17 April 2023, 22:18 | #1 |
Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Halifax
Posts: 225
|
TFX on a PiStorm32
I dreamt of TFX on the A1200 as a kid.
Could some do me the honours and show me a YouTube video of it running on a A1200 + PiStorm32 please? In no rush. This request can sit here for months / years. I want to believe it could of been a contender. |
18 April 2023, 00:51 | #2 |
Thalion Webshrine
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Oxford
Posts: 14,462
|
JOTD did some work on TFX last year
The thread is long but it becomes more relevant towards the end https://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=51666 Last edited by alexh; 18 April 2023 at 10:41. |
18 April 2023, 04:53 | #3 |
Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Melbourne/Australia
Posts: 4,416
|
I once got it almost playable on a real 1200
[ Show youtube player ] |
18 April 2023, 11:11 | #4 |
Thalion Webshrine
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Oxford
Posts: 14,462
|
The work from JOTD around the 2020/21 time to bring all the known executables together, debug the capabilities of each and patch the instabilities in WHDLoad
http://whdload.de/games/TFX.html |
18 April 2023, 12:41 | #5 | |
Retro Freak
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Slovenia
Age: 51
Posts: 1,665
|
Quote:
[ Show youtube player ] |
|
18 April 2023, 13:23 | #6 |
Thalion Webshrine
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Oxford
Posts: 14,462
|
Im curious to know if this is the WHDLoad version?
Which TFX executable did you use? What is your PiStorm configuration (Emu68? Musashi?) |
18 April 2023, 13:28 | #7 | |
Retro Freak
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Slovenia
Age: 51
Posts: 1,665
|
Quote:
I have used the TFX.040 executable, it seems to work the best of them. None of the others seem to have higher framerate, some tend to load much slower, etc. Pistorm is Emu68 on pistorm32 and rpi4 at 1.5GHz. At 2.2Ghz it doesn't seem to have any difference either. So the bottleneck is probably chip ram writes. |
|
18 April 2023, 13:57 | #8 |
Thalion Webshrine
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Oxford
Posts: 14,462
|
Interesting. I thought the WHDload version was supposed to patch the remaining ChipRAM writes. Leaving only the frame-buffer copy.
Last edited by alexh; 18 April 2023 at 14:05. |
18 April 2023, 14:00 | #9 | |
Retro Freak
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Slovenia
Age: 51
Posts: 1,665
|
Quote:
Version 1.0 (28.12.2020) done by JOTD - automatic executable selection depending on cpu/fpu (or manual) - self-modifying code removed (fonts were trashed) - CD32 joypad support for some frequently used keys (see below) - small manual included (thanks Angus) - source code included There is also 1.1 beta version on the server, which doesnt have a different readme though. Will try that one next. Last edited by tomcat666; 18 April 2023 at 14:07. |
|
18 April 2023, 14:05 | #10 | |
Thalion Webshrine
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Oxford
Posts: 14,462
|
Quote:
Maybe try the EXE that doesn't use FPU? |
|
18 April 2023, 14:18 | #11 |
This cat is no more
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: FRANCE
Age: 52
Posts: 8,369
|
maybe patching the exe so most of stuff runs in fastmem would be possible now with the experience gained from other projects. At some point I thought this was not important, but it could.
The main difference with those exes is that if you don't have a 68881/2 a lot of the FPU instructions are emulated even on a 040. TFX.040 doesn't use the FPU at all... Game binaries are a mess. Too bad we didn't get hold of the code to rebuild that properly. |
18 April 2023, 14:51 | #12 | |
Thalion Webshrine
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Oxford
Posts: 14,462
|
Quote:
I would be happy to ask the original author again? (I suspect he doesn't have anything or he would have replied by now.) https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-mo...ls/experience/ I have been meaning for a long time to try to use Ghidra to re-source Amiga binaries. Pyrdacor & Nico Bendlin used it to re-source the Ambermoon exe. MAYBE using the exe version which has the Symbols in it could result in a semi reasonable job? I understand that it is labour intensive and not at all click-n-done. Last edited by alexh; 18 April 2023 at 15:05. |
|
18 April 2023, 16:03 | #13 | |
Retro Freak
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Slovenia
Age: 51
Posts: 1,665
|
Quote:
So TFX.FPU would possibly be the best one to try? Edit: tried all versions with WHDLoad latest 1.1 beta and pretty much the same fps... very bad |
|
18 April 2023, 17:42 | #14 |
This cat is no more
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: FRANCE
Age: 52
Posts: 8,369
|
FPU = 68881/68882 only. Okay TFX.020 is the one that should run best on 68040 because it's not using any FPU.
Yes, ambitious game, too many colors on the screen, full screen update, a lot of real 3D calculations, plane physics.... Not sure DOOM is that cpu intensive. |
18 April 2023, 22:04 | #15 |
Thalion Webshrine
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Oxford
Posts: 14,462
|
PiStorm32 Lite running Emu68 should be approx 80x the speed of 040@25MHz.
It's slowly becoming widespread amongst A1200 owners as it's only €80 and widely available. If you can patch TFX for FastRAM it should fly |
18 April 2023, 23:31 | #16 |
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Italy
Posts: 2,437
|
|
19 April 2023, 08:36 | #17 | |
This cat is no more
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: FRANCE
Age: 52
Posts: 8,369
|
Quote:
code is already running in fast ram. Only data segment is in chip for some version. |
|
19 April 2023, 09:09 | #18 | |
Alien Bleed
Join Date: Aug 2022
Location: UK
Posts: 4,438
|
Quote:
The chip ram access speed on the PiStorm is significantly slower than pretty much any accelerator you can name, so if there's any other frequently other A1200 accessed data, e.g. trig tables, etc. it's going to be a harsh penalty. The testing that has been done for AB3D2 shows that the chip write speed is pretty much the limiting factor, maxing out at 32fps. |
|
19 April 2023, 09:29 | #19 |
Thalion Webshrine
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Oxford
Posts: 14,462
|
|
19 April 2023, 09:37 | #20 |
This cat is no more
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: FRANCE
Age: 52
Posts: 8,369
|
you explained that: chip memory is slow, no matter how fast the CPU is running.
There are 256 colors on screen (didn't check, but it's probable), fetch mode is at maximum fetch (using 64 pixel wide sprites for HUD probably), so all has been done to make the game as fast as possible. Also this is a port from a PC game... |
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests) | |
Thread Tools | |
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
PiStorm32-Lite problems | tech3475 | support.Hardware | 52 | 23 October 2023 17:49 |
Pistorm a500 & Pistorm32: Can you VNC? | ElectroBlaster | support.Hardware | 4 | 09 March 2023 09:00 |
AGA, Amiga Demos on Pistorm32 | nikosidis | Amiga scene | 8 | 06 March 2023 22:11 |
Unique - Origins on Pistorm32 | nikosidis | Amiga scene | 5 | 01 March 2023 18:02 |
FS: Pistorm32 - GreaseWeazle - ATX Adaptors | RetroPassionUK | MarketPlace | 0 | 14 January 2023 13:34 |
|
|