Old Games Manuals etc

[Rissy]

Hi there all.

I've got another thread going in the hardware section, and this is the first time i'm posting anywhere else on the forum.

As well as my ongoing hardware work (which in itself requires software disciplines too, so it's hard to separate the two), I am starting the process of backing up my old games/applications wherever possible to my laptop using Amiga Explorer.

Taking a few discs a night, I am starting to realise two things:

1. Some of my games don't seem to want to have their .adf file copied over to the laptop, but they load fine on the Amiga and the game(s) run. In a couple of these cases, I've resorted to using X-copy to at least take a floppy back up of the originals. This seems to only sometimes work fully. I get a couple of errors with some, but the copy process seems to complete, and then the backup *seems* to work, at least on boot up, but i'm guessing without pushing all aspects of the game, the error may still be waiting to rear its ugly head!?
Is there any advice on why some of my discs refuse to copy over to the laptop? Is it something copy protection related? Is there anything else i can do to make successful backups to the laptop?

Some of the games are on different websites, but i have games here which no site seems to have. Example: Scrabble Deluxe 1991 release

2. Following on from 1. The topic of copy protection for some games.
I have quite a few original legitimately bought games from the 80's and 90's, but unfortunately, it seems that the corresponding manuals and paperwork etc for them, have either been lost or thrown out by the parents etc. Is there anywhere I can digitally download the manuals for games? Have people scanned them in over the years? Examples: F/A-18 Interceptor came with a code wheel. Super Cars 2 requires the manual to get into playing it.

I realise in a lot of cases you can now download .adf versions of games where someone has removed the copy protection (somehow!?), but sometimes it's just quite nice to be using your old original stuff...

Super Cars 2 as an example is suffering from 1. and 2.

[DamienD]

Originally Posted by Rissy

2. Following on from 1. The topic of copy protection for some games.
I have quite a few original legitimately bought games from the 80's and 90's, but unfortunately, it seems that the corresponding manuals and paperwork etc for them, have either been lost or thrown out by the parents etc. Is there anywhere I can digitally download the manuals for games? Have people scanned them in over the years? Examples: F/A-18 Interceptor came with a code wheel. Super Cars 2 requires the manual to get into playing it.

I realise in a lot of cases you can now download .adf versions of games where someone has removed the copy protection (somehow!?), but sometimes it's just quite nice to be using your old original stuff...

Super Cars 2 as an example is suffering from 1. and 2.

Loads of place on the internet where you can find scanned manuals.

Two close to home examples:

... HOL
... Lemon Amiga

[Rissy]

Originally Posted by DamienD

Loads of place on the internet where you can find scanned manuals.

Two close to home examples:

... HOL
... Lemon Amiga

Hey and thanks for your reply.

I've not checked the first link you've given, and i'm aware of the second one.

However, in the case of the second one, again using the same examples of F/A-18 Interceptor and Super Cars 2, the necessary information for the copy protection is not there.

Example: Super Cars 2 shows a track and asks you which page in the manual the same track can be found, then you enter a page number. The manual in LemonAmiga is a transcript of the text presumably from a manual, but it is in no way pictorial, meaning it doesn't show you the track and let you correspond that with its page number in the manual in order to satisfy the copy protection question. There's no scan of the manual in order for you to see for yourself. Unless i'm missing something. (I'll admit i'm new to looking at these webpages)

[dreadnought]

You can try the attached manual for F/A. The codes are there but it's all a bit messy.

Overall, yes, unfertuantely lots of manuals are only in the .txt form, guess they were typed back in the early internet days when scans took a lot of space. I like to have the originals more for the feel & look than protection codes, but they can be tricky to find.

One method is to have a look on websites of platforms the game was ported to, eg Atarimania, or in collections such as exoDOS or Gamebase. Often the manuals are identical (though maybe not protection).

FA-18 Interceptor.txt

Nevermind, HOL has the wheel: http://hol.abime.net/469/miscshot

[Hercules]

LSD Docs cover 64 disks filled with manuals. This website has converted them to Amigaguide. Enjoy...

http://www.hipooniosamigasite.org/amigadocs/

[Matt_H]

This is my go-to for documentation: https://commodore.bombjack.org/amiga/
Years ago I got a few things from here, too: http://replacementdocs.com/download.php
Most of their files are watermarked, but it's removable if you have the full version of Acrobat (or perhaps another high quality PDF editor). Also check the PC section since games released on both platforms often used a common manual.

