Some rare stuff from me personally

[MethodGit]

Hey, all, just thought I'd introduce to you some particularly rare ADFs you're not likely to find on the web, and I'll upload them around the same time as well. A special gift from me, you might call it. ;)

Some things here might very well interest the TOSEC guys... :)

I'll go through each thing one-by-one, starting off with:

1. James Pond Beta/Pre-Release
Cracked by: Oracle

What you see here is a beta/pre-release version of James Pond: Underwater Agent. I got it amongst a collection of (copied, manually labeled) disks we bought off someone years ago. As you can imagine with beta versions, this game is quite buggy. Most times when you try to start the game again, it can crash. Cheat keys are enabled from the start, try finding out which key does what. ;) Back then I didn't even know this was a beta, I thought it was the actual game as it was released! :p Hey, I was, like, only 9/10 back then? I remember trying to use Amiga Format's James Pond tips (from one of their tips books, which I still have with me) with this game, and getting confused as to why most things didn't apply! :D This early version is in AmigaDOS format, compared to the final version's NDOS format.

The game should be in the Zone right now. :)

[Drake1009]

A james pond more buggy than the released one? Wow. The one I have have got plenty of bugs including graphics bugs and random dying bugs.

[MethodGit]

@Drake: you're sure your James Pond is even the final version? Is it an original or cracked? AFAIK I found no problems with the real version when I played it under WinUAE and WinFellow a while ago.

Anyhow, onto the next surprise ;):

2. Over The Net
Original, commercial release

You may often see a cracked version of this 1991 volleyball game published by Genias (don't know who developed it, was it Genias again?), however this is the original uncracked version which I remember I definitely bought some time after the game's initial release (it wasn't in '91, I think it was two or three years later?), and it became a Chrimbo pressie. :)

I tested the ADF and it seems to be 100% fine to me (after all I managed to grab the screenshots below without problems :D), but I haven't tested every single feature in the game yet, so if you come across any problems with any particular bit in the game, let me know.

Anyone know if this game ever had a copylock (I don't think it does really, as I didn't come across any problems)? In fact, is there a list anywhere on the web that lists all Amiga games known to have protection schemes of any kind?

This game should also be the Zone. :)

Who knows, if any of the WHDLoad team are interested in fixing this game for HD-consumption, they can use this ADF if they want. :great

[MethodGit]

Why won't the pic show properly when I look at the page? The pic's in PNG format, less than 102400 bytes, so I don't see what's wrong. :confused

Edit: doesn't matter now, I altered the image a bit. ;)

[RCK]

Upload it again.
(edit your post > upload a new file)

you should use GIF.

[MethodGit]

Nope, still having problems. :(

Before, with the PNG file, it performed differently under IE and Opera:
IE - the picture simply wouldn't display at all. It would show the little X in the corner meaning it didn't load.
Opera - you could vaguely see the picture, but it seems "airbrushed" randomly over with sand-like effects, if Opera users see what I mean.

And with the GIF file:
IE - it only loads the top part of the picture and stops. When you try to save it it comes out as "untitled.bmp".
Opera - well, it's virtually behaving the same way as with PNG. And bizarrely, it thinks I'm still using the PNG picture. Is my post not using GIF? Is it possible for you to check, RCK?

Could the problems have something to do with the fact that it's quite big? The image shows six screenshots.

[RCK]

The problem with opera is it's cache procedure.
(change File > Preferences > History & cache > Verify Modif = always, always, always).

After, the problem is that your file is corrupted, don't know why.
maybe from your side,
maybe from your upload.

Try to upload again one JPG file this time.

[Twistin'Ghost]

Marz, to begin with, the resolution of your pics is too wide. It forces us to have to scroll to see it all. You should use the standard format we always post game pics with (two 320w images=640w). You can still cram six images on there, I suppose, but constrict your width to 640 pixels so it fits.

IE has a bug that they will never fix where it randomly thinks pics are bmp format, so you just have to live with that.

The reason Opera probably still thinks the image is a PNG file is more than likely because the PNG file is still in your cache. I am using Opera and it tells me that it's a GIF file. That should have been the first thing you thought of, really. :rolleyes

Over the Net was released in Europe by Genias, in the US by Merit, and was developed by Dardari Brothers. Its release date was 1990.

