Kickstart 1.2 games

[andreas]

Originally Posted by Firthy2002

You're right, just gave it a go with WinUAE using 1.0, 1.2 & 1.3. With 1.0 it doesn't even load

Yes, but I CANNOT UNDERSTAND THIS!
The error code shown is 103 ('Out of memory').
I wanted to know whether KS 1.0 is able to manage 512K total RAM or not, hence I fired up WB 1.0 and checked the display: it did show ~ 420k of chip RAM available! So the RAM IS apparently recognized and can be used; that's why it can hardly be a memory shortage issue, as it does work fine on 1.1 with *NO* slow RAM but merely 256k (!) chip RAM?!

I would really like to see this game tested on a real US NTSC A1000 with Kickdisk 1.0 and 256k of RAM! Would *you* guys assume that it will result in the very same error message?!

[derSammler]

I also don't think that it has something to do with the amount of RAM. If the game is written for Kickstart 1.1, it can fail with virtually any error message when using any other Kickstart.

[mr_a500]

Archon seems to work, but crashes with 1.3 after a few seconds on the title screen.

Archon works fine on 1.3, but you have to press space as soon as the title screen shows up. It crashes when the titles change. I remember when I used to play it years ago I always had to sit and wait for that title screen, then press space like a maniac.

[Firthy2002]

Originally Posted by andreas

Yes, but I CANNOT UNDERSTAND THIS!
The error code shown is 103 ('Out of memory').

It might use a function which was only added in KS1.1.

[andreas]

Yes, WindowsKiller thinks that too, therefore maybe someone capable of assembly stuff can give the final proof.
I reckon most games from 1986 ought to run on 1.0, as the Amiga came first in autumn 1985, where it was still extremely expensive.
When the prices had eventually dropped in early spring of 1986, more and more people had begun considering to buy an Amiga. I can hardly believe that KS 1.1 was already available everywhere and for everyone at that time?
So wouldn't this have frustrated lots of users when they could buy games, but not play them because of a too early kickstart?
Hence, I can't be arsed to believe that in 1986, the game companies could afford to lock people out that still had KS 1.0!

[Chuckles]

With reference to Burseg's comment earlier in the thread about the majority not having 1.2, if you want to be picky about it, I'm a Kickstart 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 and 2.04 owner. My A1000 has Kickstart disks for everything up to 1.3, and my A2000 has both 1.3 and 2.04 with a Kickstart switcher.

[DrBong]

Originally Posted by Sune Salminen

I've copied the game to a WB 1.3 disk. On the disk you uploaded, there is a small 1kb file that doesn't have a name (just spaces) that has a read error so it can't be copied using AmigaDOS (or ADF Opus, or Cloanto Amiga Explorer). I can't rename it either. Anyway, the game crashes on the WB1.3 disk at the same place as before, even without this file present.

Maybe the reason the game crashes at all, is because this file is corrupt.
Do you have a different dump of this game?

If it's what I think it is, the file in question is not corrupted but part of a form of copy protection that was used quite a bit with earlier releases. Without it you won't be able to run the game if you simply copy all the files to another disk. Simply renaming the file won't work and trying to copy it will result in a read error (because the file is on a long track that even defeats the best of nibblers/warpers).

@Andreas
The game is probably hardcoded for KS 1.1, so the error message is probably bogus. KS 1.0 was a little buggy, which was why it wasn't long before 1.1 became available. IIRC from reading the early Amiga World mags, I think in the U.S. that C= offered 1.1 at a discount price through dealers or directly to those who had already bought the A1000 up to that point (maybe someone like Chuckles could confirm). Nevertheless, I doubt game companies worried excessively about buyers who couldn't play their games because of an incompatible KS, as all they needed to do is point the buyer to C= (or, as the case may have been, pointed the finger at C= !)

[Sune Salminen]

Thanks. I thought it might be some kind of copy protection, nice to know the whole story.

[dirkies]

another one:
Ferrari Formula One (I believe that was the correct name) from late 1986, early 1987

on KS1.3 it would hang on title screen forever, but without a guru or so, it just sits there doing nothing!
on KS1.2 it would start game correctly