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Archimedes Software Preservation Project |
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Michael Drake |
Message #121866, posted by tlsa at 21:24, 4/2/2013, in reply to message #121858 |
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Is Paradroid 2000 quite playable? I've not played it I'm afraid. I'll let the children loose on at and report back.
It's an excellent game 
Good. |
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Jon Abbott |
Message #121888, posted by sirbod at 12:46, 8/2/2013, in reply to message #121252 |
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Update on current position:
11 - Contributors (they've provided 178 scan sets and 183 floppy sets)
621 - Known games
243 - Games imaged (418 floppies in total)
111 - Complete JFDI's (PDF manuals, box scans, snapshots, JFD images etc)
315 - Games loaded and snapshots created
284 - Missing games
5 - License owners that have contacted JASPP about the project
19 - License owners/developers contacted by JASPP (11 have responded)
6 - License owners/developers that have given permission to release their titles through JASPP
116 - Original titles purchased/donated as part of the project
63 - Titles that can be officially released
We've had lots of contributions this year, bring the total of complete or in progress for completion to 50%.
Two specialists have also joined to assist with Kryoflux image conversion and VIDC1/1a/20 fixups for games that only work on TV's. In the interests of openness, the team consists of:
Myself - ADFFS / PDF & scan conversion
Angie - Researcher
Steve - VIDC
Daniel - Kryoflux conversion
Gulli - Web site backend SQL / Apache
David - Web site design
And last but not least, working closely with us is:
Paul - AutoVIDC and clock correction on VIDC1 / 1a
The Centre for Computing History - Web hosting and archive preservation. |
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Qjimbo |
Message #121941, posted by Qjimbo at 03:50, 19/2/2013, in reply to message #121866 |
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Is Paradroid 2000 quite playable? I've not played it I'm afraid. I'll let the children loose on at and report back.
It's an excellent game
Good.
That game was a lot of fun but not very good at really making it clear what you had to do! I spent many hours floating round the ship never really progressing that far in the game.
[Edited by Qjimbo at 03:51, 19/2/2013] |
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Philip Webster |
Message #121956, posted by pwx at 11:37, 28/2/2013, in reply to message #120548 |
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Downloaded ADFFS last night - will try to get it onto my RiscPC and get some imaging done this week.
Getting the images off the RPC's HDD will be another matter! |
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Jon Abbott |
Message #121959, posted by sirbod at 06:23, 2/3/2013, in reply to message #121956 |
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Philip - please drop me an eMail to confirm which titles. |
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Michael Drake |
Message #122388, posted by tlsa at 08:54, 16/5/2013, in reply to message #121959 |
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Have you seen LCDGameModes? There's a thread about it on stardot forums.
[Edited by tlsa at 09:55, 16/5/2013] |
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Jon Abbott |
Message #122390, posted by sirbod at 15:04, 16/5/2013, in reply to message #122388 |
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It's built into the next release of ADFFS. It's been released as a separate module for people that don't need ADFFS.
Steve's responsible for all the VIDC aspects of the project. |
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Michael Drake |
Message #122392, posted by tlsa at 18:32, 16/5/2013, in reply to message #122390 |
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Ah, good. Is it only useful on Archimedes systems, or can it do anything about letterboxing on RiscPCs? |
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Steve Harrison |
Message #122394, posted by steve3000 at 11:57, 17/5/2013, in reply to message #122392 |
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Hey, I thought I should say hello over here.
Thanks for the news posting Michael!
LCDgm is RISC OS 3.1 only right now. I am, however, preparing a RPC mode definition file which will provide the non-letterbox VGA 320x256 and 640x256 modes. This will be ready soon.
Steve |
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Michael Drake |
Message #122395, posted by tlsa at 12:49, 17/5/2013, in reply to message #122394 |
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Hey, I thought I should say hello over here. Welcome to TIB!
Thanks for the news posting Michael! You're welcome.
