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Gamebase TI99/4A Version 2.1


OX.

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Ox, I noticed that when I try to run some games from within the Gamebase, they run slower than normal. This is particularly obvious with key stroke response in XB games...

 

I know I used get slowdown problems with older versions of Classic99, other than that you could try changing the keyboard setting in MESS from native to emulated or maybe it's your setup?

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At first I thought it was my setup, but when I ran the games directly with Classic99, the execution speed was fine. I'm not familiar with MESS, so I'm not sure if there is a setting tweak needed here.

BTW, the database is an amazing piece of work! If you are OK with it, I'd like to provide a download link for it on the Gameshelf site with the next update.

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I was having all kinds of trouble with the multiupload link; mostly to do with my firewall software and content filtering software complaining of malware on the site and all kinds of non-sense. I finally fired up a VPN and hit the link, however I found that most of the links were dead, but finally had success with uppit.

 

That said, I went ahead and uploaded the file to my Dropbox and thought I'd just share the link for future ease of downloading this version. Here's where I put it:

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7ei2ejswxlabpnz/TI99-4Av2.rar?m=

 

And thanks for all the effort you put into maintaining this fantastic database!!

 

Thanks!

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I was having all kinds of trouble with the multiupload link; mostly to do with my firewall software and content filtering software complaining of malware on the site and all kinds of non-sense. I finally fired up a VPN and hit the link, however I found that most of the links were dead, but finally had success with uppit.

 

That said, I went ahead and uploaded the file to my Dropbox and thought I'd just share the link for future ease of downloading this version. Here's where I put it:

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7ei2ejswxlabpnz/TI99-4Av2.rar?m=

 

And thanks for all the effort you put into maintaining this fantastic database!!

 

are these all cart images for that mess emulator thingy? could i use these on my nano? what's rar?m= not a zip right?

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At first I thought it was my setup, but when I ran the games directly with Classic99, the execution speed was fine. I'm not familiar with MESS, so I'm not sure if there is a setting tweak needed here.

BTW, the database is an amazing piece of work! If you are OK with it, I'd like to provide a download link for it on the Gameshelf site with the next update.

 

Sure, I'd like that.

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are these all cart images for that mess emulator thingy? could i use these on my nano? what's rar?m= not a zip right?

 

The zip files located in the Games\Carts directory and the RPK files located in the Games\Carts\RPK directory are CART ROM images that can be used by Mess, V9T9, Classic99 and a few other Emulators. The ROM images contained in these zip and rpk files can also be used on the real hardware using a GRAM device like a PGRAM, PGRAM+ or Gram Kracker device. I think there are also loaders that might load these files without a GRAM device, but I'm not 100% sure about that.

 

Regarding you second question, "could you use these on your nano?", I'm assuming you mean your nano PEB? If that's accurate, then you could unizip the various files and copy the bin files to your nano and then load those using a GRAM device to play on your real hardware.

 

As OLD CS1 mentioned previously, the file is in the RAR format and can be unrar'd using 7-Zip (as he mentioned) or WinRAR etc..

Edited by Cory
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Yes.. with tidir or tiimagetool or used with hdx to copy direct over that, or copied to fiad's to use with hdx..

 

Greg

 

I also use Paulo BagnarsI's TI99-PC which allows me to convert the non PC99 .dsk images to 260k/525k PC99 disk size images.. still need a replacement RS232 cable though.

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Sure, I'd like that.

 

Great! I'll have the database stored on my site for ease of downloading. I was wondering if you could put together a short set of instructions on how to install it and use it. It's not at all obvious that it needs the Gamebase software to run and that it needs to reside in the main Gamebase directory.

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Great! I'll have the database stored on my site for ease of downloading. I was wondering if you could put together a short set of instructions on how to install it and use it. It's not at all obvious that it needs the Gamebase software to run and that it needs to reside in the main Gamebase directory.

 

You will need to first install the main gamebase install from here - http://sourceforge.n.../gamebase/v1.3/ to "C:\Gamebase"

 

Unzip the TI99/4A project archive to C:\Gamebase so that the file path structure within the gamebase remains unchanged, apart from the gamebase install files there's nothing else to install it's all ready to go.