[Rissy]

Originally Posted by dreadnought

You can try the attached manual for F/A. The codes are there but it's all a bit messy.

Overall, yes, unfertuantely lots of manuals are only in the .txt form, guess they were typed back in the early internet days when scans took a lot of space. I like to have the originals more for the feel & look than protection codes, but they can be tricky to find.

One method is to have a look on websites of platforms the game was ported to, eg Atarimania, or in collections such as exoDOS or Gamebase. Often the manuals are identical (though maybe not protection).

Attachment 71572

Nevermind, HOL has the wheel: http://hol.abime.net/469/miscshot

Ah thanks for that. At least i may be able to make my own codewheel now!

[Rissy]

Originally Posted by Hercules

LSD Docs cover 64 disks filled with manuals. This website has converted them to Amigaguide. Enjoy...

http://www.hipooniosamigasite.org/amigadocs/

Thanks for that. It looks like Super Cars 2 just has the same transcript as LemonAmiga has. No track pictures and page references. booo.

But at least it's another source to look at for all the other games i find with similar problems related to copy protection.

[Rissy]

Originally Posted by Matt_H

This is my go-to for documentation: https://commodore.bombjack.org/amiga/
Years ago I got a few things from here, too: http://replacementdocs.com/download.php
Most of their files are watermarked, but it's removable if you have the full version of Acrobat (or perhaps another high quality PDF editor). Also check the PC section since games released on both platforms often used a common manual.

Thanks! More sources to which i can apply my searches. I appreciate that.

Still no joy with Super Cars 2 though. Boooo.

[Rissy]

Originally Posted by Rissy

Hey and thanks for your reply.

I've not checked the first link you've given, and i'm aware of the second one.

However, in the case of the second one, again using the same examples of F/A-18 Interceptor and Super Cars 2, the necessary information for the copy protection is not there.

Example: Super Cars 2 shows a track and asks you which page in the manual the same track can be found, then you enter a page number. The manual in LemonAmiga is a transcript of the text presumably from a manual, but it is in no way pictorial, meaning it doesn't show you the track and let you correspond that with its page number in the manual in order to satisfy the copy protection question. There's no scan of the manual in order for you to see for yourself. Unless i'm missing something. (I'll admit i'm new to looking at these webpages)

Ah ha! Now that i'm home, i could access the Hall Of Light link you gave me. We have a winner! .pdf of the manual containing the tracks on the applicable pages. Thank so much! I'm sure i've still got plenty of games yet to copy over and test with similar protection issues, but now i've got quite a few sources to check over!

Direct Link for anyone wanting the Super Cars 2 manual/copy protection answers: http://hol.abime.net/2181/manual

[DamienD]

Originally Posted by Rissy

Ah ha! Now that i'm home, i could access the Hall Of Light link you gave me.

I originally typed the HOL URL wrong, so then edited my post afterwards when I realised.

I should know better considering "Hall of Light" is part of the abime.net family just like EAB is; and there's a big search bar at the top of EAB

[davideo]

There's also a lot of scanned manuals here

[Rissy]

Originally Posted by DamienD

I originally typed the HOL URL wrong, so then edited my post afterwards when I realised.

I should know better considering "Hall of Light" is part of the abime.net family just like EAB is; and there's a big search bar at the top of EAB

No worries, I got there.

[Rissy]

Originally Posted by davideo

There's also a lot of scanned manuals here

Excellent, thank you!

[Rissy]

So here's a related, but different question altogether. Related to the games i'm trying to backup back to the laptop using Amiga Explorer tonight.

I suddenly have a whole host of games (original) that refuse to copy over, and in most cases, even be read within the Workbench environment on the Amiga itself.

I came across a couple like this before, but didn't note which ones they were, but i went on to prove that the discs are actually good and working, and the resident game(s) on them; work. So how can I get these games backed up on my laptop, because one of these days, the magnetic discs will stop working. I realise in many cases, there will be digital copies available on the internet, so i could grab copies of those. BUT if i want my own discs backed up, how do i do it. Someone must have done this before, otherwise how would all the digital copies on the internet come to be?