Opened 20 years ago
Closed 20 years ago
#1773 closed defect
DIG: Light bridge puzzle bug
| Reported by: | SF/tobybear | Owned by: | |
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| Priority: | high | Component: | Engine: SCUMM |
| Version: | Keywords: | script | |
| Cc: | Game: | The Dig |
Description
Game: The Dig, English CD version Tested with: ScummVM 0.6.1b + CVS Sep 20 Platform: AMD 2000+ running Windows XP
My first bug report, hope I did everything right. If not, please tell me.
The problem I have occurs in room 56 ("sparkle"), see attached screenshot.
Some useful information beforehand: In "The Dig", you have to activate a light bridge on each of the islands (spires). This is done by turning a "lens", then activating a "strange device" by clicking and holding down a "switch". If the light bridge does not activate, you have to rotate the lense a bit and repeat it. There is however one light bridge (the one on the "tomb spire") that is broken. When trying to activate it, you will get a message saying something like "the warranty on this bridge has run out" or similar. Later in the game you will get something to pry open a panel below the "strange device". When you then look at it, you have to solve a puzzle (guiding a light beam with prisms) to repair the device. After this, you can simply activate the light bridge like all the others. At least, this is how the original DOS version of "The Dig" worked. In ScummVM I encountered some strange behaviour:
1. Using ScummVM 0.6.1b: Clicking on the lens the first time I enter the room, I can move it several times. Then clicking on the device and pushing the switch gives the correct "warranty has run out" message. If I then try to move the lens again, the cursor disappears and I can't do anything anymore. I don't think the game has crashed or freezed, it just seems a script did not terminate correctly. I encountered this at some more points while playing the game (disappearing cursor), but by repeatedly clicking with the mouse, it did always return. There are 2 save games attached, the first one (slot 79) is right before the bug: click on the "strange device", click and hold the switch, wait for message, click on "exit", click on "lens" -> cursor disappears on my PC (I could still save, so slot 80 is after this has happened). This was not really critical for me, because later in the game you receive a crowbar or something similar (I can't remember how they named it) that you can use to pry open the panel, solve the puzzle, and *then* everything works again (turning the lense, activating the device). All other light bridges in the game have no problem rotating the lense with ScummVM!
2. I tried several CVS versions from August and September, and they showed a different behaviour: You can turn the lens and activate the device, but this time, it will always activate the light bridge, no matter if the panel has been opened or the puzzle has been solved! So the player will never see the beam puzzle or know what the panel is for. Seems like some sort of script error to me. You can try this again with the attached savegame: open slot 79 in any recent CVS version, click on device, click on switch, move lens, repeat until bridge activates - which it should *not* at this point in the game!
If I should provide any additional information, please tell me.
Regards,
Toby
Ticket imported from: #1031807. Ticket imported from: bugs/1773.
Attachments (3)
Change History (14)
by , 20 years ago
| Attachment: | room056_bug.png added |
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comment:1 by , 20 years ago
| Summary: | Light bridge puzzle bug → DIG: Light bridge puzzle bug |
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comment:2 by , 20 years ago
Point #1 [ScummVM 0.6.1b] is probably a repeat or related to: <a href="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=1009154&group_id=37116&atid=418820">Bug 1009154</a>
#2 might be related to/introduced by the fix for #1, as this was never possible for me before the CVS build that incorporated it. Then again, that might have only been because the lens couldn't be moved more than a few times without it locking up.
comment:3 by , 20 years ago
Probably not very useful, but I finished The Dig (Mac) back in April with an up-to-date Win32 CVS build (read: from April ^^), and the puzzle definitely worked.
comment:4 by , 20 years ago
Regarding #2: I finished The Dig (for the umpteenth time) just yesterday and it all worked fine. Having played it numerous times, I have discovered that it is not the light bridge in the tomb spire that is broken, but the fourth one that you activate (which might be either be in the tomb spire or in the map spire, depending on how you are exploring the islands). I haven't looked at your savegame, but have you already activated the other three light bridges?
comment:5 by , 20 years ago
Well, it is definitely possible to finish The Dig with ScummVM 0.6.1 (which is what I did) and also with the latest CVS. With the latest CVS, the cursor disappearing is gone, but you can probably activate the tomb spire light bridge without having solved the puzzle (which makes completing the game somewhat easier, but also more confusing).
With the latest stable release 0.6.1b, you can also still complete the game, as long as you don't try to move the lens before you solved the puzzle.
@manwe21: I had only activated the first 2 light bridges in the save game, not 4.
comment:6 by , 20 years ago
| Priority: | normal → high |
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comment:7 by , 20 years ago
Having nothing better to do tonight, I took a look at your savegame (#79) and can confirm that, as I explained previously, problem #2 is the normal behaviour. Since problem #1 was fixed in CVS, I guess this can be closed (?).
comment:8 by , 20 years ago
Yes, but isn't it a bit strange for the player that the bridge can be activated although the puzzle hasn't been solved yet (problem #2)? As far as I remember, in the original game, it was never possible to activate the bridge without solving the light beam puzzle.
comment:9 by , 20 years ago
You really know how to remind me of the fact that English is not my mother tongue... :-) I'll try and rephrase all that in a clearer fashion.
The Dig is a fairly linear game, but at one point there is a branch : exploring the planetarium spire, you find both the blue rod and the green stick and may therefore explore first either the map spire or the tomb spire.
Therefore, the first two light bridges that you activate are necessarily those on the museum spire and the planetarium spire; but the third one might be either on the map spire or the tomb spire, the remaining one coming fourth.
Furthermore, the game designers decided that one of the light bridges should be broken and had to be repaired by playing with the light beams.
They also wanted the game to have some form of 'pedagogy', and therefore coded it in such a way that the broken bridge would not be specifically one bridge (say, the one in the tomb spire), but rather the fourth one the player encounters (which might be either the one on the tomb spire OR the one on the map spire).
Hence my asking you in my first post whether you had already activated the bridge on the map spire.
Now, before posting for a second time, I used your savegame where I saw that you had indeed not activated that one. I activated the one on the tomb spire then went to the map spire, where, as I was fairly certain would be the case, I *indeed had to open the panel and solve the light beams puzzle*.
Hence, as I wrote (rather hastily, I confess) yesterday, it is all the normal behaviour and I guess the bug report can be closed.
comment:10 by , 20 years ago
@manwe21: Thank you vey much for your reply, it was not a matter of you explaining it wrong but rather of me not understanding correctly. All walkthroughs I had always assumed the tomb spire bridge to be broken and on my first run playing DIG with ScummVM, it was also this one. So sorry again and since the really important bug (freezing after turning lense) is fixed now, I assume we can safely close this.
Thanks again
Toby
comment:11 by , 20 years ago
| Status: | new → closed |
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Screenshot