Re: Program bugs and Game bugs

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

kws@delphi.com writes ...
> 
> Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net> writes:
> 
> >     To bring Wolf-3D to GS users, Eric had to release the game as
> >freeware. There should be some tangible way for us to express our
> >appreciation for the work he put into the game and to encourage future
> 
> I think you've already expressed your appreciation.


     It wasn't all that much.


     The first guy to thank is Clayburn Juniel (Effective Shareware
Solutions music stuff programmer). He's the one who was wondering if
something was wrong with his system because Wolf-3D bombed and posted a
question last Tuesday. (Evidently, Wolf's creator placed some kind of
problem noticed somewhere. Maybe it was AOL or Delphi. Whatever, at the
time, no one seems to have thought to post anything to the world's
largest Apple II newsgroup.)

Just Clay's question probably saved a bunch of users from reinstalling
System 6, reformatting, etc..


     My first contribution was to support Clay's observation. Wolf-3D
was bombing my system, too; so, I supplied a brief bug report to help
the programmer and added "bug?" to the thread heading. Since, so far,
there seemed to be nothing else about game problems posted on csa2, it
seemed like a good idea to add the "bug?". In case other users were
having problems and did not read Clay's post, they might be saved a
_lot_ of trouble just by scanning message titles. Similarly, the
programmer would see "bug?" and quickly zero-in on the report. 


     The next person to thank is Sandy. Sandy posted a revealing
workaround: Shift-booting your system to prevent loading NDA's and extra
INITs would prevent the crashes.


     My second contribution was based upon Sandy's information. I took a
couple hours to experiment with playing and re-playing the game after
removing NDA's and various INITs from the usual startup sequence.

It turned out that, when the Hierarchic INIT is pulled from the
SYSTEM/System.Startup folder, the game stopped bombing upon exit. This
was a disconcerting discovery. Since Hierarchic is an INIT added by
Spectrum, the crash problem was likely to be widespread.

I posted my findings along with a fairly convenient workaround: move
Hierarchic out of SYSTEM/System.Startup to the Spectrum folder where it
can be easily be loaded when Spectrum is started. Unless a user started
Spectrum and, then, played Wolf-3D, he or she should have no problems
with crashing.


     Another user who deserves recognition is Nathan Mates. He posted
information about the problem including that it had to do with a CALL to
SetTSPtr.


     My third contribution was to describe a simple Wolf-3D program
patch which, so far, appears to eliminate crashes. The fix attempt--
removing the SetTSPtr CALL and restoring the stack-- is labeled
"experimental" and anyone using it is advised to retain a copy of the
unpatched version because I can not say what the side effects might be.

Eric later posted a response saying that the patch would reintroduce a
bug which the SetTSPtr CALL was supposed to eliminate; so, perhaps, the
patch will turn out to be a bad idea. When I play Wolf-3D, I use the
patched version. If something bad happens, I'll post the information.


     My fourth contribution has been an effort to defend the integrity
of Programming as a profession and art. A few users have argued that
there is no Wolf-3D crash problem and that the game should not be fixed
because there is a bug in the OS which Wolf-3D triggers. They want to
patch the OS instead. While there is nothing wrong with fixing the OS,
the position that Wolf-3D has no crash problem and needs no fix is
unacceptable. It violates a fundamental truth of programming:

Like it not, the standard OS-- the OS 'everyone' has installed on
his/her computer-- is the environment in which the program must perform
correctly. (Should, due to wide availability and adoption of patches,
the standard OS change, fine. That will become the new standard OS. It
will become the environment in which programs must perform correctly.)


Double-speak attemps to shift "blame" to the OS make programmers look
like a bunch of illogical, irresponsible, excuse-makers more interested
in always 'being right' than in acknowledging errors and fixing their
products so that they perform correctly. This most certainly is _not_
true of many, probably most, programmers. It is an image which simply
must not be permitted to proliferate unchallenged on the largest Apple
II newsgroup.


     So, kws, taking the above, adding posted and emailed thanks, and
including remarks about enjoying Wolfenstein 3D, it seems that you are
right. My interest and appreciation has been expressed. The same goes
for quite a few other users.

     What I had in mind in the earlier posting was sending something
which Eric could 'take to the bank'. Wolfenstein 3D is too good and took
too much work to be freeware. I know very well that whatever might be
sent will not make anyone rich. Still, if you've ever sold a program or
received a shareware fee, you will understand that getting paid
_something_ is an encouraging experience.
 

Rubywand