Unicorns season: Prince of Persia for the A8!

[Mq.]

I tested all versions on Altirra and real hardware.

On Altirra 3.90 I noticed, that atr versions works properly for me on original Atari OS and on QMEG. Cartridges images both works properly on QMEG, but on Atari OS the emulator hangs on start.

On real hardware I tested on Atari 65XE (edit: with 1MB SIMMexp) and I have SIC! cartridge, which works ok (with PoP ofcourse). It works ok both in AtariOS and QMEG for me.

I have a cartridge my own project, which is fully compatible with Atarimax Maxflash 8Mbit banking. On this cartridge works properly Space Harrier, and any other games, and any image prepared by Maxflash Cartridge Studio. But unfortunately PoP don't want to start, and both AtariOS and QMEG don't see any cartridge at all if I attach cartridge programmed with PoP.

I think that author maybe don't has that cartridges to test game fisically on them. I was tested some programming for Maxflash cartridge, and I know that it is absolutely necessary to testing it on real hardware while coding to succeed.

Edited June 13, 2021 by Mq.

[Faicuai]

Alrighty:

 

Just flashed the Multi-cart core back into Ultimate/SD (had the Veronica's experimental on it, since AVG has been working perfectly).

 

So I can officially confirm (on A800 / Incognito, NTSC )

 

1. Ultimate/SD cart: Atarimax, SIC, Megacart images launching and running looped-demo OK.

2. AVG cart: Atarimax, SIC, Megacart images launching and running looped-demo OK.

 

I am simply failing to reproduce any of the problems reported here with these cart images. I will later, however, test on my 800XLs / U1MB setups, with same carts. 

 

NOTE: I did notice, however, when mounting any of the above images from SDX prompt (through my control-extensions specifically for Ultimate-SD), as soon as the image-mount is complete, and control returns to SDX prompt, it turns out that typing "car" leads nowhere, SDX reports "not present". However, when firing up the images directly from the carts' menus, there all work like a charm... Pretty interesting...

[Gunstar]

3 hours ago, xxl said:

when I read from the trolls what this xxl did and did not do, I think that he must be a demigod at least.

Welcome to my ignore list DICK. Only one more and it will be a full dozen! Who's next?

Edited June 13, 2021 by Gunstar

[rensoup]

 

Looks like it's going to be tech support day ?

 

Well this thread is all over the shop so I don't even know where to start...

 

 

 

First, it may well be that there's a issue in my cart init code... why it's showing up on some machines and not others, I don't know, I've only got Altirra for testing.

 

And just to be clear, the cart version doesn't contain any anti-hardware protection, it doesn't contain any XBIOS cart code because there is no such thing. Some of you are just assuming XXL is there to get you, crying wolf, and he's just trolling you, letting you think that he's behind all of this while it may just be a bug in my code that happens to show up mostly on Side3 ?

The cart version contain XBIOS replacement code that I coded myself, so that when the game wants to read a file it just streams it from ROM. 

 

It's best leaving XBIOS arguments out for now and open a new thread because no matter ho often it's been repeated that it's a good solution, some people still won't listen.

 

Another thing: The version that Wrathchild uploaded removed an assert which caught DLIs missfiring which has been in there forever. That was not a good idea, so please don't upload that to any site with a "_fixed_version" label or anything like that.

 

This was an important clue which helped me diagnose tricky issues. For instance the SIC version would crash at boot but only in NTSC because I'd enabled the NMI but forgotten to setup a Display list, so it used the one installed previously which contains DLIs all over the place (probably because it'd been trashed by my init code)

 

 

Quote

One of the nastier bugs I had was that I sometimes ended up triggering the VBi with a DLi, which was ok as the NMI handler would detect it and return early. Except that I wanted to figure it out and fix it properly so instead of returning early, I added a KIL instruction. This forced the game to crash but only very sporadically.
It should be fixed but I left the KIL just in case. If you encounter a crash: please post a screenshot with the debugger enabled.

That version may also have problems later on, so don't report any bug which may occur with it.

 

 

 

[rensoup]

So let's get started...

