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-   -   Avish (http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/showthread.php?t=6266)

Reup 16-07-2005 10:00 AM

Feel free to comment and discuss this game here. Also, if you have any useful tips or tricks don't hesitate to share them with the others! Thanks!

Review and Download (if available)

a1s 16-07-2005 12:13 PM

A big 'YAY' to our israely comrades! (were is that strogy when you need him?)

A. J. Raffles 16-07-2005 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by a1s@Jul 16 2005, 12:13 PM
A big 'YAY' to our israely comrades! (were is that strogy when you need him?)
Isn't Stroggy Belgian?:huh:
Well, anyway, the game looks interesting. What a shame I need to work on that damn thesis.:(

Dorfl 16-07-2005 01:20 PM

Quote:

(yes that’s right, Israel)
What the HELL is that supposed to mean? Do you think I'm typing this message from the back of a camel or something?

A. J. Raffles 16-07-2005 04:12 PM

Obviously not. But you'll have to admit that Israel isn't exactly famous for its computer games, so a game from Israel is something unusual.

BeefontheBone 16-07-2005 04:48 PM

True, although so is one from France...

A. J. Raffles 16-07-2005 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BeefontheBone@Jul 16 2005, 04:48 PM
True, although so is one from France...
True. There was that sentence in the Cruise for a Corpse review, though, remember?"Don't let that put you off, it's a good game..." :D

Mars Is Taken 16-07-2005 07:21 PM

Nice game!

But I'm stuck at lv 9 ("It's not so hard..." heh!)
How do I use the fan and what purpose has it in the first place?
Please :help: ...

A. J. Raffles 16-07-2005 09:24 PM

I don't think you need the fan to solve that level, actually.

Edit: Dang, I'm completely stuck in level 14. Where's the door?:huh:

moogle 17-07-2005 03:08 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BeefontheBone@Jul 16 2005, 04:48 PM
True, although so is one from France...
Wasn't alone in the dark french originally? Don't kill me if I'm worng...

Donatello 17-07-2005 07:18 AM

Geri zaidimai,gal yra is jusu kas moka ir supranta lietuviu kalba? Jei taip parasikit man: dunciuks@one.lt Lithuanian :help:

A. J. Raffles 17-07-2005 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Donatello@Jul 17 2005, 07:18 AM
Geri zaidimai,gal yra is jusu kas moka ir supranta lietuviu kalba? Jei taip parasikit man: dunciuks@one.lt Lithuanian :help:
Sorry, even if you're from Lithuania, could you at least try to post in English? You'll find you increase your chances of getting an answer that way...

Reup 17-07-2005 09:05 AM

If you're really stuck, the code for the first 'hard' level is in the readme.txt :P

Quote:

The first 15 levels are quite easy - If you wish to get
straight to the brainbreaker levels enter the code for
level 16: xxxxxx

Off course that's not the real code because it would be a real spoiler if it were LOL

A. J. Raffles 17-07-2005 09:15 AM

Oh, great, that's the one I'm currently playing.:(

Reup 17-07-2005 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by A. J. Raffles+Jul 17 2005, 09:13 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (A. J. Raffles @ Jul 17 2005, 09:13 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Donatello@Jul 17 2005, 07:18 AM
Geri zaidimai,gal yra is jusu kas moka ir supranta lietuviu kalba? Jei taip parasikit man: dunciuks@one.lt* Lithuanian :help:
Sorry, even if you're from Lithuania, could you at least try to post in English? You'll find you increase your chances of getting an answer that way... [/b][/quote]
:ot: I think he said: Please spam me totally silly on the following adres :D

Dorfl 17-07-2005 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Reup+Jul 17 2005, 10:32 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Reup @ Jul 17 2005, 10:32 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>
Quote:

Originally posted by A. J. Raffles@Jul 17 2005, 09:13 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-Donatello
Quote:

@Jul 17 2005, 07:18 AM
Geri zaidimai,gal yra is jusu kas moka ir supranta lietuviu kalba? Jei taip parasikit man: dunciuks@one.lt* Lithuanian :help:


Sorry, even if you're from Lithuania, could you at least try to post in English? You'll find you increase your chances of getting an answer that way...

:ot: I think he said: Please spam me totally silly on the following adres :D [/b][/quote]
Quote:

think he said: Please spam me totally silly on the following address
heh

My previous message was mostly a private joke (although I do cringe at the review's first paragraphs) - a younger and dumber version of my none-too-bright self used to burst into flames whenever it read something like that.

Does this review's author happen to have a copy of Shalit Hameymadim I could, ahem, borrow?

Guest 17-07-2005 11:01 AM

Oh crap. And I can't edit it, because I haven't registered yet.

A. J. Raffles 17-07-2005 11:54 AM

... stuck on level 19... :rolleyes:

Guest 17-07-2005 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Dorfl@Jul 16 2005, 01:20 PM
Quote:

(yes that’s right, Israel)
What the HELL is that supposed to mean? Do you think I'm typing this message from the back of a camel or something?

....Yeah.

:w00t:

(Kidding, I'm just kidding.)

A. J. Raffles 18-07-2005 12:23 PM

... stuck on level 35... How on earth am I supposed to get back to the lift after getting the key?? :blink:

Edit: scratch that. ...stuck on level 37... This game IS addictive. :D

Stroggy 18-07-2005 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by A. J. Raffles@Jul 16 2005, 05:12 PM
Obviously not. But you'll have to admit that Israel isn't exactly famous for its computer games, so a game from Israel is something unusual.
While Israel isn't famous for computer games it is famous for it's high tech electronics and other software. In fact tha backbone of the israeli economy is its hightech industry. so a game from israel is hardly surprising, what is surprising is that there aren't more games.

