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v1.3.2 — maintenance: auto-boot preamble goes sitewide, gamedocs corrected

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@Retro-Jack Retro-Jack released this 11 Sep 05:08
· 387 commits to master since this release

Fixed

  • BBC controls pages named a URL parameter that doesn't exist. The auto-boot hyphenation pass reached inside a <code> span and rewrote the literal ?autoboot launch param to ?auto-boot on both BBC pages — so anyone following the instruction got a disc that didn't boot. The prose verb hyphenates; the parameter must not. Caught by an audit cross-checking the docs against fs.js, which is the runtime truth. The same pass also missed one Autoboots. (capitalised at a sentence start, in the Apple ][+ page's Castle Wolfenstein row); it's dropped rather than hyphenated, per the auto-boot preamble rule.

Changed

  • Gamedocs: dropped the auto-boot preamble. A game's "Getting started" list no longer opens by announcing that the cart or disk auto-boots — it is obvious from clicking the game, and on a page like Star Raiders' it read "Cart auto-boots to Star Raiders". All 109 affected gamedocs swept via an explicit per-variant map (40 distinct wordings, no regex guessing): 96 bullets keep whatever actually mattered (the focus note, "press 2 at the TI title", "press F4 Start to choose a mission"), 13 that said nothing else are gone. Detail wrapped inside those clauses was rescued rather than binned — the C128 pages' VDC 80-column mode, the PET's Color PETSCII start, a disk that multi-loads, and the BBC racers' instruction screens. The CPC's run"… launch commands went with them: every CPC game auto-runs and the bundle's BASIC entry boots with nothing in the drive, so the command was unreachable trivia.
  • The auto-boot preamble goes from the controls pages too. Follows the gamedoc sweep: a per-system page no longer announces that its games auto-boot either (the Apple ][+'s "Boots straight in", the C64's "the bundled disk image auto-boots", the MSX pages saying it twice, the VIC-20 intro, and the CPC's paragraph on the boot-command mechanism — which also re-stated the run"… commands just removed from the gamedocs). Eight pages. What a reader can't infer is kept and reworded off the verb: the BBC pages still say to drop ?autoboot for a clean BASIC prompt, and the CPC's BASIC entry still explains that it loads no game.
  • Elite (CPC) gamedoc: audit pass. Corrected the saving story — the earlier text implied no persistence, but the CPC bundle has full save-state support (the 18/06 WASM rebuild), so the doc now points at the five-slot save/load buttons with a dock-first tip. Tables restructured to the BBC docs' pattern: a combined flight table, the dual-purpose 1–4 number keys as an in-flight/when-docked three-column table, information screens, and game controls — removing duplicated rows and the "(or joystick)" asides (this bundle is keyboard-only).
  • Roland on the Run (CPC) gamedoc rewritten from the game's own operating instructions. The old page invented a different game entirely (sewer platformer, "the Cat", cheese collecting, five levels, cursor keys). The real game: control the train's speed with </> and leap lane-by-lane with Z/X/C from train to two traffic lines to the road hideouts; Esc holds, any key restarts; setup prompts ask for 1–255 lives and a starting level 1–9. Credited to Said A. Abouelhassan (Epicsoft/Egypt 1984, via Amsoft); the unverified "Roland the Rat" mascot claim dropped.
  • Bruce Lee (CPC) gamedoc: real keys from the disc + title screen. The old table claimed cursor keys — the game actually uses A/Z up-down, </> (comma/period) left-right, Space punch/kick, P pause with Enter to continue, Esc to quit. Title-screen options documented (A toggles 1/2 players, B gives the Green Yamo to the computer or a second player) and unverifiable strategy claims dropped.
  • Ballistix: year corrected to 1989 and gamedoc rewritten from the inlay. The Master menu had it as 1990 — the BBC release is ©1989 (confirmed on the game's own title screen), so it re-sorts to #8 ahead of Holed Out, with Nevryon back at #10. The old gamedoc invented the mechanic ("nudge balls with directional taps", goals to 10, "100+ playfields", a deflector/anti-grav/damper tile table): the real game fires ball streams from a movable firing arrow at the puck, three goals win a level, 29 levels one-player / 30 two-player, one lost level terminates to level 1 (four-letter passwords resume — earned in-game, not listed). Real keys documented from the key screen + inlay (Z/X/Q/A + Tab; Shift+COPY pause, Shift+DELETE restart, S/Q sound when paused, Shift+ESCAPE quit; C redefines) and both tile tables rebuilt from the inlay (ground features + shootable tiles).
  • Holed Out gamedoc rewritten from the inlay. The old page invented the author ("Mark Reid" — it's Gordon J. Key), "four courses" (there are two: Cone Links and Pine Isles; the others were the Extra Courses packs), a three-press swing meter, '// club keys and F1/F2 view keys. The real scheme is Z/X/Return through three stages — club, aim, then a power bar sweeping 19%→max→back where Return strikes and striking with Z hooks / X slices — plus the four skill levels as a wind-and-lie dial, Ctrl+Q on the scoreboard to abandon, and F12 (BBC BREAK) soft-resetting to the option screens from anywhere (verified in-game).
  • By Fair Means or Foul gamedoc rewritten from the Play It Again Sam 12 inlay. The old page invented its controls (Return "head clinch", Shift "kidney punch", biting, a three-warning disqualification and a ref "gaze icon"). The real scheme is the inlay's KY1 nine-key square (Q/W/E, A/D, Z/X/C) with Escape as Fire switching guards/footwork to punches and the four real fouls (head butt, knee, kick, groin punch), plus the full function-key set (F1/F2 start, F3/F4 control selection, F5 pause, F6 crowd, F7 sound FX, F8/F9 Master-only music volume, f0 quit). Mechanics corrected to match: 15 rounds or 5 chances, knock-outs only end the round, the corner silhouettes are the chance count and the green/amber/red foul-safety meter, and the auto-hold costs a chance if repeated. Authors credited (Michael & Terry Simpson). Controls verified against the game's own controls screen (all correct); table converted to the PC/BBC three-column layout, author credit added (Martyn R. Howard) and the title-screen Space/Return convention documented.
  • Gamedocs: dropped the "keys from the game's own instructions screen" preamble from the BBC key-mapping notes (Revs, Commando) — the note now opens directly with the key facts.