UAE 3.0 problems with Drakkhen

[waltc]

(put a close copy of this thread in Amiga Forever support--because I'm experiencing the problem in both AF'14 & WinUAE 3.0.)

After working with-I-don't-know-how-many-Drakkhen disk 2's & character disks...I finally got the game to run from UAE 3.0. After entering the first castle and taking the door to the extreme left, walking into the next room, when I try and go through the left door in that room...the game locks up every time. I'm guessing that this was just a buggy game when it launched, but still...(btw, same exact thing happens when I launch the game from AF'14--same lockup, same place.)

It occurs to me while writing this that maybe I'll go back in UAE and set the options to open up in full-screen *hardware* mode, as I'm running it it stretched to fill the screen--although I would not expect that to be a problem, you never know...

(Interesting contrast...I am also running the 256-color VGA version of the game ("ported" from the Amiga version, as I understand, or else just written after the Amiga version shipped), and I have to say that graphically (surprisingly) the VGA version easily beats the Amiga version, especially inside the castles. The VGA version uses a sb16 for its sound track (not those gosh-awful speaker beeps!) and I find it a match for the Amiga's stereo soundtrack--although both soundtracks are different. In 89/90 many PC games were still restricted to beeps and the "VGA" was usually just 16-color EGA ported into VGA output--but this game makes use of a full 256-color palette. Also, I don't have the bugs I've experienced with the Amiga version. IMO, Drakkhen PC was done unusually well for PC games of that period.)

Still, I'd like to make better use of the Amiga version if possible, and would greatly appreciate any hints (I know which disks to boot from, and so on--that's not a problem at present.)

[waltc]

Well, I got the crashing sorted out...just had to go with yet-another-copy of the game (older copies seem to corrupt easily for some reason) and pull back on the Amiga emulation speeds--games seems to prefer stock Amiga 500 environment...!... I love tinkering, if you can't tell...glutton for it, actually. Get more fun out of getting things to work than I do playing the games, sometimes.

Still getting other problems--now, for some inexplicable reason I've started getting audible static in the game--even after rebooting my box...! It's probably related to a UAE (3.0) setting--just scratching my head on how I could go hours twiddling with the game under UAE with no static at all--but now I'm getting it every time I run the game/UAE. (Re-installation of my RealTek drivers is next up...)

BTW, a billion-and-one "Thanks!" Toni...this program is a masterpiece and I've been using it for years but haven't said much until now...! My A4000 with Z3 Fastlane, Sunrize Audio card, 1GB scsi, and a videotoaster is in my closet--it runs fine (AREXX scripting with PMT was so grand back in the day!)--just not as well as WinUAE and my current Windows box (which back in '87 I never thought I'd hear myself say...!)

Back to the salt mines...(not really...I love it...) Any Drakkhen tips from anyone would be appreciated...!

Emulation box at home:

AMD FX-6300 @ 4.5GHz, stock cooling & voltage
AMD HD 7850 2GB @ 1.05GHz core, stock memory speeds
2.5TB HD space; 8 partitions spanning 5 physical drives, including 1TB of RAID 0 goodness
8 GB dual-channel RAM (bus @ stock speed)
RealTek 892/ stereo phones
Win8.1 x64 (Desktop configured with Metro buried underneath Explorer.exe...) Win10 on another partition for dual boot--not running WinUAE there yet 'cause 10 is clearly not ready for prime time)

[waltc]

Update: (as if anyone is interested...)...

Fixed the problem with the sound...so simple...and yet so hard to find...somehow the 1.3 ROM for (A3000) kept sliding into place when I intended to use the 3.1 ROM (A500,600 & 2000)...! I have no clue apart from my own senility as to how that happened. But at any rate, that completely solved my problem with the sudden appearance of loud static.

Now, it's back to the grind to see if I can sort out why it continues to crash several minutes after game start--perhaps it's no more than needing to find a copy of the game disk that doesn't know it's a copy... Back to the grind...and lovin' every minute of it. Somehow.

[Toni Wilen]

Disk based games = always test with real A500 configuration. Anything else is unsupported and it is very game specific what will happen..

Also afaik there are badly cracked drakkhen images floating around.

[waltc]

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

Disk based games = always test with real A500 configuration. Anything else is unsupported and it is very game specific what will happen..

Also afaik there are badly cracked drakkhen images floating around.

Thanks again for your efforts with this fine program, and thanks for the tips...! I'll probably get back and update this thread if/when I get the Amiga version running reliably...right now it *does* look like using a reliable disk image is my main problem...