A. J. Raffles 18-07-2005 07:58 PM

I don't mind either way, really, but I'd be delighted at the prospect of more computer games from Israel if they were all like this one.:)


(mutters) ... there's got to be a way to get past level 37!

lethe 18-07-2005 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Dorfl@Jul 16 2005, 01:20 PM
Quote:

(yes that’s right, Israel)
What the HELL is that supposed to mean? Do you think I'm typing this message from the back of a camel or something?

That... was... hilarious :roflol:

red_avatar 19-07-2005 02:19 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BeefontheBone@Jul 16 2005, 04:48 PM
True, although so is one from France...
Nonsense, France made a lot of games - Infogrames, Ubisoft (or at least it used to be, god knows who owns it now), Cryo (now Adventure Company or something), etc. - all French developers and publishers.

Stroggy 19-07-2005 08:01 AM

The french publishers are mainly used to publish games produced in the US in Europe.
France's activitiy on the game-front has been deteriorating since most of the actual production seems to take place in Canada... oddly enough.

Sebatianos 19-07-2005 08:05 AM

I hate to be a pain in the a$$, but could you guys move this discusion somewhere else? It's interesting and everything, but peopel usually come here to talk about game related problems, asking for hints - or commenting games (talking about French publishers and Canadnian game production is a bit off topic).

A. J. Raffles 19-07-2005 08:07 AM

Right, back on topic: I finally got through level 37. :Brain:

... stuck on level 39 now... :(

a1s 19-07-2005 08:19 AM

yes I know, completely :ot: , so I'll try to finish quickly.
Quote:

Originally posted by A. J. Raffles+Jul 16 2005, 12:46 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (A. J. Raffles @ Jul 16 2005, 12:46 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteBegin-a1s@Jul 16 2005, 12:13 PM
A big 'YAY' to our israely comrades! (were is that strogy when you need him?)
Isn't Stroggy Belgian?:huh:[/b][/quote]
he might not be from the paradise of the working jews, but he's a BIG fan :D
< end :ot: >

Stroggy 19-07-2005 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sebatianos@Jul 19 2005, 09:05 AM
but peopel usually come here to talk about game related problems, asking for hints - or commenting games
We're not stopping them.


Quote:

he's a BIG fan
I've got the season tickets and everything!

Quote:

... stuck on level 39 now...
I threw in the towel at level 36 I think.

Sebatianos 19-07-2005 08:45 AM

To both of you - and other potential candidates...

I hope you're finished with off topic.
You're not stopping anyone to talk about the game - but you're way :ot: . Maybe a mod could split this topic and you can continue in the 3xBlah?

Stroggy 19-07-2005 08:48 AM

Quote:

aybe a mod could split this topic and you can continue in the 3xBlah?
Or we could just stop talking about it, that would help.

A. J. Raffles 19-07-2005 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Stroggy@Jul 19 2005, 08:43 AM
I threw in the towel at level 36 I think.
I should have done that as well, but I'm more than halfway through, so I want to finish the game.

... stuck on level 41 now...

Reup 19-07-2005 01:56 PM

Hey Raffles, if you compile a list of all level codes, I could put it with the game-extras. That'd be neat!

A. J. Raffles 19-07-2005 02:55 PM

*shrug* Well, I've got all the codes if you like, but to be fair I only got the ones up till 41 myself, so I can't tell you whether the others are correct until I get there...
Anyway, here they are:

