CD32Load - Page 11

Galahad/FLT · 26 January 2016, 00:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by SolderPCB

Could Street Racer be adapted for CD32Load?

Theres a specific CD32 version of Street Racer isnt there? And in any case, SR is a single load game i think so should be easy to get running if CD32load doesnt like it as it uses up most of memory.

SolderPCB · 26 January 2016, 13:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Galahad/FLT

Theres a specific CD32 version of Street Racer isnt there? And in any case, SR is a single load game i think so should be easy to get running if CD32load doesnt like it as it uses up most of memory.

I remember it being an Amiga CD game and it not working on a CD32.

I think it came with JST on the commercial cd, I might be wrong. So that meant the memory requirements were too high.

jotd · 26 January 2016, 20:12

Yup, my only JST commercial release

I think it is possible from CD. I've identified an empty 150Kb zone, more than enough to hold slave/resload and CD buffer. I'll give it a try, I have to add options to CD32Load to relocate slave/resload somewhere else than default location.

BTW about the "file not found" error: when the CD has too many files, the files in the end (games starting from "L" in my case) do not work. It's rather random, but I'd recommend avoiding to put too many games on a CD ATM.
I'll try to resource the RN CD loader, maybe there's a stupid buffer size limit, but I doubt it. Will also check the ISO.

Edit1: Moonstone is possible, but I have to sort out some whdload emulation compatibility first (decruncher, and exec relocate)
Edit2: split my games: I had 90+ games in a directory. Tried to create 2 directories of ~45 each did not work, exactly the same (plus CD locks up). I gave that up and created 2 ISO files holding 49 and 45 games each, and it works much better. I don't know how to find the limit, though, but the guy who coded RN cd loader never had to worry about so many files.

jayminer · 26 January 2016, 22:53

I have been thinking of the too many files problem aswell, how we could "work around" it as much as possible.

It would be interesting to know exactly what goes wrong. I really have no clue how a CD works, and if it seeks to something like sectors and stuff, and that's where the problem is, or if it's an index of all the files and the problem is files at the end of that index.

It would be interesting to know if "necessary" files could be placed on a good place on the CD. The slaves and all that stuff could be at the end to fit more stuff.

I'm working on a compilation CD with a friend and would like to get as many games on there as possible, and prefer using CD32Load on as many games as possible since OS-flashes are really annoying!

earok · 27 January 2016, 07:46

Zoned an update to the Virtual Keyboard stuff. The main difference between this version and the last one is the ability to assign the virtual keyboard to any button you wish from the command line, eg vk=$11 for the play button. It's also now turned off by default.

earok · 27 January 2016, 13:14

There's.. something I'm a little confused about in the code. I'm having this issue with Zeewolf where the Reverse key seems to stick (eg, if I've mapped it to space to change weapons, I can only use it once). I just wanted to clarify this -

When the keycode is sent as-is, that's a key down event? And when the keycode is sent but with bit 7 set, that's a key up event? But because of

Code:

btst	#JPB_BTN_REVERSE,d0
beq.b	.noreverse0

The key up event is never sent for reverse, right?

(Might also explain why my virtual keyboard is so glitchy, since I'm not really handling key up events at all! I should probably rewrite it so it handles up-down events on consecutive frames)

jotd · 27 January 2016, 14:18

@jayminer: good thinking: with ISOCD you can sort files by name OR size. I don't know if big files (e.g. diskfiles) come first, but that would be a start.

Anyway, I prefer being well below the limit than toying with it constantly, given the price of the CD. Think of 45 non-flashing/keyboard redirected games on a CD vs 300 flashing games where you need the keyboard or Psygore to rework all slaves for joypad support.

About understanding the problem, the RN CD load code is really hard to understand. I wish we had the source, and even with the source it must be difficult. Maybe with cd.device source ... The problem is cd.device only reads in raw mode (sectors) and not the filesystem. This smart little RN loader does both (and more: DH0 on standard A1200 IDE and even floppy)

@earok: kb handshake must be 75ms, a PAL frame lasts 20ms (1/50) so sending one event per frame is too much.

