15.Oct.2024
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CLI command: sysvars V0.13
The sysvars command creates environment variables with system information in order to make it dependent on these, for example, in the startup sequence, which patches are included. So far there is information on the CPU and FPU, the chipset, the vertical frame rate (PAL/NTSC), Kickstart version and revision, version and revision of bsdsocket.library as well as whether the emulator UAE is used - and if so, in which version.
Version 0.13 provides the following changes:
- Added $VampireType, $VampireCoreRev and VampireClockMult
- Some code cleanup and optimizations
(dr)
[News message: 15. Oct. 2024, 06:00] [Comments: 0]
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15.Oct.2024
(ANF)
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Demis Hassabis: Nobel prize winner with an Amiga background (Update)
Demis Hassabis was recently honoured with the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his outstanding contributions in the field of artificial intelligence. In particular, the development of AlphaGo, which was the first program to beat a professional Go player, and AlphaFold, which enabled revolutionary breakthroughs in protein folding, earned him the Nobel Prize. These achievements mark significant advances in AI research and biomedicine.
Interestingly, Hassabis began his career as a game developer: As teenager he was working for Bullfrog on the AI of the original Amiga game "Populous II". As project manager and lead programmer of "Theme Park", that, among other systems, was also released for the Amiga, and as a key contributor to "Black & White" (not released for the Amiga), he made a creative impact on the gaming world at an early age. The design principles Hassabis learned during this time – balancing complexity and usability, creating immersive worlds – later influenced his approach to developing AI systems. The ability to model and make accessible complex systems, which he honed as a game designer, fed directly into his scientific work. This interdisciplinary connection between game mechanics and AI research shaped his visionary approach to technological challenges.
In addition to Theme Park and Black & White, Hassabis was also involved in games like Republic: The Revolution. His experience in game development helped him to bridge the gap between entertainment and science by finding creative solutions to real scientific problems.
Update: (06:30, 17.10.24, snx)
Addition of Populous II to the news-item, based on an interview from 2016. (nba)
[News message: 15. Oct. 2024, 01:06] [Comments: 0]
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15.Oct.2024
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File system: smbfs 2.22 published for AmigaOS 3 and 4
Olaf Barthel has released the new version 2.22 of the Samba file system smbfs for AmigaOS 3.x and 4.x after a break of almost five years and four months of development (amiga-news.de reported about version 2.1).
smbfs allows Amiga users to access Windows and Linux SMB shares, enabling network drives to be used like local drives. This makes it easier to integrate Amiga systems into modern networks and facilitates file sharing between different platforms.
"This release rolls back the changes contributed by Tygre in version 2.23, which implemented a workaround for dealing with directory and file names which made use of Unicode codepoints that could not be represented on the Amiga using the ISO 8859-1 character set. Tagged as amiga-smbfs 2.23, it was intended as a test in preparation for integrating Tygre's changes." Olaf Barthel continues on the smfbs-page on GitHub: "Sadly, the time to polish this feature never arrived and in the mean time there was no robust amiga-smbfs version to use instead. The amiga-smbfs 2.22 release intends to correct this, for the time being."
The file system in the new version for AmigaOS 3.x (68k) and AmigaOS 4.x (PPC) can be downloaded for free from the GitHub page under the title link. (nba)
[News message: 15. Oct. 2024, 00:48] [Comments: 0]
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14.Oct.2024
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Video: How the diskspare.device stores 984KB on a DD disc
Robert Smith is currently working on an update of DiskFlashback (amiga-news.de reported) and is currently working on support for the diskspare.device (Aminet link), which is a supplement or replacement for the trackdisk.device, which can be used to format discs with 960 KB or 984 KB or, if an HD drive is available, with 1920 KB or 1968 KB. In his latest video, Smith shares his findings and results on how it works. (dr)
[News message: 14. Oct. 2024, 10:58] [Comments: 0]
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14.Oct.2024
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Video series: The Amiga 1000 as a Workstation
In a nine-part journey through time, Thomas Cherryhomes attempts to categorise the Amiga 1000, which was officially launched in USA in 1985, in terms of its practical suitability as a workstation and to compare it with similar products.