LEVEL 01 (Do arrows lie?) - YGNCBC
LEVEL 02 (Look under the door!) - ELWWEL
LEVEL 03 (Boom the bugs) - VQILJF
LEVEL 04 (Use that yellow thing) - LTZQRA
LEVEL 05 (Point the key at the lock) - IHEZYY
LEVEL 06 (Mary Poppins) - TUXGIL
LEVEL 07 (Burn all the bridges) - DPAINA
LEVEL 08 (I'm singing in the rain) - LSTBQV
LEVEL 09 (It's not so hard...) - OCXAFU
LEVEL 10 (Stairs to heaven) - HTTCSS
LEVEL 11 (4th of July) - KHRLHF
LEVEL 12 (Muhamad Ali in action) - GQVXVV
LEVEL 13 (Let a smile be your guide) - UMRQHY
LEVEL 14 (Look into your heart) - IMHJKH
LEVEL 15 (Up & up we go) - ALHCNM
LEVEL 16 (It is perishing out here) - BJRQBV
LEVEL 17 (Tears of glass) - SYOVDW
LEVEL 18 (Walking on broken glass) - YZMKUF
LEVEL 19 (Fly over the monsters) - IXNHHK
LEVEL 20 (Miles to jump before...) - HXKHXX
LEVEL 21 (Feed me!!!) - USKSIO
LEVEL 22 (Oh! It's all gone!) - TOCRSY
LEVEL 23 (Slide and jump) - RUEZRR
LEVEL 24 (Wind can be helpful...) - YMSBIB
LEVEL 25 (How can a bomb help?) - EQSXBX
LEVEL 26 (Set all the umbrellas free) - YGDRHL
LEVEL 27 (Cold wind from the East) - DBOBGP
LEVEL 28 (It's getting harder...) - ALQASJ
LEVEL 29 (Twice a day) - UTKMOU
LEVEL 30 (A devilish plan) - SIKRMS
LEVEL 31 (Don't lick the screen!) - ETOQJY
LEVEL 32 (Miles to slide before...) - KLXNFK
LEVEL 33 (Make a wish!) - UEIITQ
LEVEL 34 (Boom your way to the key) - FXOUUE
LEVEL 35 (Ecologically unsafe) - WYSIGF
LEVEL 36 (Oops... wrong turn...) - DIOFKQ
LEVEL 37 (North by North East) - PTPLMR
LEVEL 38 (Synchronized objects) - LOCYGC
LEVEL 39 (Green glasses) - KTWQBP
LEVEL 40 (Drop it!) - TSWSGC
LEVEL 41 (The four seasons) - UDWGPN
LEVEL 42 (Happy trampoline) - QEKXZG
LEVEL 43 (Not again?!) - WSWFNO
LEVEL 44 (Rubbermania) - BRTLLT
LEVEL 45 (Three rooms in a boat) - ESMIGV
LEVEL 46 (Popular misconceptions) - TNHCUR
LEVEL 47 (Pinball) - EMZMQM
LEVEL 48 (Everything for a bomb!) - FVUMOX
LEVEL 49 (I saw a polar bear!) - WTAEET
LEVEL 50 (London bridge is aahhh...) - CXCSLD
LEVEL 51 (Looks too easy...) - JDHQNL
LEVEL 52 (It's blocking my way!!!) - XWJAPI
LEVEL 53 (Two lifts from Andromeda) - BPYCXZ
LEVEL 54 (X) - FWRUDZ
LEVEL 55 (A semi-breakable screen) - WKTYUE
LEVEL 56 (RGB) - KXSIVR
LEVEL 57 (Poker face) - TWRRPC
LEVEL 58 (Open the door with...) - DBMOYI
LEVEL 59 (Catching a cold?) - KKVOEE
LEVEL 60 (Mirror Image) - JMMFFS
LEVEL 61 (Polka dots) - PQZHGN
LEVEL 62 (The snail trail) - SYQMPV
LEVEL 63 (Look through the windows) - QUCAXA
LEVEL 64 (When Harry met Avish) - WHGTHK
LEVEL 65 (It's a frogs life for me) - GVZKNV
LEVEL 66 (Déj? Vu) - COTDLU
LEVEL 67 (Mona Lisa (self-portrait)) - KCQKVL
LEVEL 68 (At the Dentist) - DOEZRW
LEVEL 69 (Call a club a club) - DZYRUH
LEVEL 70 (Fill it up) - QLZQIV
LEVEL 71 (In stereo where possible) - JUUVAG
LEVEL 72 (Boxing against the walls) - OTZSSR
LEVEL 73 (Now where is that key...) - IWAIVI
LEVEL 74 ( Yuck!) - MEYUCK

Sebatianos 19-07-2005 03:27 PM

Excelent! I suggest a link to this post (and the codes copied to a seperate file - to be added in the extras). Like I did with the ISHAR games (if you're not sure how to do that I can do it for you).

A. J. Raffles 19-07-2005 04:26 PM

Or I could just upload a document to the server and ask somebody to add it. Which would you prefer, Reup?

A. J. Raffles 21-07-2005 11:32 AM

... stuck on level 44... I'm slowly getting there, I think. :D

A. J. Raffles 31-07-2005 06:08 PM

STILL stuck on level 44. Is there any way of getting that second apple?

Al 13-08-2005 01:11 AM

Are you still stuck on 44, A.J.? Highlight the quote for how I did it (I'm assuming you mean the apple on the bottom).
Quote:

SPOILER ->>Use all your bombs to get both elevators free, then jog both elevators down to the level of the jackhammer, bounce over and pick up the jackhammer, bounce back to the elevators,* jog both elevators down onto the trampoline, jackhammer through the elevator, walk over and get the apple.
BTW, the levels after this one aren't really much harder - this one was the hurdle for me too.

A. J. Raffles 13-08-2005 07:28 AM

Hmm, thanks. Seems like the approach I've been taking is completely wrong, then.:)
I still can't do it, though, because I can only free one of the elevators. Dang. I know the bloody level code by heart already.:(

Al 15-08-2005 01:43 AM

Here's my solution to the level 44, starting from the beginning:

Spoiler --> Jump to the left elevator, go up as far as you can (you'll need to be able to drop onto it later without dying), then drop off the left side, go right to clear the block so you can get down later, go left to the trampoline, jump and get the bomb, jump back and bomb the first trampoline, jump over to clear the block on the next row of trampolines, jump right and work your way around until you can get level with that pair of trampolines, jump left to the pair of trampolines and walk left off the edge, jump left as far as you can go, drop right onto the elevator, go down to a couple steps above the trampolines, drop onto the left elevator, walk over and get the bomb, walk back to the left elevator, go up and work your way over to the elevator you started on, bomb that last red block to drop onto that first elevator, drop left onto the second elevator, go down and get the last bomb (remember you've got a trampoline below you so you can safely get back), bomb the ice block under the first elevator, use both elevators and work your way down to the jackhammer, jump over, etc. etc. (see previous post).

And if you have trouble with the apples: --> Use the trampolines to jump up to the top apple, then drop both apples to the right onto the first red block (apples are the only thing you can drop off the side of a block). Then go back and jump to the key, pick it up, walk onto the first block, pick up an apple and drop it on the second red block, pick up the key again, and walk over. That's it!

I'm working on 74, and it's a killer (guess that's why it's called "YUCK").


