Street Fighter 2 A1200 Compatible

[dlfrsilver]

Hello, I have bought lately a boxed copy of SF2, but with a sticker saying A1200 Compatible.

On a 68030, the game is running every fast, faster than the regular version running under whdload.

I'll post tommorow

[DamienD]

Wow!!!

...according to HOL, this is only OCS / ECS (although I'm sure it will also work on an A1200).

Looked at the boxscans there but no sticker saying "A1200 compatible": Street Fighter II: The World Warrior

Edit: just tested the files using an AGA Quickstart and all good.

[pants]

happy coincidence (existence of the sticker etc) - saw this other post just yesterday...

http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=908510&postcount=7

[Galahad/FLT]

Originally Posted by dlfrsilver

Hello, I have bought lately a boxed copy of SF2, but with a sticker saying A1200 Compatible.

On a 68030, the game is running every fast, faster than the regular version running under whdload.

I'll post tommorow

code looks 100% the same as the supported WHDLoad version

[pants]

I imagine the '1200+' sticker was just opportunistic marketing for a later budget remaster - a convenient side-effect of removing the protection (common for budget releases).

To check this, I just cracked it again using SPS 0882 as a source. Everything works on both A1200 and A4000 once you replace the RNC stuff. However, the port (at least SPS 0882) assumes fixed timings so, whilst ui and game are *much* faster on >A500, they are not *correct* faster. You can see this in the character select screen for example, or when fighting Honda (almost unplayable on A4000).

These issues are all fixable but given the lack of effort put in to the original it's hard to imagine a later release doing so. But I'd love to be wrong :)

[dlfrsilver]

Originally Posted by Galahad/FLT

code looks 100% the same as the supported WHDLoad version

Street fighter 2 had multiple revisions. We have 2 revisions, however we lacked 2, which were missing :

the A1200 compatible version, which has been modified to be run on A1200 straight on disk. Basically, this version i bought is copylock protected on disk 2,3,4, but the copylock pass even on 68030 !

the game speed is very very fast, almost as much as the console version

And the last one, i wonder if i will be able to find it one day : it's copylocked, but instead of Amigados tracks, they have used MFM tracks.

A friend bought the game in 1992 for his Amiga, and when we tried to copy it, not only the RNC serial track was visible under X-copy, but all the tracks following were showing a '5', which is the sign of an MFM track.

[dlfrsilver]

Originally Posted by pants

I imagine the '1200+' sticker was just opportunistic marketing for a later budget remaster - a convenient side-effect of removing the protection (common for budget releases).

They modified the code so that the game run on 68020 and above processors.

It's not a remastering, it's one of the retail releases. They DID NOT removed the disk protection, it still uses the copylock on each game data disks.

To check this, I just cracked it again using SPS 0882 as a source. Everything works on both A1200 and A4000 once you replace the RNC stuff. However, the port (at least SPS 0882) assumes fixed timings so, whilst ui and game are *much* faster on >A500, they are not *correct* faster. You can see this in the character select screen for example, or when fighting Honda (almost unplayable on A4000).

thanks for this explanation, it confirms that SPS 882 and 1371 differs completely from this official A1200 compatible release.

on this A1200 compatible release, you can

* choose the character, and in game, it fights full speed. However, better playing with a 2 buttons joypad than a single button one.

* the copylock protection has been revised since on earlier releases it fails on 1200 and 4000. On this version, my A1200 with 68030 pass the copylocks without problems, and there are no graphic glitches on screen.

[Galahad/FLT]

Originally Posted by pants

I imagine the '1200+' sticker was just opportunistic marketing for a later budget remaster - a convenient side-effect of removing the protection (common for budget releases).

To check this, I just cracked it again using SPS 0882 as a source. Everything works on both A1200 and A4000 once you replace the RNC stuff. However, the port (at least SPS 0882) assumes fixed timings so, whilst ui and game are *much* faster on >A500, they are not *correct* faster. You can see this in the character select screen for example, or when fighting Honda (almost unplayable on A4000).

These issues are all fixable but given the lack of effort put in to the original it's hard to imagine a later release doing so. But I'd love to be wrong

Same copy protection as the one supported by WHDLoad, three different copylock tracks used as disk ID checks.

[pants]

(cross-posted. below was in response to denis)

Interesting. I remember hearing of an MFM version but have not come across it yet. Anyway my point was, and still is, that once the technical issue (RNC) is removed/replaced you are left with a game/ui that will run faster on faster machines - exactly as expected. If the *only* difference is the removal/replacement of the loader then it still has archival/historic value, but would be functionally no different to a simple crack of 0882, and possibly inferior to the existing whdload version (which may or may not have additional fixes for faster machines).

However, if this new master has *additional* improvements/fixes to deal with the issues that come with 'full-speed' then we're in Antiques Roadshow territory - and I'd be very happy and surprised...

Regardless - it's a nice find, a nice story, and a nice addition to the archives.

