Preview video: Star (Dust) Wars - Directors Cut
Released in 2018, Star (Dust) Wars is a space shooter based on classic pseudo-3D shooters, which is also the first Amiga game from the Electric Black Sheep team. As they have since developed an AMOS animation player that can also display full-screen animations, they are planning a "director's cut" of their first work.
(cg)
Porting Amiga applications to Linux: AxRuntime 41.12
Krzysztof 'deadwood' Śmiechowicz' "AxRuntime" is a runtime environment for Linux that emulates the AmigaOS API and thus enables ports of Amiga applications to Linux or the development of applications that can be compiled for both AmigaOS/MorphOS/AROS and Linux. Version 41.12 is based on version 20241102-1 of the ABI v11 developer branch and brings the following new features:
AROS x86_64: version 20241102-1 of the ABI v11 developer branch
AROS developer Krzysztof 'deadwood' Śmiechowicz had given his stable branch of AROS for 64-bit Intel and AMD processors the code name ABIv11 to distinguish it from the ABIv1 version in progress in the main AROS repository. The new version replaces its predecessor from April 2023 and contains numerous new features:
Functionalities:
BoingIconBar closes with CTRL-C (Mazze)
Simplify adding tethering in Prefs/Network (#115) (deadwood)
Speed up boot using ahci.device (deadwood)
Delete files with DEL key in Wanderer (#116) (deadwood)
Offline wolumes showing correct icons in Wanderer (Kalamatee)
Improvements to identification of filesystems in icon.library (Kalamatee)
Added name pattern matching to Break command (Mazze)
Initial work on supporting RISC-V architecture (Kalamatee)
Further work in InstallAROS to support EFI booting (Kalamatee)
Implemented processing ARexx commands in Zune (deadwood)
Updated to new pthread library from BSzili (deadwood)
Updates:
AROS build system (deadwood, Kalamatee, Johan G)
Kernel (Kalamatee)
Documentation (Mazze)
Prefs/Boot v1.4 (deadwood)
Italian and Polish translations (AMIGASYSTEM, retrofaza)
Use standard C library function names in SDK (deadwood)
D520 video converter: another production run from Alinea Computer Press release: The popular D520 external video converter is once again being produced by Alinea Computer. The electronics and firmware are the same as the previous version. However, a new aluminum housing has been chosen and the labeling has been adapted.
The D520 is plugged into the video port of the Amiga and converts the video and optionally the audio output - provided it's also been connected to the Amiga's audio connectors using a provided cable - to a HDMI signal.
In order to better estimate the size of the planned production run, the new D520 can already be pre-ordered at the e-mail address info@alinea-computer.de.
A detailed product description and pictures of the D520 can be found in our store. (cg)
MorphOS: E-mail client Iris 1.40 (update)
Jacek 'jacadcaps' Piszczek has published version 1.39 of his e-mail client Iris for MorphOS. Changes include faster caching and displaying of already downloaded messages as well as choosing where to save the folder caches.
Update: (21:52, 14.11.24, dr)
Meanwhile version 1.40 is available which provides some minor improvements and bug fixes. (snx)
News from former Amiga partner: QNX SDP 8 free for non-commercial use (update)
The Amiga and the QNX real-time operating system have crossed paths twice in their long history: Amiga-owner Gateway 2000 commissioned QNX at the end of 1998 to develop the AmigaOS 5.0 (AmigaSE 1.0) operating system based on the QNX system, before the collaboration was terminated in July 1999 due to strategic decisions in favor of Linux (amiga-news.de reported). At the end of 2001, Haage & Partner released the Amiga emulator package AmigaOS XL for x86 systems, which included not only Amithlon but also the AmigaXL emulator based on the QNX 6.1 host system emulator based on the host system QNX 6.1 (amiga-news.de reported).
Now there is news from QNX and an opportunity to look beyond the end of our noses: QNX has been popular and established in the field of vehicle software and IoT systems for several years. With the new version, Blackberry, the current owner, is focusing on the "QNX Everywhere" initiative and is providing the QNX software development platform 8.0 for non-commercial use as a free download. QNX 8, a powerful, true microkernel real-time operating system, offers particular advantages for applications with strict real-time requirements.
The free version also includes a demo source code library on GitLab and a special Raspberry Pi version, which makes it easier to test and develop on the platform. QNX, known for its stability and efficiency, could thus also be of interest to hobby developers and private projects.
Update: (16:44, 13.11.24, nba)
QNX 8.0 is part of the QNX Software Development Platform 8.0, which is free for non-commercial use. Registration can be done on the QNX website. This article has been updated to clarify this point. (nba)
Game: Memory training with A Little Remember Game
The new game “A Little Remember Game”, developed by Thomas Kölsch, launched at the end of October. Inspired by the classic electronic game "Simon" from the 1970s, it challenges players to remember and correctly select rows of colors.
With user-friendly controls using the mouse or arrow keys, players can train their memory skills. The game also offers the option of selecting your own music and offers a full-screen option. Version 1.0 is now available under the Emailware license and requires at least AmigaOS 4.0.
PDF-Magazine: RetroMagazine World #23 (Englisch)
RetroMagazine World is a free PDF magazine that appears at irregular intervals and is dedicated to technology and games for 8- and 16-bit computers and game consoles. Issue #23, published at the end of October 2024 and downloadable under the title link, contains, among other things, an easy-to-understand deep dive into FPGA technology, reviews of current books, a review of the Amiga 38 in Mönchengladbach and a test of the shoot'em'up Reshoot Proxima 3. (nba)
A600GS: Update 46.1.878 with MIDI-support and workaround for black screen error
As part of the new update v46.1.878 for the A600GS computer, Amiga Kit has introduced support for MIDI for the OctaMED music software. The update can be installed using the built-in live update system or a downloadable update file. An overview of the changes:
AmiBerry
Extended uaelib to provide info about available midi devices and allow setting currently active midi input and output devices.
Merge with latest amiberry-lite github 5.7.5
A600GS
BrlTTY was installed by default on earlier image versions, this caused a conflict with Drawbridge USB as it "stole" the USB serial device from the DrawBridge drivers! This update will do a one time purge of brltty where installed. This had the strange effect of the first floppy drawbridge connected not working but the next one attached would work as if it were the only one attached.
Later images are not affected.
Added support in the GUI for Competition Pro joysticks. Also add support for 8BitDo Zero 2 Bluetooth controllers. Widen the pattern used for testing input devices for joystickness so that more (hopefully all) gamepads should now be recognised as such.
If the bluetooth system was disabled then dbus messages sent to it to scan for attached or paired devices etc would trigger an Abort() in the libdus library rather than return the usual error message, unfortunately then causing the main GUI to Abort() to black screen. Added additional tests at all levels to prevent DBUS message being sent to BlueZ when not extant. This solves the main and up till now mysterious causes of the black screen after boot issue!
OctaMED
Added a menu item to allow selecting the desired input and output A600GS MIDI devices
Amiga Boing Blog: PD game reviews and preconfigured WinUAE game collections
The “Amiga Boing Blog” offers tests of numerous games from the PD/freeware area. In addition, the author also compiles game collections with freely distributable games or games licensed to him, which are already delivered with a fully prepared WinUAE - the user only has to add a Kickstart ROM.