A. J. Raffles 15-08-2005 07:30 AM

Thanks, I'll try that later. What I'd been trying to do was very similar to your solution, actually, but I tried to get the third bomb before the second, so it didn't work.:)

Al 16-08-2005 12:22 AM

Finally finished all 74 levels! :Brain:

Now it's time to get a life...

Guest_tommy 29-08-2005 11:57 PM

how get through level 71?

Al 30-08-2005 04:58 PM

For Guest Tommy (Level 71)

Quote:

Spoiler--> Pick up the dynamite, go up and jump through the ice blocks to get the umbrella first.* Use the dynamite on the far left side and jump down with the umbrella.* Go back up the left elevator, leave the umbrella somewhere you can get it later, and jump through the ice blocks to get the jackhammer and key.* Jackhammer the key all the way down until you crash through the ice blocks to the bottom.* Use the rocket to get the elevator and take the jackhammer and key back up.* Now, that solid column of blocks with the ice block "stairs" above it?* Put the umbrella and key on a couple of the ice blocks above the column (I think the umbrella has to be on top) go up and jackhammer/crash down until you get to the bottom of the "room".* You can now pick up the umbrella again, leaving the key and the jackhammer on the same block.* Go pick up some dynamite from the pile that came down with the umbrella, then dynamite the jackhammer and key, and jump down with the umbrella.* Then just jackhammer the key to the door.

Em 11-10-2005 09:23 PM

I'm stuck on level 22 - "Oh, it's all gone". Anyone got a hint on how to clear the "ice-cube" in front of the door and still keep the red tiles next to and in front of the door?

Kyp 27-10-2005 01:43 PM

Gone all the way to level 45 without big problems, but now... :wall: This kind of game should be forbidden. :whistle:


kutay2005@gmail.com 08-01-2006 12:24 PM

You mean Level 45 or Level 44. I believe 44 is the most beautiful level.
Not only of this game but it is a true classic. You have to give thought to your
every move to feed the two cats with apples. Great Game. Afterwards I would play
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time 3. But it is in the stack and should wait Avish. :sniper:

WaAn 10-01-2006 02:29 PM

Hard hard HARD HARD! :ranting:
But addictive :bleh:

Guest 10-04-2006 03:42 PM

FINALLY beat level 74.
I won. Excellent game...

C||| 06-07-2006 05:22 AM

This game is so sick... I'm glad I downloaded it!

I'm stuck on level 30-something, it's called "North by Northeast," hella difficult. >_<

I haven't found a game I've been addicted to since I quit playing WoW, but this one is definitely a lot of fun! It's amazing that such old and simple games can still entertain. :)

Anyway, you should download it if you haven't yet!

<3 Avish :)

Guest 06-07-2006 05:24 AM

Oh, by the way, is there a sequel to this game or a way of contacting the developers?? ... I just read that there's only 74 levels, I was hoping the game went on forever! T_T

Guest_Mika_* 24-08-2006 06:54 AM

:crybaby: Level 56 is driving me nuts. I haven't had this much trouble with any of the other levels...

Guest 24-08-2006 06:42 PM

Haha. Nevermind. I got it now. Onward!

CataBina 18-09-2006 05:49 PM

:sos:

Please help for level 20 - jumping to nowhere there - and 22 - how to get rid of the ice cube???

Thx
Cat




CataBina 19-10-2006 04:25 PM

OK, everybody probably thought I'm gonna make 20 and 22 on my own, and right you were. Just finished level 44 after falling off either one of the elevators about 40 times and now moved on to 45 "Three Rooms in One" ...

:hairpull:

The first two rooms are no problem. I take the key and the jackhammer up to room three. As I figure it, you need all three items. The key to open the door, of course, the bomb to unblock the elevator and the jackhammer to get through to the door. But how in the world to I get the three items into room 3? So far, all my trials ended with either death or dead end....

Anybody here out to help?

Thanks

michaelart 20-12-2006 05:10 PM

I'm stuck in level 41. Can't get the key from red corridor or from the elevator

Guest 05-06-2007 04:21 AM

stuck on level 32 can anyone help me

_r.u.s.s. 05-06-2007 11:28 AM

http://www.home-education-works.com/...Cup_449652.jpg

scott274 21-10-2007 11:00 AM

After going nonstop I am finally stuck on level 56 named "RGB" ( KXSIVR ) :( Everything looks easy except how to get that green chemical test tube and then reach those glass bricks. And what the hell is that bloody fan there for.. :wallbash:


Edit: Got past level 56 today itself :P I was missing only a minor thing really :) and you keep the bloody fan on the tampouline afterall :D

Nirklars 31-07-2008 07:18 AM

Thanks for this game! Its really good. And as a bonus the professor sounds just like Dr. Phil.... :amused:

CataBina 27-01-2009 09:47 AM

Anybody here still playing this or having finished all levels?

Luchsen 27-01-2009 02:55 PM

Half yes and yes. Why? In need of help?

CataBina 27-01-2009 04:56 PM

Yup, thanks for the quick reply. Following levels drive me nuts: 51-53, 56, 60, 62-64. and 66 - 74 except for 71. If you have hints for any of these, I'd be most grateful. Especially 51 is AAAAAAARGH!!!! :-)

Luchsen 28-01-2009 06:14 PM

I have not much time, but I will look. Don't be surprised when it takes long, though. ;)

CataBina 29-01-2009 04:11 PM

No problem. I have a life beside Avish and whenever I can spare an hour or so, I'll try one or the other level again.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Batmanifestdestiny 03-06-2009 09:51 PM

This game is fun, but I'm stuck at level 3 :(


EDIT: LOL, never mind, now I'm stuck at level 5...or whichever one is Mary Poppins.