At that time the Amiga 1000 was running AmigaOS 1.1, a 256KB expansion and two disk drives. Since, as the author writes, workstations were mainly used for scientific and technical tasks, with the expectation of developing customised software for a specific task, the series ultimately focused on this. The parts published so far:
(dr)
[News message: 14. Oct. 2024, 10:37] [Comments: 0]
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14.Oct.2024
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Print-/PDF magazine: ZZAP! Amiga, issue 18
After Patreon supporters, also the general public can now purchase the September/October issue of the “ZZAP! Amiga” magazine. It consists of 60 color pages in A5 size. A look at the table of contents can be found on Amiga Magazine RACK. (dr)
[News message: 14. Oct. 2024, 09:05] [Comments: 0]
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13.Oct.2024
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Aminet uploads until 12.10.2024
The following files have been added until 12.10.2024 to Aminet:
rse-coolcorkscrew.zip demo/aga 708K 68k Demo from Deadline 2024
SFL-AlteredVision.lha demo/aga 63K 68k AGA 64K Deadline 2024
Artstate-PartyPack25.adf demo/disk 880K 68k Demopack October 2024
Artstate-PartyPack26.adf demo/disk 880K 68k Demopack October 2024
DSR-InsideTheMachine.adf demo/disk 880K 68k 1st at Deadline 2024
saukkopack-31.adf demo/disk 880K 68k Demopack October 2024
spreadpoint-4fx.zip demo/intro 953K 68k 2nd at Deadline 2024
therican.zip demo/intro 32K 68k OCS 32K intro Deadline 2024
ps_tt01.zip demo/sound 3.8M 68k Music-Disk Deadline 2024
HWP_Malibu.lha dev/hwood 638K ALL Scala emulation for Hollywood
GoGoGo.adf game/actio 880K 68k A horizontal scrolling mini-game
Amifish_AROS.lha game/board 4.2M x86 Chess program UCI compatible
Amifish_MorphOS.lha game/board 4.1M MOS Chess program UCI compatible
Amifish_OS4.lha game/board 4.5M OS4 Chess program UCI compatible
AmiArcadia.lha misc/emu 8.7M 68k Signetics-based machines emul...
AmiArcadiaMOS.lha misc/emu 9.1M MOS Signetics-based machines emul...
AmiArcadia-OS4.lha misc/emu 9.3M OS4 Signetics-based machines emul...
AmiVms.lha misc/emu 3.8M 68k Simulates OpenVMS commands
tap2bas.lha misc/emu 22K 68k ZX Tape file to Basic source ...
Defiance.zip mods/crash 91K Short hiphop mod from '97. 8 ...
DigitalViolence.zip mods/crash 16K Short looping mod from '95. 8...
IntuitionPart2.zip mods/crash 104K Short and slow from '96. 8 bi...
Relapse.zip mods/crash 224K Trashy rude noise from '95. 8...
myrsky.lha mods/jorma 176K Myrsky by Vesuri (Remix)
anaiis_midi.lha mus/midi 54K 68k xMidi
swap16.lha util/cli 6K 68k CLI utility to swap high/low ...
GoVD.lha util/wb 21K 68k Virtual Desktops for Workbench
(snx)
[News message: 13. Oct. 2024, 12:55] [Comments: 0]
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13.Oct.2024
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OS4Depot uploads until 12.10.2024
The following files have been added until 12.10.2024 to OS4Depot:
x5kbootmedium.zip doc/tut 16Mb 4.0 Create X5000 boot medium from a ...
x5kbootstick.zip doc/tut 26Mb 4.0 Create a USB installation stick ...
arabic_console_device... dri/inp 3Mb 4.1 An arabic console device, line &...
amiarcadia.lha emu/gam 9Mb 4.0 Signetics-based machines emulator
amifish.lha gam/boa 4Mb 4.0 Chess program compatible with UC...
hwp_malibu.lha lib/hol 638kb 4.0 Run Scala presentations
smbfs.lha net/sam 561kb 4.0 SMB file system client; compleme...