Collections that come in RP9 format - and therefore work perfectly with Cloanto's Amiga Forever - are also available, as well as a collection of games that work with the AROS-based Kickstart ROM supplied with WinUAE.
(cg)
Printmagazin: issue 145 of Amiga Future can be read online
The German and English issue 145 (July/August 2020) of the print magazine “Amiga Future” can now be read on the magazine's website in the form of image files of the individual pages. Remaining copies of the magazine and a higher-resolution PDF version can be purchased from the publisher. (cg)
Demo development: Source code and developer diary for "Inside the Machine"
With Inside the Machine (video), the group 'Desire' won the demo competition of the Deadline Party in the “Oldschool” category in October.
Programming language: CanDo v3 example scripts
lifeschool22' has recently released projects using the CanDo V3 programming language (see article on the history of CanDo), including a demo version of the point'n'click adventure game MonkeyEye and an early version of the racing game Jari-Matti Rally. Now he has published some code demos that he created and used during the development of his games. (dr)
CLI command: sysvars v0.15 (update)
sysvars is a small CLI tool that creates several environment variables holding valuable system information (e.g. CPU and FPU, the chipset or Kickstart version). These variables can be used, for example, in the startup-sequence to enable/disable certain patches, assigns etc.
Version 0.14 provides the following variables for checking the installed memory:
$TotalChipRam - Total amount of Chip RAM installed in KB
$TotalFastRam - Total amount of real Fast RAM installed in KB
$TotalSlowRam - Total amount of Slow RAM installed in KB
$SlowRamFirst - indicates that slow ram is first in memory list
In addition, variables are no longer available if they do not make sense. For example, $FPU is not set to an empty value, but is removed if the CPU is < 68020. Further changes:
Fixed critical bug for Kickstart 1.3 and 1.2
added probevar utility to test for the existence of environment variables
Added compile support for PhxAsm and asmotor
Update: (17:02, 15.11.24, dr)
Version 0.15 is now available, which fixes a bug in the vampire detection and adds the $TotalRam variable. (dr)
Virtual desktops for the Workbench: GoVD v1.2
Krzysztof Donat's program GoVD makes it possible to use the Workbench on up to eight virtual screens under AmigaOS 3.1.4 and 3.2. The new version 1.2 fixes problems reported by the community:
Fixed the issue with proper detection of Workbench windows (desktop and directory windows) that occurred on certain configurations.
Event: Photos of AmiWest 2024
Following his videos of this year's AmiWest Robert Bernardo now has published photos at the title link, made by Bernie Innocenti, member of the Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network. (snx)
WHDLoad: New installers until 09.11.2024
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 09.11.2024:
Internet radio: TuneFinder 1.0
Marcin Spoczynski's TuneFinder enables users to search internet radio stations with various filter options. Results are displayed in a list with detailed station information, and the app includes options to save selections as either a complete PLS playlist for playing them via AmigaAMP directly from within Tunefinder or as individual station files.
Added 'rounds' to complete in single-player, rather than collect goldbars, you are to kill all the enemies on the screen, in order to advance to the next round and so on and so forth.
Tweaked the enemies, Zombies can now only be killed by stabbing, sherif can be shot (4 bullets), single-player mode (solo) is also available as 2-player (2psolo).
Programming language: AmiBlitz 3.9.10
Version 3.9.10 of the AmiBlitz programming language has just been released. As the developer Sven 'honitos' Dröge writes, he has now taken the time to move the current development tree into a final release version. The editor now consists of pure Basic code and can be easily improved. He is now in the process of revising the REDDebugger, but this is a long way off.
Print-/PDF magazine: Komoda & Amiga plus #26 (English/Polish)
"Komoda & Amiga Plus" is dedicated to retro gamers and deals mainly with Commodore's 8-bit computers and Amigas. The topics of the current issue 26 include various game reviews, for example on Cecconoid or Holy Warrior, as well as background articles on the game Tony and the financial aspects of Commodore's history.
The magazine is available as printed edition for 12,75 Euro (plus about 5 Euro shipping) as well as digital edition (PDF) for 3,48 Euro. (dr)
System-friendly Pac-Man game: Part 4 of the video series
Thomas Cherryhomes is working on an Amiga implementation of the game Pac-Man, which is using operating system calls only (amiga-news.de reported). Meanwhile part 4 of his video series has been published at the title link, showing how to add a MessagePort to a task, so that other tasks can change the score by sending messages.
The source code shown in the videos is published at GitHub.
Print magazine: Amiga Future, issue 171
The German and English edition 171 (November/December 2024) of the print magazine Amiga Future has been published and can be ordered directly from its editors and from Amiga specialist retailers. The topics of the issue include:
Interview Simon Phipps
Interview Carlo Pastore
Interview Achim Pankalla
Review SkyShapers
Review The Ruin of 0ceanus Pr1me
Review Roguecraft
Review Dr. Dangerous: Secrets of the Temple of Xol'Tan
Review Hell Bent
Review Holy Warrior & Raffle
Review Agente 357
Review ignition
Review X-bEnCh
Special Amiga Usergroups
Special myTOOLS
Special Knowledge 4: Amiga vs. Atari - Which was the better gaming machine
Special A1222 from a coder's perspective Part 2
Special Classic Reflections - Whatever Happened to MacroSystem? Part 1
Special Demoscene: The Colour Out Of Space
Special Demoscene: As Good As New
Special Demoscene History: The last diskmag of the 1990s
The KickROM Flash Rom V2 is a programmable Flash-Rom replacement for EPROM devices (e.g. 27c400) or Kickstart-Roms in the Amiga computer. Up to 4 Kickstarts (512 kb each) can be loaded onto one device and switched via jumpers or a switch.
The special feature of version 2 is that the respective active block is also displayed via the LED display on the top. Version 1.x will continue to be sold until it is completely replaced by version 2.
A KickRom flash can be purchased from 29.95 euros. A programming service is also available for customers without a programming device.
Features
Fits all Amigas (a separate version for the Amiga 600 is available)
Holds up to 4 Kickstart roms on one chip
Switchable via jumpers or an optional rotary switch
New in V2: Active bank is indicated by an LED display on the top.
The KickRom Progger v2 is a programming device for programming the KickROM flash devices. In addition, commercially available 27C400 modules can be read out. The programmer can be operated via the serial interface directly on your Amiga or via USB on more modern computers. From V2 the Progger has a new firmware with some new features and instead of a MicroUSB interface a USB-C socket for data transfer and power supply.
The KickRom Progger V2 can be purchased without accessories for 49.95 euros. A zero-force socket and a serial cable for BigBox Amigas are available as options.
As of V2, the Y-modem is also supported via its own firmware in addition to the X-modem protocol.
The programmer has the following additional capabilities with the Y-modem protocol:
File size of the file to be programmed is checked before the programming process
Support for packet sizes of 1024 bytes. This enables faster transmission.
All 4 blocks can be read out directly and are automatically divided into four files and named according to the block numbers (rom_x.bin).
