ADFFS 2.54

[Vanfanel]

@Jon: I find current version very good and stable. In fact I am writting an article on this project to promote it in spanish sites, now that this beta seems like a good "go test it!" version to attract people into Risc OS semi-native retro gaming (which has nothing to envy to native Amiga or ST retro gaming in quality and variety and is FAR less expensive thanks to ADFFS on the Pi!).
If I can ask for anything, the cursor being less smooth in The Dungeon as it is on a real system would the only detail to fix (because I would like people to experience the real thing on their Pi's to the smallest detail), but that's all. Anyway, The Dungeon is not among the released games, so it doesn't really matter if I think about it.

I have successfully installed Dune II on the Pi. It works well, but it's sad the Archimedes version didn't have any music. Eagerly waiting for the version with music!

[JonAbbott]

Updated obey.zip, the floppy set (Untested/F1012801 .. 8) and updated Modules that fix two bugs that were causing it to fail. Follow the instructions in obey.F1012801 to install it.

Unfortunately, in fixing the bug it's highlighted an issue in RISCOS that's causing Wolfenstein 3D and possibly others to fail. I'm looking at workarounds.

I also have the latest version of Dune II running, although the music isn't playing.

[JonAbbott]

Also just noticed there's no sound in Carnage Inc

[richw]

Semi-related to what Vanfanel said, but... I think in the short term we need some sort of beginners guide for ADFFS on the Pi. Unfortunately, getting RISC OS working on a Pi is a bit of a faff. I was thinking about writing up some instructions to get someone from downloading the RC14 image to playing the publically released games.

Part of me is hoping that RC15 might appear any day now and simplify things! Another possibility I am pondering is looking into building a ready-to-go image. Imagine the latest Pi firmware, RISC OS ROM, HardDisc4, ADFFS and the released games: just download and write, then pop it in your Pi!

That reminds me... It is still very much Pi 1 (models A, B as B+) and Pi Zero, isn't it? There are further compatibility issues with Pi 2 and Pi 3 (especially in RISC OS itself on the Pi 3).

[JonAbbott]

@Vanfanel Grab the latest obey.zip and Modules. Then grab the Dune II ZIP from Untested, having extracted it, replace !Run with F1053501 - you should then have music.

The music is currently 8bit as I've yet to code the 16bit sample rate conversion. You can try 16bit by changing the ADFEmulateRISCOS line in !Run to emulate RO3.71 instead of RO3.11, it will be the wrong speed though.

Finally, the intro sequence is exiting early - I've yet to look at it.

I think in the short term we need some sort of beginners guide for ADFFS on the Pi.

1. Run !ADFFS
2. Double-click on floppy image
3. Select "Boot floppy" from the ADFFS Filer

I suppose you could add additional steps about extracting !ADFFS from the ZIP, ensuring !SparkFS is loaded and where to download the floppy images from.

Another possibility I am pondering is looking into building a ready-to-go image. Imagine the latest Pi firmware, RISC OS ROM, HardDisc4, ADFFS and the released games: just download and write, then pop it in your Pi!

Unfortunately, for copyright reasons you can't redistribute any games that have come from the JASPP project.

That reminds me... It is still very much Pi 1 (models A, B as B+) and Pi Zero, isn't it? There are further compatibility issues with Pi 2 and Pi 3 (especially in RISC OS itself on the Pi 3).

Pi 2 support is coded in the next release, although game support is patchy. I've coded all the documented ARMv7 deprecations, but there's either some ARM haven't documented or there's eratum, as some games don't work.

[Vanfanel]

@Jon: This Dune II only works sometimes. I usually get "Disk drive empty" error. Sometimes however it loads and works.

[JonAbbott]

@Jon: This Dune II only works sometimes. I usually get "Disk drive empty" error. Sometimes however it loads and works.

I've not seen this error yet, but will look into it if I can recreate it. The game itself isn't going to be released any time soon as I've yet to scan either the box or manual, let alone convert the manual to PDF - which will probably take a while as it's fairly large.

I've put the release adffs255b.zip onto the dev site and will look to release it tomorrow, along with all the games that are ready.

[richw]

I think in the short term we need some sort of beginners guide for ADFFS on the Pi.

1. Run !ADFFS
2. Double-click on floppy image
3. Select "Boot floppy" from the ADFFS Filer

I suppose you could add additional steps about extracting !ADFFS from the ZIP, ensuring !SparkFS is loaded and where to download the floppy images from.

Hmm. If it is that straightforward, then dandy. I recall experimenting a while ago and some fiddling with firmware, config.txt, RISC OS ROM image, AnyMode, and monitor definition files being necessary. I have no issue with this, but I was just trying to consider the newbies or returnees.

I promise that I will try out the next release, on both a vanilla RC14 Pi and my own (more up to date) setup. Maybe it will all just work.

Another possibility I am pondering is looking into building a ready-to-go image. Imagine the latest Pi firmware, RISC OS ROM, HardDisc4, ADFFS and the released games: just download and write, then pop it in your Pi!

Unfortunately, for copyright reasons you can't redistribute any games that have come from the JASPP project.

I suspected that would be the case. Entirely understandable.

I wonder how feasible it would be to build a downloader? There is also the use-case of a network less Pi to consider. Maybe the answer is just download elsewhere onto a USB stick? I am just thinking out loud here. Maybe some of this can be covered with some help postings here? And I suspect some is really down to RISC OS itself (e.g. no WiFi support, so getting online is harder than a typical Linux distribution).

[JonAbbott]

I recall experimenting a while ago and some fiddling with firmware, config.txt, RISC OS ROM image, AnyMode, and monitor definition files being necessary.

You're right, there's more specific detail in tomorrow's release.

I wonder how feasible it would be to build a downloader?

A front-end would be a good start ... with a built in downloader. There's also PackMan distribution, although that would have to wait for a non-beta release before it's considered a viable option.

There is also the use-case of a network less Pi to consider. Maybe the answer is just download elsewhere onto a USB stick?

Indeed, I could do with someone that has the time to HD install the games and build an image. It could get fairly large long term though, as I have over 6GB of floppy/CD images to date - that's a worst case though as we obviously can't distribute most of them.

[Vanfanel]

@Jon: I am installing almost every game to HDD, so maybe my work could be used as a ready-to-go image.
I would have to remove some games, of course, but that's no problem.