(snx)
[News message: 13. Oct. 2024, 12:55] [Comments: 0]
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13.Oct.2024
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AROS Archives uploads until 12.10.2024
The following files have been added until 12.10.2024 to AROS Archives:
amifish.i386-aros.lha gam/boa 4Mb Chess program compatible with UC...
setscreenmode.i386-aros.zip uti/she 93kb Auto set screenmode for differen...
(snx)
[News message: 13. Oct. 2024, 12:55] [Comments: 0]
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13.Oct.2024
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MorphOS-Storage uploads until 12.10.2024
The following files have been added until 12.10.2024 to MorphOS-Storage:
Malibu_1.5.lha Dependencies/Hollywood Scala emulation for Hol...
AmiArcadia_33.40.lha Emulation A Signetics-based machi...
Pac-Man_1.0.lha Games/Action Port of Pac-Man
dethrace_0.8.0.lha Games/Race Reverse engineering the...
Asteroids_1.0.lha Games/Shoot2D Port of Asteroids
sdl2-space-invaders_1.... Games/Shoot2D Port of sdl2-space-inva...
OpenRCT2_0.4.14.lha Games/Strategy OpenRCT2 is an open-sou...
OpenRCT2_0.4.15.lha Games/Strategy OpenRCT2 is an open-sou...
Amifish_2.0.lha Games/Think Chess program compatibl...
(snx)
[News message: 13. Oct. 2024, 12:55] [Comments: 0]
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13.Oct.2024
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WHDLoad: New installers until 12.10.2024
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 12.10.2024:
- 2024-10-12 improved: Wiz'n'Liz (Psygnosis) access fault fixed, 2nd button supported, trainers added, fast memory used (Info)
- 2024-10-09 improved: Superfrog (Team 17) adapted to WHDLoad 19, now uses internal joypad read routine (Info)
- 2024-10-08 improved: Trolls (Flair Software) another version supported, trainer bug fixed, manual included (Info)
- 2024-10-07 updated: Trolls (Flair Software) patch rewritten, audio/graphics/crash bugs fixed, 68000 support, more trainers, another version supported, all versions share features (Info)
(snx)
[News message: 13. Oct. 2024, 12:55] [Comments: 0]
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13.Oct.2024
Krzysztof Donat (ANF)
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GoVD: Virtual desktops for the Workbench
Krzysztof Donat's program GoVD makes it possible to use the Workbench on up to eight virtual screens under AmigaOS 3.2 (and possibly also 3.1.4, but he has not tested this). You can specify which Workbench windows and programs should use which of the screens.
The program is shareware, the fee is freely selectable. Developers who have placed programs on Aminet can register the program free of charge. (snx)
[News message: 13. Oct. 2024, 12:55] [Comments: 0]
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13.Oct.2024
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DIY: Two internal floppy disk drives in the Amiga 500
Rod Thomas' AmigaDualFloppyInterface allows the use of two internal floppy disk drives in the Amiga 500 (tested only with version 6A of the motherboard). In practice, one of them is a Gotek drive.
His project allows the use of two internal floppy drives without any additions to the external drive connector and without irreversible modifications to the Amiga, with the option of selecting which of the two drives can be booted from; the second drive can still be used. (snx)
[News message: 13. Oct. 2024, 12:55] [Comments: 0]
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13.Oct.2024
Mastodon (ANF)
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Interview with Ian Griffiths (Amiga Addict)
For his website "Prankster101 Productions" Azfar Shah did an interview with Ian Griffiths at the title link, editor of the Amiga Addict magazine (Wikipedia). (snx)
[News message: 13. Oct. 2024, 12:54] [Comments: 0]
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13.Oct.2024
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Platform game: Tiny Pixel Adventure
Tiny Pixel Adventure is a classic platformer. Development has not yet been completed, but it is already playable. No information is given on the system requirements. (snx)
[News message: 13. Oct. 2024, 12:54] [Comments: 0]
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12.Oct.2024
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Managing ADF files: Rust library "adflib" V0.1.4
In March 2023, we reported on Volker Schwaberow's project to convert ADFlib, written primarily in C by Laurent Clevy, into the Rust programming language. At that time, it could be used to read and write ADFs, read and write tracks and sectors in a byte array.