All 4 blocks can be written directly to the respective block by naming the block number in the file name (file_[1-4])
A byte swap is automatically performed for .rom based on the file extension
Upgrade service for customers of version 1 of the programmer
For customers of V1 of the KickRom Flash Progger we offer an inexpensive upgrade service. Customers who want to upgrade the programmer to V2 simply contact us via e-mail. For an upgrade price of 10 Euro plus shipping costs we will replace the control chip and flash the new firmware. (cg)
Pacman variant: Fast Food 2 (AGA)
The Pacman variant “Fast Food 2” (Video) is the unofficial successor to the Codemaster classic Fast Food, written with the game construction kit Scorpion Engine. It offers 25 stages, 3 different levels of difficulty and saveable high scores. The soundtrack has not yet been completed; a final version with all the music tracks will be released shortly. (cg)
MOD player: rePlayer V0.16.6 for Windows
The new version 0.16.6 of rePlayer, Arnaud Nenys' versatile audio player for Windows (amiga-news.de reported), offers Amiga fans and music enthusiasts a wealth of convenient features and some major updates. The tool, originally developed to play Amiga music modules without any problems, allows to play modern standards such as MP3 or OGG, and is now also able to handle the XMP format. (nba)
Java tool: ham_convert 1.10.3
Sebastian Sieczko's Java-based tool ham_convert converts modern graphic formats into the Amiga's HAM format and is now available in version 1.10.3. Changes:
Improved Dynamic Hires OCS palette generation.
Dynamic Hires and Atari 8-bit post-conversion screen allowing user to modify iff saving, enable opening output image, enable opening source directory (palettes file is always saved).
Game: Hyper Wings 1.2
Christian Geldmann's Hyper Wings (amiga-news.de reported) is an Asteroids-like space shooter (video). The game, which is written in assembly and offers various levels of difficulty, is still in active development despite the version number 1.2. A "Best of 5" mode and sound options have now been added, and improvements have been made to the graphics and game engine.
New articles on Obligement website
The articles below have been added to the website of the French Amiga/MorphOS magazine Obligement in the last two months.
News for September/October 2024.
Old articles from Génération 4 23 to 25: Review of Operation Stealth, Review of Wipe Out, File: Cabal, the movie, the video game, News: Disney turns to microcomputing, Review of Battlemaster, Reiew of Back To The Future Part 2, Review of Flood, File: Dick Tracy, the movie, the video game, Interview with Jim Walls, Review of Wings Of Fury, Review of Neuromancer, etc.
Interview with Cyril Houzé (Dune AGA graphic designer).
Interview with Steve Hammond (game designer from DMA Design).
The best of Byte from February to August 1990.
File: The "Who's who?" of Commodore and the Amiga.
File: David Plummer's biography.
File: Tracking routines in Graftgold's Amiga games.
Tutorial: Installing Odyssey 64-bit on AROS as a Linux host.
Tutorial: How to configure and use Synergy Server and Synergy Client on MorphOS.
Tutorial: How to create a Kickstart diskette for the Amiga 1000 with WinUAE.
DIY: Restoring two Amiga 4000s.
Programming: Assembler - Programming a cracktro on the Amiga.
Programming: Creating a demo - chapter 3, part 2, the sprites.
AROS: Review of October 2024
In his blog, Andrzej 'retrofaza' Subocz has published a summary of AROS/x86 news for the month of October at the title link. (dr)
Preview video: Danmaku #6
Daniel 'Daytona675x' Müßener is in the process of continuing a project that was started four years ago and interrupted in the meantime. Now that the complete, new development team is together - graphics: Holger Crome, music: Roland 'Triace' Voss, code: Daniel 'Daytona675x' Müßener - the original name of the game "Hyperborea" (amiga-news.de reported) has been discarded in order to finally decide on a common title. Until then, the Japanese name of the game genre for Bullet Hell, Danmaku, will be used as the working title. Changes to the sixth preview video:
new WIP stage 1 background graphics: a preview of Crome's great level 1 artwork!
new animated player ships: the original ship asset was bought from Matt and reworked by me to fit the palette restrictions.
new explosions: same for the new explosions which have a lot more animation frames now.
new spread-shot gfx: there was rightful criticism that it looked a bit too much like an ice-cream cone, so I threw it away and made a new one.
new additional animated bonus stars: IMO the bonus stars were a bit too static, so I added a smaller animated variant.
bonus star magnetism: it's just a much more satisfying game experience if you collect lots of bonus stars instead of missing most.
new sparks on hit: when you hit an enemy there are procedural "sparks" now, for additional feedback and to make it more vivid.
animated bullets (not really new but for the first time in a WIP video): it's no real bullet hell game without those famous rotating oval bullets ;)
shadows for all floating enemies / player ships: I'm a big SWIV fan, so this was kind of mandatory ;)
fresh set of enemy placeholders: no more BS :) The current placeholders' originals have either been bought from Matt or lent from a Dezaemon spritesheet before quickly being tweaked for the engine.
title screen placeholder: the name "Hyperborea" is no more. And until we found a new one, I asked some AI to generate a title screen for a classic shmup named "Placeholder" using Japanese for the title...
Well, good enough for now (and better don't try to translate it ;) ).
player ship / shot coloring configurable in main menu: was so quick and easy to add, so why not!
shadows and sparks can be enabled / disabled in main menu: in case somebody doesn't like the eye candy.
further really massive bullet code / memory optimizations: the more bullets the better, so...
new bullet patterns: still rather simple because it's a WIP demo.
Diskmag: Amiga Rulez 24-02 (English/German)
The third issue of the diskmag “Amiga Rulez” is available simultaneously in German and English versions. For the first time, the current issue features game tests (Sensible Soccer) and a review of the best scene productions of 2023. (cg)
WHDLoad: New installers until 02.11.2024
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 02.11.2024:
Action adventure: October update for Castlevania AGA
Dante Mende has released another update to his conversion of Konami's NES action adventure “Castlevania”. He adjusted the moving platforms on level 2 to align with the floors in the level (so the player sprite don't appear with "feet sunk" in the floor if he just walks out of them). DJ Metune is now in charge of the music department, about half of the soundtrack is still currently finished. (cg)
GUI for identify.library: Huh? 0.1
Marcus 'ALB42' Sackrow's “Huh?” is a MUI-based graphical user interface for Richard 'Shred' Körber's identify.library, which can read built-in extensions and other properties of the system. (cg)
Module player: NostalgicPlayer 2.5.0 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). In addition to updating important programme components, version 2.5.0 now makes it possible to have a question mark in the file name (to separate the file name and the standard sub-song) and to drag and drop a link to a module into the module list.
An installation package can be found on Microsoft Store, the ".NET Desktop Runtime V8" is required. (dr)
Universal PCI driver system: OpenPCI 9.2
To stem the proliferation of incompatible, vendor-specific software solutions for PCI extensions, Benjamin Vernoux introduced his “OpenPCI” system in 2003 and actively developed it further until 2007. However, the original OpenPCI was only a wrapper that continued to rely on the original, proprietary libraries of the respective hardware provider.
Thomas 'Thor' Richter (e.g. mmu.library, P96, ViNCEd...) tries to solve this problem by implementing the OpenPCI.library from scratch: his version no longer needs the original, hardware-specific driver systems but communicates directly with the hardware.
Thanks to compatibility with the original OpenPCI solution, existing drivers should continue to work with this newer system. On the hardware side, all known PCI bus boards are supported: GRex, Prometheus including its offspring Firestorm and Firebird as well as the various Mediator busboards from Elbox.
