| Posted By
JimmyCoupe
on 2021-02-01
08:27:02
 |  The Commodore Plus/4 Adventure Pack - I have just found a copy, exciting
I am very excited and i am hoping the Plus4 community can share in my excitement but I think I may have found a lost in time title called "The Commodore Plus/4 Adventure Pack" by Duckworth written by Peter Gerrard. The copy I have found is mint and it also has the proper adventure book that came with it. i can see from the games section that 3 of the 4 games contained on the compilation are missing software from the site.
I have the ability to rip this into a .d64 file and I wanted to give it to the plus/4 community along with the missing screenshots of the included adventure book.
Would the plus4world like the "The Commodore Plus/4 Adventure Pack"?
Can anyone tell me any history of this title, how rare is it? have I found the rarest game for the plus4  ?
If so then how can i pass over the files and more importantly how do i join the site ?
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Posted By
Csabo
on 2021-02-01
09:06:05
| Re: The Commodore Plus/4 Adventure Pack - I have just found a copy, exciting
Nice!
Plus/4 World would definitely like this pack I'm not sure how rare it is, but it looks like none of our members have it.
You can upload it, click "Features", then click "Plus4 World Uploader". You can also register, at the top of the forum, there's a link for registration, which will take you a page with some blurb, just follow the instructions there.
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Posted By
JimmyCoupe
on 2021-02-01
09:14:27
| Re: The Commodore Plus/4 Adventure Pack - I have just found a copy, exciting
Thanks Csabo, your wish is my command. I will get on with this tonight and will get it uploaded. I have buzzing once I realised I had a game for the plus4world as you have given me so much over the years.
I am convinced this might be the rarest Plus4 game ever, even rarer than The Hulk +4 hehe. I have written to Duckworth publications as they appear to still exist in some shape or form to see if they have historical sales figures for the game. They appear to be a book publisher but from research this is what they did back then anyway.
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Posted By
JimmyCoupe
on 2021-02-02
08:22:00
| Re: The Commodore Plus/4 Adventure Pack - I have just found a copy, exciting
Thanks Luca, I will let the forum know once it is uploaded later. I had assumed the Underground Adventure on the site had come from this disk, I would also be keen to hear how bugged the version on the site is, was this just a random conversion from C64 on the site then?
Duckworth Publications have got back to me and have passed my request to someone that worked there in this period that might be able to get the sales figures.
*** UPDATE ***
I am going to need some advice. The Plus/4 Adventure pack is copy protected and I am unable to back it up, what can I do? I am using openCBM and as soon as you attempt to backup the disk the 1541-II growls at me and the process ends. I am using a XU1541, 1541-II and openCBM. I have this evening backed up another plus4 disk to confirm everything was setup correctly.
I can confirm that the game disk is fine, the menu loads and so do all 4 of the games on the disk, good news there :-).
I am pretty sure the game disk is copy protected as the 4 main PRG files shown in openCBM cannot be read and are shown as "----". When you read the directory on a plus4 these four PRG files are named with the commodore ascii symbols (symbols with black boxes around them).
Are there any copy programs that I can use with my XU1541 that will bypass the protection? reading up points to a PC openCBM nibbler but it only works on a XUM1541. Any help or advice would be appreciated
*** ANOTHER UPDATE - please help ***
I have just purchased a XUM1541 in hope that this is better than my XU1541 at backing up copy protected games, XUM appears to allow for nibble via openCBM. I need someone's help with available tools and ideas of how I can extract this disk to a .d64 or a .g64 at worst. I understand that in some cases a .g64 can be converted to a .d64.
I am not new to creating backups but I am out of my comfort zone with copy protection so any advice welcome.
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Posted By
Csabo
on 2021-02-02
08:33:40
| Re: The Commodore Plus/4 Adventure Pack - I have just found a copy, exciting
Could you please check and let us know if the games are single-file BASIC programs? (If so, copying them might be very easy.) For example, could you take a photo or a screenshot of the directory listing?
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Posted By
JimmyCoupe
on 2021-02-02
09:08:07
| Re: The Commodore Plus/4 Adventure Pack - I have just found a copy, exciting
Thanks Csabo, I will go and grab a screenshot for you now.
those 4 PRG files are the copy protected files, 153, 140,141 & 117. In openCBM they are shown as "----" and you cannot move them to another disk, they give an error that the sector cannot be read. Those 4 files are the main game files. The files with readable filenames can all be moved from the disk without issue. I have tested all four games and all load as they should.