He has now recently released version 0.1.4 and thus also made a disc bitmap implementation available.
He kindly explains to us: "adflib V0.1.4 offers some interesting functions for working with ADF disc images (Amiga Disk File). It allows you to read, write and manipulate ADF files directly from Rust code. The main functions include:
- Extracting file information and directory structures
- Extracting individual files from ADF images
- Displaying and modifying disc and bitmap information
- Formatting ADF images (OFS and FFS are supported)
- Defragmenting ADF images
The Rust library includes a command line tool. It allows you to use many of the library functions directly from the shell without having to write your own Rust code. For example, you can quickly list the contents of an ADF image or extract individual files.
A special feature is the existing hunk implementation. Hunks are a special file format for executable Amiga programmes. The integration into adflib potentially makes it easier to work with Amiga executables within ADF images. I also plan to integrate this into the command line interface so that you can directly display information about Amiga executables from it.
All in all, adflib V0.1.4 is a first solid version for developers who want to work with Amiga disc images. The library offers basic functions that should be sufficient for many applications. At the same time, it is still manageable and easy to understand.
I would also like to emphasise that the library is designed to work not only with physical ADF files, but also with ADF data embedded in ZIP archives. DMS support is also planned. Tests are also included and we have modularity in the library.
For retro computing enthusiasts or developers of Amiga emulators, adflib could be a useful addition to the toolbox. The Rust implementation promises robustness and good performance. More importantly, the build environment is available on almost any system and the project can be easily compiled and installed. The library is also available in the Crates.io library repository, which allows installation via 'cargo install adflib'. This is an easy way to obtain the command line tool and the library.
Of course, I'm happy if anyone wants to participate in the project. Contact is easily possible via Github." (dr)
[News message: 12. Oct. 2024, 21:56] [Comments: 0]
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12.Oct.2024
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Preview video: First level of the game "The Gate"
At the beginning of October last year , we introduced the AMOS game "The Gate" by Fabio 'Allanon' Falcucci, a mixture of "Impossible Mission" and "Project Firestart" with his own ideas and concepts. The developer reports on his latest progress in a recent Patreon post and has also published a video of the first level under the title link. (dr)
[News message: 12. Oct. 2024, 06:55] [Comments: 0]
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11.Oct.2024
Amigaworld.net (forum)
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APEO - AMOS Professional Executable Optimizer
Simone 'saimo' Bevilacqua's APEO, which he originally developed for his game "Ring around the World", patches the executable files generated by the AMOS Professional Compiler 2.0 to make them faster. The technical details are included in the manual. (snx)
[News message: 11. Oct. 2024, 09:34] [Comments: 0]
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11.Oct.2024
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Installing floppy disks on hard disk: JST 7.4
JST can be used to install disk-based games on hard disk using WHDLoad slaves. After a long break - our last news-item dates back to 2002 - the further development of this program, which was first released in 1996, has been resumed in 2017. Today's focus is on WHDLoad compatibility, non-upgraded Amigas (or weak emulations) and those without a keyboard, i.e. a substitution by the CD³² control pad.
This year's update 7.4, released three days ago, supports the ReadJoyPort API of WHDLoad 19 (to some extent) and fixes a potential memory cleanup bug when using the Kickstart ROM 1.3. (snx)
[News message: 11. Oct. 2024, 09:34] [Comments: 0]
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11.Oct.2024
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Text editor extension: Motorola 68k assembler environment for Emacs
For those who want to program with current versions of the text editor Emacs (Wikipedia) in assembler for the Amiga, there is an open source extension for it at the title link. (snx)
[News message: 11. Oct. 2024, 09:34] [Comments: 0]
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11.Oct.2024
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Interview: Matthew Leaman (Amiga Kit, A-EON) about the A600GS
About a year ago, the first photos of the ARM-based "Games System and Classic 68K compatible computer" A600GS were shown at AmiWest 2023. Since August 2024, the console is officially available (amiga-news.de reported) and we regularly report on updates and new games or software that is provided for the A600GS. Time to talk to Matthew Leaman, Managing Director of A-EON and Amiga Kit, about this project and possible effects on AmigaOS 4 software such as the Enhancer Software.