 

19 hours ago, x=usr(1536) said:

Can't get the double-density version to run properly.  It will boot and go as far as the dancing girl animation, but at some point either a) her animation freezes, or b) I get a solid white screen.  Either way, it doesn't progress any further, and I've left it sitting for 30 minutes with no change.  This does not happen with the single-density version, which runs fine.

Are you using fujinet for loading ? Any way I can test this in Altirra ?

 

19 hours ago, x=usr(1536) said:

During the opening sequence, pressing the fire button to skip the cinematics while sound is playing results in what I think is one of POKEY's voices not being silenced during loading; a continuous non-SIO tone will be heard.  However, it does stop once the game begins.

Yes, I need to not forget to fix that

 

20 hours ago, x=usr(1536) said:

I'll try to get a screenshot of this happening, but on Level One there's a room with a hidden passageway in its top level that can be knocked out; this leads to a small room with a potion in it.  Once the ceiling of the room below the potion room is knocked out, the player moves to the potion room not through the hole in the ceiling, but rather one of the stone slabs remaining in the ceiling to its right.

a video recording would be nice 

[rensoup]

11 hours ago, Jacques said:

Atari?

 

Is it just an interim title screen or is going to stay?

The title logo on top and the palette is great, but I miss the palace which is almost invisible in the backround (will it be there in final picture?), and it's a bit weird with the mouse acting as main character (she has her tiny role in the game, but still) ?

Clearly she had eaten early-proposal title screen?

Sparkler did a great title pic but it was impossible to colorize... I'll take the blame for that since I didn't know what was possible at the time.

So I took inspiration from the Snes box art and drew that one... final or not I don't know but if you know someone who can do better than bathroom tiling then we can talk about it.

[rensoup]

11 hours ago, Mazzspeed said:

The AtariMax .CAR image loading under SIDE3. That's as good as it gets, the other two .CAR images simply go to a blue screen, at least the AtariMax image starts loading only to stop and bomb to the self test screen. Changing the OS ROM to Altirra OS does nothing at all, you get the exact same thing.

Is there any way I can test this in Altirra ?

[rensoup]

10 hours ago, MARIO130XE said:

Unfortunately without flickering the lines are interrupred.

 

Yes I need to fix that, but I may just pimp up those borders...

[Mathy]

Damn, why do I keep looking, now I can't resist...

 

4 hours ago, xxl said:

someone here must have been afraid of an open wardrobe in childhood ... and rightly so, I was there.

 

You were in the closet?  Don't worry, we accept all sexual orientations, as long as the person in question is nice to the rest of us.

 

Sincerely

 

Mathy

 

 

[Faicuai]

22 minutes ago, rensoup said:

Some of you are just assuming XXL is there to get you, crying wolf, and he's just trolling you, letting you think that he's behind all of this

??

 

So I was right, it just did not add up... ?

 

Boy, the reactions posted here... trashing "XXL", self-appointed mall-cops issuing "holy" pronouncements with "solemn sanctity"... just to find out there is no "XXL" code in there for the cart-images...

 

Recording all this for posterity... 

[rensoup]

8 hours ago, Peri Noid said:

The SIC! image does not always properly start. On my (not U1MB-equipped) 65XE with 320K of RAM sometimes it starts and works fine, but sometimes only shows the first frame of the loading animation and freezes. I'm using a real SIC! cart.

I had issues booting SIC! in NTSC in Altirra, it could be that I didn't fix it 100%

 

8 hours ago, Wrathchild said:

Sic! Cart in XEGS NTSC Altirra emulation, @rensoup seems an expected cart bank isn't in place?

I don't know if it's the same issue but is XEGS+ SIC! a valid combo ? If so that may be a start for fixing the problem since I guess it happens 100% in Altirra ?

[zbyti]

12 minutes ago, rensoup said:

if you know someone who can do better than bathroom tiling then we can talk about it.

You must be kidding  There are still some good, active Atari graphics artists, even Carrion from C64 started making pics on A8 more often.

Edited June 13, 2021 by zbyti

[Mazzspeed]

10 minutes ago, rensoup said:

Is there any way I can test this in Altirra ?

Obviously not at this stage, I'm happy to try revised code from my end. Assuming all ties to FJC haven't been totally severed FJC always appears willing to debug such issues regarding hardware running his code.

