14.Dec.2022
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Advent Calendar: Door 14 - Erik Hogan
Today's Advent calendar door belongs to the game developer Erik 'earok' Hogan.
Of course, the game construction kit "Scorpion Engine", which we first reported on in April 2020 and which he developed and continues to develop, immediately comes to mind. It would probably fill a separate article to list all the games that use his engine, many of which are still in development (for example, "Creeping Me Out Hex Night"). But here are a few examples:
A developer has just started his conversion of the action game "Trojan", published in 1986, on the basis of the Scorpion Engine and has published a first preview video for it.
But Hogan himself also logically uses his engine to develop (demo) games: for example, the adaptation of the C64 classic "Raid Over Moscow", the jump'n run "Monkey Ladd" or the platform game "Super-Go-Down-The-Hole".
On his Patreon page he provides information about new releases and games. Thank you Erik. We look forward to many more exciting game projects! His anecdote:
"In English, we've borrowed the word "strafe" (as in, a plane "strafing" or attacking ground targets, itself derived from the old expression "gott strafe England" or "god punish England") to denote sideways movement in first person shooters.
I was working on a game that, while not a first person shooter, was an educational title played from the first person.
When testing, I went to use the standard A or D keys for sideways movement in the game, and realised they did nothing. Since most young gamers would expect those keys to activate sideways movement (games such as Minecraft do), I added a simple item to the project todo list that simply said "strafe".
A little while later, the project manager - who is from Germany and is passionate about educational games but isn't a hardcore gamer themselves - told me at a meeting that they were very confused that, according to my todo list, I apparently wanted to punish someone." (dr)
[News message: 14. Dec. 2022, 11:28] [Comments: 0]
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14.Dec.2022
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Linux: Kernel 6.1 for AmigaOne X1000/X5000
Right after the release of the Linux kernel 6.1, Christian 'xeno74' Zigotzky has compiled it for AmigaOne X1000 and X5000 and offered the kernel for download in the associated discussion topic of the Hyperion forum. There you can also find a screenshot showing the Debian distribution using the current kernel. (dr)
[News message: 14. Dec. 2022, 09:38] [Comments: 0]
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14.Dec.2022
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Preview video: Super Metal Hero
At the beginning of 2020, Raster Wizards announced the game "Super Metal Hero". After development was frozen in favour of the game Hyper Runner, work is now resumed. A new preview video shows the first final boss: first draft, revised version. (dr)
[News message: 14. Dec. 2022, 06:56] [Comments: 0]
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14.Dec.2022
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AmigaGuide magazine: Issue 8 of "WhatIFF?" published
"WhatIFF?" is an English Amiga magazine in AmigaGuide format. Unlike other magazines or journals, WhatIFF? does not deal with games, but is primarily intended for users who want to work creatively with their Amigas (amiga-news.de reported).
Now issue 8 was published containing the following articles:
Reviews
- Dell LED 15Khz Monitor
- A1200.net Translucent Case
- RNOEffects
- Aminet Short Reviews
Guides
- Watch YouTube Videos on your AGA Amiga Part 1
- LightWave 101 - Starfield
- Brilliance 101 - Reflections
- Storage Solutions
Articles
- A Look Back At 2022
- American Magazines
- First LD Computer?
Interviews
- PixelVixen
- Anthony (The Amiga Show)
(dr)
[News message: 14. Dec. 2022, 06:07] [Comments: 0]
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14.Dec.2022
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Blog: Review of English Amiga print magazines
In his latest blog entry of his "Epsilon's World" Epsilon gives a review of English-language Amiga magazines of the last 40 years, as usually detailed and and with numerous pictures. He himself had decided to get one copy of each English-language Amiga magazine, with at least one issue per year, covering the entire period from 1985 to 2022. He came across 44 different English-language Amiga magazines in the process. (dr)
[News message: 14. Dec. 2022, 06:02] [Comments: 0]
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14.Dec.2022
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Minimig: Revision 1.91
In mid-March we reported on revision 1.8 of Minimig: the reimplementation of an Amiga 500 in an FPGA, a field-programmable gate array. After six months of development, Minimig REV 9 is now available.
Accelerator cards like the TerribleFire 534 and 536 can now run at 50MHz, caching of kick.rom of the PiStorm is now possible as BOOTROM has been replaced by a new ESC/OCS chip - MIA. REV 9 offers not only hardware changes but also software updates. In addition, this board is 6-layer and has a revised voltage regulation. And the MC68SEC000 can be operated at up to 60MHz.
The card (without housing) is currently sold out, otherwise it is listed in the shop for around 330 Euros. (dr)
[News message: 14. Dec. 2022, 06:02] [Comments: 0]
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14.Dec.2022
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Debugging tool: PatchWork 1.1
In keeping with yesterday's Advent calendar door, Richard Körber has released version 1.1 of his debugging tool "PatchWork" (amiga-news.de reported). Changes:
- New TASKNAME option, which only reports hits caused by tasks with the given name. Note that this is just an output filter. Options like DEADLY still apply to all tasks.
- Use short relocation tables, prohibits loading on Kick 1.x
(dr)
[News message: 14. Dec. 2022, 05:43] [Comments: 0]
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13.Dec.2022
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Kickstarter campaign: Update on the Checkmate 19" IPS Retro Monitor
About three weeks ago, Stephen Jones launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund monitors for retro computers (amiga-news.de reported). Five days remain and so far 138.938 of the required 239.785 Euro have been funded.
Jones has taken this interim status as an opportunity to publish a condensed version of the video presentation of the project. On the other hand, he is now offering a so-called "Festive Placeholder Deposit": here, all those who cannot afford the full contribution can still reserve a monitor for a minimum amount of around 117 euros. However, supporters who pay the full amount will be delivered first. (dr)
[News message: 13. Dec. 2022, 15:39] [Comments: 0]
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13.Dec.2022
Dimitris Panokostas
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Mastodon-Client: Update on Amidon development status
The author of the Amiga emulator Amiberry, Dimitris 'MiDWaN' Panokostas, is in the process of developing a Mastodon client for AmigaOS 3 (amiga-news.de reported). In a blog entry published on his Ko-fi page he now reports about the current state. Among other things, an "anonymous" avatar is now included by default and is shown until the user logs into the server. (dr)
[News message: 13. Dec. 2022, 14:41] [Comments: 0]
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13.Dec.2022
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Advent Calendar: Door 13 - Richard Körber
ust in time for lunch break, the 13th door of our Advent calendar opens. We may introduce: Richard 'Shred' Körber.
This could be a record so far: Already on 04 May 1999 we reported (in German) about Richard Körber's newly established website "Palmiga", which was aimed at Amiga users who wanted to connect their computer to a PalmOS PDA. In mid-2001 he was kindly asked by Palm Inc. to rename his site because "Palmiga" and "PalmLink" would infringe trademark rights. So Amiga-PDA was born, which was originally part of his homepage which already existed since 1998. For all those who are still interested today, please refer to his PdaLink library and the corresponding GitHub project.
The developer is probably best known for his identify library, which recognises Zorro cards by their manufacturer and product ID, provides information about the system (CPU, FPU, memory, clock frequency, etc.) and decodes Guru codes and function offsets. Originally, in early 2003, he announced (in German) on our site that he had to stop development due to lack of time and published the source codes of the project on Sourceforge. More than a year ago, however, he not only published the source codes on GitHub, but also resumed development and made the current version 40.2 available for download in mid-October.
He also wrote his own driver for the internal sound card Maestro Professional, developed YAMI, a mouse interface that makes it possible to use serial PC mice on Amiga or ATARI ST computers, and resumed work on his debugging tool PatchWork.
His articles in the Retro Blog of his site are definitely worth reading, for example about the restoration of an Amiga 1000 or the problem of the right mouse button on the Amiga 1200. Many thanks for your development work, Richard! He remembered the following anecdote for us:
"It was in 1998, at a time when the Internet was massively growing. As a young professional, I was working in the web department of a startup in Cologne and felt like a pioneer in a new country.
After weeks of work, our team had completed a new website. The design template had been created by an external advertising agency via Photoshop. We manually converted the designs into individual web pages, which was common practice at that time. In the late afternoon, everything was finally finished, the launch was imminent and the press had already been informed. The other colleagues had already called it a day, and I was just about to pack my bag, too, when an email from my boss popped up in my inbox.
'The agency has asked us to make one last small change to the layout', was his comment. Below that I found a forwarded email with the details. I looked at the request and groaned. I would have to change all one hundred pages by hand for that. Those are the tasks you love. I could forget my plans to leave in time. It would probably even take until late at night.
With an Amiga, yeah, this would have been a piece of cake. I would have opened the web pages in GoldEd, and would have let it do the changes automatically, remote controlled by a quickly crafted ARexx script. With my Windows computer at work this was unthinkable. There was no possibility to control programs with a script language.
Oh, if only I had my Amiga here now, I thought to myself and sighed.
Then I remembered that I had installed an Amiga emulator on my work PC a few weeks earlier because I wanted to try it out. But that was just for fun. Now I have a job to do. Is that professional? Is it even possible to do that?
Why not! I transferred the web pages to the virtual Amiga hard disk, programmed an ARexx script and let GoldEd apply the changes. The plan worked. After less than an hour the change was completed.
So the Amiga saved the launch date. And I made it home in time." (dr)
[News message: 13. Dec. 2022, 13:46] [Comments: 0]
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13.Dec.2022
Cloanto (ANF)
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Cloanto: Amiga Forever and C64 Forever 10
Press release: December 12, 2022 - Cloanto released today version 10 of Amiga Forever and C64 Forever, the official Commodore/Amiga preservation, emulation and support suites for Windows.
The new editions are the result of almost two years of development since the previous major version 9. Cloanto's RetroPlatform framework is the result of a lot of effort to make Amiga and CBM 8-bit features and interfaces appear effortlessly unified. The two packages now encompass more than 700K lines of code written by Cloanto, integrating with a collaborative endeavour of emulation plugins and content preservation.
Before adding visible features, a priority of this version consisted in the removal of speed and space constraints. Some of the old barriers may have been out of sight before, but the result after upgrading is a satisfying sensation of increased freedom and power: the title editor opens and closes in an instant, large media files are handled with more ease, while windows and other elements that used to be fixed can now be resized. Content folders can be added anywhere under Amiga Files and CBM Files, while new personal playlists and improved content shortcuts offer more ways to rapidly access titles and folders stored on any disk.
Amiga Forever 10 includes direct support for FloppyBridge-compatible floppy drive and controller devices (e.g. DrawBridge, Greaseweazle, SuperCard Pro, Waffle). Whereas previous versions only supported floppy disk images, now physical floppy drives and disks can be accessed by the emulation. No additional software is required.
New and improved features:
- Revamped Amiga Files: custom folders, subfolders and folder shortcuts can be added anywhere to better organize titles and to handle massive content collections
- Improved player, including personal playlists, pervasive Rename, Cut, Copy and Paste commands, and intuitive resize of preview area and emulation window
- Faster title editing and application responsiveness: quick opening and closing of the title editor (asynchronous content extraction, differential compression) and runtime optimizations when working with large media images
- Direct support for FloppyBridge-compatible floppy drive and controller devices like the DrawBridge, Greaseweazle, SuperCard Pro and Waffle (drives work in Amiga emulation, no additional software required)
- Hayes-compatible "internet modem" to access your favorite BBS systems
- Improved Windows File Explorer and Search integration: enhanced thumbnail provider to preview screenshots and box shots, and new details in property handler to view and index RP9 title properties
- Support for new features introduced in Windows 11 and Windows 10 versions up to 22H2
- Hundreds of other new features and refinements
Amiga Explorer 10 has already been released a few days ago.
As always, we are grateful to the many friends who supported this project and our Amiga passion, vision and hope. Special thanks to Toni Wilen. Current and soon-to-be Amiga serial and print integration features would not have been possible without his help. (dr)
[News message: 13. Dec. 2022, 07:09] [Comments: 0]
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12.Dec.2022
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Advent Calendar: Door 12 - 'Prince'
The Amiga-News.de Advent Calendar starts with 'Prince' and the twelfth door into the new week.
'Prince' is the founder of the demo group 'Phaze101' and an incredibly busy Amiga developer: he might be best known to our readers for his assembler coding course. Between 1994 and 1996, Fabio 'Randy' Ciucci, a member of the demo group RamJam, wrote the assembly programming course "Corso completo di programmazione assembler in due dischi". With Ciucci's permission, RamJam published this programming course as a book in 2016. 'Prince' is currently streaming this course in English on Twitch and then uploading the respective episodes to YouTube.
Almost in parallel, he recorded his 16-part Let's Make an Amiga Game Tutorial and also published it on YouTube. The resulting game "Mr Poo's Journey" is available on itch.io for a price that you can choose yourself.
Among other projects, he also regularly organises "Game Jams" with the aim of expanding knowledge and awareness about retro computers. Recently, for example, there was the Retro Trex Game Jam, which resulted in his version Dino Run or also DRex by another developer. The Racing Cars Game Jam will run until 31 January 2023. His anecdote:
"When I look at the source codes I wrote 30 years ago and more, I am totally fascinated. I love them! As a teenager, I didn't think twice about what I was writing! Mainly I had written demos and tools at that time, and I must confess that these source codes are often a mystery to me as well.
On the one hand, I realise how little I knew back then. On the other hand, I still somehow managed to get programmes to work. Some of these source codes were also written for experimental purposes. They contain all kinds of errors! Mistakes that I wouldn't make now. I have improved my programming skills over the years. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for my memory. On the contrary: sometimes I have the feeling that it is going steeply downhill!
