SIDEWINDER: Looking for some info on the game SIDEWINDER

Hi,

I'm new to the boards but been a long time Amiga owner.
Just wondering if anyone can help me out with a couple of questions related to the classic Sidewinder game please?

I've seen a photo of the a box used for the US PC version of the game and was curious does anyone here actually own the US Amiga version?

If so, are there any differences between that one and the standard UK version?

Also, there is a photo of a 16 Blitz version of the game and I've never seen a complete copy.

Does anyone own that version as well?

Cheers

[Octopus66]

Sad to see no response to this. I am afraid I cannot help with your query, but I had one of myself so I though I would add mine to this thread to bump it up.

Can anyone who played this game back in the day (or who can still fire it up now) confirm if WinUAE emulates this correctly? To me it seems to suffer from horrendous slow-down when there are several sprites on screen.

I have no way of testing this so thanks if you can assist.

[emufan]

Hall of Light (HOL) lists the known version - Blitz16 is listed as a publisher for Sidewinder II.
download you can find on the eab ftp. the arcadia version is available too.
not sure about the US/UK versions.

never played that game, so i cannot say much about that.

[Bastich]

I had Sidewinder as one of my first few games. From what I remember it did not allow down particularly.

Sidewinder 2 was nothing like the original. Seemed much more like an indie game in comparison.

Thanks for the replies, hopefully we can dig the info out at some point.

[Octopus66]

Is anyone able to emulate this game accurately in WinUAE? No matter the settings I try and with both WHDLoad and the only IPF I either get sound issues (firing sound intermittently working), bad slowdowns, or it runs super fast.

Thanks!

[ransom1122]

Can you explain in detail about the intermitten firing sounds?

Slowdowns (when) populated screen? When you die? Etc etc

Speed up? (When) no enemies on the screen or other times?

I recall playing this game with winuae on a quickstart a500 mode and it worked perfectly.

Lastly which adf are you using?

[DamienD]

Originally Posted by Octopus66

Is anyone able to emulate this game accurately in WinUAE? No matter the settings I try and with both WHDLoad and the only IPF I either get sound issues (firing sound intermittently working), bad slowdowns, or it runs super fast.

Thanks!

Hmmm, don't remember having any of those issues and works perfectly in WinUAE from memory...

Pretty standard config; might have set a KS 1.2 ROM though.

Can't check now as am at work but will test tonight and report back

[DamienD]

Home now and have tested; all works fine here

Using the following:

... OCS with "Cycle-exact" off
... KS ROM v1.3 (A500,A1000,A2000) rev 34.5 (256k).rom
... 512KB Chip & 512KB Slow RAM

... Disk = SideWinder (1988)(Mastertronic)[cr MWB - Ikari][t +1 MWB - Ikari].adf

[Octopus66]

Thanks for the reply's guys.

Now weirdly, when I use "SideWinder (1988)(Mastertronic)[cr MWB - Ikari][t +1 MWB - Ikari]" it is much better than with IPF#51.. I never thought to try a cracked version when I had the IPF. So that is great, thanks Damien for suggesting that ADF file, I can now enjoy the game!

However I am still curious as to why the IPF is emulated (or plays?) so differently:

• Using A500 Quickstart to begin. .
  ... KS ROM v1.3 (A500,A1000,A2000) rev 34.5 (256k).rom
  ... 512KB Chip & 512KB Slow RAM
• ADF allows you to use cycle-exact off, IPF does not allow this and will pause if you select this option midgame.
• ADF handles the many objects with minimal slowdown (even with cycle exact on), IPF gets really bogged down.

Here is a screenshot of early part of the game where you will notice the difference. Any ideas anyone? Would this be something to raise in WinUAE subforum do you think?

[Octopus66]

I am actually noticing that not everything seems perfect. Autofire in WinUAE causes bullets to disappear after explosions and increases slowdown. Is this part of the original? Thanks

[DrBong]

Originally Posted by Archminion

I've seen a photo of the a box used for the US PC version of the game and was curious does anyone here actually own the US Amiga version?

Well, I've only ever seen one photo on the net of the U.S. Amiga release by Arcadia and that's been on Exotica for quite a few years. I've never come across anyone selling it online, but I guess someone must've owned it it to have sent a scan to Exotica. It may have been a big games collector called Mike West (aka WildWest), who is mentioned in the Exotica news entry (see 23-Jan-05) when the SideWinder scan was put online. Unfortunately, WildWest sold off his Amiga collection some years ago now.

https://www.exotica.org.uk/wiki/File:Sidewinder.jpg

If so, are there any differences between that one and the standard UK version?

There are none IIRC, except for some very minor differences on the titlescreen.

http://hol.abime.net/pic_full/dbs/19.../1920_dbs1.png (U.S. titlescreen)

http://amr.abime.net/issue_809_coverdisks (click 3rd pic for UK titlescreen)

Also, there is a photo of a 16 Blitz version of the game and I've never seen a complete copy.

Are you talking about the 16 Blitz disk pictured in HOL?

http://hol.abime.net/1920/diskscan

If so, I think that may have been a screw up in a later production run of SideWinder *game disks* by Mastertronic. SideWinder isn't listed in the 16 Blitz games catalogue I have here and wasn't reviewed in any of the mags on the 16 Blitz label. SideWinder 2 is in the catalogue, though, and that was released on the 16 Blitz budget label the year after. It wouldn't make a whole lot of sense to advertise one and not the other in the catalogue if 16 Blitz released both games, would it?

Anyway, I hope that sheds some light on the info. you were after.......

[DamienD]

Originally Posted by Octopus66

I am actually noticing that not everything seems perfect. Autofire in WinUAE causes bullets to disappear after explosions and increases slowdown. Is this part of the original? Thanks

...no idea but considering that on a real Amiga you don't have an autofire option (I guess unless the joystick you're using has an autofire switch then)...

You would need someone with a real Amiga (and autofire joystick) to test

[hipoonios]

Just played this and yes it slows down in some places. This also happens on real hardware (confirmed). Play with Cycle exact off in WinUAE will just make it scroll faster. There will still be slowdowns when many enemies are on screen.