Whitesnake · 27 January 2016, 15:53

I'm not an expert by any means but the unpredictable results you might be experiencing could be due to the data and dir cache taking up more chip memory.

The more you fill up the CD the more chip memory will be used.

You can limit the impact of this by setting "Data Cache 1 Sectors" & "Dir Cache 2 Sectors" in ISOCD

With a 700MB full CD you should still have about 1.83mb chip ram left with those settings above whilst using a CD32.TM for boot

I was never able to determine what impact "Direct Read" "Fast Search" "Speed Ind." have on the CD performance.

Nice work on this project guys.

Toni Wilen · 27 January 2016, 15:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by jotd

@earok: kb handshake must be 75ms, a PAL frame lasts 20ms (1/50) so sending one event per frame is too much.

75us, not 75ms. One scanline is 64us.

jotd · 27 January 2016, 18:13

Ooops thanks Toni
And thx whitesnake ill certainly test that, but aren't those values used by the system only? Well, worth a try.

Edit: well, no luck, same problem (not surprising as the RN loader certainly ignores those values)

earok · 27 January 2016, 19:11

Uploaded my latest source again (v3 of the Virtual Keyboard stuff). Triggering the key up event seems to have fixed the issues with the control getting stuck if they're tapped too rapidly. Also making sure the Handle Button stuff for Reverse is always run fixed the issue I was having with it.

Zeewolf seems to crash if the virtual keyboard is used during the game (the password screen is fine). I don't know why

jotd · 27 January 2016, 23:53

Integrated your changes in v0.12 available on my website

more games work or work again (there was a bug in memcopy check)

- Turrican 3 (1.3 slave works, 1.4 crashes)
- Agony
- AfterBurner 88
- Liquid Kids
- Ghosts and Goblins

earok · 28 January 2016, 00:02

I'll check it out. Good to see Turrican 3's working, we'll do a new release of the trilogy sometime with full pad support.

earok · 28 January 2016, 01:41

Maybe I should ask on the ASM forum but.. I'm working on a virtual mouse function for it (use JOY1 to control MOUSE0).

I'm able to move the cursor around (populating the JOYTEST register),but I don't have any idea how to set the bits controlling the left and right mouse buttons though

any ideas?

Oh my god, I am an idiot. I spent all this time trying to map Joy1's buttons to Joy0 (which seems to be next to impossible) whereas I could have just required that the player has their Joypad in port 0 to be able to emulate the mouse.

So yeah, there are major caveats to the whole virtual mouse thing, but it at least gives the option of not using a mouse

I'll zone something later today

earok · 28 January 2016, 09:34

Zoned a version with experimental (optional) virtual mouse support. Allows you to set the speed as well as a modifier button (if you want the cursor to move faster or slower across the screen, just hold it down while moving)

I may need to do another update to the Virtual Keyboard stuff, it crashes in some games/contexts but not others so I should work out why.

Whitesnake · 28 January 2016, 14:06

I did give CD32Load a quick try in WinUAE and I can confirm there is definitely some kind of issue with a volume containing lots of files.

CD32Load will just give me a File Read Error.

I find this strange as all the official RNC Loader CD32 games I've tried in the past don't seem to have a problem with many files on a CD.

I'm not really sure what the fixed limit/capacity is before CD32Load errors.

jotd · 28 January 2016, 22:27

Official rnc cds never contained more than 3 games. We reach the limit with 50 games on a cd, which means a lot more files than any commercial release.

@earok: good work again! I m too tired to code something now...

Amiga1992 · 28 January 2016, 22:31

Man if games run without flashes, even if there's 10 games it's great!

Personally I don't like compilations that much and don't mind if there's a "one game per CD" solution here. So keep up the great work guys!

jotd · 28 January 2016, 22:49

Akira you're right. When compiling games quality decreases, some does not work, some key mapping is missing... and earok cannot create a decent cover

Today I can put 50 ECS games on a CD with a menu, that's already enough.

Amiga1992 · 28 January 2016, 23:22

Yeah 50 is a lot.
I don't even like the "related games" compilations. I like to put one game and play that game straight up.

