Seeking full version of demo of “Uh-Oh” by Scott Covert

General
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I made a modified game-file by changing byte $C945 from $41 to $B1 and byte $C958 from $F9 to $B1 ($B1 = rfalse). Now the fairy never appears, but I can’t vouch for more than that. Are there any walkthrough available to test it?

uhoh-demo_mod.zip (106.0 KB)

EDIT: Testing around a bit I noticed that the fairy sits in your inventory. You can drop it and leave it behind now but I should probably remove it from the inventory entirely…

EDIT 2: I updated the file with a new change. Byte $F396 from $19 to $B3 (moving the wrist watch to the inventory two times instead of the fairy should be harmless). Now the fairy stays in the secret place.

EDIT 3: The game seems playable. I just finished phase one in 100 moves without any problems. There’s still messages at the start and when you move to the next phase that you’re playing a demo version and there are no HINTs (No HINT or WEAK verb, I was hoping it was in the file waiting to be unlocked but, no).

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I just saw that the author posted this comment on the only review on IFDB

Hi y’all!
I’m Scott, the guy who made the game.
I don’t remember if, or how, I divided the game into 5 sections and/or created a demo version of it.
If I can find it, I’ll post the full version for free.
I never used Frotz after 1999.

The prospect that the non-demo file will surface seems slim…

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Yeah, he never responded directly, but at least the prodding got to him. Hopefully he finds the thing. His friend seemed certain he had it. Made some jokes at his expense about the guy saving/archiving everything. Gave me a bit of a Meretzky vibe.

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Thanks very much for this astounding work!

I downloaded the mod and played through the first phase (for the first time ever) and all seems well. I got through it in 172 moves, so a bit rusty, but still quite enjoyable and an interesting perspective challenge, after working from home for many years!

I did get to draw up a map of the offices and wrote down the major moves to upload a hint/walkthrough later if the commercial version is never recovered.

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I was able to beat the first part as well without running into any noteworthy bugs. Seems to be a fairly serviceable version. I’ll keep going to confirm the game is beatable in its current form.

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I’m happy to report that you can play the game all the way to the end with the unlocking fix.

    *** You have won ***


In that game you scored 200 out of a possible 200, in 994 turns.

As an old Y2K-compliance programer/tester, I especially liked the first three phases. The last two, living as a prepper, was a bit harder.

A bit more elegant fix (with a couple of nop to keep disassemblers happy), even though the above three byte changes are enough.

Byte changes to remove "demo fairy":

	$C945-$C948 from $41 $F9 $10 $47 to $B1 $B4 $B4 $B4
		(je g233 #10 ~c94e --> rfalse nop nop nop)
	
	$C958-$C95E from $F9 $27 $3F $5D $FB $4C to $B1 $B4 $B4 $B4 $B4 $B4
		(call_vn RFD74 g235 #4c --> rfalse nop nop nop nop nop)
	
	$F396	    from $19 to $B3
		(insert_obj OBJ-25 g27 --> insert_obj OBJ-179 g27)
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27

If you want to be fussy, update the Z-code checksum.

Come to think of it, do we have a convention for marking a hacked (or politely adjusted) game file? Would it make sense to change the serial number to the current date, since it’s effectively a new version?

Or maybe change the last digit of the serial number to “A”, to indicate that it’s a new version but still show what release it’s based on. (The six-digit serial number is traditionally digits but other ASCII characters are legal.)

Further tweaks, if you should happen to make more tweaks, would be “B”, “C”, etc.

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    *** You have won ***


In that game you scored 200 out of a possible 200, in 1864 turns.

Can confirm game is beatable. Can also confirm that @heasm66 is apparently better at solving puzzlers than I am. :joy:

Not quite half as many moves, but close.

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Should we start a “TOP SCORE”-list (or LOW TURNCOUNT, which doesn’t quite have the same ring to it…)?

  • HEAS....0994
  • PINK......1864
  • ????......????
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I have to admit that I cheated in the last two phases (peeked in the disassembly) and optimized the number of moves in the first three when I knew what to do.

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I had a bit of a peek to help too. Unfortunately I think I broke the game in the second phase, so I restarted to see if that was an error of mine or the games.

In the meantime I did do a bit more searching and found an item of interest for the IF archeologists present and one (25 year old) lead on a game copy.

The first is a snippet of an article advertising/about the game in Computerworld Magazine, issue 1998-03-16: Vol 32 Iss 11, p98:

First there were year 2000 stock indexes, then millennium radio programs. Now comes a computer adventure game called Uh-Oh. The game, created by Scott Covert and styled after circa 1980s computer games such as the Enchanter series, starts you off in 1998 in an office during the assessment phase of trying to prove the year 2000 problem to your boss. By the time you reach the survival phase, you’re hunkered down in your rural home, relying on your wits. A free shareware version is available at www. successinformation.com/game.htm. For the full version, send $10 to Scott Covert, R.R. No. 8, 1956 O’Brien Rd., Peterborough, On- tario, Canada Koj 6X9

image

The lead on the game copy is through a post on rec.arts-if from 1998 from someone who purchased the game and intended to write a review. I’ve done some searching and think I found this person online and have emailed them. Don’t think it will go anywhere, but bothering people on the internet about these old things seems to be amusing as a good IF itself :slight_smile:

image
image1497×859 182 KB

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I certainly remember those names from Usenet.

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Just as an update, I never did receive a call back from Scott. However as he did leave a comment on the IFDB listing as a result of reaching out to him and then promised to share the game if and when he finds it, I consider that a win and I’m happy I indirectly harassed him.

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