Amit Amely 03-12-2009 03:50 AM

Thank you all!
 
Hi

I'm so delighted to read all of your messages.
I never thought people would be playing this game and enjoying it nearly 20 years after it was developed, and it gives me a great joy and pride.
Let me share with you some of the history of this game:

"Avish" was developed by 4 teenagers from Israel:
Dvir Besserglick
Gonen Dukas
Amir Kaminsky
and myself, Amit Amely

The game was developed in Pascal (Borland, if I remember well), with some parts in assembler.
Dvir and Gonen did most of the programming, with some help from Amir.
Dvir designed the main character.
Amir wrote the music and designed most of the levels.
I was responsible for graphics and animation (using a pirated version of AutoDesk Animator Pro), and also designed some levels (I don't remember today which ones. The snail level is mine for sure).
The game concept was the work of all of us together.

We worked on this game during our last year of high school, back in 1992
We did it for fun, not thinking about money.
Avish's character is based on a real person, our history teacher Avishay. He was very dry, strict and humorless, but since he was so absent minded, he managed to gain a cult status and that inspired us to base a computer game on his character. The voice of the Avish is Dvir, making a pretty accurate imitation of Avishay.

After we have finished the game and saw that it was actually pretty cool, we decided to try to make some money out of it. High school was over, I got drafted to the army and wasn't involved in the negotiations with the different computer companies. Eventually they signed a contract with "Bug Multisystem" for 15% of the profits. The game had two versions, Hebrew and English. Bug decided to market the game only in Israel, in the Hebrew version. My friends also had the pleasure of being hosted on a TV show about computers, and talk about the game. The game wasn't a big success, and pretty soon it was moved from the shelves to the cutout bins. It was also given as a prize in a TV computer game show called "Hugo". 2 or 3 years later, each one of us got a 100$ check for the game.

Years have passed. I finished my military service, and went to University to learn computer science. The others did things in the opposite order, and started their military service only then, after finishing their studies. The game was forgotten. One day I found the abandonware site "Home Of The Underdogz". I really liked the idea of sharing old games which are no longer available in the stores for free, and after I discussed it with Dvir, I decided to upload our game to HOTU. So I sent the website author the non released English version (which was also fixed by Dvir to work on Pentium machines). And the rest is history...

Unreg. 19-10-2010 06:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amit Amely (Post 389950)
Hi [...]

Hey,

I'm amazed to read your story. (Even if it's more than a year since.) Thanks for sharing it. I found the game on this site some years ago.

I sat down with a hex editor tonight and figured out large parts of the level format. The probably only thing I miss is the item placement, which I hope to find out later today or in the upcoming days. I got a class now, so I can't continue right now, even if I'd love to. You still have some die-hard fans of the game indeed!

-- Simon

Dvir 23-04-2011 11:04 AM

Past, present and future
 
Hello all,

I must say that stumbling on this thread and reading it made me rethink about the good-old-times. The surprising bit is that what I miss most is the fun we had writing EVERYTHING from scratch. We wrote drivers for sound cards, music and audio recordings. Graphics routines, and real-time (in the 386 era) data compression / decompression modules. Accompanying that were numerous editors; Starting from simple font editors for the correct font for the level names, through background - running graphic capture software (in x86 DOS…), to music and level editors (yes, we had a level editor). Even for the installation software we were crazy enough to write a text based – windows utility and use that as a base for the 5 and something windows needed there.

In today’s world and business… this would make you waste precious time to market and cause a horrible waste of working hours. To put it in other words, this was too great big fun to be commercial. Most good things aren’t.

So here’s the thing. Is there still a point for releasing an update or upgrade to this game? Some type of a level editor? Something else?
I’m going to take a short survey, you can submit your comments to “avishyesno@yahoo.com”. Not promising anything, just trying to see what’s what.

Unreg. 24-08-2011 10:45 AM

Hey Dvir,

thanks for offering the feedback address. I wrote an email two weeks ago, but I'm not sure whether you check the address anymore. I'd actually like to get in touch with you or Amit about the game. (You can also email me directly, email address is in the text file I'll link to in the next paragraph.)

Anyone: I'm the same person as two posts above, but I never published what I found out about the Avish level format back then. Basically, I know how to make a single level with a hex editor. To make multiple levels, either one must keep all item counts per level the same, or someone must find out how the game decides what portion of resource.dat to read. Here is a thorough description of how a single level is specified:
http://asdfasdf.ethz.ch/~simon/etc/avishformat.txt

-- Simon

sagesag 20-02-2012 02:10 PM

ah. RES file format is dead easy. first 3 bytes is signature ("RES"). the next byte is the number of files (nof) inside RES. then we have nof*4 bytes which indicates the offset of each file inside RES (nof DWORDs). files goes sequentially, so it's easy to calculate file size. that's all.

if we start counting from 0, we have level files starting from 9 and till 82. no 83 is the game palette, btw.

and yes, there should be at least one item on level. how do you suppose to finish the level without a key? (oh, well, actually you CAN, 'cause you can place opened door somewhere %-)

so we can write an editor now? %-)

The Fifth Horseman 20-02-2012 11:10 PM

Hm. Sounds like a plan.
*MAD SCIENTIST THINKING*

SimonN 23-02-2012 12:03 AM

Thanks for the info on the file format!