[Retro1234]

It runs faster on A1200?
Does it run nice and fast when WHDload installed?

[Amiga1992]

Originally Posted by dlfrsilver

I'll post tommorow

Where are the files?

[Galahad/FLT]

This 0882 version can also be cracked to 3 disks with ease.

[lilalurl]

Originally Posted by pants

happy coincidence (existence of the sticker etc) - saw this other post just yesterday...

http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=908510&postcount=7

Thanks, you saved me some time trying to find back that post


I am very glad that dlfrsilver found this version and I am eagerly awaiting the files.
I hope some people will find the Amiga conversion more fun to play when they try this version.


Interesting that it is two French people that came into contact with this version. Maybe it was only distributed in France?
I am pretty sure I bought my version back in the day at the "FNAC" (a sort of French WHSmith).

[DamienD]

Originally Posted by lilalurl

I hope some people will find the Amiga conversion more fun to play when they try this version.

Doubt it

[lilalurl]

I doubt it too .

Off-topic-ing a bit:
The sad thing is that if you didn't know, back in the days, the other versions (arcade, SNES etc...) it was a pretty good Amiga 1VS1 fighting game (at least at A1200 speed).

The hierarchy of characters and effective moves is quite different: Ryu and Ken are less than average. Guile is a powerhouse. Chun-Li is very powerful too.

I know some people complain about moves using only one (or two) button. But it was the same thing for IK+ and once you know how to do them, you can pull them out rather efficiently.

So, if you expect a real conversion the Amiga version is indeed disappointing.
If you consider it as "Street Fighter 1.9" or something like that, leaving out all expectations from arcade/SNES experience, it is a pretty decent game. I spent many an hour having fun playing it with friends.

[Amiga1992]

The controls were terrible in this game, even if you didn't know about other versions, I thought it looked quite alright and moved OK too, but the controls were just incredibly unresponsive.
Back then I had no experience of the arcade or console versions.
I would normally play with keyboard or two button controller. Still, garbage. Still played it a lot because is what I had. I couldn't play it now even if I tried.

[DamienD]

Originally Posted by lilalurl

The sad thing is that if you didn't know, back in the days, the other versions (arcade, SNES etc...)

Originally Posted by Akira

Back then I had no experience of the arcade or console versions.

Yeah ok, but who hadn't ever played the arcade version back then? Weirdoes

...dropped many a quarter in this bad boy; could do all the secret Guile moves also i.e:

a) Fake stance.
b) Super freeze.
c) Reset game.
d) Reverse / forward fake throw.

If you don't know these, watch a YouTube video.

Also, when I saw how good the SNES version was at a friend's house I just had to have it; so purchased one the following week

[Amiga1992]

Gonna go OT a bit:

Originally Posted by DamienD

Yeah ok, but who hadn't ever played the arcade version back then? Weirdoes

Arcade games, their availability and popularity varied a lot between regions. I grew up in a different continent than you, where SF2 wasn't really a hit in the already starting to disappear arcades of the time. Fighting game mania was started a little bit later with Mortal Kombat, and this gave way to the boom of late 90s Capcom and SNK fighters (SF Alpha, KOF, etc).

So, not "weirdos". Just different. It's good to clarify because most of the times people don't realize how different things were elsewhere because, of course, they weren't there. It's good to get perspective.

By 1993 I had never played SF2 in the arcades and no one I knew had a SNES to play it with (also a not very popular console to have in my region. Rather, already having an Amiga was rare, let alone a games console, a privilege for very few). Games magazines from abroad were raving about it and that was my main point of contact with the game and impending franchise.

Going back slightly on topic, then, my first contact with SF2 gameplay was indeed the Amiga version, and it wasn't -that- bad if you had no reference frame, save for reading about all these moves on magazines and not being able to perform them properly on it.

[dlfrsilver]

Ok people, i have zoned the CTraw disk images, check for yourself.

PS : to respond to Galahad about SF2 here you go :

SF2 Revision 1 use 3x copylocks, and crash on AGA machines

SF2 Revision 2 use 4x copylocks instead of 3 (confirmed by Codetapper)

SF2 Revision 3 use 3x copylocks, and has been modified/tweaked to run on A1200 with 68020 and 68030 with no graphic bugs.

this version runs faster than the actual whdload installed version.

SF2 Revision 4 use 3x copylocks, and MFM tracks on each disks. This one exist, a friend bought it in 1992.

[dlfrsilver]

Originally Posted by lilalurl

Thanks, you saved me some time trying to find back that post


I am very glad that dlfrsilver found this version and I am eagerly awaiting the files.
I hope some people will find the Amiga conversion more fun to play when they try this version.


Interesting that it is two French people that came into contact with this version. Maybe it was only distributed in France?
I am pretty sure I bought my version back in the day at the "FNAC" (a sort of French WHSmith).

To be honest, even the italians had a completely different boxed release of SF2. Just check ebay, there's even a PC Amiga combo of SF2 double release !