3 Stooges WHDload missing pictures

[christianlucio]

I have encounted a strange problem: it seems the WDHload Version of the 3 Stooges is missing pictures: for example after the boxing level there is no picture displayd showing one of the stooges with a beaten face.Is this a problem of the WHDload version or anything else ?Looking Forward to any comments

[Hewitson]

What machine/emulator configuration are you running this on? It could be that it's so fast that the picture goes away before you get a chance to see it.

[christianlucio]

I am using an Amiga 1200 with a Blizzard 1230/50 so this should not be the problem

[Galahad/FLT]

I think what Hewitson is referring to is that picture might be displayed whilst loading data and then go once the data has loaded, which of course is virtually instanaeous on WHDLoad vs loading from floppy.

[DamienD]

Exactly sir Galahad

...besides crazy RAM requirements on a lot of occasions (as opposed to floppy disk / native installs); another issue that I constantly find with WHDLoad is that it loads way too fast and you miss screens

[Hewitson]

Originally Posted by Galahad/FLT

I think what Hewitson is referring to is that picture might be displayed whilst loading data and then go once the data has loaded, which of course is virtually instanaeous on WHDLoad vs loading from floppy.

Either that, or possibly a badly coded delay loop which doesn't function correctly on faster machines.

[jotd]

those are ... loading screens... now that loading is instant, no need for them

However some install slaves allow to wait for those screens (BUTTONWAIT). Often done when the pictures are cool enough to deserve more work.

@DamienD whdload slaves optimally work with 4MB of fastmem. Some games work on vanilla A1200, and even A600 when running them using CD32load. I admit you have to play a floppy disk loading sound in the background else the experience isn't complete.

[DamienD]

Originally Posted by jotd

@DamienD whdload slaves optimally work with 4MB of fastmem. Some games work on vanilla A1200, and even A600 when running them using CD32load. I admit you have to play a floppy disk loading sound in the background else the experience isn't complete.

jotd; I'm not stupid and do understand the reasons for WHDLoad i.e. being able to play original games from hard drive with *fixes* included that wouldn't be possible otherwise on a standard A1200 or beyond; as they weren't made for these models...

My point is; crazy RAM requirements are needed, and due to fast loading, you'll sometimes very briefly see screens

Let's be honest, most games that have more than 4 disks require way more RAM than the originals did (as you need to use "PreLoad" so that there's no "flashing").

Shall we take these for instance:

a) Beneath A Steel Sky.
b) Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge.
c) Numerous others.

...and that's not taking into account games like onEscapee; it doesn't need more than 2MB Chip & 4MB Fast RAM but with WHDLoad it's impossible to run smoothly

[Retro-Nerd]

crazy RAM requirements are needed

This has one reason. WHDLoad runs in its own environment, outside the Amiga DOS. To avoid OS-WDHLoad switches all games are loaded completely into fastram when you execute it. So, the more disks a game has the more ram it takes.

[DamienD]

...you don't say

I totally get that Retro; again I'm not stupid and understand the principles behind WHDLoad and how it works on a basic level!!!

Thankfully I totally live in the emulation world where increasing CPUs / RAM etc. isn't a problem... I do feel sorry though for "real" Amiga users that have to keep throwing loads of money at their computers in order to achieve smooth gameplay

[Retro-Nerd]

They don't have too, they want.

Honestly i haven't spent that much money since 2007 in Amiga hardware stuff. Got my A1200 very cheap, the M-Tec 1230 turbocard too.

Today it might look different since the prices for e.g. an A1200 are ridiculous. But there will be cheaper alternatives some day. FPGA boards or reverse engineered.

OT end. It's about 3 Stooges.

[DamienD]

Originally Posted by Retro-Nerd

OT end. It's about 3 Stooges.

Yup, and too fast loading screens due to WHDLoad / hard drive use

[Retro-Nerd]

This should be an easy fix though.

[DamienD]

Agreed; put in a 3 second "wait" or something

[Nibbler]

Games can never load fast enough


If there are Pictures like for example, the wonderful loading sceens in AGONY then the WHDLoad Slave should have a BUTTONWAIT option

[christianlucio]

So anyone can/will do a fix ?

[jotd]

I just checked: CFou! provided the source code so yes I'll be able to fix this, and yes, it's not too difficult (well, it shouldn't be )

AARGH old CFou! slave... won't be too pleasant to update it...

@Nibbler Agony features "BUTTONWAIT". It's just that it doesn't appear in the splash screen (very old JST-adapted slave, I should rewrite this too)

[Mad-Matt]

Captain Fizz is another that skips the title screen n music and could do with a Buttonwait.

[jotd]

another old slave I happen to have the source code of. OSEmu slave, so big rework (not supporting OSEmu slaves anymore)

[jotd]

the good news is: I was able to rebuild 3 Stooges from CFou! source and created a "file" loader (instead of using disk images).

Now, since I'm not too familiar with the game, can someone tell me how to reach a screen which disappears at once, in simple steps?

It's not so easy to do if there are a lot of cases. Plus the game uses overlayed hunks (like Wings, damn Cinemaware), so it's more annoying to add patches in the overlayed sections)

About whdload flashing: yes without PRELOAD there doesn't seem to be a cache AT ALL. Maybe Bert could cache files below some size (so reading the same file over and over wouldn't need flashing IF whdload could allocate more memory). I suppose that it's hellish to implement. I had a hard time with JST & files (and it's not over)