On first sight, it seems to fit perfectly, with the 4-byte file positions given in little endian. I'll do some more tests these days, and update the format description I've linked to above.

Making an editor... well, we should have everything necessary, now it's a question of devotion and time investment. I'm busy with real life and other programming projects, but should I ever start an editor, then I'll announce it here. (If someone else wants to have a go, I'll surely follow his efforts!)

-- Simon

sagesag 26-02-2012 12:47 AM

res format is correct. i was able to extract all levels and graphics from it (and convert to PNG). the only thing i was too lazy to decode is backfound pictures, so i used my res-builder tool to set all of them as 'title screen' and just did screenshots.

now i have all the graphics from the game and all maps converted to simple text format. i also figured some more info about items (pretty useless if you'll ask me).

here are all the graphics, extracted levels and so on. it's not in ideal state, though (not sorted, some names are just numbers, etc).

i have level viewer for now and i'm seriously thinking about rewriting the game using SDL. the first task is recreating the original game, and then i'll try to add some sort of scripting to allow users creating new items, tile types, etc.

not sure if the original authors are happy with redistributing ripped graphics and such, so grab the file while you can! %-)

sagesag 26-02-2012 01:08 AM

btw, RES file layout is (by index):

0-6: background images for levels (compressed)
7: title image (compressed)
8: uncompressed 320x200 image with main menu
9-82: levels
83: VGA palette (256 colors, RGB, each byte is [0..63])
84: professor sprites
85: foreground tile sprites
86: background tile sprites
87: map 'minitiles'
88: item sprites
89: map 'miniitems'
90: professor sprites for the intermission screen
91: highlighted menu text sprites
92: seems to be bitmap font: 8 bytes per char, 90 chars starting from '!'

sprite files are easy too: each sprite file contains sprites written one after another without gaps.

the sprite format is (all values are little-endian):
2 bytes: sprite height in pixels
2 bytes: sprite width in pixels
then image data follows, height*width bytes, from left to right, from top to bottom. 0xff byte is transparent pixel, all other colors should be taken from palette (index 83 in RES).

sound and music files are the same as RES but with different signatures (MUS and SND).

sound files are just raw unsigned one-channel 8-bit PCM data sampled at 11025 Hz (but the game seems to play it using sample rate 8192).

music files seems to be some AdLib (OPL-2?) data, but i don't want to go thru the mess reading AdLib docs and checking that with emulator.

sagesag 27-02-2012 04:24 PM

ok, i cracked background picture (idx [0..7]) encoding too (so only the music format is left unknown).

here is C source to decode background image:

static void decodeImage (unsigned char *dest, const unsigned char *pkimg, int pksz) {
int pos = 0; // in packed
int opos = 0; // in unpacked
int cpos = 0; // meaningless here (position of colormap)
int csz, idx;
//
while (opos < 320*200 && pos+2 <= pksz) {
csz = pkimg[pos+0];
csz <<= 8;
csz |= pkimg[pos+1];
cpos = (pos += 2); // colormap
pos += 512; // skip colormap
while (opos < 320*200 && pos < pksz && csz > 0) {
idx = pkimg[pos++];
//
dest[opos++] = pkimg[cpos+idx*2+0];
if (opos < 320*200) dest[opos++] = pkimg[cpos+idx*2+1];
--csz;
}
}
}


first you should read image data from RES file (see the RES format in previous posts). pkimg is the buffer with compressed image, pksz is the size of compressed image. then:

unsigned char decodedData[320*200]; // 320x200 pixels, standard VGA screen
...
decodeImage(decodedData, pkimg, pksz);

now, the editor can use resources from the original game. isn't it cool?

sagesag 27-02-2012 08:52 PM

rewriting is progressing good. for now i have a working map renderer and walking professor. animation system is here too. and it is using original RES file (so just throw RESOURCE.RES in and it will work). if "real life" will not stand in my way, i think that in april we'll have playable Windows and GNU/Linux version of Avish (open-sourced, of course). then i'll rewrite the thing to allow external maps with arbitrary sizes, scripted objects and tiles and so on. stay tuned! %-)

btw: music, anybody?

p.s. can't read captcha! five times.

sagesag 08-03-2012 05:25 PM

progress report.
basic game mechanics is here, along with some items. first 2 levels are completable. no sound, no music. no minimap (sorry).

keys:
f12: exit
gray+/gray-: next/prev level
there is no automatic restart after professor is dead (use +/-).
press 'f' when falling to ignore height.
items: only 'key' is working (and you can pick up monster, hehe).

download win32 demo here.
put original RESOURCE.DAT in bin/ and run awish.exe

p.s. i know that i misspelled the title. %-)

p.p.s. sources will be published later.

sagesag 09-03-2012 05:36 PM

if somebody interested... the new engine is Virtual Machine (a-la Another World). VM sources will be published too, so author will not be restricted to existing animations/tile types.

SimonN 10-03-2012 12:39 AM

Just tried the release in Wine. Really nice initial progress. Levels can be chosen with Numpad Plus/Minus, or with P and N, and items are correctly placed in the levels.

The walking speed seems correct, but most other professor animations should be sped up. Jumping up a longer staircase is faster than in the original game, but this is actually nice.

The key should vanish from the inventory after being used on a door.