At Codetapper's site, there is a Rob Northen interview that lists most of the RNC games (at least the ones Rob remembers or the ones that were created in-house). I can't believe you didn't know this was here, considering how immersed you appear to be in the whole WHD genre.

[TikTok]

Could it be something to do with progressive images? First time I loaded the page (when the image was a gif), I got a flash of every few lines of the pic, like you see when an image is decoding.

[§ane]

Originally posted by Twistin' Ghost
IE has a bug that they will never fix where it randomly thinks pics are bmp format, so you just have to live with that.The reason for this is because they ARE bitmaps, IE partially downloads the file to examine the header and determine the file type, it's why sometimes you have that short pause before the download window is shown.

It appears random because it's not often people rename their bitmaps with a .jpg extension.

To prove this, upload a bitmap with a .jpg extension or vice versa and attempt to download it.

[MethodGit]

It doesn't seem to matter now, I cut two screenshots off the image (not in a very professional way though, I just ran the game again and captured some new grabs ;)), and it seems to work okay now.

Originally posted by Twistin' Ghost
[quote]Marz, to begin with, the resolution of your pics is too wide. It forces us to have to scroll to see it all.

What resolution are you using? AFAIK the higher the resolution, the less likely you need to scroll across the page.

You should use the standard format we always post game pics with (two 320w images=640w).

I could, but I feel that some parts of the game garner grabs of their own... :rolleyes

You can still cram six images on there, I suppose, but constrict your width to 640 pixels so it fits.

Yeah, maybe I should've done it in a vertical way.... should I change it again, or is it okay as it is?

IE has a bug that they will never fix where it randomly thinks pics are bmp format, so you just have to live with that.

Hurry! If we flame Microsoft about the problem, they might just give in and sort it out... :cheese

The reason Opera probably still thinks the image is a PNG file is more than likely because the PNG file is still in your cache. I am using Opera and it tells me that it's a GIF file. That should have been the first thing you thought of, really. :rolleyes

I've sorted out the cache options in Opera now. :)

Over the Net was released in Europe by Genias, in the US by Merit, and was developed by Dardari Brothers. Its release date was 1990.

Where did you get this info from, I wonder?

At Codetapper's site, there is a Rob Northen interview that lists most of the RNC games (at least the ones Rob remembers or the ones that were created in-house). I can't believe you didn't know this was here, considering how immersed you appear to be in the whole WHD genre.

Is it a complete list, though?

@§ane: okay, but GIFs can't be bitmaps surely?

[MethodGit]

3. Dune II: The Battle For Arrakis
Original, commercial, uncracked version

Well, what can I say? :rolleyes This could well be the sole strategy game that inspired Westwood to create Command & Conquer (which itself would become a strategy gaming icon) and beyond. This is uncracked, but I think there's a manual protection bit after you complete the first level, so that could be a major problem if you want to play the whole game.

Do any of the hackers on here (Codetapper, Amigaboy, Galahad etc.) know if it's possible to manually hack the manual protection out of the game with just a hex editor (like with Wizball and its disk protection)?

I checked all the disks (all files seem to be working and copyable, except for the following one) and only SAVEFAME.DAT on Disk 4 reports a checksum error when you try to copy it somewhere. I'm not sure if it's just my copy or it happens with all known copies, but it's not a major priority anyway, you can still play the game in general. ;)

In the Zone as you finish reading this. :)

N.B. sometimes this game is also known as Dune II: Building Of A Dynasty (not sure if this is the console title or something else).

[Mangar]

How are any of these considered rare?

[RCK]

Originally posted by Mangar
How are any of these considered rare?

That is a good question :p

[MethodGit]

They're rare in that you can't download these babies from the internet (and before anyone blabs "Hey, Dune 2's too commonly available on the web", I mean you can't download an *uncracked* version anywhere can you?), obviously!

[Twistin'Ghost]

Originally posted by §ane
The reason for this is because they ARE bitmaps, IE partially downloads the file to examine the header and determine the file type, it's why sometimes you have that short pause before the download window is shown.

It appears random because it's not often people rename their bitmaps with a .jpg extension.