LCDgm is RISC OS 3.1 only right now. I am, however, preparing a RPC mode definition file which will provide the non-letterbox VGA 320x256 and 640x256 modes. This will be ready soon. Ah-ha! Thanks for the info. |
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Daniel Jameson |
Message #122403, posted by danielj at 14:54, 27/5/2013, in reply to message #122395 |
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Hello all
The kryoflux to apd converter is now mostly working. I've detailed it in this post on the English Amiga Board - http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=890904&postcount=547
I won't duplicate what I've written there as I can't actually attach a file to a post on this board. Please feel free to mess with it, criticise my awful code and point out where it doesn't work. There are a few rough edges we're ironing out still so you might come across one of them.
Cheers,
Daniel |
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Alex Macfarlane Smith |
Message #122406, posted by aardvark at 18:52, 30/5/2013, in reply to message #121602 |
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F10566 S.W.I.V. [BUZZ version] (1993) (Krisalis Software)
F10359 S.W.I.V. (1992) (Krisalis Software) What's the difference between those?
As Andrew said...different packaging...
However, I've just compared the recordings and as with other "budget" versions (eg Learning curve), the disc protection has been removed.
I think additionally they added support for running on ARM250 machines - in the original A5000/1991 release of the game, it wouldn't run on that hardware. |
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Jon Abbott |
Message #122407, posted by sirbod at 06:23, 31/5/2013, in reply to message #122406 |
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Thanks for that info, I'll test them and confirm. |
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Jon Abbott |
Message #122409, posted by sirbod at 07:46, 1/6/2013, in reply to message #122407 |
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I've tested BUZZ and original versions of the following titles, all work on the ARM250 as far as I can tell, unless they fail at certain points.
S.W.I.V. (29-05-92)
S.W.I.V. [BUZZ] (15-01-93)
James Pond (31-10-91)
James Pond [BUZZ] (21-01-93)
Mad Professor Mariarti (18-08-90)
Mad Professor Mariarti [BUZZ] (20-01-93)
There are a few other BUZZ titles (GODS, Revelation!, Chuck Rock) but we don't them to test. |
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Arron Dick |
Message #122439, posted by ArronDick at 01:36, 18/6/2013, in reply to message #120548 |
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I managed to get signed up and I'm dropping in to say hello!
I'm happy about this project as I have a few games and a busted A3010(floppy drive buggered) and a RISCPC that won't run most of my games :-( I've never looked at updating them for RISC PC either, as I've just been using RedSquirrel on winblows. And I would hate to see anything disappear of the face of the earth
I'm interested in how many old games can be run on raspberryPi as I guess this will be the hardware that a majority of people with be able to play these old gems on! Here in New Zealand its a tad difficult to get RISC hardware anymore!
As for original titles, I have Lotus 2, Quest for Gold and may have a few others in storage. The rest of the software I've got is 'backups' of all the educational software from my primary school and anything else that was available as a torrent(Games+ROMS) a couple of years ago.
Has anyone heard about Crystal RainForest or River Rescue at all? I've been hunting for those two and not managed to get a hint of them
[Edited by ArronDick at 02:37, 18/6/2013] |
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Xavier Louis Tardy |
Message #122440, posted by Zarchos at 16:18, 18/6/2013, in reply to message #122439 |
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Hello.
The Crystal RainForest has been on sale on Ebay for weeks ... |
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Arron Dick |
Message #122441, posted by ArronDick at 22:26, 18/6/2013, in reply to message #122440 |
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You'll have to forgive me, I tend to avoid eBay and stick to tradeMe.co.nz in New Zealand, which I now realize is a stupid idea...
I see v2 for Mac/PC on eBay atm. I was hoping to find the original version for RISC OS, as I have the demo and really enjoyed it as a kid, hope to pass the same experience onto my son(when he is old enough!!)
Thanks ;-)
I guess with a bit of traveling I might be able to go around some primary schools in the country and see if they have BBCs/Acorns stashed away in storage that they would be happy for someone to take off their hands! |
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Michael Foot |
Message #122442, posted by Michael Foot at 23:22, 18/6/2013, in reply to message #122441 |
AA refugee
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Hi,
I'm pretty sure I have multiple copies of Crystal Rainforest for RISC OS. Not sure about River Rescue though.
I'm in Auckland. I'll have a look and let you know.
Send me a email which is on my page at:
http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/mjfoot/
Cheers,
Mike.
