Letters

Any letters or e-mails received on an adventuring-related topic
may be reprinted in here unless marked 'not for publication'.
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First part of an email from:
Peter Clark

I have just installed Dracula - Resurrection so will [send a review
and solution] for that game some time in the future. I found that
it wouldn't install until I turned off my virus checker. Maybe that
could be mentioned some time in SynTax.

@~I know they always recommend turning off virus checkers before
@~installing any software but I don't know anyone who does! But
@~thanks for the warning for Dracula.
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@~Last issue I printed an email from J Paul Sanders in the USA who
@~was trying to get hold of some unsupported games. Bev Truter was
@~able to help with some of them, and a few others he hadn't
@~mentioned that she'd 'fixed' - thanks Bev!  Paul was very
@~grateful too and laid down another challenge ...

From J Paul Sanders, by email

Hi Sue :)

Yes! I'd like all the games she mention - especially the 'fixed'
ones. I can then go through the files and make sure the most
recent ones have ben posted to the IF-Archive.

I really appreciate your posting my interest in tracking down
these games in SynTax. I was wondering if you could do the same
for another item I am trying to track down? What I am trying to
find is a copy of the player's guide / strategy document sent to
people who registered the game 'FallThru.' Below is the text of a
response I received from the author after tracking him down and
speaking with him on the phone (I sent him a follow up email and
this was his reply). With any luck, one of your readers will have
a copy of the booklet and be able to make it available to the
public at large - and to the game author!

***

Mr. Sanders:

Thanks for your interest in Fallthru. As I mentioned on the phone,
the game never achieved commercial success and seemed not well
received at the time I wrote it. Consequently, I stopped
supporting it roughly ten years ago.  Unfortunately, during a move
about six years ago I lost many of the original files. I still
have a playable version of the game, however, and recently
installed it again on my computer and have begun to revisit
it--partly in response to people like yourself who have taken the
trouble to track me down and inquire about it. I also found a copy
of the rough notes I used to construct the strategy document and
will attempt to reconstruct that document. I confess that it has
been so long since I last played Fallthru I've forgotten some of
the details myself! I'll have to play it through to see if I can
put the strategy document back together.  Conditional on my
success, I'll be happy to send you a copy when I complete it. In
the meantime, if you (or others with whom you may be acquainted)
have questions about specific situations I'll gladly try to answer
them.  Incidentally, I have learned of one bug in the game that
can cause a screen lockup. It occurs while using the transporter
if nonnumeric data is entered when numeric data is called for. The
error trapping routine I wrote to protect against that mistake is
faulty. If lockup occurs, there is no escape other than to abort
the game, so it is a good idea to do a save before using the
transporter and to be especially careful to avoid entering
extraneous key strokes during transporter operation.

Good luck with Fallthru!

Paul Deal

***

Thanks again Sue for all of your help - I really appreciate it.

Cordially,
Paul Sanders

@~Can anyone help?















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