutela	sutela@polaris.utu.fi

valentin@public.BTR.COM (Valentin Pepelea) (04/27/91)

In article <sutela.672569547@polaris> sutela@polaris.utu.fi (Kari Sutela)
writes:
>
>I have noticed that running _Their Finest Hour_ by Lucasfilm Games produces
>some graphics glitches (`flashing' disturbance patterns on the screen) on my
>brand new A3000 (with a 1950 monitor).
>
>BTW, using the mouse as a controller for this game seems to be too slow on
>the A3000.  It has been a long time since I played it on my A500, but I
>remember no problems with using the mouse (currently it's unusable).

I have played Their Finest Hour on an A3000 back in the 2.01 days and earlier,
as well as later, without any problems. The game remained just as fun and
entertaining no matter what version of the operating system it was running
under.
 
Valentin
-- 
"An operating system without virtual memory      Name:      Valentin Pepelea
 is an operating system without virtue."         Phone:     (408) 985-1700
                                                 Usenet:    mips!btr!valentin
                     - Ancient Inca Proverb      Internet:  valentin@btr.com

brett@visix.com (Brett Bourbin) (04/30/91)

In article <2575@public.BTR.COM>, valentin@public.BTR.COM (Valentin Pepelea) writes:
> In article <sutela.672569547@polaris> sutela@polaris.utu.fi (Kari Sutela)
> writes:
> >I have noticed that running _Their Finest Hour_ by Lucasfilm Games produces
> >some graphics glitches (`flashing' disturbance patterns on the screen) on my
> >brand new A3000 (with a 1950 monitor).

Well, I tried my BattleHawks on by A3000 running 2.02 this weekend to find a great suprise.
It did not work properly on the new machine with the new OS.  After all my praise of 
Lucasfilms for "following the rules" and being able to work "with the OS", I find egg on my
face.  Not only where there screen glitches (some of the planes had lines drawn to them from some point outside the viewing area, and other "screen terds"), but the game crashed on me.

Granted BHawks was released before 2.0 was created, but it seems like I was wrong about them staying within the Amiga guidelines.  It is a shame, for Manic Mansion works fine under 2.02,
and that was even before BHawks.

> >BTW, using the mouse as a controller for this game seems to be too slow on
> >the A3000.  It has been a long time since I played it on my A500, but I
> >remember no problems with using the mouse (currently it's unusable).

I also noticed that certain parts of the game when by VERY fast, like the title and some of
the credit screens, almost like SOFTWARE TIMING LOOPS.  Some of these screens just flashed
on for 1/2 a second.  Also the mouse seemed to work "too fast" on this game, not too slow.

> I have played Their Finest Hour on an A3000 back in the 2.01 days and earlier,
> as well as later, without any problems.

Oh, well, I guess no one (or company) is perfect.
-- 
                                __
  Brett Bourbin          \  / /(_  /\/   11440 Commerce Park Drive
    ..!uunet!visix!brett  \/ / __)/ /\   Reston, Virginia 22091
    brett@visix.com       Software Inc   (703) 758-2733

sutela@polaris.utu.fi (Kari Sutela) (04/30/91)

A few days ago I posted an article about some problems I had (have) with
running Their Finest Hour on A3000.  Now I have made some more research
on this problem:

I verified that my problem with screen glitches is related to Amber.  It's
not properly finetuned; I'll have to do some tweaking.

Controlling the game is a real problem.  I made some checks yesterday, and
found that there are problems no matter what type of an input device I use
(mouse, joystick or arrow keys).  It's impossible to make sharp turns or
climbs because directional input doesn't repeat properly.

For example, I can do a rather sharp (not quite sharp enough, though) climb
if I repeatedly click on the down-arrow key.  On the other hand, the plane
won't practically climb at all if I *hold down* the worn-arrow key.  What is
even more strange, is that the air-speed indicator drops very quickly, as
though the plane were in a sharp climb (the result is a stall, of course).

There definitely seems to be some software timing loops.  For example, tuning
the radio is very hard as the numbers change very quickly when I click on
the tuning controls.  Also the title screens disappear much more quickly than
they did on my A500 (it had a harddisk, too, so this isn't a diskspeed
related thing).

I verified that the problem occurs even if I use WB 1.32 and also if I boot
off the game disks directly.  Perhaps I have an older version of the game
which doesn't properly work on accelerated machines. I'll probably have to
write to Lucasfilm games.  Nevertheless, would a A3000 owner who has had
success in running this game be so kind, that (s)he'd check the dates and
sizes of the bob1940 executables and email the results to me.  The name of
the executable file is bob.

Thanks in advance,
-- 
Kari Sutela	sutela@polaris.utu.fi

mechrw@tnessd.sbc.com (Robert Wallace (214+464-6552)) (04/30/91)

In article <sutela.673000998@polaris> sutela@polaris.utu.fi (Kari Sutela) writes:
>
>Controlling the game is a real problem.  I made some checks yesterday, and
>found that there are problems no matter what type of an input device I use
>(mouse, joystick or arrow keys).  It's impossible to make sharp turns or
>climbs because directional input doesn't repeat properly.
>

>Kari Sutela	sutela@polaris.utu.fi

I noticed the same problems in BOB (except for the graphics glitches)
when I upgraded from an A1000 to my A2500.  I had purchased the game
when it first came out and played for many hours on my A1000.

I was looking forward to the "faster" screen updates and smoother action
on an accellerated Amiga.  And it does look great.  But control goes out
the window! You just can't climb or turn correctly due to the software
timing loops.  Where, before, I was coming out of a loop at a respectable
speed, now I feel lucky if I can complete the loop without stalling.  (If,
however, I bang on the arrow keys I get turns and climbs you wouldn't believe)

When I reboot into 6800 mode (which is at the 8MHZ clock speed) and then run
the game, all works normally.

If there is a new version of the game available, I'd like to hear about it.
It's a great game, but unplayable on the faster Amigas.

Robert Wallace

sutela@polaris.utu.fi (Kari Sutela) (05/02/91)

Thanks for everyone who have replied to my questions regarding this game.
There definitely are two versions (version 1.0 and 1.1) of this game.  The
latter has a 6/30/90 date buried somewhere in the executable (along with the
version number) and the date of the BOB-file on the distibution diskette
is 9 Oct 90.  I bought my copy of the game in early July, so I have version
1.0.  Reportedly the 1.1 version functions perfectly on accelerated machines.

Well, I guess, I'll have to write to LucasFilm Games and ask for an update.

-- 
Kari Sutela	sutela@polaris.utu.fi