This might be useful info and knowledge:
153 = Colossal Cave
140 = True Spit
141 = Spaced Out
117 = Underground Adventure
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Posted By
Csabo
on 2021-02-02
10:57:00
| Re: The Commodore Plus/4 Adventure Pack - I have just found a copy, exciting
Thank you for that. So, in this case, would you be able to do the following:
- Insert the protected disk
- Load one game from it (without running the game)
- Insert another disk
- DSAVE"filename"
That might work
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Posted By
Luca
on 2021-02-02
11:02:53
 | Re: The Commodore Plus/4 Adventure Pack - I have just found a copy, exciting
Wow fantastic, there's a common booting menu and maps and various stuff  I hope a .G64 file will materialize soon, keep going JimmyCoupe!
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Posted By
JimmyCoupe
on 2021-02-02
13:19:15
| Re: The Commodore Plus/4 Adventure Pack - I have just found a copy, exciting
It would appear the protection runs deeper. This is what I can see after playing for a bit, please point out anything I am doing wrong or any suggestions I am missing.
Just loading the menu to select games on the disk
*****************************************
shift+run/stop = ?BREAK ERROR
LOAD "*",8,1 = loads to Ready, type RUN will start menu, LIST will list 2-3 lines of odd looking code and then everything vanishes, wait (30 seconds) and then menu starts. Just before menu starts the disk drive growls at you.
The Menu
********
Pushing run/stop on the menu results in a black screen and the reset button becomes locked out. Full power cycle required to get out.
Loading any of the games
*********************
Just at the end of the load the disk drive growls at you.
In any loaded game
****************
Pushing run/stop goes straight back to plus4 basic but a soft reset has happened
Loading any game by skipping the menu
*********************************
If you attempt to load any of the games by doing a DIRECTORY, move cursor to one of the 4 games PRG's, type LOAD, quotes around ascii chars, and then ,8 you get something similar to the below screenshot for each of the games. DSAVE results in a 0k PRG file that is on the disk but will not load, thought this was odd as this is at the very least a 2 line program so why didnt it save correctly? disk is good.
Now if I repeat but do ,8,1 on the load, the Underground Adventure loads and will play but the other 3 games stop mid way through the load and will not load and run with this method.
Ideas
****
1) I am able to connect my XU1541 to Vice, it is very slow but it can load the games, its not perfect but can a .VSF snap shot be converted to say a .PRG?
2) Use my C64 and a program like Maverick to nibble a clone disk. I could then pass this on to someone with better skills then I. Unsure if this will even work but internet talk points me in this direction.
3) Use a XUM1541 and a nibbler plugin for openCBM, hoping this is the one that gives the results.
4) Can Vice help in any way?
Failures
******
1) Stupid Vice 64bit doesn't support XU1541. My XU1541 only works under 32bit Vice, the 32bit Vice doesn't run Maverick or any other nibbler I have tried, only 64bit  . My idea was to nibble the disk straight to a .d64 file. I thought I was being really clever but stupid Vice gets in the way.
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Posted By
Luca
on 2021-02-02
14:24:31
| Re: The Commodore Plus/4 Adventure Pack - I have just found a copy, exciting
Generally, when there's a protected disk to be copied, the natural choice should be NIBtools, which, anyway, operate on old slow DOS PCs...
Some useful links about copyprotections, hardware to be used for and NIBtools, are here at C64Preservation, the team which fought against protections since years in order to preserve the large C64 softography.
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Posted By
Csabo
on 2021-02-02
14:52:33
| Re: The Commodore Plus/4 Adventure Pack - I have just found a copy, exciting
Would you be able to load the MENU.PRG, save it to a new disk and show us the listing? I'm assuming that only the 4 game files have something weird about them, the menu should be a plain program, which you should be able to load (but not run) and then save to another disk to back up and transfer.
Edit: "can a .VSF snap shot be converted to say a .PRG?" - yes, this could work. It's worth a shot.
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Posted By
JimmyCoupe
on 2021-02-02
17:14:44
| Re: The Commodore Plus/4 Adventure Pack - I have just found a copy, exciting
I don't know how to say this but I think the disk has just died on me. I was just going through the process of doing Vice snapshots and whilst doing the 2nd game the disk stopped with the flashing light so I waited and nothing. I turned drive off and on again and restarted Vice and it was saying there was nothing on the disk anymore??? I quickly went white and plugged the drive into the plus4, same thing. So I grabbed my backup 1541, same thing. Has this disk been falling apart the whole time? I don't think so, I don't know what has happened here. XU1541/Vice has damaged the disk? disk has just run out of puff?
I guess I did manage to get Colossal Cave in a Vice snapshot, pre-menu code in a .64 and the menu in a vice snapshot. You can both have a copy of the snapshots if you would like, shall I email them over?
I will come back to the disk tomorrow as now feeling too sad to go near it. I'm really sorry if something has gone wrong, I really tried. Maybe it just needs another 30 year rest before it will work again.