[Arnie]

I made an RP9 of Drakkhen a while back. I can't see your post for AF so I'll put a link here. Try it and see if it works for you.

http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=994562&postcount=2

[waltc]

Originally Posted by Arnie

I made an RP9 of Drakkhen a while back. I can't see your post for AF so I'll put a link here. Try it and see if it works for you.

http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=994562&postcount=2

Thanks, much Arnie...but no go...I get a crash in the same place which I can repeat at will on all subsequent restarts (although the game crashes in various other places, too, in the first ~10 minutes of play) --I enter the first castle, take the door to the extreme left, and inside the first room I get a text message "You hear an odd noise coming from inside the next room" (or something like that.) Then I walk toward the next door also to my left on the screen, and ~9 out of every 10 times the game locks up right there in mid-transition between rooms.

Sometimes the player character will make it through the door--and an old man teleports in just to inform me that "If you run a copy of Drakkhen you will surely die soon"......or something like that. I got a similar message once just walking up to the first castle--and a few minutes later the game either locked up--or else an indestructible bunch of monsters inside the castle dispatch everyone post haste.

Bottom line seems to be that the Amiga version of Drakkhen really has no tolerance for inexact copies and treats them all like bootleg software--and you crash or die shortly after detection. Apparently if bit-sector/perfect copies aren't made of the original image then the game detects when it has been copied and things go downhill from there quickly.

My original Drakkhen floppy, of course, long ago went to where all floppies go when they die (so long ago I can't recall it), and this little romp has reminded me of how much "fun" I had in the 80's with Amiga floppies...or, just floppies in general, that is. I must've had the patience of Job in those days...

Anyway...one of the things I like about the Amiga version (that it looks like I won't get to experience) are the sound-effects of the clashing weapons in the game(!), over and above the other sounds and the nice Amiga stereo soundtrack--those fighting sounds actually add a lot to the game, imo.

The 256-color VGA version, though far less buggy--no lockups yet--and better looking graphically than the Amiga version--doesn't seem to have the weapon-clashing sound effects...I can't find them anywhere if they are present...all I get from the VGA version is a decent stereo sound track and some pseudo sound effects--but zero fighting sound effects. Weird all around as the VGA version actually has a control under its "Music" settings (available through the disk menu) that allows adjustment of the "music" and "sound" volumes separately--but nothing seems to be there for "sounds"...

I never give up on these things, though...I'll keep looking for a decent Amiga image file...Thanks again...! I take it you are not having similar problems with your system & AF'14...?

I also noticed with this game that the character disk seems plagued with read-write problems--just like a real 880k floppy..oh, joy...But that's something we can do without, right? I've experimented with many a character-disk image--which is nothing before the game saves to it but a blank, formatted floppy--and I've had "read error" problems and problems in which the game suddenly doesn't recognize the character disk floppy anymore...Still at it though...

Take care, and thanks again!

[Arnie]

Originally Posted by waltc

I take it you are not having similar problems with your system & AF'14...?

I also noticed with this game that the character disk seems plagued with read-write problems--just like a real 880k floppy..oh, joy...But that's something we can do without, right? I've experimented with many a character-disk image--which is nothing before the game saves to it but a blank, formatted floppy--and I've had "read error" problems and problems in which the game suddenly doesn't recognize the character disk floppy anymore...Still at it though...

Take care, and thanks again!

I don't get read errors on the Character disk in AF and I can't really test this game as I'm useless at it. I always get thrashed by a big Dragon before I can get started.

[waltc]

Originally Posted by Arnie

I don't get read errors on the Character disk in AF and I can't really test this game as I'm useless at it. I always get thrashed by a big Dragon before I can get started.

It's very simple to test if you ever have a bit of extra time...with no worries at all about running into a dragon...... which you won't see at all if...

[What follows is not really a spoiler, since the official game manuals walk you through as much as a tutorial.]

1) As soon as the game starts and the 4 characters appear on the screen, hit the Enter key (to go to group movement mode), then using your arrow cursor keys, move *straight ahead* to the first castle, which is plainly in view when the game starts.

2) Go straight down the road immediately in front of you right up to the castle steps until you can go no further--the 4 characters will automatically reappear and stand in front of the steps/moat bridge, where you can plainly see a shark fin moving in the moat...

3) Here you can begin to take your time because so long as you remain standing in front of the castle, watching the shark swim the moat, nothing will attack you. (At this point we're about 10 seconds into the game.) You can take your time equipping your players with the equipment they are given to start, etc.

4)This would also be a good time to save your game by hitting the disk icon in the bottom right.

5) Select one of your players either on the moat bridge or just to the left of it, and start watching the shark fin for a pattern. Timing is important here, but this is not difficult at all... When the fin is under the bridge moving to the right, L-click the cursor on the bottom of the open castle doorway ahead (the gate is open.)

6) Providing you have timed it right (again--easy) your characters will safely enter the first floor of the castle. If you get eaten by the shark, just reload your save and try again--it really is easy. (I was eaten a couple of times, too!)

7) Once you are inside you'll see the doorways with the force-fields active so that you cannot enter any of them. Practice: walk your party leader over to the Buckler on the wall (green cross on it) and hit the "Take" icon to get the item.

