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Everything posted by UKRetrogamer
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IIRC, I used to switch my Vixen from the 16K setting only for games which required the +3K expansion. (Very few and far between if my memory serves). I don't remember ever switching it to 8K mode. I'd have the Vixen plugged in and set to the 16K RAM setting for both 16K and 8K games, switching over only for games which required +3K and then remove it entirely when playing unexpanded games. As I mentioned earlier, these days I have a Megacart and (somewhere) an original Behr Bonz board. Because I have all the carts I need on one or the other of these devices, I've never tried loading cartridge dumps into RAM so I can't verify but according to Mayhem in his post above though, if you wish to do this, a Commodore 8/16K cart can be modified with jumpers to allow for carts to be loaded into the newly relocated 8K RAM area. If I'm wrong, I'm sure someone will correct me but I'm pretty sure the 16K RAM pack will work just fine with 8K software for commercially released software from back in the day. Mind you, It's got to be over 30 years since I last used a Vic-20 on a daily basis. Mayhem? could you point us to documentation showing us how to modify a RAM pack to relocate the RAM and allow for cart-dumps to be loaded into it?
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This functionality may very well be within OpenCBM - I've not used it in a while myself - however, I was merely pointing out a program designed with the manipulation of disk-images as its main focus.
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Hi Ralph. Don't think, just because you see yourself as an "old fart" makes you unique. You'll find there are plenty of us here. There are probably more older (30+) users here than younger ones. Those under 30 possibly won't have the same level of interest as those of us who owned and used these machines back in the day. That's why forums like this are so useful - to discuss issues like this and for others to learn from threads and posts like yours. Don't be afraid to ask questions. No-one will laugh at you. You'll also find many here are collectors of multiple systems though very few are "experts". TBH, I also own a ZoomFloppy but have yet to use it in earnest. I also have a Flyer Internet Modem but I'm an expert on neither. I'm just a fellow collector with a collection of interesting modern hardware devices, all of which I use with my vintage machines to "enhance" their functionality. From one old fart to another, "Welcome" and ask away! Edit: It's a pity I don't still have my spare Vixen RAM cartridge. You could've taken it, but I gave it away a couple of years ago, along with a nice, clean Vic-20. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiANTcCq624
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GameBase is an emulator front-end and database utility. http://www.bu22.com/. (Think TOSEC but with a common front-end for each collection). A Gamebase collection exists for a number of popular micros. Details of the Vic-20 version can be found here: http://sleepingelephant.com/ipw-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6329 Gamebase itself is just a collection of game-images and in itself is not a method of software transfer. Basically, it's used with an accompanying emulator to provide a graphical way of browsing and playing games on a modern computer. Games for the Commodore micros (PET, Vic, C64, C16, Plus/4) mainly tend to be distributed as .D64/.D71/.D81 (disk-image), .T64 (Cassette Tape images) or in .PRG (an individual, executable program) format. ZoomFloppy will take a disk-image (.D64) and using software like OpenCBM, transfer the image to a real floppy, via a connected Commodore floppy drive. To transfer a .PRG file will first require transferring the .PRG onto a .D64 disk-image. Various programs exist to create and manipulate disk-images. One such program would be DirMaster. http://style64.org/dirmaster
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Thanks for the heads-up. Going off to check, now.
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Whatever you do, don't go looking at things like the Flyer Internet Modem. It'll blow your mind! Downloading disc-images stored remotely on the Internet is witchcraft from the future? Back in the day, a lot of the stuff we're attaching to our old machines would've seemed like Science Fiction. It's good time to be a retro-computing enthusiast with all of these new-fangled devices around. http://www.retroswitch.com/products/flyer/
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Hi Ralph. The moving memory map was a PITA back in the day, so I was real careful to choose a switchable RAM pack; which I still own to this day. I'm not aware of any commonly available games or programs written back in the day which required more than 16k. With this in mind, something like a "Vixen" switchable RAM-pack might be worth considering. It has two recessed switches, allowing it to be configured as a 3k, 8k or 16k RAM expansion, depending on the program you're trying to load. Alternatively, you could buy the THREE different RAM Packs sold for the Vic-20 by Commodore to cover the same bases. Other options are the Mega-cart (providing you're willing to add yourself to a one-year waiting list) or maybe a Final Expansion 3 (FE3), which comes as a kit you'd need to solder. The FE3 also has the advantage of SD-Card storage and emulates a disk-drive to load-in programs. I had a Vic with a 3/8/16K Vixen back in the day and it was all I needed back then. The opportunity to use 24K or 32K is something which has come about in recent years and I'm not aware if I've used anything which requires this much RAM since I've had the facility. TBH, as I have Mega-cart, I've never needed to load a cartridge into RAM (they're pretty much all on the cart to begin with) so I'm not sure if I'd need to use this facility. Vixen:
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You should have a look at the Best Electronics site. Pick up a Gold PCB and recondition your joystick. Possibly the best $8 you could spend on Atari. http://www.best-electronics-ca.com/CX40_REBUILD%20KIT.htm
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Help identifying a Ti game from a ZX Spectrum conversion
UKRetrogamer replied to UKRetrogamer's topic in TI-99/4A Computers
Wow. Weird the things I've turned up searching Google for "Ti-99/4a Diamond". https://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=hkH-GtlwBdc -
Help identifying a Ti game from a ZX Spectrum conversion
UKRetrogamer replied to UKRetrogamer's topic in TI-99/4A Computers
I just did a quick search for Diamond Drop and it turned up something like Activison's early Atari game Kaboom! http://www.atarimagazines.com/compute/issue40/diamond_drop.php (Scroll down for Ti-99 version). I seem to remember the word Diamond being in the title but then I think I might've originally called my conversion "Diamond Mine", so my recollection could be a Red Herring. -