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Posted By
Csabo
on 2021-02-02
18:37:59
| Re: The Commodore Plus/4 Adventure Pack - I have just found a copy, exciting
Sad news :-/ Sure, send it over, I'll take a look when I have a bit of time.
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Posted By
JimmyCoupe
on 2021-02-02
19:07:41
| Re: The Commodore Plus/4 Adventure Pack - I have just found a copy, exciting
Just had a cup of tea to calm me back down. Just decided to have one last look this evening to see what might be wrong as the disk is write protected only to find the disk had a split right in the centre of the disk. This must have opened up whilst loading the 2nd game to snapshot.
Never had this happen before and why did it have to be now. I will try and upload a photo tomorrow evening of the disk. Getting tired now and need to go to bed.
I will get the bits zipped and sent over. At least we have in some shape or form the most classic title on the adventure pack.
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Posted By
Luca
on 2021-02-03
02:14:07
| Re: The Commodore Plus/4 Adventure Pack - I have just found a copy, exciting
Sorry to hear that JimmyCoupe, you know sometimes shit happens Thank you for the time you spent around it, let's recover what can be saved, anything will go.
EDIT: hey JimmyCoupe I've seen your email just now ;) Yes, the menu perfectly works, it only has some screencodes in line 0 in order to "protect" the whole list, but you've preserved it! This means we only need those PRG files. Feel free to send the VICE snapshot to me and we'll se what to do more :)
EDIT2: JimmyCoupe I'vein order to circumvent the protection on MENU.PRG, load it in Basic (command is DLOAD"MENU, or DLOAD"* being this the first in the directory's order, you can use key F2 to do that fast), once loaded type LIST31 and change in line 31 the "<>" into "="; now RUN it.
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Posted By
JimmyCoupe
on 2021-02-03
08:25:03
| Re: The Commodore Plus/4 Adventure Pack - I have just found a copy, exciting
Many thanks Luca and Csabo for your support, you have ben excellent throughout, and I am pleased that something good is coming out of my disaster. I didn't buy this game for any personal worth or as a collection master piece, it was bought to preserve so this is a good result at the end of the day. I can supply some really nice missing artwork photos for this package, one of the games strengths is its professional packaging and love that has gone into the supporting manual, it really is nice.
I am just preparing a zip package with a bundle of bits that I managed to snap shot along with the colossal cave snapshot. I didn't say but I also got a snapshot of the menu itself which is nice for historical purposes.
Things captured and in the zip for you both:
1) all the raw files from the disk apart from the 4 .PRG files
2) I have rebuilt a .d64 disk with all the raw files from point(1)
3) Code saved when menu loads (Csabo request)
4) Vice Snapshot of the Game selection menu
5) Vice Snapshot of colossal cave. I don't think there are anymore disk accesses required so the snapshot should be good.
Thanks for the menu code pointer Luca, I will have a play with that after work . It would be great if you could find the time to review the snapshot.
If you want to see the disaster then here it is for all to see. Please to anyone else with old disks that have been in lofts for years, take care and don't be a victim like me. Disks should be stored at room temperature and not in a ever changing loft temperatures.
I have worked in I.T all my life and I have never seen a floppy do this. Warp yes, discolour and dirt yes but to rip itself a new one, never seen that before :-)
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Posted By
Luca
on 2021-02-03
09:27:50
| Re: The Commodore Plus/4 Adventure Pack - I have just found a copy, exciting
JimmyCoupe just as I've written before, thank to your email the rebuild of the disk has been done, and I've a good feeling about what we can do more to obtain the 4 PRGs, then I've said I'm waiting for and D64 attempt and any VICE snapshot to try our best. Amd that's why now we have a screenshot of the menu at The Commodore Plus/4 Adventure Pack :)
E.g.: even if your D64 are not working, using the tray option of, let's say, DirMaster could easily copy the PRGs alone...
Mmh...a weird suspect comes to my mind right now...
The MENU.PRG "protection" (haha!) code is the one between lines 30 and 33:
30 SCNCLR:OPEN 15,8,15:OPEN 5,8,5,"#":PRINT#15,"B-R:5,0,2,15":INPUT#15,E,C$,Z,Z9
31 PRINT#15,"B-R:5,0,1,16":INPUT#15,E,C$,Z,Z9:IFE<>21THEN33
32 CLOSE15:CLOSE5:PRINT"Ð":RETURN
33 PRINTCHR$(14);CHR$(8);"Ó‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘ BAD COPY!!"
Are you sure about the fact that (I'm trying my weirdest now) the "damaged" part is not THE REAL protection, and this would mean it was there ON PURPOSE? 
