Blastar

[DJ Mike]

Is it the case that this simply hasn't received an unmodified dump yet, or is it yet to be supported by CAPS?

I submitted a dump of this in my huge last batch but it wasn't accepted, so I was wondering what the situation is with this?

M;.

[musashi5150]

I've got an original of Blastar too, so if another dump is needed then I could help...

[dlfrsilver]

Well in fact even if the game works 100 %, IFW said that the game has been badly mastered.....hence the game won't be preserved....

[Interceptor]

every copy so far is form the same incorrectly mastered copy.

we'd still like dumps of it, in the hope that one of them turns up correct.....however unlikely that is.


perhaps the US version is correct if one exists...

[Galahad/FLT]

Originally Posted by Interceptor

every copy so far is form the same incorrectly mastered copy.

we'd still like dumps of it, in the hope that one of them turns up correct.....however unlikely that is.


perhaps the US version is correct if one exists...

what is the actual error? And does this apply to the Corkers Budget re-release?

[DJ Mike]

I'm quite curious as to how this incorrect mastering error affects your ability to preserve the game.

Surely if the only copy of the game in PAL territories is the "incorrectly mastered" one, then this is the correct one to preserve, mastering errors and all?

[dlfrsilver]

Yep Galahad, it applies to the corkers compilation, as i own it and have dumped the blastar disks....

Originally Posted by Galahad/FLT

what is the actual error? And does this apply to the Corkers Budget re-release?

[musashi5150]

Ok, well it's worth a try anyway. How do I go about making a dump for you guys - the SPS website said I should contact you...

[Galahad/FLT]

But what is the error? I am unaware of the error in the cracked version?

[Interceptor]

Originally Posted by DJ Mike

I'm quite curious as to how this incorrect mastering error affects your ability to preserve the game.

Surely if the only copy of the game in PAL territories is the "incorrectly mastered" one, then this is the correct one to preserve, mastering errors and all?

it doesnt affect our ability to create an IPF file of the incorrect disk, much the same as we could make IPF files of modified or faulty ones.

we want to preserve the disk as it's supposed to be, if it turns out its supposed to be the way it is, then we'll create the relevent IPF. right now, we dont know and we're not going to release an IPF file of it, only to find that a good copy turns up later, and that the PAL versions dumped so far are indeed FAULTY (depite the fact maybe all of the PAL ones are). we'll then have an incorrectly preserved item.

things that may help....confirmation of a US release.....contribution of the original master of the is game......

i realise our strict policy on perfection can be frustrating....but i'm affraid we wont be making exceptions just to get disk images out there for the sake of it.

HTH

[Interceptor]

Originally Posted by Galahad/FLT

But what is the error? I am unaware of the error in the cracked version?

two consecutive blocks with same header and data, obviously a mastering problem.

[Galahad/FLT]

Originally Posted by Interceptor

two consecutive blocks with same header and data, obviously a mastering problem.

Not necesarily. Have you actually tested the image to verify that this identical block isn't simply a leftover block from a previous mastering of the disk? Not all programmers use fresh disks to make their final master disk, leaving source code and all manner of weird things on the disk.

A mastering error in this case doesn't equate that the image itself is bad.

[dlfrsilver]

One can finish the game with no bugs or error on screen, hence galahad reflection

[IFW]

It is a block repeated twice.
Obviously a mastering problem and was not meant to be like that (the content repeats too), but you need to check all block information to notice it.

[Galahad/FLT]

Originally Posted by IFW

[b]It is a block repeated twice.
Obviously a mastering problem and was not meant to be like that (the content repeats too), but you need to check all block information to notice it.

but, has anyone actually tested the resultant .IPF to actually see if it affects the game in any way? I appreciate what you SPS guys are saying, but surely in conjunction with WinUAE, you will be able to detect when the duplicated block is read by the game and see if it affects it.

1). The game might not ever load that block
2). the game might load it but thats only because of an over read of data (i.e. loading more blocks than it actually needs)

Crackdown / US Gold was a mastering error and we all know what the problem was with that, but has anyone in SPS actually worked out any nasty side effects of the duplicated block?

[IFW]

I don't have the time to do that, so no. I can give you however the exact details and if you feel like tracing the disk accesses while completing the entire game...

[fiath]

Originally Posted by DJ Mike

I'm quite curious as to how this incorrect mastering error affects your ability to preserve the game.

Surely if the only copy of the game in PAL territories is the "incorrectly mastered" one, then this is the correct one to preserve, mastering errors and all?

An alternative answer to this.

Games were not always mastered in the same batch, or even from the same master. Hence, we may find a PAL version from a different batch, or there may be a later/earlier version, or their might be a good copy from a different terratory (like the US).

The point is finding those copies. If we release a version that "might be good" then this will detrimentally affect our ability to preserve a real copy - people assume what we have is good - because that has always been our policy - we only release what we know to be good.

[musashi5150]

As I said before I have a PAL version I could dump...

[fiath]

Musashi - great! Please mail contrib@softpres.org with details of your Amiga system. Thanks!

[fiath]

MMmmm, must remember to press QUOTE not EDIT next time...

Originally Posted by Galahad/FLT

but, has anyone actually tested the resultant .IPF to actually see if it affects the game in any way?

I appreciate what you are saying, but the point is that we just don't know.

Even if the error does not affect the game at all in as far as you can test, we still wouldn't preserve it, because we can never know 100% from testing the game by playing it.

We would much rather it stayed "missing" so people keep submitting dumps for it - this way we will probably eventually get it - this has worked *so many times* in the past now. It's almost a proven formula.