To prove this, upload a bitmap with a .jpg extension or vice versa and attempt to download it.
I am just gonna have to disagree with that completely. I have downloaded pics from websites here at work and have IE save them as BMP, and then go home and re-download the same exact file and it be in the correct gif or jpg format. And not only is IE clueless as to what the file format is in such cases, it can't even discern the name of the file, meaning that everytime this happens, you are left with Untitled.bmp When this happens, I can open the source and see that the pic indeed has a name and proper extension. I could understand if there was some unique thing in the jpeg header that IE may not be familiar with, but it is able to display it. And why would IE just 'lose' the filename, while Netscape and Opera neither have a problem with either?

[Twistin'Ghost]

Originally posted by MarzAttakz
What resolution are you using? AFAIK the higher the resolution, the less likely you need to scroll across the page.
Well, that isn't an opinion, it's a fact. I daresay my resolution is more than likely higher than yours is. Normally my display is 1280x720, but since I have to temporarily use a different monitor, I am at a mere 1024x768. So I should bump my screen resolution up higher because you would rather post ultra wide pics? And so should everybody else?

Originally posted by MarzAttakz
me: You should use the standard format we always post game pics with (two 320w images=640w).
I could, but I feel that some parts of the game garner grabs of their own...
?!? Do you mind translating that into English. Erm, never mind. Regardless of what you are trying (failing) to say here, I have never seen a game screenshot that cannot be reduced to a width of 320 pixels.

Originally posted by MarzAttakz
me:Over the Net was released in Europe by Genias, in the US by Merit, and was developed by Dardari Brothers. Its release date was 1990.
Where did you get this info from, I wonder?
?!?! What difference does that make? I think you asked me this once before and I told you then that I don't keep a database of where I get my info from. Either trust it or don't trust it. This info is not very hard to find out. In fact I just answered a similar question in a different thread. Sheesh! And for the record, I have an original of this game, as well, so maybe my info came from the manual? Maybe I should research where I got my info from? Sorry if I sound like a smart-ass here, but I cannot fathom why you would question where I get my info from. If you care to challenge it and find an error, I welcome that. At least that is constructive.

Originally posted by MarzAttakz
me:At Codetapper's site, there is a Rob Northen interview that lists most of the RNC games (at least the ones Rob remembers or the ones that were created in-house). I can't believe you didn't know this was here, considering how immersed you appear to be in the whole WHD genre.
Is it a complete list, though?
READ!!! Read my quote above and you will see the word MOST. Read the interview at Codetapper's site and see what it says about the games listed there. It says there that the list in complete. Any caveats are outlined in parenthesis in my quote above.

Honestly, I have never had to interpret my own post in quotes before. I suppose I asked for it by trying to help, but still...I need a tranquilizer!

[RCK]

Originally posted by Twistin' Ghost

...I need a tranquilizer! Rolling On The Floor Laughing !! :laughing:laughing

[Mangar]

The reason you cannot find games like DUNE II uncracked all over the net is because most prefer having the cracked version. Only a few who like to have original images of a specific game or guys like the WHDload team have a use for them. If they are requested then I can see a point. Otherwise we could all upload copies of all our originals.

See if you can find anything in your collection that is not readily available in either form. Stuff like burseg is sending up.

The James Pond Pre-release is nice. Find more stuff like that.

[TikTok]

Marz, I don't want to sound too critical, but I have downloaded both James Pond beta and Dune 2 (yes, the original version) before from this very site!. You can hardly call them particularly rare if they have been uploaded before by other board members :rolleyes.

[MethodGit]

Originally posted by Twistin' Ghost
Well, that isn't an opinion, it's a fact. I daresay my resolution is more than likely higher than yours is. Normally my display is 1280x720, but since I have to temporarily use a different monitor, I am at a mere 1024x768.

You must have a bigger monitor than my 17" one, then. I'm warned that if I choose to adopt a res higher than 1024x768 for too long it could drastically shorten the lifespan of the monitor and break it!

So I should bump my screen resolution up higher because you would rather post ultra wide pics? And so should everybody else?

No, Twist, I didn't say "I refuse to change the pic, you go and change your res" did I? I had no idea what res you was using until now, did I? Look, there's no point in making a fuss about it now, I've reduced the pic to a smaller and more-compatible-with-all-systems size. No scrolling needed or anything.