There is one thing that is all over my sources back then that I can't remember. Most of the sources begin with comments that has something like this: "Dedicated to the one ______ I love".
Who was her, "the one I love" back then? Memory is playing tricks on me and this is something that didn't improve :)" (dr)
[News message: 12. Dec. 2022, 13:58] [Comments: 0]
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12.Dec.2022
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Demo tip: "Batman Rises"
It does not often happen that amiga-news.de publishes a recommendation for a demo, but this production of the Batman Group is more than worth it: "Batman Rises" ranked first on the Posadas 2022 Autumn Edition which took place last weekend and only requires an Amiga 500 with 1 MB RAM. Very impressive demo! (dr)
[News message: 12. Dec. 2022, 06:12] [Comments: 0]
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11.Dec.2022
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Analogue Pocket: Amiga core V0.0.6 Alpha
The handheld game console Analogue Pocket (Wikipedia) is FPGA-based and as such supports modules from Nintendo, Sega, the PC Engine or the Atari Lynx.
The early version 0.0.6 Alpha of the Amiga core mentioned in our last news item has now been released: some interlaced games have been fixed, and the floppy controller speed has been increased. (dr)
[News message: 11. Dec. 2022, 15:09] [Comments: 0]
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11.Dec.2022
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Aminet uploads until 10.12.2022
The following files have been added until 10.12.2022 to Aminet:
ign-AddOn-XLSX.lha biz/spread 303K OS4 ignition addon for access xls...
plm80.lha dev/cross 273K MOS C port of Intel's ISIS-II PLM80
HWP_XML.lha dev/hwood 387K ALL Hollywood plugin for parsing ...
Fussball-WM-2022.lha docs/misc 11K TurboCalc Spreadsheet WM-2022...
nblood.lha game/shoot 1.0M 68k Blood Amiga Port
dMagnetic.lha game/text 353K MOS Interpreter for Magnetic Scro...
dvdauthor.lha gfx/conv 1.8M OS4 Set of tools for authoring a DVD
AmiArcadia.lha misc/emu 4.6M 68k Signetics-based machines emul...
AmiArcadiaMOS.lha misc/emu 4.9M MOS Signetics-based machines emul...
AmiArcadia-OS4.lha misc/emu 5.1M OS4 Signetics-based machines emul...
ASE2019_2.0.lha text/edit 188K 68k Text editor
avalanche.lha util/arc 96K OS4 ReAction unarchive GUI for xf...
aiostreams.lha util/batch 228K Stream video from major onlin...
png16_lib.lha util/libs 235K OS4 Shared library based on libpng16
HexSee.lha util/misc 55K 68k Hex File Viewer
HexSee_OS4.lha util/misc 336K OS4 Hex File Viewer (OS4 version)
VATestprogram.zip util/misc 2.7M 68k Versatile Amiga Test Program
(snx)
[News message: 11. Dec. 2022, 07:42] [Comments: 0]
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11.Dec.2022
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OS4Depot uploads until 10.12.2022
The following files have been added until 10.12.2022 to OS4Depot:
libpsem.lha dev/lib 176kb 4.0 POSIX semaphore implementation
libwprintf.lha dev/lib 32kb 4.0 Wide char printf functions
glsnoop.lha dev/uti 198kb 4.1 Trace and profile OGLES2 and W3D...
amiarcadia.lha emu/gam 5Mb 4.0 Signetics-based machines emulator
fpcmines.lha gam/puz 2Mb 4.0 A classical mine sweeper clone
lazsokoban.lha gam/puz 1Mb 4.1 Clone of the classic Japanese pu...
pixman_lib.lha lib/gra 315kb 4.0 Pixman-1 as an AmigaOS shared li...
png16_lib.lha lib/gra 235kb 4.0 Shared library based on LibPNG16
hwp_xmlparser.lha lib/hol 387kb 4.0 Hollywood plugin for parsing XML...
ign-addon-xlsx.lha off/spr 303kb 4.1 Ignition addon for access xlsx-f...
avalanche.lha uti/arc 96kb 4.1 Simple ReAction GUI for xadmaster
avalanche_ita.lha uti/arc 5kb 4.0 Italian translation for Avalanche
hexsee.lha uti/fil 336kb 4.1 Hex File Viewer
muiplot.lha uti/sci 905kb 4.0 Simple function plotter
dvdauthor.lha vid/con 2Mb 4.1 Set of tools for authoring a DVD
aiostreams.lha vid/mis 228kb 4.1 Stream video from major online p...
(snx)
[News message: 11. Dec. 2022, 07:42] [Comments: 0]
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11.Dec.2022
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AROS Archives uploads until 10.12.2022
The following files have been added until 10.12.2022 to AROS Archives:
lazsokoban.i386-aros.lha gam/puz 2Mb Puzzle Game
multiview.i386-aros.zip uti/wor 29kb Utilities Viewer
(snx)
[News message: 11. Dec. 2022, 07:42] [Comments: 0]
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11.Dec.2022
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MorphOS-Storage uploads until 10.12.2022
The following files have been added until 10.12.2022 to MorphOS-Storage:
plm80_0.2.9x.lha Development/Cross C port of Intel's ISIS-...
HWP_XML_2.0.lha Development/Hollywood/... The XML plugin allows H...
AmiArcadia_29.33.lha Emulation A Signetics-based machi...
dMagnetic_0.34.lha Games/Text Interpreter for Magneti...
LazSokoban.lha Games/Think A Sokoban clone with skins
AIOStreams_1.7.6.lha Network/Streaming Stream online video fro...
(snx)
[News message: 11. Dec. 2022, 07:42] [Comments: 0]
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11.Dec.2022
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WHDLoad: New installers until 10.12.2022
Using WHDLoad, games, scene demos and intros by cracking groups, which were originally designed to run only from floppy disks, can be installed on harddisk. The following installers have been added until 10.12.2022:
- 2022-12-10 improved: Dragon Strike (Westwood/S.S.I) added joypad controls (Info)
- 2022-12-10 new: Cobra (Bytec) done by Psygore (Info)
- 2022-12-10 improved: The Settlers / Die Siedler (Blue Byte) intro bugs fixed, a slave for low memory config included (Info)
- 2022-12-06 improved: Cadaver (Imageworks/Bitmap Brothers) re-enabled 512k expansion memory (Info)
(snx)
[News message: 11. Dec. 2022, 07:42] [Comments: 0]
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11.Dec.2022
Amigaworld.net (Forum)
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Video: Beth Richard disassembles an Amiga CD 1200 (English)
The CD 1200, which was only produced in a few copies as a prototype, was not only to equip an Amiga 1200 with an external CD-ROM drive, but also to ensure compatibility with Commodore's game console Amiga CD³².
In the video at the title link, Beth Richard, who was involved in its development as lead engineer, opens the specimen in the British Retro Computer Museum (amiga-news.de reported) - 28 years after she last saw a CD 1200. (snx)
[News message: 11. Dec. 2022, 07:41] [Comments: 0]
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11.Dec.2022
Amigaworld.net (Webseite)
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Print magazine: Boing #5 (French)
"Boing" is a French print magazine by Boing Attitude (among others Dir Me Up and Word Me Up XXL) for all Amiga systems and contains 52 A4 pages in colour.
The fifth issue contains among other things an interview with the musician of numerous Amiga titles Barry Leitch (e.g. Lotus Turbo Challenge 2, Silkworm) as well as reviews of THEA500 Mini and the Apollo Core R9 for the Vampire V4. (snx)
[News message: 11. Dec. 2022, 07:41] [Comments: 0]
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11.Dec.2022
Amiga Future (Webseite)
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Java program: ham_convert 1.8.7
Sebastian Sieczko's Java-based program ham_convert converts modern graphic formats into the Amiga's HAM format and is now available in version 1.8.7.
New features include bug fixes for resizing and an improved HAM8 output in non-CIE94 colour mode. (snx)
[News message: 11. Dec. 2022, 07:41] [Comments: 0]
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11.Dec.2022
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Advent Calendar: Door 11 - Alain Fontanin
For the third Advent and the eleventh door, we asked Alain Fontanin for an anecdote.
Alain and his text editor "Amiga Source Editor (2019)", of which he has recently released version 2.0, is on the one hand a wonderful example of how nostalgia and the "memory of the good old days" can give rise to active software development in the here and now, and on the other hand how the Amiga community can help each other and other readers and developers can advance projects through feedback.
In our introductory news item to the new edition of his editor almost exactly two years ago, Alain reported that development had originally begun in 1989. Then, when he watched the documentary "Viva Amiga" in 2019, he was reminded of what was for him a "wonderful time". Since he was no longer programming for his Mac, he decided to pick up where he left off in 1991 with the development of his text editor.
This was driven forward by feedback from our readers, especially in the early days, and now you can see the current state of his project for yourself. In an interview with Alain conducted by David Brunet (French Amiga magazine Obligement) you can learn more about him. Among other things, he has promised implementations for other Amiga systems.
We continue to keep our fingers crossed for his editor and now look forward to his anecdote:
"When Amiga-News.de proposed me to participate in this project, I found it very interesting. Then while thinking about what to tell, I was afraid of "Grandpa tell us the war", well kids sit down, grandpa will start the story!
I participated in only one professional development project on the Amiga, it was during my military service in an electronic squadron in 1992 (my military diploma says C programmer on PC and Amiga!). Why should I tell you about this?
Well, this is the only computer project in my career for which I could neither exchange with the users nor visualize the final result (security reasons). The project consisted in managing through an Amiga 2000, the display of the video network of the electronic operations center. I had to exchange on the specifications, the evolutions and the bugs with a non computer scientist correspondent, who did not have access to the operational center (!) and I had only an Amiga 500 with a color screen (whereas the display of the video network was monochrome).
The first deliveries were catastrophic: nothing worked properly, I was ashamed when I reported to the IT manager. I tried at first to improve my code (without success), before understanding that my salvation lay in the collaboration with the correspondent, I trained him in the use of the Amiga system, I fully integrated him in my development project. He was thus able to exchange more efficiently with the users and to give me reliable information.
Finally, in 6 months (part-time, because I was also developing on Windows 3.0), I had a functional product for my return to civilian life. What I learned from this experience is that it's not enough to be technically competent, you have to be able to interact with all the stakeholders and this is often the most complex thing for a developer to do. This has served me well since then!" (dr)
[News message: 11. Dec. 2022, 07:00] [Comments: 0]
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11.Dec.2022
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Motorola68k emulation: Emu68 graphics driver development
In his latest blog entry, developer Michal Schulz reports on the work he has started with the P96 VideoCore driver and in particular with the VPU (Vector Processing Unit).
In a short Video he demonstrates the VideoCore driver for the P96 RTG subsystem, which is somewhat accelerated thanks to the VPU unit, using a 2560x1440x32 screen with a moving window, loading a large JPG image in MultiView and scrolling the image in the rather large MultiView window on an Amiga 600.
Claude Schwarz, on the other hand, reports in a tweet that the PiStorm32-lite beta boards (amiga-news.de reported) have passed the smoke test and also boot as expected in the Amiga 1200. (dr)
[News message: 11. Dec. 2022, 06:29] [Comments: 0]
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10.Dec.2022
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Advent Calendar: Door 10 - Edgar Schwan
We start the weekend with the tenth door and Edgar Schwan.
Edgar has been developing his Unix environment for AmigaOS 4, called AmiCygnix (current version 1.6), tirelessly and with great dedication for many years: it is not an emulation, but all programs are compiled natively for AmigaOS 4. He started with this in 2006 with a pre-release version of X-Window, before the environment still called Cygnix followed a little later. With version 1.0 he renamed it AmiCygnix, as it was no longer compatible with its predecessors.
For his environment, he has not only ported numerous games, but also applications such as the mail client Sylpheed with very good IMAP4 support, the spreadsheet Gnumeric but above all the word processor AbiWord.
Besides, he has released native versions of Apache, MySQL and PHP.
In today's Advent calendar door, the developer describes his chequered history of hardware conquests and why and how he started programming:
"Actually, it was simply the fascination of being able to do something on the computer with a few commands or to create a usable programme. My programming career began with the C64. I still have my first book on it: "Programmieren in Maschinensprache mit dem Commodore-64" (publisher "Hofacker"). It was in the shop where I bought my C64. And yes - it had to be directly assembler! The whole thing was like cracking a puzzle. ;).
Even then, I was more concerned with user software. Among other things, I wrote a font editor and a programme for translating machine code into an executable programme. The highlight was a game called "Pailgame", which was voted programme of the month in the magazine "64er". I got 3000 DM for it - those were the days :) But Pailgame is the only programme I published. The idea for the game probably came to me at a meeting with like-minded people.
I don't remember exactly what I did with the money. I think I saved it and then invested it in my first Amiga, an Amiga 1000. It must have been around 1989. I bought it second-hand from a priest and it replaced my C64. I wasn't happy with it for long. There was simply too little you could do with it. After the A1000, there was an A2000 (bought second-hand again), which I could then really upgrade: A2630 Turbo, A2320 Flickerfixer, A2286 BridgeBoard, Multiface IO and whatnot. The A1000 then went to a friend. After Commodore went bankrupt, I got one of the last A4000Ds. Directly with a WarpEngine 040/33 with full memory expansion. For that, the Amiga 2000 was given away. Later I bought a CyberstormPPC 604e/233. At some point, I bought an A4000T (Escom) screwed together from leftover stock and bought it. That was real high-end :).