OpenPCI has been undergoing rapid development since the beginning of the summer, with three new versions being released in the last seven days alone. (cg)
AmigaOS 4: DTP program Compression 0.4 (Beta)
Achim Pankalla's DTP program 'Compression' allows graphics and text to be placed on printed pages and generates PDF documents from them. New features in version 0.4:
now catches another two error codes during PDF generation
shows an error message when existing file can not be verwritten
always shows only a sequence of 12 pages now, a chooser lets you select which 12 pages
removed wrong status messages
content display now refreshed when pages are added or removed
removed style names from the font name
added ToolType for default PDF directory
corrected some problems of the GUI when using the DEL-key
rewrote the font-handling to use TrueType informations
Block diagram from 1991: the Amiga 5000
The “Commodore International Historical Society” regularly publishes official Commodore documents provided by former employees and other insiders. A block diagram from 1991 by Commodore engineer Dave Haynie shows a design for an “Amiga 5000” in which the CPU/RAM/ROM module is connected to the other system modules - including an “Amiga module” containing the AAA chipset, as well as a “Zorro bridge” - via a PCI bus. (cg)
Jump'n Shoot: La Noche de los Pequeños Espectros
La Noche de los Pequeños Espectros (“The Night of the Little Ghosts”, video) is a Halloween-themed platform game. The title, written with Amiten's “AmiGen” engine (including NinjFeratu) runs on any ECS Amiga with at least one megabyte of memory. A user-defined fee must be paid for the download, but a free download is also possible. (cg)
New features of version 2.0 of the browser include in particular an updated WebKit engine based on the February 2019 version, the porting of the media player from Wayfarer 1.21 and SSE acceleration for media playback, so that YouTube can be used again. (snx)
ePub reader: Legadon 0.3
Marcus 'ALB42' Sackrow's reader for e-books in ePub format, Legadon, has been updated for all Amiga systems.
Besides bug fixes, version 0.3 of the reader transforms some UTF-8 characters that have no direct equivalent in the Amiga character set into corresponding characters - for example various forms of quotation marks, dashes and accents. (snx)
Video series: AmigaOS - A Project with Sina & Paddy (German)
In a German video series with nine parts so far, Paddy da Linco and the developer Sina explore the Amiga:
AROS/x86: Update of the ABI v0 version
In February Krzysztof 'deadwood' Śmiechowicz ported version 20220318-1 of AROS/x86 for 32-bit systems back to the original binary interface ABIv0. Now at the title link as well as on GitHub a second update for it has been published (release notes).
The archive contains just the updated components which can be copied directly onto an existing installation of the operating system. (snx)
Do it yourself: Action Replay III cartridge with case
The ar3 project is a remake of the Action Replay III cartridge for the Amiga and offers modern features to use the legendary hardware module for the expansion port on original hardware. The replica provides the original functions of the module. With the open-source approach, ar3 enables expansion and adaptation to current needs. The GitHub project initiated by Nicola Avanzi provides the data (including Kicad and JED files), ROM binaries and component lists required for the replica in the ar3 repository.
The user fongo2k has provided a template for a 3D-printable case for the Action Replay III replica. The required STL or STEP files can be downloaded for free from the Amiga Action Replay 3 Replica – Case project website.
About the Action Replay Cartridge
The Action Replay III cartridge was a popular add-on for the Amiga 500, 1000 and 2000 that offered developers and gamers various functions for accessing the system's hardware more deeply. The main function was to use the hardware as a cheat module, with which the Amiga could be "slowed down" using a potentiometer to successfully complete tricky game situations. Game data stored in the main memory of a game that was currently running could be changed, for example to give yourself more lives. But the Action Replay III and its predecessors on the Amiga also allowed you to bypass copy protection mechanisms or "rip" music, samples or images, as well as many other functions.
Current lawsuit between Datel and Sony
Just two weeks ago, the “Action Replay” brand from the manufacturer Datel was in the spotlight: on October 17, 2024, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that offering cheat software such as Action Replay for consoles does not necessarily violate copyright law (case C-159/23).The plaintiff, Sony, thus lost a legal dispute against the British company Datel, which offers cheat software for PlayStation. With this ruling, the ECJ clarifies that the use of such software does not violate copyright protection provisions under certain circumstances. (nba)
Documentary: The Making of Worms (1995)
The documentary "The Making of Worms (1995)" on YouTube provides a comprehensive insight into the creation of the cult game Worms by Team 17. The one-hour film shows the history of the game, starting with developer Andy Davidson's idea and ending with its implementation and release in 1995.
In addition to game designer Andy Davidson, who recently announced a free new edition of "Worms: The Director's Cut" to mark the game's 30th birthday (amiga-news.de reported), producer Martyn Brown, graphic artist Cris Blyth and musician Bjørn Lynne also have their say in the documentary. The creators provide special insights into the mechanics, music and legacy of Worms, which has become one of the most famous classics in video game history. (nba)
A600GS: Update 46.1.864 with floppy drive support
With the new update v46.1.864 for the A600GS computer, manufacturer Amiga Kit is introducing, among other things, support for floppy drives via Drawbridge (amiga-news.de reported). The changes in detail:
System-v46-updates:
ARM Graphics Library: Add Text backend function to support generate to the antialiased text alpha template. Give 10% additional speedup on text rendering. BugFix: RGB src image with no mask was not handled correctly, resulting in no rendering at all in some cases or incorrect alpha in others.
ShowSlide v46.1 added to C directory.
AmiBench: Migrate to using an intermediate AmiBench-Startup script before the traditional User-Startup and filter the latter from update archives. Now the user can edit and customise this without having customistions overwritten
AmiSSL v5.18 updated
Icon Library v51.4.589 updated
Version command v46.21 updated
CLI v46.10 updated
Add def_DF0.info et al and snapshot the lower half of screen under current disks.
AB-Dock: Use custom rendering to draw IntuiText based lables, cacheing the font etc to try and reduce text flicker.
SetGadgetAttrs( node, GA_Selected,....) caused TWO refreshes under AROS (and none under OS3.x); Replace with SetAttrs() followed by RefreshGList()
A600GS-updates:
Add support for Floppy disk drives through Drawbridge.
Add note about pressing fire button to enable DB9 joysticks
Scene World Podcast Episode #201 - Charles Cecil (Revolution Software)
In the 201st episode of the Scene World podcast, the team welcomes Charles Cecil, founder of Revolution Software and an icon of British video game development. Cecil, known for some classic adventure games that are still popular today, talks about his career and the development of these influential games. Revolution Software brought many point-and-click adventures to the Amiga, including "Lure of the Temptress" (1992) and "Beneath a Steel Sky" (1994), and also ported the Sierra classic "King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow" to the Amiga. The interview starts at 1:03:08. (nba)
Educational game: Simons Siffror / Simon's Numbers (Swedish)
A playful introduction to numbers and math is provided by the new educational game "Simons Siffror" ("Simon's Numbers") for the Amiga - but only in Swedish text and speech. Players can solve various simple math problems designed especially for children. The user interface is tailored to a young audience, making learning easy and fun.