The code would seek for a 21,READ ERROR between track 01 and 02, and the producer could have released a disk with abraded track to have...a read error in that specific track!
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Posted By
JimmyCoupe
on 2021-02-03
10:00:11
| Re: The Commodore Plus/4 Adventure Pack - I have just found a copy, exciting
I am happy to send you the disk if you think you could take this further Luca? I think I can trust you . The game was not bought for self worth purely for restore purposes so more than happy to send it on over.
All I know is, it was working, stopped mid way through True Spit load, drive growled twice and then stopped. since then all its says is the disk is empty. It can't be empty as it has a sticky tab on the right protect so the data must still be on the floppy. i know it sound crazy but could you put sticky tape on the other side as it is a single sided disk and maybe get the 1541 to read again?
Email has been sent over to you both, zip containing lots of bits and 6 fun pictures of the ring binder manual that comes with the package.
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Posted By
Luca
on 2021-02-03
11:43:32
| Re: The Commodore Plus/4 Adventure Pack - I have just found a copy, exciting
Thank you for the files. Of course, with the same file protection of the menu boot, any adventure could be unprotected and played. What seems to be harder is the rebuild of the exact D64, because probably the protection reads and operatesd woth some values written in the disk sectors (...?).
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Posted By
JimmyCoupe
on 2021-02-03
12:24:10
| Re: The Commodore Plus/4 Adventure Pack - I have just found a copy, exciting
i think your analysis is spot on Luca, I was playing with your fix and it does pick up values on the sectors for the protection. You have a very keen eye for this . I tried your little fix and it does indeed load the menu without a need to access the disk again. It looked like the variable E in line31 was being set by a sector read. Is that what INPUT#15 is doing? I have seen INPUT#15 being used in disk access calls before.
Did you want me to send you the disk Luca? more than happy to at my cost.
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Posted By
Csabo
on 2021-02-03
12:48:33
| Re: The Commodore Plus/4 Adventure Pack - I have just found a copy, exciting
From the VSF I could easily put together Colossal Cave, so that's one down.
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Posted By
Luca
on 2021-02-03
13:42:34
| Re: The Commodore Plus/4 Adventure Pack - I have just found a copy, exciting
JimmyCoupe yes, error 21 is the one which is hard to reproduce outside the emulations field. I tried and tried again, and failed, probably due the fact that I've not completely understood what the code actually does, or it is just impossible to fully reproduce under emulation: I read it and it says to me that the MENU checks sectors 2-15 and 1-16, the code should check for an ERROR 21 (the famous "broken" slice you see on the disk, I mean NO SYNC ERROR) and get into the menu after a long timeout for both sectors...
Another difficulty is the selection of the original filenames: I tried to load'em and failed again...and now we know why those adventure were/are so rare! 
Plus, I don't understand why the original file has been saved with part of the variables ($1001-$A7C6, which means 153 blocks on disk), and not in his natural end of BASIC listing, as Csabo did.
Briefly, after ensuring that in any case the game would have been easily saved, I tried to match exactly the original disk, but I fear it can't simply be ported withous a ZoomFloppy or other specific hardware...
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Posted By
JimmyCoupe
on 2021-02-03
14:05:26
| Re: The Commodore Plus/4 Adventure Pack - I have just found a copy, exciting
Well done guys this is amazing work and what a turnaround. I can't believe you reproduced the game just how it loads from the original disk with the slow Welcome....To... . entry Amazed you could do this with that snapshot .
You have given me faith that the clear ring isn't a split then and by design? the surface of the disk itself is not the cleanest so if this disk doesn't start reading again soon do you think its worth carefully rubbing the surface with alcohol and a ear bud. Seen threads saying do as a last resort and results are good. Thoughts?
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Posted By
Chris
on 2021-02-08
06:58:09
| Re: The Commodore Plus/4 Adventure Pack - I have just found a copy, exciting
All, great work here. Collaboration has always been the Plus 4 scenes strength.
I have a copy of this adventure pack, the disk is in storage. I'll dig it out over the next weekend and see if mine has the same results.
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Posted By
Luca
on 2021-02-08
07:03:17
| Re: The Commodore Plus/4 Adventure Pack - I have just found a copy, exciting
Chris would be great, thank you! I'm almost sure you will find the same abrasion on the physical disk, betcha?
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Posted By
JimmyCoupe
on 2021-03-17
08:36:43
| Re: The Commodore Plus/4 Adventure Pack - I have just found a copy, exciting
Your a star Chris. I tried my very best but my disk is broken and it no longer reads so I was hoping that my thread might get others to find their copy.
Now very excited, thank you for making my day .
** EDIT **
Are you out there Chris? did you get the chance to see if you had your copy of the "Plus4 Adventure Pack"?
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