Unfortunately, I was still not happy with the performance. When the first AmigaOne-XE boards became available, I bought them straight away. That was a really fine thing. With this computer, I really started programming. The SDK for OS4 with gcc compiler was a bit different from the StormC I had used last time. Unfortunately the board did not last 2 years (not repairable) and thanks to Vesalia I got a SAM-440-Flex. With this computer I started using AmiCygnix. You can always use performance when compiling, so at some point it had to be a SAM-460ex and for a few years now an AmigaOne X5000.
The A4000T and the CyberStormPPC were sold at some point. Everything has to be paid for... I still have the A4000D today and it was also recapped. I hardly use it any more, but I still have my heart set on it. I also still have the SAM-440-Flex and the SAM-460ex as reserve systems.
As you can see: I'm very attached to the Amiga :)"
If you would like to try out Edgar's C64 game "Pailgame", the developer has kindly made the game available to us. If you do not have the original hardware, you can use a C64 emulator such as "Vice" or "Frodo".
Download: PAILGAME.D64.zip (7 KB). (dr)
[News message: 10. Dec. 2022, 06:17] [Comments: 0]
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10.Dec.2022
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Dock: QDock V1.39
At the end of October, Sami Vehmaa published the first version of his start bar "QDock" (amiga-news.de reported), which he continues to develop (YouTube video). In the update that has now been released, he has implemented various improvements: for example, the three rows of icons are now preloaded, which means that it can now be used better even at lower CPU/HDD speeds. The bar can be aligned on the left or in the centre and the last icon row used is saved. Likewise, you can now move icons between rows.
The tool is currently available for 2 euros or more. The originally high CPU requirements have been lowered so that the dock can also be used with a 68030 processor when the reflections are deactivated or with a 68060 when activated. In addition, AmigaOS 3.2 (the author could not test under AmigaOS 3.1), graphics card and 22 MB RAM are required. (dr)
[News message: 10. Dec. 2022, 05:30] [Comments: 0]
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10.Dec.2022
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Puzzle game: Update for "Wood Block Puzzle"
The Polish developer 'Tukinem' has written a conversion of the game Wood Block Puzzle (online variant) for Amiga in BlitzBasic 2 (amiga-news.de reported). In the small update that has now been released, he has fixed a bug that occurred when eliminating a horizontal and vertical line at the same time. (dr)
[News message: 10. Dec. 2022, 05:16] [Comments: 0]
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10.Dec.2022
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Jump'n Run: Minky V1.41
Minky (video) is a Jump'n Run in the style of Super Mario or Giana Sisters, which requires an Amiga 500 with one megabyte RAM (amiga-news.de reported). With the now released update to version 1.41, the selection "Joy Up" or "Joypad 2nd Fire" is available in the menu for jumping. In addition, there is now a WHDLoad installer and a separate Minky version for it. (dr)
[News message: 10. Dec. 2022, 05:12] [Comments: 0]
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09.Dec.2022
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ReAction-GUI for XAD: Avalanche 1.8 for AmigaOS 3 and 4
Chris Young has released version 1.8 of his ReAction-based graphical user interface Avalanche for the unarchiving system XAD, which also supports the xfdmaster.library and can search for viruses using the xvs.library. The developer has written his tool explicitly for AmigaOS 3.2, but has also been tested under AmigaOS 4. Since it uses a new window.class, it might not work with older OS3 versions. Changes:
- Some very hefty internal changes!
- Multiple windows supported internally. Limitations:
- Commodities events only operate on the main (first) window
- Does not spawn new process, so cannot use other windows whilst one is busy
- Simple ARexx port added.
- Config options moved to separate prefs window
- Note the options to snapshot the current window and change the default destination are currently not available. They can still be manually set through tooltypes.
- Config window
(dr)
[News message: 09. Dec. 2022, 20:32] [Comments: 0]
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09.Dec.2022
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Advent Calendar: Door 9 - Jérôme Senay
Jérôme 'Glames' Senay is the patron of our ninth advent calendar door.
He is the manager of and programmer for Boing Attitude and a few days ago could celebrate the tenth anniversary of the quiz game AskMeUp at the beginning of December, which was first available for Android, Windows and Linux, and shortly afterwards also for AmigaOS 4 and MorphOS and has been constantly expanded. To mark the occasion, the game is currently available at half price.
The story of Boing Attiutude and Glames - the nickname is borrowed from the hero of the game "Operation Stealth" and was the first video game he was able to finish - starts much earlier though: so he published an interview with Ben Hermans about AmigaOS 4.0 at the beginning of 2002 (still available and certainly interesting to read). In early 2008 he published the game "Word Me Up XXL" for AmigaOS 4 (and a little later also MorphOS), which combines arcade and puzzle elements.
Since 2021 he publishes the French print magazine BOING, of which the fifth issue was recently announced. By the way, with the publication of the magazine a friendly cooperation between him and Amiga-News began: so we are allowed to provide our German-speaking readers with translations of interesting interviews, for example with Mike Parent (Metro Siege) or the Apollo team. For this, as well as for your many years of commitment, a heartfelt thank you, Glames!
His thoughts on the Advent season:
"(Christmas)Time is running out !
Ahh Christmas! Family, friends, gifts... A good time in perspective! Well, unless you're a coder. Because yes, this event can quickly become a nightmare for us Amiga developers. How indeed not to offer on this occasion a gift to all the players and users of our games and applications?
Remember, some game publishers even made Christmas editions of their games! For example, Psygnosis and its "Christmas Lemmings" with its little creatures dressed as Santa Claus for the occasion but also its Christmas decorations with fireplaces, garlands, ... More recently, the most striking example is the game "Turbo Tomato" and its "Turbo Santa" which is even more than a special edition, a real new game that uses the engine of its model.
In short, you will understand, the pressure weighs heavily on the shoulders of developers, including those of operating systems. We have indeed become accustomed to having a new version of AmigaOS (3 or 4) or MorphOS every winter. Some teams even choose to only release one version per year, just before this family celebration day.
For me, the challenge gets harder every year! In 2008, I only had one game that could possibly receive an update, Word Me Up XXL on AmigaOS 4 and MorphOS. But since then I've added a few new games and apps and... Android and Windows as platforms. I chose not to make a Christmas version but rather to deliver a new update just before Santa's visit.
The first choice to be made is therefore to select the application or the game for which an update will be delivered at Christmas and this should not be done at the last moment to allow time to do this update. Real Cornelian choice! Sometimes in good years, I even managed to update several productions. But I have to admit that in recent years, I'm already happy when I manage to deliver one.
Last year (2021) almost saw no updates delivered by Boing Attitude. As you may know, I launched a magazine (in French) dedicated to the Amiga in the summer of 2021, BOING. And when I released issue #2 in October, I thought it would be great to have a number #3 just before Christmas. But what an idea! As a reminder, I am independent in IT, so I had my 8 hours to do with my main client at the moment, a smaller simultaneous project to manage for another client and... the writing and design of the magazine ! I worked more than 50 hours for 6 weeks, sometimes more than 60 hours or even 70 hours the week of wrapping up! But the hard work paid off and BOING #3 was released on December 16, just before Christmas. The bad news is that I couldn't update my apps or games...
Alright, I need to leave you! I have a Christmas update to prepare! ;)" (dr)
[News message: 09. Dec. 2022, 06:38] [Comments: 0]
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08.Dec.2022
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Blog: Review of the UltimatePPC Expansion Card
The blog "Amiga alive" not only presents own, partly older projects, but also reports about other software and hardware products. In the latest blog entry, the developer once again traces the development and the missed opportunities of the UltimatePPC board for Amiga 3000/4000 that was announced but never went into production. (dr)
[News message: 08. Dec. 2022, 20:17] [Comments: 0]
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08.Dec.2022
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AmigaOS 4.1: Update of Excel addon for spreadsheet ignition
With the release of the spreadsheet ignition 1.21, Achim Pankalla had also provided the xlsx-AddOn for reading MS-Excel files for the first time (amiga-news.de reported). For this he has released a small update to version 0.11 today:
- now it handle "empty" marker
- corrects two errors in shared formulas-handle
- now changes %-values, that ignition handles they correct
(dr)
[News message: 08. Dec. 2022, 14:55] [Comments: 0]
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08.Dec.2022
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Video: Building a new Amiga 2000 - part 2
The YouTube channel "Casual Retro Gamer" (CRG) is dedicated to repairing and building retro hardware (amiga-news.de reported). The recently launched video series (part 1) shows how a new Amiga 2000 is assembled. The board used is the EATX form factor version reworked by developer 'jasonsbeer' (amiga-news.de reported). In the second part, the slots are installed and the bluster chip. It also deals with the keyboard and the case. (dr)
[News message: 08. Dec. 2022, 05:38] [Comments: 0]
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08.Dec.2022
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Advent Calendar: Door 8 - Daniel Müßener
For the 8th door of our Advent calendar, we were able to win Daniel 'Daytona675x' Müßener.
Who would like to play "Battle Squadron" again? :) Originally developed by Cope-com in 1989, the game was re-released for AmigaOS 4 (and iOS, Android, Windows, OS X) by the makers together with Daniel at the end of 2013.
At the end of 2015, a port of the game "Wings! Remastered Edition" for AmigaOS 4, AROS and MorphOS was announced and a first preview was published. A new demo version was then available at the beginning of 2020.
In addition, Daniel released the AmigaOS 4 version of the arcade shooter Tower 57, which was crowdfunded in the summer of 2015, in early 2018. Likewise for AmigaOS 4 on behalf of A-EON, he is developing the OpenGL ES 2 wrapper, first announced in 2016, which is part of the Enhancer software.
The developer is currently working on two projects: Atomic Bomberman Fan Rewrite is a revision of the eponymous Bomberman variant for Windows from 1997. The improvements include that it runs again on current Windows versions in addition to Amiga systems, USB input devices can be used, up to ten players can be active on one device and the game modes have been revised. There is also network support for online competitions. Version 2.15 is currently available on his website.
Finally, Daniel regularly informs about the development status of his football game in 3D optics, "Souverän Soccer", whose target platform is an Amiga 1200 in delivery condition, by means of preview videos. And quite "incidentally", his CV also includes the Amiga Future honorary offices of "translator" and "Gamescom man for everything"!
Thank you, Daniel, for your commitment to the Amiga and of course for your Advent story which now follows:
"It was neither during the contemplative Christmas season nor Easter, New Year's Eve or Carnival, although a corresponding overkill of red wine, eggnog or Kölsch would have been an explanation for my mental derangement, which I would like to tell you about now, my dear children.
Not so long ago it happened that I was desperately tinkering with the serial-link feature of my Amiga soccer game. It was already late at night and the rain was pattering on the office window, the sound of which could hardly be distinguished from the clicks of the maltreated keyboard.
Unfortunately, our Amiga's serial isn't something she can brag about. But if you stuff her slowly so that she can look at each bit three times and from all sides, then she can swallow'em just fine. The protocol for the game is very compact so as not to overwhelm the ladies. If initialized with the same random seed then the game is fully deterministic, the outcome only depends on the player-input sequence being applied over time. Therefore, it turns out that fortunately a meager 2 bytes per machine must be transmitted per frame. That's a good thing because there's not enough performance remaining for more, at least on a naked A1200 running "Souverän Soccer", where you're already at the extreme limit and absolutely must keep 50 fps with minimal latency.
Anyway, all joystick and key commands, implicit synchronization and error correction information are contained in these 2x2 bytes. But it was a rocky road until I got there, and the protocol's evolution consisted out of many repeating circles of trying out, crying and throwing away again. And of course, at the beginning there was a much simpler protocol.
First it was merely a proof-of-concept.
For that Amiga #1 (let's call her "Santa") simply sent 1 byte with its current joystick bits to Amiga #2 ("Rudolph"). Rudolph, on the other hand, sent 2 bytes, namely his own joystick data and the last one received from Santa. Exactly this input pair was then used by both for the calculation of the next simulation step.
And here we are, back in that night outlined above. Team "Santa" and team "Rudolph" were finally about to show on the pitch what they had rehearsed in theory. But apparently our two minions were conspiring against me or some Poltergeist in the machine was involved:
If you moved Santa's active player, then Rudolph's focused player would also run in the same direction - and as if that wasn't wrong enough, they only did that on Rudolph's screen, on Santa's both player objects didn't move at all! And when you used the joystick attached to Rudolph, the same thing happened, only from his mirrored perspective!
That cannot happen! Every programmer knows this sentence well enough, but it has rarely been more appropriate than in this case. This behavior simply could not and should not occur, completely impossible! Nevertheless, it happened. But even after two more terribly long hours, all I managed to do was to make things even worse.
At one point I felt like Tom shredding up Jerry's diary. But before the poor Amigas or Competitions had to die an undeserved death, I preferred to pull the plug and leave my workbench with a shuffling gait and sagging shoulders towards bed.
But even there I was not allowed to rest: in my dreams I found myself in the middle of a storm on a greasy, sodden soccer field. With each flash of lightning, the outlines of spaghetti-code-text-fragments shimmered through the clouds, forming ludicrous sigils. Tens of thousands of morbidly bloated zeros and worm-like squirming ones cavorted in the grandstand. My ears were ringing not so much from the cracking thunder as from the deafening fan chants, which most closely resembled a C64 tape played on the stereo. After a moment of dizziness and disorientation, I realized I was standing in one of the two goals. Then a very sharply shot apple hit me at the skull! The shooter used my near knockout, followed up and converted the rebound all too confidently. The fact that all players were two-dimensional pixel men was not particularly remarkable. But what caught my eye were the team shirts: while my team's jersey featured a & ampersand, the opposing team showed a simple vertical line, much like a pipe symbol. But before I could wonder any further, I got a ball in the stomach - and another - and another. When I got my hands on the last one, I saw that it wasn't a classic football, but a green, round, shriveled something, which stared at me with two teary eyes and said with a grin: "Get up, stupid dad!".