Simon Siffror was originally programmed by Sami Vehmaa in 1998 for his then two-year-old son. The educational game is currently available in version 1.11 and requires AmigaOS 3.x, 2 MB RAM and a resolution of at least 640x256 pixels with 32 colors (640x480 pixels RTG with 8 colors are recommended). It can be purchased for a small fee of $0.99 from the project website under the title link. (nba)
The ninth issue includes, among other things, the cover story on "Amiga and the Internet" ("Amiga et Internet"), an interview with Oliver Roberts (IBrowse), a preliminary report on Dune AGA, reviews of "Tony - Montezuma's Gold" and "Glubble", a workshop on developing cracktros and a presentation of the A1K SimpleClock, a real-time clock for the Amiga 1000. (nba)
Hyperion continues to be managed by court-appointed administrator
“Ben Hermans BV” (hereinafter: BHBV) was a private company with limited
liability owned by Ben Hermans, which has held
97% of the shares in Hyperion
since 2019 and subsequently also acted as a ‘director’ of Hyperion. In March,
bankruptcy proceedings were
opened against BHBV for the second time and
shortly afterwards, at the request of BHBV's liquidator, a “provisional
administrator” was appointed for Hyperion to manage the company's business
until further notice.
According to a decision by the Commercial Court of Brussels
(automated translation), the provisional
administrator's mandate, which was due to expire at the end of September,
will be extended indefinitely: he will remain in office until any
uncertainties surrounding Hyperion's ownership have been resolved and a new
official director has been appointed. Hyperion will have to bear the costs of
the administrator for this period, as BHBV does not have any funds that could
be used for this purpose.
The BHBV liquidators had requested this extension because, on the one hand,
the shares in Hyperion are the only property of BHBV worth mentioning and, on
the other hand, the intangible assets of Hyperion Entertainment BV continue
to generate income and the interests of the company, its (other) shareholders
and creditors must be protected.
For his part, the administrator has already received assurances from the
other Hyperion shareholders that they do not want to collect outstanding
payments for the time being in order to prevent the company from going
bankrupt and are themselves interested in taking over BHBV's Hyperion shares.
BHBV, on the other hand, is finally bankrupt: Ben Hermans had lodged two
objections to this, but did not appear at the first hearing and withdrew his
objection at the second hearing. The decision is therefore legally binding.
But Ben Hermans is contesting the sale of the Hyperion shares which, according to
the bankruptcy trustees (and the latest available BHBV annual report from 2021),
were owned by BHBV. According to his account, the 2165 shares have since been returned to
his private ownership. The bankruptcy trustees had then initiated proceedings
to legally clarify the ownership of said Hyperion shares.
Editor's note: We have contacted both the liquidator Charlotte Piers
and Ben Hermans to clarify some points that are unclear to us and to give the
parties involved the opportunity to comment. We will provide any feedback as
soon as we receive it. (cg) (Translation: cg)
After our last news item, bugs have been fixed and the program "Sprite Animation" can now export C/Pascal/Basic code of all animation frames. In a recent YouTube video he shows how he created a simple platform game with the help of Raster Master and raylib (GitHub). (dr)
Video: Client for chatbot "Ollama"
In a short video, Marcus 'ALB42' Sackrow presents his client for the chatbot Ollama (German), which he wrote at an Amiga meeting in Berlin. You can install this model on your own server using a Docker container and then access it from a small Amiga programme. He wrote this client with FreePascal. (dr)
News from AmiWest 2024, AmigaOS 4.1 FE Update 3 announced
At AmiWest, which took place this weekend in Sacramento (USA), Steven Solie
and Trevor Dickinson were again present to give presentations and answer
questions about AmigaOS 4 related products. Just like last year, no Hyperion representative was
attending. Instead Bill Borsari from the organizing team announced
during the opening speech that Hyperion “plans” to release an update 3 for
AmigaOS 4.1 Final Edition.
Updated version of AmigaInput which fixes some bugs with certain types of controllers
Latest and stable single core kernel for all hardware platforms including CyberstormPPC/BlizzardPPC for Classic Amigas.
New set of backgrounds from Martin Merz (Mason Icons).
Updated versions of several C commands
Updated datatypes (AIFF, JPG & PNG)
Several updated system libraries
Several Prefs updates (such as URL, Time, Font and Workbench)
Renewed USB stack including:
USB Stack is more stable and handles "quirky" & "stubborn" USB devices better
Support for gamers (now a lot of multiple keys at once are supported)
Bootkeyboard & bootmouse drivers
HID drivers
Improved EHCI Asynchronous hardware driver
Improved OHCI hardware driver with improved cache handling
Updated USBInspector
A lot of bugfixes and improvements in general.
Other system components updates i.e. SObjs, Find system tool, Utilities
Dickinson and Solie were very cautious with other statements. According to
the A-EON owner, a second batch of A1222+ motherboards will be produced,
Solie announced an updated A1222+ kernel with “faster CPU cache”, and an
updated version of the boot media (a USB stick) will be released.
In the subsequent Q&A session, the audience asked about LibreOffice and the
multicore support in the AmigaOS kernel that was announced years ago. The
port of the office suite - which was announced in 2012 - “mostly” works, but there are "a couple of major problems" with C++ exceptions and the rendering of the graphical user
interface. The team consists of Hans-Jörg Frieden, Dickinson and “maybe”
Solie (“I don't do much...”) and they are looking for volunteers who want to
work on the project. The source code is available in a private Github
repository.
The multicore support in ExecSG, which Solie had already stopped mentioning
last year, is “not functional”, but the team is “getting closer every day”.
The plan is to write a kernel-level debugger to get to the bottom of the
problem: Multicore support is running, according to Solie - but they are having problems
getting it to "stay running". (cg)
WHDLoad: New installers until 26.10.2024
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 26.10.2024:
File manager: New test build of Directory Opus 5.92
After eight years a new test build of version 5.92 of the file manager Directory Opus 5 (previously: "Magellan") is available at the title link. Directory Opus 5 became open source in 2012. (snx)
Interview with Linus 'lftkryo' Åkesson
At the title link Jon Håvard Gundersen has conducted another interview for the Norwegian site Spillhistorie, this time with Linus 'lftkryo' Åkesson. The Swede is known for numerous demos and music disks for the Amiga and the C64 and probably above all for the conversion of Commodore hardware into musical instruments (amiga-news.de reported). (snx)
Proof of concept: Image display without RAM
With his proof of concept "Amiga CPU Blit Read-Only" 'nicodex' shows how to display an image on the Amiga without write access to the RAM. His ROM requires a PAL Amiga with a 68000 or 68010 processor clocked at 7 MHz. (snx)
Pre-order sale: Amiga ROM Kernel Reference Manual - AmigaDOS as a printed book Press release: The "Amiga ROM Kernel Reference Manual: AmigaDOS" by Thomas Richter will be published in a strictly limited print run - a project that does not pursue any commercial purpose, but aims to offer the PDF reference manual created by Thomas 'ThoR' Richter as a high-quality, printed book at an affordable price.
Interested buyers can pre-order the English-language paperback book (exp. 392 pages) until 18 November 2024 - the print run is strictly limited and there will be no reprints. The price is ¤29.90 plus shipping (worldwide delivery is offered). Delivery is scheduled around Christmas time.
For the serious programmer who wants to take full advantage of the Amiga's impressive features, the "Amiga ROM Kernel Reference Manual: AmigaDOS" is an indispensable source of information on how to use the AmigaDOS file system, how to interact and implement handlers and file systems and how to make productive use of the AmigaDOS Shell. This volume covers the latest version of Amiga's operating system.
Preorder and further information at the title link. (snx)
Real-time strategy: Vanilla Conquer Red Alert 1.7.2
Artur Jarosik's port of "Command & Conquer: Red Alert", designed for Amigas with powerful turbo cards such as PiStorm/Emu68, Apollo/Vampire V4 or Warp1260, is now available in version 1.7.2.