In 1985, I spent an evening playing a fun little multi-player strategy game with 3 friends on a Ti-99/4a. I don't remember the name of their game but I enjoyed the evening spent playing it. Over the next few days, I wrote my own conversion for the ZX Spectrum. Later in the year, another friend persuaded me to send my conversion to Your Sinclair magazine and it was published in the December 1986 issue. They renamed my game "Planet Proton". I don't remember what title I originally gave it (it might've even have had the same as the Ti game I'd based mine on). I'd love to find the Ti version of this game again. Unfortunately, I don't remember if it was a commercial release or a type-in from a book or magazine. I've included a screenshot here, along with a TZX file for use with a ZX Spectrum emulator or DivIDE device. The objective of the game (for 2 to 4 players) is to set off in a direction until you hit the edge of the playing area, another player or a hole created by yours or another player's previous moves. Each Blue "Diamond" is worth 10 points and "Gold Diamonds" (??) are worth more. Fun can be had by trapping your opponents into small areas, thereby limiting how much they can collect before the game ends. Any help identifying the Ti original would be appreciated. ZX Spectrum TZX Image: PlanetProton.zip
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Apparently, even Pope John Paul II was a JetSet Willy fan. According to The Daily Mash, he completed it! (PFFFT!?) http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/celebrity/pope-john-paul-ii-completed-jet-set-willy-2013062172991
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I tried this from my UberGROM card with a working copy of RXB2012. I loaded the disk image as DSK1 into my nanoPEB and booted into RXB. The program ran, updating all the GROMs as it went, confirmed success but on a power-on reboot, I have lost the assembler but still have both RXB2012 options, neither of which work. No sign of RXB2015 in the boot-menu. Gazoo, are minipro programming files available for RXB2015? It looks like I'll need to bring out the TL866 to recover this, so I might as well burn RXB2015 direct to the ROMS instead of 2012+upgrade disk.
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I'd guess the EASIEST way would be to record them as WAV files, test them by loading the WAV into a Ti-99, (if you have one), then ZIP or RAR them and then place them somewhere on the Internet publishing links here to download them. You can then sit back and let the generous Ti community here on AtariAge do the conversions for you. Another alternative is to post them off to someone with past experience of archiving Ti software. Anything by Gamesware/Sceptre in your collection of UK stuff?
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Over at the Jet Set Willy and Manic Miner Community forum, Spider has just released the JSW 2015 Bug Fixed Edition. This addresses all known issues in the original ZX Spectrum release, such as the Attic Bug, the possibility of a warp from Rescue Esmeralda to The Ballroom and another from The Watch Tower to The Off Licence. The new release also fixes a bug which hung the game if it was paused while Sinclair's Interface 1 was connected. The way Spider tackles the invisible/unreachable object in The First Landing and the duplicate item in The Beach I find interesting. While they change the original's gameplay slightly, it's not enough of a change to damage the feelings of nostalgia I have for the original title. Images for the new version have been made available for ZX Spectrum tape, +3 disk and even Microdrive. Head on over to the Jet Set Willy and Manic Miner Community forum for full details of what's been fixed and for downloads. http://jswmm.co.uk/topic/76-new-jsw-2015-bug-fixed-edition/
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I thought you guys might appreciate a little "Willy" Music. How to play with your Willy by Intermittent Explosive Disorder. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyhujNcUFck
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I've experienced a few spinning beds in my time - usually sometime after midnight and a few (too many) beers - but I have to admit I hadn't noticed the one in Willy's mansion doing this. Mind you, he *is* supposed to be cleaning up after a party, so who knows?!
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Still liking the Black one best.
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I'm favouring the Black one. too.
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Would this also make the ramps on the right side of "Rescue Esmeralda" work as expected?
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This block definitely works as a ramp in the original. I've noticed other things too, but before reporting them, I check them against the ZX Spectrum version. If I can do the same in the original, I don't report it as a feature. In Rescue Esmeralda, the ramps on the upper right of this screen don't act like ramps in the Ti version. To climb them, you must jump onto them as though they were individual blocks. Is this something else you can patch for the bug-fix version? Will do. The game is *extremely* playable and apart from the soon to be released 2015 ZX Spectrum bug-fixed version, every conversion I've played has its own minor bugs and glitches. None of the issues which still exist in the Ti version are game-breaking so take your time. I'm (we're?) not expecting a new release after every report.
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It's good to see him alive, well and making income from seminars and talks. Whenever I think of Mr Smith, I always think of him looking like an escapee from The Cure, as pictured here.
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I've found another couple of "features" and unlike my previous ramble, I'm not imagining these ones. If you climb the ladder in The West Bedroom while standing on the left-side of the ladder, you automatically lose a life when appearing in the adjoining screen as Willy bumps his head (hat?) on the inner sloping roof. I've tested this on the ZX Spectrum version and this doesn't happen. On the original version, it looks like the jump animation is reset on arrival into the screen after climbing from the ladder. Apologies for this late report. I've been playing the game from cartridge on real hardware since the (previous?) final release and taking different routes than I'd normally take while noodling around. Also, In the screen "On The Roof", if you exit right, then double back, Willy doesn't climb the ramp and is killed on the tiles below the ramp. In "The Watchtower", I've also collected the left-most (apple?) without it disappearing but I need to replicate this issue as it has only happened once so far.
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We should all chip-in and buy Rasmus one of these: https://www.bigmouthclothing.com/gaming_kids-t-shirts/jetsetwillytracekidstshirt.html Actually, I'd like one myself but I've had a T-shirt with a flock Willy on it for about 6 years now, along with a flock Jet Pac one. Hmm. Flock Willy doesn't sound like something you'd say in polite company, so I'll leave it at that.