DarkSeed Floppy NTSC Fix Please

[retrogamer]

Originally Posted by ross

Fast patch (untested) in The Zone.

Bye,
ross

Is the patch for the whdload version only?

[ross]

Originally Posted by retrogamer

Is the patch for the whdload version only?

whdload and original version

[Nibbler]

@ Ross

You Sir are my Hero

It works, Perfectly. Ohhh how beautiful

Thank you so much, that is so AWESOME , god dawm , that man kicks ass

Only thing, . ... well, maybe the german version ... plz

I want to show that game to a friend. We talked about the new alien movie, and i said, " there was even a giger game" . Next time he comes to my place i want to show him the best version that is imo the Amiga version.

Thanks to Ross in glorious FullScreen Ntsc. The way it was meant to be played, even if the port to the amiga got this wrong, ROSS FIXED THAT

And, yes, AKIRA, i know, Amiga Flickers way more than a Ps2 for example , but dawm, the NTSC Mode Helps BIG TIME on the Amiga (as on PS2)

THANK YOU SO MUCH ROSS , Giger would be proud i am at least

[Retro-Nerd]

I have to admit. A nice (nearly) full screen patch. But the tiny text is still a hell to read in 60Hz interlace. Maybe a CD32 version patch?

[ross]

Originally Posted by Nibbler

Only thing, . ... well, maybe the german version ... plz

Patched and Zoned (two version).

Bye,
ross

[DrBong]

Originally Posted by Nibbler

The Game was original developed for PC with a 320x200 pixel count. (half of the NTSC 640x400 resolution) , but on the PC Pixels higher because of the VGA signal. So the hole screen will be filled. That is usaly the case with games from America.

Like the LucasFilm Games & Co.

Just to quickly provide more info. here. The PC version of Dark Seed probably would've been the lead version for the American developer/publisher Cyberdreams. You have to realise that it was mid-1992 when the PC version was released and, for all intents and purposes, the Amiga games market had been commercially dead for at least a year or two in the U.S.

To cut a long story short, the PC dev team just happened to have a couple of old skool Amiga coders from the late 80s in its ranks and probably figured that a PAL release for the Euro market where the Amiga was still massively popular (using the PC graphics for a quick port) made sense. From what I can gather in Ami magazine previews, they originally had a deal in place with Mirage to publish it in Europe. As it turned out, they ended up publishing the game themselves (perhaps with Mirage acting as UK or Euro distributor instead??) and set up a UK base to get it done. Presumably, the PAL version is was what was released in the U.S. also, if at all.....so there was no dedicated NTSC release of Dark Seed in the U.S. for the Amiga, as the poor market there probably just wasn't worth the bother.

How good the Amiga sales were in Europe, who knows. What we do know is that it ended up being their only Amiga release, with their next game CyberRace (released in 1993 on PC and previewed widely in Ami mags) never seeing the light of day on the Ami.

Originally Posted by Nibbler

@Dr.Bong . I am always happy to hear from you.
I tried PatchLace on a ECS & AGA orignial Amiga. But no luck.

I guessed that it wouldn't work on the WHDLoad version because WHDLoad takes over the whole system. Did you try it with the original HD version of Dark Seed, though? If that version multitasks, then PatchLace may well work.

Anyway, it's all academic now.......Ross has upped a patched version to the Zone that seems to work!

[Amiga1992]

Originally Posted by Retro-Nerd

I have to admit. A nice (nearly) full screen patch. But the tiny text is still a hell to read in 60Hz interlace. Maybe a CD32 version patch?

CD32 would be cool, main problem would be if you use SVideo to display, where switching between PAL and NTSC isn't possible without color loss.

But yeah bring it on!

[Nibbler]

Incedible, you are some FAST !!!

You did it AGAIN Now everybody (who wants to play it) can enjoy it in 60 Hz. I think this patches should be included in "updated Whdload DS installs"

If you go all the way, you take on the rest of the languages and maybe the CD32 Version, and to top it off, add MOUSE support to the CD32 port but that would be silly of course - hihi -

I salute you sir


When me and my buddy talked about the new "Alien" Movie.... i was not so sure. Just the tone of the Trailer alone.... Anyway imo nothing tops the Fist Alien from 1979. I mean Giger did it pretty much all. And nothing could be better as the creator of the beast himself handcraft that alienworld. Yeah, Aliens is also good but i stick to the first Alien (DC).

Ohh, and here a very good Docu about Giger working on ALien.

[ Show youtube player ]

Just in case, somebody is interested.

to Ross

[ross]

A last gift in The Zone

Now

[Retro-Nerd]

Ha, works fine with the WHDLoad version. Many thanks. :-)

[Nibbler]

You deseve that sleep Ross. Sleep Well

*only problem Ross dosent know yet ; ..and i just found out is that the Positition of the Mouse Pointer and the Image dont match up

ohh .. it was so close .. and now another hurdle .... it keeps on going.

What a horrific Nightmare.....

i think i do the same as Ross ... for now
Good

[Nibbler]

We are half way there folks. The mouse postition is the only problem now and its hardcoded just like the screen postition . I hope Ross can do it. I told somebody from Scoopex. Maybe we get some help. But for now ROSS is our only hope.

[ross]

Originally Posted by Nibbler

We are half way there folks. The mouse postition is the only problem now and its hardcoded just like the screen postition . I hope Ross can do it. I told somebody from Scoopex. Maybe we get some help. But for now ROSS is our only hope.

I'm a bit busy

When I have some time I look at it, but Scoopex (Photon?) is welcome

See you soon,
ross

[Nibbler]

No hurry,ross. When the time is right. Scoopex is busy too, .. Ahhhh , the sweet taste of a fine demo

[ross]

Ok, i've got the time to fix.
Test and report anomaly.

Cheers,
ross

[Retro-Nerd]

WHDLoad floppy seems fine. Now the CD32 too and we are done! Thanks for your time, Ross. Much appreciated.

[ross]

CD32 version Zoned.

Cheers,
ross

[Retro-Nerd]

Great. Now you nailed it. Will test it a bit more the next days.

[DrBong]

Originally Posted by ross

Ok, i've got the time to fix.
Test and report anomaly.

Originally Posted by ross

CD32 version Zoned.

Awesome work mate! Can you share any of the technical details of how you did it?!

[ross]

Originally Posted by DrBong

Awesome work mate! Can you share any of the technical details of how you did it?!

Surely.

- patch copper list (window start / ntsc);
- find unused space in executable for code that recalculate sprite position control word that comply NTSC video shift
(for normal version -> part of protection print, for CD32 ->'elsewhere')
- inject the code, like all the 'live' patch

So all the *fixed* calculation was in a PAL space, only the display is faked.

It's a fast patch, the most complicated part was to understand/find the point of injection.
I wasn't in this 'things' for more than two decades..

Ciao,
ross