?!? Do you mind translating that into English. Erm, never mind. Regardless of what you are trying (failing) to say here, I have never seen a game screenshot that cannot be reduced to a width of 320 pixels.

What I was trying to say is that perhaps there are some bits in the game that I feel are interesting enough to be captured in file.

?!?! What difference does that make? I think you asked me this once before and I told you then that I don't keep a database of where I get my info from. Either trust it or don't trust it. This info is not very hard to find out. In fact I just answered a similar question in a different thread. Sheesh! And for the record, I have an original of this game, as well, so maybe my info came from the manual? Maybe I should research where I got my info from? Sorry if I sound like a smart-ass here, but I cannot fathom why you would question where I get my info from. If you care to challenge it and find an error, I welcome that. At least that is constructive.

Look, I had no idea you also had an original of the game, so how else was I meant to know where you found the game details? Off a site? Off someone else? What?

READ!!! Read my quote above and you will see the word MOST.Read the interview at Codetapper's site and see what it says about the games listed there. It says there that the list in complete. Any caveats are outlined in parenthesis in my quote above.

Sorry, I was hoping though that it would say "100%" list, as in all games. Who knows, we might come across rare games that have copy protection in them but they're not on the list! Luckily we have the likes of andreas, Codetapper, Galahad, Amigaboy etc. in our legion!

Honestly, I have never had to interpret my own post in quotes before. I suppose I asked for it by trying to help, but still...I need a tranquilizer!

Sheesh, Twist, I seriously never meant to piss you off, dude. I was only asking! :(

[MethodGit]

Originally posted by TikTok
Marz, I don't want to sound too critical, but I have downloaded both James Pond beta and Dune 2 (yes, the original version) before from this very site!.

Of course you did, you downloaded them from me just now :D :cheese (blatant plug).

You can hardly call them particularly rare if they have been uploaded before by other board members :rolleyes.

Did I miss something during my time here? If I recall I don't remember seeing both the James Pond Beta and the Dune II original being on the Zone before. Who uploaded them originally then?

[pcGTW_Webmaster]

Originally posted by MarzAttakz
(and before anyone blabs "Hey, Dune 2's too commonly available on the web", I mean you can't download an *uncracked* version anywhere can you?)

and in the zone you wrote:


Because of the fact it's uncracked, you'll come to a stop against the manual protection after the first level. Hopefully one of the hackers knows how to disable it?

Why don't you just download the cracked version if it is available on the web ???

btw James Pond Beta was uploaded to the zone 4 months ago...

[Twistin'Ghost]

Originally posted by MarzAttakz
Sheesh, Twist, I seriously never meant to piss you off, dude. I was only asking! :(
OK, you didn't actually 'piss me off', but I'll expand a bit.

- I've not heard about reducing the life of a monitor if using >1024x768, so I can't really say. In any case, I think I was just indicating that the average resolution would need to scroll left and right on wider pics.

- Thanks for resizing the pic.

- Sorry if I chewed you ass about asking where I get my infos on the game from, but I just hate when people ask that because I really don't remember where I get most of the info in my database. Just being asked that, especially the way it was worded, almost sounded untrusting of the info.

- The list of Rob Northen games that is out there is what it is. It just seems obvious that there's the list at the Action site and it is what it is. If there was any question about that list, surely you would have already heard about it here at EAB by now. And that was all I was trying to illustrate.

Sometimes a tree is just a tree and doesn't need interrogating.

[MethodGit]

Originally posted by WindowsKiller
btw James Pond Beta was uploaded to the zone 4 months ago...

Hey, wait just a cotton pickin' minute.... :suspiciou

*thinks back to several months ago*

.... that was ME!!! :shocked :laugh

Yeah, it was around the time I was chatting about disk2fdi and I uploaded some disks of mine, but I felt back then they got ignored by the majority of the people on here so I thought, "why not do it again, but this time make a big thread detailing on them, with graphics and all?" ;)

So there you go...

[oldpx]

You must have a bigger monitor than my 17" one, then. I'm warned that if I choose to adopt a res higher than 1024x768 for too long it could drastically shorten the lifespan of the monitor and break it!