8) You'll notice four symbols on the wall facing you...locate the symbol just to the right of the leftmost symbol and walk over in front of it, and click the "activate" icon and you will see the force-fields deactivate, opening all doorways. (If you should select the wrong symbol monsters will appear which you may or may not be able to defeat--a good way to level up a bit later, though, before leaving the first castle behind.)

9) Selecting your leader, click on the doorway to your extreme left and walk through it--the team will follow you. Continue across the room to the next doorway and attempt to enter it as well. When you do, one of three things will happen:

1) The game will lock up--possibly because the game knows it is a copy and craps out because of a bug

2) An old man will teleport in and tell you that if you use a copy of Drakkhen you will surely die, and then he vanishes--in which case you will shortly be beset by monsters which you cannot defeat before your entire party is dispatched--the game's official copy protection, I suppose...

3) An old man will teleport in and make a reference about telling the princess about the 9th tear...or something along those lines, before he vanishes. I *think* this happens when the game thinks it is running from a pristine un-copied disk... But I'm not sure, actually...but you can proceed onward from there...

If you ever get a chance and have some time to kill, please let me know what happens to you during the above steps...! All of this accounts for the first ~2-3 minutes of game time...!

Edit: Oh, the Irony... In the official manuals for the VGA version of the game the customer is specifically told not to use his original disks but to only play with a copy...! Guess they learned a lot from the Amiga's on-disk copy protection, no doubt.

[Arnie]

Tried it with my RP9 and I get 2&3. With An IPF disk the game works fine but there are monsters everywhere.

[waltc]

Originally Posted by Arnie

Tried it with my RP9 and I get 2&3. With An IPF disk the game works fine but there are monsters everywhere.

Strange...I don't see any monsters unless I go off road/path, in which case I'm not likely to last long... Were you able to get into the castle...? There are plenty there, for sure...

Good news, though...I finally found some Amiga images that seem fine--an Italian release and a German release!... It's interesting in a sense because I'm using my English save disk and everything works fine and most of the in-game text is in English, and what little isn't I can decipher well enough to play. (I've tested several IPF images using the plugin and I have no trouble running the images in UAE 3.0--but I still keep getting "You're running a copy of the disk; prepare to die" messages in game...But, I'm running fine so far with the German floppy image--no such messages or problems...!

Thanks much for all of your input, Arnie..!

[Arnie]

I'm using the Drakkhen (europe) (v1.1).ipf (english) and it works fine, even with my old characters disk.

Yes, I managed to get into the castle, every room has monsters.

[waltc]

At this point, I'm wondering if I've simply misconfigured WinUAE somehow.

WinUAE configuration attached.

[Arnie]

I can't use your config, I get graphics errors, even if I change it to Pal.
BTW you don't need KS3.1 or the extra floppy drive and the default uses ECS not OCS.
Can you use KS3.1 with OCS?

I just double click on the IPF/ADF to play.

[Toni Wilen]

If A500 game: Load your normal config, then open Quickstart panel, select A500 most common, set compatibility slider to max, click "set config". Do not adjust anything manually.

It is very important if game is original and copy protected.

[waltc]

Originally Posted by Arnie

I can't use your config, I get graphics errors, even if I change it to Pal.
BTW you don't need KS3.1 or the extra floppy drive and the default uses ECS not OCS.
Can you use KS3.1 with OCS?

I just double click on the IPF/ADF to play.

I run it @ 1920x1200 (scaled), which you probably noticed...the Italian and German versions run just fine, aspect off looks just fine, actually.....I've experimented with ECS, OCS and AGA, with the same result, and differing amounts of chip/fast/slow ram...nothing seems to make a difference...But thanks for taking a look! I run the game from WinUAE, and have several configs loaded for different games...seems to work very well with other games...

I'll try Toni's recommendation and see how that goes...I probably should have just gone bog standard A500 from the start...

[waltc]

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

If A500 game: Load your normal config, then open Quickstart panel, select A500 most common, set compatibility slider to max, click "set config". Do not adjust anything manually.

It is very important if game is original and copy protected.

Thanks, Toni! I'm going to do just that...I'll get back about how it works...it's just my nature to tweak and configure...I'd honestly forgotten how temperamental Amiga games could be...Thanks Again!

Edit: Well, well, well.... Talk about simple & easy...! As usual I spend lots of time trying to make something simple complex! That did it! First time with the US IPF it smoothly proceeded past the point where it had been locking up! Bog standard A500 configuration did the trick...lesson learned...Thanks so much Toni...and you, too, Arnie (especially for the IPF tip!)...Now, on to Drakkhen the way it should be played...

[Supamax]

Originally Posted by waltc

Good news, though...I finally found some Amiga images that seem fine--an Italian release and a German release!...

I made and uploaded the Italian image of the two disks , they were done straight from my original disks (never modified and never write-enabled).

[waltc]

Originally Posted by Supamax

I made and uploaded the Italian image of the two disks , they were done straight from my original disks (never modified and never write-enabled).

Much appreciated..!