Scorchio's Quest

Scorchio's Quest I and II, the first of which is actually called Scorchio's Adventure on the title screen and sometimes misspelled as Scorchio Quest, are Flash games on Neopets that were retired early in the website's life. Now, neither of them play properly. Fifteen years ago, I couldn't figure it out, and now, I want to see if I can figure out why.

These can be played in the Game Graveyard.

Scorchio's Quest I (Scorchio's Adventure)

https://images.neopets.com/games/scorchios_quest1.swf

The current state

The intro works, though at too-high speed on modern computers. You can enter the first room, but are stuck on the second room because there is a too-fast stampede of enemies in the way of the key. Multiple people say the game doesn't work since being added to the Game Graveyard. Otherwise, there is only one reference I can find online in regards to anyone actually attempting the game, and that is one comment about not being able to get past the first part.

However, if you try to play it on a slow enough computer, like a 266 MHz iMac G3 running Flash Player 7... those enemies move slowly enough so you can get the key and actually continue.

And it turns out the game really is buggy.

Known issues

An example of the game getting stuck mid-transition

• The enemies in the second room move too quickly to sneak by if you're on a fast enough computer.
• The intro and game over screens progress too quickly if you're on a fast enough computer.
• The Pant Devil in the intro has corrupt graphics.
• Sometimes, even though you can't normally move diagonally, you do end up moving diagonally. There doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason as to when or why this happens other than that it doesn't seem to happen on a computer fast enough to make the second room unwinnable.
• If the diagonal move does trigger while moving through rooms, you might get stuck after sliding partway down the wall instead of through the hallway. This makes the transition get stuck halfway through, and all you can do is refresh the page.
• There doesn't seem to be any indication of how much magic you have left. Also, the amount of magic you can cast seems to differ between each playthrough. Maybe you're supposed to have infinite magic, but it bugs out?
• If you spam a movement key through a transition, the game might get confused and then transition you to the screen one and a half screens behind you, likely showing a black area on half the display. Then, it might roll forward one screen, leaving you stuck halfway between screens, still letting you move around but otherwise requiring a refresh.
• Spamming a movement key can be faster than holding it down, but if the computer is slow enough, the keys will get queued.
• Casting magic in the first room will cause the projectile to be stuck in place and prevent you from casting magic again.
• Movement on the second floor is completely different than on the first floor. On the first floor, movement is rigid and precise. On the second floor, movement is like you're on ice.

Interesting things from decompilation

Decompiler used: https://github.com/jindrapetrik/jpexs-decompiler

• SWF version is 5. Since SWF version wasn't decoupled from Flash version until Flash 10, this implies Flash 5 is the minimum version.
• The framerate (at 0x000010) is set to 0x3C, or 60 FPS.
• "scripts -> frame 228 (first) -> DoAction" appears to have all the actual game loop logic
  • The game automatically sets the quality to Low during transitions, then back to Medium when done
  • Lots of debugging tracing, mainly printing the direction of a pressed movement key, and "hello" when using magic
• "scripts -> frame 298 (start) -> DoAction" prints the string "jasklf;jdkls;ajfkdlsj;"
• "scripts -> frame 300 -> DoAction" prints the string "jskal;jkdl;sjk;lfdj"

Findings

If you set the framerate to 15 (from 60), the game plays properly on modern computers. Set 0x000010 to 0x000F (previously 0x003C) to do this.

Also, the solution to the puzzle in the top room of the second floor is:

• Top left: Black
• Bottom left: White
• Bottom right: Light gray
• Top right: Dark gray