You can't be serious, at least say something like "The refresh late gets so low that my eyes hurt."My 17" monitor exploded some time ago and I'm glad it did. Gave me the opportunity to get a better one! :cheese

[Shatterhand]

Erm

I have this James Pond Beta , I had even forgot about it.
It's in a disk together with Stunt Car Race, and also it took me sometime to understand it was a beta, not the final game.

[andreas]

This applied to my old 14" monitor, which wasn't made for use of resolutions higher than 800x600.
I *could* use 1024x768, but at a lower refresh rate, so I couldn't work with this resolution for long.
Marz, I bet you've got a 14" monitor! :p

[Nian]

Hey if were on the subject of beta versions of games. Does anyone have a beta version of Zool??? Because the demo rocked with limmited bullets and creatures but the released version has unlimmited bullets and creatured. Lame. Oh and who has a full version of Deuteros? The one with all music and animations. because I have gone from the 1 disk beta to the 2 disk crack and found no better copy.

[MethodGit]

Originally posted by andreas
This applied to my old 14" monitor, which wasn't made for use of resolutions higher than 800x600.
I *could* use 1024x768, but at a lower refresh rate, so I couldn't work with this resolution for long.
Marz, I bet you've got a 14" monitor! :p

Ummm, andreas? Perhaps you should read my message again :p:

You must have a bigger monitor than my 17" one, then. I'm warned that if I choose to adopt a res higher than 1024x768 for too long it could drastically shorten the lifespan of the monitor and break it!

So, in actual truth, I'm using 1024x768 right now, with a good refresh rate (it doesn't flicker on that resolution like my old monitor did). I did use to have a 15" monitor, though. After a few years of use the screen began to act funny, showing some kind of turqoise-tinted filter over the whole screen and it meant, for a while at least, we had to keep moving/tilting the monitor until it returned to normal! Eventually we decided to say "Thanks for all the joy, but we're gonna have to stop using you" to it (not literally of course! :D). The monitor I'm using now is the one my sister used to utilise for her computer (she's got a 19" monitor now!). I think the old monitor is still in the house somewhere.

The thing I miss from my old monitor, though, is where it could switch between resolutions, Windows or DOS based, instantly, without a second-long delay or something like this monitor does now. It can be a bit annoying.

[Paul]

My VDU is 17" and a Packard Bell one at that and is capable of a display of 1280x1024 with no problems. (My normal mode is 800x600 or 1024x768) It does not flicker etc. The only way you can damage the monitor is by setting the refresh rate beyond the maximum that it is designed for. My maximum is 120Hz for 640x480, 100Hz for 800x600 and 1024x768 etc.

To find info about your refresh rates, I suggest you READ YOUR MANUAL! Also, you may find some info on the label on the back of the monitor.

[TikTok]

Hey if were on the subject of beta versions of games. Does anyone have a beta version of Zool??? Because the demo rocked with limmited bullets and creatures but the released version has unlimmited bullets and creatured. Lame.
The only demo version of Zool I remember (from an Amiga Action coverdisk) had the same gameplay as the final version. Can you remember where you found this demo originally? Some sort of coverdisk I presume?

[Twistin'Ghost]

Originally posted by Nian
Oh and who has a full version of Deuteros? The one with all music and animations. because I have gone from the 1 disk beta to the 2 disk crack and found no better copy.
You have a beta of Deuteros? You mind posting this to the zone? Here's what I have:

Deuteros - The Next Millennium (1991)(Activision)(Disk 1 of 2)[cr Black Monks].zip
Deuteros - The Next Millennium (1991)(Activision)(M3)(Disk 1 of 2).zip
Deuteros - The Next Millennium (1991)(Activision)(M3)(Disk 2 of 2).zip
Deuteros - The Next Millennium (1991)(Activision)(M3)(Disk 1 of 2)[cr Skid Row].zip
Deuteros - The Next Millennium (1991)(Activision)(M3)[save disk].zip
Deuteros - The Next Millennium (1991)(Activision)(Sp)[cr Skid Row][t +6 Skillion](Disk 1 of 2).zip
Deuteros - The Next Millennium (1991)(Activision)(Sp)[cr Skid Row][t +6 Skillion](Disk 2 of 2).zip

[MethodGit]

Just thought I'd ask this: does anyone know if the CAPS crew would be interested in any of my originals? I could show them the two originals above plus others like Wizball etc.