 

You might want to make a shortcut of the main gamebase.exe to your desktop (the joystick icon)

 

Further information and updates on other Gamebase projects can be seen over on www.gb64.com

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You will need to first install the main gamebase install from here - http://sourceforge.n.../gamebase/v1.3/ to "C:\Gamebase"

 

Unzip the TI99/4A project archive to C:\Gamebase so that the file path structure within the gamebase remains unchanged, apart from the gamebase install files there's nothing else to install it's all ready to go.

 

You might want to make a shortcut of the main gamebase.exe to your desktop (the joystick icon)

 

Further information and updates on other Gamebase projects can be seen over on www.gb64.com

 

Perfect! I view this as a complementary venture: the Gamebase is the definitive encyclopedic game reference, and the Gameshelf is a much smaller teaser I equate to window shopping :)

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  • 3 months later...

Hi guys,

 

Grew up with the TI-99. Previous experience with Win994a and Classic99, but never with Mess or the gamebase front end.

 

I followed the instructions above for installation. My issue is that the laptop that I am using is 2007 vintage with 32 bit cpu, and I see that the provided Mess150 is 64-bit. Can I just download the latest Mess 153 executable, 32-bit, extract it into the existing mess150 directory? I basically tried that, and I see that I would also have to change the gamebase path to account for the different mess 32 bit executable filename. Anything else?

 

I was playing with a separate mess 153 32-bit installation that I made last night, with the messui front end, and I also need to change one video setting because otherwise the mess screen is solid black (but I here the TI audio beeps, so I know audio is working). So the followup question is where would I change this same video setting in the gamebase setup so that the mess150 will work for me.

 

Incidentally, mess140 seems to work in my limited testing. Classic99 is not working for me -- slow and laggy -- choppy audio, visually struggling to keep up. I have no idea why, I might have to ask Tursi over at his forum. I had previously run an older version maybe 4 or 5 years ago on this laptop without issue. And the laptop runs an ultra-lean Win7 installation, I run as Limited User, and with just about zero added software (except firefox) and no background AS/AV. So nothing is chewing cpu cycles. I must just need to change a program setting on that, too, to get it to run more smoothly.

 

Thanks in advance.

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Hi rpesq - welcome to the forum! It's always good to have another TI nut join the ranks! :D

 

You're running Windows 7 I see, and a lean install it sounds like too. Why not roll back the machine back to XP? I could see new Linux distros running on such relatively old hardware, but the 'newest' Windows might be another matter. I'm sure a MESS in Windows buff will be along shortly though.

 

Good to have you aboard!

Edited by RobertLM78
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Hi RobertLM78,

 

Thanks for the quick reply and for welcoming me to the community.

 

The laptop actually shipped with Vista. When Win7 came out in 2009, I bought an oem license and did a fresh install. I agree that XP may be a little faster, but honestly I don't think that is the issue considering that I have ~nothing~ running in the background (even disabled Windows Defender, for example). Ultimately, you may be right and changing the OS may be the only choice, but I know that I ran Classic99 on this machine a number of years, possibly when Vista was the OS, and I had no issues then. I had an XP laptop with a 1.3ghz Pentium M back in 2003 and it handled Classic99 and Win994a fine.

 

Regarding the video issues, I need to change the Mess settings to run as Directdraw (not D3D, which give me a black screen) and I also ned to turn off that stretching, as that makes the screen look fuzzy, not sharp and crisp. I am guessing that the Mess140 install in the gamebase is using Directdraw, but the fuzzy look suggests that stretching is enabled.

 

I am probably having a type of midlife crisis, looking to rekindle the passion that I had for programming and (some) gaming during my youth with the TI-99 and later my C-128D (used exclusively in C64 mode, except for word processing school reports). While I owned, loved, and spent more time with the C128D, I still enjoy and remember the TI more fondly. They say that you always treasure your first the most. Maybe it is that, but I think there is more to it.

 

I've browsed a number of TI websites recently, and I now want to play some of the games that I never knew existed, primarily the CRPG games such as Legends I/II and Wizard's Revenge. I had never heard of them as a kid. Tunnels of Doom was all that I knew and owned as an RPG, and I certainly love that game. I was thrilled to see that a gamebase was available for the TI-99, so that led me here. Can't beat having everything in one package. If all else fails, I'll just run this from my desktop pc, but I use the laptop much more, so I kind of wanted that mobility and convenience.