26 January 2016, 20:12	#203
jotd This cat is no more Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: FRANCE Age: 52 Posts: 8,162	Yup, my only JST commercial release I think it is possible from CD. I've identified an empty 150Kb zone, more than enough to hold slave/resload and CD buffer. I'll give it a try, I have to add options to CD32Load to relocate slave/resload somewhere else than default location. BTW about the "file not found" error: when the CD has too many files, the files in the end (games starting from "L" in my case) do not work. It's rather random, but I'd recommend avoiding to put too many games on a CD ATM. I'll try to resource the RN CD loader, maybe there's a stupid buffer size limit, but I doubt it. Will also check the ISO. Edit1: Moonstone is possible, but I have to sort out some whdload emulation compatibility first (decruncher, and exec relocate) Edit2: split my games: I had 90+ games in a directory. Tried to create 2 directories of ~45 each did not work, exactly the same (plus CD locks up). I gave that up and created 2 ISO files holding 49 and 45 games each, and it works much better. I don't know how to find the limit, though, but the guy who coded RN cd loader never had to worry about so many files. Last edited by jotd; 26 January 2016 at 22:44.

27 January 2016, 13:14	#206
earok Registered User Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Auckland Posts: 3,539	There's.. something I'm a little confused about in the code. I'm having this issue with Zeewolf where the Reverse key seems to stick (eg, if I've mapped it to space to change weapons, I can only use it once). I just wanted to clarify this - When the keycode is sent as-is, that's a key down event? And when the keycode is sent but with bit 7 set, that's a key up event? But because of Code: btst #JPB_BTN_REVERSE,d0 beq.b .noreverse0 The key up event is never sent for reverse, right? (Might also explain why my virtual keyboard is so glitchy, since I'm not really handling key up events at all! I should probably rewrite it so it handles up-down events on consecutive frames)

27 January 2016, 18:13	#210
jotd This cat is no more Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: FRANCE Age: 52 Posts: 8,162	Ooops thanks Toni And thx whitesnake ill certainly test that, but aren't those values used by the system only? Well, worth a try. Edit: well, no luck, same problem (not surprising as the RN loader certainly ignores those values) Last edited by jotd; 27 January 2016 at 18:25.

28 January 2016, 01:41	#214
earok Registered User Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Auckland Posts: 3,539	Maybe I should ask on the ASM forum but.. I'm working on a virtual mouse function for it (use JOY1 to control MOUSE0). I'm able to move the cursor around (populating the JOYTEST register),but I don't have any idea how to set the bits controlling the left and right mouse buttons though any ideas? Oh my god, I am an idiot. I spent all this time trying to map Joy1's buttons to Joy0 (which seems to be next to impossible) whereas I could have just required that the player has their Joypad in port 0 to be able to emulate the mouse. So yeah, there are major caveats to the whole virtual mouse thing, but it at least gives the option of not using a mouse I'll zone something later today Last edited by earok; 28 January 2016 at 04:26.

28 January 2016, 23:22	#220
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,645	Yeah 50 is a lot. I don't even like the "related games" compilations. I like to put one game and play that game straight up. Last edited by Amiga1992; 29 January 2016 at 01:41.

26 January 2016, 22:53	#204
jayminer Registered User Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: Umeå / Sweden Posts: 266	I have been thinking of the too many files problem aswell, how we could "work around" it as much as possible. It would be interesting to know exactly what goes wrong. I really have no clue how a CD works, and if it seeks to something like sectors and stuff, and that's where the problem is, or if it's an index of all the files and the problem is files at the end of that index. It would be interesting to know if "necessary" files could be placed on a good place on the CD. The slaves and all that stuff could be at the end to fit more stuff. I'm working on a compilation CD with a friend and would like to get as many games on there as possible, and prefer using CD32Load on as many games as possible since OS-flashes are really annoying!

27 January 2016, 07:46	#205
earok Registered User Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Auckland Posts: 3,539	Zoned an update to the Virtual Keyboard stuff. The main difference between this version and the last one is the ability to assign the virtual keyboard to any button you wish from the command line, eg vk=$11 for the play button. It's also now turned off by default.

