Patch (WormsDC)

(Up to Worms: The Directors Cut)

The WormsDC patch updates all releases of the game to version 1.05. You can find out what version of the game you are running by typing VERSION on the Main Menu (although if you are running v1.05 it will display the version number once the game has finished loading anyway, so this is not necessary). The patch was not made available via magazine coverdisks or via online Amiga file resource AmiNET, as was the usual method of distributing patches at the time. In fact the availability of the patch was not announced at all. Instead, owners of the game were forced to ring Team17 directly to enquire as to whether or not a patch was available, and a patched copy of the first floppy disk for the game would be sent out via post.

The floppy disk was later removed from Team17's archives, and in fact some long-standing Team17 staff were unaware of its existence.

Due to time constraints, WormsDC was shipped to retail with several features unimplemented and a handful of irksome glitches. The majority of these were fixed with the patch, however some were not remedied.

Fixed glitches

Erratic rope behaviour 

In the original release there is a chance that the rope will go crazy and start swinging your work about at high speeds. Upon releasing your worm, you would either be flung off of the screen or lodged rather impossibly into a chunk of the landscape. It was also occasionally possible to attach your rope to thin air. Both of these glitches are fixed.

Option sets 

Attempting to load or save an Option Set would previously crash the game. This has been fixed, and in fact Option Sets now save which Cheats are active at time of saving.

Crashes when loading from Workbench 

Previously the game would occasionally crash if you loaded it from Workbench. This could originally be remedied by running the game from AmigaDOS instead, or by disabling the title screen music using the MUSIC cheatcode as soon as the main menu appeared.

Unfixed glitches

Loading option sets 

Attempting to load an Option set while using the BETONG ASNA or BOING cheats would cause the game to crash and the Amiga system to Guru (equivalent to the Blue Screen of Death). This unfortunately has not been repaired.

Action Replay bug 

Occasionally, Action Replays would play out an alternate version of events, for example an explosion pushing a worm away at a slightly different angle. This still happens after patching, although not as frequently. In addition it is sometimes possible to alter the actions of a worm retreating after laying dynamite by tapping the Enter Key before the replay, which replaces the original retreat action with a single jump. This too is still possible post-patch.

Unimplemented CD-ROM features

Prior to the game's release, Amiga magazine CU Amiga included on one of its covermount CD-ROMs additional content for the game, including the FMV sequences from the MS-DOS, PlayStation and CD32 versions of Worms, ambient audio from Worms and Worms Reinforcements, and additional landscape and mountain sets. The original intention was for a variable in the WormsDC.info file that could be toggled to detect the CD-ROM and use the content. Unfortunately the feature was not ready by the time the game went to retail and was removed entirely. As the game only sold between 4,000 and 5,000 copies worldwide, there was apparently no pressing urge to reimplement the features, and so when the patch disk was made available these features were not reinstated.

It is still possible to use the additional landscapes and mountains by copying the relevant files into the relevant drawers (folders) in the WormsDC install directory, and the FMV sequences can be watched using the included Play program. However, the FMVs and the CD audio cannot be used in-game.

Future patches and updates

In an email conversation with Squirminator2k, Andy Davidson suggested that he may well dust off his old Amiga 1200 at some point in the future and release an updated version of WormsDC, which he coded some time after the game's retail release. Additional features not currently available in other games in the series are apparently included, as well as some existing ones such as retreat time. As Andy is busy with his current project, the ibar, this may not happen for some time.