After waking up in a sweat and stopping my daughter from continuing to bounce on my stomach, three things revealed themselves to me with absolute clarity:
Firstly, years of C64 and Amiga gaming definitely left some marks, secondly, children give you so much in return, and thirdly, there was something about those nasty pipe strokes and the ampersands, my subconscious had noticed something that had escaped the higher-level part.
All right, cat bath, coffee, morning stool, freshly back to work! And lo and behold, it took less than a minute to discover and correct the cause of the problem. So, what had happened?
Within the whole game logic there is a variable that stores various on/off states as bits. Among many other things, there's one bit indicating whether a serial link match is currently running and another one which determines if the respective Amiga acts as Santa in that case. Accordingly, there are locations where these bits are tested to decide which code path to take. In C this looks like this, where gf_Santa simply represents this specific bit:
if(gameplay_flags & gf_Santa) {
// Santa-stuff comes here
} else {
// Rudolph-stuff comes here
}
And right here a tiny but mean typo had crept in. Instead of this & (binary AND) there was a | (binary OR):
if(gameplay_flags | gf_Santa)
In contrast to the desired bit test, this is just crap, unfortunately syntactically completely legal crap which doesn't even trigger a compiler warning here. I could also have written if(true) here, the effect would have been the same, namely that only the Santa code was ever executed - even if running on a Rudolph :P
This typo can only be explained with temporary mental derangement. To crown it all, as a programmer you are lazy by nature. Which is why this error had doubled because I had copied the wrong line to another place, so this quirk was in both the receive and the send logic.
Ultimately, this is what happened if you pushed Santa's joystick to the left:
- Santa sends his joystick data, "to the left"
- Rudolph sends his joystick data, "idle"
- Santa wants to receive 2 bytes, but so far there is only 1, so nothing to do
- Rudolph wants to receive 2 bytes, but so far there is only 1, so nothing to do
- Santa sends his joystick data, "still to the left"
- Rudolph sends his joystick data, "still idle"
- Santa has now received 2 bytes and interprets them as "Player1: nothing, player2: nothing"
- Rudolph now has 2 bytes and interprets them as "player1: to the left, player2: to the left"
Argh! Of course the whole serial-link construct didn't really work properly after the & correction, but the penny had dropped and a first test match was successfully held on the same day.
And the story's moral? Never underestimate your own routine-blindness and goofiness, stupid dad!
Well then, good night, dear little children!" (dr)
[News message: 08. Dec. 2022, 04:15] [Comments: 1 - 08. Dec. 2022, 09:32]
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08.Dec.2022
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RTG Solitare: Demo version of "Solitare match"
Sami Vehmaa has released a demo version of his graphics card Solitare conversion "Solitare match" (YouTube video), which is primarily intended for Amiga emulators or Apollo cards due to the high CPU requirements. The demo version contains five levels. Those who want to encourage the developer to continue working on his game can buy the game for around three Euros and currently receive ten of the intended 100 levels in return. (dr)
[News message: 08. Dec. 2022, 03:17] [Comments: 0]
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08.Dec.2022
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Print/PDF magazine: Amiga Addict, issue 17
The seventeenth issue of the British magazine "Amiga Addict" is now available as a digital version for about 5.20 Euros. The printed version of the Christmas issue (from 15 December) including shipping costs about 11.50 euros. The current issue contains the following topics:
- A free Xmas game made for us by Amiga Drawbridge genius Rob Smith
- A pull out poster with suggestions on what you might want to play with the family when you've polished off Christmas dinner
- Ravi reports back from the biggest Amiga event of the year, Amiga 37 in Germany
- Reviews of brand new games Devil's Temple, Minky and None of Us
- A look back on some classic Christmas games, like Fire and Ice and Xmas Lemmings
- Getting animated with Cinema 4D in The Creative Revolution
- Demoscene at Christmas with h0ffman
- Special guests AmigaLove, Andrew Korn and Chris Winter tell us about their connection with the Amiga
- And much much more!
(dr)
[News message: 08. Dec. 2022, 02:36] [Comments: 0]
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07.Dec.2022
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Amiga emulator for MacOS: vAmiga 2.2
After developer Dirk Hoffmann released the first beta version 2.2 of his Amiga emulator vAmiga for MacOS in mid-November (amiga-news.de reported), he has now released the final version 2.2. Changes:
- Fixed a bug that caused the emulator to crash when a Copper list was viewed in RetroShell.
- Fixed some minor GUI issues.
- Cleaned up some code.
The minimum system requirement for the emulator is macOS 10.15. (dr)
[News message: 07. Dec. 2022, 19:56] [Comments: 0]
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07.Dec.2022
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Advent Calendar: Door 7 - Christian Zigotzky
Door 7 of our advent calendar is filled by Christian 'xeno74' Zigotzky.
You could almost say: he is the fairy godmother for everything to do with Linux on PPC Amigas. However, his "amiga-news.de career" began with the port of SuperTuxKart to AmigaOS 4. In the following years, he diligently published not only new Linux kernel versions for the various PPC Amigas, but also entire Linux distributions: for example, Lubuntu 13.10 for Sam440ep at the end of 2013, openSUSE 13.2 for the AmigaOne X1000 in May 2015 or afew months ago Void 5.1 for AmigaOne X1000/X5000 (for which we published an installation guide). Recently, there have also been various game ports for Linux PowerPC, such as Billy Frontier.
Please read his advent anecdote:
How I joined A-EON...
It started quite harmlessly in 2010. I needed a cable and was looking for it in my boxes in the attic. I found the cable, but also my old Amiga 4000D in another box. To this day, I don't know what had driven me there, but I simply took the Amiga down to the flat. On my journey of discovery through various Amiga websites, I noticed that the development of hardware and software had continued and was on fire.
After buying an Indivision AGA MK1, I was able to start my A4000D (CPU Motorola 68040 with 25 MHz, 16 MB Fast-RAM) with a connected TFT monitor without any problems. I was totally impressed by the Indivision AGA MK1 because of the tapping of the data from the Lisa chip and the processing and output via VGA. It whetted my appetite for more.
As a Linux fan, I then installed Debian Linux 3.1r8 m68k on the 4000D (screenshot). Which worked so well that I always wanted to continue with Linux on the Amiga.
After a while, the desire to buy an Amiga 4000T arose. That was a dream that I didn't fulfil at the time. So I looked for advertisements and found someone who wanted to sell his A4000T. I went there and was totally disappointed about the condition of this A4000T.
But I had already heard about the X1000 at that time and was totally excited. Only the price put me off a little and availability was still a problem. However, a dealer had a used ACube Sam440ep-flex (trade fair exhibit) on offer. I thought, why don't I buy a more powerful and cheaper NG-Amiga instead of an expensive A4000T? So I took the plunge and bought it.
The Sam was just great, so I quickly forgot about the Amiga 4000T. I used OS4.1 with all my m68k games and suddenly didn't need my A4000D anymore. I also installed Linux (as befits a Linux fanatic) and was very happy with the result.
But I couldn't get the desire for the X1000 out of my head, and in a rush I ordered it at the end of 2012 and got it at the beginning of 2013. I used it just like the Sam and also installed Linux again (what else?).
I was super happy except with the hardware 3D acceleration under Linux. There were problems when I played SuperTuxKart, which frustrated me.
The problem was fixed in newer kernel versions but these were not yet available for the X1000. With the help of Markus, I was able to compile a new kernel that solved the problems. I then also released it.
After the release of another kernel, Trevor asked me if I would like to join the A-EON Linux support team. And so fate took its course, with visits to trade fairs and many new contacts to other Amiga enthusiasts. A development I wouldn't want to miss and which I hadn't expected.
Well, that's what happens when you look for a cable in the attic and rummage through the treasure chests. So think twice about looking in boxes of computer stuff in the basement or attic, because memories and dreams might be awakened. ;-)" (dr)
[News message: 07. Dec. 2022, 06:18] [Comments: 0]
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06.Dec.2022
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Module player: NostalgicPlayer 1.9.0 for Windows
NostalgicPlayer is a program for playing Amiga music modules under Windows, based on APlayer. The development of the player had been started by the author Thomas Neumann in 1993 on the Amiga, later continued on BeOS and now on Windows (amiga-news.de reported).
Today, version 1.9.0 has been released, providing the following changes:
- Several players show 0 as volume in the Sample Information window instead of 256.
- The sub-song detection change in last version contained several bugs. The module could stop too early if you changed the position. When looping is on and the module loops, if you then stop the loop, the module ended the next time it changed its position. Also some modules timed out when the duration was calculated. All this should be fixed now.
- The Unreal Music File loader was broken by a change a couple of versions ago, so the modules could not be loaded.
- The piano visual did not show anything when opened while a module is playing. It only worked if already opened when a module starts.
- Fixed a critical bug in the Spinning Square visualizer. When stopping or switching modules, there was a potentical risk for memory leaks or even a crash.
- Added tooltips to the sample information window, so it is now possible to see what the different icons means.
- Updated Krypton.Toolkit and Krypton.Navigator to version 70.22.11.312.
- Updated libsidplayfp to version 2.4.0.
- Added these new module formats: Game Music Creator, Quadra Composer, Delta Music 1.0, Delta Music 2.0.
An installation package can be found on Microsoft Store. (dr)
[News message: 06. Dec. 2022, 20:54] [Comments: 0]
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06.Dec.2022
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AmigaOS 4.1: SDL 2.26.1 Release Candidate 1
At the end of October, Juha 'capehill' Niemimaki had published version 2.24.0 of the multimedia library SDL for AmigaOS 4.1 (amiga-news.de reported). The library is intended to make it easier for programmers to develop portable applications and is used by numerous open source games. SDL requires AmigaOS 4.1 Final Edition and optionally OpenGL ES 2.0. Today he has published the first release candidate for version 2.26.1 inclusing the following Amiga specific changes:
- Compile with GCC 11.2
- Fix shaped window alpha bitmap creation
- Enable virtual joysticks
- Add a workaround for game controller detection (AmigaOS 4 GUIDs are unfortunately broken)
- Add 2in1 game controller
- Update installer: delete old libSDL2.so soft links
(dr)
[News message: 06. Dec. 2022, 20:40] [Comments: 0]
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06.Dec.2022
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Programming language: Amiga C/C++ Visual Studio Code Extension 1.6.8
Bartman', member of the demo group 'Abyss', provides with 'amiga-debug' a 'Visual Studio Code' extension for "compiling, debugging and profiling Amiga C/C++ programs compiled by the bundled gcc 11.2 with the bundled WinUAE" (YouTube video). Today version 1.6.8 has been released. Changes:
- NEW: update gcc to 12.2.0, binutils, GNU gdb (GDB) 13.0.50.20221127-git
- FIX: WinUAE/FS-UAE: don't enable "Full stack frame tracking" (caused WinUAE to crash due to stack overflow in certain situations)
- NEW: assembly: View memory for symbols in assembly
- NEW: assembly: Support other Motorola assembly language providers
- FIX: assembly: Cycle count was missing on last line of source
- NEW: assembly: Cycle decoration improvements
- FIX: assembly: Async parsing
- CHG: disassembly: New CPU cycle count implementation with improved accuracy
- NEW: disassembly: Tooltip improvements
- NEW: debugger: Disassembled memory view
- NEW: debugger: Add symbol offset labels to registers
(dr)
[News message: 06. Dec. 2022, 20:31] [Comments: 0]
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06.Dec.2022
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Advent Calendar: Door 6 - Matthias Böcker
For St. Nicholas Day and the sixth door, Matthias 'UltraGelb' Böcker has something special for all MorphOS users: especially for our Advent calendar, he has written a wintry Screenblanker module.
Already in the early days of amiga-news.de Matthias was also in the headlines with his ingenious FTP client AmiTradeCenter (ATC): On March 27th 2000 we reported about his first prerelease of ATC. He continued to develop the client until version 1.4 from 2010. As an industrious developer especially for MorphOS he has published over the years for example the fun program ShapeShow, the digital clock ClockToy or from more recent times and also for AmigaOS 3 and 4 the utility for automatic updating of version, revision and build numbers RevFlex or the magnifier tool Lupe.
We say thank you for his commitment and of course for the nice surprise and hand over to Matthias:
"This is my contribution to the amiga-news.de advent calendar. In keeping with the festive theme, it is a screenblanker module for MorphOS that sprinkles the active screen with snowflakes that accumulate on windows and at the bottom of the screen.