Amiga-News (AN):Matthew, we've been reporting a lot lately about the latest project from you and Amiga Kit: the A600GS. How satisfied are you with the sales launch?
Matthew Leaman (ML): Sales have had a encouraging start. We hope to recuperate our two years of development costs as we sell more units. We are continuing to develop new software for the A600GS every few weeks so we are hoping this will encourage more sales.
AN: Perhaps you should introduce our readers to the computer a little more. GS stands for Game Station. So is it primarily intended for gamers? What can a buyer expect?
ML: "GS" stands for two things: primarily it stands for Games System. However you may know that the The B-52s had a song called "Good Stuff". To keep in tradition with motherboards having B52 song titles printed on them, the A600GS board has "Good Stuff" on the silkscreen.
AN: Reading the forums, there seems to be some confusion about what the system is based on: many think it's AmigaOS 3 or WinUAE, but it's actually AROS, right? Why did you choose it?
ML: For the last 6 years we have been working on projects called System Release V46 and System Release V54. They share the same code base, V46 is compiled for 68K and V54 is compiled for PPC. System Release V54 components have been released as part of the Enhancer Software for PPC machines such as the X1000, X5000 and A1222 Plus.
System Release V46 is installed on the A600GS and has a high degree of OS3 compatiblity. It features a new DOS command set written from scratch, a brand new datatype library, picture datatype and AK-Datatypes added. Quite a few system classes are added to enhance the programs. Our developers have also recreated a few System, Utilities and Prefs tools from the ground upwards. On top of SystemV46 sits AmiBench desktop running in 32bit 1080P screen resolution with it's AB-Dock, Clock and Calendar. Your readers can find out more by visiting the Wiki.
As you can expect to develop all of this software has taken many years. To make it a completely bootable system we used AROS 68K components to supplement the original software we have made.
AN: Now I'm not an AROS expert, but when I want to test games via the Amiga emulator vAmigaWeb and then use the AROS ROMs, many of them don't run. Did you have to test all the games and then adapt them?
ML: The A600GS user is free to install any ROMs they have legal licence to in the ROM section. You can achieve the maximum compatibility by doing this. Remember how games did not run on your Amiga 500 and you had to use a Kickstart ROM switcher to play the older games? This is the same principle but instead using software.
The A600GS also allows users to alter the individual game settings for Chip, Fast and Slow Memory. Some old games did not like memory expansions. I remember in my Amiga 500 having a trapdoor expansion with a switch to disable it. A600GS users can do this easily in the software.
AN: We recently reported not only that there is a new Final Writer version for AROS, but also that a special edition of the word processor is installed on the A600GS: did this also contribute to your decision in favour of AROS?
ML: We were very grateful to Timothy Deters for contributing Final Writer for pre-installation on our product. All of the credit goes to him and his team of developers. We have not had any hand in the development of that application. He has invested a lot of time and resources in modernising the application. It is looking great for fans of Final Writer to get a new 2024 edition. Using AROS ROMs enabled us to use his software without a lot of development work.
AN: And what about support for current printers? Is it possible to print directly from A600GS?
ML: You can print directly using Postscript printers or alternatively print to PDF.
AN: In addition to Final Writer, an updated version of OctaMED is also installed and a new version of PPaint has been announced: were these applications planned from the outset? Or did you decide during the project that the A600GS should become more than just a gaming computer after all...?
ML: From the outset we planned to bundle these A-EON software applications. It gave us an excuse to invest more development into them. The expanded user base from the A600GS will hopefully make development of OctaMED and PPaint financially sustainable.
AN: How did the idea of the new computer come about in the first place?
ML: As you know our beloved computers are getting older and sometimes they need recapping and maintenance. The cost of retro computers on auction sites such as Ebay has gone to very high levels. There is not a low cost way of introducing our community to new users. We hope that the A600GS will be the low priced computer system that shows that our community likes gaming but also being creative with applications such as OctaMED and Personal Paint. AmiBench also lets A600GS users install their own applications. We recently added the famous YAM application to AmiBench (amiga-news.de reported) so now you can send and receive your emails on the A600GS.
