Arctic Fox ADF doesnt work

[amigauser]

Originally Posted by microslave

Thanks a lot, HOL2001,

I will try this out at once :-)

Greetings

Have it working on Kick 1.3, OCS, exact cycle cpu & blitter, sound disabled, keyboard choice b (on port 0) on latest version of WinUAE but it is so sloow!!

It responds to keys Q,W,E,A,S,& D. The Alt Key is fire. Pressing S fires missiles.

If anyone else has other info please post.

[Chuckles]

The biggest reason that it is slow is (I believe) that you're running in cycle exact mode. I fiddled around with configs for this game for quite some time before I worked out one that did the job properly, so hopefully this info will be of some use to anybody else who might be trying to run it.

I get the best results by setting up a config as follows:

CPU: 68000, more compatible, match A500 speed
Chipset: OCS, NTSC
ROM: Kickstart v1.1 (A1000)(NTSC) rev 31.34
RAM: 512K chip, no fast or slow ram
Disk Drives: Only DF0: should be enabled

The display area used by the game on the real thing is 320x200, lores, and I use those settings and normal line mode with a custom screen resolution on the PC (added using PowerStrip) so that the game looks very close to the original when I run it in full screen mode. You can get the same appearance in a fullscreen 640x400 mode by unchecking lores and changing the line mode to doubled. Either way, I enable both horizontal and vertical centering.

The game itself was intended to be controlled by a joystick, and you can use the input tab to select the device you want to use instead of a joystick. My own preference is to use a USB gamepad, since they feel more like an Amiga joystick than a PC joystick does.

There is also one other oddity in the control scheme that isn't immediately obvious, and that is that this is one of only a handful of Amiga games that I've seen which expects to find the joystick connected to port 0 (where the mouse is normally plugged in). So to make everything work just right, you'll need to go into the "Game & I/O Ports" tab and assign port 0 to the gamepad or other device that you're using as the joystick replacement. You can assign port 1 to the mouse if you like, though the game doesn't make use of it.

I've tried this config with both the rawread version and with the CAPS version, and it seems to work equally well with both of them.

[amigauser]

Originally Posted by Chuckles

The biggest reason that it is slow is (I believe) that you're running in cycle exact mode. I fiddled around with configs for this game for quite some time before I worked out one that did the job properly, so hopefully this info will be of some use to anybody else who might be trying to run it.

I get the best results by setting up a config as follows:

CPU: 68000, more compatible, match A500 speed
Chipset: OCS, NTSC
ROM: Kickstart v1.1 (A1000)(NTSC) rev 31.34
RAM: 512K chip, no fast or slow ram
Disk Drives: Only DF0: should be enabled

The display area used by the game on the real thing is 320x200, lores, and I use those settings and normal line mode with a custom screen resolution on the PC (added using PowerStrip) so that the game looks very close to the original when I run it in full screen mode. You can get the same appearance in a fullscreen 640x400 mode by unchecking lores and changing the line mode to doubled. Either way, I enable both horizontal and vertical centering.

The game itself was intended to be controlled by a joystick, and you can use the input tab to select the device you want to use instead of a joystick. My own preference is to use a USB gamepad, since they feel more like an Amiga joystick than a PC joystick does.

There is also one other oddity in the control scheme that isn't immediately obvious, and that is that this is one of only a handful of Amiga games that I've seen which expects to find the joystick connected to port 0 (where the mouse is normally plugged in). So to make everything work just right, you'll need to go into the "Game & I/O Ports" tab and assign port 0 to the gamepad or other device that you're using as the joystick replacement. You can assign port 1 to the mouse if you like, though the game doesn't make use of it.

I've tried this config with both the rawread version and with the CAPS version, and it seems to work equally well with both of them.

Thanks for that. It was most helpful. Have you found a config which allows sound please?

Also, what function do the keys q,w,e,a & d have in this game please?

[Chuckles]

I didn't mention sound, but it is working for me. I just enabled sound on the Sound tab with a frequency of 22050, stereo, with the sound buffer set to its minimum size. If everything is set up right, there should be music playing while you are on the title screen.

Figuring out the keyboard controls took a bit more work, since I didn't have the docs and really never got into the game but I think I've got it worked out, thanks to a Project64 doc file that Google led me to. The keys are different, but their functions are the same.

The Q, W, E, A, S and D keys all control your left hand and cause it to click on the control icons on the panel on the left.

"Q" toggles "Cannon Inclination" mode on and off. When on, moving the joystick forward or backward moves the target crosshairs up and down instead of moving your tank.

"W" toggles between the radar display and the aft view.

"E" drops a mine behind your tank (which you can see in the aft view)

"A" is the "Relative Reverse" mode, and it only works when "Cannon Inclination" mode is enabled. Relative reverse mode simply reverses the direction your tank is moving, or if the tank is not moving it starts it moving forward. This comes in handy because when you're controlling the cannon's inclination, you can still steer left and right with the joystick, but you cannot control forward or backward movement otherwise.

"S" fires a guided missile. The radar view changes to the view from the missile, which can be steered with the joystick. (Missiles can be used for reconnaissance if you like).

"D" functions only when your tank is in snow, and toggles between digging the tank into the snow (to hide) or digging it out of the snow. When buried you lose your view from the viewport, but the radar still functions. You can still fire missiles while buried, providing you with the view from the missile.