Many thanks to the team of amiga-news.de for the good work! I wish all users a wonderful Advent season and a Merry Christmas! :-)"
Download: Snow.lha (55KB) (dr)
[News message: 06. Dec. 2022, 18:52] [Comments: 2 - 06. Dec. 2022, 20:12]
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06.Dec.2022
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SCSI-SD adapter: ZuluSCSI firmware 1.1.5
ZuluSCSI is a new generation of file-based SCSI hard disk and CD-ROM drive emulators. ZuluSCSI emulates a SCSI-I or SCSI-2 hard disk using an SD memory card (amiga-news.de reported). Version 1.1.3 of the firmware was released today. Changes since 1.1.3:
- Report proper termination on ZuluSCSI mini v1.0
- Fix reporting time of firmware version
- Dont show ROM drive log messages when platform has none - for ZuluSCSI V1.x boards
- Add compressed file suffixes to exclusion list
(dr)
[News message: 06. Dec. 2022, 06:15] [Comments: 0]
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06.Dec.2022
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Floppy emulator: GoFloppy
Andrew 'LinuxJedi' Hutchings had already reported about his new floppy emulator project "GoFloppy" on Twitter some time ago (Tweet 1, Tweet 2) and now also found the time to report about it in more detail on his blog: the "GoFloppy" drive is a floppy drive emulator, similar to "Gotek", in the form of a 3.5 inch floppy (short YouTube video), which uses the same FlashFloppy firmware.
However, when reverse-engineering the Gotek drive, the developer made some changes:
- An SD card is used instead of a USB stick
- A jog dial to control the device
- A 1.3" OLED display
- Much simpler hardware configuration (slide switch for drive ID selector for example)
There are many other internal differences too, but these do not affect users so much.
On his website Retro Supplies, he offers the GoFloppys for around 70 Euros plus shipping, but they usually sell out quickly, as they do currently. If they are no longer in stock, you can sign up for the list on the product page so that you will be notified as soon as new ones are available. (dr)
[News message: 06. Dec. 2022, 06:12] [Comments: 0]
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05.Dec.2022
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Sokoban clone: LazSokoban for AROS, MorphOS and AmigaOS 4
During his work on the Pascal-based Lazarus Component Library (LCL) for AROS, in April 2016, Marcus 'ALB42' Sackrow had also tested some third-party LCL applications to compile for AROS. One of these was the Sokoban clone LazSokoban, written by Ukrainian programmer Vadim Vitomsky. Sackrow released an AROS version of this (amiga-news.de reported).
Now he has revised this version, backported the recent Halloween update of the game and compiled it with the latest LCL. Since this now also offers the possibility to compile programs for MorphOS and AmigaOS 4, the developer has provided versions for all three systems on his website. As he writes, it seems to work well except for a few missing button images. An implementation for AmigaOS 3 is also possible, but according to his tests it is much too slow.
(dr)
[News message: 05. Dec. 2022, 20:37] [Comments: 0]
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05.Dec.2022
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Advent Calendar: Door 5 - David Brunet
Our new Advent calendar week begins with the fifth door and David Brunet.
David Brunet is inextricably linked to his French AmigaOS and MorphOS magazine Obligement. The long history of this magazine starts in the mid-1990s: inspired by Christian, a friend at high school who owned an Amiga 1200, David switched from his Amiga 500 to this Amiga with hard disk and 68030 card.
Both were interested in word processing, graphics, etc. and exchanged documents created with Wordworth every week for fun. These documents were called "Obligement", a made-up word that came from one of their friends. This term, which basically means "obligatory", basically marked the birth of the magazine.
This gave rise to the idea of producing a printed Amiga magazine: the first issue left the "editorial office" on 1 January 1997. It was written with Wordworth 6 and the graphics were done with Personal Paint. It had 15 A4 pages, stapled by hand and all in colour, coming straight from Christian's printer.
As the circulation never exceeded 15 printed copies, David suggested that they discontinue the paper version (after six issues) and start a digital version produced with Scala. In the following years they then switched to Blitz Basic 2 or Blitz Basic 2 RTG and the AmigaGuide format. Obligement 37 (January/February 2003) was then the first issue in HTML.
From issue 51 onwards, the magazine exists as a direct online version. Due to time constraints, the magazine's articles were henceforth published directly on the Obligement page. The bimonthly issues were no longer produced, the magazine was from then on a purely online magazine. Instead of the traditional issues there is - and this is how we have known and reported on amiga-news.de for a very long time - a newsletter every two months to summarise new articles and updates.
Equipped with this rich history and wealth of experience, David shares a few tips on how to "successfully" run an Amiga project for such a long time. His contribution for the fifth door:
"There have been many Amiga volunteer projects in the past and some of them are still present, stronger than ever, like Obligement and Amiga-News.de.
In this cold weather and with Christmas approaching, it is always comforting to see websites like these that do not let their readership down.
I have witnessed the end of almost all Amiga fanzines/magazines. Their demise has allowed me to increase my experience so that I don't do the same
thing. There is no miracle formula to perpetuate a magazine in a voluntary activity. I can simply state these few points:
- You should neither do too much (overwork is harmful)...
- ...nor do not do enough (you get used to doing nothing and in the end, you don't move forward).
- You have to know how to surround yourself with a few reliable people.
- You should not always do the same thing and vary the subjects/activities.
- You have to be open to criticism while rejecting unconstructive negative judgments.
- Don't forget that this is only a hobby.
- Projects motivated only by money do not last in time, especially on the Amiga.
Believe in yourself and have a wonderful Advent and Christmas season!" (dr)
[News message: 05. Dec. 2022, 06:38] [Comments: 1 - 05. Dec. 2022, 09:37]
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05.Dec.2022
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Aiostreams V1.7.6: Scripts for Streaming Twitch.tv and Mixer.com videos
George 'walkero' Sokianos has created Python scripts and bundled them in aiostreams ("All In One Streams") for viewers of the Amiga and other retro streams on Twitch.tv and Mixer.com, so that they can also watch the videos under AmigaOS 4, AmigaOS 3, MorphOS and AROS instead of on the PC.
Yesterday, version 1.7.6 was released. Changes:
Added
- Added some extra info in the amigaguide file for the youtube script
- Added pagination to youtube script with the new argument -p/--page
Changed
- Updated the scripts to work with python3
- Now the -x argument in youtube and twitch script prints out the extra info but doesn't start the video playback
Removed
- Removed the skaitv, lbry and dlive scripts as they are not working and they need a rewrite
Download: aiostreams-v1.7.6.lha (228 KB) (dr)
[News message: 05. Dec. 2022, 05:27] [Comments: 0]
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04.Dec.2022
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Text editor: Amiga Source Editor 2.0
At the end of 2020, author Alain Fontanin resumed the development that had originally started in 1989 by releasing Version 1.2 (2019) of his text editor "Amiga Source Editor" (ASE). The author continues to work on his editor and has now released version 2.0 (2019) with the following changes:
- Integration of BOOPSI 'scrollbar' gadgets;
- Possibility to number the lines
- Possibility to define the default size and position of the document window
- Possibility to define the scrolling speed with the wheel
- Possibility to move one page with the wheel (CTRL key)
- Optimization of 'Copy/Cut/Paste' functions
- Integration of the 'Redo' functionality
- Improved compatibility of ASE2019 with AROS
- Added 'Count occurrences' function
- Ability to repeat the last used menu item
- Improved documentation
(dr)
[News message: 04. Dec. 2022, 20:09] [Comments: 0]
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04.Dec.2022
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Floppy disk images on PC and Mac: Greaseweazle Tools 1.4
Keir Fraser's "Greaseweazle" does - similar to Kryoflux - read the magnetic information on a floppy disk independently from the format used and saves as much information as possible to generate a so-called "Flux Level Image" in Supercard format (SCP), which enables reading and back-writing of copy-protected disks (amiga-news.de reported)
The adapter gets connected between a floppy disk drive - e.g. a standard 3.5" PC one - and a USB port of the PC or Mac. A few moments ago version 1.4 of the Greaseweazle Tools was released providing the following changes:
- Read support for DIM, FDI, HDM, XDF, and D88 image formats: primarily used with Japanese computers
- Renamed pc98.hd and pc98.dd formats to pc98.2hd and pc98.2dd
- Fixed head count on pc98.2hd and pc98.2dd formats
- Support pc98.2d format (used e.g. by PC-88 and X1)
- Support pc98.2hs format (used primarily by late PC-98)
(dr)
[News message: 04. Dec. 2022, 19:25] [Comments: 0]
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04.Dec.2022
Andreas Falkenhahn (ANF)
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Hollywood: XML-Plugin 2.0 and APK Compiler 4.3 released
Pressemitteilung: Airsoft Softwair, the hardest working men in code business, are proud to announce the immediate availability of version 2.0 of the XML plugin for Hollywood. This plugin, previously known as XML Parser, was one of the first Hollywood plugins and has now received a major update with many new features.
The biggest new feature in version 2.0 of the Hollywood XML plugin is that you can now serialize Hollywood tables to XML documents with just a single function call. In the same way you can also deserialize XML documents to Hollywood tables with just a single function call. This is made possible by Hollywood 9's new serialization plugin interface which is why the XML plugin now requires at least Hollywood 9.0. Further new features include lots of new callbacks to handle advanced XML features like namespaces, entities, attlists, and more. Finally, the XML plugin now includes a comprehensive documentation that describes all features and contains many examples.
The plugin is now available for free download from the official Hollywood portal. Thanks to Hollywood's cross-platform plugin systemversions for AmigaOS3, AmigaOS4, MorphOS, WarpOS, AROS (x86), Linux (arm, ppc, x86, x64), macOS (ppc, x86, x64), Windows (x86, x64), Android and iOS are provided. Note that Hollywood 9 is strictly required by the XML plugin 2.0.
Besides, Hollywood APK Compiler 4.3 has just been released. This fixes a major bug that was introduced in version 4.2 so everybody using version 4.2 should definitely update. The update is provided free of charge for all existing APK Compiler customers and can be downloaded in the restricted download section. (dr)
[News message: 04. Dec. 2022, 14:13] [Comments: 0]
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04.Dec.2022
Christian 'TheoTheoderich' Wiegel
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Turn-based strategy: River update for "Settle the World"
Christian 'TheoTheoderich' Wiegel has released a river update for his turn-based building and trading game "Settle the World" - see detailed introduction on amiga-news.de (YouTube developer video).
Compared to the playable preview from the beginning of November (amiga-news.de reported) there are many improvements:
- Rivers wind through the landscape and can be navigated by small sailing ships
- There is a new terrain type that is good for planting tobacco
- A button for unloading units from ships
- The F1 key shows an overlay in the map and city view with the most important shortcuts and explanations of icons
- Warnings when leaving a city, e.g. if no production has been set, or the city does not produce enough food
- Dozens of bugfixes
As the author explains, the game is far from finished and this update is just another small step on the way to the full version.
You can load "Save-Slot 1" in the game and see what a slightly advanced game state looks like. Furthermore, the developer recommends to save frequently and to use different save-slots, because the game still contains a lot of bugs. Some of these bugs - such as units that suddenly appear twice - could be solved by saving and reloading. Also the game music would sometimes run too fast and can then be turned off and on again via the game options.
"Settle the World" is primarily intended as a duel between human opponents, but can also be played alone. The game requires 1 megabyte of ChipRAM and 4 megabytes of FastRAM, a hard disk and at least a 68020 processor. (dr)
[News message: 04. Dec. 2022, 13:56] [Comments: 0]
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04.Dec.2022
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Aminet uploads until 03.12.2022
The following files have been added until 03.12.2022 to Aminet:
apccomm.lha comm/misc 196K 68k transfers files between Amiga...
brainfuck.lha dev/lang 1K "Urban, it's coming home!"
anaiis.lha driver/oth 208K 68k ANAIIS USB Stack Release 1.22
F1GP2022Carset.lha game/data 15K 2022 Carset for F1GP
AMCommand.lha game/shoot 90K 68k Arcade Missile Command
pcexhumed.lha game/shoot 674K 68k Exhumed / Powerslave Port
AmiArcadia.lha misc/emu 4.6M 68k Signetics-based machines emul...
AmiArcadiaMOS.lha misc/emu 4.9M MOS Signetics-based machines emul...
AmiArcadia-OS4.lha misc/emu 5.1M OS4 Signetics-based machines emul...
AmiVms.lha misc/emu 3.4M 68k Simulates OpenVMS commands
LN4Lv9.lha mods/misc 3.1M 4ch LN4 Lv9 MED track by HKvalhe
SoftIEEE.lha util/libs 57K 68k math lib&881/882 FPU emulator...
ScreenTime.lha util/time 66K 68k Screen clock, configurable wi...
(snx)
[News message: 04. Dec. 2022, 09:33] [Comments: 0]
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04.Dec.2022
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OS4Depot uploads until 03.12.2022
The following files have been added until 03.12.2022 to OS4Depot:
amiarcadia.lha emu/gam 5Mb 4.0 Signetics-based machines emulator
hode.lha gam/pla 2Mb 4.1 One of best cinematic platform v...
quickstarter.lha uti/wor 322kb 4.0 Quick program start menu
(snx)
[News message: 04. Dec. 2022, 09:33] [Comments: 0]
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04.Dec.2022
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AROS Archives uploads until 03.12.2022
The following files have been added until 03.12.2022 to AROS Archives:
portable.lha dev/lan 13Mb E Compiler
aros_one_x86.zip uti/mis 232b Aros One x86
(snx)
[News message: 04. Dec. 2022, 09:33] [Comments: 0]
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04.Dec.2022
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MorphOS-Storage uploads until 03.12.2022
The following files have been added until 03.12.2022 to MorphOS-Storage:
Iris_1.5.lha Email New email client suppor...
AmiArcadia_29.32.lha Emulation A Signetics-based machi...
BootClock_1.30r1.lha Misc A little and easy progr...
Wayfarer_4.5.lha Network/Web Wayfarer is the latest ...
