Putty Squad for Amiga CD32 request thread.

[Dougal]

@Galahad, is it normal for the floppy version to get stuck at the System 3 logo on the CD32?

[Galahad/FLT]

Originally Posted by Dougal

@Galahad, is it normal for the floppy version to get stuck at the System 3 logo on the CD32?

No idea, it was never written with the cd32 in mind, though that shouldnt stop it working unless theres something in the code that the cd32 doesnt like.

[Amigajay]

That drive was never 100% compatible anyway, does the floppy drive load before the cd32 boot logo, maybe not enough chip ram being flushed on boot?

[Psygore]

Originally Posted by Galahad/FLT

Are you creating a low cost solution?

Could I try to do a none cost version ?

[Dougal]

Originally Posted by Amigajay

That drive was never 100% compatible anyway, does the floppy drive load before the cd32 boot logo, maybe not enough chip ram being flushed on boot?

I heard the Analogic drive uses a tiny amount of RAM. Maybe thats the problem ?

[Galahad/FLT]

Originally Posted by Dougal

I heard the Analogic drive uses a tiny amount of RAM. Maybe thats the problem ?

Doubtful, Putty Squad takes over the system on bootup and should just work.

[kipper2k]

Originally Posted by Galahad/FLT

Are you creating a low cost solution?

Stedy is working on the expsnsion for the CD32 so hopefully not that long

[seuden]

Originally Posted by Psygore

Could I try to do a none cost version ?

Why not try and let us know how you get on?

[Dougal]

Maybe the game just does not like something in the CD32 or else the Analogic is not fully compatible. The same disk (Putty Squad disk 1) that gets stuck on the SYstem 3 logo on the CD32 works absolutely fine on my A1200.

[Nostromo]

Originally Posted by Amigajay

That drive was never 100% compatible anyway, does the floppy drive load before the cd32 boot logo, maybe not enough chip ram being flushed on boot?

So if one replaces the floppy drive with a GOTEK it will work? Or it is the floppy drive controller which is not compatible?

[alexh]

The GOTEK drive will offer no more compatibility than using a real floppy drive.

[Whitesnake]

I feel like I may have mentioned this quite a few hundred times but the problem is John Twiddy and the CD32 with the greatest respect.

Cool Spot
Aladdin
Global Gladiators
Putty Squad

All of those games are coded by him and do not work on the CD32 via the Analogic Floppy Drive or WHDLoad. Even the WHDLoad games that have enough ram, not Putty Squad.

I don't have any extra ram to add to a CD32 to see if that helps or not but I guess it probably doesn't.

Primal Rage a game reported to use all of the chip ram works fine from the Analogic Floppy Drive.

It should also be said the problem itself only applies to a real CD32 it doesn't occur on WinUAE so you need a real CD32 to replicate it.

Another idea would be to try inserting a standard 3.1 kickstart in a CD32 with the Analogic Floppy Drive connected to rule out any kickstart incompatibilities.

The CD32 3.1 Kickstart and Extended rom data are both interleaved which might be the problem.

Of course on WinUAE they are separated.

[alexh]

Originally Posted by Whitesnake

Cool Spot
Aladdin
Global Gladiators
Putty Squad

All of those games do not work on the CD32 via WHDLoad. Even the WHDLoad games that have enough ram.

It should also be said the problem itself only applies to a real CD32 it doesn't occur on WinUAE so you need a real CD32 to replicate it.

If what you are saying here is correct. Then there must be an issue with WinUAE CD32 emulation. If you can collect enough information, I am sure that Toni Wilen would like to hear about it.

Presumably your testing was to try a CD32 ISO image containing the WHDload games in WinUAE configured as a CD32 and also burned it to a CDR and tried it in a real CD32 with the fWSi not plugged in?

[Psygore]

Originally Posted by seuden

Why not try and let us know how you get on?

I've started some days ago and managed to free some blocks of memory for the rn cd32 loader. I tested the iso under winuae and the game seems to work fine.
I will support the cd32 joypad for some extra buttons.

[Galahad/FLT]

Originally Posted by Psygore

I've started some days ago and managed to free some blocks of memory for the rn cd32 loader. I tested the iso under winuae and the game seems to work fine.
I will support the cd32 joypad for some extra buttons.

Gah....wish you would have said dude, been trying to reduce memory requirements at the source code level.

Ok, a big hint on how to save memory. The game loads a 500k+ file into memory, this is the sprite backdrops for All levels. If you can work out the splits for each level, you can save a load of memory there.

Also in this same file are a couple of modules that are NEVER accessed, leftovers from Cool Spot i think, remove them for more memory savings.

Let me know how you get on.

[seuden]

Originally Posted by Psygore

I've started some days ago and managed to free some blocks of memory for the rn cd32 loader. I tested the iso under winuae and the game seems to work fine.
I will support the cd32 joypad for some extra buttons.

Awesome, great stuff!

Originally Posted by Galahad/FLT

Gah....wish you would have said dude, been trying to reduce memory requirements at the source code level.

Ok, a big hint on how to save memory. The game loads a 500k+ file into memory, this is the sprite backdrops for All levels. If you can work out the splits for each level, you can save a load of memory there.

Also in this same file are a couple of modules that are NEVER accessed, leftovers from Cool Spot i think, remove them for more memory savings.

Let me know how you get on.

This is also good to see!

[Psygore]

The game uses his own memory management.
There are 2 chunks for the memory, 1 behind the chipcode.prg (even inside as it will use the system 3 logo space) and the 2nd after fastcode.prg which is not very important as it's located in the chipmem.

I just reduced (a lot) the 2nd chunk, when the game wants to allocate memory to 'fast' and it can't, it tries to chip. If there is not enough memory, an error message will be displayed during the game. About 196k can be saved without this error.

[Amigajay]

Originally Posted by Psygore

About 196k can be saved without this error.

Is that enough for the CD32 launcher?

[musashi5150]

Should be

[Psygore]

Originally Posted by Amigajay

Is that enough for the CD32 launcher?

Yep, CD32 loader routine needs ~3-5k and CD buffer ~70k.
Saving hiscores in NVRAM will be supported too.

Btw I'm looking for a real CD32 for testing purposes, if someone would like to sell one and if it is in good condition, it could be interesting me.