The new features since version 1.5 include bug fixes, a reduction of the CPU load during video playback, accelerated movement of the map when the right mouse button is pressed and an SDL-less CGX/AGA variant. (snx)
Print magazine: Amiga Future, issue 171 - preview and excerpts
Preview and excerpts of Amiga Future issue 171 (November/December 2024) have been published online at the title link. Content includes interviews with Simon Phipps, Carlo Pastore and Achim Pankalla, several reviews, e.g. of ignition and X-bEnCh, and various specials, for example about MacroSystem, usergroups and the history of the demo scene.
Amiga Future magazine is available as an English and a German printed magazine and can be bought directly from the magazine's editorial office as well as several Amiga dealers. (snx)
Update: (14:16, 28.10.24, dr)
With version 28 released yesterday, some bugs have been fixed. It is now possible to start a single player mode with both characters. (dr)
At the same time, he also updated the demo version. Version 1.06 offers bug fixes, a better user interface, adjusted difficulty levels and timing for traps, etc. (dr)
PDF magazine: REV'n'GE! 163 (Italian/English)
The PDF magazine REV'n'GE! ("Retro Emulator Vision and Game") is available in both the Italian original and an English translation (right-hand side). The current issue 163 also contains three reviews of Amiga titles: the classic "Crystal Dragon", the new release "Dr. Dangerous" and the CDTV title "Gardenfax: Trees & Shrubs". (nba)
Emulator: Denise v2.4
Denise is a cycle accurate and platform independant emulator which since version 2.0 can emulate an Amiga 500 and Amiga 1000 (Kickstart disks are required) in addition to a C64 (German YouTube video). Numerous amiga-specific changes have been made since our last report on version 2.21: among other things, emulation has been improved, especially the disk drive, and a 4-player adapter is now supported. Detailed changes:
Version 2.4
support macOS Metal graphics driver with shaders
added Cocoa as a keyboard driver for macOS (avoid the system dialog to allow input)
added BSD UHID joypad driver, supported on FreeBSD, NetBSD and OpenBSD
reworked on-screen status messages
separated(C64/Amiga) file dialog preview options and moved to Software UI
improved openGL shader cache
improved handling of shader UI
added possibility to assign a different floppy sound profile for external drives
Amiga: added new floppy sound profile
Amiga: emulate Blitter<>Copper conflict
Version 2.3
added RetroArch Shader support
Amiga: improved emulation, especially the disk drive
Amiga: emulated Bitplane <> Refresh conflicts
Amiga: Final Fight Enhanced supported by temporary option to fake ECS Denise
Amiga: written floppy disks are now saved in a second file (this does not apply to uncompressed ADF (don't worry, emulator asks if ADF can be changed)
Amiga: added 4-player adapter
Amiga: added copy protection dongle support
fixed a bug not finishing Drag'n'Drop in Linux GTK
fixed some OSX bugs/crashes [looking for tester]
improved mouse capture handling for all OSes
UI changes (volume slider has moved to status bar, added option to capture pointer by left mouse button)
changed BuildSystem to CMAKE
added Linux/BSD XCB input driver for keyboard/mouse
improved GTK window resizing in some desktop environments
Version 2.2
added D3D11 driver
added italian translation (thanks to Luigi)
added an option to rotate the screen (90°/180°/270°)
added an option to force a single instance when opening another instance from frontend loader or file explorer
fixed Amiga basic volume (louder)
added a more easy way to set stereo separation (Audio -> DSP)
Denise is available cross platform for Windows 32/64 XP and higher, macOS (from version 10.9 on, Intel and Arm) and Linux (Ubuntu).
(dr)
PDF document: The Amiga 500 beginner's guide (German)
In a 46-page German PDF document, Patrick Schwedt has written both his personal Amiga story and, above all, lots of tips and hints for those who have bought an Amiga 500 for the first time or after a long time. There are chapters on drives, memory expansions, turbo cards, operating systems, mice and software, among other things. (dr)
Arananet: Accelerator Trinity 1240-60 can be pre-ordered
After four years of development and extensive testing, "best accelerator ever built for the Amiga A1200" has been finalised. The Trinity 1240-60 supports 68040-68060 CPUs and is compatible with all A1200 revisions. According to the developer, great care has been taken to optimise access to the chip memory, regardless of whether it is equipped with a 68040 or 68060 processor. It can now be pre-ordered for 369 euros.
According to the developers, numerous tests were carried out in which the Trinity was compared with the Blizzard 1260. The Trinity performed better in all the demos tested. The Trinity can be used with any MC68060/040 CPU (EC, LC or Full). When using a 68040 processor with 25MHz, please note that the Trinity automatically overclocks it to 33MHz. The use of a heat sink is recommended. The exact specifications:
128MB SDRAM Fast memory
Optimized chip memory access at any CPU clock speed
68040/68060 compatible (via jumper)
Onboard I2S 16-bit stereo sound card compatible with AHI
Includes a 3.5mm jack Paula PassThrough
Software interface for changing speed (MHz)
Expansion connector for future upgrades
Compatible with any A1200 motherboard revision
Compatible with PCMCIA
Compatible with Kickstart 3.1 (recommended 3.1.4 / 3.2)
Blog: Different versions of Amiga Topaz font
In his latest article, Alexander 'Losso' Grupe, member of the demo group AttentionWhore, reports on his journey of discovery regarding the different Amiga Topaz fonts of the respective Kickstart ROMs: while browsing through Cloanto's collection of Kickstart ROMs and looking at the screenshots, he noticed that Topaz font of the Kickstart intermediate version 1.4 Alpha 18 was already a sans serif, but would not look quite like the 2.0 version of Topaz.
Incidentally, when trying to load the Workbench under Kickstart 1.4, he discovered that a green "Recoverable Alert" with a "Guru Meditation" message appeared. (dr)
Blog: Installing a TF1260
Under the title link, Didier Malenfant describes his findings and experiences with the installation of a TerribleFire 1260 turbo card (see also turbo card comparison (German)). The article will be continuously updated. (dr)
Floppy disk images on PC and Mac: Greaseweazle Tools 1.21
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.
Version 1.21 of the Greaseweazle Tools provides the following changes:
micropolis: Codec for Micropolis hard-sectored MFM disks
gw reset: By default do not reset configured "gw delays"
Fix setup.py installation: Require bitarray earlier than v3
Encryption protocol: AmiSSL 5.18 (AmigaOS 3/4)
Version 5.18 of the open source encryption protocol AmiSSL has been released, which is now based on the latest version 3.4.0 (22.10.2024) of OpenSSL. Changes:
Switched to OpenSSL 3.4, with full compatibility with the latest OpenSSL 3.4.0 (22.10.2024) version, which includes new features, improvements and bug fixes.
Updated root certificates to latest Mozilla-based bundle, dated 24.9.2024.
Emulator: WinUAE 5.3.1
The Amiga emulator WinUAE has been released in version 5.3.1. Changes:
New features
Added Picmatic Marbelle Vice and Tierras Salvajes 100Hz TV laser disc arcade game support.
Updates
Implemented OpalVision undocumented automatic VRAM bank switch. King of Karate demo now have working scrolling background.
Implemented Mediator 1200TX 2x4M PCI window mode.