(snx)
[News message: 04. Dec. 2022, 09:33] [Comments: 0]
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04.Dec.2022
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WHDLoad: New installers until 03.12.2022
Using WHDLoad, games, scene demos and intros by cracking groups, which were originally designed to run only from floppy disks, can be installed on harddisk. The following installers have been added until 03.12.2022:
- 2022-12-03 fixed: Flashback (Delphine Software) chipmem size increased, color text in in holocub seq can be changed (Info)
- 2022-12-03 improved: Fate: Gates Of Dawn (reLINE) slave uses fastmem, mouse buttons delay patched, manual and solution added (Info)
- 2022-11-30 improved: Killing Cloud (Vektor Grafix) fixed a crash, added an option to speed up logo (Info)
- 2022-11-30 improved: Dogs of War (Elite Systems) supports another version (Info)
- 2022-11-29 improved: Kick Off 2: The Final Whistle (Anco) support for another version added (1.9f), minor problem in keyboard patch fixed, WHDLoad v17+ features used (Info)
- 2022-11-27 improved: Killing Cloud (Vektor Grafix) fixed keyboard fix (Info)
- 2022-11-27 new: Megademo (Brainstorm) done by StingRay (Info, Image, Image)
(snx)
[News message: 04. Dec. 2022, 09:33] [Comments: 0]
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04.Dec.2022
ANF
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Analogue Pocket: Video shows Amiga core under development
The handheld game console Analogue Pocket (Wikipedia) is FPGA-based and as such supports modules from Nintendo, Sega, the PC Engine or the Atari Lynx.
According to a video at the title link, 'Ultra FP64' is working on the adaptation of an Amiga 500 core, which is currently still in the alpha stage. According to the developer on Twitter, he wants to release it as soon as he has added keyboard and mouse to the current joystick-only support, improved the speed and tidied up his program code. (snx)
[News message: 04. Dec. 2022, 09:33] [Comments: 0]
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04.Dec.2022
ANF
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AROS distribution: AROS One 1.9 (x86)
The distribution "AROS One", based on the AROS binary interface ABI v0, is now available in version 1.9 for x86 computers. It can be downloaded as a DVD ISO file or as a USB flash image at the title link, where video recordings can also be found.
In addition to updates to the included programs and games, this version of AROS One features visual additions such as a new "white" set of drawer icons that can be switched between and the updated "blue" one, a new background image for walkers, and various design "themes".
Changes in detail:
- Update AROS One System
- AROS One English Manual in PDF, GUIDE, HTM, DOC format
- AROS One Italian Manual in PDF, GUIDE, HTM, DOC format
- New "White" Folder Icon Set (to be installed)
- Update "Blue" Folder Icon Set
- Updated Application Icons Set (better quality)
- Installer Icon Set White or Blue (Folder Extras)
- Fix "DiskInfo"
- i8042.hidd (fixes Touchpad problems on some PCs)
- Update Dopus4 Config (add Mount/Eject ADF/DMS)
- Dopus4 Preset Palette Skin (Gray,White)
- Update Wanderer (add def_Icons Mount/Eject ADF/DMS)
- Auto Mount from Icon ADF, DMS and IMG (MS-DOS Floppy) Image File
- Auto Mount from Icon ISO CD/DVD Image File
- Icon to install NTFS-Handler For Mount Disks or Partitions NTFS (Read and Write)
- New Backdrop ArosOne created by "Damir"
- Added Theme by "Damir" PixBlue (Tab resize)
- Added Theme by "Damir" Pills (Tab resize)
- Added Theme Style AfA OS
- Shell-Color (Shell-Black, Shell-White)
- CLS 1.0 (Compiled by me for AROS x86)
- libglfw.i386-aros
- libglew.i386-aros
- Added RNOTunes.catalog (Italian)
- Updated Apps
- Amitube 1.3
- PerciMan 0.7.5
- Vim 8.2.4424
- PintorWeb 3.20
- BeeBase 1.0
- uCommander
- Murks IDE 0.6.1
- WebpTools 1.2.4
- UHCTools 1.6
- HWP AVCodec 1.5
- TextMio 0.2
- AnimWebConverter 5.00
- PortablE r6b
- RNOEffects 1.4
- RNOTunes 1.0
- RNOInfoScreen 1.8
- Image2PDF 1.2
- Updated Games
- SuperMarioWar
- Beret
- Gilbert
- GianaReturn
- SuperTux
- SuperTux 2
(snx)
[News message: 04. Dec. 2022, 09:33] [Comments: 0]
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04.Dec.2022
Puni (ANF)
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AmigaOS 4: Blog summary of November
For the month of November 'Puni' has again published a news summary in the areas of hard- and software for AmigaOS 4 at the title link. (snx)
[News message: 04. Dec. 2022, 09:33] [Comments: 0]
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04.Dec.2022
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Advent Calendar: Door 4 - The Apollo team
For the fourth door and thus for the second Advent, the Apollo team contributes an anecdote. Their approach of FPGA-based turbo cards for Amigas represented a new alternative in terms of upgrading aged hardware besides the accelerator boards carrying a real 680x0 processor. The history started with a presentation of a NatAmi developer board in 2008. Announced in 2011, there was a first stable running version of the Vampire 600 for the Amiga of the same name in 2013. In 2016, Vampire variants for the Amiga 500 and 2000 followed, all of which used the V2 Apollo core.
In 2017, development work was already underway on the Apollo V4 FPGA accelerator board, including a standalone variant. The following versions are currently available:
Yesterday, Gunnar von Boehm announced an update of the Apollo core that provides 16 DMA Amiga audio channels instead of the four available on the standard Amiga. Each of the 16 channels provides stereo sound. In addition, one can position the sound from each individual channel to the left or right.
The anecdote for the fourth door written by the Apollo team:
"Back in the days of Silver core for V2, we used to put an Amiga video game character in the boot image. At that time, the war between the team TuKo "Simon the sorcerer is better than Monkey Island" and the team guibrush "Monkey Island is of course superior to Simon the sorcerer" already existed.
A discussion in the team took place to decide which character between Simon and guibrush should be used for, I believe the Silver 5 release (I'm not sure anymore if it was the 5 of the 6). In the end, as it was TuKo who was doing the releases, he decided to put Simon, against any democratic decision.
He was well punished, since this core was replaced in a few days by the next one because of a bug that made it unusable on several machines, which made it the core with the shortest lifespan in the history of the Vampire." (dr)
[News message: 04. Dec. 2022, 08:13] [Comments: 0]
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04.Dec.2022
Dimitris Panokostas
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Mastodon client: Amidon in development
After the acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk, one or the other Amiga and retro enthusiast is thinking about either using the microblogging service only to a limited extent or, as for example announced by Jan Beta, leaving it altogether: either to set up his own website like him or, as for example Jens Schönfeld is thinking about using the alternative service Mastodon as well.
The author of the Amiga emulator Amiberry, Dimitris 'MiDWaN' Panokostas, not only already has his account there, he is also developing a client for AmigaOS 3. Currently he is using Hollywood for this, but he is thinking about using C as an alternative. So far the biggest problem is that the HTMLview MUI class on OS3 is old and buggy and does not work with MUI versions higher than 3.9.
If you would like to support the developer, then you can do that, for example, by buying him a coffee on his Ko-fi website. (dr)
[News message: 04. Dec. 2022, 06:49] [Comments: 0]
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04.Dec.2022
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Puzzle game: Wood Block Puzzle
The Polish developer 'Tukinem' - known among others for his platform game Ami-Tower or the farming simulation Farmiga - has written a conversion of the game Wood Block Puzzle (online variant) for Amiga in BlitzBasic:
In terms of design, the game is reminiscent of Tetris: full horizontal or vertical lines must be formed by means of the wooden blocks so that they disappear. However, the blocks do not fall from above, but are grabbed from the bottom player edge, but can not be rotated. (dr)
[News message: 04. Dec. 2022, 05:20] [Comments: 0]
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03.Dec.2022
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Advent Calendar: Door 3 - Joerg van de Loo
For the third door of our advent calendar, developer Joerg van de Loo took a lot of time. His main Amiga-side project is the text editor BareED. Unlike other editors, BareED is a RAM-based and pixel-oriented (not character-oriented) text editor for the Amiga. This means it can display proportional fonts (characters can vary in width) and use real tabs. Also it supports syntax highlighting, which requires a fast CPU (68040 CPU or better).
Furthermore he writes tools like RTF-Riddle for converting RTF files into the HTML5 format. Always worth reading and of great help for other developers are his comments to various software news on amiga-news.de. A big thank you for that at this point. His anecdote for the third door:
Police - Friday, December 23, 1988
I arrived home late in the evening (at night!) after two weeks of work and immediately ask my girlfriend if she got the necessary cables to connect the monitor, because at the moment everything is only in black and white and also silently. At first, I had operated the Amiga on the TV, but now I am the proud owner of a 1084S monitor, but the accessory pack was not included...
She denies it, and my mother agrees that they both tried everything to get these cables in a hurry, but it was impossible. Bummer. I call a friend, who I know is still sitting in front of his Amiga late at night. He has these cables, but he can't spare them. Again crap. He gives me a phone number of an Amiga hardware developer with a store in the area - I should try there.
I can't sleep in today, it's the 24th of December - but not because I'm preparing for Christmas Eve, but because I can hardly sleep, as I'm racking my brains to find a way to connect the old 1084 S monitor to my A2000(B), because the right cables weren't included. I actually want to call the hardware developer at 7:00 am, but refrain from doing so until 9:00 am. A friendly woman's voice answers and I ask if they have these cables. She refers me to her son. He answers and points out that today is 24 December. Yes, yes, yes, I know. I ask if he has the cables he needs. "Of course," is his reply. My next question is when I could pick them up. He means on the 27th, his mother calls in and says they are closed until the beginning of January. Ouch.
I'm about to hang up in frustration when he says he'll be in the shop for another hour. Hmmm, might well be a bit more than 40 kilometres - I could manage that. I agree to hurry and leave a little later.
My Opel Manta with its tuned engine and balloon tyres (but without the foxtail and wiggly wiggly!) doesn't mind this rainy weather, and neither do I, because as a frequent driver who works in southern Germany, I have to cope with completely different weather conditions. Here on the Lower Rhine, however, the drivers are apparently already overwhelmed by this rain. I'm just overtaking and set the guide speed to something above that of motorways. At a junction with a stop sign, I make it a priority eight-way road. Three kilometres further on, a lorry turns left into my subordinate road, so I ignore the stop sign and turn right. The 70 zone is quickly behind me and then it's just straight ahead - so I have to overtake all the time.
Then I am close to my destination and have to turn left. After fifty metres I stop on the right and take out the folding map (yep, there were no sat navs back then). I orientate myself - and it doesn't take long, because I've had a lot of practice at that. As I turn left, I suddenly see blue lights behind me - oh, police on duty - I'll just let them pass. So I put the indicator back and wait for the police car to pass me. 1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds - nothing. I look in the rear-view mirror - they are now right behind me! Do they want something from me? I am not aware of any guilt!
A policeman gets out and immediately gets wet because of the rain. He knocks on the window and says "General vehicle inspection". Man, does this have to be now - I'm in a hurry. I open the window and he asks for my papers. I hand them over. He asks me if I know why they stopped me. I answer in the negative. He lectures me: excessive speed, inappropriate driving, running a stop sign twice and if they hadn't switched on the flashing lights, they would have lost the connection. Ouch.
He asks me if I hadn't seen the blue light. I again answer in the negative. I suddenly realise that I am threatened with a driving licence suspension and a fine without the policeman having to point it out to me. I get out - and get wet too. I explain to the policeman why I am in such a hurry - workplace southern Germany, primary residence Lower Rhine, computer, monitor, no matching cables, Christmas, shops closed, black and white, no sound - and all because of the missing accessory pack - and that the shop where I bought this monitor would not be able to supply the missing accessory pack until the middle of next January.
He tells me that this is no reason to disregard the traffic regulations. I point out that I can prove that I drive more than 110.000 kilometres a year and that I don't have any points in Flensburg (at that time this institution still existed), so that my current driving style would be an exception and I would realise that I had screwed up. He just says: "Wait here". He goes to the police car with the papers and gets in.
A short time later he comes back and opens the instruction with: "I have consulted with my colleague. Since today is Christmas Eve and you are reasonable, do you agree to a warning fine of 20 DM?". I can't believe my luck! Of course, I agree! I have already mentally parted with my "rag". I pay the 20 DM and listen to his instructions - although we both get soaking wet. He hands me my papers and wishes me a good trip and a Merry Christmas - I wish him the same, and I mean it! They turn around and I continue my journey.
Soaking wet, I press the bell of the private entrance. The mother of the hardware developer opens the door - and takes good care of me, handing me a towel to dry off. Then she leads me into the actual shop, which is closed today but where her son assembles electronic things. We get acquainted and he has already picked out the cables I need and laid them on the counter. As I look around, I discover floppy disk drives, memory cards and much more. We start talking and after a while, during which his mother interrupts us and urges us to leave, I leave the shop with the necessary cables and a 2 MB loaded 8 MB memory card as well as a second drive.