 

As for XXL, well...The communities reaction is his creation after all (in more ways than just software). I hardly feel any pity for the individual.

Edited June 13, 2021 by Mazzspeed

[xxl]

5 hours ago, Mathy said:

"ignore" is a nice option.   Just added XXL to it

 

19 minutes ago, Mathy said:

Damn, why do I keep looking, now I can't resist...

 

5 hours ago, xxl said:

someone here must have been afraid of an open wardrobe in childhood ... and rightly so, I was there.

 

 

 

even that didn't work out for you

 

 

 

[Mazzspeed]

3 minutes ago, xxl said:

 

 

 

even that didn't work out for you

 

 

 

Point in case. While calling others trolls.

Edited June 13, 2021 by Mazzspeed

[rensoup]

8 hours ago, MARIO130XE said:

I do not really need a change, I simply want to undestand, WHY the border-lines are painted in this crazy, interrupted way. Do this have technically reasons or simply artistic? 

Artistic... but again forgot to fix it for no flicker option.

 

As for flickering on the font, it was discussed here: 

 

 

 

Flickering at 50hz shouldn't look bad. At 60hz it should look pretty smooth.

 

If you record only half the frames or have some weird post processing you get terrible results like this:

 

 

 

while it should look more like this (I'm guessing this one has frame blending though):

 

 

[rensoup]

7 hours ago, Peri Noid said:

One more thing spotted. Look at this film and notice vertical bars on characters. It happens after several iterations of the intro - I just started it and let it run for minutes.

 

 

?

how many times before this happens ? anyone else seen this ?

[rensoup]

6 hours ago, DrVenkman said:

Also, there’s a weird audio bug/distortion that occurred after leaving the game alone for about 15 minutes. It was running a demo mode when it started. 
 

https://youtube.com/shorts/4Wtt5oQvwxw?feature=share

Ouch, I'll try fast forwarding in Altirra

 

6 hours ago, Luke210 said:

Bug report: Level 2. I was hit by a guard (#3) and fell into the spikes - my character vanished (also the guard), and i couldn't start a new life.

ouch, is it 100% ?

 

2 hours ago, mono said:

IRQ vector is empty ($FFFE=$0000) and game hangs up when Break key is pressed.

ouch, so the break key just triggers an IRQ on its own ???

[tjlazer]

46 minutes ago, rensoup said:

Sparkler did a great title pic but it was impossible to colorize... I'll take the blame for that since I didn't know what was possible at the time.

So I took inspiration from the Snes box art and drew that one... final or not I don't know but if you know someone who can do better than bathroom tiling then we can talk about it.

Is this the palette we have to work with?  Surly we can get the same style title screen done like all the rest to finish this great port out.

[rensoup]

44 minutes ago, zbyti said:

You must be kidding  There are still some good, active Atari graphics artists, even Carrion from C64 started making pics on A8 more often.

Yeah I did talk to him but it didn't work out unfortunately...

[tjlazer]

Maybe we can get STE to help with the title screen?  He does great work on the C64 scene. 

[Faicuai]

46 minutes ago, xxl said:

even that didn't work out for you

 

Not only did not work here, but it did not work "there", where he casted a buffoonish, lonely vote to permanently kick-out Rensoup... and then magically coming here chanting "hopes" for "links not severed" (when he was actually happy to cut them):

 

 

Also recording for posterity...  Have not seen Rensoup kicking anyone out, though. 

 

Anyway, moving on, now..

 

 

[mono]

27 minutes ago, rensoup said:

ouch, so the break key just triggers an IRQ on its own ???

I tested SD and DD versions on Atari800 emulator. IRQEN is set to $80 what makes Break key IRQ enabled.

[rensoup]

14 minutes ago, mono said:

I tested SD and DD versions on Atari800 emulator. IRQEN is set to $80 what makes Break key IRQ enabled.

Thanks, I thought I'd disabled it a long time ago...

[Faicuai]

2 hours ago, rensoup said:

how many times before this happens ? anyone else seen this ?

Ran several cart images here, for LoOoOoNg... and NO, I can't replicate that...

 

...I am in NTSC, with Sophia-2, and ZERO changes to defaults... Not sure about PAL, etc... but those vertical bars on the characters could HW-related, instead...