-- Simon

sagesag 11-03-2012 05:33 PM

another demo. even more levels are completable. working dynamite, drill, umbrella, monster and apple. minimap and more animation sequences. earth now disappears and glass breaks. brand new VM.

p.s. i'm pretty sure nobody cares, but i just like to upload useless files.

sagesag 11-03-2012 05:40 PM

tnx for your report. the funny thing is that you are running it in wine, but the original version is for GNU/Linux (and cross-compiled with MinGW). %-)

for now i want to make all levels completable with all items working, and then fix animations, etc. with new VM architecture it will be easy (but somewhat boring).

here are the current sources, if anybody interested. don't even try to grok my VM now, it's not stabilized and completely insane. %-)

sagesag 11-03-2012 05:44 PM

btw, some cheat keys:
+/-: change level when prof if facing to player
w: walk tru walls, fly, etc
f: fall from any height
holding f1-f9: show the corresponding sprite bank

the sources are PD, in case anybody interested.

sagesag 15-03-2012 06:57 AM

good news everyone!

here you can download pre-beta version of "Awish: Avish reborn!" [b]pre-beta[b] means that game mechanics is all there, but not fully tested yet.

you can specify level code in the command line to wrap on that level.

you still can use original RESOURCE.DAT, but game can read extracted files from 'data' dir (sample data is bundled with the game). 'data' dir has precedence over RESOURCE.DAT.

please, test and report any bugs to: sagesag at gmail dot com

new sources will be released soon (but i don't think that you will be able to easily expand the game: almost all the code is written in assembler for bizarre Virtual Machine; heh).

please note: Awish is not aimed to be 100% exact replica of the original game, but game mechanics is the same, so if you'll find any glitches that allows shortcuts, impossible in Avish, report 'em as bugs. do the same for anything that works in the original game, but doesn't work in Awish.

good luck.

sagesag 15-03-2012 07:52 AM

and the first update.

please, update data/code/awish.vmd with the new version. it fixes level 15.

btw, i forgot to tell you about some important keys:

"p": show minimap (esc -- return to game)
"f12": exit game

sagesag 15-03-2012 08:13 AM

sorry for the noise, but i found two stupid bugs: code entering was broken and i forgot key to restart the level (ctrl+r in case you are interested).

download new binaries and data, please.

Simon (not logged in) 15-03-2012 06:03 PM

Thanks, I'll remember to test it and post feedback.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sagesag (Post 440577)
please note: Awish is not aimed to be 100% exact replica of the original game, but game mechanics is the same, so if you'll find any glitches that allows shortcuts, impossible in Avish, report 'em as bugs. do the same for anything that works in the original game, but doesn't work in Awish.

Yeah, this is a really good approach. The physics are nicely discrete and not very convoluted.

Nailing the visuals and game speed with 100 percent accuracy shouldn't matter. And Putting extra aids and usability features into the game is a huge benefit for such a puzzle game. Dircet level selection without passwords is already a boon.

-- Simon

sagesag 15-03-2012 07:25 PM

i love to make some noises. %-) essential new version which fixes some fatal bugs (level 18 was incompletable).

and: start game as "awish.exe -goobers" to get access to "debug mode". then you will have nearly the same cheat keys as in the previous versions.

sagesag 16-03-2012 01:48 AM

the long promised sources (only for geeks, and only for GNU/Linux geeks; don't ask me how to download sources, or how to build binary, or ESPECIALLY how to build windoze binary).

Awish Git repository

sagesag 16-03-2012 07:16 AM

experimental version with demo recording feature

i don't know why original game has no such feature: as the game is completely deterministic, demos can be recorded easily.

to test this feature, run 'awish.exe -goobers', then press ^d to start demo recording or ^m to replay previously recorded demo.

demo recording ends when prof dies or exits the level, or when ^d is pressed again.

p.s. maybe we should create a separate thread for this remake and stop noising here? i still don't want to register, heh. maybe moderator will split this thread in two: one with questions about original game and one with Awish: Avish Reborn! discussion?

sagesag 16-03-2012 09:50 AM

sound format.

sound is actually just a headerless VOC file. the only blocks found in Avish sounds are of types 1 (actual sound) and 6 (repeat? seems that Avish ignores it anyway).

block format:
db datatype
block data size: 3 bytes (little-endian)
...block data

datatype 06: just skip it, nothing interesting here

datatype 01, actual sound data:
db 1
block data size: 3 bytes (little-endian)
db ratediv ; sample rate; to get sample rate in Hz, do this: samplerate=1000000/(256-ratediv)
block data:
first byte is always data format type; Avish uses only type 0: unsigned 8-bit, mono
then sound data follows.

that's all.

hereby i declare that i WILL NOT investigate music format. i've never programmed OPL and i don't want to read alot of dusty dox just to decode Avish music. my guess is that it's a simple tracker music with instruments in the beginning of the file. but i will not look further into this. if anybody wants to hear the original music in my remake, he can crack the format and send me working player in C. no, just description of the format will not work, i need working code that i can use with OPL3 emulator from AdPlug.

sagesag 25-03-2012 09:18 AM

download beta0

yes, i reached beta! and now you have menu with free access to any level. all praise me!

additionally i provided all 'assembler' source of the game. don't read it unless you are extremely mentally stable.

sagesag 25-03-2012 01:12 PM

and immidiately: beta1. sound should be better. added some information windows. demo save/reply (^d / ^m),

TotalAnarchy 26-03-2012 11:36 AM

Are you saying I can record my gameplay in-game. In what format does it save the file?

sagesag 27-03-2012 08:04 AM

it's an internal game format, not a video. small file (usually 50-300 bytes), that can be passed to another player and replayed with Awish. so this is not video-saving feature, it's more like old DooM demos.

btw, i have beta3 with fullscreen feature (alt+enter).