I drive back, deeply relaxed and looking forward to the coming Christmas. (dr)
[News message: 03. Dec. 2022, 14:24] [Comments: 1 - 03. Dec. 2022, 16:38]
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03.Dec.2022
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Video: Building a new Amiga 2000 - part 1
The YouTube channel "Casual Retro Gamer" (CRG) is dedicated to repairing and building retro hardware (amiga-news.de reported). The recently launched video series shows how a new Amiga 2000 is assembled. The board used is the EATX form factor version reworked by developer 'jasonsbeer' (amiga-news.de reported). The chipset comes from a battery-damaged A500+. (dr)
[News message: 03. Dec. 2022, 05:58] [Comments: 0]
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02.Dec.2022
MorphZone (Forum)
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MorphOS: Web browser Wayfarer 4.5
Jacek 'jacadcaps' Piszczek has just released version 4.5 of his web browser Wayfarer for MorphOS including an updated libcURL to fix issues with HTTP/2
Download: wayfarer.lha (29 MB) (dr)
[News message: 02. Dec. 2022, 19:46] [Comments: 1 - 03. Dec. 2022, 20:13]
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02.Dec.2022
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Advent Calendar: Door 2 - Daniel Jedlicka
Behind the second door with the initials "DJ" of our advent calendar, Daniel 'trixie' Jedlicka has prepared a story for us. The AmigaOS 4 developer is best known for his recently developed audio editor Rave, but he has been involved in AmigaOS 4 for much longer: He wrote some articles for OS4 Coding (for example about programming screens), published the English dictionary WordNet (latest version 3.5) and has taken over the development of ADRipper since 2015 (latest version 1.13).
In addition, he runs his blog Rear Window, where he not only publishes status updates on the development of his audio editor, but also far-reaching and very readable articles, for example recently about the Amiga37 or the question what motivates him as a developer. And here is his Advent Calendar anecdote:
"It’s the 3rd of August, the year is 1990, I’m seventeen years old and I’m sitting on a tour bus. My father and I are going back from Nuremberg in Germany. But make no mistake, we didn’t go sightseeing; in fact, we couldn’t care less about the city’s history, landmarks and tourist attractions.
The bus is fully loaded with all sorts of electronics. Eight months after the fall of the Iron Curtain, Western goods are still quite a rare sight in Czech shops. Tour operators are thriving because shopping trips like the one we’re returning from are extremely popular in the first year of freedom. The mood on the bus is upbeat. The most excited, and the loudest, is a group of hi-fi enthusiasts occupying the front seats: they just won’t stop their bickering about Sony, Panasonic and something called the Nakamichi Dragon. I don’t understand any of it.
Our bus stops at the state border. After a few minutes, a young Czech customs officer climbs onboard and asks: "Has anybody got anything to declare?"
His words are met with an awkward silence, the kind of silence that is supposed to mean "no".
He looks at the flood of boxes protruding from luggage racks and bags half-blocking the aisle. The lie is so bold and obvious that the officer needs some time to process it. He steps off the bus, taking our tour guide with him. I can see them standing beside the vehicle and talking about something with a lot of agitation. The guide is gesticulating wildly.
After a few minutes, the officer is back on the bus and we all know we’re in trouble. Row by row he moves along the aisle inspecting the cargo, and if a particular box looks too pricey to be dismissed, he commands the unlucky owner outside the bus, where other uniformed officers take it over. After a few minutes there’s already a small crowd. Through the window I can see them fumbling with passports, customs forms and banknotes.
The bus is almost half-empty and my dad is sweating profusely. We didn't account for this! We spent all of our money in Germany, so how on Earth are we now going to pay the customs fee, possibly even a hefty fine for not declaring our goods? It’s sure as eggs that we’ll return empty-handed because what we’ve bought will be retained or confiscated.
The officer approaches our seats. There’s no way we could pretend that the tall cardboard box painfully stuffed between me and dad doesn’t exist. The officer sets his eyes on me. I realize he’s practically my age, perhaps a little bit older, fresh out of school. He looks at the box and his thin lips read the word "Commodore" silently. He looks at me again.
And then he moves on. My dad starts breathing heavily as if he's just had a heart attack.
In about forty minutes the bus finally crosses the border. My Amiga story is about to begin." (dr)
[News message: 02. Dec. 2022, 06:01] [Comments: 2 - 03. Dec. 2022, 11:22]
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01.Dec.2022
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CD32 adventure game: Wrong Way Back
Richard Perrin is a former indie game developer who wrote, among other things, the science fiction adventure game The White Chamber (Wikipedia entry). In his spare time, he continues to develop adventures for retro systems. As he explains to us, he never owned an Amiga growing up and was always envious of AMOS. So when he got the chance to make something for the Amiga using AMOS, he jumped at the chance: This is how his game "Wrong Way Back" for the CD32 came about, which he wrote entirely using the Amiga emulator FS-UAE.
He goes on to say that the game is more of an experiment than anything else, which is why it is so short. He wanted to create a game in which you are trapped in a room that is constantly changing. As a result, the style of play is also constantly changing. (dr)
[News message: 01. Dec. 2022, 06:54] [Comments: 0]
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01.Dec.2022
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Advent Calendar: Door 1 - Achim Kern
Our Advent Calendar is opened by Achim Kern, who is known for various Hollywood applications with his label KeHo Software. Besides various games like Balloons or Mars Tank Attack, he mainly dedicates himself to his SmartHome project for the automation of his own four walls.
Here is his Advent story:
"It's 1981 and Achim and his buddy Martin - passionate electronics hobbyists - are competing to see who can build the best radio transmitter and the most powerful hi-fi amplifier (at that time, watts and distortion factor counted). As every year, they set out for Hobby & Elektronik on Stuttgart's Killesberg to get their hands on the latest hardware (transistors, kits, etc.). But this time, history was about to be made: Achim discovered a stand where a small black membrane keyboard was on display. This was capable of displaying numbers and letters on a small screen...! Achim and Martin had no idea what it was, what the point of it all was - but their curiosity and fascination was immediately aroused.
Problem: the part cost DM 398! And they didn't know what you could really do with it. Achim then decided to sacrifice his savings and bought the black box (ZX81 Computer). At home, the "magic box" was connected to Dad's black-and-white TV. Everyone gathered in front of the machine as he typed his first (BASIC) demo, like this:
His father asked dumbfounded: "Achim - and what is that supposed to bring?". He told him: "I don't know yet - but that is the future that is coming!
And as we can all see today: Achim had recognised the signs of the times correctly! And years later he became one of our most loyal AMIGA disciples. Achim's (KeHoSoftware) latest project, which all AMIGA fans can look forward to, is called "MERMAID AMICA" - free again - made with Hollywood - Hallelujah."
(dr)
[News message: 01. Dec. 2022, 06:34] [Comments: 1 - 01. Dec. 2022, 09:29]
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01.Dec.2022
John Girvin
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Arcade-Action: Turbo Santa Deluxe Edition 2022, Highscore competition
At the end of last year, Nivrig Games released the arcade action game "Turbo Santa" (YouTube video), which is based on Turbo Tomato he also wrote. Now he has released a Deluxe Edition 2022 of his Christmas game, which has been rebalanced and now also features an endless mode. Golden gifts bring additional points and bonuses for delivery.
Furthermore, like last year, there is a high score competition with prizes donated by Amiga Addict, Bitmap Soft, Geezer Games and Retro32. The six best Turbo Santa DX22 scores in endless mode and normal difficulty submitted between 1 and 24 December 2022 have the chance to win various prizes.
Finally, Santa Rocks by the same developer is also available again. (dr)
[News message: 01. Dec. 2022, 05:47] [Comments: 0]
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30.Nov.2022
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Platform game: Remake of "Boxx" using Scorpion Engine
The developer 'Lemming880' is currently working on the fourth part of his "Boxx" series developed with the Scorpion Engine (amiga-news.de reported). He also tried to port the first part of the series, originally written with Backbone, to the Scorpion Engine, which apparently succeeded: he uploaded a beta version under the title link (YouTube trailer). Minimum requirement is an Amiga 500 with 1MB RAM. (dr)
[News message: 30. Nov. 2022, 06:19] [Comments: 0]
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29.Nov.2022
Craig Loewen
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WSL for Windows 10/11 generally available
As Microsoft explains in a developer book entry, the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is now generally available for Windows 10 and 11 in the Microsoft Store, having previously held "Preview" status. This means that it is now easier for users and developers to test the runtime environment for Linux, "AxRuntime", written by Krzysztof 'deadwood' Śmiechowicz, under Windows: for existing users, a simple upgrade is possible with wsl --update. If one uses the store version of WSL, one gets WSL updates much faster than before when WSL was a Windows component.
At a request of the WSL community, WSL in the Store will now be available on Windows 10 and Windows 11. This allows Windows 10 users to take advantage of the latest WSL features, including support for systemd and Linux GUI applications. (dr)
[News message: 29. Nov. 2022, 06:48] [Comments: 0]
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28.Nov.2022
Andrew Hutchings (Twitter)
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DIY: V2.2 of RGBtoHDMI adapter for Amiga 2000
Developer Andrew Hutchings had summarized the development status regarding his version of the RGBtoHDMI adapter at the end of January 2022, which is based on the RGBtoHDMI project and is a further development of the
Amiga-VideoSlot-RGBtoHDMI adapter for the Amiga 2000 by 'Bloodmosher': The goal of the RGBtoHDMI project is to feed raw digital RGB data into a Raspberry Pi Zero, which then outputs it via HDMI to produce a pixel-perfect display of the image with low latency.
The now published version 2.2 of the design is smaller than the 2.1 version and has a protection fuse on it. Basically, version 2 of this board is easier to build and easier for the user to install than version 1. The Pi is on the back of the Amiga, so the HDMI port can be connected directly, and physical buttons are used instead of cables. The parts needed to assemble it yourself can be ordered for around 14 euros plus shipping on tindie. (dr)
[News message: 28. Nov. 2022, 10:24] [Comments: 0]
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28.Nov.2022
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Platform game: Ami-Tower updated
The Polish developer 'Tukinem' (farm simulation "Farmiga") has ported Icy Tower in Blitz Basic 2 for the Amiga. The game principle is to let the main character climb a tower by jumping to different heights.
The still incomplete version we reported about at the beginning of November has now been completed by the developer, got some bug fixes and have been made and the full version has been released. The game requires a standard Amiga 500 with Kick 1.3 and 500 KB. (dr)
[News message: 28. Nov. 2022, 09:24] [Comments: 0]
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28.Nov.2022
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Platform game: Super Delivery Boy 2022.2
The mini-game "Super Delivery Boy" again has been updated (amiga-news.de reported). Changes:
- Reduced loading times between Menu/Credits and Game/GameOver
- Added quit option in main menu
- Adf is now Workbench friendly
- Added copper sky and snow fx to main menu
- Bug fixes
(dr)
[News message: 28. Nov. 2022, 06:40] [Comments: 0]
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28.Nov.2022
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AmigaOS 4/MorphOS: Odyssey script for GitHub websites updated
George 'walkero' Sokianos again has updated the script to correctly display GitHub websites with the browser Odyssey: Now you will find an URL under the assets of a release where nothing was visible. (dr)
[News message: 28. Nov. 2022, 05:47] [Comments: 0]
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28.Nov.2022
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Blog: ZZ9000 and ZZ9000AX in an Amiga 2000
As usual, Epsilon reports in detail and with numerous pictures about Lukas F. Hartmann's ZZ9000 graphics card and the ZZ9000AX sound card available for it in the latest blog entry of his "Epsilon's World". (dr)
[News message: 28. Nov. 2022, 05:30] [Comments: 0]
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28.Nov.2022
ujb (Kommentar)
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MorphOS: Email client Iris 1.5
Jacek 'jacadcaps' Piszczek has released version 1.5 of his email program Iris for MorphOS. The new version introduces support for auto-archiving attachments into a zip archive, including encrypting them with password. Changes:
- Attachments can now be automatically turned into a zip archive when writing email
- Zip attachments may be extracted right from Iris
- Fixed a warning / signal leak when viewing the Outgoing Messages folder
Download: iris.lha (21 MB) (dr)
[News message: 28. Nov. 2022, 05:26] [Comments: 0]
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27.Nov.2022
MorphZone (Forum)
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MorphOS: Web browser Wayfarer 4.4
Jacek 'jacadcaps' Piszczek has released version 4.4 of his web browser Wayfarer for MorphOS. Changes:
- Massive performance gains in decoding of large file images
- Loading progress bar colour can now be configured in Interface settings
- Cherrypicked OffscreenCanvas fixes from latest WebKit sources
- Added handling of very long filenames when finalizing a download
- Fixed a bad free call in the media decoder
- Disabled some stray debug
Download: wayfarer.lha (29 MB) (dr)
[News message: 27. Nov. 2022, 20:02] [Comments: 0]
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27.Nov.2022
Twitter
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Network solution: Amiga Explorer 10
Cloanto's Amiga Explorer allows access to an Amiga's files and drives from a Windows computer, supporting null modem cables, network or Bluetooth adapters to connect. New features in the now released version 10 include a new clipboard - bi-directional sharing of text in the clipboard has been added - and restored "Windows XP SP3" support. This is a free update for all previous versions. The full changelog can be seen under "Properties" on the Windows side. The Amiga update can be done via the Windows page or via Aminet. (dr)
[News message: 27. Nov. 2022, 16:20] [Comments: 0]
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27.Nov.2022
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Announcement: The Amiga-News.de Advent Calendar 2022
Dear readers, each of us probably associates something different with the Advent season: for some, it starts as early as September, since from then on you can stock up on gingerbread and speculoos. Another may look forward to the Christmas markets. In recent years, there has been a nice trend that, in addition to the large and classic markets, there are also small artists' and neighborhood markets that give a hint of the secrecy of childhood.