 

On a side note, any idea whether Owen is still working on his CRPG The Legend of Beryl Reichardt? That thread seems to have stopped almost a year ago. It would be amazing to think that a new game is available for a computer system that is almost 35 years old. That is just fascinating to me.

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The best bet is probably going to be the OS that came installed, so Vista, rather than XP, would probably be best. I'm personally a fan of MESS, so I'd recommend getting that going.

 

There are way more homebrew games that have been made than just Beryl Reichardt (although I'm looking forward to that myself ;)). Check out Rasmus' games - he's made some real gems: from Titanium, TI Scramble, Road Hunter, and Flappy Bird. There are others, too, just check out the GameShelf:

http://tigameshelf.net/

 

It's good to hear you're coming back to the machine after a break. I think a lot of us take some time off now and then, but we always manage to come back to it :).

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Big thanks to OX for putting this all together and to Cory for hosting it on his Dropbox (the links on the Gamebase site don't work anymore), and of course to Tursi for classic99 and the MESS team for their emulation of the TI, not to mention all the folks who have dumped all the carts, disks and tapes over the years. Now I can relive 8th & 9th grade with a collection of TI software I had only dreamed of back then!

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  • 2 years later...

Hi.

Had a massive crash of my system and after building a new one, i am having to reinstall my gamebases on a new

Seagate 4TB external drive. The gamebases that i had are all gone to that place where systems die and were

not recoverable. So i need to download the latest compleate TI99/4A gamebase. Tried the latest link above and

get a 404 not found error. Would really apreciate someone providing me a link.

 

Many thanks in advance.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hello i have some problems with the GameGase downloaded from Gameshelf.

i Sent you a message to Ox but still not answer. Probably there are some settings to adjust.

 

i downloaded a GameBase.zip from GameShelf website and i must say that there are some problems with it.
I also have an older version of the GameBase and it is perfectly working compared to this v2.

For example in one of the game by funware: Ant Colony.

When i play it in the older version that i have in my notebook, it is perfect and when fire button is Hold pressed it has a long fire. But, if i play it with the GameShelf actual Version and i hold pressed the fire, it has a short and repetitive fire... it is not che right works

So i installed the older version in the same folder overwtiting the files and it is working good but the numbers of total games is not the same... about 200 less.

So please could someone of you check this problem so to fix it ? I haven't skills to found it.

 

thanks in advance.

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  • 1 month later...

Is there a fresh link to the latest version of the gamebase that actually works? None of the links above are valid anymore...

Disclaimer. I do not not know this free file sharing service. You have been warned. https://uploadfiles.io/7c1e0

 

I did download and check the file. It takes at least 14 minutes to download. Download should be available for the next 4 weeks.

 

I don't know if the Gamebase software works as it should. I've always done it rather manually: I select or search the Screenshots folder for any particular games. I verify the screen shots to see if I found the right game. I then look in the database (TI99-4Av2.mdb). The table is Games. The column searched is Name. And the Filename column shows where to find the file. I've always been able to figure out how to run a game in Classic99, but then I've only tried a fraction of what's available.

 

I wish there was a permanent link for it...

Regarding too much traffic (attacks). Maybe your tigameshelf.net could host it with a security question service or using some open source code. Maybe planet-99.net or 99ers.net could host it, and require that you log in before being able to download.

 

:)

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Disclaimer. I do not not know this free file sharing service. You have been warned. https://uploadfiles.io/7c1e0

 

I did download and check the file. It takes at least 14 minutes to download. Download should be available for the next 4 weeks.

 

I don't know if the Gamebase software works as it should. I've always done it rather manually: I select or search the Screenshots folder for any particular games. I verify the screen shots to see if I found the right game. I then look in the database (TI99-4Av2.mdb). The table is Games. The column searched is Name. And the Filename column shows where to find the file. I've always been able to figure out how to run a game in Classic99, but then I've only tried a fraction of what's available.

 

 

Regarding too much traffic (attacks). Maybe your tigameshelf.net could host it with a security question service or using some open source code. Maybe planet-99.net or 99ers.net could host it, and require that you log in before being able to download.

 

:)

 

I used to host it but pulled it out after my last bout with Earthlink regarding the site traffic. It's a large file and without some sort of CAPTCHA or other security feature to prevent bots from automatically and repeatedly downloading it, it will continue to be a risk. That said, I'm going to look at possibly making it available on the public FTP server of my site which is password protected. We'll see...

Thanks for the link!

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