Ballyhoo

Graeme Cree's Ballyhoo bugs page
  1. SET RADIO TO RADIO crashes the program. Frotz exits with, "Fatal error: Stack overflow."
  2. LOOK OUT DOOR or WINDOW where there is one causes a crash. The Infocom interpreter exits with the message, "Fatal error: Illegal operation", whereas Frotz says, "Fatal error: Call to non-routine".
  3. If the bucket contains something other than water, then DRINK FROM BUCKET says, "midget car backfires loudly and comically." in the Infocom interpreter. This may seem like yet another of Ballyhoo's sarcastic error messages (although missing a "The"), but it's really a severe bug. Frotz exits with the message, "Fatal error: Call to non-routine".
  4. You can pick up objects you shouldn't be able to, using CLOSE OFF. This lets you get the lions out of the den without the whip or stool, and without figuring out which lion is which. Take the lump of meat to Lions' Den, then say DROP MEAT. OPEN GRATE. CLOSE OFF MEAT. PUT MEAT IN GRATE. E. W. CLOSE GRATE. --Torbjörn Andersson
  5. If you're on the tightrope or one of the platforms, you can THROW parts of your body OFF PLATFORM, including HAND, HEAD, and BACK. You get, "It falls to the ground below."
  6. If you don't touch the keister when you first find it under the table, then after Billy Monday runs off with it, if you LOOK UNDER TABLE it's still there. Now you can pick it up, but it doesn't show in your inventory until you drop it and get it again. If it's the only thing you're carrying, then INVENTORY says, "You have".
  7. If you have the ash tray, then you can PUT ASH IN BUCKET (or even ON one of the bunks), leaving the ash tray empty. If you do this and then LOOK IN ASH, then you're told you've found the scrap of newsprint, but it appears in the ash tray rather than where the ash is. This works even if you've already left the ash tray behind, carrying the ash in the bucket, although you can't go back and get the newsprint.
  8. If you're on the tightrope or one of the platforms and you're holding the balloon, you can PUT HELIUM ON GROUND. You get, "It falls to the ground below.", and the helium object is moved to Performance Ring (It's invisible, naturally).
  9. If you're carrying the mask inside the bucket, then WEAR MASK puts it on but leaves it in the bucket.
  10. At Walking a Tightrope, although dropping anything moves it down to the ground, EMPTY BUCKET drops its contents right there. If you then continue moving across, everything seems to move with you; it's really a single location.
  11. When you're holding Comrade Thumb, you can DROP his daisy or uniform, although they're untakeable and don't show in the room description.
  12. When Mahler is listening to the headphones, if you exit the cage, close and lock it, you can still GET HEADPHONES, and he kills you from inside. --Torbjörn Andersson
  13. When you're hiding inside Prop Tent to listen to Munrab and the detective, trying to GET anything visible gives away your presence, even if it can't be taken or you're already carrying it.
  14. You can CLOSE HEADPHONES, but you can't OPEN them.
  15. If you are by Tina, at the opposite side from the radio, then GET ALL FROM TINA says nothing but, "transistor radio:". EMPTY TINA gives, "The transistor radio: [You can't see Tina here.]"
  16. After you get the monkey off your back, if you go to In the Wings where the lone hawker is waiting, then GET ALL FROM HAWKER gives a response that begins with, "refreshment: The only remnant of  all is ground into the hawker's uniform."
  17. If your ticket is open, PUT something IN TICKET says, "There's no room in the your ticket for the [object]."
  18. If you're on the lion stand, then EMPTY STAND says, "The it: " and a failure message.
  19. At Inside Trailer, you can PUT THUMB IN WALL to put him in the crawlspace without having moved the moose head to reveal the hole. --Torbjörn Andersson
  20. When you put Comrade Thumb in the crawlspace to rescue Chelsea, if you don't pull her out she'll disappear again. But if you leave while she's visible, she'll still be there when you return, and she never disappears. The room description includes, "There's Chelsea here." --Torbjörn Andersson
  21. During the endgame, when everyone is busy holding the safety net, you can GIVE HAND TO RIMSHAW to get him to read your palm. --Torbjörn Andersson
  22. After the elephant leaves, if you LOOK UP in Elephant Tent, "You can see burn holes.", even before they've been made. --Torbjörn Andersson
  23. Using a number of verbs on the AIR object prints the message, "Deep-breathing -- good for the health." This is the intended response to INHALE AIR, but it also happens with CLIMB UP, CUT, POUR, UNTIE, and WAVE. --Torbjörn Andersson
  24. Saying YOU gives the response, "Hmmm ... Andrew looks at you expectantly, as if you seemed to be about to talk.", even if Andrew's not there. --Torbjörn Andersson
  25. After Chuckles goes through the turnstile but before Comrade Thumb does, FOLLOW THUMB says, "The turnstile won't budge." --Torbjörn Andersson
  26. If you have the bucket in a room with no water, GET WATER WITH BUCKET says, "[You can't see any bucket here.]" --Torbjörn Andersson
  27. If you're on the lion stand with other objects, then SEARCH STAND gives a response that should start with "You see", but that's cut off. So it can say, for example, " a scrap of newsprint." --Torbjörn Andersson

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Page last updated 21-Sep-2020. List maintainer: Nathan Simpson