Gonen 24-08-2013 06:24 PM

Hi Everyone!

I can't believe people are still playing this game, 20 years after it was first created.
More over, creating editors for it?!

I was one of the developers of the game (along with 3 more guys from high school), but can't really say I remember anything about the code from back then. The backup to the game code was lost during the years.

If you have some questions, I might give some help.
I can be contacted by email: dukasgon@netvision.net.il

scott274 29-02-2016 04:18 PM

Was there ever a remake to this game or any sequel (Avish 2)!

Anyway, I'm replaying this game after many years.

On Level 09 - OCXAFU: It's not so hard...
There are two keys here, one on the left (top) is easy to get, but could it be possible to get the one on the right (top)
One thing I tried was placing the fan on the lower ledge and then "jumping-up-right" from the upper ledge...I figured that fan might blow me away to the slightly elevated trampoline-tile below and I might just make it up there....but unfortunately, the fan didn't affect me as I was falling down and I landed on the less elevated trampoline-tile, bounced a few times (one tile height short) and game-over XD
I forgot that the fan only affects you if you're falling down with an umbrella and there certainly seems to be no umbrella on the level.
And even if you get to the right-top-key...how to make it to the door....one idea I had was to use the three bombs and drop them down one by one and blow up the three concrete-tiles below in the way and then make my way down with the elevator. Dunno if this will work...never made it up there to try this.

Level 9 whole room screenshot (spoiler!)
http://imgbox.com/iwuMnQjB

Nilex 28-10-2017 07:02 PM

Rediscovered the Game after 10+ years, sharing my thoughts
 
I am always fascinated reading original dev's thoughts and impressions after many years have passed. My respect for you guys posting here :OK:

Not sure how I discovered the game but I know it was during my heavy nostalgia trip back in '05-'06 when I also got very interested in the Indie scene.
Indie/Retro puzzle genre always stood out for me quality wise (still does), compared to quality of other genres in the newer times.

What I like about Avish is its simple and clear cut level design which is the sole but most important factor in dictating its difficulty. Everything is known from the start, it's only up to the player to though it through. The only errors you make are you own alone. And there will be many of those as the design is very smartly crafted in creating difficulty. I am pretty impressed to read the devs were teenagers when they made this little shiny gem.

Good games are good forever and that's why Avish stands the test of time in my book.

P.S.
Coming back to the game after more than 10 years I see I got as far as 47 levels looking at my old code list. Hehe, no time to waste - time to complete this bad boy :smile2:
P.S.2
I'm archiving this whole topic just to preserve Dev's thoughts. Can't contain the nostalgia, ffs. (5k posts per page ftw!)

Nilex 01-11-2017 04:02 PM

1 Attachment(s)
Whichever of you little punks was responsible for this thing:
http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/att...1&d=1509553592
You magnificent bastard!

So many routes, dead ends and false leads. Best designed level by far (on 66 atm). So hellishly good that is easily finds a top10 place of best ever puzzles.
And i am no stranger to puzzles let me tell you. This was a work of a genius. Took me good 4 hours to solve. 2 one day and 2 more the next :lame:
Level after felt like a tutorial in comparison.

To reflect on my previous post:
I quickly remembered why I stopped on 47 over a decade ago. Level just felt like a combinatorial trial&error fest back then (a telltale sign of bad design). So I was intimidated starting at that particular place at first, without fresh knowledge of how things behaved and items interacted. But with age came experience and patience to tackle this problem. In the end it wasn't as bad as I remembered it to be, rather it's actually pretty smart level. Pretty sure my solution wasn't in designers plans though, muheheh.

My only single complaint about the game is elevator operation - same key for jumping and going up is painful. Made 64 a whole lot frustrating :mischief:

Nilex 05-11-2017 10:33 PM

I'm done
 
Decade old playthrough... finally completed :lame::smile2:

Has to be top 3 puzzler I've ever played (SubTerra easily holds nr.1 spot). Took me whole nine days for last 28 levels, including the time needed to re-familiarize myself with the game mechanic, surpassing even my most optimistic expectations. Pleased with how I swept the floor with my younger self, lol.

Shoutout to level 68 (At the dentist) author, the extreme out-of-the-box logic needed to solve it is off the charts. So rewarding to figure that on your own.
Out of all final 28 levels the only one I've solved in one try was... wait for it... the last one! Took solid two hours but I made it without errors. Level is straight-forward if you take a few minutes to examine the paths as each crossroad in advance.
Most tries I've had on level 59 (Catching a cold ?) mostly because unfamiliar with new mechanic involved and then miss-key presses invoked by lack of patience with certain forced and slow sequences.
Most tedious level to start over: 72 by far. Made me get little physical with my shitty laptop, something that hasn't happened in years.

Some easier levels I encountered, providing nice calm periods of catching my breath and getting sense of progression:
50 - London Bridge is AAhhh...
57 - Poker face
58 - Open the door with...
63 - Look through the windows (also one try)
65 - It's a frog's life for me (the only level I where I could play the whole solution in my head, still fucked it once)
69 - Call a club a club (last easier level)

To finally conclude... the game got even better in last few levels since my last post. If the devs themselves hadn't explained the game's history I'd think it was made my some very clever think-tank (a la Mossad's top filter tool). It's that good. So proud and relieved to finally put a completion check-mark on this game, after ten years no less :)

Smiling Spectre 08-11-2017 08:22 AM

Congrats!


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