Serial port emulation updates: transmit speed is now more accurate, receive speed is throttled if data is arriving too quickly.
CTRL+F12 windowed/fullscreen switch now remembers previous fullscreen mode (fullscreen or full-window) and it is stored between sessions in registr/ini.
Bug fixes
Fixed GamePorts panel “Swap ports”.
Some screen resolution/font combinations caused crash when on screen keyboard was opened.
Fixed music glitch in James Pond 2 (non-AGA). Most likely also affected some other interrupt based music players too.
Golem SCSI II HD controller configuration didn’t load correctly.
Fixed SPRxPOS modification in last possible moment being missed causing sprite to be disabled. (Fixes Reshoot R background flickering)
Fixed possible crash when AmigaOS 4 resets during boot and switches to PPC mode if directory filesystem emulation was in use.
SCSI CD audio PLAY AUDIO TRACK/INDEX returned error if end track was higher than last track. SCSI spec allows it and it should not cause error.
Prometheus Firestorm PCI bridge interrupt state bit was inverted.
Print/PDF magazine: Amiga Addict, issue 33
Issue 33 of the English-language magazine Amiga Addict is now available from the publisher addict.media and in British newsstands. In the cover story, the editorial team discusses the influence of the Amiga on virtual reality systems.
This issue also contains reviews of the new games Dr. Dangerous and Droid Special Edition and the classic games Donk, Deuteros and The Chaos Engine, a feature on the Dune II Remaster project, a story about games that should have been ported to the Amiga, a downloadable cover disk with Alien Fish Finger and much more.
Amiga Addict is published every six weeks and is available as a single issue or by subscription, in either printed or PDF format. (nba)
Videogames studies: Experimental action game "Squarez" now available
The recently released Squarez is a remake of the Flash game SQUARES 2 and was developed as part of the CHLudens research project (amiga-news.de reported). This abstract action game is controlled entirely by mouse and offers minimalist, rectangle-based graphics. The aim of the game is to catch grey rectangles while avoiding the yellow ones in various levels.
It is interesting to note that Squarez was designed as a research game to explore why abstract games were rare in the home computer era, even though 1970s art was increasingly moving in this direction. While video games have become increasingly realistic, this game questions the urge for hyperrealism and invites players to enjoy a visually reduced experience.
The game was developed using the so-called cryAEngine and is available to download as freeware. The source code and the "Processing" development tool are also provided. Squarez is an exciting example of how creative research and video games can go hand in hand. (nba)
WHDLoad: New installers until 19.10.2024
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 19.10.2024:
AmigaRemix: Further files added
AmigaRemix collects remixes of well-known soundtracks of Amiga games. Since our last news-item, the following mp3 files have been added:
Flashback, Main Menu Music (Vandahlia Special Remix)
MorphOS: Future versions of Wayfarer without updated WebKit/GTK engine
As Jacek 'jacadcaps' Piszczek has told at the title link, future versions of his web browser Wayfarer will stay with the current version 2.46 of the WebKit/GTK browser engine. Already porting this one would have taken several weeks. Since the WebKit developers removed the Legacy/Win/Cairo target and its dependencies, which Wayfarer requires, and started to use Skia, further MorphOS ports of the engine wouldn't be feasible anymore.
Apart from this, contemporary websites would also increasingly require more performance than the ageing G4 and G5 hardware can offer. For the time being, however, the existing WebKit core would be modern enough to continue to display the pages that can be displayed so far - probably even for several years to come. Until then, he tends to set up a hosted browsing service under Linux or Mac OS, which then generates the Wayfarer pages externally. Accordingly, the next version of his browser will already offer the option of either displaying the web pages locally or having them generated externally using CEF. (snx)
Book: English edition of AmigaOS 3.2 Reference Manual / French one in progress
In February, Look Behind You published the Reference Manual "AmigaOS 3.2 - Das Handbuch" in German language with 512 pages. Now the 480-page English edition is available as a book and as a digital download as well - either directly from the publisher or from selected retailers: Amiga on the Lake (USA), RetroPassion (UK) and Retro 8bit Shop (Netherlands).
In addition, a French version is now also in the works on the initiative of the Swiss retailer Relec. "AmigaOS 3.2 le Manuel" will be available in three versions: as a book for 35 Swiss Francs, digitally for 20 and both combined for 50. Potential buyers are advised to express their interest using a corresponding form.
Meanwhile, the original German edition has been updated in its digital version. This includes additions and corrections. Registered customers can download the PDF file again via their account at the publisher. (snx)
Worms: The Director's Cut 1.5 for the 30th anniversary
Next year, the legendary game Worms celebrates its 30th birthday. To mark the occasion, its programmer Andy Davidson is planning a free new edition for the Amiga. To this end, demo groups around the world are invited to contribute new levels with their own names.
A level template is available on request. The levels must have a size of 960 x 350 pixels and be sent in by New Year's Eve. Specifications for the 16-color palette: 00 - black or dark color (transparent), 01 - white or near white, 02 - pink, 03 - any color, 04 - lighter shade of 03, 05 - any color, 06 - lighter shade of 05, 07-15 - any colors. Layers: Either one image for a conventional Worms level or two images for a two-layer level, consisting of foreground and background with the same color palette. The background - to be kept darker - is shown where the foreground is transparent or the foreground is destroyed in the course of the game. (snx)
Looking back: Battle Chess was not U-certificated in Germany
At the title link, "Gamers Global" looks 35 years into the past and recalls that the Amiga chess game "Battle Chess" was indexed as harmful to minors in Germany in April 1989 on the initiative of the Bavarian State Youth Welfare Office.
However, this only lasted for about five months, as Electronic Arts successfully appealed against it. Despite the high picture quality made possible by the Amiga 500, the depiction of brutality (video) would not have reached the intensity of violence required for the index.
For this reason, during the reassessment the responsible committee came to the conclusion that also children and young people could maintain the necessary distance from the gameplay, which would be in part also imaginative and funny. (snx)
Amiga Future also celebrated the 25th anniversary of its online presence last month: its website went online for the first time on September 9, 1999. What was initially intended as a source of information for the print magazine has since continued to grow with the news section, over 100 online readable issues of the magazine, 7,000 German and 2,000 English test reports, workshops, specials, etc. (snx)
Reshoot Proxima 3: Tin box variant available
To celebrate the first birthday of the shoot'em-up game "Reshoot Proxima 3", it can now alternatively be purchased in a metal box, limited to 55 copies and signed, at the title link - optionally also with a USB stick. (snx)
Logic game: Untangle V1.1
Grzegorz Kraszewski is in the process of writing the logic game Untangle for the Amiga. The player has a number of dots in front of him, which are connected by lines and cross each other. The aim of the game is to untangle the lines by moving the dots so that no line intersects another (amiga-news.de reported). He has now released version 1.1 with the following changes:
Fixed a bug of freeing a memory block twice at game end.
Added the game ending displaying total number of moves and time spent.
Added 25 more levels, now the game has 175 levels.
The game runs in a Workbench window, an Amiga with any processor and Kickstart/Workbench 3.0 or higher are required.
He also wants to design the game so that it will run on any Amiga, from an Amiga 1000 with 256 KB Ram and KickStart 1.1 to the fastest Amiga with 3.x. (dr)
Developer log: What can be expected from the final 64-bit version of Odyssey?