AN: Did you realise that there was a gap in the market or was this an idea that had been in the drawer for a while?
ML: We first pitched this idea a couple of times since 2012 to see if we could obtain ROM licences. We emailed the concept pictures and description of the project to parties who we thought could help us. Unfortunately we had no feedback. Presumably the lack of response was due to the ongoing legal problems. The original hardware idea was slightly different: we were going to put the new system in one of our Arcade Evolution Joystick cases and call it A1200GS. It would have a joystick built in and plug directly into the television. The software idea would be exactly the same as the A600GS with an integrated AmiStore App Store. Of course since 2012, ARM hardware has improved substantially so the A600GS is now a far more rounded computer system with features such as WiFi and Bluetooth. The delayed release has let us develop our own system software so we did not to partner with other third parties to launch the A600GS.
AN: Matthew, you are not only the managing director of Amiga Kit, but also of A-EON: the new Enhancer version should have been released some time ago, right? Has further development there suffered from the A600GS project? Or was it worth the wait and the Enhancer software benefits from the A600GS project? What is the status?
ML: We had a software contribution given to us for the Enhancer Software 2.3 which would have represented a key element of it. Unfortunately the contribution was withdrawn so we have had to remove it. This held the Enhancer Software 2.3 update back for a short time. There are lots of nice fixes and small updates in the current development version of ES 2.3, some of which are developed concurrently for the A600GS. We are polishing it for release in the near future.
AN: Are AmigaOS 4 and its users still on the priority list?
ML: A-EON always has it's hardware and software customers as a priority. We are not responsible for OS4 development of course, this is the domain of Hyperion Entertainment.
AN: Is the "LibreOffice" project still being pursued in principle?
ML: This is still an active project and has not been cancelled.
AN: Thank you very much, Matthew! We will continue to follow the various projects with interest. (dr)
[News message: 11. Oct. 2024, 07:08] [Comments: 1 - 11. Oct. 2024, 13:39]
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11.Oct.2024
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Preview video: Platformer "Robot Jet Action 2"
Tomasz 'Carrion' Mielnik is in the process of porting his platformer "Robot Jet Action", originally released for the C64, to the Amiga as "Robot Jet Action 2" (amiga-news.de reported). In a new preview video #3 under the title link as well as the corresponding developer diary (Polish), the author explains that he has now switched from the programming language Blitz Basic 2 to the game construction kit Scorpion Engine. (dr)
[News message: 11. Oct. 2024, 05:31] [Comments: 0]
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09.Oct.2024
Andreas Falkenhahn (ANF)
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Hollywood: Malibu 1.5 published
Andreas Falkenhahn writes (translated): "Version 1.5 of Malibu, the Hollywood plugin that can display Scala scripts, has now been released. This version contains some bug fixes that were necessary to make the recently released iconic Scala games Beyond a Steel Sky and Adventure 2 by Quantum Code Monk work.
With Hollywood and Malibu you can now play these games comfortably on your nextgen Amiga, Windows, Mac OS, Linux etc. In addition, Malibu now also supports the Mac OS ARM64 platform. Malibu is now available for free download from the official Hollywood portal." (snx)
[News message: 09. Oct. 2024, 10:44] [Comments: 0]
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09.Oct.2024
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AVX instructions: An Amiga fan at Intel?
Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX) are an instruction set extension for x86 processors introduced by Intel. Arnaud Carré's blog article at the title link is specifically about the AVX-512 instruction set published in 2013. The vpternlogd instruction it contains immediately reminded him of the Amiga's Blitter.