Do they accept protected games though? If not, should I find a way to disable the protection first before upping it to them (or would that make the game cease to be an original?)?

@Shatterhand: Upload your version of James Pond Beta when you have the time, man!!! :) I've never seen a compilation-bundled version of it before.

[CodyJarrett]

CAPS accepts only originals - protected and in their original form.

Any contributions are welcomed...

[TikTok]

Do they accept protected games though? If not, should I find a way to disable the protection first before upping it to them (or would that make the game cease to be an original?)?
Altering a game in any way, whether it be saving hiscores, configurations, editing data or whatever, will make the game cease to be an original copy :D.

[MethodGit]

Thanks for your advice, Cody & TikTok. ;)

So, if I want to contribute an original, all I have to do is e-mail them at Contributions@caps-project.org, right?

[Twistin'Ghost]

It's probably a good idea to drop an email to that address before you send anything. Also, make sure any contributions are only from disks that you have kept write protected so that no game data has been altered, saved to, etc. And for heaven's sake, nothing that was hacked from existing WHD or JST games, or anything that you have acquired from the internet!

[MethodGit]

E-mail sent. :) Now I just have to wait for their reply.

I can't remember whether the Dune II disks were write-protected all the time, however I did recently check the date details on each file and there doesn't appear to be any files with clear standout dates (all of them seem to be around '92/'93).

All other games should be OK, IMO. :great

[TikTok]

Not sure on this, but I think CAPS are only interested in disks that cannot be imaged in the ADF format (i.e copy protected disks). The Dune 2 disks are standard Amiga DOS disks. Besides, I thought you said you *downloaded* the adfs of Dune 2, rather than imaged them yourself.

[Shatterhand]

@Marz

I don't have anyway to upload it, as I don't have an Amiga to transfer the disk.

Anyway, you aren't losing too much, this "compilation" was made by a friend of mine (a "pirate"), it just loads WB , then you have 4 icons, one is Stunt Car Race, one is James Pond, and the other 2 are 2 cracktros from other games (I remember one of the cracktros is from Days of Thunder)

Nothing interesting really :)

[MethodGit]

Originally posted by TikTok
Not sure on this, but I think CAPS are only interested in disks that cannot be imaged in the ADF format (i.e copy protected disks). The Dune 2 disks are standard Amiga DOS disks. Besides, I thought you said you *downloaded* the adfs of Dune 2, rather than imaged them yourself.

Strange, I swear some/a lot of the games on this 'obtained' list are AmigaDOS based, with no protection of any kind:
http://homepages.enterprise.net/wilkinson/caps/dump/index.html

And I just checked all messages of mine related to Dune 2, and none of them ever had me mention that I downloaded them off somewhere. :confused They ARE imaged from original floppy disks you know. Remember, I said that I'd put up games you couldn't just download off the web.

@Shatterhand:
Have you tried disk2fdi? With that tool you don't necessarily need an Amiga to dump your disks.

[Twistin'Ghost]

I believe CAPS is interested in preserving all Amiga games, protected or otherwise, since that is the initial concept (keeping the original games from extinction). For sure the protected disks get more publicity, due to the controversy of whether this process is even possible, etc. So that bit rises to the top, but the organization is interested in all originals.

Marz, let me repeat again, absolutely *NO* downloaded 'originals' should be contributed. Doing so will only add to your questionable reputation. If it is not a store bought, absolute original copy with no modifications of any kind, don't even consider it. Please!

[TikTok]

@Marz
Sorry if I sounded accusatory over the Dune 2 disks - since they had been available before on this board, I presumed you were simply re-uploading someone elses posts. When I mentioned this earlier you simply asked who had previously uploaded them, rather than stating you had imaged them, which made me jump to conclusions. Anyway, my bad.

You are both right about CAPS, there are a fair few AmigaDOS games on that list. I must check out their pages in more detail sometime as I'm wondering if they're actually using the ADF for these originals? I presume so.

[fiath]

Hello all. Just to let you all know a few things about what we are doing at CAPS... Also to answer a few questions that have been presented here.