[Edited by Michael Foot at 00:23, 19/6/2013] |
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Jon Abbott |
Message #122443, posted by sirbod at 00:04, 19/6/2013, in reply to message #122439 |
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I'm interested in how many old games can be run on raspberryPi as I guess this will be the hardware that a majority of people with be able to play these old gems on! I created a thread on this very subject, next to nothing at the minute is the answer.
Steve is working on the Tracker module shims, initially focusing on the Krisalis trackers as we can release those titles. My next focus is the website, then I'll be looking at the 32bit ARM support. Realistically though, it's a long way off before we have any number of games working on the Pi. |
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Arron Dick |
Message #122444, posted by ArronDick at 05:15, 19/6/2013, in reply to message #122442 |
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OMG OMG OMG! And in New Zealand too! I have the demo of it, and have played it to death. I'll drop you an email later tonight. I'm really grateful as I want to finish it myself ;-) and I'd like my wee one to play it when he's old enough!
As for River Rescue, I think I may have the name wrong, it was a game at my primary school(A3000) where you have a few characters and you could choose each day a task to do, cut wood, go fishing, or eat berries and hope they wouldn't make you ill. Something like that, if anyone can recall that sort of thing! I'm only after that because we never had the time to finish it during computer time! |
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Xavier Louis Tardy |
Message #122447, posted by Zarchos at 16:01, 20/6/2013, in reply to message #122439 |
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Hey my friend, look at that, it's just appeared for you :
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/THE-CRYSTAL-RAINFOREST-ACORN-ARCHIMEDES-VERY-RARE-COMPLETE-WITH-MAPS-/360470734303?pt=UK_Computing_Software_Software_SR&hash=item53edbae5df |
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Jon Abbott |
Message #122682, posted by sirbod at 18:49, 6/10/2013, in reply to message #120548 |
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We've started releasing titles we have permission for and will continue to release more over the coming weeks.
You can download them from here
The full archives contain PDF manuals, box scans, floppy scans etc, or you can download just the floppy images. Where games require protection material, it will be noted in game information. |
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VinceH |
Message #122872, posted by VincceH at 11:07, 5/12/2013, in reply to message #121260 |
 Lowering the tone since the dawn of time
Posts: 1600
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And I wish I could find copies here myself, Good news!*
*Possibly.
I found a ball of twine this morning, and used it to safely venture into the deepest, darkest part of my cupboard knowing that I'd be able to find my way back out again.
I was actually looking for something else (which I didn't find) - but I did find a box of 3.5" floppies. I'd guess 100-150 of the things. And at the top was at least one with a printed label declaring itself to be one of my old games.
I'll go through them this weekend and look for any that declare themselves to be the games and separate those out for future reference.
I need to check their contents, because it's possible that I recycled the floppies after I originally put the games online - and that'll have to wait until I have time to venture up into the loft to find a computer with a floppy drive, and get it up and running. I might try and do that over the Humbugmas break. |
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Jon Abbott |
Message #122873, posted by sirbod at 12:18, 5/12/2013, in reply to message #122872 |
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Great news, if they do turn out to be originals, eMail ADF images of them to me please.
If you have a scanner, 300 dpi scans of the floppy would be great. Both sides if the label wraps around the back. |
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VinceH |
Message #122875, posted by VincceH at 21:27, 5/12/2013, in reply to message #122873 |
Lowering the tone since the dawn of time
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Having now gone through the box, I've found a small selection with labels claiming them as some of my games:
Three Drop Rock floppies, and one with a handwritten label that says "Drop Rock final old version (Arc)".
Two Guardians of the Labyrinth disks, and one (handwritten) describing itself as the master.
One labelled Switch - which is the one I spotted in the box this morning.
Of those, the only one of use to me is Drop Rock, since (without checking) I believe the version I have on the Pi is the demo. (I already have the full Guardians - that's one of the ones Martin brought along to London a couple of years back - and Switch doesn't have level data per se anyway.)
So, if the disks contain what they say they do, that means I now have the full level data for Escape from Exeria, Guardians of the Labyrinth, and Drop Rock. I'm missing Return to Exeria and Floopy - and for that one I've long since lost the source code as well. Nice!
