Beach Head....you SOB!

[eightbit]

So I have been trying to get "Beach Head" and "Beach Head II" running using SD2IEC and an Ultimate cart. I have tried with both on an NTSC machine and every dump I try gets to the title screen and then accepts no input. I tried on a PAL machine and it gets to the title screen and actually allows input to the game select menu. But then when starting the game the graphics are corrupt.

 

Has anyone been able to get this running on their C64 (I am using an original breadbox model) using either SD2IEC or the Ultimate cart? Both games do the same thing...and I have tried more disk images than you can shake a stick at. 

 

Can both of my C64 models have issues? I could swear I have loaded this game successfully in the past!

[carlsson]

Have you tried the same disk images in an emulator? It should shake out the possibility of hardware issue.

[eightbit]

3 hours ago, carlsson said:

Have you tried the same disk images in an emulator? It should shake out the possibility of hardware issue.

It does work. It has a strange anomoly in emulation where moving a joystick in port 1 resets the game to title screen, so a joystick must be used in port 2.

 

But on two REAL C64 units (PAL and NTSC) it does not get beyond the title screen. Maybe someone else can test using an SD2IEC or an Ultimate cart to see if my issue can be reproduced? I have attached the image.

BeachHead-Man.d64

[+save2600]

The file above doesn't work on my system either. Oh and the issue about the 1st joystick bringing the game back to the menu screen, that happens on real hardware as well. Typical kooky C64 joystick shenanigans.   ?

[eightbit]

Well, none work on my system at all....even the ones you provided that work for you

 

Everything else works on this machine though. Perfect picture, games and sound perfect....just these two games from what I can find testing dozens and dozens of games. But these two games are two of my favorite titles on the C64. I have swapped CIA's, kernal/basic rom, SID and PLA (as these were all socketed) but same deal. I just do not know.

 

 

[eightbit]

If I am not mistaken (I will have to look again when I am not so darn tired!) my board rev is ASSY 250425 REV A. 

 

I wonder if this loading issue with these particular titles is simply a motherboard revision incompatibility.

[eightbit]

It has got to be a revision glitch. Here's someone on AA that posted nearly 10 years ago with the same problem:

 

https://atariage.com/forums/topic/161897-c64-beach-head-wont-work/

 

No resolution was posted and that user has not been logged in for over 8 years however.

[eightbit]

Well, I have been working with Ray on this one....and I believe I have discovered the problem. It appears all SD2IEC devices do not function exactly the same. Perhaps firmware issues?

 

On my device (made from a guy in Greece IIRC), it will not load either of these games. But, it loads everything else I throw at it. On Ray's device (uIECsd I believe he said?) it loads the first game fine but does the same exact thing as mine on the second game.

 

And then again another member here who has a different model can load both games.

 

I was able to recreate the issue using the "Beach Head II" image in Vice by choosing "IEC Device" as the drive type in the Drive settings. If this is selected the behavior is the same as what I am experiencing on real hardware. If a "real" 1541 is selected the game works.

 

I know the mainboard in mine is different than others and will need a firmware update or fix directly from the maker...whom I emailed in hopes of getting this resolved.

 

 

Edited December 11, 2019 by eightbit

[carlsson]

But if your Ultimate also fails, how can you pinpoint the fault to the SD2IEC? Or did I misunderstand something of what you wrote?

[eightbit]

5 hours ago, carlsson said:

But if your Ultimate also fails, how can you pinpoint the fault to the SD2IEC? Or did I misunderstand something of what you wrote?

 

 

That is just it. The Ultimate II Plus fails and so does my version of the SD2IEC (and Ray's). But another manufacturer's SD2IEC plays it correctly (as reported by save2600 in private discussion).

 

So, as much as we want to believe the Ultimate II Plus is the most accurate and compatible device...it really isn't..yet. This means that something has to be changed in the latest firmware to accommodate how this game is loading. I would talk to Gideon about it, but he has not responded to my emails in a few weeks after one initial response

 

What is mind boggling is that over the Ultimate II Plus a standard SD2IEC developed by another person can actually successfully load the title. I too automatically expected all titles to load properly using the U2+ as it is supposed to be the most accurate implementation of the 1541 in FPGA.

 

I am waiting on an SD2IEC from TFW8B (whom in my experience develops the best SD2IEC devices available) to see if that device can play these games. We shall see.

Edited December 12, 2019 by eightbit