Was anyone looking for MacRobots? I found it!

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2010, October 3 - 11:27pm

Temporary Joe

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Joined: 2009 Nov 14

Was anyone looking for MacRobots? I found it!

It was on the Daxeria.MacDomain.org list, and I think I found it.

Unicorn Software, 198x
B&W

Children's edutainment. Used MacinTalk to represent robot speech.

Copy protection: Yes, but if you upload the game as-is, we can patch it. Also, Copy II Hard Disk can make physical duplicates, or install the game directly from a physical floppy to a single HD.
Status: Still looking for a copy.

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http://www.mediafire.com/?ij94174zl5szj

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Copy protection unknown. Gotten off of folder in a CD that had folders of all the floppy disks my family owned. Original likely destroyed. Untested. Run at your own risk!!

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2010, October 4 - 7:31pm

IIGS_User

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Joined: 2009 Apr 8

I don't know whether this is usual, but I needed to do a right-click onto "Click here to start download" to get the file.

Thanks for uploading anyway!

2010, October 15 - 9:51pm

Temporary Joe

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Joined: 2009 Nov 14

Is it runnable? I haven't checked.

2010, October 16 - 3:39pm

IIGS_User

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Joined: 2009 Apr 8

We need to move it into a Disk image first...

2010, October 16 - 3:47pm

IIGS_User

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When I create a disk image, it complains about unauthorized copy. Requests to insert original floppy disk into any drive.

Probably a workaound:

Please move the content onto a disk image (as given in the d/l link,
mount both this disk image + the original floppy disk,
run from this disk image.

If the game is a good one, it will run from now on at any Mac machine.

2010, October 16 - 6:04pm

Balrog

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Joined: 2009 Apr 24

I wonder if it's possible to make a Disk Copy 4.2 image of the original disk (using DC42). If not, it uses annoying copy protection. And there aren't any utilities to image copy-protected disks yet... probably going to have to write one :\

2010, October 17 - 8:42am

IIGS_User

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Please, Temp Joe, can you create a Disk Copy 4.2 image of the original floppy disk?

2010, October 17 - 3:39pm

Temporary Joe

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Joined: 2009 Nov 14

That's the problem...the archive CD was made many years ago with putting the floppies in folders rather than self-extracting copies. I don't know if the original floppy survived, and I had no say in if it was destroyed or not. The archive CD must have made about eight years ago, I reckon.

I was really hoping that it could be cracked.

Similarly, I also have First Shapes, in which the original disk was actually corrupted, and it's never played since. It is *possible* MacRobots still exists at my house, but it would be a *very long shot* if it still survived.

2010, October 17 - 6:25pm

(Reply to #8) #9

IIGS_User

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I was really hoping that it could be cracked.

Keeping this in mind, this is probably possible - by peoples who know how.

2010, October 17 - 7:42pm

#10

Temporary Joe

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Joined: 2009 Nov 14

Who maintains the Daxeria list?

2011, January 11 - 8:16am

(Reply to #10) #11

IIGS_User

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Joined: 2009 Apr 8

Who maintains the Daxeria list?

http://www.macintoshgarden.org/users/daxeria/

2012, March 15 - 3:57pm

#12

IIGS_User

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Is there already a page for MacRobot? I can't find any...

2012, March 16 - 8:04pm

#13

Temporary Joe

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Joined: 2009 Nov 14

There is no page on MG. Regrettably, MacRobots has not yet been cracked: the original disk was lost a while back...

Unicorn Software, 1985
B&W

Children's edutainment. Used MacinTalk to represent robot speech.

Copy protection: Yes, but a patch exists for at least one version. Also, Copy II Hard Disk can make physical duplicates, or install the game directly from a physical floppy to a single HD.
Status: We have a copy, but it's not responding to the patch. Hacking is called for.

This is from the Daxeria page.

2012, March 16 - 10:52pm

#14

Arthegall

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Joined: 2011 Dec 31

I'll give the crack a shot. Gimme a few days.

2012, March 20 - 9:05pm

#15

Arthegall

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Joined: 2011 Dec 31

I've narrowed it down to a range of about ten traps where I think the key routines are located, but I'm not getting real reliable performance working under emulation, and I won't have time to set up a box with the necessary tools any time in the next few weeks.

If anyone is interested in picking up where I left off, I'd recommend running the software until you get the "this is an invalid copy" alert. Invoke your debugger, put in an atb postevent, and go. Insert (or mount if emulating) a disk. At the _PostEvent break, clear your breaks, put in an undefined atb, and go again.

You'll see a lot of Toolbox traps while the software mounts the new volume and gets rid of the alert dialog. Then you get a series of MacRobots _Read traps originating in CODE resource 3, and not too long after that you'll see the Toolbox traps for calling a new "invalid disk" alert dialog. I'm assuming the key routines are intermingled with the _Read traps.

To go directly to that section, instead of inserting an atb postevent at the alert dialog, put in a break at 00028278.

Good luck!