A frequently used minterm value for it is 0xE2, because it is suitable for masked 2D sprites: If the middle bit of three bitmaps (here: used for the mask) is set, the output value of the first bitmap is used (here: the sprite); if the middle bit is not set, the output value of the third bitmap is used (here: the background). And - coincidentally or not - in the official Intel documentation for the vpternlogd instruction, interestingly, from the 256 possible values also 0xE2 was chosen as an example. (snx)
[News message: 09. Oct. 2024, 10:44] [Comments: 0]
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08.Oct.2024
Scene World Podcast (ANF)
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Scene World Podcast Episode #200 - Mark Cale ("The Last Ninja")
To mark the 200th episode of the Scene World podcast, the team welcomes Mark Cale, founder of System 3 and pioneer of the video game industry. Cale worked on legendary titles such as International Karate and The Last Ninja. In the interview, he talks about his impressive career and the development of these iconic games. The interview starts at 16:15. It is a special anniversary episode that delves deep into the history of video games. (nba)
[News message: 08. Oct. 2024, 13:54] [Comments: 0]
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08.Oct.2024
spillhistorie.no - Retrogamingpappa (ANF)
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Interview: Plaion Marketing Manager on licensing games for retro consoles
The Norwegian video game culture magazine spillhistorie.no has published an interview (‘Licensing is a complicated business’) with Simon Turner, Marketing Director UK and responsible for the global marketing of the retro division. He talks about the modern replica consoles such as TheA500 Mini and TheC64 and the new The Spectrum and explains the challenges of licensing old games and the process of securing the rights to these titles. He also provides insights into the inspiration behind these consoles and possible future projects, mentioning the full-size version of the THEA500, but not discussing it in detail. (nba)
[News message: 08. Oct. 2024, 13:48] [Comments: 0]
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08.Oct.2024
Lord_Santa
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Platform game: 2tinycowboys for the Amiga 500 (update)
2tinycowboys is a new game for the Amiga 500 that is designed for two players to compete against each other on a single screen in an arcade-platformer style. Compared to the PC and Android version, the Amiga version stays closer to the original vision of the developer and includes new features such as a level selection menu and visual upgrades. There are currently five levels available.
The game was developed specifically for the Amiga 500 and, in addition to the existing features, also offers plans for future expansions. The developer uses the Scorpion engine and is working on new gameplay modes that will be created exclusively for the Amiga version. The gameplay can be seen on YouTube on the developer's channel Lord_Santa.
2tinycowboys can be downloaded from the website under the title link for a voluntary donation of 2 US dollars.
Update: (08:55, 12.10.2024, dr)
A new version 15 is now available, which offers a number of improvements under the hood as well as redesigned levels with more graphics. (nba)
[News message: 08. Oct. 2024, 10:36] [Comments: 0]
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08.Oct.2024
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"Demoscene - The Amiga Renaissance, Volume 3" now available
The new book ‘Demoscene – The Amiga Renaissance’ is the third part of a series of illustrated books about the demoscene (amiga-news.de reported). Following the first two volumes, "Demoscene - The Amiga Years" (1984-1993) and "Demoscene - The AGA Years" (1994-1996), Volume 3 now sheds light on the years 1997 to 2023 and thus the amazing development of the Amiga demoscene, which continues to thrive today despite Commodore's bankruptcy in 1994.
Although the Amiga was technologically overtaken by PCs, the demoscene remained a creative niche in which developers created complex effects in real time, graphics and soundtracks on old hardware. The book is dedicated to the challenges and unwavering enthusiasm of the Amiga community, which maintained its passion despite all obstacles. Available for 35 euros, this English-language title is a must-have for fans of the demoscene. (nba)
[News message: 08. Oct. 2024, 10:15] [Comments: 0]
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08.Oct.2024
MDS
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3D polygon models: 3D Object Converter v1.0 for AmigaOS 3.x/4.x
3D Object Converter is a new tool for 3D polygon models, also often referred to as wireframe models. The software was originally developed for MS-DOS and Windows and has now been ported to AmigaOS 3.x and 4.x in version 1.0.
The application can be used to import 3D model data from external sources, display it interactively and export it in various common 3D file formats. According to the developer, the program supports 886 file formats (list of supported formats).
The system requirements stated are an Amiga with a 68020 processor or higher, AmigaOS 3.0 or higher, MUI 3.8 or higher, and 32 MB RAM. According to the developer, A600GS, AmigaOne A1222+ and PiStorm32 Lite are compatible. With an existing internet connection, the tool can be automatically updated via a web updater.
The 3D Object Converter is offered as shareware at a price of 40 euros.
More information, features, formats and screenshots can be found on the project's website under the title link. (nba)
[News message: 08. Oct. 2024, 10:00] [Comments: 0]
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