Re: Two different versions of 'Moon Patrol'?

["sicklittlemonkey" <Nick.Westgate@gmail.com>]

skylarking wrote:
> Tempest wrote:
> > Does the version with the base work on an Apple IIgs?  I know the
> > original version I have on disk (non-cracked) doesn't work on my IIgs
> > while the cracked version that's floating around on the net does.  I'll
> > have to look and see if my disk has the base or not, I think it does.

Is that the usual Atarisoft version in the red box with a silver disk
label?
If so, then it probably doesn't work for the reason I mention below.

> > Perhaps when they cracked the copy protection they also broke the code
> > that displayed the base at the start of the game?

No, I think this is to avoid the rather overly long game start delay.

> Yeah, it does work on the IIgs, although not all the time. You might
> have to boot it up a few times before it eventually works. However, I
> don't know if that's a problem with the disk or with compatibility with
> the IIgs, as I don't have my IIc and IIe handy so I haven't tested it
> on them yet.

If it was incompatible with the GS it would be more likely to
consistently just not work. The protection scheme uses sync nibbles on
the disk that have unusual timing. It's designed to read ok, but fool
the timing sensitive routines that nibble-copiers use to detect the
length of nibbles.

For some reason these nibbles have become unstable (could be a disk
speed issue) and if any of the ~5 crucial nibbles on any of the ~20
tracks doesn't read correctly, the game won't load. The protection is
not sophisticated - it's just fault intolerant.

Cheers,
Nick.