27 January 2016, 14:18	#207
jotd This cat is no more Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: FRANCE Age: 52 Posts: 8,162	@jayminer: good thinking: with ISOCD you can sort files by name OR size. I don't know if big files (e.g. diskfiles) come first, but that would be a start. Anyway, I prefer being well below the limit than toying with it constantly, given the price of the CD. Think of 45 non-flashing/keyboard redirected games on a CD vs 300 flashing games where you need the keyboard or Psygore to rework all slaves for joypad support. About understanding the problem, the RN CD load code is really hard to understand. I wish we had the source, and even with the source it must be difficult. Maybe with cd.device source ... The problem is cd.device only reads in raw mode (sectors) and not the filesystem. This smart little RN loader does both (and more: DH0 on standard A1200 IDE and even floppy) @earok: kb handshake must be 75ms, a PAL frame lasts 20ms (1/50) so sending one event per frame is too much.

27 January 2016, 15:53	#208
Whitesnake Martin Shaw Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 456	I'm not an expert by any means but the unpredictable results you might be experiencing could be due to the data and dir cache taking up more chip memory. The more you fill up the CD the more chip memory will be used. You can limit the impact of this by setting "Data Cache 1 Sectors" & "Dir Cache 2 Sectors" in ISOCD With a 700MB full CD you should still have about 1.83mb chip ram left with those settings above whilst using a CD32.TM for boot I was never able to determine what impact "Direct Read" "Fast Search" "Speed Ind." have on the CD performance. Nice work on this project guys.

27 January 2016, 19:11	#211
earok Registered User Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Auckland Posts: 3,539	Uploaded my latest source again (v3 of the Virtual Keyboard stuff). Triggering the key up event seems to have fixed the issues with the control getting stuck if they're tapped too rapidly. Also making sure the Handle Button stuff for Reverse is always run fixed the issue I was having with it. Zeewolf seems to crash if the virtual keyboard is used during the game (the password screen is fine). I don't know why

27 January 2016, 23:53	#212
jotd This cat is no more Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: FRANCE Age: 52 Posts: 8,162	Integrated your changes in v0.12 available on my website more games work or work again (there was a bug in memcopy check) - Turrican 3 (1.3 slave works, 1.4 crashes) - Agony - AfterBurner 88 - Liquid Kids - Ghosts and Goblins

28 January 2016, 00:02	#213
earok Registered User Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Auckland Posts: 3,539	I'll check it out. Good to see Turrican 3's working, we'll do a new release of the trilogy sometime with full pad support.

28 January 2016, 09:34	#215
earok Registered User Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Auckland Posts: 3,539	Zoned a version with experimental (optional) virtual mouse support. Allows you to set the speed as well as a modifier button (if you want the cursor to move faster or slower across the screen, just hold it down while moving) I may need to do another update to the Virtual Keyboard stuff, it crashes in some games/contexts but not others so I should work out why.

28 January 2016, 14:06	#216
Whitesnake Martin Shaw Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 456	I did give CD32Load a quick try in WinUAE and I can confirm there is definitely some kind of issue with a volume containing lots of files. CD32Load will just give me a File Read Error. I find this strange as all the official RNC Loader CD32 games I've tried in the past don't seem to have a problem with many files on a CD. I'm not really sure what the fixed limit/capacity is before CD32Load errors.

28 January 2016, 22:27	#217
jotd This cat is no more Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: FRANCE Age: 52 Posts: 8,162	Official rnc cds never contained more than 3 games. We reach the limit with 50 games on a cd, which means a lot more files than any commercial release. @earok: good work again! I m too tired to code something now...

28 January 2016, 22:31	#218
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,645	Man if games run without flashes, even if there's 10 games it's great! Personally I don't like compilations that much and don't mind if there's a "one game per CD" solution here. So keep up the great work guys!

28 January 2016, 22:49	#219
jotd This cat is no more Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: FRANCE Age: 52 Posts: 8,162	Akira you're right. When compiling games quality decreases, some does not work, some key mapping is missing... and earok cannot create a decent cover Today I can put 50 ECS games on a CD with a menu, that's already enough.

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