Acorn Archimedes Software Preservation

[antom]

Originally Posted by vexation

I'm beginning to think I'm the only one that ever played Eterna's games.. which I just find amazing considering they had the best graphics and gameplay of anything put out on the Archie back in the day.

Nice little collection of games you've got going there tho! =)

Thanks

I've also got official disks of Eterna's Cartoon Line - I've managed to misplace the 3rd disk though and I managed to lose the box too... bah! Probably why didn't include it in the original list.

I have three more of their games in the .adf format; Ballarena, Bubble Fair and Poizone (the version that runs under Risc OS, not the arcade ROM).

Also, whilst I've got Wonderland I've yet to give it a try - the disks are still sitting in their box! Just a matter of time really...

[vexation]

Originally Posted by antom

I have three more of their games in the .adf format; Ballarena, Bubble Fair and Poizone (the version that runs under Risc OS, not the arcade ROM).

Ah, it's great to hear you've got Ballarena! In the last decade I've not seen anyone confirm they have an original or copy that works (well, one other person but that was yourself on Wocki's Messageboard!) - as long as it's preserved that's fantastic! (and of course I'd love to get a nostalgic kick out of playing it again at some point in the future!)

[Belgarath]

This thread has been quiet for a while..

anything exciting happening in the Archi scene?

Oh and an adf of Ballarena would be most appreciated

[antom]

Originally Posted by Belgarath

Oh and an adf of Ballarena would be most appreciated

I've just added a zip of the .adf to The Zone! if you fancy getting a copy.

[Belgarath]

Ah excellent ty very much

[MarkYoungIW]

Sorry I've been so quiet for so long. Archie stuff is still on simmer, but not going to be till the New Year now.

@Antom,
Hello, and sorry about the delay in welcoming you to the thread. Not sure how things have progressed really. Will have to have a word with Charlie, and also see how SPS have got on with Archie .ipf support, and also how Tom is getting on with the new version of Arculator. Wow, thats quite a collection you have there. Fancy imaging them for Toms .adp format?

[filth]

@ 'fake' filecore

Oi! I've seen you around. You must be the filecore who's nicked 'my' nick on YouTube/flickr/Twitter. No worries, I suppose it's first come, first served and I've never had any real interest in using any of those services - but as far as I'm aware, I've been filecore for the last twelve years (some here who also read the TIB forums will have seen me there, and I'm filecore at many other places too) but I noticed in recent years as I've been trying to sign up for stuff that it's being taken before I get there. Thankfully I registered my domain a decade ago; I have the only 'filecore' TLD that isn't a parked domain or unavailable!

@ archiving RISC OS materials

You guys might be interested to know that not only are there two filecores, there are also two RISC OS archiving projects. I'm wondering if it might not be a good idea to help one another out - avoid duplication of effort and work towards a common goal of software preservation. You can contact my via these forums, via TIB, or on IRC where I idle most of my days away (#playpen and #riscos on irc.freenode.net; duplicates exist on IRCnet and I'm in those, but they tend to be quieter) if you want to chat in realtime. On IRC you'll find me using either 'filecore' or 'filth'.

[filth]

Originally Posted by fake filecore

Also got loads of Acorn User, AAW & Acorn Computer cover and subscription disks. The first ever AAW cover CD, few Archive ones and loads of PD etc.

Originally Posted by slamdunk

Glad to know the English Acorn scene is still alive and well! It's been frustrating to see sites that have tried to preserve the games pulled down due to various copyright infringements - i only hope the wolves stay at bay and realise there is no point in trying to make money from +15 year old games! The only people who bother to play them are us Acorn lovers who like to delve into some nostalgia once in a while! Most of us actually bought the games years ago, just lost the copies over the years...

If you don't mind, we could use both your help (and anyone else's, too!) in filling any blanks in our CD collection. We're trying to preserve old magazine cover CDs, as well as others. There may be some copyright issues yet to be finally resolved with some of them, but hey, it's decade-and-a-half old software. Ethical issues aside, I certainly don't think anybody's going to fork out £30 for that stuff anymore...

http://www.filecore.net/riscos/public/riscoscds/ (mirror page)

[amiganer]

hello,

how could i copy .adf files to HD Discs for Archimedes 3010 on PC ?

[filth]

You'll find that .adf is a disk image. You need to mount this virtual floppy into a virtual floppy drive. However, that's where it ends, since you don't tell me which emulator you're using (there are so many - RPCemu, RPCemuSpoon, VA5K, VRPC, VRPCSE, RedSquirrel, ArcEm, Archie, A310Em, etc etc) - obviously, the instructions would vary depending on the app in question.

[Important technical note: VA* and RedSquirrel aren't RISC OS emulators, they're Acorn hardware emulators and can be used to run anything that can run on equivalent native hardware.]

[prowler]

Originally Posted by amiganer

hello,

how could i copy .adf files to HD Discs for Archimedes 3010 on PC ?

Hi amiganer,

If you are talking about restoring .adf files that you have on your PC to High Density floppies for use with your Archimedes 3010, then you can do this quite easily without using an emulator by using the 'Arcimage' utility.

Details here:
http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=458437&postcount=91

If you are trying to write 800K images to HD disks and you have no DD disks, then put a piece of tape over the HD sensing hole.

BTW, that was my first post here.

[filth]

Okay, I see that there are two ways to interpret "... for Archimedes 3010 on PC". I read it as the Arc was actually on the PC = emulated. Now I see that it could also be that he's wanting to copy the discs - for the A3010 - on the PC. Ah well. And this is why grammar and sentence structure are important!

[prowler]

You are right, and if amiganer means it the way you have interpreted it, then it should get an interesting topic going.

[amiganer]

Hi amiganer,

If you are talking about restoring .adf files that you have on your PC to High Density floppies for use with your Archimedes 3010, then you can do this quite easily without using an emulator by using the 'Arcimage' utility.

thanks for information.

hope i will get my archimedes soon

And this is why grammar and sentence structure are important!

sorry, my girl friend was watching TV and my english + grammar isn"t the best

[cosmicfrog]

Originally Posted by amiganer

my english + grammar isn"t the best

me 2 ribbit ribbit

[MarkYoungIW]

Been stuck working my arse off 16+ hours a day every day trying to keep my buisness alive, but havent forgot the Archie stuff. Hoping to get on with it at the end of the season (after September).

See Kryoflux says it supports Archimedes now, so does that mean I will be sending my dumps to SPS for a finished IPF yet?

Will go all out at it as soon as I can.

Mark.

[IFW]

Yes, it could mean that

[MarkYoungIW]

Sounds good, have put my name on the list for Kryoflux.

Very short of time, so wont be building my own if I can help it.

Once its done, hopefully Archie images, here we come!!!

[starlord]

Oh wow, that thread is still running since last time I came here... excellent!

For those into archie programs, I was wondering if a title named Karma (possibly the full version) has been preserved into an IPF... anyone has a clue on this? does anyone here own the retail game?

Also, referring to arculator (I see a few versions have cropped up since 0.9) is FDi support operational again? it would be good to play the archie version of SF3000 again some time...

many thanks.

mikael.

[filth]

I do have a copy of the retail game, so I suppose I could dig it out and image it if it's not anywhere else to be found. Do please note, however, that there is no "full version" - there was only ever the Flight Trainer released, as the main programmer died in a motorcycle accident before completing the game.

I do also know that a quite large Acorn games pack (some native games, some images) is planned to be released during the summer, so keep an eye on that too: http://www..org/user/antiques/