The copyright years shown on the label suggest they are all original versions, though - which is what you want.
Of course... that's assuming the contents are actually what the labels say
If you have a scanner, 300 dpi scans of the floppy would be great. Both sides if the label wraps around the back. I do... not that there's much to scan; the labels are only cheaply printed, text only, and quite small. I'll do that when I'm able to verify the contents - there seems little point scanning them before then.
Meanwhile, I've nabbed the disks from the box and put them somewhere accessible, ready for when I can be bothered to brave the loft.
As an aside, I also found a disk labelled "Bode's Law" - which must be the completely OTT thing I wrote for my coursework when I did a maths GCSE for fun.
I pulled that one out as well. |
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Jon Abbott |
Message #122916, posted by sirbod at 16:38, 6/1/2014, in reply to message #122875 |
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Terramex is now available and works on the Pi with the latest ADFFS beta. |
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Dave Lawton |
Message #122983, posted by justice at 15:17, 28/1/2014, in reply to message #122916 |
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Hi Jon,
This isn't about Terramex
Have you now acquired all the older hardware you need for testing ?
I have realised that I have a fair amount of A-series, & RPC hardware that might be of use to you.
Dave |
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Jon Abbott |
Message #122984, posted by sirbod at 20:30, 28/1/2014, in reply to message #122983 |
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Have you now acquired all the older hardware you need for testing ? Yes, we have all the hardware we need - with the exception of a working Iyonix. |
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Jon Abbott |
Message #122985, posted by sirbod at 20:31, 28/1/2014, in reply to message #122984 |
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Mad Professor Mariarti is available and works on the Pi with the latest ADFFS beta |
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VinceH |
Message #123042, posted by VincceH at 16:26, 23/2/2014, in reply to message #122875 |
Lowering the tone since the dawn of time
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The good news...
I've finally ventured up into the loft to retrieve the computers and see if I can get them working!
The bad news...
(There's a lot of this!  )
It appears I no longer have the monitor (or cable) for the A3000. Just switching it on, it sounds like it's starting up okay - but beyond that, I don't know.
One of the RiscPCs fails to boot. The floppy light error code it gives me (if I've counted the dots and dashes correctly) suggests VIDC Virq (video interrupt) timing failed.
The other one did boot, and I had a root around its hard drive - and found nothing of use. I started playing around (nostalgia and all that) - and then the hard drive died. Nice.
I swapped in the hard drive from the other RiscPC, and I rooted around through that - but, again, nothing of interest/use.
As for the floppies I'd found... they aren't the originals as sent out to customers. Those that do actually contain what the labels said (some were blank) are mostly test versions, and don't contain the same files as the proper release versions.
The exception, interestingly, was Drop Rock. Again not a release version, but a slightly modified review version, as sent to magazines. The interesting thing was that although it included the instructions, it lacked the background story text.
If I'd made the same omission in the other games, then all of a sudden that piece of criticism I remember from AU sounds justified if I'd been neglecting to include that in the games. (That said, I don't know if I'd *just* missed it out of the review copies - and if it was just Drop Rock.)
Anyway, that's what I found - so no luck as far as the preservation project goes.
What I had hoped to find on the hard drives was the software I used to create a game disc to send out whenever one was bought. With that, I could simply have created a new copy of each game. I suspect I may never have transferred that off the A3000 onto the RiscPCs, and continued to use the A3000 to create discs of the original versions - so at this stage, the A3000 is the most likely place to look, but I lack a suitable display/cable for it.
(Prior to having a hard drive in the A3000, I had a master disc for each game which contained a variation of the same program; I'd run that and it would prompt for fresh discs to create new copies until I said "No more, I'm bored now!". I then did it from its hard drive.)
The three machines are now once again lofted.
Before doing so, I removed the batteries from the RiscPCs; they were leaky, but AFAICS there was no actual damage to the motherboards - other than a slight notch created by me when I slipped when snipping a leg!
I thought the A3K battery was similarly leaky - and I thought I'd looked before and saw signs of it having done so. However, when I looked today it appeared to be absolutely fine, so I left it. I've stored it downside up, though, just in case. |
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