Yes, some of the games on that list are unprotected, that is purely because it is what exists in our collection. They are still originals (I should know - I dumped most of them myself ;) and thus in our project "scope". So yes, we aim to dump *all originals* as TG pointed out, not just copy protected disks. This is a preservation project after all...

I personally still have over 400 original game disks to dump. Some are unprotected, most are protected.

As you can probably imagine, dumping copy protected original disks into an ADF form would require "cracking" the images so they can be contained in a standard "AmigaDOS" disk format - this is not what we are doing, we do not touch any program code when dumping disks.

As for submitting ADFs to us - *even* if they from an original disk, I would direct you to a section of the CAPS FAQ:

http://homepages.enterprise.net/wilkinson/caps/faq/faq.htm#SubmitADF

Basically - don't. This part of the FAQ raises some valid points. Even if you disagree with it, it is our policy, it was decided a long time ago now and it is not going to change.

Our dumping software (which you will find out if you want to contribute!) will dump *any* (read Amiga, PC, Atart ST, other) floppy disk... At least, that is 100% of the ones tried so far. We may find problems with some but we have not come across any yet, and some of the ones we have already dumped have *extreamly* "interesting" protections ;). (well, we *did* have problems with a couple of disks, but that was while the dumping software was still in development so they do not count ;). In theory we can *even* dump C= 64 5 1/4 inch GCR (i.e. not MFM) based media, if we can get the hardware and connect it to an Amiga.

All of this needs *a lot* more information than the ADF "format" contains. This is a new format, maybe called something like "APF" (Amiga Preservation Format). Yes, I know "yet another format" but as the people "in the know" here will probably tell you, ADF (and even ADF ext and ADF ext2) does not store anything like that which is required for most (in fact *any* in the case of normal ADF) copy protection checks to pass.

It might be interesting to note at this point, that if somebody wanted to do a side project using CAPS technology, say for dumping Atari ST floppy disks (even though the copy protection was nothing like that which was employed on the Amiga, there was some. Notably the AtariST version of CopyLock) then Atari ST emulators would support *exactly* the same disk image format as the Amiga disk images (APF) which we plan to release in the not-too-distant future.

So, just thinking about it now, perhaps something like *.DPF (Disk Preservation Format) would be more appropriate, since they will all be the same. This however might raise confusion determining what system a DPF file is for... Wel, I like APF anyway. :)

You may have realised by this point that any and all dumping is done on an Amiga itself. This is just so you know we are not similar to a Disk2FDI type solution.

DISCLAIMER (sorry, but it has to be done)

*PLEASE* If you are a skeptic, that is fair enough. It is expected, but before you "go off on one", *wait* until we are releasing disk images. If at that point you think it is crap - then fair enough (trust me, you won't ;) we can respect that. But flaming something that has not been released yet, just makes no sense at all - I don't care how much you *think* it is impossible - just wait and see!

I handle all the PR of CAPS (excludes the website apart from the FAQ), so whatever is directed at CAPS, just goes to me. You can argue with me about certain points all you like, I actually enjoy it. ;) But do not expect to get anywhere. Just wait and see!

If any of you have any questions *please* mail us using the contacts page on the site. I am quite happy to answer your questions, it also helps me improve the FAQ. It may however be an idea to look at the FAQ first, which might same us both some time.

Thanks for listening, I hope you guys now have a deeper understanding of what CAPS is all about.

[RCK]

Thanks for this great explanation of the CAPS project fiath.

[TikTok]

Thanks for the answers and the explanations fiath :). I must admit I hadn't read the FAQ recently, and I'm sure the ADF question wasn't there the last time I did. The point about even AmigaDOS disks using very subtle protection is one I'm sure a lot of people hadn't considered. At least, I hadn't :).

[fiath]

Hey, no problem. And yes that question is new, it was the only new thing in the last FAQ update.

About the subtle disk protections, yeah, we have seen some really neat tricks pulled off by the developers (there is not much chance of doing some of these tricks after the game was sent to the publishers...). Interesting stuff. I am sure we will tell you more about that more in due course... :)

Something that I would personally like to do is a little section of the website which tells you a little bit about the copy protection of each game (if any) as it is released. However, this is not very realistic. Perhaps the same, but just for protections that seem interesting for something new and different that we have not seen before. This will probably not happen though unfortuately.