At the end of August, we reported on an initial test version of the Odyssey browser for AROS version 2.0, which is being continuously updated (the latest version of the 32-bit variant was released yesterday). In a short article, Krzysztof 'deadwood' Śmiechowicz describes various ways in which the upcoming 64-bit version Odyssey 2.0 can execute JavaScript code and what impact this has on performance. Some of the results are quite interesting and come very close to today's (October 2024) Firefox performance. This is all the more surprising given that the WebKit engine Odyssey 2.0 was released in February 2019. (dr)
Update: (06:17, 21.10.24, dr)
Demovesion V1.04 is now available. Since the first version, numerous bugs have been fixed, the "M" key can now be used to switch the music on and off and the CPU load should now be lower. (dr)
AROS distribution: TinyAros 3.4.1
The AROS distribution TinyAros is aimed more at users, which is why no developer tools are included (but can be downloaded optionally), which makes it leaner and therefore quicker to install and ready for use.
The now released version 3.4.1 (video) is based on the current ABIv0 backport and also contains updated libraries and programmes, additional included software and bug fixes. (snx)
Cowboy/shootout game: Demo version of Duel
In "Duel", two cowboys (or so far a cowboy and an alien) that can be controlled up or down shoot at each other, with various obstacles providing cover (video). In the finalised version, you will be able to choose from over 20 characters and the weather will influence the battle. (snx)
AmigaOS 4: AmiUpdate V2.55
AmiUpdate is an update system for AmigaOS 4 and helps to keep system components and applications up to date. There are currently 241 entries in the database. Version 2.55 has now been released with the following changes:
Fixed an error in the main list helphint where the date of the update was not shown correctly.
Made some changes to the routines that handle the Ignore Manager, and saving the list back to
disk. An apparent crash appeared to be located there, although it was unreproducible here.
Fixed a memory leak that occurred each time a scan was started.
Reworked the "Abort" logic. It is no longer possible to abort the scan, but aborting updating
works as originally expected. Whether this fixes the unreproducible crashes or not remains to
be seen.
Following a successfull login, users were complaining the details were not saved. The call to
save the details was commented out. No idea why, or how long it's been like that, but it should
work as expected again!
Added support for double-clicking items to expand them in the Path Manager.
Changed the way the notifications are handled when the preferences change.
Prefs_Updates 53.19: Prefs change notifications are now handled differently to suit the new mechanism.
Development tool: vasm 2.0
After eleven months of development, Frank Wille has released the update to version 2.0 for the modular assembler vasm. The changes in version 2.0 in detail:
Support for architectures which have bytes with more than 8 bits.
Output formats bin, ihex, srec, test and vobj currently support >8-bit bytes.
New options -obe and -ole to define the endianess of target-bytes in binary output.
New options -ibe and -ile to define the endianess of target-bytes in binary includes (incbin).
New option -underscore adds a leading underscore to all imported and exported symbol names.
New option -relpath to treat all include paths as relative first, even when starting with '/' or '\'.
Reworked relocations and added the option to define their signedness.
New CPU backend for unSP (micro-nSP), having 16-bit bytes. Contributed by Adrien Destugues.
New CPU backend for the FPGA-CPU HANS, using 32-bit bytes. Contributed by Yannick Stamm.
New output module "pap", which outputs MOS Paper Tape files, as documented in the KIM-1 User's Manual. Contributed by Dimitri Theulings.
When printing error messages in macros, also print the source text line calling the macro.
A macro redefinition prints a warning with the previous definition. The old macro is correctly replaced.
Also warn about initialized space atoms (.space, etc.) in BSS sections.
Workaround for a Windows bug, when reading a source text from stdin directly via the terminal.
Fixed output of 64-bit symbol values in vobjdump.
Directives to suppress listing file output (like NOLIST) will no longer appear in the listing file.
Fixed string constants (in immediate addressing modes) with non-ASCII characters.
Fixed potential buffer overflow when generating a section name for ORG directives (since V1.9f).
Output modules now show the source line for unknown relocation errors.
m68k: Most out of range errors have now become warnings.
m68k: Out of range 8-bit immediate constants write to all 16 bits of the extension word, with a warning (to be able to simulate the behaviour of some old, faulty assemblers).
m68k: Improved -opt-size optimization for move.l->moveq/lsl, which now optimizes all values below 0x8000 where the highest and lowest bit set does not span more than 7 bits (suggested by Erik Hemming).
m68k: Float-constant optimization (OPT of, enabled by default) now also supports integer constant optimization to 16-bit.
GUI for Greaseweazle Tools: ADFDiskBox v2
Keir Fraser's "Greaseweazle" reads the magnetic layer of the floppy regardless of the format used and stores as much information as possible in a so-called "flux level image" in supercard format (SCP), making it possible to read and write back copy-protected floppies. We have been reporting on FluxMyFluffyFloppy, a GUI for the Greaseweazle Tools, for some time now. In addition to GreaseweazleGUI, there is a third alternative for Windows, ADFDiskBox, which has now been released in version 2.
The author John Brett, who has made the source code of his project available on GitHub, has kindly given us a few explanations about the new version:
Both FluxMyFluffyFloppy and GreaseweazleGUI can handle many floppy formats, while my ADFDiskBox specialises in Amiga DOS floppies. It simplifies Amiga DOS batch read and write operations (for ADF, 82-track ADF, SCP:Amiga DOS and RawSCP).
The programme requires Net Framework 4.8 to run, so it should run on Windows 10 (also runs on the 32-bit version) and Windows 11. The latest version of Greaseweazle Tools must first be downloaded and unpacked before the installer can be executed.
I've been learning C# for a while now and I'm creating this program for learning purposes (which is why the code is a bit messy). When I started, the other programs couldn't handle 82-track Amiga DOS discs or batch mode. Now they can, using the editable diskdefs file. My GUI, on the other hand, uses its own version. I have recently added some more features, such as batch mode for all Amiga formats, which is why I have changed the version number to 2. Now more than one Greaseweazle is supported on the same computer. (dr)
AmigaOS 4: Tutorial for creating a USB boot stick for the AmigaOne X5000
'McFly' has published two tutorials (available in English and German) in the OS4Depot which should enable users of an AmigaOne X5000 to create a bootable USB stick either from a system backup (OS4Depot link) or with the help of the AmigaOS 4.1 installation CD and using an RX graphics card OS4Depot link).
When asked, the author kindly wrote us the following about how it came about:
Since my X5000 no longer started properly some time ago due to a mistake on my part and the install CD also refused to start, I was looking for solutions to persuade my X5000 to start again ;-)
At the time, a Radeon R7 graphics card was still installed and I found the following devastating information on the Internet, which explained why the installation CD could not be booted:
"The basic RadeonHD driver on the OS4.1 CD does not support models with the Oland Chip set (R7 240/250), thus you cannot boot from the CD."
I therefore created a boot medium using a card reader and CF card. I have documented how I proceeded step by step in a small illustrated tutorial.
A little later I upgraded my computer with a Radeon RX580 graphics card. Because of this I collected all the necessary information on how to create a USB installation stick for AmigaOne X5000/20 with RX graphics card. This graphics card requires separate drivers which are not included on the AmigaOs4.1 install CD. I have also summarised this procedure in an illustrated guide in the hope of being able to give some users a little help. (dr)
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
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)
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)