[amigauser]

Originally Posted by Chuckles

I didn't mention sound, but it is working for me. I just enabled sound on the Sound tab with a frequency of 22050, stereo, with the sound buffer set to its minimum size. If everything is set up right, there should be music playing while you are on the title screen.

Figuring out the keyboard controls took a bit more work, since I didn't have the docs and really never got into the game but I think I've got it worked out, thanks to a Project64 doc file that Google led me to. The keys are different, but their functions are the same.

The Q, W, E, A, S and D keys all control your left hand and cause it to click on the control icons on the panel on the left.

"Q" toggles "Cannon Inclination" mode on and off. When on, moving the joystick forward or backward moves the target crosshairs up and down instead of moving your tank.

"W" toggles between the radar display and the aft view.

"E" drops a mine behind your tank (which you can see in the aft view)

"A" is the "Relative Reverse" mode, and it only works when "Cannon Inclination" mode is enabled. Relative reverse mode simply reverses the direction your tank is moving, or if the tank is not moving it starts it moving forward. This comes in handy because when you're controlling the cannon's inclination, you can still steer left and right with the joystick, but you cannot control forward or backward movement otherwise.

"S" fires a guided missile. The radar view changes to the view from the missile, which can be steered with the joystick. (Missiles can be used for reconnaissance if you like).

"D" functions only when your tank is in snow, and toggles between digging the tank into the snow (to hide) or digging it out of the snow. When buried you lose your view from the viewport, but the radar still functions. You can still fire missiles while buried, providing you with the view from the missile.

Thanks for that, Chuckles. The sound is now operational and now that I know what the other keys are for I am getting better at the game.Thanks again for your help.Much appreciated.

[source]

Just wondering I have just installed WinUAE and have been trying to resurect my old amiga games, one of which was Arctic fox. The disk is corrupt, and I am unable to whdload install the game. I was wondering if anyone out there has an original disk image or has a working whdload version of Arctic fox. if not where can you get the 1.2 roms for winUAE. (If i remember correctly, when I upgraded my A500 from 1.2 to 1.3 the game did not work anymore.)

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I would like to play the game again.

Dan

PS. I have noticed on this thread that there is a copy uploaded to the zone. How do I get access to that page.

Thanks

[BippyM]

Arctic fox can be found at www.planetemu.net

DON'T REQUEST KICKSTART ROMS!!!!!!

[andreas]

Yes, PlanetEmu has it, but better refrain from downloading ANY of the non-rawread versions, as they will not work. (most probably)

[source]

What do you mean non-rawread version? How can you tell the difference?\

Dan

[andreas]

1. Size.
2. By looking at the image with a hex editor: you will usually find UAE-1ADF there, right at the beginning.

A rawread image is ín most cases bigger than 880 KB.
The so-called extended adf is in either old or new format. (Old format was read-only, whereas you can also write data with the new format.)

These images cannot be transferred to real Amiga without special knowledge and/or hacking; they are only for use in emulators.
Unlike a standard adf, an extended adf can also include (deliberate) error information created by the game manufacturer; this can also be used for save disks in special format (Harley Davidson, Chambers of Shaolin etc.)

Can this be reposted to the Zone?

I've been wanting to play this game for a while, but it seems almost impossible to find the CAPS file and from what I've read, I can't just create the .adf file from my original disk due to the copy protecion scheme. If there is some way thats not too difficult for me to get the image from my disk (without the use of the actual amiga system because we got rid of the system but kept all the disks) then I could use it to play Arctic Fox. Any help would be appreciated.

[MxMShare]

I too have the 2 bad TOSEC versions and could not get any of the PlanetEmu versions to work. Earlier in this thread people seem to have it working. I'd appreciate anyone with a working (rawread?) version to upload it to The Zone for a bit - now in 2007 2 years after the last thread entry! :-)

[adolescent]

There is WHDLoad install for this game from JOTD. Probably easiest way to play it now.

[Calgor]

WHDload works very well for this game in fact excellent!

To copy the original, most games copiers failed even tho i think they reported no problems, but you can get a working copy by using 1 copier to copy some tracks, and another to copy the rest! Forget which ones I used was so long ago. Had the original and didnt want it to get damaged.

Game was originally made for kickstart 1.1/1.2 OCS.

[MxMShare]

I uploaded a working floppy version of Artic Fox
It is an IPF file so in a text help file I give the instructions to configure WinUAE properly, and where to download the DLL for windows to read the IPF file

[CodyJarrett]

Sorry folks, but I have to delete the IPF in the Zone. The SPS team previously asked that IPFs were not spread on the forum.

[MxMShare]

Oops, sorry. I wasn't aware that IPF weren't allowed. But via Google I found this disk, others can try too.

[microslave]

If anyone is still looking for a working version: I just uploaded a rawread adf to the zone and just replayed this great game :-)

Thanks to everyone for the info. I've been wanting to play this one for years!

I managed to find an IPF version online, installed it (along with the necessary plugin), then tweaked settings forever to get it to load properly. The key was setting 'Cycle exact CPU & Blitter' to ON in WinUAE's chipset options. Now it plays perfectly... with one notable exception. Save/load states don't seem to work. Has anyone had success with this?

Thanks in advance!

-Sam