But two things should be mandatory for everyone - with or without family offspring: an Advent calendar and storytelling. If the simple picture advent calendars or the ones filled with a chocolate figure, which are still known from earlier days, are enough or if it should be the variants filled with perfume, toys and technology, which have almost reached the realm of small furniture in terms of size and weight, is a matter of taste. With our Amiga-News.de advent calendar we want to take up this nice tradition of the calendar as well as the story telling.
We asked developers and programmers for a little anecdote. So from December 1st until Christmas we read in sometimes shorter, sometimes longer texts about their Amiga beginnings, first successes and experiences from their creative wealth and little incidents to smile or even to think about.
If you like, you can try to guess who is participating in our calendar by their initials. At this point, a big thank you to all who participated! (dr)
[News message: 27. Nov. 2022, 15:38] [Comments: 2 - 02. Dec. 2022, 15:07]
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27.Nov.2022
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Aminet uploads until 26.11.2022
The following files have been added until 26.11.2022 to Aminet:
AExplorer_Update.lha comm/net 131K 68k Cloanto Amiga Explorer Update
wla_dx_v10.4.lha dev/cross 7.0M 68k WLA DX - 8-bit CPU Cross Macr...
PortablE.lha dev/e 13M ALL E compiler, r6b (24.11.2022)
AVAGOMouse.lha docs/hard 540K 68k hack Dell mouse for Amiga w/ ...
f1champ.lha docs/misc 74K Statistics of Formula One 195...
nblood.lha game/shoot 1.0M 68k Blood Amiga Port
wcs.lha gfx/3d 1.9M 68k recompiled version of World C...
AmiArcadia.lha misc/emu 4.6M 68k Signetics-based machines emul...
AmiArcadiaMOS.lha misc/emu 4.9M MOS Signetics-based machines emul...
AmiArcadia-OS4.lha misc/emu 5.1M OS4 Signetics-based machines emul...
AmiVms.lha misc/emu 3.4M 68k Simulates OpenVMS commands
MultiMeedio.lha mus/play 32K Script to control many media ...
RNOInfoScreen.lha mus/play 12M ALL Music player front-end and in...
RNOTunes.lha mus/play 8.3M MOS Multi-format audio player
RNOTunes_68k.lha mus/play 8.0M 68k Multi-format audio player
RNOTunes_68k_FPU.lha mus/play 7.9M 68k Multi-format audio player
RNOTunes_AROS.lha mus/play 8.3M x86 Multi-format audio player
RNOTunes_OS4.lha mus/play 8.8M OS4 Multi-format audio player
RNOTunes_WOS.lha mus/play 8.6M WOS Multi-format audio player
sdop.lha text/misc 2.8M MOS DocBook XML to PostScript pro...
UHCGUI-Current.lha util/wb 58K 68k GUI frontend for the UHC-Tool...
(snx)
[News message: 27. Nov. 2022, 07:39] [Comments: 0]
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27.Nov.2022
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OS4Depot uploads until 26.11.2022
The following files have been added until 26.11.2022 to OS4Depot:
nallepuh.lha aud/mis 69kb 4.1 NallePUH (Paula emulation) for O...
rnoinfoscreen.lha aud/pla 12Mb 4.1 Music player front-end and info ...
rnotunes.lha aud/pla 9Mb 4.1 Multi-format audio player
spotless.lha dev/deb 3Mb 4.1 Your favorite debugging tool
portable.lha dev/lan 13Mb 4.1 E compiler, r6b (24.11.2022)
(snx)
[News message: 27. Nov. 2022, 07:39] [Comments: 0]
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27.Nov.2022
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AROS Archives uploads until 26.11.2022
The following files have been added until 26.11.2022 to AROS Archives:
rnoinfoscreen.i386-aros.lha aud/pla 12Mb Music player front-end and info ...
rnotunes.i386-aros.lha aud/pla 8Mb Multi-format audio player
(snx)
[News message: 27. Nov. 2022, 07:39] [Comments: 0]
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27.Nov.2022
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MorphOS-Storage uploads until 26.11.2022
The following files have been added until 26.11.2022 to MorphOS-Storage:
RNOInfoScreen_1.8.lha Audio/Players RNOInfoScreen works as ...
RNOTunes_1.0.lha Audio/Players RNOTunes is a GUI based...
MultiMeedio_1.4.lha Audio/Scripts A script to control man...
Chrysalis_3.17r3_Micro... Chrysalis This pack allows you to...
PortablE_r6b.lha Development/E PortablE is a recreatio...
SDL_2.26.0_Libraries.lha Development/Library All Libraries SDL2 : SD...
ncursesw_6.3.zip Development/Library ncursesw (ncurses with ...
MorphOS_in_detail_1.1.pdf Documentation/MorphOS An old documentation ab...
VICE_2.4.lha Emulation Old version of VICE, an...
BootClock_1.30r1.lha Misc A little and easy progr...
Stellarium_0.8.2.lha Misc A MorphOS port of Stell...
PastePass_2.0.lha System/Utilities A simple passwordmanage...
Hexedit.zip Text/Edit View/edit files in hexa...
sdop_0.90.lha Text/Misc DocBook XML to PostScri...
(snx)
[News message: 27. Nov. 2022, 07:39] [Comments: 0]
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27.Nov.2022
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WHDLoad: New installers until 26.11.2022
Using WHDLoad, games, scene demos and intros by cracking groups, which were originally designed to run only from floppy disks, can be installed on harddisk. The following installers have been added until 26.11.2022:
(snx)
[News message: 27. Nov. 2022, 07:39] [Comments: 0]
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27.Nov.2022
Amiga.org (forum)
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Event: World of Commodore 2022 in Toronto (Canada)
Next weekend, on Decmber 3 and 4, the "World of Commodore" will take place in Toronto. Hosted by TPUG (Toronto PET Users Group) - founded in 1979 and, according to its own information, the oldest continuously active Commodore user group - the event can be attended not only on site but also virtually via Zoom.
Amiga-related speakers will be David Pleasance (formerly of Commodore UK) and Ranko Rodic (Minimig updates) as well as the YouTubers Amiga Bill and Dan Wood. (snx)
[News message: 27. Nov. 2022, 07:39] [Comments: 0]
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27.Nov.2022
Seiya (ANF)
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PDF magazine: REV'n'GE 140 (Italian/English)
Besides the Italian original issue, the PDF magazine REV'n'GE ("Retro Emulator Vision and Game") is also available in English. The magazine's reviews compare, if available, the different ports of classic games to the various platforms of their time.
Amiga-related, the current issue is about "Superhero" and "Theatre of Death". (snx)
[News message: 27. Nov. 2022, 07:39] [Comments: 0]
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27.Nov.2022
Jochen Wenz (ANF)
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ENTER: Computer and Retro Museum in Switzerland
For Commodore fans and lovers of nostalgic devices of all kinds, there is the ENTER museum in Solothurn, Switzerland. Besides record players, video recorders, tube radios and historic computers (including Swiss makes with 68k processors) of all brands, there are also various Amiga 1000s, 2000s and 3000s on display, as well as a lot of Commodore computers from the 70s and 80s.
Being not just behind glass, (almost) everything is hands-on. On a C64, for example, there is a rare music keyboard including cartridge. And in an archive for repair manuals, you can make copies. The "64er" magazine can be found there up to the year 1991. And for gamblers, there are various old slot machines and a pinball machine.
In the museum shop, you can also buy active and passive electronic components, but also old long-playing records, for example. Next year, the museum will move to a new building in the neighbouring village. (snx)
[News message: 27. Nov. 2022, 07:39] [Comments: 0]
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26.Nov.2022
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Dock: QDock V1.27
At the end of October Sami Vehmaa had published the first version of his start bar "QDock" (amiga-news.de reported), which he constantly develops further (YouTube video). Since our last news item he has added a second row of icons and with the version V1.27 released today the menu function has been changed: if you hover the mouse pointer over an area, the menu pops up.
The tool is currently available for 1.50 Euro or more and is primarily intended for emulators or Apollo cards due to the high CPU requirements. AmigaOS 3.2 (the author could not test under AmigaOS 3.1), graphics card and 22 MB RAM are required. (dr)
[News message: 26. Nov. 2022, 19:34] [Comments: 0]
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26.Nov.2022
MorphZone (Forum)
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MorphOS: Password manager PastePass 2.0
Stefan 'Kronos' Kleinheinrich's PastePass is a password manager for MorphOS with an encrypted database, which pastes the user name and password on a corresponding keyboard shortcut. A password encryption utility is also included. With the pre-release version 1.9 from early November, the author had reworked the code, added many security checks and streamlined the entire GUI and program flow. Now he has released version 2.0 with the following changes:
- fixed date format in about window
- fixed loss of focus on main password
- fixed an issue where deleting the database could make it impossible to enter a newly created one
- reactivated OpenURL support (doubleclick on item)
- added missing locale strings
- changed the default save behavior, it will now only autosave on changing the master PW everything else will pop up a requester if try to quit without manually hitting the "Save" menu before
- fixed some minor typos and oddities
- added the SimpleCat ".cs" file for translator (hope thats the right one, been a while...)
- added French locale
- database gets set to "changed" on exiting settings so you will get reminded to save before quitting
Download: PastePass.lha (76 KB) (dr)
[News message: 26. Nov. 2022, 17:23] [Comments: 0]
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26.Nov.2022
AmigaPage (Forum)
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AROS: Graphical user-interface for SoX in development
Fabio 'Allanon' Falcucci - known among others for the brain game G.E.M.Z. or the GUI system HGUI - is working on a graphical user-interface for the CLI tool Sound eXchange (SoX), which can be used to convert sound files between different file formats and optionally apply different sound effects.
As he now writes in a second progress report, his interface is already usable and shows this with several screenshots available. You can support the author on his Patreon page. (dr)
[News message: 26. Nov. 2022, 08:50] [Comments: 6 - 29. Nov. 2022, 07:55]
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26.Nov.2022
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Video: Programming demos using "AProcessing" framework
In a six-episode video series so far, 'Prince' (founder of the demo group 'Phaze101', assembler coding course) talks in detail with developer and Resistance member Alessio 'OzzyBoshi' Garzi about his "AProcessing" framework for creating demos and intros. (dr)
[News message: 26. Nov. 2022, 06:08] [Comments: 0]
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26.Nov.2022
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8-/16-bit emulator for Mac OS and Linux: Clock Signal V2022-11-25
Thomas Harte's Clock Signal is an emulator for various 8- and 16-bit platforms aiming to be invisible to the user. The idea is to simply start the source medium without configuring the emulator oneself. Clock Signal is available for Mac OS and Unix-compatible systems. While there is also an Amiga emulation included, it "remains wilfully inaccurate" for now.
Yesterday version V2022-11-25 was released. Changes:
- addresses flag errors in the 68000's shift operators, improving compatibility
- adds support for Apple II .HDV files, and adds a SCSI status indicator
- fixes a potential stuck-key problem with using the keyboard as a replacement joystick under macOS
(dr)
[News message: 26. Nov. 2022, 05:42] [Comments: 0]
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25.Nov.2022
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Programming: Different methods for Dual Layer Graphics
In the latest entry of his "Amiga Tech" series, Dutchman Jeroen Knoester explores various methods for creating a dual-layer screen without using Dual Playfield mode (YouTube video). The associated program including assembler source code is available on his website and is intended for OCS/ECS Amigas, such as the Amiga 500, but according to him also works on AGA machines. (dr)
[News message: 25. Nov. 2022, 18:06] [Comments: 0]
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25.Nov.2022
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Metacompiler: Portabl E r6b
Christopher Handley's metacompiler "Portabl E" works by translating your code written with the programming language Amiga E into C++, and then using GCC to compile it into an executable. This needs an installation of GCC. Another update fixes two bugs of the recently released version r6 (amiga-news.de reported). Changes:
- Changed: AmigaOS4: Worked-around a bug in the latest OS4 SDK (54.16), which has problems compiling C++ code, unless you use GCC v6.4.0.
- BUG: Amiga: Fixed the installer still failing at "Copying executables..." in some cases.
(dr)
[News message: 25. Nov. 2022, 06:31] [Comments: 0]
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24.Nov.2022
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Video: Short tutorial for AMOS Pro
In another part of his series of short tutorials about AMOS Pro (amiga-news.de reported) the retro and Amiga fan 'Yawning Angel' explains how to create menus for an AMOS program. (dr)
[News message: 24. Nov. 2022, 06:49] [Comments: 0]
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24.Nov.2022
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Wireless Gamepad: Commotron Gamepad Turbo 2000 Super
Already at the Amiga37 (report), the new wireless Commotron gamepad for the Commodore 64 family, all Amigas and Ataris was introduced and presented. As a special feature, the fourth (fire) button got the jump function and is located directly below the fire buttons. The pad was tested with Turrican II on the C64 in the following video (YouTube video).
Features of the gamepad:
- 6 meters wireless distance
- 3 fire buttons
- 4 different auto fire speeds (3, 5, 8 and 13 CPS = Clicks Per Second)
- 1 UP button (Jump/Skip)
- Memory function (remembers last mapping and autofire settings)
- 9-pin joystick connector (D-Sub, DE9)
- Automatic sleep mode and fast reconnection
Four different designs are available: AMIGA GP001-AMI, Commodore GP002-C64, ATARI GP003-VCS & GP004-JR. The gamepad can be ordered either in the in-house store or from partners like Alinea or Poly.Play for about 39 Euro plus shipping. (dr)
[News message: 24. Nov. 2022, 06:03] [Comments: 0]
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